#111T Pete Smith

IMPACT FACTOR 4/10: Smith was a part of the bad Braves teams of the late 80s and the good Braves teams of the early 90s. Considering how weak the team was for most of those years, his overall numbers are pretty good. He was great in 1992, going 7-0 with a 180 ERA+ and pitching very well in the post-season. There are two knocks against Smith's value to the Braves: he came to Atlanta in a pretty lopsided trade (see the back of the card below) and he was injured a lot.

#76T Russ Nixon

IMPACT FACTOR 2/10: Nixon managed the Braves during 3 last-place finishes from 1988 to 1990. He isn't remembered as a great manager. However, as we know, those Braves teams had terrible players (for the most part) and Bobby Cox was biding time as GM, building the club in the background. Cox stepped in as manager late in 1990, and we all know what happened in 1991.

#39T Ron Gant

This is one of the best rookie cards in this set.

IMPACT FACTOR 5/10: Gant was a big part of Braves' return to contention, although it was a rocky beginning for him. As a 2B in 1988, he made 26 errors in 122 games. Think about that...this is a second baseman, we're talking about. Wow. The Bravos moved him to 3B where he was pretty much just as bad, but to keep his bat in the lineup they moved him to OF, where he remained for the rest of his career. They were rewarded in 1990 with his first 30-HR season. I can't rate Gant higher than a 5, though, because although he was present for two trips to the World Series, he personally didn't hit well in the post-season (contribution to the Braves losing those series) and he was never really even the best player on the team. Even in 1990 he was slightly out-produced by newcomer David Justice.

Gant ended up leaving Atlanta when he broke his leg while riding a motorcycle, missing the entire 1994 season. He came back strong in 1995 and was a productive player the rest of his career.

#29T Kevin Coffman

Oh yeah, Coffman's in the necklace club. I love this shot, with the stands disappearing into infinity like the horizon at dusk.

IMPACT FACTOR 1/10: Coffman had two pretty ineffective years before being traded with Kevin Blankenship to pick up Jody Davis at the end of his career.

#791 Ted Simmons

Why this card is awesome: Because what an awesome warrior Simmons was. Yeah he looks old and pudgy on the front, but look at those years and years on the back. He had a great career and is one of the top catchers in history. I just hope he doesn't swallow any bugs by accident.

Cool stat: Simmons had 8 seasons with 90+ RBI, good for third all-time among catchers and more than Johnny Bench or Gary Carter.

#779 Tom Glavine

Why this card is awesome: Because we're more than 98% of the way through this set but we've finally gotten there: what has proven to be the best rookie card from the 1988 Topps set. He's also one of the few players still active from the set, although there's some doubt as to whether he'll make it back next year. (The only other ones are, I believe, Greg Maddux and Jamie Moyer, although Barry Bonds is technically not retired.)

But, what's with those teeth?

Cool stat: Glavine has 5 20-win seasons, although his neutralized record is 285-208 with zero 20-win seasons. Interesting. It helps, of course, that he played for lots of great Braves and Mets teams. In the history of MLB, 23 pitchers have won 300+ games. Where do you think Glavine ranks among them, in terms of fewest walks. Given that he's got a great winning percentage and only just recently reached 300 wins, I thought he'd be pretty high on that list. Turns out he has the 6th-worst walk total, thanks in large part to the fact that there are so many more walks in the era he played in. Glavine, Clemens, and Maddux are the only 300 game winners to never record a save.

#755 Ozzie Virgil

Why this card is awesome: Because after Dave Palmer, this is the other Braves card with a retro uniform. Weird. I also like that we can see a lot of the umpire. Maybe this card can help us figure out why they are wearing strange uniforms. The player in the background looks to me a lot like a Yankee wearing a road jersey, which would make this an exhibition game, and perhaps the Braves wore special jerseys for this game. Anybody else have a better theory?

Cool stat: Only two catchers ever managed a season with at least 27 HR and 72 RBI (btw, aren't those very Fiskian numbers?) and an OPS+ of 107 or less. Virgil did it in the homer-crazy 1987.

#732 Dave Palmer

Why this card is awesome: Because, wow, Palmer is wearing an older uniform than every other Brave in this set (save for Ozzie Virgil, as dayf pointed out to me.) I wonder why? Maybe this photo is from 1986?

Can anybody remember: I recall a pitcher for the Phillies tripping very badly (and comically) on 3rd base and I think it was Palmer. Does anybody remember for sure?

Cool stat: Since 1901, only 19 pitchers have had at least 2 seasons by age 21 with 120 IP and 120 ERA+. Palmer's one of them, joining names like Christy Mathewson, Fernando Valenzuela, Babe Ruth, Dwight Gooden, Bob Feller, and Walter Johnson.

#706 Rick Mahler

Why this card is awesome: Because of the mention of fantastic scout Al LaMacchia.

Cool stat: Mahler is tied for the lead in most career seasons with exactly 39 games pitched.

Deceased players and managers: 17

We went almost 150 cards without a deceased person, but Mahler died in 2005 from a heart attack. He was just 51.

#678 Jim Acker

Why this card is awesome: Because of the odd mention of minor league totals. Yeah, he had 437 IP and 28 wins in the minors before making the show. What they don't say is that they were split among 3 different locations, and that Acker actually went back down to AA from AAA in 1982 before suddenly making the Blue Jays out of spring training in 1983. They also don't say that he had 31 losses to go along with those 28 wins.

Cool stat: Acker had one of the small number of seasons by middle relievers with over 100 IP, no game starts, an ERA+ of 150 and a WHIP no higher than 1.12. Acker had two excellent years and a handful of good years.

#652 Bruce Benedict

Why this card is awesome: Because Benedict's career was built the way they should have been. He was a Braves lifer as a backup catcher. Here's a bonus cool stat for you: catchers who played their entire career for one team (minimum 1000 PAs.) Despite retiring after 1989, Benedict is the 6th most-recent catcher to do it.

Cool stat: Benedict had just 18 career homers, and he hit 2 off one guy. You'll never guess who.

#627 Joe Boever

Why this card is awesome: Because Boever looks nervous there in Veterans Stadium, thinking geez, the Phillies are the only team worse than the Braves..hope I don't end up playing there in a few years (uh oh!)

Cool stat: Boever's 1995 ranks in the top 10 for most homers given up in a season with no starts.

#574 Graig Nettles

Why this card is awesome: Because, like Ray Knight, it's weird to see Nettles in a jersey from a team like the Braves. We think of him as a Yankee or a Padre, or maybe even an Indian. But not a Brave or an Expo.

Cool stat: Nettles was a very good player. He had a great year or two, but he was very solid. From 1971 to 1985, he had 10 different seasons with a BA between .244 and .276 over at least 400 ABs. That's at least 2 more years than anybody else over that stretch.

#549 Braves Leaders

Why this card is awesome: Because, hell yeah what a cool card! Such a classic pose, and featuring some really good players as well as a nice view of Fulton County Stadium in the background.

For the record, left to right, I think it's Gerald Perry, Dale Murphy, Ken Griffey, and Dion James. Do I have that right? (I see that right here they think one of those guys is Albert Hall but I don't see it.)

Cool stat: This isn't a stat, but check out how interesting the 1988 Braves pitching staff was, in retrospect. Of course Tom Glavine and John Smoltz stick out as two very young guys who both had bad statistical years and have gone on to have tremendously successful careers with the Braves. HOFer Bruce Sutter was there finishing up his career. Jim Morrison pitched in 3 games. Jim Morrison! The infielder! Lots of other neat stories there--which ones do you notice?

#523 Gary Roenicke

Why this card is awesome: Because for those who cannot remember, Gary is the "good" Roenicke brother (besting brother Ron) although that's very much on a sliding scale.

Roenicke is pronounced "REN-ickey."

Cool stat: Roenicke, ala Ken Phelps, had 2 seasons with 20+ HR and yet fewer than 400 ABs. Over the period 1979-1982, he was the only guy to do that twice.

#469 Jeff Dedmon

Why this card is awesome: Because isn't it amazing how Topps can airbrush entire caps on some guys, and yet couldn't do Dedmon the simple favor of covering up a few blemishes? Those don't even look like birthmarks but rather pimples. I'm sure Dedmon loves this card.

Also, I always though Dedmon should look like a skull with dreadlocks. As in, "He's dead, mon!"

Cool stat: I couldn't find much of interest stat-wise about Dedmon. But here is the list of all 30 intentional walks he issued. Here's a cool thing, though! Check out this game, bottom of the 8th. Dedmon issued three intentional walks in that inning, each one coming with runners on 2nd and 3rd. That has got to be a record. And, oh, the humiliation, after he loaded the bases for the 3rd time, pitcher Joaquin Andujar hit a granny off him.

#443 Ken Griffey

Why this card is awesome: Because we get the nice bonus shot of a Met, I believe 2B Wally Backman.

Griffey is the father of current major-leaguer Ken Griffey Jr. If you needed me to tell you that, you're probably not enough of a baseball fan to be reading this blog.

Cool stat: Griffey was a very solid major leaguer and did a lot of good things in his career. I will always remember him for this game where he homered back-to-back with his own son. It's kind of funny to note that the PI box score tool is a bit messed up there, because it assumes since "K Griffey" appears on consecutive lines that it's a continued at-bat by the same player.

#408 Dion James

Why this card is awesome: Because of the old-school shot of James wearing the batting helmet over his cap. You don't see that at all anymore these days, nor do I recall seeing it on any card in this set so far.

Cool stat: James was a bad base-stealer. Since 1970, he's up on the leaderboard for most seasons with at least 7 CS with no more than 10 SB. He finished with more BB than K in his career, though.

#379 Rafael Ramirez

Why this card is awesome: Because it's yet another Rafael in our set. We've had Palmeiro, Belliard, and Santana so far, and here's the fourth.

Cool stat: Here's an example of a very deceptive stat. What do Ramirez, Alan Trammell, Willie Randolph, and Willie Wilson have in common? They are the only 4 players who, from 1980 to 1990, had at least 10 seasons with 1 HR, 1 3B, 2 SB, and 2 SH. Of course, Ramirez actually sucked offensively.

#353 Ed Olwine

Why this card is awesome: Because how does someone born in Ohio get to live in Hyannis Port MA?

Cool stat: Olwine allowed only 13 home runs is his short career, but 3 of them were to Kevin McReynolds. And McReynolds did that in just 7 PAs against Olwine. Only Tony Gwynn had more PAs against him.