#558 Bob Ojeda

Why this card is awesome: Because of the surprise appearance of HoJo in the background of this card. I'd recognize that number-20-wearing, Caucasian third baseman anywhere.

Incidentally, one interesting thing about this blog is that it's easy to look up players by first or last name. If you put "Howard" in the search box, you learn that Howard Johnson was the only player in this set (so far posted, at least) with Howard as a first or last name. No Ryan Howard or Howard Battle. Conversely, check out, for example, a search for "Mark." That yields Thurmond, Gubicza, Davis, Ciardi, Ryal, McLemore, Langston, Knudson, Davidson, and McGwire.

Anyway, Ojeda is lucky that he doesn't add to the total for deceased players. As most baseball fans will know, he was involved in the boating accident that killed Tim Crews and Steve Olin. He also once damaged his finger while cutting hedges, which apparently made him throw the ball differently and improved his performance.

Cool stat: Ojeda was a very average pitcher who gets more credit than he deserves for having one great year: 1986 with the Mets. If they hadn't won the World Series that year, he'd probably be remembered as the average pitcher he was. Take away his 18-5 record that year and he was 97-93 in his career. How average was he? Over the 10-year period 1983-1992, Ojeda is tied for the lead in most seasons with 150 IP and an ERA+ between 90 and 115. Mind you, there's nothing wrong with steady and average. He's just not as great as many people seem to mis-remember.

#85 Howard Johnson

Why this card is awesome: Because for all the color schemes Topps chose for its 1988 set, the Mets' was absolutely the best, perfectly matching the blue and orange of their uniforms. This HoJo is one of a series of 1988 Topps Mets cards that have great coloring. These days, when teams have 17 different jerseys they use during the year, HoJo's blue pullover doesn't look weird. Back then, though, it would mean that this photo was taken for sure during either batting practice or spring training.

Cool stat: Johnson didn't have a great or long career, but he is still one of just 4 guys with at least 3 seasons with 30+ HR and 30+ steals. Also, one time I saw him sitting on the team bus after a game, waved to him, and he nodded his head back at me.

#668 Walt Terrell

Why this card is awesome: Because here's trade that the Mets got the better of. After a few solid, but average, years with the Mets, they shipped him to Detroit for Howard Johnson, who was a pretty productive player for New York.

Cool stat: Terrell has one of the most recent seasons with double-digits complete games but a below-average ERA. Interestingly, Jack Morris did it 3 years in a row!

#715 Todd Worrell

Why this card is awesome: Because I can't figure out who the blurry figure in the foreground is. It might be somebody catching Worrell, or it might be somebody just watching him throw. I am going for catcher, though, since you can see what looks like the strap from the catcher's mask on the guy's head. His number seems to end in 0 and is either 10 or 40. Checking out here, though, suggests Doug DeCinces (#10) or Tim Conroy (#40), neither of which makes sense, nor does the name on the back of the jersey look like either. Maybe it was a bullpen catcher. Who knows?

Cool stat: Worrell had an interesting career, coming back from a bad injury that caused him to miss 2 full seasons to have some great years with the Dodgers. Checking out his career home run log, note that he gave up more homers to Howard Johnson and Ken Griffey (Sr.) than anybody else, plus two of the walkoff homers he allowed were in consecutive games in 1987.

#262 Drew Hall

Why this card is awesome: Because of an ill-spent first-round draft pick. Tsk tsk tsk, Cubbies.

Cool stat: Hall gave up 20 homers in his career. More than 1 to just one guy, Five-for-One. Look at the names of the guys he gave them up to, though. The worst player is probably Tim Teufel, which is saying something because Teufel wasn't garbage. He gave up homers to Barry Bonds, Don Mattingly, Kevin McReynolds, Danny Tartabull, Darryl Strawberry, Andy Van Jackass, Howard Johnson, and lots of other good-to-decent players. Seems like the Mets hit a lot. Career numbers against the Mets: 25.1 IP (most against any opponent), 9.24 ERA, 38 hits including 6 homers. Ouch.