Monday, January 14, 2019

I Love The 1990s Cardinals Part 61 - Tom Niedenfuer

Tom Niedenfuer once had a really bad week against the Cardinals.  

There was Game 5 of the 1985 National League Championship Series.  Niedenfuer was pitching the bottom of the ninth inning in a tie against the Cardinals.  Willie McGee started the inning by popping out to third base, which brought up Ozzie Smith.....




Then a few days later in Game 6, with the Dodgers leading 5-4, he faced Jack Clark with the go ahead runs on-base.  




For what it is worth, the long time Dodger reliever also appeared in the 1981 Postseason and helped the team win the World Series against the Yankees.  He pitched 5 innings in the Series and was perfect outside a pair of runs that scored on a Bill Russell error.  




Niedenfuer was a pretty valuable and versatile reliever for the Dodgers.  He earned a total of 64 saves over seven seasons in Los Angeles, but also worked as a middle and long reliever along the way too.  The Dodgers traded Niedenfuer to the Orioles in the middle of the 1987, where he also pitched in 1988.  He spent 1989 with the Mariners, he is from Washington state, but was released in a roster crunch at the beginning of the 1990 season.  




Niedenfuer had been terrible for the Mariners in 1989.  His ERA was over 6 and he had as many strikeouts as walks.  Never a good thing.  The 1990 Cardinals were terrible, so they had room for anyone who would help them get through the season.  Niedenfuer was signed in April and played the entire season with the Cardinals.  A reliever coming off a season where his ERA was over 6 and a last place team sound like a recipe for disaster, but it actually turned out well.  

In all, Niedenfuer pitched 63 innings for the 1990 Cardinals. Despite an 0-6 record, he had an ERA of 3.46 and was one of the more reliable pitchers on the team.  Especially during the first half of the season, most of his 3.46 ERA actually came towards the end of the season.  In a June 9th game against the Expos, with the Cardinals losing, he pitched three perfect innings in long relief to lower his ERA on the season down to 1.63.  You can imagine as a long reliever on a 90 loss team, he got put into some real bad baseball games.  

So, lets get to Niedenfuer's Cardinals cards.  None were made in 1990 while he was on the Cardinals.  No traded sets, nothing.  Both of his Cardinals cards were made in 1991.  




He made an appearance in everyone's favorite 1991 set, the yellow bordered Fleer.  This is a large set, so most teams had 25-30 players featured on a card.  Many of the card companies focused on the young Cardinals players at this point.  Lots of Todd Zeile, Felix Jose, with an Ozzie Smith card sprinkled in for some balance.  Niedenfuer managed to get one of the 27 Cardinals cards in this set.  




Niedenfuer also appeared in the 1991 Score set.  I know, the pictures on the cards made me do a double take too.  Both feature him in an action shot mid delivery.  Same point of his delivery too.  The Fleer card is on the road though, maybe Candlestick, and the Score was taken at Busch.  He's throwing two different pitches too.  The Fleer he has his thumb bent under the ball, not sure what that is going on there.  The Score he has his fingers in a circle, so some sort of changeup.  

That's it for Niedenfuer and the Cardinals.  He retired after the 1990 season at age 30 and spent time with his two daughters and his wife, who is actress Judy Landers.  I don't remember who specifically, but it appears she was in all sorts of television shows and movies including The Love Boat, Happy Days, Night Court, Charlie's Angels, B.J. and the Bear, The Jeffersons, L.A. Law, Murder She Wrote, and The Fall Guy.  



I seriously do not remember her.  

Topps did give Niedenfuer a card post-retirement in their 2005 Fan Favorites and Retired Signature sets.  He rightfully appears in a Dodgers uniform.....


on a 1983 style card, which was the best season as a player.  His card in the Retired Signature set is an autograph, but I do not actually own a copy of the card.  It's out there, somewhere.   



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