Sunday, September 18, 2016

A Venerable Old Card Part 28

I picked this card up awhile ago and just have not had a chance to post it yet.  Nothing beats getting a really cool card of a Minor Leaguer.  Especially when the Minor Leaguer is someone who made it to the Majors and had a cool nickname like "The Secret Weapon"

The card.....


This gem is from the 1982 TCMA Tidewater Tides set which also featured Ron Darling, Mike Cubbage, and Dave Von Ohlen.  I skipped out on all of those in favor of the team's light hitting shortstop Jose Oquendo.  "The Secret Weapon" would end up spending parts of the 1983 and 1984 seasons with the Tides, also a little time with the Mets, before being traded to the Cardinals.  

I have seen and heard many people put Oquendo in the Keith Hernandez trade, but the Cardinals and Mets also swapped a bunch of Minor Leaguers around the same time.  Oquendo was basically the only name player in the trade.  

Oquendo would gain notoriety on the 1980s "Whiteyball" Cardinals for randomly showing up all over the field and lineup card.  He literally played everywhere for the team, but ended up spending the majority of his career as the backup shortstop to Ozzie Smith and started at second for a time too.  

His two big claim to fames, outside of playing everywhere, were his series clinching home run in the 1987 National League Championship Series.....




and also his fight with Will Clark.  Ozzie Smith, Candy Maldonado, and Bob Brenly also figured prominently in this one. Really underrated baseball brawl.  




1 comment:

  1. Agreed - minor league cards of Major Leaguers are always fascinating finds. This one is certainly no exception.

    ReplyDelete

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