Mayaguez Indios Team Set

A little bit off the beaten path for this post.  In my never ending quest for Ray Lankford cards I ended up landing a cool team set of the Puerto Rican Winter League team Mayaquez.  I knew there would be a Lankford card in the team set, but there were a few other cards in here that I was excited to see beyond my latest card of the 1990s Cardinals outfielder.

Let's take a look.

Yes, I messed up the team card on the top right hand side of the scan.  No, I am not going to fix it.  Jim Riggleman and Juan Agosto have Cardinals connections in this group of cards.  Riggelman was the manager of the Indios during their 1989-1990 schedule.  He started his managing career in the Cardinals Minor League system after spending his playing career in the Cardinals system.  

Riggleman was out of Minor League managing in 1989 and spent the year working as the Cardinals first base coach.  Of course, he has gone on to have a pretty long run as a Major League manager, especially with the 1990s Cubs.  

Agosto was a terrible reliever for the Cardinals at one point in the early 1990s.  Most of the players in this set are younger guys, but Agosto is one of the few veterans in here.  He is Puerto Rican, so it makes some sense that he appears in Winter League games there.....

Roberto Hernandez is the big name here.  No Cardinals connection with him, but he played 17 years in the Majors and recorded more than 300 saves.  The other interesting card in this group is Charlie Montoyo.  I know that's not a name many will recognize, but it was a huge and pleasant surprise in this set.  

Who is Charlie Montoyo?  

He was the long running manager of the Durham Bulls and led the team to seven division championships in an eight year span.  That included a Triple National Championship and two Governors Cups.  He now coaches third base for the Rays....

Good times.  

Lankford is here, I talk about him enough I will let it go this time.  Jim Lindeman was also a Cardinals outfielder/1B in the late 1980s.  Never really worked out, but he hit a pretty big home run against the Giants in the 1987 NLCS. 

Last set, we've got Tom Pagnozzi.  Pags was a long time Cardinals catcher, three time Gold Glove winner, and was an NL All-Star in 1992.  

Overall, I really love having this set in my collection.  Really unique and I have not seen many cards like these over the years.  Happy to add a new Lankford to the collection and also pick up some other cool cards of players connected to the Cardinals and Durham Bulls.