Marrero popped up on numerous baseball cards that summer. Of course, as a top prospect, the most logical land spot for him was the Bowman set. The 1997 Bowman had those great black borders.
This is actually Marrero's second Bowman card. He had previously appeared in the 1995 set. I like that card, just happen to like this one a little bit better. Marrero also had an autographed card in the 1997 Bowman set. Not sure why Topps listed his name as Elieser on all of his cards, while every other card company had Eli on his cards.
Marrero got a cup of coffee from the Cardinals in 1997 and should have been the team's starting catcher entering 1998, but he ended up missing time due to a cancerous mass being found in his thyroid gland.
From the August 17th, 1998 Sports Illustrated:
Marrero did play a few more seasons for the Cardinals, only appearing in more than 100 games twice. It is noted several places that following his bout with thyroid cancer, Marrero had difficulty with maintaining his stamina throughout the season. He never really stuck as a starting catcher with the Cardinals. Tony LaRussa almost always used him as a utility player bouncing back and forth between the catching, first base, and the outfield.
Utility player means that the best Eli Marrero cards are all from his early years as a player. The vast majority are from 1997, 1998, or 1999. Two of my favorites are from the Fleer sets from 97 and 98. Fleer had borderless card designs both years.
We'll go in order by year.
I like catchers cards with their pictures in their equipment. No hockey style masks in 1997. Fleer was really good about things like that during the late 1990s before the went bankrupt and disappeared. The 1998 Eli Marrero card is even better.....
Obviously an older picture on the 1998 card. If you look at the patch on the jerseys on both cards they match. The Cardinals wore that patch during Spring Training in 1997 to mark their last year in St. Petersburg, Florida. The team had gone halfsies with the Marlins on a new Spring Training site after the Devil Rays were announced as an expansion team. I know that some people don't like when card companies recycle old pictures, but the catchers mask action shot more than makes up for it.
Plus the card backs were nice......
Full color. Edge to Edge. I like that the team logo was incorporated into the background too. Overall, these were really nice baseball cards.
The Cardinals traded Marrero to the Braves after the 2002 season along with J.D. Drew. They got back Jason Marquis and Ray King. Also some throw in A-Ball pitcher. Throw in pitcher couldn't even crack the rotation at the start of his career, sat in the bullpen his rookie year.....
Marrero spent time with the Braves, Royals, Orioles, Rockies, and Mets before retiring in 2006. He worked as a Minor League coach in the Reds organization for a few years. His son Elih plays, or played - not sure, at Mississippi State. Seems like a pretty highly regarded prospect, but he only played 4 games last year for "off the field issues" which precluded him being arrested for a DUI.
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