1989 Durham Bulls Part 2

This is the second half of my 1989 Durham Bulls set, which was put out by Star.  The first half of the set can be found here.

I said it would be a week before I posted the second half of the set in the original post, it turned out to be a month.  Close enough. 

I did not do much information on the 1989 Bulls outside of the baseball cards during my first post, so a little more on their performance before we tackle the second half of the team.  During the regular season, this was the best team in the Carolina League, finishing 7 games ahead of the Kinston Indians in the Southern Division.  The Bulls reached the Carolina League Championship, but fell to the Prince William Cannons (Yankees) in the finals.

Manager Grady Little took home the Carolina League Manager of The Year.  Phil Plantier, a Red Sox prospect at this point, took home the League MVP with a pretty ridiculous stat line.

On with the cards.

A pretty good set of cards opens the second half of the set, let's start with Ken Pennington.  This was his second season with the Bulls and he put up a respectable .275/.323/.413 slash line with 10 home runs and 34 doubles.  He led the Carolina League in doubles.  

Neid was a good prospect for the Braves and ended up being the first draft pick in the 1993 Expansion Draft by the Rockies.  However, 1989 was not his finest moment.  Neid went 5-2 in 12 starts, seems good, until you look his 6.63 ERA.  That's 43 earned runs in 58 innings.  I guess the Bulls hit when he pitched.  

Last up is Al Martin.  I best remember him as a Pirate, but he was also the fourth outfielder on the 2001 Mariners team that won 116 games.  Easily had the best career of any position player on the 1989 Durham Bulls who reached the Majors.  

Stoker and Ross were solid players for the Bulls, neither reached the Majors, but they did well in Durham.  Ross hit 11 home runs, 24 doubles, and stole 22 bases.  He was in the Braves farm system until 1992 when he was traded to the Red Sox for Jeff Reardon.  Stoker won 8 games for the Bulls with an ERA in the mid 4s.  Solid, but this was his last year in the professional baseball.

Ben Rivera pitched a few seasons for the Phillies.  That included 13 wins for the 1993 Phillies National League Championship team.  He also pitched in Japan, Korea, and Mexico.

Tomberlin was probably the best player on this team during the 1989 season.  He hit 16 home runs, drove in 61 runs, and also managed to steal 35 bases.  He made his Major League debut with the 1993 Pirates and ended up playing a total of 6 seasons.  Tomberlin played for a total of five different teams during his 6 seasons:  Pirates, Red Sox, A's, Mets, and Tigers.  He was a career .233 hitter, but he made it.

Theron Todd played three years in Durham, 1989 was his second.  His first season with the Bulls was his best, but he could not duplicate again and ended his career in A Ball.

Tilmon won 11 games for the Bulls in 1989.  One of his best seasons as a professional, but not his best.  He ended up playing for a long time in the Northern League, which is independent Minor League ball.

Last two players.  Ziem and Turner were both very good for the Bulls and both made it to the Majors.  Ziem was a perfect 9-0 in Durham in 1989.  The team used several different players in the closer role, Ziem was amongst the pitchers who held that role during the season.  He reached the Majors in 1987 with the Braves, pitched in 2 games, and ended up all the way back down in Durham.  Not sure if that was because of an injury?

Turner went 9-9 for the Bulls in 1989, but had almost a strikeout per inning and an ERA of 2.90.  He was traded to the Astros for Jim Clancy in 1991, but made it the Majors when he signed with the expansion Florida Marlins during December of 1992.  The Marlins used him in 55 games where he pitched 68 innings.  Turner had an ERA+ of 147 and a 2.0 WAR.  Not bad.  He ended his career with a few games with the 1994 Cleveland Indians.  

Which brings me to the coaches.  

First, we have long time Cardinals pitcher Larry Jaster.  He pitched on the 1967 World Championship team and the 1968 National League Championship team.  Jaster was a role player on those teams.  Perhaps his best known accomplishment was being the first player to throw a pitch in a Major League game in Canada.  

Incocencio Guerrero was a player on the 1988 Durham Bulls.  He was a long time Braves farmhand who played a total of 10 years in their system.  He also appeared for the 1982 and 1983 Bulls teams.  Not sure of exactly sure of all the details, but Guerrero stuck with coaching for awhile.  In looking up some of his other cards, he has plenty as a coach.  

Little managed the Red Sox for two years in 2002 and 2003, later the Dodgers in 2006 and 2007.  Before those two Major League managing gigs, he spent a lot of time in Durham.  He managed the Bulls from 1988 through 1991, never had a losing season as the team's manager.