He is also the father of Diamond DeShields.
and Delino DeShields, who has apparently dropped the Jr..
The Cardinals signed Delino DeShields as a free agent at the end of the 1996 season. Coming off an appearance in the 1996 National League Championship Series, DeShields was seen as a possible upgrade at second over Luis Alicea. He was not great with the Dodgers, but the Cardinals believed they could fix him. In all, Delino DeShields played two seasons with the Cardinals and was a good player for the team despite the results on the field during the 1997 and 1998 seasons.
He got on base in front of Mark McGwire, Ray Lankford, and Ron Gant. DeShields also became the last Cardinals player to steal more than 50 bases when he swiped 55 in 1997.
On to some cards. While he was not a long term player on the Cardinals, I like the cards that DeShields has as a member of the Cardinals. There are a lot of action shots in here, along with some other curious facts and figures.
First card goes in the curiosity pile.
This is from the 1997 Circa set. Always a really distinct looking group of cards. I like the action shot of the second baseman, but that quote is pretty terrible. Hitting .220, stealing 48 bases, that's not actually sound very good. Sorry Tony LaRussa. Usually the quotes on the fronts of these cards are pretty flattering, even the bad players in 1997 had nice quotes on the front. I am not sure that pasting a quote about someone coming off of a .220 season is flattering.
Perhaps someone at Fleer did not like players who wore double ear flaps.....
which can be found on many DeShields Cardinals cards. Up until 2016, when Brayan Pena played 9 games as the team's reserve catcher, DeShields was the last Cardinals player to wear the double ear flaps. They were sort of a fixture on the team growing up, I believe there were at least three Cardinals starters in the 1980s who wore them, but they disappeared in the early 2000s.
This card is from the Topps Stars set in 1998. All of the cards were serial numbered, many of them to ridiculous amounts like 9,000 or 4,000 copies. Lots and lots and lots of cards.
On to a trio of action shots.
First one is from the 1997 Fleer Ultra set. Obviously a Spring Training game with a Tigers player in the background and DeShields wearing a batting practice jersey. Great picture, I am not sure that DeShields is actually touching the Tigers player. I think the photographer caught him mid fall, but he looks really graceful doing it.
Also love the high socks on this card. DeShields almost always wore his socks up, which was not a really trendy thing in the late 1990s when baseball uniform pants got long and baggy.
Another nice action shot with fellow infielder Edgardo Alfonzo sliding into second base in Shea Stadium. And the last DeShields action shot....
Do players even do this anymore? I am almost sure that this practice is in decline, players come into the dugout regardless at the end of innings. Maybe I am wrong. I still like the picture.
Last Cardinals card.
Pacific made a ton of these cards in 1998 with the Cardinals players wearing the St. Louis Stars uniforms. The team has done numerous throwback nights, but has not touched some of the team's Negro League history in a long time. These are sharp looking uniforms, go check out the Fernando Tatis cards from last week too, there is a road version in that post.
DeShields played another five years after leaving the Cardinals, splitting his time with the Orioles and Cubs. He played 13 years in all and stole more than 400 bases. There have been Delino DeShields cards made since he retired.....
which includes an autograph in the 2013 Topps Archives set. DeShields has worked as a manager in the Reds Minor League system the past few years. Next year, he will be working as the Reds first base coach. He does not do the double ear flapped helmet while coaching.
Wow. It's been over 20 years since the Cardinals have had a guy steal 50? When I think of fast teams... the Cardinals are always the first team to pop into my head.
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