Many of the team's free agents and trade acquisitions were low priced dumpster dives. Most didn't work out, but one of the few that stood out was signing former Yankees and Cubs pitcher Bob Tewksbury. He was a great control pitcher and had some outstanding seasons in St. Louis. The Cardinals were just too busy being mediocre for most to notice. I don't want to go too far into the weeds on Tewksbury's great control, but if I could sum up his ability to throw strikes in one sentence it would be this:
During the 1992, 1993, and 1994 seasons Tewksbury made almost 90 starts for the Cardinals covering 600 innings, and limited batters to just 60 walks. The majority of starting pitchers in the Major have that many in a single season.
Two sentences.
As a baseball card collector, there were slim pickings on really interesting Cardinals cards during the early 1990s. Occasionally there would be one of Lee Smith, Ray Lankford, or Bernard Gilkey, but that was it. Last week, I stumbled on a really nice insert card of Bob Tewksbury. I was really surprised by the find.
How did I miss this card?
I probably was not even looking for it.
This is from the 1993 Score Select set. Every card company around this time was coming up with some sort of high-end brand. While the 1993 me would probably give you some serious side-eye at the combination of the words "Score" and "High-End", these are actually nice cards. The Aces insert has a foil front. The card is from 1993, but it looks like something that could have come up in the last few years.
Back of the card.
Nice little write up on the back of the card, but the photo is horrible. Does he not have a chin? His hat is just sitting on the top of his head?
