Topps Cards That Should Have Been: 2022 Hall of Fame Class Edition

 

Like last year, we celebrate the impending Baseball Hall of Fame inductions with a run through the uniforms that should have been depicted on cards, regardless of how brief or perfunctory they were.

I should have included this in last year's bunch, but in 2014, Bobby Abreu signed a minor league deal with the team that made him a household name, the Philadelphia Phillies. The majority of his supremely underrated Hall of Fame case came from his Phils days, and having him back, even at the end of his career, was a cool move. Though Abreu spent the Spring with the Phils in Clearwater, he did not make the team, and would eventually sign a deal with the Mets, which would go surprisingly better for him rounding out his career. Still...wouldn't it have been awesome to see one more Phils Abreu card? It would have felt the same as 2012 Topps' Jim Thome Phils card.

Zipping us back to the top with the new additions to the ballot, most of whom may not make more than 5% admittedly, while I already made a 2005 Topps card of Prince Fielder back in November, I did not make one to commemorate his 2004 Spring Training sting. While Fielder was still a year or so away, he did have some solid numbers out of camp for the Brewers, but he was still blocked behind Lyle Overbay for another year. He'd eventually own first base and become a fixture to round out the decade.

Justin Morneau's 2004 issue would have been more crucial, as Morneau would be an important part of the Twins' infield that year, playing 74 games, hitting .271 with 19 homers in that time. Unfortunately, Morneau would only get cards from Topps in Heritage and Total, skipping flagship altogether. A bit of an odd exclusion, given his appearances in 2003 and 2005 sets. Nevertheless, from 2005 on, Morneau would be a strong, consistent piece of the mid-2000s Twins teams, culminating in a 2006 MVP win that I'm still kinda bitter about.

While Jonathan Papelbon's rookie card was in 2006 Topps, he was used out of the pen during 17 games in 2005, and did fairly well, with a 2.65 ERA and 34 Ks. Of course, the very next season Papelbon would get the ninth inning and become a hero in Boston. Before...y'know...pissing off Philly and Washington.

In 2016, Joe Nathan was coming off a disappointing campaign in Detroit, and after amassing all star nominations as a Twin and Ranger, was coming down big time. Midway through the season he signed a deal with the Cubs, as they embarked on their championship campaign. He only pitched in 3 games for Chicago, but struck out 4 and gave up no runs. The Cubs did release Nathan shortly afterwards, and he wasn't finished. 

So he decided to return to San Francisco, where he'd spent his early career. As a Giant, in September, Nathan pitched in 7 games, struck out 5 out of 18 batters, and continued his scoreless streak. He ended the season with a 0.00 ERA, which was strong enough numbers to go out on. While I doubt Nathan will get into the HOF, he was still an excellent closer and relief asset, and still had some stuff left in the tank even at the end.

And finally, we come to Jimmy Rollins as a White Sox. After his Dodgers deal went disappointingly, Rollins' stock declined, and could only muster a minor league deal with the tanking ChiSox. The best you can say for J-Rol here is that he was an impressive prelude to Tim Anderson, hitting .221 with 33 hits and 8 RBIs in 41 games. Once Anderson was called up, there was really no reason for Rollins to be on the roster, and he was quietly released, tying up his 17 year career there. Of all the newbies on the ballot, I have the highest of hopes that Rollins can someday make it to the Hall of Fame, even as unlikely as that seems. He was always a favorite, and always seemed to be an elite shortstop.

Tomorrow...I am actually gonna do an Unofficial HOF Ballot post. It's gonna be...something, alright.

Topps Cards That Should Have Been: 2005 Brewers

 

I'm starting this post on Topps' omissions from the 2005 Brewers with a sensible one, cause they're only gonna get less sensible as we go.

So. 2005 was the first season for Prince Fielder. He had a prospects card shared with another player in flagship, I gave him a full solo one because he deserved one. Despite only playing in 39 games, Fielder showed enough promise to carry the next stage of Brewers baseball, hitting .288 with 10 RBIs and 2 homers, admittedly less than I would have figured. 

Additionally, a very sensible pick for this series would be a 2005 Topps card of Derrick Turnbow, during the best season of his career. While Topps made up for this in 2006, not having one in '05 as he's notching 39 saves is kind of an odd move. In addition to the 39 saves, Turnbow also sported a 2.9 WAR, fifth highest on the whole team. Topps' bias against relievers really pisses me off sometimes.

It would probably also be relatively sensible for this post to include a card of Jorge de la Rosa in his first full season. Despite Topps leaving him off, as a fairly straightforward relief pick, De la Rosa still appeared in 38 games, had a 4.46 ERA and 42 Ks, showing signs of future dominance with the Rockies. However, said move to Denver would be a team or so away, and here he was just a relief piece rather than a crafty starter. 

Now we begin to bring in the strange cases.

Having already been traded twice, by the Mets and the Athletics, Nelson Cruz was hoping for a slightly more permanent home when he arrived in Milwaukee in 2005. He didn't quite have a place in the lineup yet, hidden behind Carlos Lee and Geoff Jenkins, but he managed 8 games in the majors, only coming away with 1 hit in 7 plate appearances. Fatefully, he'd leave town again, being traded alongside Lee to the Rangers, where he'd have a larger come-up. 

Knowing where Cruz's career would take him, it's very funny that he was seen as a lowly little prospect inn Milwaukee one time. I kinda wish Topps would have documented it, but it's something I can do.

Rick Helling was one of the premier starters for the Rangers in the 1990s, winning 20 games in 1998, and winning 68 games overall for Arlington. His numbers as a starter dipped in stints with Arizona and Baltimore, he didn't make a roster in 2004, and people assumed that was it. But, lo and behold, in 2005, Telling reemerged in Milwaukee as a swingman. While his relief numbers in August were alright, he was made a starter again in September, due to lack of other options, and impressed mightily, with a 1.69 ERA and 32 Ks in 6 starts. His 1.9 WAR was his highest since leaving Texas. And while the 2006 season, a down one, would be documented by Upper Deck, Topps wouldn't touch his Milwaukee years, which is a shame.

The strangest one I have is a sunset card for a 90s fringe closing hero. Ricky Bottalico was the closer for the Phillies in the late 90s, and was a definite character for those teams, as well as some Cardinals and Royals teams in that era. He eventually mellowed into a solid middle relief man, which was not at all what Topps was interested in documenting, so they went sort of cold on his trail for the last few years of his career, including a return to Philly. In 2005, at 35, he played his last games for the Brewers, and did alright, with a 4.54 ERA in 40 appearances. He tried making camp with the Orioles in 2006, but that didn't work out for him. 

Crazy stuff, right? Tomorrow's batch will come from the 2006 Championship Cardinals team.

The Stars are Out: Postseason Edition

 These aren't the last Stars Are Out customs of the year...as there are a few stragglers that are going to hit soon, but all of these occurred during the postseason, which means like 90% of these are gonna be MLB personnel. Which isn't bad. Just...don't expect a renegade rock singer or rodeo rider or anything.

I'm starting with Youk so I can get him over with first. Kevin Youkilis is obviously beloved in Boston for tormenting the Yankees for like 8 years or so, and hitting home runs like hell. So he was a natural choice for a first pitch, though...a bit less natural than the other 2 Red Sox first pitches coming later.

Onto teams taken out in Championship Series':

 The Astros had a few, mostly commemorating their 2005 WS gig, instead of past teams (though Mike Scott appeared, even if I didn't customize him). Lance Berkman is, of course, a hero over there, even after he went and joined not only the Yankees, but the state rival Rangers. His mid-2000s years are still remembered fondly there, even if he looks odd in the new orange.

As does Roy Oswalt. Another guy who's a legend there thanks to his sharp work in the 2000s, Oswalt was a perennial Cy Young finalist, a strikeout artist, and an NL Central horror figure. Even though his career was a bit less graceful than Berkman's, he still gets to come back and throw out a first pitch, which is nice.

Meanwhile, in the losing NLCS city:

 A few legends showed up in Milwaukee. One was Prince Fielder, because...of course he's a legend there by now. He and Ryan Braun even hugged it out. Prince, in a t-shirt and everything, came off like the Jack Black of baseball, and I mean that as a compliment. Plus, he's still young enough to have some velocity in that pitch, I imagine.

Bob Uecker needs no introduction in Milwaukee. He is their beloved voice, and the face, and vocal chords, of Milwaukee sports for several decades. The standing O must have lasted hours. Good for him.

 Next, some World Series players. Reggie Smith, having been a part of a World Series team in 1981, was a nice stroke of good luck for the Dodgers, as well as a treat for older fans.

And then there's Orel, who's a treat for just about everybody. A guy who won a Cy Young, an MVP of a World Series, an ALCS and an NLCS, and tons of respect from Dodgers fans, Orel was one of the catalysts behind the 1988 team, and a strikeout killer. Also, fun fact, Orel went to my high school. And so I collect him. It's that simple.

 And yes, the team that won the damned thing gets some as well. Especially Pedro. The last time he was anywhere near a World Series, he was saying the Yankees were his daddy, so this was kinda nice. Of course, Pedro's a legend anywhere he pitched, but especially Boston, where his Cy Youngs, strikeouts, and ferocity were beloved. Yeah, he also made serious playoff runs with the Mets, Expos and Phils, but he doesn't get a welcome there like he does at Fenway.

...Still, I've gotta end on Yaz. Carl Yastrzemski is Boston baseball, and was more than just Ted Williams' replacement. He was legendary, and he was an extraordinary hitter. And I can only imagine the respectful applause he got when he threw out a first pitch that night, in the World Series. He deserved it, too.

I still have one or two more of these left. I imagine I'll post them eventually.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2016: Rangers

It's weird- for the majority of the season, the Rangers were the toughest, most-powerful team in the AL. Most of the year, they were the ones holding the momentum.

It's a pity they don't have much to show for it, because they were great in 2016. If it wasn't for the annoyingly pesky Toronto Blue Jays, they'd have gone ahead to play the Indians...which would have, at least, been interesting.

A lot of the leftover customs I have today are pitchers, including Yu Darvish, who came back from a year on the DL and did his best to snap back into it, though it took a while.

AJ Griffin's last great season was with those ragtag Athletics teams of the early part of the decade. He finally had another productive season in Arlington, even if an injury sort of cut out the middle of it.

Another reclamation project by the Rangers, Matt Bush was a draft pick burnout that found new life as a middle-reliever, a decade after being drafted by San Diego. He had a nice season of relief work this year, and hopefully the progress will continue.

It's kind of fitting that a guy named Dyson took over for another guy who sucked.

(rimshot)

Shawn Tolleson had a bad follow-up season, so they brought in Dyson to be an even better closer than he was. Hopefully he'll...not do the same thing that Tolleson did.

Alas, with every bit of hopefulness for 2017, we have to discuss Prince Fielder, who sadly won't be returning to the field next year, or any year, thanks to a pretty nasty neck injury. Great player, had some amazing seasons with Milwaukee, and it's sad he had to end it this way, but...it wasn't looking great for him for a couple years.

Coming Tomorrow- The few salvageable remains of the 2016 Rays.

2015 Home Run Derby: Live Blogged

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN.

HANG ON, LET ME TURN OFF THE CHRIS BERMAN FILTER.

That's better.

Anyway, tonight is the night where hitting as many home runs as possible is encouraged, besides any night where Rubby De La Rosa is pitching. No, it's the Home Run Derby, live from Cincinnati, the city where the new bracket format for the derby is less absurd than putting chili on spaghetti.

Once again, I'll be live-blogging this one, commenting on each batter, trying to predict their run as they come up. It looks like it's gonna be a pretty good one.

In a perfect world, the final round is Albert Pujols vs. Prince Fielder. However, because Chris Berman exists, I know that this is a pretty imperfect world. Anything can happen.

Anthony Rizzo is up first. This is a guy I really enjoy, as I've seen him live. I'll say he'll do well, but not well enough to advance.

PREDICTION: 5 Homers, but he won't beat Donaldson.

Takes him awhile, but he finally gets his first one with a minute-fifteen in. The sad part is he's really being rushed by the limit, and he's not doing a great job. He finally gets his momentum during the third minute, hitting three more homers in that time.

Meanwhile, the whole time, Chris Berman is trying to interview Ken Griffey Jr., but it's taking him forever to get mic'd, and german has to awkwardly keep handing it back to the telecast. Meanwhile, Rizzo hits 3 more.

After his initial seven, Rizzo got a chance to hit some more with 30 extra seconds, which he only got one with. Still, not bad.

FINAL NUMBER: 8 Home Runs. Not too bad, but can Josh Donaldson out-hit him?

Josh Donaldson, no stranger to the Derby, now has to follow those 8 home runs. Before Rizzo had the 8, I thought he'd outhit him easily. Now I don't think that's going to happen.

PREDICTION: 7 Home Runs. Just missing the next round.

Donaldson gets three within his first 30 seconds, so I could be very wrong.

Two minutes in, he's already got 7. They keep cutting to Rizzo, who looks horrified. After 7, he calls a time out, so Donaldson can take a breather for 30 seconds.

With a giant hack in his last 30, Donaldson nabs his ninth, taking out Rizzo and moving to the next round. I severely underestimated this guy. He could win.

Prince is up. I think he's gonna win his third.

PREDICTION: 13 Home Runs, win over Frazier.

Right off the bad, Prince gets 2 homers.

Frazier waltzes out of the dugout by the time Fielder's hit 9 of them. He looks horrified. I feel bad for the guy.

Prince has that kind of swing that I forgot about during his season on the DL last year. He can absolutely mash the ball whenever he wants to.

After the timeout, he hits another huge one, which brings him to ten.

He finishes the regulation time with 12, but hits one more with his extra time.

FINAL NUMBER: 13, RIGHT ON THE MONEY!

Todd Frazier could do some serious damage here. I just don't think he's going to beat out Prince. I could be horribly wrong here.

Prediction: 10 Home Runs.

He hits his first, but he's having trouble in the first minute finding a groove. However, he does manage to hit three in a row right after that, so...he's got something going.

With a little over a minute left, he's got 9. Again, great swing, but I think Prince has this one.

...And right after I type that he hits two gigantic bombs in a row.

Going into the bonus time, Frazier is tied with Fielder, and the crowd is going absolutely apeshit. These guys are crazy for Frazier.

AAAAAND Frazier knocks Fielder out, a huge upset that I didn't even see coming. Happy for him, too.

As much as I ove Machado, I think he's not going to have as good a night as Pederson. I mean, he'll hit a few out, but not a great deal.

PREDICTION: 7. Not bad, but doesn't advance.

FINAL TALLY: 10. For a guy I basically counted out, he did pretty nice.

Joc Pederson is a guy I think is gonna absolutely rock this thing.

PREDICTION: 15. Will be the fave going into the final round.

With half of his time expired, the man has TEN gone already, getting his eleventh a second later. Manny Machado looks so worried.

By the time he finally takes his time out, with 1:30 left, he has 11 home runs. The man is phenomenal.

And with his thirteenth, Joc Pederson advances to the next round. This isn't to discredit Manny, who was pretty damn sharp in his four minutes. But Pederson was explosive.

Kris Bryant is going up against somebody huge, who is gonna be really tough to beat. So he'll be lucky if he gets double digits.

PREDICTION: 9. Pujols should have it.

Two minutes in, he's got 4. Not really expecting too much.

FINAL TALLY: 9 Homers exactly.

 Accept No Substitutes. The guy's gonna be a Hall of Famer in a decade. There's no way he'll disappoint tonight.

PREDICTION: Well, I guess I have to guess 10.

By the time he takes his time out, he has 3. He needs to pick it up.

Pujols hits his tenth with a GIANT MASH, knocking Bryant out, and reaffirming his status as one of the best hitters in baseball.

Donaldson suits up for round two. I don't know if he's gonna beat Frazier, but he's gonna do something big.

PREDICTION: 14. Not too ambitious, right?

FINAL TALLY: 9. Frazier's going to deal with him easily.

Frazier's back up, and he's gonna do some serious damage tonight.

At his timeout, Frazier has 6. He's got the entire crowd on his side.

AND FRAZIER MOVES ONTO THE FINALS, DOING NOTHING TO SHOOSH THE CROWD. AWESOME JOB, MAN!

Pederson against Pujols. Man, this is a tough one to predict.

Let's see how he does.

PREDICTION: 12. Easily.

By his timeout, Pederson has 3. I hope that he's gonna be alright. Hope he didn't peak in the first round.

He has a weak first few minutes, but absolutely comes alive in the fourth, hitting to nine.

FINAL TALLY: TWELVE EXACTLY, hitting three in his extra 30 alone.

And now Pujols get back up there. Can he beat 12? Actually...I think Pederson has this one.

PREDICTION: 10. Just missing it, sadly.

Judging by those first three homers, I might be wrong.

He takes his time-out after 4. He could be close.

Then, with a minute left, and 4 more to go, he begins to lose steam. Finally gets two more in his last twenty seconds.

In the extra thirty, Pujols nabs one more, but it's not enough, sadly. Still, hell of an effort from a great player.

FINAL TWO WILL BE PEDERSON VS. FRAZIER.

Pederson starts the round a bit slow, but finally starts hitting and gets 6 in a row. This guy is freaking insane.

I'm not 100% sure if he's gonna win or not, but wouldn't it be amazing if he did?

The dude has 12 gone with 30 seconds left. Unbelievable.

Joc ends regulation with 13, which is pretty freaking amazing. He ends the 30 second extra period with 14. Frazier is gonna have to work to beat that.

Frazier is going to have to work at it to win, and I'm not 100% sure he's gonna win, now that Joc has put up a phenomenal showing.

I have had enough of Chris Berman yelling "THAAAAT'S THE MAIN HIGHWAY!!"

On his timeout, Frazier has 5. Could he get 9 more in 2:35? Well...

With less than a minute left, Frazier cracks a dozen. A few seconds later he nabs 13.

With 2 seconds left in regulation, Frazier has a monster swing....that stops juuust short of the wall. Now he's got 30 seconds, and chances are he's gonna take it.

AAAAAND TODD FRAZIER HAS WON THE HOME RUN DERBY. CONGRATULATIONS TODD! Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Toms River native, too, so he's semi-local.

THAT was a nice derby. Frazier, Pederson, Pujols and most of the gang had some really nice performances. Still, I'm happy Frazier won it.

TOMORROW- THE ALL STAR GAME! I'll have rosters up before the first pitch.

Custom Card of the Night: Fielder Edition

In 2013, Prince Fielder was one of the best hitters in baseball, getting a bunch of MVP votes and being a part of a semi-triumphant Tigers roster, making it far enough into the playoffs to remain relevant.

In 2014, he fell out of it. He got injured, stopped hitting, and was sort of a non-presence in the MLB. And it was very sad, because Fielder's a great player, he's had a ton of really nice home-run heavy seasons (no pun intended), and I really hate it when somebody like him has a down season.

Well, thankfully he's back to leading the league in some categories, hitting for high average and high RBIs, and hitting a ton of home runs. I don't know how he did it. Maybe he just needed to wait for people to lose hope, and then come back and gain it all back. But either way, it's exciting, and it's really nice to see Fielder back to hitting again.

Coming Tomorrow- Well, the Cardinals are still doing well, so I still have to make customs of them. So here's the pitcher that's making their fans not as outraged about Wainright being out for the season.

Custom Card of the Day: Fielder Edition

As you read this post, I am currently either en route or arriving in Orlando, Florida, ready to spend a well-earned week of vacation in the Happiest Place on Earth.

Sorry I had to betray you guys like that, but come on! It's Disney! You guys would do the same thing!

Anyways, while I'm busy going on Space Mountain as many times as humanly possible, you'll have to deal with these preprogrammed customs from Monday.

This one, thankfully, is a generally big star. Nobody in their right minds thought that Prince Fielder would end up in Arlington. There just seems like there's something, very, very off about that photo. He's too awesome to be wearing that uniform.

But, I guess he is. And I guess he'll be the token 'really good hitter' for the Rangers this year. Which isn't the worst thing in the world, since it's still Prince Fielder. Really fun player no matter what team he's on. But...it just takes the sting out of things if he's for a team I don't particularly love.

I'll learn to deal. He better not be really good against my team though.

Coming Tomorrow- Former San Diego standout, current first baseman on the defending NL West champs. Hell of an incline if you ask me.

Whoa.

Some of the stuff you're going to see this offseason, people will totally see coming. You'll see Brian Wilson land on the A's or something, and some poor fella will be the one to say "called it". Or when Robbie Cano lands somewhere else (hopefully not Detroit or Texas), somebody will say they knew where.

I will be 100% honest in saying that I did not see this coming. In fact, the first time I saw the headline, I thought it was a joke.

Seriously. I knew Kinsler would be going somewhere, but FIELDER? Like, Prince Fielder, who was one of the stars of the Tigers and someone who should have stuck there for longer than two years? I mean, that just hit HARD.

I originally remarked that the Tigers did not even need Fielder, and that somebody who actually needed him should have gotten him. Texas' 1st baseman last season was Mitch Moreland, so you could say then needed a first baseman. So there. Finally came true.

If this is evident of how the offseason's going to be, it's going to be pretty wild.

Custom Card of the Day: Prince Edition

Last year, over the course of two weeks, the Tigers swept, and were swept. Think about that for a second. That's pretty hard to pull off.

You know what else is hard to pull off? Eclipsing your father has most iconic Tigers star named Fielder. True, Cecil made a name for himself in the 90's, but at the rate his son is heading, he might become a much more important Tigers player than his dad.

Last year, Prince Fielder had a tremendous season, his first in Detroit. He got to the World Series, hit numerous homers, and gained the respect of his city who thought he was signed to prevent other people from signing him. In that order.

This year, Prince has a lot more to prove. He needs to prove that he can hit even more home runs, make another All Star Game, and make his old team in Milwaukee feel even worse about themselves. I believe he'll end up accomplishing all three tasks. I don't know about him appearing in another World Series, but you never know.

Coming Tomorrow- The Shortstop. Number Two.

Custom Card of the Day: Prince Edition

All eyes will be on this man in the AL Central. He's the biggest thing to hit Detroit since the last first baseman who landed there, who's now playing third. And I feel like Prince Fielder wasn't even playing for Milwaukee, that so many eyes were on where he'd sign that he wasn't playing for anybody. Now that he's with Detroit, he needs to perform. The Tigers will attempt to repeat the stellar postseason they had last year, and they'll rely on Prince to be the mega-hitter he was for the last six seasons. I just hope for their sake that he improves.

Coming Tomorrow- A Yankee for Opening Day.

Giving up the crown

(I was going to title this "Clown Price of Crime", but I didn't want any Detroit residents to come and kill me.)
So there we go. After a strange and eventful offseason, one of the big guns finally signs a contract, signalling the turning point in the herald of cannonballs. And while everyone thought this bomb would go in one direction, it ended up sailing into Detroit.
The Tigers do not need a first baseman. What they need is a hitter. After Victor Martinez left in a stretcher, they needed to fill a hole. Unfortunately, in filling one hole, they left several others open. For instance, the Tigers already have a first baseman. Miguel, Prince. Prince, Miguel. Perhaps you've heard of him. He's been an excellent player for Detroit ever since he was snatched from Florida.
However, the Tigers saw that there was a star free, and snatched him. Why? Why not?
Fielder is going to end up booting a fine star from his position. Either he will play first and Cabrera will play third, or he will play third. Either way, this does not bode well for the Tigers' current third baseman, who happens to be a long tenured Tiger.
His name is Inge. And he is probably quite pissed off right now.
Which is why I am so dismayed by this deal. The Tigers DO NOT NEED Prince Fielder. Yet the moment they saw no one else had him, they snatched him up in seconds. This infuriates me. Not that any team I give a damn about would want him. And instead of letting someone who actually needed a good first baseman get him, the Tigers swoop in. Now, what do they do if they trade Brandon Inge, and Cabrera gets hurt. Whose fault will that be?
Again, I could be wrong. Prince could be a hit, or he could be Mo Vaughn 2.0. You really never know.

Custom Card of the Day: Fielder Edition

And finally, we come to the last of the customs I made for the New Hampshire vacation last week. I know, I kinda got carried away in the whole contest thing, but here's the final one, before the ones I've been making this week start.

I've spoken of this factor a few times before, but I wanna go over it again, just to make a point. There's a labored "disease" in the MLB known as "Mo Vaughn's Disease", where a perfectly good, and perfectly big, first baseman will start his career being good for hits, and end his career as a slobby fat guy who can't even play his position. This happened to Mo Vaughn, and I feel very sorry for the man. There is the matter of Prince Fielder, who I'm hoping will not fall victim to this disease of sorts. He is very large, you see. An uneducated human being would estimate that the weight has come from tons of cheeseburgers, but uneducated human beings don't know that Prince is a vegetarian. And if so, he's doing a very bad job of it.

He's still a great hitter, there is no doubt. But there may come a time when he'll filter out due to being too big. And I hope for all of Milwaukee's sake that that never occurs.

Coming Tomorrow: Because I haven't posted a White Sox all year, the first of two debuts tomorrow. And it's a quick one.