First off, thank you everyone for the tremendous welcome! I already have a few followers and gotten some encouraging feedback.
I'm still not sure where I'm going to take this blog so bear with me. I'm a numbers guy so the statistics on the backs have always intrigued me. My collection right now consists of a ton of late 1980s stuff and some from the past few years. The sets might seem a little monotonous at first but I'll try to switch things up as much as possible. Thanks for your patience. Also, I'm more than willing to listen to any feedback from you more experienced bloggers.
For the most part, I will feature Topps cards as that is where the phrase League Leader in Italics came from. But I have noticed that Donruss made league leader notations as well, at least for a little while so maybe I can switch things up a bit here and there. I'm also lean towards the underdog so I hope to feature some of the lesser known league leaders more prominently. No offense to the perennial leaders though.
Right out of the gate, I have a 1986 Topps card of Tim Burke.
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| #258 Tim Burke |
Tim Burke was a rookie with the Montreal Expos in 1985 and led the National League in appearances for a pitcher with 78. He was actually second in the Major's behind American League leader, Dan Quisenberry, who had 84.
I have no idea how often it happens but I am pretty impressed with being a League Leader in a fairly major category while just a rookie. The brass in Montreal must have seen something in Burke because in previous minor league seasons he was a starter but only started two games in his Major League career
A quick look at his
Baseball-Reference page shows this was the only time Burke was a league leader, although he did manage to score an All-Star appearance in 1989. He gave up two hits and struck out one over two scoreless innings.
This blog is mostly about the statistics on the backs, but here's the card front for those who prefer pretty pictures:
