#395 Jim McNamara (Gold)

About the Front: I wonder how much that eye black helps when you're looking straight up into the sun, without even the brim of a cap to deflect the rays.

About the Back: Prior to his scouting career, Jim Fairey was an outfielder for the Dodgers and the Expos (1968-1973), batting .235/.279/.317.

Triple Play:

1. On April 17, 1992, McNamara went 3-for-3 with a walk, a home run, and four RBI in just his third career game. It was his only three-hit game and his only round-tripper in the major leagues.

2. He collected one hit in four career at-bats against Greg Maddux. That's more than Felix Jose, Greg Colbrunn, Matt Franco, and Bob Melvin can say, and they each faced Maddux at least ten times.

3. Jim is now a player agent, having founded the McNamara Baseball Group.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: Like Bernardo Brito before him, Jim's only Topps card is a parallel insert. I probably would've thought that was as cool when I was a kid as I do today.

Bill James Said: "McNamara, who wouldn't be considered a good-hitting pitcher if he was a pitcher, is a backup catcher at Phoenix who somehow got into a few major league games." Indeed, Jim had a .591 OPS in nine minor league seasons, and his four-game cup of coffee with the Giants in 1993 (1-for-7 at the bat) was the coda on his MLB experience.

On This Date in 1993: March 24. The comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 is discovered. In July 1994, it will break apart and collide with Jupiter.

#394 Bernardo Brito (Gold)

 About the Front: So here we are, the first of the fringe players who had the honor of replacing the checklist cards in the Gold parallel set. Bernardo Brito looks every bit the 28-year-old rookie he was, having endured a dozen pro seasons and over 1200 minor league games before getting his first taste of the big leagues.

About the Back: Bernardo seemingly spent more time in Portland than Clyde Drexler, logging five straight seasons with the Twins' AAA club (including 1993).

Triple Play:

1. He won six minor league home run titles, leading the New York-Penn League (1984), Midwest League (1985), Eastern League (1986, 1987), and Pacific Coast League (1990, 1991). In all, he hit 295 home runs in 16 minor league seasons.

2. Brito hit four of his five big league homers in a 27-game stint in Minnesota in 1993, including two in consecutive at-bats against Oakland's Mike Mohler on August 15.

3. Bernardo spent half the 1995 season and all of 1996 with Japan's Nippon Ham Fighters, blasting a total of 50 home runs in 182 games and batting .272/.353/.525.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: I never saw this card as a kid. When I was first getting back into collecting in 2007, I bought some bargain-priced early 1990s packs from a hobby store on my way home from work one day and grabbed a pack of 1993 Topps for old time's sake. I certainly didn't expect to find Bernardo, but there he was, filling a long-forgotten hole in the set.

Bill James Said: "Has poor plate discipline and is a butcher in the field, but could help a team as a righthanded DH or pinch hitter if he got a manager who could pick his spots and live with the strikeouts."

On This Date in 1993: March 23. Indians pitchers Tim Crews and Steve Olin are killed in a boating accident on Little Lake Nellie in Clermont, FL, as Crews strikes a pier at dusk. Fellow pitcher Bob Ojeda suffers major lacerations to the head, but survives and recovers.