#150 Frank Thomas

About the Front: The Big Hurt with eye black and three black bats, smiling brightly in front of an impossibly blue sky. This was a great card to have in your grubby hands in 1993. I'm glad my posting schedule got drawn out long enough that I could slap the "Hall of Famer" tag on Frank Thomas, who was a first-ballot selection by the BBWAA earlier this month.

About the Back: How powerful was Frank? There were a dozen seasons in which he surpassed the 24 homers he hit in 1992.

Triple Play:

1. He won back-to-back MVP awards in 1993 and 1994, when he batted .332/.453/.658 (193 OPS+!) with 79 home runs and 229 RBI...and lost 50 or so games to the season-ending strike in the latter year.

2. Thomas had 33 multi-HR games, including a pair of three-homer games against Boston that came 11 years apart. Tim Wakefield started both games and allowed five of the six round-trippers, with Kyle Snyder surrendering the other.

3. Frank's short acting resume includes cameos in the Tom Selleck movie Mr. Baseball and on the sitcom Married with Children.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: Ken Griffey, Jr. may have been the coolest player when I was younger, but Frank Thomas was the biggest badass. He was made to wear that black-and-white-and-gray White Sox uniform. I was thrilled when I got to wear his (and Mike Mussina's) number 35 in Little League. Not that I ever hit like Frank...

Bill James Said: "Frank was the first player since Ted Kluszewski in 1954 to hit 40 homers and also have twice as many walks as strikeouts." FYI, that's 41 HR, 112 BB, and 54 K for Thomas.

On This Day in 1993: January 28. Don't touch the Hot Stove unless you want to get burned! The Brewers sign free agent outfielder Tom Brunansky.

#149 Rheal Cormier

About the Front: Believe it or not, Rheal Cormier is the only "Rheal" in MLB history.

About the Back: "I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay..." Between this and Steve Wilson's love of hockey, it seems like Topps was seeking out the most stereotypical tidbits it could find for Canadian-born players.

Triple Play:

1. Cormier had a career year as a lefty reliever with the Phillies in 2003, totaling 84.2 innings in 65 appearances with a scant 1.70 ERA and 0.93 WHIP and vulturing a few wins to finish 8-0.

2. After making his last big league appearance with the Reds on April 18, 2007, Rheal came back to pitch for the Canadian team in the 2008 Summer Olympics. He had also pitched for Canada in the 1988 Olympics, back when baseball was a demonstration sport. At 41, he was oldest Olympic baseball player in 2008.

3. He was selected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: I don't remember exactly when I learned that "Rheal" was a two-syllable name (think Real Madrid rather than Real Housewives), but it was another example of baseball exposing me to foreign cultures.

Bill James Said: "He's had trouble staying 100% healthy and hasn't pitched well when he's not 100%, but I like him."

On This Date in 1993: January 27. American-born Akebono Taro becomes the first non-Japanese sumo wrestler to achieve the sport's top rank of yokozuna.

#148 Steve Finley

About the Front: Steve Finley is turned in such a way that you can follow the thick navy blue piping all the way from his armpit down to his ankle. It's a shame that it doesn't quite line up right with the stirrup sock.

About the Back: "Acq.: Trade." Eight little letters, but so insidious. That would be THE Glenn Davis trade, which I've moaned about numerous times on my own blog and will discuss again here when we touch upon the other persons involved (Pete Harnisch, Curt Schilling, and Davis). Ugh.

Triple Play:

1. Do you like cherry-picked stats? Here's a fun one: Only two players in MLB history have totaled 300 home runs, 425 doubles, 100 triples, and 300 steals. They are Steve Finley and Willie Mays.

2. I've always loved guys that played forever. Old age trivia! Finley is the oldest player to lead his league in triples (an NL-high 10 in 2003 at age 38), and to play 100 games in center field (where he saw action in 130 games at age 41 with the 2006 Giants). On April 8, 2006, Steve was one-third of the oldest starting outfield in major league history along with left fielder Barry Bonds (age 41) and right fielder Moises Alou (age 39).

3. Steve and former teammate Brady Anderson are brothers in-law.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: As a relatively-new Orioles fan in 1993, I already had the sense that the blockbuster that sent Finley, Harnisch, and Schilling to Houston for Glenn Davis was a disaster. Little did I know that those three would combine for 36 more big league seasons from that point forward. Finley was productive through 2004, when he slugged .490 with 36 homers, and Schilling was a quality starter up through his injury-shortened final year of 2007.

Bill James Said: "A Brett Butler-type player, hits the ball harder than Butler, doesn't bunt as much or walk as much, but fast, durable, a good center fielder and a pretty good base stealer." By 1996, Steve was hitting the ball MUCH harder than Butler.

On This Date in 1993: January 24. In Turkey, thousands protest the murder of investigative journalist Ugur Mumcu. He was killed outside his home by a car bomb that had been rigged to detonate when he stared his car. The murder is still unsolved, but there are several theorized assassins, including the CIA, the Turkish deep state and armed forces, Counter-Guerilla, and Kurdish forces.

#147 Bryan Hickerson

About the Front: "Now pitching, number 41..." Other notable 41s in Giants history: Matty Alou, Darrell Evans, and Jeremy Affeldt.

About the Back: Bryan obviously went back to UM to finish his degree after being drafted. Good for him.

Triple Play:

1. He earned his first MLB win in his first start, blanking the Cardinals for seven innings on three hits on August 31, 1991.

2. Bryan's career ran aground in Colorado in 1995, probably because he was a pitcher trying to work in Denver. In 18 appearances totaling 16.2 innings, he gave up 24 runs (22 earned), 33 hits, and 13 walks. That's a tidy 11.88 ERA and 2.76 WHIP.

3. He and his wife Jo have been active in UPI: Unlimited Potential Inc., a baseball-themed Christian ministry.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: So many of these guys aren't much more than a name to me. "Bryan Hickerson" sounded too nerdy to be a pro athlete...says somebody with an oddball name of his own.

Bill James Said: "He's a lefthander, and righthanded batters hit .307 against him." But he held lefties to a .551 OPS in 121 plate appearances, making him useful in his swingman role.

On This Date in 1993: January 23. Mike Kingery, who first signed with the Royals as an undrafted free agent in 1979 and spent the first seven years of his pro career in the Kansas City organization, returns to K.C. as a free agent. He will spend the entire 1993 season at AAA Omaha and then sign with the Rockies. In Colorado, he will finish third in the 1994 National League batting average race, hitting .349.

#146 Scott Leius

About the Front: This seems like an unusual bodily contortion for catching a popup, but a similar photo appears on Scott Leius' 1993 Upper Deck card. Maybe legs-crossed was just his style. You'll also notice Scott Erickson photo-bombing here.

About the Back: Scott was not known for his power, World Series heroics notwithstanding. However, he did hit a surprising 14 longballs in just 97 games in 1994, accounting for half of his career total.

Triple Play:

1. His first career home run came off of Jim Abbott on September 10, 1990, and it accounted for Minnesota's only run despite the club's total of 11 hits. The Twins were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and lost 3-1.

2. Scott probably wishes he could have faced Bill Wegman more often. He batted .526/.550/.842 in 20 trips to the plate against the Milwaukee righthander.

3. He has instructed children and teenagers at former teammate Dan Gladden's Big League Baseball Camp.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: "Leius" was a name that I rolled around in my head a lot as a kid. It was as if a terrible speller had corrupted the name "Lewis".

Bill James Said: "Started off the year as the Twins shortstop, but went down quickly with a torn rotator cuff." Scott played only 10 games in 1993, as it turned out.

On This Date in 1993: January 22. Japanese playwright, photographer, and inventor Kobo Abe passed away at age 68 due to acute heart failure.

#145 Eric Young

About the Front: EY just got bipped, kids! Once again, I've used my mystical powers (of box-score reading) to determine that this photo was taken on August 13, 1992. Bip Roberts singled twice, but was  wiped out on the basepaths both times by Reggie Sanders grounders to short. The Dodgers won 4-3 on a Henry Rodriguez RBI double in the ninth.

About the Back: Also drafted in the 43rd round in 1989: Jorge Posada by the Yankees (did not sign, but New York got him in the 24th round in 1990) and Jason Giambi by the Brewers (did not sign, wound up being taken in the 2nd round by Oakland in 1992).

Triple Play:

1. Eric stole 465 bases in a 15-year career, 45th all-time. However, he was also caught 168 times, 17th-most in history.

2. On June 30, 1996, Young tied a big league record with six stolen bases in a wild 16-15 Colorado win over the Dodgers. In the bottom of the third inning, he swiped second, third, and home against the battery of Hideo Nomo and Mike Piazza.

3. His son Eric Jr. has played for the Rockies and Mets in an MLB career that began in 2009. He was the National League's leading base stealer in 2013 with 46 thefts.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: I would've been surprised to learn that a guy who had a rookie card in the 1993 Topps set also had a son who was the same age as my kid sister.

Bill James Said: "Brett Butler-type hitter but righthanded, could draw 100 walks and steal 50 bases." He topped 50 steals three times, but maxed out at 63 walks...and did that three times as well. Odd.

On This Date in 1993: January 21. Hall of Fame second baseman Charlie Gehringer, who batted .320/.404/.480 in a 19-year career with the Tigers, passes away at age 89 a month after suffering a stroke.

#144 Kent Mercker

About the Front: That is one of the most terrifying cases of pitcherface that I have ever seen. Kent Mercker looks like he is in agony.

About the Back: Though Kent was starring for the Durham Bulls the same year that Bull Durham was released, he didn't have much in common with the film's wild-armed phenom Nuke LaLoosh. Mercker walked 47 batters in 127.2 innings while striking out 159.

Triple Play:

1. In his first start of the 1994 season, he no-hit the Dodgers, totaling four walks and ten strikeouts. Mike Piazza whiffed three times.

2. Mercker hit one career home run in 282 plate appearances, but it was a grand slam off of Florida's Jesus Sanchez on September 2, 1998, fueling a 14-4 Cardinals win.

3. Kent was one of several Cubs players who was rubbed the wrong way by broadcaster and ex-pitcher Steve Stone's criticisms during the 2004 season. The lefty even called the booth once in midgame to complain.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: A few years down the road, Mercker's name became mud for me. He joined the Orioles in 1996 for a putrid 14-game stint that included a 7.76 ERA and 1.86 WHIP. Mercifully, the O's unloaded him on the Indians in the deal that brought Eddie Murray back to Baltimore.

Bill James Said: "A lefthander with a smoking fastball and a good curve, Mercker shot through the minor leagues, but has had some trouble establishing himself in the majors, blowing several opportunities to become the Braves' closer."

On This Date in 1993: January 19. The Czech Republic and Slovakia join the United Nations.

#143 Jeff Huson

About the Front: I know in an instant that the Rangers are visiting the Orioles. When Camden Yards first opened, one of its many retro touches was a Maryland Lottery ad on the right-center field fence that urged players to "Hit It Here". The I in "IT" and the H in "HERE" are visible behind Jeff Huson.

About the Back: I'm guessing that the Rangers' rookie class of 1990 was not a bumper crop if an infielder with a .600 OPS was their top freshman.

Triple Play:

1. Huson was Texas' shortstop for both Nolan Ryan's sixth and seventh no-hitters. In the former, he preserved the no-no with one out in the ninth inning by charging a slow roller by Rickey Henderson and gunning out the all-time steals leader by a step at first base.

2. Jeff was the Orioles' starting third baseman on September 6, 1995, when Cal Ripken started his record-breaking 2,131st consecutive game. That might help you win a trivia contest some day.

3. He is currently a commentator on Root Sports' TV broadcasts of Rockies games.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: I'm sure that my feelings of nostalgia over the "Hit It Here" sign are largely tied to the Hardball III PC game that I played to death. It had 16-bit renderings of the MLB ballparks, including the then-new Oriole Park at Camden Yards...complete with that sign.

Bill James Said: "Huson's 1993 season was destroyed by a broken toe, which he tried to come back from too quickly and re-injured."

On This Date in 1993: January 16. Windsor Castle is reopened only two months after a fire swept through the historical British landmark.

#142 Charlie Hayes

About the Front: Charlie Hayes' fatal flaw as a third baseman was his tendency to do his impression of a velociraptor at inappropriate times.

About the Back: What kind of dancing? Ballroom, tap, jazz, breakdancing? You have simply got to be more thorough, Topps.

Triple Play:

1. Hayes was the second player chosen by the Rockies in the 1993 Expansion Draft. He rewarded the club with a career year: .305/.355/.522, 25 home runs, 98 RBI, and a league-leading 45 doubles.

2. Charlie played for seven different teams, and had return stints with three of them: the Giants, Yankees, and Phillies.

3. His son Tyree pitched in the minors for six years in the Rays and Reds organizations, never reaching AA.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: I'm going to let my friend Mikey pinch-hit here. He grew up in New Jersey as a Yankee fan, and though we didn't meet until college, he referred to Hayes as "Chuck E. Cheese" whenever the name came up. I assume that's a relic from childhood.

Bill James Said: "Maybe they should trade him again; he seems to get 10 percent better every time he is traded."

On This Date in 1993: January 15. Mafia boss Salvatore "the Beast" Riina, is arrested in Sicily after 23 years as a fugitive.