#437 Chris Hammond

About the Front: That's not the yawning abyss behind Chris Hammond; it's probably just the batter's eye.

About the Back: Hammond hit that home run off of John Burkett; it was a two-run shot in the bottom of the fourth that gave Cincinnati a 4-3 lead. He was no slouch with the bat, finishing his career with a line of .202/.285/.290, four homers, and 14 RBI in 286 plate appearances.

Triple Play:

1. His older brother Steve was an outfielder, and batted .230 with one home run and 11 RBI in 46 games with the Royals in 1982. The elder Hammond spent a large part of seven different seasons in AAA, and finished his career in Japan in 1987 with the Nankai Hawks.

2. Chris was the AAA American Association's Pitcher of the Year in 1990, when he led the league with 15 wins, a 2.17 ERA, and 149 strikeouts, becoming the first pitcher in the league's modern incarnation (1969-1997) to capture the Triple Crown.

3. Hammond had shoulder surgery in 1998 and retired to a 200+ acre horse ranch in Randolph County, AL with his family. He returned to baseball in 2001 and was back in the big leagues the following year as a full-time reliever, with a sparkling 0.96 ERA in 76 innings for the Braves. He spent one season apiece with Atlanta, the Yankees, the Athletics, the Padres, and the Reds before retiring for good after the 2006 season.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: I always identify Chris Hammond as a Marlin, since that's where he was pitching when I picked up on baseball.

Bill James Said: "He was pounded senseless the second half, which has been his habit - in his career he is 22-14 before the break, but 3-17 after."

On This Date in 1993: June 11. The Blue Jays fill a need at shortstop, reacquiring Tony Fernandez from the Mets in exchange for outfielder Darrin Jackson. Fernandez, who had been a three-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glover in his first stint with Toronto (1983-1990), is invigorated by the trade, batting .306/.361/.442 with the Jays. He'd managed an anemic .225/.323/.295 line in 48 games in New York.

#436 Greg (W.) Harris

About the Front: Greg Harris is wearing a patch on his left sleeve to commemorate the 1992 All-Star Game, which was played in San Diego's Jack Murphy Stadium.

About the Back: The 11-strikeout game for Harris on September 25, 1988 came in his second MLB apperarance and first start. It was also the only double-digit strikeout game of his career; his next-highest total in K's was eight.

Triple Play:

1. On August 10 and August 15, 1991, he pitched back-to-back shutouts, winning each by a score of 1-0. These were the only two shuouts of his career.

2. Greg's career truly ran aground after a mid-1993 trade to the Rockies. From that point forward, he went 4-25 with a 6.90 ERA for Colorado and Minnesota, and he was 31 years old when he pitched in his last MLB game for the Twins in 1995.

3. In 1999, Harris won a multimillion-dollar verdict against former surgeon Gary Losse, having successfully argued that the doctor botched his shoulder surgery and prematurely ended his career.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: Lesson #2 in keeping the pitching Gregs Harris straight. Greg W. Harris is three inches taller, fifteen pounds heavier, eight years younger, and more clean-shaven than Greg A. Harris.

Bill James Said: "Harris led the league in runs allowed (127), home runs (33), and slugging percentage (.455), but Greg Maddux would have a hard time posting a good record for this team in this park."

On This Date in 1993: June 10. I haven't done a Calvin and Hobbes strip in a while. I bet Calvin's dad would have hated smart phones.

#435 Willie McGee

About the Front: That's a pretty unusual stance for catching a fly ball. It almost looks like Willie McGee is slightly crouched, as if he were preparing to jump. He's clearly playing at Wrigley Field, so I guess a gust of wind could have carried the ball off-course.

About the Back: As you can see, Willie won an unconventional National League batting title in 1990. He was traded to Oakland at the end of August, but had already accumulated enough appearances in St. Louis to qualify for the N.L. crown. So despite the fact that his .274 average in the American League lowered his overall mark to .324, lower than Eddie Murray's .330 average with the Dodgers, McGee was still the top hitter in the senior circuit. Clear as mud?

Triple Play:

1. He won three Gold Gloves as the Cardinals' center fielder (1983, 1985, and 1986), captured a Silver Slugger award in 1985, and was also the 1985 N.L. MVP.

2. McGee finished his career back in St. Louis, spanning the 1996 through 1999 seasons. In a notable moment on April 8, 1997, he hit a walkoff pinch homer against Montreal's Ugueth Urbina in the bottom of the ninth inning of the Cards' home opener. Not only was it the first game-ending home run of his career, it gave St. Louis their first win after a season-opening six-game losing skid.

3. Willie has been a special assistant to Cardinals' GM John Mozeliak since 2013. Last year, he was inducted into the team's Hall of Fame.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: It's kind of inspiring that somebody so strange-looking could be such a successful athlete. Still, it seems mean-spirited for folks to say that he looks like E.T.

Bill James Said: "Hit 3.5 times as many ground balls as fly balls, the highest ratio in the major leagues by far (253-73)."

On This Date in 1993: June 9. Lefty Terry Mulholland shuts out the Astros as the Phillies win 8-0. It's the third straight complete game for the veteran, who allows six hits and no walks and strikes out nine. Philly batters club four home runs, and Jim Eisenreich finishes a single shy of hitting for the cycle.

#434 Jack Armstrong

About the Front: You don't see many major leaguers wearing #77, but Jack Armstrong donned those digits with the Indians, Marlins, and Rangers in the later years of his career. His birthday was the seventh day of March, leading him to choose that number doubled with Cleveland when he couldn't find a lower available number that appealed to him.

About the Back: Armstrong is one of the more obscure All-Star starting pitchers. He had gone 11-3 with a 2.28 ERA in the first half of the 1990 season, but slumped to 1-6 with a 5.96 mark and was demoted to the bullpen after the break.

Triple Play:

1. His son, Jack Jr., pitched collegiately at Vanderbilt and was a third-round draft pick of the Astros in 2011. However, recurring arm injuries prevented him from ever playing a game in the minors, and the younger Armstrong retired in 2014.

2. Jack's lone postseason appearance came in the second game of the 1990 World Series. He entered in the fifth inning and held Oakland to one hit in three scoreless innings, striking out three. The Reds pulled out the victory in the tenth.

3. He suffered a torn rotator cuff early in the 1994 season, hastening the end of his career.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: It would've been pretty ironic if Jack Armstrong had been a knuckleball pitcher, right? Right?

Bill James Said: "He's 22-45 over the last three years, which qualifies him as the Losing Pitcher Mulcahy of the nineties." If you're not up on your WWII-era players, Hugh Mulcahy went 40-76 for the woeful Phillies from 1937 through 1940, twice leading the National League in losses.

On This Date in 1993: June 8. Japan's Chunichi Dragons purchase the contract of Matt Stairs from the Expos. The 25-year-old outfielder will play 60 games overseas, batting .250/.289/.432 with six home runs. Stairs will return to the majors with Boston in 1995 and hung around until 2011, retiring with 265 career homers.

#433 Roger Bailey and Tom Schmidt

About the Front: Topps wanted to cram just as many Rockies and Marlins into Series Two as they possibly could, so this is the first of several two-player cards featuring minor leaguers from the two brand new organizations. Dig the casual look from Roger Bailey, as the photographer seems to have captured him on a stroll through the local park.

About the Back: Since space was at a premium, Topps chose not to include draft and acquistion information on the card backs. Otherwise, you'd learn that Bailey was the team's third-round draft pick in 1992 out of Florida State University. Schmidt was a 24th-rounder that year out of Brevard Community College in Florida.

Triple Play:

1. Bailey pitched for the Rockies from 1995-1997. Considering that he was making his home starts at Coors Field, his 1997 season (9-10, 4.24 ERA, 5 CG, 121 ERA+) was pretty impressive.

2. Roger's career ended abruptly in the spring of 1998, when he suffered back injuries as a passenger in teammate Mike Munoz's car; they were rear-ended at a red light in Tucson. He later worked as an advance scout for Colorado for four years.

3. Schmidt played six seasons of minor league ball, stalling out at AA, and finished with a career batting line of .238/.308/.378, 61 home runs, and 277 RBI.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: Hey, I know where Towson and Perry Hall are! In the future, I may even live smack in the middle of the two.

Bill James Said: Nothing, as both players were still in the low minors at the time.

On This Date in 1993: June 5. In Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England, portions of the Holbeck Hall Hotel fall into the sea after a landslide. The entire hotel had to be demolished after the incident.

#432 Pete Young

About the Front: I think this is the only Expos card in the set that features an "Expos" wordmark across the front of the jersey. Montreal switched to these uniforms in 1992, ditching their classic tri-color hat, but all of their other cards in this set show players in their road grays. I guess Topps didn't want to pay their photographers to travel to Quebec.

About the Back: I bet you didn't expect Pistol Pete Maravich to pop up in this set.

Triple Play:

1. Pete pitched collegiately at Mississippi State University. Some of the most prominent MSU Bulldogs to play in the majors include Rafael Palmeiro, Will Clark, Buddy Myer, Del Unser, and Jonathan Papelbon.

2. He earned his only career win on July 10, 1993, tossing a perfect ninth inning with the Expos trailing the Padres 2-1. San Diego reliever Gene Harris blew the save, allowing a pair of singles and three stolen bases. After a pair of intentional walks, Moises Alou drew the (unintentional) walkoff walk to seal the comeback.

3. Young was purchased by the Red Sox in February of 1994 along with Matt Stairs, but spent that entire season in the minors - mostly at AA New Britain - and was finished in pro ball after that.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: I should tally up all of the guys in this set who were one-and-done; i.e., their only Topps card was a part of the 1993 set. By my count, we're up to 24 such players as of this entry.

Bill James Said: "Grade C prospect, throws an OK fastball and a good slider."

On This Date in 1993: June 4. Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain is taken to jail after a domestic dispute with wife Courtney Love, but no charges are filed.

#431 Rich Amaral

About the Front: Is it just me, or does Rich Amaral look like a weathered Jimmy Smits?

About the Back: Three years seems like an awfully long time to spend in Pittsfield, MA. That was the Cubs' AA affiliate at the time. If not for the White Sox drafting Amaral in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft, he may well have spent a fourth year there. Instead, Rich played for the Pale Hose AA club in Birmingham in 1989.

Triple Play:

1. Amaral still qualified as a rookie in 1993 at age 31, when he batted .290/.348/.367 with 19 stolen bases in 30 tries for Seattle. His 421 plate appearances that year would remain a career high.

2. In a big league career that spanned 10 seasons with the Mariners and Orioles, Rich played at least 40 games at every position except for pitcher and catcher.

3. He and his son Beau both starred collegiately for UCLA's baseball team. The younger Amaral was a seventh-round draft pick with the Reds in 2012, and is currently an outfielder at AA Pensacola.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: Rich "Protect Your Car With" Amaral. I can only imagine the useful facts that might have been crowded out of my brain by Chris Berman nicknames.

Bill James Said: "Most backup infielders are good glove/no hit guys who can also run; Amaral is a better hitter than most middle infielders and can also steal bases, but his glovework kept him out of a job until last year."

On This Date in 1993: June 3. Draft time! The Mariners choose wisely with the first overall pick, taking a high school shortstop from Miami named Alex Rodriguez. Other notable first round selections include Trot Nixon (7th overall), Billy Wagner (12th), Derrek Lee (14th), Chris Carpenter (15th), Torii Hunter (20th), and Jason Varitek (21st). The Twins take Hunter and Varitek with back-to-back picks, but are unable to reach an agreement with the latter, a Scott Boras client.

#430 Eddie Murray

About the Front: If anyone could have made the afro-wide sideburns-mustache combo work in the 1990s, it would've been Eddie Murray. But he'd trimmed everything down into a more contemporary look by then. Alas.

About the Back: Would you have believed that Eddie Murray's single-season high in home runs was 33? Lesser lights like Steve Balboni reached the 35-homer mark, but not Eddie.

Triple Play:

1. In the Orioles' Game Five World Series clincher in 1983, he went 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs and three RBI.

2. Eddie was the third player in MLB history to reach the dual career milestones of 500 home runs and 3,000 hits, joining Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. He was the 1977 AL Rookie of the Year, an eight-time All-Star, and a three-time Gold Glover at first base. However, despite finishing in the top five in MVP voting for five consecutive years (1981-1985), he never captured a Most Valuable Player award.

3. Murray was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2003, and the Orioles have retired his number 33 and dedicated a statue in his likeness at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. After his retirement as a player in 1997, he went on to coach for the O's, Dodgers, and Indians.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: As someone who missed out on Eddie's prime, it was a thrill to see him return to Baltimore for the 1996 stretch run. He hit his 500th home run in Camden Yards on the first anniversary of Cal Ripken's 2,131st consecutive game played, which is just too cool for words.

Bill James Said: "Has aged exceptionally well, being about 88% as effective in his late thirties as he was in his twenties." They didn't call him Steady Eddie for nothing.

On This Date in 1993: June 2. Jason Bere earns his first career win as the White Sox trample the Tigers, 10-1. The 22-year-old allows four hits and four walks in five innings, and is supported by home runs from Joey Cora, Robin Ventura, and Ron Karkovice. Karko's first inning grand slam is the first of two dingers on the evening for the veteran catcher.

#429 Milt Cuyler

First of all, I'm sorry for the two-week hiatus. I was travelling...and then recovering from travel. Let's get back to Series Two.

About the Front: Milt Cuyler wears his uniform number (22) on his wristbands. That's a good way to keep teammates from wandering off with your equipment.

About the Back: Cuyler had only ten career home runs, but drove in 21 runs on those round-trippers. That's getting the most out of it.

Triple Play:

1. Milt finished fifth in the American League in stolen bases in 1991, and was third in Rookie of the Year voting behind Chuck Knoblauch and Juan Guzman. However, he never exceeded 89 games played in any subsequent big league season, and his career was essentially over after a 50-game stint in Boston in 1996.

2. On May 11, 1993, he set the tone for a 12-7 Tigers win over Toronto with a career-high four hits in six at-bats from the leadoff spot, including a double and a triple. He scored three runs and stole a base.

3. Cuyler has spent several years coaching rookie-level hitters with the Twins' Gulf Coast League affiliate.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: Milt may have shared a last name with Hall of Famer Kiki Cuyler, but he finished his career with 1,970 less hits.

Bill James Said: "Appears to be suffering from Jerome Walton's Disease; played very well as a rookie but has failed to hold his ground."

On This Date in 1993: June 1. The Expos sign 18-year-old Orlando Cabrera as an amateur free agent from Colombia. He will go on to enjoy a 15-year career as a big league shortstop, winning a pair of Gold Gloves as well as a World Series ring with the 2004 Red Sox.