Sharing the Spotlight - Cesar, Shawn and Brett

Occasionally I show cards which feature other players besides Tony, sharing the spotlight with him. Here are three examples.

Card Number 338, Fleer Ultra, 2002; #236

In 2002 Fleer finished off their base Ultra set with a series that paired a star name with a young player starting out. Tony was paired with Cesar Crespo.

There's a poignancy on the back as they predict bright things for Cesar. As is often the case with baseball card predictions, this didn't come true. The 2001 season was one of the few where Cesar made any Major League appearances. His 55 games for the Padres was his most in a season in MLB, so by the time this card was published his career had already peaked.

However, there are two things that Cesar did manage to do, that Tony didn't. Firstly, he hit a home run while playing against the Giants on 7 June 2001 - and his older brother, Felipe, who was playing for the Giants hit a home run as well! I don't think Tony and Chris Gwynn managed that if they played against each other.

Another way in which Cesar outdid Tony, is that he collected a World Series ring. He was in the Boston Red Sox organisation when they finally broke the 86 year curse and won the World Series in 2004. He didn't play in the latter half of the season, or the post-season, but he got a ring! That was his last year in Major League Baseball before returning to the minor leagues and other competitions.

It's no fault of Cesar's, but I'm going to ding this card for having '2001' prominently under the Fleer logo, in the 2002 set. That's just not helpful!

Card Number 339: Skybox Dominion - Double Play insert, 2000; #DP8

Skybox was a Fleer brand. There were 10 cards in this insert series. The front is foil and didn't scan well. 

Just to prove that I'm not just terrible at scanning, here's a poor quality photo as well.

It's a very shiny card. 

The conceit of the Double Play inserts, is that they had a different player on the back. In this case it was Shawn Green who is wearing a Blur Jays uniform even though the card proclaims he had been "Traded to Dodgers".

"Traded to" used to feature on baseball cards back in the 70s and 80s when a player had switched teams and the card company hadn't updated their photo library. This is a very late occurrence of the phrase on a card. I'm intrigued to know if there has been one this side of the year 2000. Because the back of this card isn't foil it scans much better than Tony's side.

Shawn spent four years at the Dodgers, during which time he racked up several major league records. He once hit 4 home runs in a game and with a fifth hit, recorded 19 "total bases" in one game. That's still a record. His notable Major League career came to an end after the 2007 season, but in 2013 he came out of retirement to coach and play for the Israel team in the World Baseball Classic. (His Wikipedia page is worth a quick read) 

On a sad note, although two of his bats are on display in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, Shawn won't be getting a plaque in the Hall. He dropped off the ballot in his first year of eligibility as he didn't record the minimum required number of votes. I feel that's wrong. He should at least still be eligible.

Card Number 340: DonRuss Limited, 1997; #91

Most of the cards in this set were double-sided with a different player on each side. the pairings were listed as "Counterparts", "Unlimited Talent", "Double Team" (when both players were from the same team), and some players had their own "Star Factor" cards which they didn't share with anyone. Tony had a "Star Factor" card and an "Unlimited Talent" card in the set, but the one I'm showing here is his "Counterparts" card, which he shared with Brett Butler.

It's another shiny card. I like the baseball looming in the background, even though it brings to mind Indiana Jones running away from the boulder.

This is another card where Tony is paired up with a Dodger - behold a bunting Brett Butler. 

This is another card where the reverse scans better than the front. You can really see that giant baseball rolling towards the player!

A few weeks ago, Jeff at Wax Pack Wonders blogged about the "Lesser Knowns" - baseball players with the more famous namesakes. Brett is in this category as he shares his name with the actress from the comedy Grace Under Fire, which was airing on TV while this Brett Butler was playing baseball in the mid-90s. 

The Dodgers were the last of the five major league teams Brett played for in his career. As a fun fact, in 1984, Brett was the very first batter to face Hall of Fame pitcher Roger Clemens in the Major Leagues. Brett earned an All Star spot in 1991 when he led the National League in runs and walks. In 1996 he received treatment for cancer before returning to play a final season in 1997. 

It's been real fun putting these players under the spotlight with Tony in this post. I hope you've enjoyed reading about them.

Total: 340/394