Random Jay Monday: '92 UD Mike Timlin

I crave structure.  It kind of defines me.  I like looking forward to certain days and knowing what I have to do, and by what time I have to do it.   Call it a weakness.

I've been trying for quite a while to get a similar kind of structure in my blog writing.  Tried being the operative word.  I've started things, and then stopped them, because I either didn't think they were a good idea, or I just tired of them.

I've enjoyed writing on my blog so far over the first nearly nine months.  You've heard the stories, the fun, the rants (more so lately), and the general blather that I enjoy spitting out.  But for the past few weeks, I've struggled to get posts done.  The ideas just haven't flown, unless I've made purchases of new product, or made trades with my fellow bloggers.

Makes for a difficult ride after a while when you realize that you can only buy so much, and only so many trades are to be made as well.  I figure it's high time that I figure out other ways of posting with the existing myriad of cards I currently have.

You may have seen that I plan to make at least one hockey post a week, on Fridays.  I've already written this weeks, and I feel that with the crazy amount of hockey cards I have, I should have no problem coming up with ideas for a once a week post.

Mondays, I've decided I am going to do a random Jays card post.  I really liked the idea two weeks ago, and I'm going to continue with it.  It gives me a challenge to write about just one card, and it also will help to stretch my memory.

This week's random card comes from Row 1, card # 171 in the 3 row monster that my Jays are contained in.

1992 Upper Deck # 409, Mike Timlin.  This is a 2nd year card of Timlin, and the first thing that came to mind was, when in the world did Mike ever have a mustache?  Timlin was on the Jays for 7 seasons, and I never recalled him sporting the old cookie duster.  This type of photo as well shows the crazy strain that these guys put on their arms.

The back of his card shows him in a more relaxed pose on the mound.

Still the same mustache.  You can see from the stats he had a pretty decent rookie season with the Jays, making 63 appearances.  Naturally, I had to look up his career stats as well, and boy did this guy get around!

7 yrs in Toronto, 6 in Boston, 3 in St. Louis, Seattle and Baltimore 2 years apiece, and finally Philly for a year.  I bet you didn't know he had two 25+ save seasons in his career, and pitched until he was 42!

What a helluva card to start out for a random pick, because I had truly forgotten what an integral part he was of a lot of post season rosters.  11 years (!) of his 18 he made a post season appearance, which I found remarkable.  I'd always thought of Mike Timlin as a very reliable reliever, nothing flashy or spectacular;  could eat some innings in long relief, or as I discovered, his 143 career saves also meant that he could finish a game if need be.

Mike also has 3 World Series rings to his credit (92 & 93 in Toronto, 2004 in Boston), and he also led the league in appearances in 2005 with 81, at the age of 39.  

Just from looking at his career stats, this guy had one of the more understated careers that I probably will ever come across when looking at baseball cards.  I'm sure that there are many more like him out there that I haven't discovered, but for me, it's pretty cool that Timlin came across my desk today. 

Even better, he was a Blue Jay longer than he was anywhere else....

Thanks for reading, Robert