Left side, Strong side!!

Oh, about 6 months ago, I wrote a post about a trip that the wife and I made to the Goodwill, and naturally part of that trip was me coming home with a bag of baseball cards.  Goodwill Hunting was the name of the post, and that post was actually the start of me collecting the '86 Topps set.

I arrived home from work last Friday to find on my chair another bag of cards, this time one that my wife had picked up on her solo "junking" effort at Goodwill.  Again, for $3 the cards couldn't be left at the store.  Mind you, the lot was pretty much a group of cards from 1990 Fleer & Topps, but still they were a fun flip through. 

A lot of them had a pattern I noticed after a couple of times through the cards, the pattern being a lot of lefties that I had a lot of memories about over the years.

Let's look back...shall we?

Jerry Reuss.  Dodgers, yes.  Pirates, yes.  Brewers?  Really?

Yea...really

I will forever remember him as a crafty lefty that was part of those great Dodgers teams of the late 70's -- early 80's.  Brewers just doesn't look right.

Somebody told me recently that this guy is still active somewhere!  Somebody needs to tell this guy that it is OK to retire. 

The Candy man obviously got around.  I had forgotten he pitched 10 games for the Expos in 89.  I looked at his stats...Mets, hardly remember him there.  Dodgers, White Sox, Twins?  Nope...sorry.

Zane Smith also.  2 seasons in Montreal?  No way.  Atlanta, sure!  Pirates, part of the early 90's teams there.  Must be that I've selectively shut out any Montreal memories....

At least these two guys are wearing uniforms that I remember them in.  Fernandez a long time Met that was part of the World Series Champs in 1986.  Teddy Higuera, who didn't pitch a game in the majors until he was 27, was arguably the most dominant lefty in the game for a 4 year period between 1985-88.  That screwball he had was a killer. 

Let's not forget the hitters:

These guys left impressions that made you remember them being on a certain team.  Griffey Sr. ...  Seattle, of course we all remember the Griffey's together.  Atlanta, New York, Cincinnati, all stops that Griffey played for that had an impact on the game.
Andy Van Slyke was as good a center fielder as there was for a 10 year period, including an awesome season in 1992 when he led the NL in hits and doubles, and finished 4th in MVP balloting.  I still remember when he was part of the Cardinals in the early part of his career. 

This final guy...well let's just say Blue Jay fans will remember what he did to the Jays on October 4, 1987.

A pitching duel for the ages.  The Jays started the day 1 game behind the Tigers for the AL East title. 

Tanana vs Key, two crafty left handers on the mound.

The only scoring in the game?  A 2nd inning homer by Larry Herndon.  Both pitchers throw a complete game.  Key gives up 3 hits, Tanana just 6 hits.

Tigers win 1-0.  The Jays went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position. 

Humph. 

I look at all these players and see a part of the reason why lefties are always a valuable commodity.

Just ask Darren Oliver.

Thanks for reading, Robert