#310 Greg Minton

Card thoughts:  No longer considered a great closer, Minton gets a card ending in zero. He looks much better without the glasses he sported as a rookie.

The player: Minton was nicknamed “Moon Man,” originally because he got really sunburned while tubing naked (!) in Arizona, but also for the following pranks: He once flooded his home field in the minors so the season could end a day early, and he once “hijacked” the team bus in Atlanta, telling the driver that the other players had already left for the ballpark.

Minton grew up in Southern California, where he was more into surfing than playing baseball. An indifferent student, his only shot of going to college was on a baseball scholarship, which the tiny school of San Diego Mesa College offered him. An erratic throwing, spindly shortstop, he was drafted by the Royals in 1970. It would take a change of position, a trade, and eight long years in the minors before he established himself the majors.

Seemingly stuck forever at AAA Pheonix, Minton finally got a chance, by a crazy twist of fate. After severely injuring his knee in 1978, Minton had to alter his delivery which put new movement on his sinker. With this pitch, he became wildly effective. With incumbent closer Randy Moffat battling a rare stomach disorder, an opportunity opened up for Minton, which he did not miss. In fact, he was so effective early in his career that he holds the record in the live ball era for not allowing a home run for three consecutive seasons (1979-1981).

Along with Gary Lavelle, Minton formed a potent late inning combination. He made the all star team in 1982, going 10-4 with a 1.83 ERA and 30 saves. But despite saving 22 games in 1983, and 19 in 1984, his ERA was on the rise, and Minton certainly was no longer a star by the time this card was issued, having lost the closer job to Scott Garrelts and #138 Mark Davis.

Minton was mainly a somewhat effective middle reliever until he was released in 1988 and signed with the Angels. He regained his focus, and spent the final four years of his career as one baseball’s first “star” middle relievers/set up men. His 10 saves in 3 months with the Angels was his highest total since 1984, and he routinely put up ERA’s in the mid to low twos for the rest of his career.

Minton coached for a bit in the independent and minor leagues after his retirement.

Rear guard: You don't see that "first" on the back of many pitcher's cards. Along with converting a three inning save, Minton jacked a home run off of Braves' pitcher Gene Garber that drove in Bob Brenly. It was his only career home run.

#309 John Shelby

Card thoughts:  John Shelby: sensitive poet.

The player: I remember Shelby more from his time as a Dodger than as an Oriole. He spent 6 years in the minors before getting regular playing time in 1983. He hit .258 that season and stole 15 bases as he platooned with veteran Al Bumbry in center field. In the World Series that year, his sacrifice fly off Willie Hernandez scored #251 Rich Dauer with the game winning run in Game 4. For the rest of the series, he went 4 for 9.

Despite taking over for Bumbry as the team’s starting center fielder in 1984, Shelby’s .205 average made it hard for the Orioles to believe they had their future center fielder. They went out and signed #55 Fred Lynn, and Shelby was back on the bench until he was traded to the Dodgers in 1987.

The Dodgers who, as usual, were struggling offensively under #291 Tommy Lasorda desperately needed a center fielder that year. They were running out a rookie named Mike Ramsey for the start of the year, but he wasn’t hitting. Once John Shelby got to the Dodgers, he gave them a boost, hitting a career high 21 home runs and 69 RBIs. He had a similar season (with a little less power) the year the Dodgers won the World Series (1988). He only got 4 hits and 1 RBI in the World Series that year.

After these two solid seasons, Shelby’s numbers began to tail off considerably, and it was clear his poor bat no longer made him suitable to patrol center field regularly for the Dodgers, or any other club. After hitting .183 in 1989 (his .157 average at the all-star break was, at the time, the lowest ever for a player with 200+ at bats), Shelby was released early in the 1990 season and was signed by the Tigers about 10 days later. With the Tigers, he played infrequently, and never made it back to the majors after hitting .154 in 53 games in 1991.

Shelby has been a long time coach in the majors. Previous to his current job as the outfielder positioning coach for the Brewers (the so-called “eye-in-the sky” coach), he held coaching positions with the Dodgers (1998-2005), Pirates (2006-2007) and the Orioles (2008-2010). 

The next generation of his whole family seems to be part of the game. Son John played for a time in the White Sox organization and hit .239 for the independent Gateway Grizzlies last year; son Jeremy played one season of rookie league ball for the Orioles; and nephew Josh Harrison is in the majors with the Pirates. Another nephew, Vince Harrison, was once a Tampa Bay farmhand but has been an indie league veteran the last 4 seasons.

#308 Ray Fontenot

Card thoughts: I have no memory of this player, despite the fact he pitched 2 seasons with the Cubs. Maybe because he wasn’t too memorable (although some Cub fans may have had their memories triggered by Mike Fontenot (no relation) arrival in 2007).  His real first name is “Silton.”

The player: The rare Cajun in the majors, Fontenot was considered a strikeout artist in the minors, but injuries limited his effectiveness in the majors.

Fontenot was drafted by the Rangers, but only pitched rookie ball with them before being thrown in as part of the Oscar Gamble-Mickey Rivers trade in 1979. He made his Yankees debut in replacement of future friend and francophone Ron Guidry, who was injured. He only gave up one run in his debut, and went on to have a promising rookie campaign, going 8-2 in 15 starts, three of which were complete games. As the fifth starter/long reliever in 1984, Fontenot regressed a bit, but still sported a nice strikeout-to-walk ratio. He also was suspended that season for throwing at Juan Beniquez and instigating a bench clearing brawl.

Along with #284 Brian Dayett,  Fontenot was traded to the Cubs for #157 Ron Hassey, #94 Rich Bordi, Henry Cotto and Porfi Altamirano. At the time, it was believed this was a badd deal for the Yankees, as Dayett was believed to be a star in the making, and the players the Cubs sent to the Yankees were no great shakes. But it turned out to be a deal where no one came out ahead, and in the end was inconsequential to both teams fortunes.

Fontenot was coming off a really bad season for the Cubs when this card was issued. He went 6-10 with a 4.36 ERA. He gave up an incredible 23 home runs (5^th in the league), about one every seven innings.  Bothered by a sore shoulder, he started the next year in the minors, and when he came back up he was put in the bullpen. But Fontenot was wild (four wild pitches, a .706 fielding percentage, and 21 walks in 54 innings) and the Cubs found a sucker, I mean trading partner, for Fontenot near the end of the season, although they only received washed up reliever #285 Ron Davis and a minor leaguer in their exchange with the Twins.

Fontenot wasn’t much better for the Twins, although he did appear on his last Topps card, a Twins cap airbrushed above what is obviously a Cubs road jersey.

In 1987, he spent the entire season with AAA Tuscon, and retired from pro ball at the end of the year at the young age of 29.

Rear guard: In the old days, when pitchers were men, they completed games if they were pitching well enough to. Note that Fontenot's first shutout came a month into his career. No worrying that if he "lost" the game in the late innings, he'd be scarred for life.

Fontenot allowed a runner per inning (6 hits, 3 walks) and only struck out 1, but he still got the 5-0 win against the Rangers for his first shutout.