#125 Dave Lopes

Card thoughts: Interesting candid shot of Lopes polishing his sunglasses. A shocking pink tongue is semi-protruding from Lopes' mouth. And that 2B is "historic"; Lopes only played one game there in this season. He played almost all of his games in the outfield. The name, by the way, should be "Davey" not "Dave".

The player: Lopes is one of the greatest base stealers of all time. Although many players stole more bases career-wise than he did, only four others have a better base stealing percentage. Lopes once stole 36 bases in a row, which was a major league record until Vince Coleman broke it. In 1973, Lopes became the Dodgers regular second baseman and joined Bill Russell, Steve Garvey, and Ron Cey to become the infield that played the longest together. As the Dodgers leadoff hitter, he led the league in steals in 1975 (77) and 1976 (63), but didn't make the all-star team until 1978, when he began to develop some power: He hit 28 home runs from the leadoff spot in 1979. He was voted in as a starter for the all-star team from 1979-81. However, Lopes did not deserve the honor in 1981, when he hit only .206.

The long running infield was broken up after that season when Lopes was traded to the A's for a minor leaguer. Lopes started at second for the A's in 1982 and 1983 and he still wielded a good bat and had good wheels. Never more than average second baseman (although he did win a gold glove in 1978), his defense regressed to the point that he eventually couldn't play second effectively enough to be a starter and he was shifted to a utility role in 1984 before he was traded to the Cubs for the stretch run. He hit only .235 for the Cubs for that month, but the next season, at age 40, Lopes stole an incredible 47 bases in only 99 games. True to form, he was only caught 4 times. Those 47 steals were his most since 1977. He was traded to the Astros the next year (for #26 Frank DiPino), again for the stretch run, and retired in 1988.

Lopes embarked on a second career as a coach after his playing days were over. He's used his base stealing expertise to become a highly sought after first base coach, plying his trade with the Rangers, Orioles, Padres, Nationals, Phillies, and Dodgers. He also managed the Brewers, where he courted controversy by saying that Rickey Henderson should be beaned for stealing second with the Padres holding a big lead. He actually yelled that to Rickey while making a mound visit. You can read an account of the "unwritten rule" Henderson violated here. His bench coach, #118 Jerry Royster, replaced him.

Rear guard: Wow, 7 RBIs. I love how Topps says "first" as if he was going to ever have another day like that. His 7 RBIs came against the Blue Jays and drove in Carney Lansford, #48 Bill Almon (three times), Jeff Burroughs, and Wayne Gross. The RBIs came on a grand slam, a double, and a triple. He just missed hitting for the cycle.

#124 Luis Sanchez

Card thoughts: This would be Sanchez' last Topps card. The weird thing about this card is that Sanchez apparently wrote his name in magic marker on the front of his jacket. That did get me wondering: How do players today know what jacket is theirs? I doubt they write their names on it. It just looks bad.

The player: Sanchez began in the Astros system and was traded to the Reds for Joaquin Andujar. He didn't make it to the majors with either of these teams and was released. He bounced around in non-affliated ball for the next few years battling arm problems. This included a stint with in his native Venezuela for the Caracas franchise of the ill-fated Inter-American League. Sanchez was rescued from obscurity in the Mexican League by the Angels. He made his debut in 1981 as a 27-year old rookie. Although he featured a live fastball, Sanchez was wildly inconsistent, due to tendency to get flustered on the mound. He tended to walk as many batters as he struck out, which made it strange that the Angels eventually made Sanchez their closer. His best year was in 1983 when he went 10-8 and had 7 saves. When Donnie Moore became the Angels closer in 1985, Sanchez' utility to the Angels was limited. He was traded to the Expos after the season shown on this card, and just as promptly sold to the Yomiura Giants in the Japanese league.

Sanchez died in 2005 at age 51 of a vascular brain disease.

Rear guard: Sanchez made his debut against the Mariners after starter Jesse Jefferson gave up 4 runs in 1 1/3 innings. Sanchez pitched well in 4 1/3 innings, surrendering only 1 unearned run.

Stan Cliburn only played in 1980 batting .179, but had a 15-year minor league career. Stu Cliburn has a card in this set and will be discussed there. They were actually battery mates for one year with Buffalo, a Pittsburgh Pirates affiliate in the Eastern League. They also simultaneously coached for a time in the Minnesota Twins organization. Must have been confusing for those minor leaguers!

#123 Greg Walker

Card thoughts: What a beefcake shot! Some budding Schaumburg Sheila had this card in her hope chest. The uniforms in the mid-80s were so tight, they looked like unitards. I prefer the current baggy look. Way more old school. Yet another shot taken at Tiger Stadium, by the way.

The player: I was surprised when researching Walker how good he was. I always just thought of him as a mediocre hitter, but he had two great seasons. Maybe it was my anti-White Sox bias. Walker was a low average, high power player, your prototypical corner infielder. In an era when offense was at a premium, Walker drove in over 90 runs twice in his career, with a career high 94 driven in in 1987. His power came and went. Although he hit over 20 home runs three times in his career, he was just as likely to hit 'em out in the low double digits. He also showed good range at first. Unfortunately, Walker only managed to have four out of nine seasons where he played in over 100 games (the season shown on this card he played in a league-leading 163 games). Injuries, including a seizure he suffered before a game, shortened his career. Walker was later diagnosed with epilepsy and his career just sort of petered out from there. He retired at age 30 with the Orioles, all but 14 games played with the White Sox.

Walker currently is regarded as one of the better hitting coaches in the game. After serving for 8 years as the White Sox coach, he left the team when Ozzie Guillen was "traded" to the Marlins to become their manager. He will become the hitting coach for the Braves next season (2012).

Rear guard: Walker's 6-RBI explosion came off the A's. Four of the RBIs were generated by two two-run home runs.

Berger and Kreevich's home runs came in the 1st game of a doubleheader against Red Sox pitcher Johnny Marcum (Berger would later hit another). The pair combined to drive in 7 runs in the doubleheader. Berger didn't have much of year in '37 (or a career for that matter) but Mike Kreevich was having a career year. He led the league in triples with 16 and had a career high 12 home runs. Although he would never reach double digits again in homers, Kreevich was a productive centerfielder by the standards of the time for several more years with the White Sox, A's, Browns, and Senators.