Bob Zupcic, High-Five - 880

Be sure and check out the revisited Bob Zupcic feature from February 2011: Bob Zupcic, Good Opportunity

Bub Zupcic rounded the bases Sept. 20, 1991, having hit his first major league home run in a rout of the Yankees. He was met on the basepaths by an excited fan and Zupcic went with it.

"He was there," Zupcic said in the New York Times story on the game, "so I gave him a high-five."

Bob Zupcic didn't hit many major league home runs, he hit seven in parts of four major league seasons, but the few he did hit were memorable. Aside from the high-five to the fan, that first home run came on the tail end of back-to-back shots, the first hit by fellow 1990 CMC setter Phil Plantier. They were also hit on the first to pitches thrown by another fellow CMC setter Dave Eiland.

Two other Zupcic home runs in 1992 were grand slams, both proving the difference in the ball games.

Zupcic debuted with the Red Sox as a September call up in 1991. That break not only got him in the majors, but also put him on the alphabetical list of major leaguers fifth from the bottom. By 1991, Zupcic had been in the team's system since being taken as the 32nd pick in the 1987 draft out of Oral Roberts. He made the Oral Roberts Hall of Fame in 2008.

His break came with that call-up in 1991. For the next two years, Zupcic was a fixture in the Boston outfield, playing in 124 games, then 141 games. But for an outfielder, he didn't hit much. He hit .276 in '92, then just .241 in '93.

By 1994, he was on his way out. He played four games for Boston, before changing his sox, selected off waivers by the White Sox. But the new scene didn't change much. In 32 games, he hit .205. His final major league game was Aug. 4, 1994, the last game played before the strike.

Zupcic hung around in the minors until 1997, playing AAA ball for four clubs. In 1997, he had a brief stint with the independent Bangor Blue Ox, before announcing his retirement.

But what he is perhaps best remembered for, was those home runs. In one, Zupcic came to bat with the bases loaded and the Red Sox down by one, parking a 3-1 pitch over the wall.

"I was just looking for something to get in the air," Zupcic said in a Hartford Courant account, "something I could drive."

These days, Zupcic is apparently helping others find something they can drive, working at a car dealership in North Carolina.

1990 CMC Tally
Cards Reviewed: 64/880 - 7.3%
Made the Majors: 39 - 61%
Never Made the Majors: 25 - 39%
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 16
10+ Seasons in the Minors: 21