1993 Upper Deck: Out of Spring Training

Not yet a major leaguer, Greg Gohr was having a good spring in 1993. But it still wasn't the spring he'd hoped for, he told The Associated Press late that March.

"I haven't had that one really great outing," Gohr told The AP. "But I've shown them I can compete and keep them in the game."

It ended up being the spring Gohr had hoped for. He broke camp with the team, making his major league debut April 7.

The 1989 first-round pick also caught enough attention to be included in the 1993 Upper Deck Series 2 set, with only his 1992 stats from AAA Toledo to offer on the card back.

Gohr's card came in an Upper Deck jumbo pack I picked up sometime last year, but only opened recently.

Opening the pack was an adventure. As I see can happen with the glossy cards from this period, all the cards in the pack were stuck together. I think I did a decent enough job of prying them apart, while doing as little further damage as possible.

Though it was a jumbo pack, and one from just three years after the CMC set came out, I only pulled three players from the set. I did also pull a fourth one, I think.

The only regular card of a CMC player in the pack was Frank Bolick's card. That's him taking a throw at third during spring training as what appears to be a Yankee slides in under him.

Bolick made the CMC set as a member of the Stockton Ports, featured in April 2011. After going through the Mariners system, Bolick landed with the Expos for 1993. And he got into 95 games that year, splitting time between first and third.

Upper Deck notes that he was acquired in a trade, hitting 27 home runs in the minors in 1992.

Tim Salmon's "On Deck" card includes some interesting information on the back, including the best advice he'd received, his favorite pastimes and what he'd be if he weren't in baseball.

Salmon's best advice came from Gene Richards, that a player has to believe in his ability to survive in the majors. Salmon enjoys hiking, weightlifting and golf. If he weren't in baseball, he'd be a businessman, using his marketing degree.

Salmon made the CMC set as a member of the Palm Springs Angels. His feature came in September 2011.

Jeff Bagwell got in on this Shooting Stars card, posing in front of what appears to be a studio picture of the Astrodome. With Bagwell are Craig Biggio and Doug Drabek.

The card back touts the Astros climb from 97 losses in 1991 to a .500 record in 1992, both marks the 2011 Astros would have loved to have. Upper Deck notes the rise could be "directly traced" to Bagwell and Biggio.

Bagwell made the CMC set as a member of the New Britain Red Sox in the Boston organization. He was featured here in January 2012.

The card I thought might include a CMC set member was this one, of Billy Ripken. Ripken is turning two over a Pirate runner, obviously a spring training game.

The runner is turned just so, only visible is one letter of his name. It appears to be a "c". Looking at the Pirates roster for 1993, I thought I had a candidate, Alex Cole. But then I pulled his CMC card and realized it couldn't be him. Cole is black, the runner is white.

The only other identifying piece of information is the runner appears to have a mustache. But, since it's spring training, I can't find a good roster for then. So it could be somebody who was cut before the season began.

By the way, the card back includes almost the same photo from the same game, though with a different Pirate sliding. That Pirate is also sliding so no identifiable information can be seen.

• Owosso Argus-Press, Associated Press, March 28, 1993: Tigers' Gohr will likely start in bullpen