Baseball Profiles: 1991 Line Drive: Big Pitch

Sunday, March 11, 2012

1991 Line Drive: Big Pitch

The Omaha Royals needed one more out to go up 2 games to 1. One more hit and they'd be down 2 games to 1.

Greg Everson just had to record this out, just like his team had recorded the previous 59 outs. This was the bottom of the 20th inning in this September 1990 contest.

"I knew if I walked him, I was out of the game,'' Everson told The Omaha World Herald after the game. "I knew if I gave up a hit, we would lose. I knew I had to come up with a big pitch.''

Everson threw a strike, ringing up the hitter and advancing the O-Royals closer to the AAA championship.

Everson was coming off that outing when his 1991 Line Drive card came out. The card was included in a package from Night Owl that came some time ago.

Everson didn't make the CMC set. he started the year at AA Memphis, a team that saw players in the set, but not the complete team. He would also play just two more seasons, 1991 and 1992, playing five total seasons without making the majors.

While Everson didn't make the set, there were others in the 1991 Line Drive stack sent over that did make the set. I think I'll try something different with these cards, though.

Since I've written about most of them, and the backs of the Line Drive cards don't offer anything other than stats, I think I'll repost the openings to their features, with links to the full posts.

May 13, 2011
Mike Cook hadn't seen time in the majors since 1989, but a trip to Caribbean got him noticed by the Orioles for 1993 and he had a shot at getting back, The Baltimore Sun wrote that February.

"I'm not setting my sights on being the fifth starter," Cook told The Sun. "I'm just trying to open some eyes, and then if I do, maybe sometime during the year I can get called up."

Cook did get called up that year, getting into two more major league games, the last two of his big league career. (Continue reading)

July 3, 2011
Tom Edens went four innings, didn't give up a run.

Still, his manager at Tidewater Mike Cubbage took him aside, The New York Times wrote: Did Edens want to go back out to get the win? Or did he want to come out right then and pitch his next start in the bigs?

"I said I wanted to do both," Edens told The Times before his big-league debut. "But he'd made me an offer I could not refuse."

Edens made the Mets that year, getting two starts. He also gave up six earned runs in eight innings of work. Edens went on to pitch in a total of seven seasons in the majors, his second, though, didn't come until 1990, with the Brewers. (Continue reading)

May 12, 2011
Coming off a September in 1992 where he started seven games, winning four, Tim Pugh prepared to vie for a permanent spot in the Reds rotation.

"I like to think I made this team last year and I feel that if I have a good spring," Pugh told The Associated Press that February, "things will take care of themselves. If I can just take off from where I left off, my chances are pretty good."

Pugh had a good enough spring to make the team, starting a total of 27 games that year for the Reds, winning 10. It was his second season in the majors. He would go on spent time in the majors in six seasons. (Continue reading)