Cards 8-10

Card #8: Terry Pendleton, Cardinals 3B

Baseball-Reference page 

1987: .286 average, 12 homers, 96 RBIs, 19 SBs, .360 OBP, .412 SLG

The first true player card in the 1987 Topps set is a future MVP. But anyone who thought Terry Pendleton — shown here apparently after making contact at Shea Stadium — was going to win an MVP in 1991 for the Atlanta Braves was either lying, or failing to properly utilize his/her skills of clairvoyance. Pendleton was a solid everyday third baseman for the Cardinals who had the best season of his career in 1987, when he finished 18th in the MVP voting while setting across-the-board full-season bests in the counting stats. But he declined over the next two seasons before quietly signing with the Braves and sparking their worst-to-first resurgence.

Pendleton has served in a variety of coaching roles with the Braves since 2002. He is currently the bench coach for Brian Snitker.

Card #9: Jay Tibbs, Expos P

Baseball-Reference page 

1987: 4-5, 4.99 ERA in 19 games (12 starts), 54 Ks, 1.55 WHIP 

Tibbs (pictured here in what looks to be a routine spring training posed photo) appeared to be emerging as a solid if unspectacular back-end rotation piece when he posted a 3.73 ERA and threw 11 complete games and five shutouts in his first three big league seasons. Fun fact: THREE pitchers have thrown A TOTAL of at least 11 complete games in the last three seasons. Guess them.

But Tibbs struggled in 1987, when he was sent to Triple-A Indianapolis for 12 starts. He sopped up some innings for the 107-loss Baltimore Orioles in 1988 before going 5-0 in 10 games (eight starts) in 1989 for the Orioles, who nearly went from worst-to-first. The Orioles traded him during the 1990 season to the Pittsburgh Pirates — described in this wire story as “ailing” — and he ended his career by going 1-0 in five appearances for the eventual NL East champs. A Google search of Jay didn’t reveal his post-career whereabouts, so Jay, if you’re out there, drop me a line!

Trivia answer: Clayton Kershaw (13), Madison Bumgarner (12) and Johnny Cueto (11).

Card #10: Cecil Cooper, Brewers 1B

Baseball-Reference page 

1987: .248, 6 HRs, 36 RBIs, .293 OBP, .372 SLG

We get to our first “round number” card, a designation usually reserved for star players. Cooper, who looks to be waiting to take batting practice at Yankee Stadium in his photo, certainly earned said designation, as evidenced by the big numbers listed in tiny font on the back of his card. He was an absolute beast and a borderline Hall of Famer during his peak years with the Brewers, for whom he hit .300 in seven straight seasons from 1977 through 1983 while twice leading the American League in RBIs. He also would have won a batting title in 1980 if not for George Brett’s pursuit of .400, and a World Series if the Brewers could have closed out a 3-2 lead over the Cardinals in 1982. It felt like Cooper had two hits and two RBIs every time I read a Brewers boxscore in the newspaper.

Cooper was winding down in 1986, when he looked more like a coach in his card photo, and his career ended with an unceremonious benching by the Brewers that, per dead linked stories that appeared on this message board, lasted the entire second half of 1987. (He’d still make it into the 1988 Topps set, albeit at no. 769). Cooper, a member of the Brewers’Hall of Fame, spent two-plus seasons as the Houston Astros’ manager and continues to live in Houston. He is also on Twitter.