Righting Wrongs - 1999 Giants, Mariners and Cardinals

 

Here is the inspiration for this entire endeavor. When I was younger and first heard that Willie McGee was once an MVP and a beloved player in Cardinals history, I was taken aback. All my child mind knew of him was his abysmal Showdown card from 2000, his final year as a player. His MVP card is a far cry better than what his lone official Showdown card features. Improvements across the board.

Did you know Ricky Bottalico had a halfway decent Closer card? Turn back the clock to before Showdown and Ricky was a reliable stopper at the back end of Philadelphia's bullpen.

Jay Buhner was another unfortunate player at the end of his playing days when Showdown debuted. He had an MVP card reminiscent of Sammy Sosa's 2000 card with an ok on-base but a mouth watering homer potential. Only difference is Buhner didn't need the steroids.

Brian *L.* Hunter had one oft he most avoidable cards in Showdown. Terrible on-base with no home run boost as a trade off, I'm surprised that Showdown even included him in the set since it was confusing with Atlanta's Brian Hunter in the same set. (At least they had different middle names as opposed to the identical Alex Gonzalez problem). Brian's asset was his speed, so let's rewind to his rookie campaign where that speed can be better utilized to give Hunter some usefulness on your bench.

Yes, the '95 Indians are getting yet another callback. Jose Mesa had only 2 good seasons, both before the Showdown years where he'd regulated to a laughable option at Closer. One season was covered in 1995, and the other one is here. Perhaps the failure of 1997 ruined him, but don't tell him I said that, I don't wanna end up like Omar Vizquel.

I know Joe Nathan had a terrible card in 2000 (another pitcher who allows homers off his own chart) but a future Showdown set gave him a great card. So what wrong is there to right here? He never got a Showdown card as an elite Closer. His good official card listed him as a mere Reliever, and here we can finally give Joe the top tier card he deserved. Excellent control and an unforgiving chart to the opponent.