MLB Showdown Obsession

 The are many examples of players in MLB Showdown who had careers that lasted just long enough to be included in the initial set in 2000, but while many of them were improperly represented by their showing, Tony Phillips was given a more or less accurate showing of what Tony Phillips was all about: a Utility player who was vastly underrated. Phillips was originally drafted by the Seattle Mariners in 1977, but did not sign. The following year the Montreal Expos drafted him instead, who would trade him to the San Diego Padres in 1980, who then traded him to the Oakland Athletics in '81, who finally gave him the big callup in 1982. 1983 would see the beginning of the position flexibility that Phillips would become known for, though not so well for this year with that +0 at 2nd Base. Defense evened out a bit for Tony in '84 as he continued on as Oakland's starting middle infielder. Injury limited Phillips to the back end of the '85 season, so... No, that is not a mistake, ...

 300? Holy cow! When the Showdown Bot was released I never thought I'd be able to hold attention for this long on such a project, but baseball has such a wealth of history that I have yet to run short on inspiration. Thus far, I've gotten a bit carried away, seeking to make dozens of team sets , reviewing entire careers , seeking to highlight every Hall of Famer and other such topics all while going from the occasional update to at least once a week. I've learned quite a bit of baseball history in the process and gotten to flex some trivia I'm aware of as well. Now this ambitious project of mine has reached 300 posts, as I take a break from other themes to crack open my autograph book again to show off the players I've had the honor of meeting face to face. ( 100 and 200 specials) Most of the players I've received an autograph from usually come with an uneventful story. Not so with Alfonso Soriano. Back during the Yankees dynasty, Darryl Strawberry was reh...

 Ryan Freel is another anonymous player you may have remembered pulling from one of the later Showdown packs but otherwise didn't have much use for. He also happens to be a notable person in baseball history for tragic reasons. While football gets all the attention when it comes to CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) Freel showed the world that it happens in other sports like baseball, becoming the first player diagnosed with it, but only after he had taken his own life. Freel was drafted and ultimately debuted with the Blue Jays in 2001. After a few early season appearances, he'd spend the rest of the season in the minors and would gain free agency after the season.  He didn't get an official Showdown card for his time, but we can always fix that now. After spending all of 2002 in the Devil Rays farm system, Freel would catch on with the Reds in 2003. For that season and 2004, he would earn himself official Showdown cards, so we can skip to 2005... By now, Freel is an e...

 When the 1994 season ended prematurely from the strike, it cancelled the World Series. If there was any consolation, it gave us all an extra year to appreciate the dramatic ending to the previous fall classic. The Toronto Blue Jays went into 1993 looking to defend their world championship and become the first repeat champs since the '77-'78 Yankees. The first order of business was to fend off those Yankees in the AL East as well as everyone else in the regular season. Cito Gaston led them to a 95-67 record, 7 games better than New York, for their 3rd straight division title and 4th in 5 years. (They wouldn't win the East again for another 22 years) This time in the ALCS the Jays would meet the Chicago White Sox. The series was dominated by the road teams with Toronto winning one game as host and finishing things up in six games in Chicago. Then it was back to the World Series where this time the Philadelphia Phillies were waiting. Game 1 was set to be a pitchers duel, but...