Lance McCullers #197

 

This week, a current player? No wait, this is a different Lance McCullers! Lance Sr was nicknamed “Baby Goose” when he stepped into the San Diego Padres closer role briefly to replace Hall of Famer Goose Gossage. He had a few solid years before a trade to the New York Yankees. In New York, blood clots in his arm and other injuries ended his career. His son Lance McCullers Jr followed him to MLB!

Lance McCullers Sr. was called up in 1985 at 21, in his first couple weeks he saved 5 games and had a 1.53 ERA. After a few seasons he was part of the trade to New York in exchange for Jack Clark. In 1990, he was traded to Detroit for Matt Nokes. Lance developed a blood clot, which combined with other injuries forced him out of baseball after a brief comeback attempt.  

Both Lance and his son Lance Jr were selected with the 41st overall pick in their respective drafts (1982 and 2012). Lance Jr has won 2 World Series rings and made the 2017 AL All Star team.

Listen: 

• Card 197 on ⁠Beckett⁠
• Card Corner of Lance's ⁠1990 Score card⁠
• McCullers ⁠Christmas Trees⁠
• Lance on ⁠Father's Day⁠
• ⁠Stathead Search⁠: 120 IP/0 Starts/9+k/9

Mike Campbell #246

 

This week we welcomed author Zak Ford to the show to discuss his excellent book Called Up! Mike Campbell, a 1988 Topps Future Star was included in Zak's book, which covers 100+ MLB players telling the story of their call up to the big leagues. Mike Campbell grew up a Mariners fan and was a star at University of Hawaii. He was drafted in the first round by his home town Seattle Mariners in the first round (right between Barry Bonds and Pete Incaviglia).  

Zak joined us to talk about Campbell's call up and first game. Campbell was dominant at Calgary, winning the PCL MVP in 1987 going 15-2 with a 2.66 ERA to win the PCL MVP award. He was called up that season and after a rough first few games finished strong, in his final 7 games had a 3.07 ERA. It didn't really work out for him and he was later part of the trade that brought Randy Johnson to Seattle.

Listen: 

Card #246 on ⁠Beckett⁠

Learn more about ⁠Called Up⁠

Mike Campbell on ⁠Greatest 21 Days⁠

Mike's interview on ⁠BallNine⁠

Bob Zuk SABR Bio by ⁠John Klima⁠

⁠Shisakberry's⁠!