Congratulations Tim Raines

Tim Raines 1989 Topps #560

Card Review:  My biggest complaint with this card is that it's a Tim Raines card and not a Tim Wallach card.  As far as cards that aren't Tim Wallach cards go, this is one is very nice.  "Rock" was one of a few players to be given the nickname treatment by Topps in the 1989 set.  I don't know how many were off-hand, but I can say with certainty that Dwight Gooden was listed as "Doc."  Maybe they were the only two, but I doubt it.

Number of this card in my collection:  I don't know, more than one, less than ten.

"It's gotta be the shoes"

I recently purchased two copies of the above 8x10 from a seller on ebay.  I don't consider myself a photo collector, however I've slowly amassed the beginnings of a "collection" over the last few years.  This shot is obviously of Tim Raines and Tim Wallach taking infield at Wrigley Field.  There were a lot of things for me to like about it, which ultimately is why I decided to purchase an 8x10 for the first time in my life on ebay.

However when the photos arrived I was pretty bummed out.  Take a look at the screen grab below of the original ebay listing:

When the print was cropped to 8x10 size, it cut off the shoes.  And the shoes were what made me pull the the trigger and buy the prints.  Wallach appears to be wearing running shoes instead of cleats.  I'm sure was pretty common back then, but I had never seen it before.  As you can see in the scan up top of the 8x10's that arrived, the shoes were cropped out.  I left positive feedback for the seller, but wrote a separate note expressing my disappointment.  I let him know that I had left positive feedback because it was deserved, and that I understood that I was just a weirdo by being upset about it. I was hoping he would offer to email me a JPEG of the picture so I could crop and print it myself.  The seller did one better.  He mailed me an 12x8 of the print, check it out:

And in the 12x8, the shoes are clearly visible.

260 Career Home Runs

Derek Jeter currently has 259 home runs in his MLB Career.  In all likelihood he will hit another one in the next week or two.  Home run number 260 will move him into a tie for  188th All-Time with Tim Wallach.

Wallach and Jeter's career's briefly overlapped in '95 and '96.  Wallach played one series in Yankee Stadium as a player.  It was during his brief stint with the Angels in 1996.  On May 17, 1996, the Yankees beat the Angels 8-5.  Wallach went 0 for 3 and Jim Abbot was the losing pitcher.  For the Yankees, Derek Jeter went 2 for 4 with a triple while Andy Pettite picked up the win and Mariano Rivera was credited with a save.  It's hard for me to wrap my head around that, as in my mind, Wallach and that Yankee dynasty were two very different era's.

The next day, May 18, 1996, the Yankees again beat the Angles, this time by a score of 7-3.  Wallach went 1 for 3 (I'd be curious to know if he kept the ball as his only hit in Yankee Stadium).  Jeter went 0 for 2 with a walk, and Mariano picked up another save.

Wallach didn't play in the third game of the series, but Jeter went 0 for 3 with a walk.  Also of note is that Tim Raines was the leadoff man for the Yankees in all three games.  Raines had a decent series picking up 3 hits, 3 runs, and stole a couple bases.

The Yankees would also visit the Angels for a three game series during Wallach's time in California.  In that series, Wallach again played in the first two games and sat out the third.  In the first game he homered off of Andy Pettitte.  Jeter went 0 for 5 in two games in that series, and didn't play in the second game, with Andy Fox playing short stop for the Yankees.

When Jeter hits his next home run, for perhaps the first time since Wallach retired, I'll be happy to see someone tie (and ultimately pass) him on the All-Time Home Run list.  Of course, given prior history, announcers on the YES network and Baseball Tonight, will no doubt celebrate Jeter's next home run by talking about how he is now tied with Javy Lopez and Eric Chavez, while omitting Wallach's name altogether.  Nevermind than neither of them are within 600 hits of Wallach's career hit total, and they combined for fewer All-Star games than Wallach appeared in.  I hope I'm wrong, but I won't be surprised.

Oddly enough, the last player Derek Jeter passed on the All-Time Home Run List, was Larry Parrish.  Parrish hit 256 home runs during his career.  He was also the Expos third baseman prior to the arrival of Tim Wallach.

1985 Kraft T-Shirt Offer

This was an insert inside packages of Kraft Cheese Singles in Canada.  It measures 3.5'' x 6'' and opens along the edge to measure 3.5'' x 12''.  The paper stock is extremely thin.  I'm not sure what I would compare it to, a magazine page is the closest thing I can come up with, but it's definitely a different material.  You could choose from 10 different players, and needed to send in 4 UPC's and $8, or 6 UPC's and $4.

I've never seen the actual Wallach T-shirt.  In fact the only shirt I've ever seen show up is a Steve Rogers shirt, and he's not listed as an option.  So I'm guessing this offer was an annual thing for awhile, with a rotating selection of players.  I'd be curious to see other fliers, and if the shirts changed pictures from year to year, or if it was completely different players each year.  The absence of George Bell and Andre Dawson makes me suspect they didn't use players more than once.

Below are the pictures from the ebay listing for the Steve Rogers shirt.  I can't say for certain it's one of these Kraft shirts, but it certainly appears to be.  When I put stuff on ebay, I try to use a clean, solid background for my photos, such as a piece of poster board, or clean table top.  This seller didn't go that route, and it's tacky enough that I hesitate to even post the photos.  I cropped out an absurd amount of bedspread.  If your curious, the seller wants $39.99 for the shirt.

1996 Collector's Choice #486 Gold Signature

Card Review: 8.3 Of the three variations of this card, I like this one the best.  The red accents just look better with the gold border than they do with the silver or white borders.  The photo on the back of this card is interesting.  As far as I can remember, Tim Wallach never wore a batting helmet without an ear flap (just look at the front of the card).  However, the wikipedia page on batting helmets, list Wallach as one of the last players (along with Tim Raines, Gary Gaetti, and Ozzie Smith) to wear the flapless helmet.

In 1983, it was made mandatory for new players to use a helmet with at least one earflap. Players who were grandfathered in could choose to wear a helmet without ear flaps. Players can choose to wear double earflap helmets in the major leagues; however, this is not mandatory. Tim Raines was the last player to wear a helmet without earflaps, during the 2002 season. His flap-less Florida Marlins helmet is currently at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Gary Gaetti, who retired in the year 2000, plus Ozzie Smith and Tim Wallach, who both retired in 1996, also wore flapless helmets until they retired from the game.

The 1995 Pinnacle card also shows Wallach wearing a flapless helmet.  If I had to guess, I'd guess it was just something he did in Spring Training or batting practice.  I'm not well versed enough with the rule to know what the helmet policy is during batting practice.  I feel like I've seen guys take b.p. in just regular hats, but can't be certain.  In any event, there's photographic evidence that shows Wallach wearing the helmet, but none of him actually batting in it.  And I've never seen a photo showing him in a flapless Expos helmet

Number of this card in my collection: 1

(More) AP Wire Photos

 July 17, 1989: Expos beat the Braves 5-2.  Wallach went 1/4 with a double.

 July 26, 1989:  Phillies beat the Expos 4-3.  Wallach did his part going 3 for 4 with a home run, double, and 2 RBI's.  This was the high point in the season for the Expos.  The win stretched their lead in the NL East to 3.5 games.

 August 2, 1989: This photo is not from the date it was "wired."  The Expos played a road game on August 2, 1989 and this shows Wallach in home whites.  It seems to be for some generic article about how athletes handle stress.

 August 16, 1989:  Expos beat the Giants 4-2, Wallach scored a run.  Mark Langston threw 7 strong innings for the Expos but didn't earn a win.  The win stopped the bleeding of a dreadful 2-10 stretch that saw the Expos go from 2 games up in the NL East to 4 games behind.

 August 25, 1989:  The Expos hammered the Giants in San Francisco 12-2.  Wallach went 2 for 3 and also walked twice.  The win improved the great Dennis Martinez to 14-4 on the season.  The win followed a tough 22 inning 1-0 loss the night before, where a win would have brought them within one game in the NL East.

 September 5, 1989:  This is my favorite photo in the lot by a wide margin.  I've already had it blown up and printed (both as is and cropped).  It shows Wallach being greeted at home plate in St. Louis after hitting a grand slam by Tim Raines, Hubie Brooks, and Marquis Grissom.  Raines and Brooks are two of my all-time favorite Expos, and I always like Grissom.  It may never happen, but I'd love to get all four guys to sign this.  Montreal won the game 6-2.  Wallach also had a double while going 3 for 5 with 5 RBI's.

 September 5, 1989:  This photo was taken just moments earlier than the photo above.  All-Star Ken Hill can't be too happy giving up a 7th inning grand slam in what had been a 2-1 game.  Hill would go on to play for the Expos himself, actually leading the NL in wins with 16 as an Expo in the Bud Selig shortened 1994 season.

 September 20, 1989: Barry Bonds stealing 3rd base, not an easy task.  But that was just one of the many parts of Bonds game that made him the greatest player of all-time.  The Pirates won 9-1, their 5th straight, and 3rd straight loss for the Expos.  The wheels completely fell of the Expos bus in September, as they went 6-17 down the stretch and finished a disappointing 81-81 after leading or being in contention for the NL East most of the season.  The Pirates would win the NL East before being upset by the Braves in 7 games in the NLCS.

September 25, 1989: The date on this photo doesn't match the game.  The Expos beat the Cubs 4-3 in 10 innings on September 25 on a Jim Dwyer single, not the 26th.  Wallach went 1 for 3 and walked twice.  Jim Dwyer was playing in his 17th of eventual 18 big league seasons.  Really an incredible feat for a guy who was never an everyday starter, and never reached 300 plate appearances in a single season.

Ticket Stub Sept. 6 1980, Montreal @ San Francisco

This is a ticket stub from September 6, 1980.  The Montreal Expos beat the San Francisco Giants 9-0 in the 3rd game of a 4 game series in Candlestick Park.

In the bottom of the 4th inning, Tim Wallach made is MLB debut replacing Ron LeFlore in left field.  In the top of the 5th Wallach came to bat for the first time with 2 outs and nobody on.  Facing Bill Bordley, Wallach drew a walk.  He was left stranded when Tim Raines, pinch hitting for Rodney Scott, grounded out to the pitcher.

Wallach's 2nd plate appearance came when he led off the top of the 8th.  Wallach, in his first official "at-bat" homered off of Phil Nastu, making the score 8-0 Montreal.  He became the 54th player in MLB history to homer in their 1st at-bat.  (As of today 114 have done so)

Wallach would be given the start the next afternoon and go 0-3.  He wouldn't see action again until pinch hitting on September 17 against the Mets in Shea Stadium.  In total, Wallach would appear in 5 games with the Expos in 1980.

This is an item I almost passed on when I first saw it pop up on ebay.  But the minute I pulled it out of the envelope I was glad I sprung for it. I would have been a fool not to buy it at twice the price.  It's instantly become one of the crown jewels of my Wallach collection.

My aim now is to find the San Francisco or Montreal newspaper from the following day with the story on the game, and frame the ticket with the paper.  I don't know how feasible that is, so I'll likely frame this thing before I track down the paper, it's small enough that it isn't going to cost much to get done.

Other Notable Players to Homer in 1st at-bat
Earl Averill
Hoyt Wilhelm
Bill White
Gary Gaetti
Will Clark
Terry Steinbach
Jermaine Dye
Carlos Lee

1993 Topps Traded #127T

 








Card Review: 9.3  Topps finally had a second chance to include Wallach in a Traded set and this time they didn't drop the ball.  In 1981 they inexplicably left Wallach out of their traded set.  Bad enough Topps blew the chance to put Tim Raines and Tim Wallach on the same 1981 base card, then they had to go and leave him out of the traded set as well.  An omission that still burns me.  Wallach also should have been in the 1996 Traded set, as he went from the Angels to the Dodgers mid-season.  But Topps didn't issue a Traded set in 1996.  Worse yet, they didn't even include Wallach in the 1996 base set.  It was weird time for Topps, and they were making a lot of bad choices, so I've come to forgive them for that omission, but I haven't forgotten. 

I'm a little embarrassed to say how long it took me to track down this card.  So I won't give an exact year, other than to say, Wallach was retired already.  It was the last of the (somewhat) standard issue Wallach cards for me to obtain.  All in all, not a bad card.

Number of this card in my collection: 8
2012 update: 10
2013 update: 16
2014 update: 17
2015 update: 22 
2016 update: 23
2017 update: n/a
2018 update: 29
2019 update: 37

2020 update: n/a

2021 update: 38

2022 update: 39

2023 update: n/a

2024 update: n/a

2025 update: n/a

2026 update: 41

1988 Leaf #255 "Canadian Greats"

Card Review: 9.4  Every year growing up as a kid, I would eagerly tear into new packs of Donruss hoping to find that Tim Wallach had been chosen as Montreal's "Diamond King."  Wallach was never selected, and there were some very questionable selections on the part of Donruss over the years (Bryn Smith!?!).  Years later thanks to ebay and the internet, I discovered this card had been put out by Leaf.  It felt like a bit of a victory.

Fun Facts: *The following is list of Montreal's Diamond Kings chosen instead of Wallach
1982: Gary Carter
1983: Steve Rogers
1984: Al Oliver
1985: Charlie Lea
1986: Andre Dawson
1987: Hubie Brooks
1988: Tim Raines
1989: Andres Galarraga
1990: Bryn Smith
1991: Delino DeSheilds
*1983, 1988, and 1990 were particularly disappointing selections

Number of this card in my collection: 2
2013 update: 22
2015 update: 26 
2016 update: 27
2017 update: 28
2018 update: 31
2019 update: 35

2020 update: n/a

2021 update: n/a

2022 update: n/a

2023 update: n/a

2024 update: 37

2025 update: 46 

2026 update: 47