San Diego Padres

Date of birth: September 29, 1957 Tulsa, OK

High School: Anaheim High School, in Anaheim, CA

College: Chapman University (CA)

First Impression; So this is his first solo card, coming off the heels of some horrific Topps editing on his rookie, see below. Do you think they asked him to strike a pose and this is what he did or did they really ask him to pose as a bunter. Now that I think about it, it appears more that he’s gently handing the bat to a child. If the idea was to teach the stance to kids, this wasn’t the best example.

Career stats: He played his whole career in San Diego at the Murph. That could not have helped his home run prowess and his career total shows it. However, the stats show 9 homers in 2473 at bats 5 at home and 4 on the road! His career average was .255 and his best three seasons were 1984-1986 where he hit in a range of .273-.281 and 6 of his nine homers.

All time stat: He is 5th all time with the Padres in games played. His first homer came in career game #287 against the Cubs at Wrigley in 1983, he hit it off Chuck Rainey.

Fun fact: He changed numbers three times, in 1979 he was #30, from 80-82 he was 6 and the remainder of his career he was #11.

Ever a Future Star?  Yes, in the previous 1980 set with a terrifying photo.

My three guesses:

A) someone took a photo off a TV.

B) a botched hologram.

C) he had just auditioned to be Max Headroom.

Rookie or final card? No

Hall of Fame? Number retired? His retirement announcement in 1989 resulted in an outpouring of gifts and attention. In his final game, the sellout crowd greeted his first plate appearance with a standing ovation so prolonged that the umpire had to stop play, and following the game, there was discussion on at least one call-in show of whether Flannery’s number should be retired.*

Links to stories including Tim Flannery.

*wikipedia