Episode 70: Upper Deck 1990 Baseball Card Collector Michael Unger, Part 6

If you’re a fan of Michael Unger’s 1990 Upper Deck baseball card project, then it doesn’t get better than this episode of The K.P. Wee Podcast—which features a non-stop stream of sports history, trivia, game deconstructions, and remembrances. Enjoy this return visit from a fan favorite known to baseball card collectors through his social media handles udeck1990@Twitter or upperdeck1990@Insta.

Michael and K.P. do a deep dive into some of the exciting (if sometimes forgotten or obscure) players that Michael has been posting about daily as he works his way systematically through each of his 1990 Upper Deck baseball cards. His social media posts have created a community through which he and K.P. initially connected and became friends. 

Players mentioned in this episode include several Hall of Famers (Dennis Eckersley, Bert Blyleven, and Edgar Martinez), long-forgotten players (Matt Winters, Charles Hudson, and Frank Williams), and also solid long-time relievers (Mike Henneman and Ricky Horton). 

Among the topics being discussed:

Michael tells the story of the friendship between Eckersley and pop rock singer-songwriter Richard Marx. 

Michael also talks about the minor-league journey of Matt Winters—and wonders why he never truly got a shot in the majors—along with the connection between right-handed pitchers Mike Henneman and Frank Williams, while K.P. focuses on Henneman’s failures with the 1996 Texas Rangers.

Regarding Henneman’s story, Michael references an article written by Ryan Fagan.

K.P. mentions Edgar Martinez’s lack of 200-hit seasons (with a career-high of 182 in 1995) and the fact the long-time Seattle DH ended up with “only” 2,247 career hits. There’s also the fact that Martinez struggled in postseason play after his memorable 1995 ALDS heroics vs. the Yankees. 

K.P. also shares a story about how an Associated Press reporter’s wrong information about Charles Hudson ended up in his Tom Candiotti biography, A Life of Knuckleballs. Lesson learned: always, always, always fact check. 

K.P. even brings up a player on the 1991 Blue Jays who struck out 107 times but hit no homers, the first player since 1906 to go homerless while striking out 100 times in a season.

How many walks did Dennis Eckersley allow in postseason play after walking Mike Davis ahead of Kirk Gibson’s famous 1988 World Series homer? K.P. shares the answer to that trivia question.