1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice

In 1994, Upper Deck introduced a new baseball card, Collector's Choice.  For five years, through 1998, Upper Deck produced the Collector's Choice card.  In the early 90s, card companies began to issue premium baseball cards.  Donruss was the first card company to introduced a premium card with Leaf in 1990.  Fleer followed up with Ultra in 1991 and then Flair in 1993. In 1992, Topps switched its Bowman card to a premium product and introduced Finest in 1993.  Upper Deck issued its first SP set in 1993.  By the mid 90s, sports card collecting was forever changed and was never again the same. 

1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Silver Signature Mike Piazza Rookie of Year Card #310 

 

The 1994 Collector's Choice set has 670 cards and was issued in two series.  The first series has 320 cards and the second series has 350 cards. A pack of Collector's Choice had 12 cards and cost 99 cents.  Each pack had a Silver Signature card (card with a silver facsimile of the player's signature) and each box had Gold Signature card (card with a gold border and a gold facsimile of the player's signature).   Sets of Collector's Choice included five Gold Signature cards.

1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Silver Signature John Kruk Card #168

When Collector's Choice was first issued, it really wasn't a premium product.  I feel it was more like the current day Topps Opening Day card.   Collector's Choice was a nice card available at a more affordable price. 

1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Silver Signature Shawn Green Card #9

Currently, blogger buckstorecards is writing 1994 Collector's Choice - Card by Card.  The blog is providing a written description about each player card in the set.
 

1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Silver Signature Cecil Fielder Card #100

Since Collector's Choice was introduced, I have found boxes of both the first and second series for sale at card shows.  If I find a box of the cards for less than $20, I will usually purchase it.  Today, you can find first series boxes on ebay in the $20 to $25 range.  The second series box is a little harder to find and when I checked ebay today there were no second series boxes being offered.

1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Silver Signature Edgar Martinez Card #480

 

Back in 1994, I worked on completing a Collector's Choice set.  Upon finishing the set, I began working on a Silver Signature set.  I've continued to collect the Silver Signature cards and now have the set about 95% complete.  Are there are any other baseball card collectors out there who are trying to complete the 1994 Collector's Choice set?

1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Silver Signature Matt Williams Card #299

I've included a list of the Silver Signatures duplicates on my blog page.  I also have many duplicates of the Collector's Choice regular issued cards.  I have not included a list of these cards, but if you are working on the set please check with me and I will see if I have the cards you need.  If you want any of these cards, let me know and we can make a trade.  I have also listed the Silver Signature cards I need.  If you have any of these cards and can help me complete my set, I would like to possibly make some kind of arrangements and get those cards from you.  Please let me know. 

Fred Gladding, Tiger & Astro Relief Pitcher - R.I.P.

The Baseball-Reference.com website In Memoriam lists that former Tiger & Astro relief pitcher Fred Gladding recently passed away.  Gladding played 13 seasons in the Major leagues.

 

While with the Tigers

 

Gladding made his Major league debut with the Tigers on July 1, 1961 when he pitched 2.1 innings in relief in the Tigers 11 - 8 victory over the Orioles.  The first batter Gladding faced, Jim Gentile, hit the second of his two home runs that game, a solo blast to lead off the 5th inning.  Gladding, a 25 year-old rookie then got his first major league victory on July 8, when he pitched an inning in relief in the Tigers 3 - 2 win over the Angels.  During the 1961 season, Gladding appeared in eight games,  and finished the year with a 1 - 0 record and a 3.31 ERA while pitching 16.1 innings.

 

In the 1962 season, Gladding pitched in six games, all in relief.  He didn't win or loss a games and had an ERA of 0.00 in five innings pitched.  Then in 1963, Gladding pitched 22 games, again all in relief, recording one win with one loss, and seven saves, pitching a total of 27.1 innings and a 1.98 ERA. 

 

His first baseball card was from the Topps 1964 set, a Rookie Stars issue he shared with Fritz Fisher. 

Topps 1967 Tigers Rookie Stars Card #312

Gladding continued to pitch with the Tigers through the end of the 1967 season.  During the four seasons between 1964 and 1967, Gladding appeared in 181 games, finishing with a record with 24 wins and 10 losses and 26 saves and a 2.78 ERA.  All but one of those appearances were in relief.  The lone start of his career came on August 2, 1967, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Orioles.  Gladding pitched five shutout innings, leaving the game with a 1 - 0 lead.  Pat Dobson replaced Gladding and Dobson was still on the mound in the bottom of the 9th inning, when Frank Robinson's lead off walk preceded Brooks Robinson's two-run game winning home run.

On November 22, 1967, Gladding was sent to the Astros to complete the August 17 trade from earlier in the year, that sent third baseman, Eddie Mathews to the Tigers.  In seven seasons with the Tigers, Gladding compiled a record of 26–11 and a 2.70 ERA in 217 games. His .703 winning percentage is the highest in the Tiger team history for any pitcher appearing in at least 200 games.

Astros' Ace

 

Topps 1968 Fred Gladding Card # 423

  

After missing almost the entire 1968 season, Gladding came back in 1969 to lead the National League in saves with 29, while finishing the season with a 4 - 8 record for the 5th place Astros.  On July 30, in a game against the Mets, Gladding entered it in the bottom of the 7th inning with the Astros leading 5 - 3.  In the top of the 9th inning, the Astros exploded for eleven runs, tying a major league record when they hit two grand slams home runs, as Dennis Menke and Jim Wynn each hit a four bagger.  This was a momentous inning for Gladding at the bat, too.  Gladding, who has the distinction of having the lowest non-zero lifetime batting average in major league history, with a career batting average of .016 (1 hit in 63 at bats), got his first and only career hit during the inning.  Gladding's two-out single plated Curt Blefary, for his first career RBI, and then he scored on Wynn's blast, for his only career run scored. 

 

In 1970, Gladding recorded 18 saves, going 7 - 4, while pitching in a career-high 63 games.  During the 1971 and 1972 seasons, he appeared in a total of 90 games, with a 9 - 11 record and 26 saves.  He retired midway through the 1973 season, after appearing in 16 games with two victories. 

 

Topps 1973 Fred Gladding Card #17

 

During his 13 major league seasons, Gladding pitched in 450 games, compiling a 48 - 34 record with a 3.13 ERA and 109 saves.  He ranks fourth all-time in saves among Astros pitcher, with 76, behind Billy Wagner, David Smith, and Brad Lidge.

 

Oriole Bonus Baby, Frank "Noodles" Zupo

Frank Zupo signed as a bonus baby with the Orioles in 1957.  I was looking through some of my Topps 1958 cards and I came across his card and saw that his birthday was August 29, 1939, so he would have played as a teenager during the 1957 season.

Topps 1958 Frank Zupo Card #229

 

Frank Zupo signed with the Baltimore Orioles on June 13, 1957, for a bonus reported at $30,000, but was actually $50,000.  Zupo had just graduated from Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in San Francisco.  Prior to signing the contract with the Orioles, Zupo had been scouted by all 16 Major league teams and received offers from 13 teams.  He also had scholarship offers from Stanford and  University of California, to play baseball, but he choose to sign with the Orioles because he wanted to play baseball and didn't want to go to school.

 

Since Zupo was signed as a bonus baby, he immediately reported to the Orioles and was added to their Major league roster.  Upon has arrival, his teammates gave him the nickname "Noodles". 

 

Zupo made his Major league debut on July 1, 1957, as a 17 year-old, against the Yankees.  With the scored tied at 2, Zupo entered the game as a defensive replacement in the top of the 10th inning.  In that game, together with Oriole pitcher, George Zuverink, Zupo formed the first "Z" battery in Major league history.  In the top of that inning, batting with one out for the Yankees, Mickey Mantle homered to give the Yankees a 3 - 2 lead, the final score in the game.      

 

Zupo first Major league at bat came on July 6.  In the 7th inning, he pinch hit, against the Red Sox, batting for Orioles reliever Billy O'Dell.  He grounded to first base off Red Sox starter, Frank Sullivan, in the Orioles 11 - 2 loss.  Then on August 11, when making an appearance in his fourth game, Zupo got his first major league hit, in the Orioles 7 - 2 loss to the Yankees.  After entering the game in the seventh inning, as a defensive replacement for Orioles starting catcher, Gus Triandos, Zupo singled to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning, getting the hit off Yankees reliever, Bob Grim.  This was Zupo only hit during the 1957 season.

 

As the season was winding down, on September 18, Zupo got his first start of the year.  In the Orioles' 7 - 5 loss to the White Sox, Zupo caught all nine innings of the game.  He had three plate appearances during the game, and got no hits on two official at bats.  Zupo did walk with one out in the 7th inning and came around and scored the Orioles' third run on pinch hitter Bob Boyd's single. 

 

This was the last game Zupo played in during the 1957 season.  For the year, Zupo played in ten games,  batting .083, with one hit in 12 at bats, and he scored two runs with no home runs and no RBI.  He spent 26 innings catching and the Orioles won two and loss eight in the games that he played. 

 

During the 1958 season, Zupo played in the minor leagues for different Oriole affiliates, to get more seasoning.  He started the season with Knoxville Smokies of the South Atlantic League.  He also played parts of his season with Louisville Colonels of the American Association and the Wilson Tobs of the Carolina League.

 

Here is Zupo's minor league batting record from the 1958 season. 

Team	Games	At Bats	Runs	Hits	Home Runs	RBI	Batting Ave.
Knoxville	35	106	10	29	2	16	.274
Louisville	55	145	15	32	0	5	.221
Wilson	18	31	6	9	2	5	.290
Season Totals	108	282	31	70	4	26	.248

 

In September of the 1958 season, Zupo was back with the Orioles.  On September 13, in a game against the Tigers, he replaced Gus Triandos as a defensive replacement in the bottom of the 5th inning.  During that game, in two at bats, facing Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning both times, Zupo flied out to centerfield in the 7th inning and struck out in the 9th inning.  The Tigers won the game 13 - 2.  This was the only Major league game that Zupo appeared during the 1958 season.

 

Zupo 1959 season was spent in the minor leagues when he played with four different teams, all Oriole affiliates.  The teams he played for included: Stockton Ports of the California League, the Yakima Braves and Salem Senators of the Northwest League, and the Ashville Tourists of the South Atlantic League.

 

Here is Zupo's batting record from the 1959 season.  

Team	Games	At Bats	Runs	Hits	Home Runs	RBI	Batting Ave.
Stockton	43	103	22	20	2	10	.194
Yakima & Salem	25	69	11	15	2	5	.217
Ashville	7	16	-	3	-	-	.188
Season Totals	75	188	-	38	-	-	.202

Zupo's 1960 season was spent in Stockton, the Orioles' Class C affiliate, and a member of the California League.  This is his batting record from that year. 

 

Team	Games	At Bats	Runs	Hits	Home Runs	RBI	Batting Ave.
Stockton	106	364	52	116	7	69	.313

 

Then in 1961, Zupo was on the Orioles' roster as the season begin.  He played in the first game of the Orioles season, on April 11, as they opened against the expansion Angels, in their franchise's first game.  In the bottom of the 9th inning, with two outs, Zupo entered the game as a pinch hitter for Orioles relief pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm.  He was walked by Angel starter Eli Grba, who retired the Orioles next batter, Jackie Brandt, as Grba finished his complete game, an Angels 7 - 2 win.  First baseman Ted Kluszewski lead the Angels to victory with two home runs and five RBI.

The next game that Zupo appeared in was on April 16, when he entered the first game of a doubleheader against the Twins.  As a defensive replacement for Orioles starting catcher, Gus Triandos, he entered the lineup in the top of the 7th inning.  During the game, he had two at bats.  With two outs in the bottom of the 7th inning, Zupo doubled to left field off Twins starting pitcher, Pedro Ramos.  Orioles' next batter, shortstop Ronnie Hanson, doubled to left field, plating Zupo with the Orioles' 4th run of the game, and Zupo first run of the season.  Then in the 9th inning, in Zupo's second at bat of the game, facing Twins' reliever Ray Moore, he popped out to shortstop, as the Twins defeated the Orioles 10 - 5.

Zupo as played in the second game of the doubleheader that day.  He come into the game to catch in the top of the tenth inning.  In the top of the 11th inning, Twins' shortstop Zoilo Versalles hit a two-run home run as the Twins swept the doubleheader with a 6 - 4 victory.  Zupo struck out leading off the bottom of the 11th inning as Twins reliever Charlie Stubbs retired the Orioles in order to earn his first save of the season.

On April 24, in a game against the Indians, Zupo entered the lineup in the top of the 8th inning as a defensive replacement for catcher, Gus Triandos.   In the bottom of the 8th inning, off Indians' starting pitcher Jim Perry, Zupo singled to left field, lifting his batting average for the season to .500.  The Indians won the game 5 - 1 aided by Bubba Phillips' 6th inning grand slam home run.

On May 9, Zupo caught the 9th inning of the Orioles' 13 - 5 victory over the Twins.  At age 21, Zupo's had appeared in his last Major league game.  In the 1961 season for the Orioles, Zupo played in five games, batting .500 (2 hits in 4 at bats) with a double and scoring one run. 

For the remainder of the 1961 season, Zupo played with the two minor league Oriole affiliates, the Rochester Red Wings of the International League and Victoria/Ardmore Rosebuds of the of the Texas League.     

Here is Zupo's minor league record from 1961.

Team	Games	At Bats	Runs	Hits	Home Runs	RBI	Batting Ave.
Rochester	40	107	12	22	0	8	.206
Victoria/Ardmore	29	67	7	22	1	9	.328
Season Totals	69	174	19	44	1	17	.253

In 1962, Zupo played for the Austin Senators of the Texas League, a Braves' AA affiliate and he also returned to Knoxville and played for the Smokies, now a single A affiliate of the Tigers.

Here is his batting record from the 1962 season.

Team	Games	At Bats	Runs	Hits	Home Runs	RBI	Batting Ave.
Austin	26	75	6	19	0	6	.253
Knoxville	9	18	0	2	0	0	.111
Season Totals	35	93	6	21	0	6	.225

Zupo spend the 1963 and 1964 seasons in the minor leagues.  In 1963, he played for the York White Roses of the Eastern League, the Tigers' AA affiliate, and in 1964 he played for the Dallas Rangers of the Pacific Coast League, the Athletics' AAA affiliate.

Here is his batting record from those two seasons.

Team	Games	At Bats	Runs	Hits	Home Runs	RBI	Batting Ave.
1963
York	89	284	27	77	3	41	.271
1964
Dallas	106	297	27	76	6	30	.256

At the end of the 1964 season, at age 24, Zupo had played his last professional baseball game.  After his baseball career, Zupo held many different jobs including a fishing guide, business owner, and wholesale leather proprietor.

During his Major league career, Zupo appeared in 16 games with a batting average of .167 (three hits in 18 at bats) scoring three runs, with a double and no home runs or RBI.  Zupo caught a total of 38 innings in 13 games.  When asked if he had any regrets, Zupo response was "Not really.  I wish I have had a better chance to play."     

    

Other bloggers have published articles about Frank Zupo's Topps 1958 card. 

 

I found a 2011 blog from The Shlabotnik Report commenting about the card. 

 

The Shlabotnik Report blog on Frank Zupo

 

 

Also the Really Bad Baseball Cards blog mentioned the card in this Unibrow (50s Version) post from April 2014.

 

Really Bad Baseball Cards Unibrow 50s Version