Night Owl Cards

A couple of weeks ago, the Tigers announced that they had signed right-handed reliever Octavio Dotel to a one-year contract. Reports noted that when Dotel takes the mound in a Tigers uniform for the first time next season, he will break the record for appearing in the major leagues with the most teams -- 13. Dotel already has pitched for the Mets, Astros, A's, Yankees, Royals, Braves, White Sox, Pirates, Dodgers, Rockies, Blue Jays and Cardinals. Right now, he is tied with three other players who competed for 12 teams. Mike Morgan. A guy who did his best work for the Dodgers. Matt Stairs. I enjoy featuring this minor league card of his. And Ron Villone. Another minor league card. But I have no major league cards of his, and this might've been his last card. I believe Villone is retired. Stairs has retired, too. Morgan retired 10 years ago. So, Dotel, who is 38 and could still play for a couple more years, is free and clear. At the rate he's going...

(The following card and post appeared on the Baseball Reference Blog this morning. It's my second "Card of the Week" post. I'm appreciating the chance to contribute to the site, no matter how sporadic it might be. Time for Cardboard Appreciation. It's the 86th in a series): The 1978 major league baseball amateur draft is known for a few things. The first four players drafted, led by No. 1 pick Bob Horner, went on to All-Star careers. Meanwhile, Cal Ripken Jr . wasn't selected until the second round. Ryne Sandberg wasn't picked until the 20th. But today the focus is on the fourth overall pick of that draft, pitcher Mike Morgan. There was no doubt that Morgan was going to play in the major leagues. As if to underline that statement, the team that drafted Morgan, the Oakland A's , started him in three games the very year he was drafted. The following year Morgan pitched in 13 games and had a 5.94 ERA. But instead of that being the ruin o...