1991 UD Candy Was a Sweet Treat in Toronto
Did the Brewers win in a parallel Candy-verse?
1991 Upper Deck Final Edition Candy Maldonado (#28F) - Card of the Day
After breaking out for the San Francisco Giants in the mid-1980s (even hitting for the cycle in 1987), Candy Maldonado entered the fall of 1990 facing an uncertain baseball future. Having turned 30 years old that September, Maldonado was coming off a one-year free agent deal with the Cleveland Indians.
That one summer by the lake went pretty well: .273, 22 home runs, 95 RBI. Still, Maldonado wasn’t flush with suitors heading into the winter, and he languished on the market until April.
Finally, less than a week before the new season, Maldonado signed with the Milwaukee Brewers. But with an outfield of Greg Vaughn, Robin Yount, and Dante Bichette, along with Paul Molitor as the DH, the Brew Crew couldn’t spare many at-bats for Maldonado.
He didn’t help his case much, either, hitting just .207 with five long balls and 20 RBI in 30 appearances. By early August, the Brewers were more than ten games below .500 and effectively out of the race in the American League East.
Meanwhile, the Toronto Blue Jays were sitting atop the division and starting to set their sights on October. But one area that was still a bit uncertain were the outfield corners, where the Blue Jays were mixing up a patchwork of 35-year-old Mookie Wilson, Rob Ducey, Mark Whiten, and Joe Carter. It wasn’t the worst alignment in the world, or the league or division, but no one could quite get settled.
So on August 9, Toronto sent minor leaguer Bob Wishnevski and a player to be named later (William Suero) to the Brewers for Maldonado. He started in left for the Jays on August 10, then did the same 51 more times through the end of the regular season. That let Carter (finally) settle in right field for the rest of the summer.
Maldonado’s bat rebounded in Toronto, too, as he hit .277 with seven home runs and 28 RBI.
Even so, the Blue Jays stumbled in August and spent two days tied with the Tigers at the top of the East before righting the ship in September and turning on the gas in early October — they ended up with a seven-game lead in the A.L. East.
The Jays whimpered to a 4-1 loss to the Twins in the American League Championship Series, and Maldonado did his part — 2-for-20 (.100) with a walk and six strikeouts in the five games.
Even so, Upper Deck caught a sunnier moment in the marriage between Maldonado and the Blue Jays in their Final Edition set that fall. That’s the man himself you see in that card up there, using his favorite implement to stretch out in preparation for using said favorite implement for its intended purpose.
And UD was right to focus on the positive because the Jay’s cupboard was not quite bare of candy yet, and Maldonado was back as the regular left fielder in 1992. In 137 games, he hit a solid .272 with 20 home runs and 66 RBI as Toronto marched to another division title.
October went a bit better for the Jays that year, too, as they won their first-ever World Series title. Along the way, Maldonado hit a combined .220 between the ALCS and the World Series, but he did pop three home runs.
Interestingly, the Brewers caught fire after Maldonado left town, going 35-18 to finish 1991 and then landing second, just four games behind the Jays in 1992. Could Milwaukee have been the ones drinking champagne if they developed a heartier appetite for Candy?
The world will never know, of course, but the rewards in Toronto turned out to be plenty sweet enough.
Cobra Candy
One of Maldonado’s teammates late in the 1991 season was could-be Hall of Famer Dave Parker, who signed with the Blue Jays on September 15 after the Angels released him. Parker hit .333 with no home runs but three RBI in 13 games with Toronto, his last appearances as an active player.
And right there on the diamond with him for at least part of each of those 13 games was Maldonado.
You won’t find much evidence of Cobra’s scant run with the Blue Jays beyond various statistical records, but we at least have the 1992 Upper Deck career-capper to keep us on the straight-and-narrow of baseball history.
You can read more about that card right here.
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We just about have this week tamed, right? I guess that makes these here ramblings a week-capper, or something. See you Monday, and thanks for reading.
—Adam
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