A Tale of Two Gregs, 1988 Fleer Edition
OR -- Greg(s) and the ancient elbows
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1990 Fleer Major League Prospects (#644) - Card of the Day
It seems Fleer had high hopes for the Gregs heading into the 1988 season, as evidenced by dedicating card #644 to them, as you can see above.
Leading off was Greg Myers, a 22-year-old catcher with seven games of big league experience under his belt, but one with four summers of minor league seasoning on his game.
Myers would spend all of 1988 on the farm before putting together an 18-year major league career that would include becoming Nolan Ryan’s 5714th and final strikeout victim (well, not that many distinct batters, but you get the point).
Batting second and cleanup on this card was Greg Tabor, the tenth overall pick in the January 1981 draft. And, yes, it was the Rangers who chose Tabor seven years before this card was born, and, yes, he stayed in their minor league season all those years.
That is, until Texas finally called up the second-baseman-turned-pinch-runner late in the 1987 season. With the Rangers fighting to stay out of the cellar of the old American League West, manager Bobby Valentine found a spot for Tabor on September 10.
Trailing the Angels 3-2 in the top of the ninth at Anaheim Stadium, the Rangers mounted a rally, starting with singles by Pete O’Brien and Larry Parrish. Tabor came in to run for DH Parrish and eventually scored on a Darrell Porter single.
The Rangers went up 6-3, but the Angels stormed back in the bottom of the ninth and eventually won in the tenth on a walkoff home run by Devon White off Steve Howe.
But, boy howdy, Greg Tabor’s big league career was off and running!
The diminutive infielder would make eight more appearances through the end of the season, including three starts at second. In nine total plate appearances, Tabor collected only a double, struck out four times, and walked none, for a lopsided slash line of .111/.111/.222. He also scored once and drove in a run.
All of that landed Tabor in the cardboard spotlight in 1988, but that spotlight was pointing in the wrong direction.
In March of 1988, the Rangers traded Tabor and Dave Meier to the Cubs for Ray Hayward. After a summer at Triple-A Iowa, Tabor was done in pro ball.
Today, Greg Tabor turns 62 years old.
Not Knuckling to Father Time
The Rangers starting pitcher during Tabor’s final game, on the last day of the 1987 season, was 39-year-old knuckleballer Charlie Hough.
All season long, collectors had been treated to a Perez-Steele rendering of Hough’s mug, courtesy of his 1987 Donruss Diamond King card. As it turned out, Hough would go on to pitch another seven years in the majors — the 1994 strike was the end of his long road in the majors.
Read all about Hough’s seemingly unlikely DK right here.
—
You think Hough has a lifesize copy of his Diamond King painting hanging in his den? Sounds appealing to me.
I mean, it’s not that easy to get someone to paint your face, unless you’re at a street fair or something. And, sure, dens aren’t really a thing anymore, but maybe we should change that.
I’d build a den to hold my Diamond King, no doubt.
Anyway, thanks for reading.
—Adam