Abraham Nuñez Appeared on Bubble Gum Card...by Executive Order
Squint your eyes, tilt your head, and just imagine the smell of pink dust
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1997 Bowman Abraham Nuñez (#362) - Card of the Day
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In the long history of Major League Baseball, several players have made it to The Show sporting a first name of either “Abraham” or “Abe”:
Abraham Nuñez
Abraham Nuñez
Out of all these guys, though, not a one of them played during the Junk Wax Era of baseball cards, or even during the true bubble gum era.
Why does that matter?
Well, in case you haven’t noticed, this here is a special place, where we talk about bubble gum cards and the men who appeared on them.
And, also in case you haven’t noticed, this week is Presidents Week, or at least Monday was Presidents Day. Accordingly, we’re working through baseball-president name matches all week long, and we gotta include a nod to Abe Lincoln. Right?
The Abraham/Abes give us our best chance of doing that since the list of Lincoln big leaguers is even smaller:
None of those players were bubble-gum card guys, either.
Now, we can make some allowances for cards that don’t technically fit the bill of “bubble gum” but that fit the spirit of the term: Fleer, Donruss, Score, Upper Deck cards from the 1980s, for instance
But even with that relaxed fit, baseball’s Abrahams and Lincolns still can’t quite cut the mustard. The closest to making the cut was Abraham Nuñez, who was born in 1976 and who played in the majors from 1997 through 2008
He’s not to be confused with Abraham Nuñez, who was born in 1977 and played in the majors in 2002 and 2004, you understand.
The first Abraham Nuñez signed with the Blue Jays as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 1994, then landed with the Pirates as part of a nine-player trade in December of 1996.
By then, Nuñez was looking like a pretty solid prospect, one with good speed, a decent enough bat to give himself stolen base opportunities, and a steady glove in the infield. Coupled with an also-ran Pirates team who had just seen long-time skipper Jim Leyland walk to the Marlins at the end of 1996, that meant there would be opportunity for new faces.
So, as they were wont to do by then, Topps included Nuñez in their 1997 Bowman lineup as a hedge against missing out on being first-est to have him — you can see the results in the shot above, looking like an old-school bubble-gum card, even if the dust was missing.
Nuñez made Topps look good, or at least not foolish, for picking him by making his Pittsburgh debut that August.
Nuñez spent the next few summers as a part-timer, though he eventually proved himself to be a reliable enough utility man that he worked into about half-time duty, split mainly between second base, shortstop, and pinch hitting.
The Pirates released Nuñez after the 2004 season, and then he logged near-regular playing time at third base for the Cardinals in 2005 and for the Phillies in 2006 and 2007.
The Brewers signed him as a free agent the next January but released him in May before he ever appeared in the majors for them. The Mets scooped him up two days later, though, and he played in two games for the Amazin’s before they sent him down to he minors in June.
Abraham Nuñez never would return to the majors, but he continued to ply his trade in the minors and independent leagues through 2011.
Overall, Nuñez put up big league numbers that included a .242 batting average in nearly 2500 at-bats, along with 18 home runs, 208 RBI, 38 stolen bases…and one near-vintage rookie card that (nearly) fits right in with our theme of the week.
1986 Fleer Otis Nixon Stood Alone
Nuñez’s first game in the majors came against the Dodgers at Three Rivers Stadium on August 27, 1997. The rookie started at shortstop for the Pirates that day.
The Dodgers’ starting centerfielder was speedster Otis Nixon, whose baseball cards bridged the Junk Wax era to the late 1990s. Eleven years before Nixon and Nuñez met on the field in Pittsburgh, though, it was slim pickings when it came to Otis’ cardboard.
Read all about it right here.
Keeping It Real
Earlier this decade, Nixon penned his autobiography, Keeping It Real. If you’re interested in learning more about the man with 620 career stolen bases, this is pretty much the horse’s mouth.
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