Jose Rijo and His Unexpected Tradition

Turning "what if" into, "can you believe it?"

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2003 Fleer Tradition Jose Rijo (#413) - Card of the Day

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Fans of every team have players who always evoke thoughts of “what could have been.”

A few examples include…

• The Cubs, with Ken Hubbs, Kerry Wood, and Mark Prior

• The Yankees, with Thurman Munson and Mickey Mantle(’s knees)

• The Mets, with Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden

• The Tigers, with Mark Fidrych and Matt Anderson

Pick your team, insert names.

For Cincinnati Reds fans of a certain age, three players who definitely fit into this category are Mario Soto, Eric Davis, and Jose Rijo.

Soto carried the weight of a bad team on his shoulders as Cincinnati transitioned from the Big Red Machine to the Little Rusty Jalopy, and was still pitching his arm off as they turned back toward contention in 1985.

But after 250-plus-inning of high-torque pitches for the third time in four years that summer, Soto’s right shoulder balked. He was limited to 105 innings in 1986 and was done by 1988.

As for Davis, he could do absolutely everything on the diamond, but at the price of frequent damage to his slender frame and a high-water mark of 135 games played in a season (1988).

And Rijo was such an incredible talent that teams traded Dave Parker and Rickey Henderson (at different times and in multiplayer deals) to bring him on board.

Cincinnati manager Pete Rose deployed the young right-hander in the bullpen in 1988 after nabbing him and Tim Birtsas to the A’s for Cobar the previous December. By the end of the season. By summer’s end, though, Rijo was in the rotation. He’d stay there in 1989 until a stress fracture in his lower back ended his season in mid-July.

Then, in 1990, with Lou Piniella replacing the fallen Rose, it all came together for the Reds. Part of that “all” included a peak Rijo, who went 14-8 with a 2.70 ERA. He pitched two games in the National League Championship Series against the Pirates, going 1-0 with a 4.38 ERA and striking out 15 in 12.1 innings.

The World Series against his old team, the mighty A’s, was Rijo’s showcase. In two games, he gave up a single run in 15.1 innings (0.59 ERA), earning the victory in both outings. He was named MVP of the Fall Classic following the Reds’ unlikely sweep.

Rijo was arguably even better in the years to come, with his innings bumping up each season through 1993. That summer, he went 14-9 with a 2.48 ERA while making a majors-best 36 starts and leading the National League in strikeouts (227), strikeouts per nine innings (7.9), and WAR (9.2).

He was an All-Star for the first time in 1994, squeaking in that honor just before the strike. But in 1995, an elbow injury limited him to 14 starts…and then sidelined him for all of 1996.

And 1997.

And 1998.

And 1999.

And 2000.

In January of 2001, having pitched his last game in July of 1995, Rijo appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot. He received a single vote, not enough to stay in the running for 2002 and beyond.

Rijo had other ideas, though. So did the Reds.

On August 17, 2001, in a lopsided loss to the Brewers at home, Cincy manager Bob Boone called on his bullpen in the eighth. In to finish the game came none other than Jose Rijo. It was a surreal moment for Reds fans and Rijo’s teammates, and undoubtedly for the man himself.

Rijo made 13 appearances for the Reds down the stretch, then spent all of 2002 with the club. That summer, he even made nine starts among his 31 total appearances. That he went 5-4 with a 5.14 ERA hardly mattered a whit.

There were plans for more, too, but another elbow injury in the spring of 2003 was the final straw, and Rijo officially retired. By then, though, he was already in the new-year plans for card manufacturers, and he ended up with multiple career-cappers.

For all the retro good vibes Rijo brought, though — including becoming the first player to appear in the minors after receiving a Cooperstown vote since Minnie Miñoso — none really hits the hammer on the head like the 2003 Fleer Tradition you see above.

Modeled after the 1963 Fleer set, which was issued two years before Rijo was born, the card back takes an old-school approach to presenting the man’s full body of work:

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As you might have picked up from the fourth line of text up there, Jose Rijo turns 60 years old today.

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1992 Deep Fake Upper Deck Dave Parker

As big-name trades go, the deal that sent Dave Parker to the A’s in exchange for Rijo and Tim Birtsas in December of 1987 wasn’t much to write home about for Reds fans…at the time, at least. Cobra had been the heart and soul of a revived Reds team for four exciting seasons, after all, and Rijo’s 2-7, 5.90 ERA showing with the A’s the previous summer didn’t inspire much in the way of grand visions.

And Birtsas had spent the season in the minors.

It all worked out for Cincinnati in the end, though, with both hurlers contributing to the 1990 World Series team. By the time the champagne was flowing in the Reds clubhouse, Parker had just wrapped up his first season with the Brewers after signing as a free agent in late 1989.

Cobra wouldn’t make it back to the Milwaukee clubhouse, though, as the Brew Crew flipped him to the Angels for Dante Bichette.in March of 1991. You might remember Parker showing up on some Halo cards.

But do you remember how — and where — it all played out for the 2025 Hall of Fame inductee? The Upper Deck card above is a pretty big hint, and you can read more of the details right here.