#21 - Joe Morgan MG

For several seasons, Topps provided small pictures of each team's manager on a team picture card. The practice was discontinued in the 1982 edition, but Donruss and Fleer, Topps' new competitors, featured manager cards in their sets.

Topps quickly returned managers to their cards in 1983 and varied what they put on the back: Career records, team checklists, and team leaders for the season were all used.

The 1991 set features team leaders. Our first manager is Boston's Joe Morgan, not to be confused with former MVP and Hall of Famer Joe Morgan. A veteran of several teams, the start of Morgan's career was delayed when he served his country in the Korean War. He debuted with the Milwaukee Braves and had small stints with the Kansas City A's, Phillies, Indians and Cardinals. 1990 was Morgan's third year as the Red Sox skipper and he piloted the team to their second division title in three years.

Career Stats

Manager Stats
 

1990 Red Sox Stats

 Ellis Burks and Roger Clemens were the clear batting and pitching leaders.  Note that Burks only led the Sox with nine stolen bases.  I suppose that's not that unusual, though: last season Alex Rodriguez led the Yankees with 13 stolen bases.  I believe that the last team to lead their team with so few stolen bases is the 1962 Twins with outfielders Bob Allison and Lenny Green recording eight swipes each.

UPDATE: Slight grammar revision.

#20 - Pedro Guerrero

Pedro Guerrero was signed by the Cleveland Indians as a 17-year old free agent in 1973. The Dodgers made a shrewd deal by getting him for pitcher Bruce Ellingsen less than a year later. He was first called up to the Dodgers in 1978 and their patience was rewarded when he broke out as one of the NL's top sluggers in 1982. To boost their rotation for their unlikely division run in 1988, Los Angeles traded Pedro to St. Louis for John Tudor.  Pedro remained the Cardinals' starting first baseman when he was able to stay on the field.

Career Stats

'91: 115 G, 472 PA (427 AB), .272/.326/.361, 116 H, 41 R, 12 2B, 1 3B, 8 HR, 70 RBI, 4 SB (2 CS), 37 BB, 46 K, 94 OPS+

Best '91 Game: July 7 vs. Cubs: 3-6, R, 2 RBI

Guerrero knocked in the game-tying run with two outs in the ninth off reliever Laddie Renfroe.  Then, after the Cubs took the lead in the 11th, Guerrero again tied the game off Renfroe with a single after Todd Zeile doubled to lead off the 12th.  The Cards went on to prevail 8-7.

After '91: Guerrero totaled just 43 games for the Cards in 1992 thanks to a shoulder injury.  He played with the Sioux Falls Canaries in the independent Northern League in 1993 and 1994, a period with the Mexican League's Jalisco Charros sandwiched in between Canaries stints.

The Angels signed Pedro to a deal in 1995, but he only played with the Class AA Midland Angels in the Texas League before hanging up his spikes.

#19 - Jeff Robinson

Touted as a starting prospect in 1983, Robinson spent his first pro year in Class A Fresno, going 7-6 with a 2.28 ERA in 13 starts. The Giants, devoid of rotation talent, brought him up in 1984 and he failed miserably, the team going 12-21 when he started.

However, Robinson stayed in the majors as a long reliever and had some success. After he was traded to the Pirates in 1987, they tried using him again as a starter in 1989 but to no avail.

Robinson logged the most innings out of any exclusive reliever in 1988, finishing second in relief wins (11) and fourth in strikeouts (87) among them.

Career Stats

'91: (With Angels) 39 G, 0-3, 57 IP, 56 H, 34 R, 34 ER, 29 BB, 57 K, 3 SV, 5.37 ERA, 77 ERA+

Robinson became a free agent after the 1990 World Series and signed with the Angels in January.

Best '91 Game: April 30 vs. Indians - 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Robinson blanked the Tribe from the eighth to tenth innings to keep the score knotted at four when the Angels couldn't put across a run. Bryan Harvey coughed up a run in the 11th, but a game-tying homer by Junior Felix and a pinch-hit walk-off single by Jack Howell gave the Angels a 6-5 win.

After '91: Robinson pitched in the Cubs bullpen in 1992 and spent part of the 1993 season for the Tuscon Toros (Class AAA Astros) in the Pacific Coast League before retiring.

#18 - Nelson Liriano

A part-time infielder, Liriano was traded with Pedro Munoz by the Blue Jays for veteran starter John Candelaria near the 1990 trading deadline.

Career Stats

'91: (with Royals) 10 G, 23 PA (22 AB), .409/.409/.409, 9 H, 5 R, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 2 SO, 128 OPS+

A month after being released by the Twins, the Royals picked Liriano up as a free agent.  He played briefly for them in the majors and spent most of the season in Omaha.

Best '91 Game: May 20 vs. Mariners: 3-5, 3 R, RBI

In what would be his final major league game of the year, Liriano got on base with three singles and scored each time, driven in by a Danny Tartabull home run and a single and ground out from Terry Puhl.  The Royals ended up losing the game 8-6 when the Mariners scored three times in the final two innings.

After '91: Including 1993, when he spent the season in Colorado Springs, Liriano played until 1998 for four organizations, including two stints with the Colorado Rockies.  He had his most success with them in 1994 and with the Pirates for the next two seasons.

#17 - Jeff Brantley

A young reliever for the Giants, Brantley turned in spectacular season in 1990 when he took over the closer role on the team from Steve Bedrosian.  In that year, he posted the lowest ERA out of any National League reliever (1.56), and second in the majors (Dennis Eckersley - 0.61).

Career Stats

'91: 67 G, 5-3, 95 1/3 IP, 78 H, 27 R, 26 ER, 52 BB, 81 K, 15 SV, 2.45 ERA, 146 ERA+

Not as good as his 1990 season, as he continued in a co-closer role with Dave Righetti.  Still, Brantley notched 15 saves and and a solid 2.45 ERA in the role.

Best '91 Game: September 25 at Houston: 3 IP, 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, SV

Brantley entered the game in the seventh after the Giants took a 2-1 lead on a bases-loaded groundout by Matt Williams.  Brantley allowed just a two-out single to Luis Gonzalez in the ninth.  Pinch-runner Eric Young stole second to make the game interesting, but Brantley got Andujar Cedeno to fly out to center field to end the game.

After '91: Brantley pitched for the Giants until 1993, then moved to the Reds as a free agent.  Replacing Rob Dibble there, he led the majors in saves (44) for the 1996 season.  That was his last truly good year, as he bounced around with the Cardinals, Phillies and Rangers, finishing his career in 2001.

Brantley finished his Reds career with exactly as many saves (88) as Dibble had for Cincinnati.

#16 - Mike Heath

A part-time catcher for much of his career, Heath got the most playing time for the Athletics in the 1980s, playing in 140 and 138 games in 1984 and 1985. He hit 13 homers in each season, a career-high total.  Mike benefited from the offensive boom in 1987 to tie his best batting average (.281) and hit a career-best .430 slugging percentage for the AL East champion Tigers.

'91: 49 G, 150 PA (139 AB), .209/.250/.286, 29 H, 4 R, 3 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 7 BB, 26 SO, 42 OPS+ I don't remember Heath, but I remember reading in Miracle Season! why his season ended so early; he had to have bone chips removed from his elbow.  The surgery marked the end of his career.

Best '91 Game: April 15 vs. Astros: 3-4, 2B, 3B

Heath had his only three-hit game of the 1991 season against the Astros.  However, Kent Mercker coughed up two runs in his second inning of work and the Braves lost 3-1.

#15 - Von Hayes

The Phillies paid a gigantic price to acquire Hayes in 1982, sending five players to Cleveland in the deal: Jay Baller, Julio Franco, Manny Trillo, George Vuckovich, and Jerry Willard.  It was such an unusual deal that Hayes was tagged with the nickname "Five-For-One".

The Phillies made sure to get their money's worth, though as Hayes stayed with the team for nine total seasons.  Though he had only one huge season, leading the majors in runs scored (107) and the NL in doubles (46) in 1986, Von provided a stabilizing presence in the Phillies' outfield.
 

That's Waterloo, Iowa, that the card is referencing.  Hayes led the Class A Midwest League in batting average that year.

Career Stats

'91: 77 G, 323 PA (284 AB), .225/.303/.285, 64 H, 43 R, 15 R, 1 3B, 0 HR, 21 RBI, 31 BB, 42 K, 9 SB (2 CS), 68 OPS+

Hayes was one of 13 players, with a minimum of 323 plate appearances, to not homer during the year.  The Indians had three players and the Braves had two.

Best '91 Game: June 4 vs. Braves: 4-4, R, RBI

Hayes recorded the tenth (and final) four-hit game of his career, notching four singles.  He had done this two other teams.  However, the Braves jumped out to a 6-0 lead after two innings and won the game 9-5, despite the Phillies scoring all their runs in the final three innings.

After '91: Hayes moved on to the California Angels after his poor 1991 season.  He spent one year with them, only improved marginally (the same .225 average with four homers and 29 RBIs) then retired, ending a 12-year career.

UPDATE: After re-reading Miracle Season!, I forgot crucial pieces of information about the June 4 game: that was the first time that Dale Murphy had been in Atlanta since the trade, and Otis Nixon started a brawl in the eighth inning, pummeling Phillie reliever Wally Ritchie.