1990 Topps Minis #15: Tom Gordon

Before I went on my two-month hiatus, I had a couple of regular features, including showing the entire 1990 Topps Mini League Leaders set.  I had gotten through card #14, Gary Pettis, before taking my break.  So now we pick up in Kansas City; the cards are organized by team, alphabetically by place name, starting with the AL.  So, we've already been through Baltimore, Boston, California, Chicago (AL), Cleveland, and Detroit.  There are several Royals in the set, and the plan is to post two of these minis per week, so we'll be in Kansas City for a couple of weeks.

Tom Gordon.

I have some vague memory of Tom Gordon hitting the scene when I was watching baseball so closely.  But he was in the AL and in the Midwest, which meant he was a significant distance away, both figuratively and literally.  Of course what sticks in mind is that he was nicknamed Flash, because of course he was, with his last name being Gordon.  Gordon pitched with the Royals the whole time I was watching (which was until the 1994 strike), being with them 1988-1995, and then played with the Red Sox, Cubs, Astros, White Sox, Yankees, Phillies, and Diamondbacks before retiring in 2009, for quite a long career.  He was a starter through 1997 and then a reliever after that, leading the AL in saves and winning Rolaids Relief Man of the Year in 1998.

Tom Gordon card back.

To get into this League Leaders series, you should be among the league leaders in some significant category.  I didn't realize that Topps used Batting Average Against as one of their categories, but Gordon did quite well in that in 1989, finishing second in the AL by only allowing a .210 batting average against him.  The card goes on to note that he tied for #6 in the AL with 17 wins and placed tenth in strikeouts with 153.

On Wednesday we'll have Gordon's teammate and card #16 from the set, Bo Jackson.  Thanks for reading!