1990 Topps Minis #17: Bret Saberhagen

Next up in our quest to show the entire 1990 Topps Mini League Leaders set is 1985 and 1989 AL Cy Young winner Bret Saberhagen.

Bret Saberhagen.

After typing the above line about Saberhagen being a two-time Cy Young winner, I wondered how many two-time Cy Young winners aren't in the Hall of Fame.  Other than active players and the not-yet-eligible, it's just Saberhagen, Roger Clemens (tainted by steroids), and Denny McClain.  Saberhagen was, as they say, injury plagued, and didn't do as well after 1989 even though he played in the majors through 2001.  His career record turned out to be 167-117 with a 3.34 ERA and 1 save, and 1715 strikeouts.

Bret Saberhagen card back.

As the 1989 AL Cy Young winner, Saberhagen easily had the stats to make it into this league leaders set.  As the card back shows, he was #1 in the AL in wins with 23, in ERA with 2.16, as well as in innings pitched and complete games.  He was third in strikeouts with 193 and third in batting average against at .217.  He tied for second in shutouts and tied for fourth in starts.  He had a good year.

Thanks for reading -- our next installment in this series will feature Saberhagen's fellow Royal Kevin Seitzer.