Card of the Week: 1991 Donruss #592 Charles Nagy
Posted by Andy on July 14, 2010
Card of the Week has moved to Wednesdays!
(click on images for larger versions)
This is a wonderful baseball card that shows you everything great about the hobby. This photo for the 1991 set was taken in spring training of 1990. Nagy was a minor-leaguer, hoping to make it to the show that year. He's fresh-faced, and he's not even standing on the field--he's behind a couple of chain-link fences with a tractor and a big trash barrel visible in the background.
What a totally unique photo!
Ummm...
Except for the fact that his 1991 Upper Deck photo is almost identical!
If you look carefully at the two cards, you can see that the photos were probably taken by different photographers. That would make sense, since teams usually hired their own personnel to go take the photos (as opposed to buying them from free-lancers who might sell different photos to different card companies.) Aside from the different facial expression Nagy's making, notice that the fence to the right is in a very different position. The Upper Deck photograph must have been a couple of steps to the right, creating more space between Nagy and that fence. Also notice that the clouds are further to the right behind Nagy, although they might have moved a bit between photos.
In any event, these two photos were probably taken within a few seconds of each other.
Getting back to the 1991 Donruss card, I really hated this design. They added all those stripes with random color and texture. They add absolutely nothing to the card. (For collectors, they remind me of the 1990 Topps design, with all their random colored borders...really annoying.) For comparison purposes, just look at the clean and classy 1991 Upper Deck design. Despite Nagy's funny face, it's quite the superior card.
Nagy holds the distinction of being the last pitcher to get a hit in the All-Star game:
| Cr# | Date | Batter | Tm | Lg | Pitcher | Score | Inn | RoB | Out | RBI | Play Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1933-07-06 | Lefty Gomez | NYY | AL | Bill Hallahan | tied 0-0 | b 2 | 12- | 2 | 1 | Single to CF; Dykes Scores; Cronin to 2B |
| 2 | 1933-07-06 | Lon Warneke | CHC | NL | General Crowder | down 0-3 | t 6 | --- | 1 | 0 | Triple to RF |
| 3 | 1934-07-10 | Red Ruffing | NYY | AL | Van Mungo | ahead 6-4 | t 5 | 123 | 1 | 2 | Single to LF; Dickey Scores; Averill Scores; Gehringer to 2B |
| 4 | 1940-07-09 | Bobo Newsom | DET | AL | Whit Wyatt | down 0-3 | t 6 | --- | 0 | 0 | Single to RF |
| 5 | 1941-07-08 | Bucky Walters | CIN | NL | Thornton Lee | down 0-1 | t 6 | --- | 0 | 0 | Double to LF (Line Drive to LF Line) |
| 6 | 1943-07-13 | Dutch Leonard | WSH | AL | Mort Cooper | ahead 3-1 | b 2 | --- | 1 | 0 | Single to RF |
| 7 | 1944-07-11 | Hank Borowy | NYY | AL | Bucky Walters | tied 0-0 | t 2 | --3 | 2 | 1 | Single to CF; Keltner Scores |
| 8 | 1946-07-09 | Hal Newhouser | DET | AL | Kirby Higbe | ahead 3-0 | b 5 | 1-- | 1 | 0 | Single to CF (LF-CF); Rosar to 3B; Newhouser to 2B/Adv on throw to 3B |
| 9 | 1946-07-09 | Jack Kramer | SLB | AL | Rip Sewell | ahead 8-0 | b 8 | 1-- | 1 | 0 | Single to LF; Stirnweiss to 3B |
| 10 | 1948-07-13 | Vic Raschi | NYY | AL | Johnny Schmitz | tied 2-2 | b 4 | 123 | 1 | 2 | Single to LF; Keltner Scores; McQuinn Scores; Tebbetts to 3B |
| 11 | 1951-07-10 | Don Newcombe | BRO | NL | Mel Parnell | ahead 8-3 | t 8 | --- | 2 | 0 | Single to RF |
| 12 | 1953-07-14 | Murry Dickson | PIT | NL | Satchel Paige | ahead 4-0 | b 8 | 1-3 | 2 | 1 | Single (Short LF-CF); Snider Scores; Slaughter to 3B; Dickson out at 2B/CF-3B-2B |
| 13 | 1957-07-09 | Billy Pierce | CHW | AL | Clem Labine | ahead 3-2 | t 9 | --- | 0 | 0 | Single to 2B |
| 14 | 1958-07-08 | Ray Narleski | CLE | AL | Warren Spahn | down 1-3 | b 2 | 1-- | 2 | 0 | Single to CF; Aparicio to 2B |
| 15 | 1962-07-30 | Johnny Podres | LAD | NL | Dave Stenhouse | tied 0-0 | b 2 | --- | 2 | 0 | Double (CF-RF) |
| 16 | 1963-07-09 | Ken McBride | LAA | AL | Jim O'Toole | down 0-1 | b 2 | 12- | 2 | 1 | Single to LF; Wagner Scores; Versalles to 3B; McBride to 2B/Adv on throw to Hm |
| 17 | 1965-07-13 | Juan Marichal | SFG | NL | Mudcat Grant | ahead 3-0 | t 2 | --- | 0 | 0 | Single to CF |
| 18 | 1969-07-23 | Steve Carlton | STL | NL | Blue Moon Odom | ahead 7-1 | t 3 | -2- | 1 | 1 | Double (LF-CF); Millan Scores |
| 19 | 1992-07-14 | Charles Nagy | CLE | AL | Doug Jones | ahead 10-1 | t 8 | --- | 0 | 0 | Single (Ground Ball) |
This doesn't include last night, on the off chance a pitcher got a hit (can you tell I wrote this on Tuesday?) It also doesn't include any pitchers who might have gotten a hit as a pinch-hitter.
The last pitcher to get an extra-base hit was Steve Carlton in 1969 and the last pitcher to triple was Lon Warneke in 1933. The only pitcher to appear on this list twice is Bucky Walters--he got a hit in 1941 and surrendered one to a pitcher in 1944.
July 14th, 2010 at 8:47 am
These Donruss were among the ugliest ever, and also a chilling reminder of the Purple and Teal Early 90's.
July 14th, 2010 at 8:53 am
I don't have them with me, but the '88 Fleer and Donruss cards of Ken Williams are similar to the Nagy situation. Kenny is from two different angels, but on the exact same pitch of the season. He's holding a broken bat and the crowd behind him match up in both. I always found that remarkable! Happy collecting - DD
July 14th, 2010 at 9:07 am
Drew, neat. I had those cards and never noticed.
I found some current eBay auctions featuring each card if anybody else wants to compare:
Donruss
Fleer
Your analysis is correct. It's clearly the exact same swing, but clearly also taken by two different photographers.
July 14th, 2010 at 9:55 am
I never realized Nagy pitched in the olympics, but apparently it was a demonstration sport that year. So he has a gold medal but it isn't an 'official' one
July 14th, 2010 at 11:06 am
I grew up with Donruss but never really liked it because between 1982 and 1991, they never really changed their back. Even Topps threw in some variety in those years. Worse of all, their backs never told you anything. They only show five years, and the Career Highlights section was left you more confused than anything. I liked the Donruss 1992 set that was blasted in March because for me, it was FINALLY something different.
Now Charles Nagy...he was my favorite of the Indians starters in their glory years of the late 1990s. It's a shame he became one of the more hittable pitchers after 1997 and faded away.
July 14th, 2010 at 11:10 am
@4...yes, Nagy's USA Baseball card was in the '88 Topps Traded set along with Ventura, T. Martinez, Benes, J. Abbott, et al.
July 14th, 2010 at 11:14 am
oh yeah...in fact I have a previous blog post about that 88 Topps Traded Nagy card...
right here.
July 14th, 2010 at 12:10 pm
Great article. Keep up the good work.
July 14th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Andy, thanks for the research - finally got to my computer to post the pics together..
July 14th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
July 15th, 2010 at 9:01 am
Excellent article. Everdo one on the Topps '69 set?
July 15th, 2010 at 9:08 am
Isn't the All-Star game going to be using AL rule, concerning the DH from now on?
So that would make Nagy the last ever.....?
July 16th, 2010 at 8:26 am
Thanks, Frank. No 1969 Topps yet. You can see all the pack posts in this series here:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/blog/archives/category/card-of-the-week
July 16th, 2010 at 5:44 pm
I usually most ignore these card posts, but that's because I collected cards because I loved baseball, and then right around the time of this set is when card collecting started to get ruined and become to expensive for kids. This is right around when every card manufacturer felt the need to use holograms and glossy paper and all that crap (no more ridiculously hard stick of gum that would turn into shards in your mouth upon the first bite ruining that last card in the deck), but I remember a pack of cards being $0.50 and $0.75 and then all the card companies started to get fancy and then packs were $1.95, $2.95 and stuff. I didn't even have a real debate with myself about it. I just got into comics. And then comic prices jumped up.
Anyway, sorry to bring down this post--collecting just fell out of favor with me because it kind of got taken over by people who collected for the cards' values and not for their love of the sport when I was still young, idealistic, and naive enough to think the world was a better place than that :/
July 16th, 2010 at 6:48 pm
Forgot to mention that this was the first card post to make me really nostalgic for my short time collecting cards. Those were good times. I used to watch Yankees games on WPIX, listening to Phil Rizzuto and Bill White, while swinging a dark blue Coca-Cola game bat I'd received, either from someone or a game I attended--back in those days when they gave away real bats, and though those Yankees teams weren't that good, I love to watch 'em on TV, loved to go to the store and get a pack of Topps, chew on that stale gum, LOL.
Thanks for the posts, Andy.
July 16th, 2010 at 7:43 pm
I was right there with you back then, Fireworks. I stopped collecting cards right around this time too. Remember Bill White calling how many rows back the foul balls landed?
July 17th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
I remember Rizzuto better than I remember ol' Bill White. "Holy cow!"