My first impression of this card was, "What's with the multi-colored polo shirt?"Isn't Wilson a little old to be in his good clothes looking for a pick up game on a street corner? Apparently not. There he is on a Sunday afternoon shaking kids down for money. The billiards hall wouldn't be open for hours, so he had to kill time by hustling kids on the street.
"I bet you can't hit my fastball", said Wilson.
"I bet you ten bucks that I can, old man", said some snot nosed punk kid.
Wilson then proceeded to blow the kid away with three pitches. He made ten bucks and sent the kid home crying. This is what multi-millionaires do when they are on strike. The 1994 strike hurt more than baseball, it hurt real live people. Major League players were forced to take to the street to practice their craft. It was a sad time indeed.
I suspect Wilson could only fool a handful of kids in 1994. He was famous enough to where he could be recognized. He threw a no-hitter a few years before and made the playoffs last season. His team was primed to head back to the playoffs. He wouldn't be a man to fool many. He took whatever money he could get.
This card painfully reminds us that the strike had an impact on even the most talented players. I hate to think what the common players did to make ends meet during this time. I would imagine it wasn't pretty.
1 comment:
I loved this card from the moment I pulled it out of a box of 1995 Stadium Club last year. That shirt is ridiculous, and should have been put onto relic cards. If only Wilson were willing to part with it...
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