What was the deal with Dave Gallagher? It seems that I see him on every 1989 card touting him as the next coming of Ted Williams. OK, no card (that I remember) ever actually said that, but it seemed like he was everywhere. Can anyone tell me what he was doing in the glossy Topps send-in All-Star set?Sure, that's a pretty energetic photo. There's more energy in that photo than I ever saw him put into a game. In 1989, Dave was 28. That seems a bit old for a rookie phenom to appear. I could be wrong, but Dave really never amounted to much.
In a nine year career, Dave played on eight different teams. He only played in 100 or more games twice in his major league career. Both times were with the White Sox on really awful teams in 1988 and 1989.
The White Sox aren't even Dave's first team. That privilege would go to the Indians. The fact is that he has more time under his belt as a minor leaguer. He spent parts of 10 seasons in the minors. Did Dave have relatives working for the card companies? Or they desperate for players to fill their sets?
I could think of many players that could've filled the role better. Sandy Alomar Jr. was left off that set. So was Ken Griffey Jr. If Topps needed a representative for each team, Jack McDowell or Robin Ventura would've been better choices. Even Bobby Thigpen would have been an excellent choice. I know the late eighties teams were horrible but Harold Baines or Carlton Fisk could have easily fit the bill on this one.
Still, I look back at Dave Gallagher cards from 1989 and wonder why. At least it wasn't a card of Fred Manrique. I'll take Dave over Fred any day of the week.
8 comments:
I remember Gallagher with the ChiSox, but never heard of him again after he was traded away. Or released. Whatever happened to him.
He must have impressed somebody back then. He also appears in the 1989 Score Young Superstars I set. He did bat 0.303 in 100 games with the Sox in 1988. Maybe that's all it took. In 1995 he signed as a free agent with the Phillies. the Phillies traded him in August to the Angels and that was, pretty much, the end of him.
After the Sox, he went to the Orioles, the Angels, the Mets, the Braves, the Phillies and the Angels again.
I find it hard to believe that he placed fifth in Rookie of the Year voting with 31 RBI. Was the 1988 rookie crop that bad?
In the AL, yes 1988 was bad. Walt Weiss won (I think it was more because he was the third in a row from Oakland than anything he did on the field). The NL crop was much better - Sabo, Grace, Gant, Roberto Alomar.
I never realized the AL 1988 rookie crop was that bad. I guess when I think of 1988 rookies, I lump the NL in with the AL.
Dave Gallagher was a blue-collar, overachiever type fans like to hype up [i.e. David Eckstein] because they can identify with him.
He was able to put together a solid MLB career as a reserve after toiling in the minors.
I remember reading a Sports Illustrated story [I think that was the magazine], where Gallagher had 'invented' these leg braces that kind of looked like handcuffs. They were supposed to align your feet, so you would have a level swing through the strike zone.
Hopefully this link works:
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1068412/index.htm
laurens,
Great article! I was not aware of anything like that going on. There seems to be more to Dave Gallagher than meets the eye.
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