Cards That Never Were #41

2008 Topps - Jason Frasor

The life of a middle reliever can be a cruel one. People tend to forget about you because you're not a stud starter or a cocky closer. The middle relief usually show up when the starter gets rocked or in a specialty situation. I love the middle relievers. Without that solid bridge between the starter and the closer, most games are lost. They are the unsung heroes on the team.

One of my favorite current middle relievers is Jason Frasor. He has never been with the White Sox. He usually crosses my path, off the field, far away from the game, and I've never met the man. I still collect his cards.

I've crossed paths with Rob Mackowiak in the same classes in high school, before he sniffed the majors. He was on the White Sox, and yet there's not a strong connection. Jason is different.

I've known my fiancee since 1996. We managed to stay connected throughout the years despite her moving away. Eventually the friendship blossomed into the relationship that we share today. Her sister has had a long friendship with Jason's brother. After years of being prompted to "look for Jay" from my fiancee, I finally saw him in a game against the White Sox. I was impressed with what I saw. When I started back into collecting baseball cards, I've always kept an eye out for his cards.

Until last month, I've never pulled a Jason Frasor card out of a pack. I went to Target and mistakenly picked up a 2010 Topps Series 2 that was left in the Updates box. I was a little miffed about picking up the wrong series, but a pack of cards is still a pack of cards. I opened it and the first card out of the pack was Jason. Now I can cross another impossible task of my list.

Jason had a great start to his MLB card career in 2004. He was all over the place. As card companies wilted and his rookie year faded from view, it got harder to find Frasor in releases. In 2006, only Topps thought to put him in a set. In 2007, Jay would get an Upper Deck Series 2 card and a Topps Update card. In 2008, there were no cards of Jason Frasor, which led me to create this one. Upper Deck was the only one to include him in 2009. Topps was the only card company to give him a spot in 2010. Sadly, we'll never know for sure if Upper Deck had plans for a Jason Frasor card in 2010 Series 2.

Here's a victory for all the decent middle relievers. A card that should have been for a solid bullpen guy.