It was the summer of 1990 and life was good for Calgary baseball fans.
If you went to Foothills Stadium to take in a Triple-A game that season, the odds were good that you’d get to see shortstop Omar Vizquel pick a ball out of the infield dirt and fire it over to first baseman Tino Martinez to record an out.
If you were really lucky, you might show up on one of the nights that outfielder Jay Buhner suited up for the Cannons that year.
For those who collected baseball cards, the sports collectibles business was booming.
So flooded was the market with baseball cards that fans of the Cannons had several different team sets to choose from. We profiled the first one in this edition of In The Cards, but let’s take a look at the other offering from ProCards, which included 22 Pacific Coast League (PCL) personalities who came through Cowtown in 1990:
Righty hurler Mike Walker (bottom right) was the workhorse of the pitching staff for the Cannons. In 1990, he led the club in innings pitched (144.2), games started (24) and complete games (3). Walker was serviceable in the role, going 5-11 with 64 strikeouts and a 5.35 earned run average (ERA). The Texan, a second-round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates, played in Calgary during four different seasons between 1989 and 1993. His final campaign with the Cannons in ’93 was his best – that year he went 13-8 with a 4.03 ERA and 131 Ks over 28 games and 169-plus innings. During a professional career that spanned 14 years, Walker got a taste of life in Major League Baseball (MLB) when he played five games for the Mariners in 1992. He joined the Mariners organization from the Pirates as part of a trade with Mike Dunne and Mark Merchant for Rey Quinones and Bill Wilkinson. His final pro season of play took place in 1994. Walker split that season pitching for the Oklahoma City 89ers of the American Association and the PCL’s Phoenix Firebirds.Keith Helton (top right) was another pitcher who fit into the serviceable category. The lefty pitcher was in his second of three seasons with the Cannons in 1990 and he went 6-7 with a 5.80 ERA and 68 Ks in 80-plus innings. The Arkansas native led the club in appearances that year by getting into 60 games. All but one of those mound shifts came out of the bullpen. Helton, who never played higher than Triple-A, collected six saves during the season, tying him with fellow southpaw Vance Lovelace for second in that category behind closer Scott Medvin. Helton was a 14th-round selection of the Mariners in the 1987 MLB Draft.While Tino Martinez (bottom left) was the player to watch out of this batch of cards, and Mario Diaz (top right) also proved to be a decent MLB infielder, don’t overlook Todd Haney (centre). The second baseman – who collected over 1,500 hits in his minor-league career – was a solid offensive contributor to the Cannons in 1990. In his 108 PCL games that year, the Texan batted .339 and finished second on the team in hits (142) and runs (81), finishing just behind Martinez in both categories. Haney was also the second best base stealer on Calgary with 16 swiped bags. The 38th-round selection of the Mariners only played one season with the Cannons and he was working his was to the majors at the time. His MLB debut ultimately came with the Montreal Expos in 1992 and Haney ended up suiting up in 101 big league games with the Expos, Chicago Cubs and New York Mets. After his playing career, Haney went on to coach with the Victoria HarbourCats in the West Coast League (WCL).Well-traveled infielder Ed Jurak (middle right) was entering his final full season as a pro player when he joined the Calgary Cannons for the 1990 campaign. He had suited up in the major leagues with three different teams – the Boston Red Sox, Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants – and got to play in 193 games. In that time, Jurak connected for one MLB home run and when he was with the Giants he earned the nickname of “Croatian Man” due to his ancestry. With the Cannons, he posted a .255 batting average, .354 on-base percentage, 17 doubles and 52 RBI in 114 games. Most of his time at Foothills Stadium was spent at third base, but Jurak also played in the outfield and the middle infield. The third-round pick of the Red Sox in the 1975 MLB Draft went on to manage the Mobile Baysharks, an independent league team, in 1994. The California product even played in a game with the Baysharks that year and picked up a hit, an RBI, a stolen base and scored a run that helped Mobile win their season finale. Jurak, however, was later deemed an ineligible player and they had to forfeit the game.Following a playing career that lasted just five years in the minors, Tommy Jones (bottom left) got into coaching, a role that allowed him to thrive in baseball. The Californian spent the 1980s at all levels of the minor leagues and managed in Butte, Fort Myers, Memphis, Albany and Wausau before making his way to Calgary, where he coached the Cannons for one season. The top affiliate of the Mariners went 66-77 that year and did not qualify for the PCL postseason. Jones, however, was going places. After some more minor-league managing gigs, he joined the Arizona Diamondbacks organization in the late 1990s, serving as director of field operations and director of player development for several years. Jones won a World Series ring with the D’backs in 2001. After leaving the Diamondbacks, Jones joined the Mariners as a scout in 2005, coached with the San Diego Padres in 2006 and was the director of baseball operations for the Arizona Fall League in 2008. Sadly, Jones died of brain cancer in January of 2009. Outfielder and first baseman Tom Dodd (top left) had major-league talent. The former Pac-12 Conference Baseball Player of the Year was a seventh overall pick of the New York Yankees in 1980 and all arrows were pointing up as he turned pro and ascended through the minor leagues. He clubbed 30 homers in his second season at Single-A but then had trouble climbing the ladder over the next five years. Dodd maintained his high prospect status, nonetheless, and was involved in two big trades in 1982. The first saw him, Jeff Reynolds and Dave Revering dealt to the Toronto Blue Jays for John Mayberry in May. The Yankees re-acquired him in December when they sent Fred McGriff, Mike Morgan and Dave Collins to the Blue Jays for Dodd and Dale Murray. Safe to say, Toronto got the better end of that deal. Dodd ended up in the Baltimore Orioles system and made his MLB debut in 1986. Playing in just eight games and managing 13 at bats, Dodd did produce three hits and a home run, but that was the extent of his time in the majors. He did, however, continue to play well. In 1987, he was the MVP of the Double-A Southern League circuit. The Portland, Oregon product’s final season came in Calgary and Dodd did not disappoint. He led the PCL in RBI, with 114, and was tops on the Cannons in games played (135), at bats (501) and doubles (31). Dodd was tied with Martinez for total bases (226) and finished one homer behind him with 16 long balls. “I feel I was a success,” Dodd said following his career. “I’m disappointed I didn’t get more time in the majors, because I thought I deserved it, but that doesn’t leave a bad taste about the whole game.” … Jim Weaver (top right) was in a similar position as his teammate. The outfielder from New York was also playing in his final pro season with the Cannons in 1990. It was his second PCL tour of duty in Calgary. Weaver was very good with the Cannons in 1987, when he smacked 17 home runs and stole 31 bases. The former second-round pick of the Minnesota Twins remained a threat on the base paths. He stole 20 bases to lead the team in that category while collecting 91 hits over 120 games during the 1990 season. Like Dodd, Weaver also spent a brief time in the big leagues. He played 31 games for the Detroit Tigers, Mariners and Giants. And he was also part of a fairly major trade in 1985 – Weaver was moved by the Twins with Curt Wardle, Jay Bell and Rich Yett for Hall-of-Fame hurler Bert Blyleven, who was pitching for Cleveland at the time.
Thanks for looking over this set with us. We encourage you to leave a comment about the players and cards below.
We are currently developing an online digital archive of Alberta baseball card sets with our In The Cards series. If you have baseball cards you’d like to donate – or lend – to our cause, please email us at AlbertaDugoutStories@gmail.com with more information and to make arrangements.
