Day Fourteen: Tino Martinez

It's already been two weeks (or, it's been two weeks!!) of doing this and living in isolation from the usual world. Everything that is going on is strange. Everything that is happening is new. Like new new. Nobody has ever experienced anything like this before. There is really no way to grab hold and get a proper footing in this muck. But there are things we can do to cultivate a sense of wonder and joy. A sense of proportion and understanding. To better face this unknown present and wholly opaque and indescribable future I choose to look at old baseball cards and write about awful teams and treasured moments. Great heroes and goats (the old way of using that word). I don't wish to return to those days (although the summer of 2002 was mighty fine.) and I am not trying to escape this moment. I am savoring every day I get to spend with my daughter right now. It is a joy to see her thriving. But the mind and heart need a steadying force. And there is nothing more steadying than a gorgeous 1990 Upper Deck rookie card. Especially one with the steady presence of one of the greatest players who won't make the Hall of Fame on the regular vote. Mr. Tino Martinez. Mariner star, Yankee legend. October hero against the Pinstripes and for them. Tino.

So it is important to notice the selection of this 1990 Upper Deck as the card to showcase on this blog. It is an important card from an important set. 1989 Upper Deck took the baseball card collecting world by storm. Everyone wanted to strike the Griffey and the Jerome Walton (lol it's true though!). And there were so many other gems in that 1989 set that were coveted. So when the 1990 set came out everyone wanted to get the key rookie cards. And there were so very many that year: Frank Thomas, Bob Hamelin, Marquis Grissom, Juan Gonzalez, John Olerud, Sammy Sosa, Deion Sanders (such a good one), and Tino Martinez. The Tino was such a huge card in the Pacific Northwest. You could find it under glass at any card shop or mall kiosk. It was a hot item and it just got hotter. Ya see, Tino didn't play a full season until 1992 so his 1990 rookie cards remained like super duper extra mega rookie cards as he had rookie cards in both the 1991 and 92 sets. And of course as with all things early 90's, the Upper Deck was the pinnacle. For me, in the dismal 1992 season, looking at that Tino card (I never bought it and I hadn't pulled one in 1990) was a huge boost. While he was raking in his first full year and filling the hole left by Pete O'Brien at first, that 1990 Upper Deck just continued to glimmer under the glass cases of University Cards and Ballard Cards and any of the other dozen or so card shops in the greater Seattle area. I remember almost buying it at University Cards from the awesome David Koresh looking dude who pretty much had every single junk wax era card for every player. (That dude was so rad.) But deciding instead to buy like 5 Delino DeShields cards (still the right call btw). I never even considered buying it anywhere else because the card was always so fucking marked up. With every sweet swing and friendly smile, Tino was driving his card's price through the roof at bunk card shops throughout the region. I am sure there are other region specific rookie card mark-ups but during the heyday of card collecting here in Seattle it was the 1990 Tino Upper Deck and the 1990 Griffey Leaf that were beyond ridiculous (and I would wager that the 90 Leaf Griff was out of control just about everywhere. That is a card story for another day.) But anyways, the card was pretty significant. 

And the player who was represented on it was quite special as well. Tino Martinez was not the other Martinez. It might look like that now, but both Edgar and Tino were equally beloved. And they both contributed to make the Mariners lineup of 93-95 pretty fucking fearsome. Can you even imagine now? A heart of the lineup consisting of 3. Ken Griffey, Jr., 4. Edgar Martinez, 5. Tino Martinez, 6. Jay Buhner. What in the fuck. That is just outright brutality. And Lou rolled that Left Right Left Right nightmare out there pretty much every day. Tino had his best year as a Mariner in 95. He was such a crucial piece of that (let's just call it championship team from now on) historic squad. He had 31 homers and made his first (of only 2) All Star team. And just as soon as he had risen to stardom he was gone. Traded to the Yankees with Jeff Nelson for a bag of magic beans (named Russ Davis). Tino and Nelson went on to be lynchpins of the Yankees dynasty and now Yankees fanatics search out the 1990 Upper Deck Tino I am sure. But if it's under 2 bucks on ebay when I'm done writing this I am going to buy one too. And then leave it in the hallway for 72 hours so I don't get sick from a fucking Tino Martinez rookie card.