Does former Phillies infielder Ricky Jordan have the craziest baseball card ever?
With the lockout eating into Major League Baseball’s future, everyone is looking back at the past.
This week, in trying to find some entertainment in nostalgia, FanGraphs’ Dan Syzmbroski unearthed former Philadelphia Phillies infielder Ricky Jordan‘s 1994 Topps card, notable for the blurb underneath the statistics.
If any editors at @TheAthleticMLB are reading this -- and I'm sure there may be -- I would definitely love to read a longform about this. pic.twitter.com/9Aqkwka38n
— Dan Szymborski (@DSzymborski) February 16, 2022
Jordan made his debut with the Phillies in 1988, and kicked off his big-league career with a splash, homering in his first at-bat. At the time, he was the 33rd player in National League history and only the fourth Phillie to do so.
Over seven seasons, Jordan hit a respectable .282/.308/.425 with a .734 OPS. He spent most of his career as a first baseman, but also made 173 appearances as a pinch-hitter. He had a great swing:
9.13.1993 - 9.15.1993
— John Foley (@2008Philz) September 15, 2020
Phillies take 2 out of 3 from the Mets. Tommy Greene (14-3) throws a shutout in game 1 and the offense gets it done in game 3. Clip is Ricky Jordan hitting a HR in the loss in between.
Huge series with the surging 2nd-place Expos up next. pic.twitter.com/si8wT3iRJ5
The rediscovery of Jordan’s card is oddly fitting, as it feels as though we’ve reached the seafood “milkshake” point in this lockout. That’s the point in the lockout at which we are so desperate for baseball that this article exists in the first place. MLB has wired our proverbial jaws shut, and we miss baseball so much that we will consume it in any form.
Here’s to Ricky Jordan and the return of baseball as soon as possible.