For much of the early 1990's, my card collecting habits could be summed up as a Junk Wax Prospector. This was back when you could find packs of even Minor League baseball cards in retail outlets like gas stations and grocery stores! During the era where every card was way, way, way, waaaaaaay overproduced, I paid extra attention to acquiring cards of the hottest rookies before they made the Major Leagues. Surely those would be worth more money someday! I was correct on a few of players for whom I predicted stardom, and wrong on quite a few more...
The Junk Wax Prospector is a series I'm starting to highlight my favorite early 1990's prospects, both good and bad, and how they fared... I don't want to be overly negative (despite it coming easy for me), but it's a lot more fun to write about things that are bad, than things that worked out okay...
First up is a former first round draft pick (#3 overall) from the Minnesota Twins, David McCarty!
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| 1991 Classic 4 Sport |
As I was putting this story together, I found that I had 45 different David McCarty Twins cards. I had no idea he had that many in less than 4 years of playing with the Twins. I wont show them all, just the ones I like...
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| 1991 Classic Draft Picks |
McCarty, from Houston, Texas, finished up school at Stanford with a degree in economics. He hit .420 with 24 home runs and 66 RBI's with a .828 slugging percentage. He was named NCAA player of the year for 1991, and was a first team All-American. Due to Minnesota finishing last in the American League West in 1990, the Twins the 3rd overall pick in the 1991 draft. They chose McCarty, and he signed a few weeks after the draft for $390,000 bonus.
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| 1991 Classic Minor League LP |
After signing, McCarty was assigned to the Class A Visalia (CA) Oaks. He played 15 games there, batting .380/.530/.620 (batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage), before earning a promotion to the AA Orlando Sun Rays. His numbers cooled off a bit against AA pitching. Going .261/.350/.409 in 100 plate appearances. Overall, a very good debut for the 21 year old.
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| 1992 Classic Best LP Red |
As the Major League Twins were busy winning the 1991 World Series, I was already planning for McCarty to replace Kent Hrbek (who was slowing due to injuries) at first base, at some point in the middle of the 1992 season. In my mind, he was going to hit .330 every year, with 30-35 home runs every year, and lead the Twins to multiple World Series appearances throughout the 1990's...
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| 1992 Upper Deck |
McCarty was a surprise addition to the 1992 Upper Deck set, appearing in a Visalia Oaks uniform in the Top Prospects subset. A special Hologram card was made of McCarty in a Stanford Cardinals uniform, to commemorate the 1991 draft. That isn't pictured because I couldn't make a decent scan of that card...
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| 1992 Upper Deck Minor Leagues |
There was some weirdness surrounding the 1991 draft and the card maker Classic. They were rumored to have signed the top draft picks to exclusive contracts, in regards to autographs and who could appear in which company's sets. Upper Deck wanted to include 1991 #1 overall pick Brien Taylor of the New York Yankees to their set, but had to pull his card at the last minute. Taylor did, however, appear in Topps 1992 set. McCarty had a card in 1992 Upper Deck, but not Topps. The entire draft had Classic cards, some had Topps, some had Upper Deck... It was all so confusing...
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| 1992 Upper Deck Minor Leagues Hologram |
Another rumor about this situation was that Upper Deck was so upset by Classic's exclusive contracts, they made a go-around by releasing their own Minor League Baseball set towards the end of the 1992 season. (This set was one of my all time favorites, I opened a ton of boxes of 1992 Upper Deck Minor League Baseball.)
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| 1993 Bowman |
McCarty played well in 1992 Spring Training, then returned to AA Orlando for most of the 1992 season with the Rays. he batted .272/.356/.434 in 130 games. Decent numbers, but not dominant... A late season promotion to the AAA Portland Beavers had McCarty hitting .500/.594/.692 in only seven games.
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| 1993 Classic Best Gold |
He likely would have been given a September call-up after the minor league season ended in any other year. The Twins did not want to add him to the 40 man roster with the upcoming Expansion Draft in November 1992. Adding him to the 40 man roster meant they would have had to leave another player exposed to the Florida Marlins or Colorado Rockies to build their inaugural teams. McCarty voiced his displeasure to the press over the perceived snub during the offseason.
Apache Plaza Card Show - January 17, 1993
The hobby shop I frequented in those days was holding a mid-Winter card show in the mall their shop was located. For the weekend, they were bringing in hot Timberwolves rookie Christian Laettner and David McCarty to sign autographs.
The show was a major success, drawing a big crowd on both days. I met David McCarty (and his turtleneck) at the show and he was a really nice guy. Even smiling for the camera with a bunch of clothes from Herbergers behind him.
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| 1993 Fleer Excel |
Going into Spring Training 1993, McCarty was told he wouldn't make the team no matter what. Minnesota had too many players if the OF-DH-1B type already on the team roster. Had a great spring and was sent down anyways. McCarty opened the 1993 season with the AAA Portland Beavers, and was on fire for the first month, batting .398 through mid-May.
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| 1993 Flair |
Meanwhile in Minnesota, Shane Mack, Gene Larkin and Kent Hrbek were all injured at the same time, so McCarty got the call. He made his Major League Debut on May 17, 1993, against the New York Yankees at the Metrodome. He started in right field and had his first hit in four at-bats.
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| 1993 Fun Pack |
McCarty started strong, hitting in 18 of his first 20 games, including a 14 game streak. But the power he was known for in college and the minor leagues, hadn't shown up. His first major league home run came on June 2, against Roger Pavlik of the Texas Rangers. Unfortunately, his second home run didn't come until October 3, 1993 (the final game of the season) off Tim Leary of the Seattle Mariners.
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| 1993 Leaf Gold Rookies |
Things went downhill fast for McCarty. He was still playing every day, striking out a ton and not drawing walks. Amidst a ton of fanfare, including his own ego, has demoted back to AAA on July 30, 1993. Local press speculated that he had a temper problem, but he just wasn't hitting. Cranky Tom Kelly, complained to the local press that his swing was too long. In hindsight, it likely was. His entire Twins tenure showed no power, when he had it in spades in the minor leagues.
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| 1993 Score Boys of Summer |
His demotion only lasted two weeks into August, before he was back with the Twins to finish the 1993 season. For the year, McCarty hit .214/.257/.286 over 371 plate appearances. Contributing only 2 home runs and 21 RBI's. Ouch...
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| 1993 Select Rookie & Traded |
Longtime Twins first baseman and local legend, Kent Hrbek, only had one more year on his contract. It was widely known that he planned on retiring at the end of the 1994 season. (With the 1994 season ending early due to the lockout/players strike, Hrbek likely could not be convinced to come back for 1995.) McCarty needed a strong 1994 to show he could handle the first base job after Hrbek was gone.
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| 1993 SP |
Starting 1994 everyday at either first base or the outfield, depending on match-ups, Minnesota hoped he'd put it together and be an answer they needed. Well... Overall, his 1994 numbers were better than 1993, but it still wasn't what anyone was hoping for. In 44 games, McCarty batted .260/.322/.374. Only 1 home run and 12 RBI in 143 plate appearances for Minnesota.
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| 1993 Stadium Club |
McCarty was sent back down to AAA on July 1st, 1994. He was not recalled from the minors before the strike ended the season prematurely on August 12th. At least he didn't have to go to Portland, Oregon anymore... The Twins AAA affiliate relocated to Salt Lake City, Utah, over the 1993 offseason. So McCarty wasn't a Beaver. He was a Buzz... As in bees... Yup...
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| 1993 Topps Traded |
As a Buzz, his numbers were a little better than in Minnesota, but worse than when he was a Beaver... In 55 games at AAA Salt Lake City, McCarty hit .253/.379/.382. Managing just 3 home runs and 18 RBI in 228 plate appearances.
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| 1993 Upper Deck |
Once the strike was resolved in early March 1995, an abbreviated Spring training was held. McCarty made the Opening Day roster, but wasn't starting every day. He still wasn't hitting either... After 25 games, McCarty was batting .218/.279/.309 with no home runs.
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| 1994 Finest |
Minnesota gave up on McCarty at the end of May. Designating him for assignment, then trading him to Cincinnati on June 8, 1995, for relief pitcher John Courtright. (Who never played in the Majors for the Twins.)
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| 1994 O Pee Chee |
McCarty started to put things together once away from the Minnesota Twins organization. He hit .336/.401/.593 in 37 games with AAA Indianapolis, before the Reds traded him a month later. Packaged with Deion Sanders (and others) to the San Francisco Giants, for former Twins pitcher Mark Portugal and others. (I can't even begin to imagine the massive ego in an outfield of Sanders and Barry Bonds...) McCarty continued hitting well for the AAA Phoenix Firebirds after his second trade of the season. Improving to .351/.434/.583 over his 37 games in Phoenix, and getting a September call up when the rosters expanded.
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| 1994 Pinnacle Museum Collection |
1996 was split between San Francisco and Phoenix. McCarty was hitting well in AAA, but not so much in his chances at major league pitching. 1997 was spent entirely at Phoenix, where McCarty excelled, batting .353/.419/.590, with 22 home runs and 92 RBI's in 121 games. After spending two and a half seasons in the Giants organization, he was traded to Seattle for the 1998 season.
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| 1994 Stadium Club |
He turned in a very strong season at AAA Tacoma, .317/.411/.485, but did not resign with Seattle. Despite a great year at the plate, the Mariners only brought him up to the majors for an 8 game stretch in late May, where he did pretty well. Frustrated by a lack of opportunity with Seattle, he did not resign. McCarty opted for a minor league deal with the Detroit Tigers instead. 1999 was spent playing for the AAA Toledo Mud Hens, without a game in for the Tigers. Not even a September call up to the very bad Detroit team, despite hitting .268/.366/.532, with a career high 31 home runs in 132 games at Toledo.
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| 1994 Ultra |
McCarty signed with Oakland for the 2000 season, but had his contract purchased by Kansas City during 2000 Spring Training. He unexpectedly made the Royals opening day roster, and went on to play an entire season in the Major Leagues for the first time in his career. McCarty wasn't a starting player for the Royals, but had became a valuable utility player, who could play at first or the outfield and was considered a good fielder at either position. McCarty hit .278/.329/.478, with 12 home runs and 53 RBI's in 103 games. The numbers slipped a bit for the 2001 season, but once again he spent the entire year on a major league roster.
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| 1995 Donruss |
Things fell apart in 2002 for McCarty, and Kansas City released him in May. He signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays a week later and was released again in August. Most of 2003 was spent with Oakland's AAA team in Sacramento, minus 8 games with the Athletics in July. McCarty was claimed on waivers in August by Boston, and played with the Red Sox until May 2, 2005.
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| 1995 Leaf |
McCarty played in the 2003 post season, which was his only playoff appearance. While he was under contract with Boston for all of 2004, he didn't make the postseason roster due to injury. But he got a ring! He also pitched in 3 games for Boston in 2004. Putting up a decent line, including a 2.45 ERA with 4 K's in 3.2 innings, throwing an 89mph fastball. In a 2007 interview with Baseball Prospectus, McCarty revealed that if he had to do it again, he may have tried to be a pitcher. Well, the Twins may have had a glut of similar players position-wise, but they spent the 1990's starving for decent pitching. A trend that continues today...
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| 1995 Stadium Club |
McCarty retired from the Boston Red Sox in May 2005, stepping down as a player to take a role as a commentator with Boston's NESN TV.
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| 1994 Fleer |
Along the lines of what I was saying in my Montreal Expos/Topps Total story, as the sets got smaller and smaller, players like McCarty were the ones left out. He has only a handful of San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals cards, but none with Seattle, Oakland, Tampa Bay or Boston.
(With the exception of a single Red Sox card in the 2004 World Series Champions box set.)
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| 1994 Upper Deck |
In that same Baseball Prospectus interview, McCarty said that looking back, he agrees he was rushed to the big leagues, but does not blame the Twins for it. He was anxious to get to the big leagues, and although he wouldn't have been happy staying in AAA for the whole season (1993), a full year there would have helped him as a player. At the time, he thought he was ready, but he needed more time to develop. He struggled to try and hit home runs, which ruined his confidence as the season went on. He said that it took until mid 1995 for him to feel comfortable hitting again. (Not a direct shot, but even he knew he wasn't going to succeed in Minnesota and had to leave...)
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| 1993 Ultra |
At least McCarty salvaged a decent career out of the mess it started out as. Even after it became apparent that he wasn't going to be the star I'd predicted in Minnesota, he played 11 seasons in the majors, won a World Series and did a lot more in the game than some of the others I had pegged for stardom.
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| 1995 Select |
Great post! Pirate versions of McCarty are among my favorites to collect. You have to commend a guy that is willing to play that long in the minors. His perseverance got him a ring!
ReplyDeleteI was always surprised each offseason where I'd read McCarty signed another minor league deal. You could tell he really just loved to play. Which was opposite how the the Minnesota media seemed to treat him at the time...
DeleteAfter Doug Mientkiewicz was traded to Boston in 2004, he took a picture with McCarty and David Ortiz, and called it something to the effect of "a lineage of first basemen, gave up on by the Twins".
I 'd love to get a copy signed by all three!