Jeff Innis... Wasted Quarter's Favorite Player!

Now up, number 40, Wasted Quarter's favorite player... Jeff Innis!

(I've lightly promoted this post, the 40th story uploaded to Four Baggers, for over a week now. And as far as great cliffhanger let downs go, I sure hope this ranks under South Park's switching the reveal of "Who is Eric Cartman's Father?" with "Terrance & Phillip: Not Without My Anus", because I'm so on South Park's level...)

1988 Topps Traded

I started writing and self-publishing Wasted Quarter in October 1993. A month into doing it, I decided one of it's running features would be to follow one player's career in each issue. Problem being, the 1993 season was over when I started the column. There would be no game performance news until Spring, so I'd have to start the column based on whatever offseason rumors and transactions I could find in the limited pre-internet world.

1994 Score

Jeff Innis was the player chosen for this feature. A middle relief pitcher for the New York Mets, from 1987 through 1993. To Wasted Quarter's dismay, Innis never returned to the major leagues after the 1993 season. So my planned running baseball column, devoted to following one player, never panned out. But I tried!

The Jeff Innis Watch ran for seven consecutive issues (3-9), with updates whenever news found it's way to me.

1988 Fleer Update

My first exposure to Mr. Innis was finding his cards in the 1988 Fleer Update and 1988 Topps Traded box sets. But he looked like any other middle relief pitcher in those season ending box sets. Given the volume of player movement covered in those late 1980's sets, they were filled with nondescript middle relievers.

1990 Donruss

It wasn't until the July 29, 1989, Saturday Game of the Week on NBC, that I first got to see Jeff Innis pitch. The New York Mets were taking on the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley, in the first of two games on NBC that day (The Giants were in Houston to take on the Astros for game 2). I was so excited for the day of baseball, that I recorded both games on my VCR. The Cubs were starting Greg Maddux, on his way to a 19-12 season at age 23. The Mets were starting Wally Whitehurst, who was making his first major league start after two relief appearances.

1990 Fleer

Whitehurst only lasted until two outs in the third inning. Mets manager Davey Johnson called on Jeff Innis to pitch to Maddux, who was batting with runners on first and second. Wait a minute... Innis throws with a low sidearm/semi-submarine delivery, that is almost hypnotizing to watch. Innis got Maddux to ground out to shortstop Kevin Elster, ending the inning. But I want to see more...

I looked for video of Jeff Innis pitching on YouTube, but this was the best I could come up with... You only need to watch the first few seconds...

1990 Topps

Innis batted third in the top of the 4th, grounding out to Cubs third baseman Vance Law. He then gave up four consecutive singles to Jerome Walton, Ryne Sandberg, Dwight Smith and Mark Grace in the bottom of the fourth. Walton and Sandberg scored. The inning finished with Andre Dawson grounding into a double play, and Cubs catcher Damon Berryhill flying out to Darryl Strawberry in right field.

1990 CMC

The bottom of the fifth went a lot smoother for Innis. Three quick groundouts to third base and he was back in the dugout. Instead of quitting while he was ahead, Davey Johnson brought Innis back out to pitch the bottom of the sixth. A second time through the order wasn't in the cards. Walton again led off the inning with a single, but was forced out at second, after a Sandberg grounder to short. Dwight Smith singled to left and Innis was removed from the game.

1990 Upper Deck (Error)

He was replaced by David West. A top Mets pitching prospect whose name was surrounded in trade rumors. The 1989 trading deadline was just two days away, and West was the primary target of the Minnesota Twins. The Mets wanted Frank Viola for their playoff push, against these same Cubs, and were working on a trade that would acquire Viola from Minnesota, for West and other pitchers.

The trade was finalized the next day. Viola did not help the Mets take the division in 1989, but it directly affected the Twins. Pitching help acquired by Minnesota in that trade, directly led to the Twins winning the 1991 World Series.

1990 Upper Deck (Correct)

The above card is the correct 1990 Upper Deck Jeff Innis card. The first one is actually a photo of David West. Back in the late 1980's/early 1990's, any card that was released incorrectly and was fixed early in the run, was always suspect. This was a way card companies drummed up publicity in the early days of each set's release, making a harder to find variation... A trend that I'm very glad has long since died...

I went to a card show shortly after 1990 Upper Deck was released, and found a guy who had thousands of commons, sorted and available to pick through. I'd heard there was an error with the Innis card in the set, but hadn't seen one for myself. Then I found the run of Innis cards in his sorted commons box. There was about 20 of Innis' cards, five of which were the error with David West's photo. I bought all of them (amongst others) for the common price of 25/$1.00.

Those were the days...

Innis finished the 1989 season in the Major Leagues, and I was hoping that 1990 would be his breakout year for the Mets. After all, he was listed in the 1990 edition of Who's Who in Baseball.

Jeff Innis was officially a Who!

1991 Topps

Jeff Innis made the Mets 1990 Opening Day roster, and even pitched the first game of the season. The ninth inning of a 12-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He gave up back to back home runs to Andy Van Slyke and Bobby Bonilla, before getting Barry Bonds to fly out to left fielder Mark Carrion Pants. (Nevermind...).

1990 Pro Cards

He only pitched two more games in April 1990, before the Mets optioned him to AAA, after a loss to the Cubs. Innis pitched for the Tidewater Tides for the most of the 1990 season, with the exception of a month long stay in June-July. I remember seeing the transaction note announcing his promotion to New York in the newspaper, while at my grandfather's cabin in June 1990. Innis did close the 1990 with the Mets, called back up in early September, once the rosters expanded.

TTM 1988 Fleer Update Autograph

As the 1990 season was ending, I sent out the only round of TTM autograph requests I ever did. I think I sent cards to 10 players around the Major Leagues, and I recall getting seven of them back signed.

The returned Jeff Innis TTM envelope...

Jeff Innis returned my TTM request in early 1991. I sent out five cards, and four were returned signed. I also have a 1990 Donruss from that batch, but didn't scan it. A 1990 Fleer was the 4th card Innis sent back. I gave that to somebody at some point, really don't remember who... Likely Name Redacted Star...

TTM 1988 Topps Traded Autograph

The 1988 Topps Traded card that Innis signed kept a prominent space on my desk throughout the years. During the 1996 move to Colorado, it suffered a vertical crease going top to bottom, through the center of the card.

Great, now I destroyed all of it's resale value...

1991 Team Photo

1991 was the first season that Innis spent the full year with the Mets, instead of shuttling between the majors and AAA Tidewater.

1992 Fleer

In addition to the Cubs game from July 1989, I recorded the 9th inning of the June 19, 1991, Mets game against the Cincinnati Reds. The Mets called upon Jeff Innis to keep them in the game. He struck out Billy Hatcher on five pitches, then Barry Larkin hit a line drive double to center field. Paul O'Neill was intentionally walked, bringing up Hal Morris. Whoever was doing color for ESPN that night was whining that Innis wasn't "pitching like he's double parked outside the stadium" over his deliberate pace that inning...

1992 Donruss

Morris ended up hitting a weak dribbler up the first base line. Innis threw him out at first, but Larkin and O'Neill advanced to 2nd and 3rd. Todd Benzinger was intentionally walked, Innis then struck out Reds third baseman Luis Quinones looking. The Mets didn't come back in the bottom of the 9th, so the Reds won 7-6. But Innis did his part in holding Cincinnati scoreless in the top of the 9th.

No matter how long it took him to do it...

1991 Stadium Club

Junk Wax veterans remember the stir that 1991 Stadium Club caused upon it's release, in the Summer of 1991. Local card shops couldn't keep the loaded series one packs in stock. Series One were going for up to $9 a pack for a time. Series Two packs peaked at $6 shortly after they came out. I was happy to pull Innis' card out of first group of series two packs I bought...

Of course, 1991 Stadium Club dropped off the face of the Earth in value by mid 1992...

1992 Stadium Club

Yeah, no one cared... Nice card though...

1991 Fleer Update

By virtue of spending the entire season in the major leagues, most of the update sets included Innis, if he didn't make each company's base set. I remember Shinders having a bin of bright yellow 1991 Fleer Update commons, from complete sets they broke to sell as singles. I bought every Innis card they had for a dime a piece.

A brighter side of the Junk Wax era, filling player collections for next to nothing...

1991 Ultra Update

The 1991 Ultra Update box set is one of the rarer issues of 1991, meaning it has a very slight value today, compared to no value at all. I only have one copy of that set's Innis card, and I'm pretty sure I paid between 75 cents and a dollar for it back in the day...

1993 Donruss

For the 1991 season, Innis went 0-2, 2.66 ERA in 69 games (over 84 2/3 innings). He also was the first major league pitcher to appear in 60 or more games, while recording no wins and no saves.

1992 Ultra

1992 Ultra was a vast improvement over the dull 1991 set. Not that it held any value, but it is a very nice set to look at. These were so plentiful that I remember buying a bunch of packs at a gas station on my way to school. I got one of those great All Star inserts of Ken Griffey Jr. and a bottle of Mountain Dew before first period.

1992 Score

Until it's 1992 set came out, the card maker Score (later Pinnacle Brands) had never made a Jeff Innis card. Well, I wish they would have made a better one. I can't stand that orange gradient cutting the picture by a third... Because I didn't like that design element, I bought very little 1992 Score. Perhaps it's a set I should revisit at some point.

1992 Topps

I think 1992 Topps was the first large baseball set to have it's own parallel set. Gold cards were identical to the regula issue Topps, with the exception of a gold foil stamped bar for the player and team names. They were originally inserted ate a rate of 1 per 36 packs, making them a pretty significant chase for the time.

1992 Topps Gold

However, Topps placed instant win scratch-off game cards in each pack of 1992 Topps Baseball. If you exposed certain fields on the card, you could instantly win a 1 card pack of gold cards. What Topps didn't realize was that if you looked at unscratched cards at a certain angle under halogen light, you could see which fields to scratch off to win the prize on every card. Ultimately, Topps had to print more gold cards, which were then stamped Winner above the team name, to meet the demand created by their own mistake.

1992 Triple Play

Though he is uncredited on the front of the card, Jeff Innis is recognized on the back as the unofficial kicker in this photo. 1992 Triple Play is a set that I would have really liked if it wasn't for the ugly red/orange/yellow gradient. Not a fan of those colors at all. Looking at a bunch of these is very hard on the eyes. Although, this was a really fun set. It was geared towards children and were cheap to buy. The set had some very creative photos and kid friendly subjects.

1992 Upper Deck

Innis went 6-9 record with a 2.86 ERA, in 76 appearances for the Mets in 1992. Those 76 appearances set a club record that lasted until 1999. Former Cubs top prospect, Turk Wendell broke it by getting into 80 games.

1993 Pinnacle 

New York finished in fifth place in 1992. Their payroll was bloated by free agent signings and trades that brought them names like Eddie Murray, Bobby Bonilla, Vince Coleman and Bret Saberhagen, that cost tens of millions of dollars, but didn't fit and played awful together. The press and fans dubbed the 1992 Mets as “The Worst Team Money Could Buy.”

1993 Score

Locked into too many high dollar contracts to do a whole lot to change to a dysfunctional roster, the 1993 New York Mets were even worse. Posting a terrible 59-103 record, these Mets were undone by injuries, underperforming veterans and rookies not living up to their hype. The glory days of the late 1980's would not be replicated by this current group...

Hey, I need his 1993 Fleer card...

1993 Topps

Jeff Innis pitched to a 2-3 record with a 4.11 ERA in 67 games in 1993. He did pick up three saves, and had 6 holds, which was starting to become a recognized statistic to recognize winning contributions by middle relief pitchers.

1993 O Pee Chee

For the first time in the Topps/O Pee Chee partnership, O Pee Chee used a design that was completely different than Topps for their flagship set. I've always been a big fan of 1993 O Pee Chee, and far prefer the design to what Topps used for their base set. In the late 2000's I decided to buy some cheap wax boxes of 1993 O Pee Chee off ebay, in hopes of completing the set. Three boxes in and I was still 13 cards short...

1993 Ultra

Ultra (Fleer) released basically the same set in 1993 that was put out in 1992. Only swapping out the classy green triangle with a dingy tannish brown one. Overall, the pictures in the 1993 set appear to be a lot more washed out than the sharp contrasty photos that made 1992 such a great looking overproduced set.

1993 Upper Deck

Upper Deck's base brand was the best card set of 1993 without question. Full checklist of 840 cards, sharp color, subtle classic design and interesting photos. It's easily one of my favorite baseball card sets of all time.

1993 Stadium Club

Stadium Club introduced their version of a parallel for the 1993 set. 2000 of each card would be stamped with a special First Day Production foil stamp, to indicate those cards were the first 2000 printed. These inserts were very hot when the first series of boxes and pack were broken, appearing at a rate of 1 in 24 packs. Some of the stars were selling for $100 or more at card shows. I picked up my first box of series 2, at the Benilde St. Margaret card show. I didn't know that Jeff Innis had a card in series 2, but pulled the first day production card from the first box I opened. At the time, I wanted only the David McCarty 1st day card more...

Today, I wouldn't trade the Innis for even the Ken Griffey Jr. from the set...

Maybe the Brien Taylor....

*****

As I said, way back 24 years ago when I started this story, I wanted to use my zine, Wasted Quarter, to follow the career of a baseball player. My fandom of Jeff Innis made him a logical candidate. In early November, during my overnight gas station shift, I hand wrote the very first Jeff Innis Watch...

Wasted Quarter #3 - November 1993

The first appearance of the Jeff Innis watch was simply a quick update on his arbitration status. Likely inspired by a copy of either of the baseball magazines I followed, listing arbitration eligible players for the 1993 offseason. The Mets won the arbitration case after the 1991 season. Granting Innis a $355,000 salary, instead of the $650,000 he and his agent requested.

Wasted Quarter #4 - January 1994

The New York Mets chose to non-tender Innis, just before Christmas 1993. I had started using a typewriter to assist in page layout, once I expanded WQ to more than one page. Working with narrow columns, I chose to break words in really odd places, making them very hard to read... I also decided the "Jeff Innis Watch" needed a graphic. So I went with a photocopy of the mugshot on the back of his 1991 Fleer Update card.

1994 Fleer

His Mets career was officially over, just days before Christmas. It seemed heartless to me, but that is the business of baseball... In the hobby world, the first wave of 1994 baseball cards were hitting the market. Fleer put out a very nice set that included a final Innis. I collected this set by hand. Via way too many packs and card shop and show common boxes. I miss those days of the hobby a great deal...

On February 3rd, 1994, Innis signed a one year contract with the Minnesota Twins for $250,000. I was overjoyed. The Jeff Innis Watch took on a whole new level of importance...

Wasted Quarter #5 - February 1994

The biggest news of all to hit the early days of Wasted Quarter, Jeff Innis had signed a contract with the Minnesota Twins! I had to update my custom graphic by putting a blob of white-out over the Mets logo on his hat, and draw a Twins "M" over it in Sharpie.

Soon I would be able collect Jeff Innis memorabilia with actual Twins logos already on it!

St. Paul Pioneer Press, February 20, 1994

I like the part about Brett Merriman looking for chewing tobacco...

1994 Topps

The Jeff Innis story on SABR quotes an interview with Innis, conducted in 2012, where he talked of throwing a knuckleball:

“I could always throw it,” he said in 2012. “In Instructional League, they had me working on it with Joe Niekro. I probably threw a total of 30 to 40 in my major-league career. In fact, one of my baseball cards [it appears to be the 1994 Topps] shows me with a knuckleball grip. But the conditions in Salt Lake City, with the altitude, weren’t conducive to it.”

St. Paul Pioneer Press, March 31, 1994

The story of Spring Training 1994 was ex-Chicago Bull basketball superstar Michael Jordan trying to play baseball for the White Sox. I distinctly remember watching the late local news one night where the story of Jordan getting his first Spring Training hit was teased. The White Sox were playing the Twins in south Florida that day (March 14, 1994), and I had a sinking feeling that hit was personal... After the commercial break, the story was played. The video showed Innis pitching a sinkerball, and Jordan weekly tapping the ball down the third base line. The Twins third baseman grabbed the ball and threw to first, but the speedy Jordan beat the throw...

And Jeff Innis became a trivia answer...

Wasted Quarter #6 - March 1994

1994 Spring Training was in full bloom when I printed this update on Innis' progress... 

So there's where my dislike of Mo Sanford comes from...

1994 Twins Yearbook

The Twins cut him in late 1994 Spring Training. He later said he contemplated retirement when he didn't make the Twins out of camp, but chose to report to AAA Salt Lake City after his wife convinced him to continue on. He lasted seven games with the Buzz, before asking for his release. This scan from the 1994 Minnesota Twins Team yearbook is the only picture I've ever seen of Jeff Innis wearing a Twins uniform.

1994 Pacific

Recent underdog to the card market in 1994 was Pacific. A card company based out of the Pacific Northwest, that was given approval to sell major league licensed cards as long as they were printed in Spanish. I've not often seen these around, but I picked up a few packs at a card show, shortly after Innis was let go by the Twins, and pulled his Mets card. The 1994 Topps card was cited by SABR as showing Innis throwing a knuckleball, but I believe it just may be the 1994 Pacific card he was talking about.

Wasted Quarter #7 - August 1994

Multiple job switches and lotsa personal ick put Wasted Quarter on hold in the spring/summer of 1994. During that stretch of time, Innis left the Twins organization and signed with the Padres.

During these days, I had to rely on such sources as USA Today's Baseball Weekly publication, and my subscription to Baseball America, for updates on Innis' career. I didn't make a custom Padres hat for my old Innis graphic, and the title of the column was changed from the Jeff Innis Watch, to the Jeff Innis Report.

1994 Score Cold Rush

After my shift of working one of those crappy jobs I had back in the Summer of 1994, I stopped at a card store in Osseo, MN and bought a box of 1994 Score. That box comprised the only packs of 1994 Score that I bought. I didn't care for the design, but was pleased to get both the base card and the Gold Rush parallel of Jeff Innis' appearance in the set.

Wasted Quarter #8 - September 1994

The strike was in full effect when I wrote this, again using bad typewriter word chopping to fit column space. It's unreadable and I didn't really have anything new to say...

Wasted Quarter #9 - October 1994

I was angry about the strike...

I still am...

Wasted Quarter #12 - January 1995

Due to the strike, news on player movement in baseball was limited to non 40-man roster players during the winter of 1994-95. A tiny footnote on the transaction page clued me in on some Jeff Innis news, so I brought the column back for issue 12, to announce his signing with the Philadelphia Phillies. That issue of Wasted Quarter served as the grand 1994 "Year In Review" recap.

So his presence needed to be noted...

And my layouts were becoming more experimental in terms of Xerox wackiness

Wasted Quarter #20 - October 1995

As the 1995 season ended, I also ended the Jeff Innis Report/Update/Watch. I used this final column to review highlights of his career, as voted on by me. I ended the column with speculation of who would replace Jeff Innis as Wasted Quarter's favorite player. Ultimately, I chose to ditch the idea of following a player's career in WQ, as I took my zine in a different direction starting in 1996.

Wasted Quarter #22 - December 1995

1995's "Year In Review" recap issue featured a collage of Xeroxed Innis cards for a front cover. Across his 1991 Stadium Club card, I named him the winner of the "Honkass Humanitarian of the Year" award (because no one retired from baseball better!). In subsequent years, that award evolved into "The Jeff Innis Humanitarian of the Year Award in the Field of Outstanding Baseball Playerizing".

Because extra words are funny. 

2002 was the last year I did that (I think), when Barry Zito was named.

1988 Donruss Team Book

A highly desired addition to the Jeff Innis collection finally arrived in the Summer of 1998. Back in 1988, Donruss issued a book for the Athletics, Cubs, Mets, Red Sox and Yankees. Each team's book consisted of 27 cards, uncut on card stock, at standard 2.5" x 3.5" size. The 27 cards were one of each card, as it appeared in the 1988 Donruss set, and whatever number remaining from 27, as updated cards. New veterans and rookies that didn't appear in the 1988 Donruss set, would get a card that looked like it fit right in with the base set. The Mets only got three updated cards, but one of them was Jeff Innis, who did not have a card in 1988 Donruss. Each book also had a full page Stan Musial puzzle.

I have not removed this card from the book, as the book is really nice and I don't want to cut it up. So this isn't scan, but rather a digital photo. At some point I may have to dust off the Xacto...

Wasted Quarter #38 - November 1998

To commemorate the 5th anniversary of Wasted Quarter, contributor "Freelance" Dan drew a series of cartoons for the issue, covering events in WQ history. This one depicts the official Wasted Prize Dan was awarded for winning a Wasted Contest back in early 1994. A custom screw-down holder with Jeff Innis' 1992 Fleer card housed within.

Today Freelance Dan is simply Danno. He hosts a highly entertaining entertainment podcast that you can find here: I wanna listen to the Wayne Gale Variety Hour!!!

In the late 1990's, I briefly looked into finding Jeff Innis memorabilia on ebay. There wasn't enough money in the budget at that time to pursue the things I found. There was a nice 1988 game used Mets road jersey, that I put a token bid on, and didn't come close to winning. A picture of that jersey that I didn't win is at the top of this page.

My small token bid also did not win this game used autographed bat, that was once on ebay. Innis totaled 12 plate appearances during his 7 seasons in the major leagues. He only stuck out twice, but did not record a hit.

If I remember correct, the autographed baseball (that I also do not own) was from a late 1990's collectables website and not ebay...

Wasted Quarter #66 - January 2009

Other than a passing reference here and there, Wasted Quarter was Jeff Innis free for 14 years. As I was writing WQ66, I stumbled into the story of Jeff Innis' election to the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) Hall of Fame. WQ66 was specifically covering the old gas station I worked the overnight shift at. That job and time period that gave birth to Wasted Quarter, and the Jeff Innis Report/Watch/Update in 1993.

So yeah, that issue in particular, needed a throwback to the Jeff Innis Update/Watch/Report.

There was always a desired lengthy summary of Jeff Innis's career planned for an issue of Wasted Quarter. I never got around to printing one, so it seems appropriate that the 40th post on Four Baggers, is used to honor Wasted Quarter's favorite ballplayer...

1994 Score card back

Special thanks to Baseball Reference's Jeff Innis page, 

and this excellent story on SABR for additional information.

And I've really got to start making these stories shorter...