1991 darren lewis

the berkeley native, darren lewis, was traded from his 'hometown' a's across the bay to his 'hometown' giants, although i don't know if the crazies in ber-zerkely even follow baseball.  here's his 1991 o-pee-chee card

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

so, darren is a golden bear.  how obvious.  anyway, having posted gary pettis yesterday, today it's a comparable player (so says baseballreference).  lewis was originally drafted in 1991 by the dodgers, but did not sign.  must be a nocal/socal thing.  later in his career, he did play for the dodgers for a short time, so it must have been fate.  i don't know of any cards that show him in dodger blue, now that i think of it. 

it was with the giants that lewis got his break and even won his only gold glove award.  he responded by walking and scoring a run in his first plate appearance, and later doubled to tie the score in his first game as a giant.  he was traded a few seasons later to the reds in the deal that sent deion sanders to the giants, and i would argue that lewis was the better of the two players.  after starting the 1991 season in the minors, lewis made it to the show in july, and was immediately inserted into the leadoff spot. 

voici à vous, 1991 darren lewis!