Wood vs. Wood #259

It was another big win for 1987 last time, 9-0. Will 1962 pull closer here?

Lou Klimchock of the Milwaukee Braves, in Yankee Stadium? That's because he was a KC Athletic at the time of the photo. The second baseman played parts of four seasons for the A's, only topping 20 games once, in 1961. He was traded to the Braves before the '62 season, but only played in six games for them. In 1963 the Braves sent him to the Senators on a conditional waiver claim; after nine games with Washington he returned to the Braves. Dick Phillips was the regular Senators 2B that year, which is probably why D. Phillips was written on this card.  Klimchock had a few more brief cups of coffee in the bigs, and finally had his one full MLB season in 1969 with Cleveland. Klimchock, now a third baseman, hit .287 with 6 HR and 26 RBI in 90 games. However, after the season the Indians traded for Graig Nettles, and Klimchock appeared in just 41 games in '71, his last year in the big leagues. Overall in 318 games he hit .232 with 13 HR and 69 RBI. Since 1989, Klimchock has been the President of the Arizona Major League Alumni Association, and at age 85 he is still very active in this role, most recently hosting a celebrity golf tournament with several baseball hall-of-famers.

Mike Greenwell's rookie card shows the young outfielder at spring training. The sky on his card is an almost identical color to the sky on Klimchock's. This card was a big deal for a short time in the early 1980s after Greenwell's one monster year of 1988, when he hit .325 with 22 HR and 119 RBI. Greenwell finished second in the MVP voting to Jose Canseco that year; Greenwell did a lot of public whining about it when Canseco's steroid use was later revealed. Greenwell was a solid outfielder for several more seasons but never put up a season close to what he did in 1988. Overall in 1,269 games Greenwell hit .303 with 130 HR and 726 RBI. Since his career Greenwell has been involved in a wide variety of activities. He has competed in NASCAR truck racing and Major League Fishing, owned an amusement park, a produce business and a construction company, and owns a large amount of property in rural Alva, FL. This became controversial when FL governor Ron DeSantis appointed Greenwell as Commissioner of Lee County's District 5, and the next year Commissioner Greenwell approved a land deal over the objections of the community's residents to build apartments and shopping centers, which would damage the rural environment of the community but would greatly increase the value of the land owned by Greenwell. The residents sued to stop the deal, with it's apparent conflict of interest, but were unsuccessful. Greenwell won reelection in November.