I think a big reason why I am a big baseball fan sits in the corner of my closet. Boxes upon boxes of baseball cards sit at the bottom while albums occupy the top shelf. As a kid, and even now, I could spend hours looking at the pictures in the front and memorizing the stats on the back. All of those endless Summer days studying baseball cards allowed me to recite Reggie Jackson’s stats from 1980 without breaking a sweat: .300 batting average, 41 home runs and 111 RBI’s. Sometimes, it’s the baseball card that can make a player memorable I wrote about one such card in May, the 1980 Topps John Pacella. With the Baltimore Orioles in town to play the New York Yankees, another player and card comes to mind: the 1991 Topps Mickey Tettleton.
Keep in mind that Mickey Tettleton had some tremendous seasons from 1984 through 1997. He was a rarity; a switch-hitting catcher with power who walked quite frequently. He had four seasons of more than 30 home runs, collected three Silver Sluggers and made two All Star teams. He accumulated 100 or more walks in a season five times, leading the league with 122 in 1992 as a member of the Detroit Tigers. For his career, Tettleton hit 245 home runs for the Orioles, Tigers, Oakland A’s and Texas Rangers. By 1996, he was primarily a DH but he contributed 24 home runs, helping the Rangers win their first American League West title. Despite all of those accolades, many recall Tettleton for what was printed on the back of his 1991 baseball card:
Mickey lists Fruit Loops among his favorite foods.
I remember being in college and whenever the name Mickey Tettleton came up, inevitably the next line was, “Fruit Loops”. In fact, 33 years after its issuance, I can guarantee you I can find some random fan my age that will have that same exact line of thinking. I wonder if Tettleon regrets his decision of making his cereal choice so public. I’ve spent this post writing about what an excellent career he enjoyed, yet he might be more well-known for breakfast than for hitting. For me, when I think of Mickey Tettleon, I think of power hitting catcher first, while celebrating his excellent taste in food.
Threeunassisted 