Rockies manager Bud Black knows everybody in his pack of '86 Topps | Old Baseball Cards
Former pitcher and current Rockies manager Bud Black talks about several former teammates with Yahoo Sports' Mike Oz while sifting through packs of 1986 Topps and 1990 Donruss trading cards.
Video Transcript
MIKE OZ: Hey, it's Mike Oz from Yahoo Sports. This is Rockies manager Bud Black. And we are gonna open some old baseball cards.
- And he got him. He got the breaking ball over, and Gary Ward is out on strikes.
- The 0-2 pitch. Swing and a miss. He got him. The Rockies are moving on.
BUD BLACK: This is a classic. I think this will go down as a Major League Baseball classic.
MIKE OZ: We got 1986 Topps. We got 1990 Donruss. You seemed to be aware of all this stuff--
BUD BLACK: Yeah.
MIKE OZ: --when I opened up the box. So what do you want?
BUD BLACK: I'm gonna go with the '86 Topps.
MIKE OZ: '86 Topps. You seem to be a person-- you knew your baseball cards it sounded like, right?
BUD BLACK: Well, I wasn't a collector.
MIKE OZ: OK.
BUD BLACK: But I did purchase baseball cards when I was a kid. I grew up in the state of Washington. Longview, Washington. Not gonna lie, I wanted the bubblegum. I wanted the gum.
MIKE OZ: There's some right there. So '86. Royals? Is that where you were?
BUD BLACK: I was a Kansas City Royal. Got there in-- I came over in a trade in spring training of '82. I was a Royal, so this is-- whoops.
MIKE OZ: Oh, dropped some gum. You're gonna have to pull that--
BUD BLACK: Can I chew this, Mike?
MIKE OZ: Oh. You heard the noise that made, and then you still put it in your mouth. That is a bold move, Bud.
BUD BLACK: This is like eating-- this is like toffee. It's all right though.
MIKE OZ: It's like peanut brittle.
BUD BLACK: How long have you had these?
MIKE OZ: Well, those are from 1986, man. Those are not reprints.
BUD BLACK: OK.
MIKE OZ: Those have stayed the course all these years.
BUD BLACK: Larry Andersen. Teammate of mine.
MIKE OZ: Yeah?
BUD BLACK: When I got called up in 1981, Seattle, he was on that pitching staff. Good slider. Funny. Became a great announcer. Is a good guy and had a solid career as a Phillies reliever.
Frank Pastore, right-handed pitcher. Good curveball, good fastball, good arm.
Mike Trujillo. Red Sox. Good little slider. Rich Gedman.
MIKE OZ: Rich Gedman was pretty good.
BUD BLACK: Yeah, he had a couple of good runs with the Red Sox. He was a player that finished his swing sort of high. He had sort of the high wraparound. One of the early disciples of Walt Hriniak if you remember Walt Hriniak the hitting coach. He was a Hall of Famer.
MIKE OZ: I've heard a lot of good stories--
BUD BLACK: Lee Smith.
MIKE OZ: --about Lee Smith.
BUD BLACK: Lee's great.
MIKE OZ: You know Lee?
BUD BLACK: I love Lee. Yeah, I don't know him well, but I know him. Mike LaCoss.
MIKE OZ: There's Royals.
BUD BLACK: Teammate of mine twice.
MIKE OZ: Nice.
BUD BLACK: In Kansas City and San Francisco. Don Schulze, big right-handed pitcher with the Tribe.
MIKE OZ: He looks mean, man.
BUD BLACK: Tough guy. Yeah, good--
MIKE OZ: Yeah, he looks--
BUD BLACK: --sinker. Good sinker.
MIKE OZ: He looks like he'll beat you up.
BUD BLACK: Brian Fisher. He was part of a Yankee bullpen with Ron Davis, Dave Righetti. Tony Peña.
MIKE OZ: I feel like Tony Peña had been playing--
BUD BLACK: Yes.
MIKE OZ: --quite a while at that point, right?
BUD BLACK: Made his heyday with the Pirates, obviously. Bounced around. Was with the Cardinals. He was a teammate of mine in Cleveland.
Was on the Cleveland Indian 1995 World Series team. Had a good year. Him and Sandy Alomar comprised the battery.
MIKE OZ: You know everybody.
BUD BLACK: Doyle Alexander. Good career. I think he might've won over 200 games. Traded for John Smoltz.
MIKE OZ: Factoids. You learned that--
BUD BLACK: Right there.
MIKE OZ: --people. John Smoltz, who has been on the show.
BUD BLACK: Hall of Famer--
MIKE OZ: You're getting--
BUD BLACK: --Goose Gossage.
MIKE OZ: --the Hall of Fame relief guys.
BUD BLACK: I'm getting a lot of pitchers.
MIKE OZ: Yeah.
BUD BLACK: Dick Ruthven played for the Phillies as well. Starter. A traditional starter of that era. Four-pitch mix, fastball, slider, curve, change. A winning-type pitcher. Julio Franco.
MIKE OZ: Oh, Julio.
BUD BLACK: There we go. Teammate of mine. Good hitter. One of those guys when somebody asks who was one of the toughest hitters you ever faced, this guy comes to the top of the list. This guy--
MIKE OZ: What made him so tough?
BUD BLACK: Against me, I mean, I didn't have a weapon to get him out. Strike zone awareness, plate coverage, power. Good off-speed hitter. I threw a lot of off-speed pitches. He was legit.
MIKE OZ: Before I get to mine, what's your best in there? Is it Lee or is it Goose?
BUD BLACK: I'd say Goose--
MIKE OZ: All right.
BUD BLACK: --right? I think--
MIKE OZ: All right.
BUD BLACK: --I'm gonna say Goose. Goose is probably my guy.
MIKE OZ: I'm already trying to size up that trade. Let's see who we got. 1990, so a few years later. We're gonna notice that, yeah, looks a little more modern as we get in there. We got Rick Leach.
BUD BLACK: Hey, good hitter. Good quarterback, University of Michigan.
MIKE OZ: Rance Mulliniks.
BUD BLACK: Teammate. Left-handed hitting. He was on the other side of the platoon with Garth Iorg.
MIKE OZ: You know them all. Have you not known anybody yet? Pete Harnisch.
BUD BLACK: Pete Harnisch, yeah. Had a long career.
MIKE OZ: Tom Pagnozzi.
BUD BLACK: Good catcher. I think his son is playing in the minor leagues.
MIKE OZ: Jeff Pico.
BUD BLACK: Jeff Pico. I think he's a pitching coach now currently. Good slider. From Texas.
MIKE OZ: Is there a better nickname in baseball than Oil Can Boyd?
BUD BLACK: Not many better. I love that one. I love the Can.
MIKE OZ: Oil Can Boyd.
BUD BLACK: He was a character of the game.
MIKE OZ: Dennis would be the real name.
BUD BLACK: Yes.
MIKE OZ: Oil Can--
BUD BLACK: Dennis--
MIKE OZ: --is Great.
BUD BLACK: Dennis Boyd.
MIKE OZ: Randy Velarde.
BUD BLACK: Yep, good Yankee.
MIKE OZ: This is a very '90s pack because then we got Mark Lemke.
BUD BLACK: OK.
MIKE OZ: Tim Teufel.
BUD BLACK: Closer.
MIKE OZ: These are all--
BUD BLACK: Tim Teufel.
MIKE OZ: --getting into '90s guys. Mark Thurmond. You're beating me so far.
BUD BLACK: Yes.
MIKE OZ: Jim Deshaies.
BUD BLACK: Jim was a teammate of mine. Jim Deshaies, yeah.
MIKE OZ: I don't know that I got anything that--
BUD BLACK: Oh, I don't think you do.
MIKE OZ: I don't know that I do, man.
BUD BLACK: You do not.
MIKE OZ: I was hoping--
BUD BLACK: I got two Hall of Famers right here.
MIKE OZ: Oh man.
BUD BLACK: I don't think-- I out-packed you.
MIKE OZ: The only thing I can do is really just try to sell you on the Oil Can. And that's it.
BUD BLACK: That's it. I don't think you've got much, but I mean all good players.
MIKE OZ: I got Rance Mulliniks' glasses. I mean, he had great glasses, but--
BUD BLACK: Like I said, man, I out-packed you.
MIKE OZ: You did. All right, what are we gonna do here? Is there anything that strikes your fancy of mine?
BUD BLACK: Would you trade Tony Peña for Oil Can Boyd?
MIKE OZ: Yeah, I would because I really-- when I was a kid, I really liked that card because there was not a lot of--
BUD BLACK: Yeah, Tony--
MIKE OZ: In the '80s, you weren't getting as many good action shots. And I like that particular card.
BUD BLACK: There you go.
MIKE OZ: The Oil Can for the Tony Peña.
BUD BLACK: Done.
MIKE OZ: Bud Black. That was a lot of fun.
BUD BLACK: You got it, baby.
MIKE OZ: Thank you. Take care.
BUD BLACK: All right.