A Cross Between Players on Cards Doing Things They Don't Normally Do and Whatever Happened to That Guy

That may be the longest post title in the history of blogging.

This guy is doing something you don't see too often on a baseball card. Oh sure, you see this all the time on the 2010 Roller Hockey Set that Upper Deck has the exclusive license for.....(ok, not really, but that may be where UD is headed).






I'm not even sure where to begin with this 1998 Fleer Ultra Lee Stevens. The 70's headband. The fact that Stevens is apparently playing roller hockey in the STREET! How about the fact that the Rangers probably wouldn't have been too happy to see one of their players inviting injury for a photo op. This is not an activity you see featured on many cards. As a matter of fact, I don't know of another card like this, do you?

Lee Stevens was my wife's favorite player during the time he was with the Texas Rangers. That's saying something since she is about as anti-baseball a person as you will find. Lee Stevens played in the majors for 10 years, spending four seasons with Texas. Over the course of his career he appeared in 1,012 games, hitting 144 homers and driving in 531 runs while batting .254.

I have a goofy story about Lee Stevens. It's actually about me being goofy, but Lee was involved. Lee made his Rangers debut on July 20, 1996 against the Oakland A's. He went 3-4 with two triples, making quite a first impression on the fans. I was at the game the following night with a bunch of friends and my dad. My wedding was on the horizon so we got together for a game at the Friday's Front Row Grill that sat atop the right field homerun porch at the Ballpark in Arlington. We had a great table which allowed us to watch the game out the floor to ceiling window and we were surrounded by televisions as well. We were having a grand time and making a little too much noise when Lee came up in the 7th and hit a homerun. It brought the Rangers to within one run of the A's and everyone was happy. At that point, it wasn't just the homer that made us happy, but that's another story. Well, the Rangers inning ended and as they went to commercial on the television broadcast, they showed Lee's homerun again. I stood up and started cheering and yelling thinking the game had just been tied. Slowly, ever so slowly, it dawned on my that I was the only one cheering. That's when my dad explained to me that it was just a replay of the earlier homerun. Even in my present state of mind, I was a little embarrassed at being the center of attention. Good times....good times.

So, whatever happened to Lee Stevens? Anybody know where he is now?