Opening Day

It's opening day, and time to remember all those players who make it to the bigs, hang on for a few years, and then move on to other things. Dave LaPointe was originally drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers, but started his big league career with the Detroit Tigers, as can be seen on the back of the card, it wasn't a long stop. Still, after kicking around for a bit, he had a fairly good year with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Good enough to be signed as a free agent by the New York Yankees. (I'm a Pirate fan, a far too common story for the Bucs in the free agency era.) This card was issued in 1991, but the uniform is wrong. Dave had moved on to the Philadelphia Phillies by then. He'd have a very brief stay, get released, signed to a minor league contract with the Brewers, get released, and signed to another minor league contract with the Cubs. Neither team called him up. In 1993, there would be an attempt at a comeback with the Minnesota Twins, but again, it would all be in the minors. In 1995, he would try his luck with the Adirondack Lumberjacks, and while no major league team came calling, he would go on to be their pitching coach, and then manager. He would then go on to manage the Bridgeport Bluefish, then the Long Island Ducks. Now, he manages the Rockland Boulders of the Can-Am League in Pomona, New York. It would be a great story if he ended up managing a big league team to a World Series title, but his age works against him.