Better than a Blaster John Tudor Edition

I have had the 2005 Topps Fan Favorite John Tudor auto on my radar for some time-most going for BIN prices on the Bay of $20. So, when one popped up for less than that or best offer-I shot a good price, for me, and he or she accepted.

I think I am not alone among Redbird fans of a certain generation in our fond memory of Cardinals’ left-handed pitcher John Tudor.  The 1985 Season was huge for John who was kept from the Cy Young by Dwight Gooden-hard to believe a record of 21-1 and a 1.93 ERA could have been topped.  John was a product of his hometown Red Sox for whom he made his debut on August 16th, 1979.

After spending 1979-1983 seasons with the Red Sox he was traded to the Bucos for Mike Easler.  With the Bucs he went  12-11 with an ERA of 3.27. He spent only one year with Pittsburgh before being traded to the Redbirds for fan favorite “Silent George” Hendricks in 1985.

In 1985 he was fantastic-not only for the aforementioned win loss record and ERA but for the fat he had double digit (10) complete game shutouts-the most since Jim Palmer did it in 1975. No one has had that success since then.

This season would be the 4th trip for the Birds to the WS since my birth in 1967. Having lost the first game of the NLCS against the Dodgers he picked up the victory for the 4th Game.

Though outstanding in two starts against the Royals in the World Series the wheels came off in Game 7 which went terribly bad. Of course, the Royals “won” the World Series-though some of us refuse to recognize this.

Fast forward to 1987 and he got another chance in the WS-this time against the Twins. As we all know the Redbirds didn’t win the series. After some injuries-freakish or otherwise he was traded to the Dodgers in 1988 with whom he won a WS in 1988.

John would end his career with the Cardinals in 1990-September 13th to be exact. Injuries really took a toll on him and his career-he finished with a record of 117-72, ERA of 3.12 and 988 strike outs.