Los Diablos

 

Among my other purchases last weekend, I also lucked into a complete set of TCMA's El Paso Diablos.  It's been a couple years since my last acquisition of these sets but for a couple bucks, I'm not turning these down.  This is my 4th set as I continue my pursuit of the 1980 TCMA minor league cards.  If you're curious about the other sets I've written about you can check out those posts HERE and HERE.

As is typical with these sets, TCMA had a consistent theme of red borders with a white font and white line for the name/position.

While the Diablos weren't that successful in 1980, they did have a few players make the big leagues.  In fact this team had 10 players that made the bigs (some more successful than others):  Steve Brown, Rick Steirer, Brian Harper, Tom Brunansky, Ricky Adams, Mike Bishop, Pat Keedy, Mike Witt, Mike Walters and Daryl Sconiers.  For some reason, Mike Witt and Pat Keedy didn't make it into this set.

It was a pleasant surprise for me to see this guy in the set.  Any Twins fan will recognize the name.  Tom Brunansky was acquired from the Angels in a deal that sent reliever Doug Corbett and 2B Rob Wilfong out west.  I remember not being too thrilled back then, as I thought it was just another salary dump on the part of the Twins cheap ownership.  But in the end, Brunansky was a key member for the Twins when they won the 1987 World Series.  He was then traded off for a guy that didn't want to play here - Tom Herr.

This was another surprise seeing yet another key member of a World Championship team.  Brian Harper was a journeyman with stints with 5 different teams before signing as a free agent with the Twins at the end of the '87 season.  Before signing with the Twins, Brian Harper hadn't hit better then .276.  In his six years with the team, he posted a .306 BA and he hit .381 during the 1991 WS.

The back of the card is different then the other sets I've seen.  This one has an ad for Hobo Joe's!  

Here's a look at the complete set.  Full color posed photos which is much better looking then the Cubs set (even if the uniforms look like these guys work at a fast food joint).

Fortunately collectors don't really covet these, but as I've stated before I don't go out of my way to find them.  It will probably be another 2 years before I come across another minor league set like this. 

Now all that red, yellow and white is making me hungry.