Pack #1: Leadoff bunting

The first pack of the first box of cards, and I guess my first thought is, "well it's nice to have pulled the Griffey, but I'm sorry Kid, I don't think it gets much better than this Brett Butler bunting beauty."

A man whose career and legacy could arguably be defined by the bunt for a hit, I doubt there could be a better photo for a Brett Butler card to start the dive into the decade: his eyes locked on the ball, bat firmly held in front of the plate, his body ready to launch for first as soon as he sees that ball hit the ground (a brief aside to contradict what I just wrote and note that the '91 Leaf photo may have the edge here--nearly the same shot but the ball is right there in the corner of the frame, and he's in the uniform he'd spend the majority of the '90s in).

At 5'10" 160 pounds, maybe I'm only drawn to his style of play because it's easier to see myself in his shoes than, say, Dale Murphy's, but his game just seems so damn fun, and ain't that what it's all about?

Hits for contact. Walks more than he strikes out. A whole lot of bunting. A whole lot of stealing. Caught stealing...a bit more than you'd like.

Yeah I know that last one isn't great but, damn, if it isn't fun!

A leader in triples in both leagues, first in the NL in 1983 with Atlanta, and then in the AL with Cleveland in 1986, Butler's speed was such an asset--probably the thing, along with his tenacity, that kept him around the majors for as long as he was. 

And his bunting skills can't be understated--complete bunting data isn't fully available for the duration of his career, but for seasons it is available, he led the majors a handful of times, and consider this: in '92 he had 42 bunts. Butler alone was bunting more in his heyday than any single franchise has in any season in the past decade plus (you have to go back to the 2011 Angels, who laid down 43, to, as a team, surpass that '92 season).

1990 was a pretty good year for Butler--he led the league with 192 hits and slashed .309/.397/.384, and the timing of his "new look" free agency due to owner collusion a few years prior set him up for landing the Dodgers deal (also in this pack, Daryl Strawberry, would join him in the outfield, having made a splash of his own with a big contract a month earlier with the Dodgers).

And while he's there, enshrined on cardboard, bunting from the lefty's batter box, I can't help but wonder: what if he was right handed? His left-handedness was an asset with his hitting at the top of lineups I'm sure, but imagining him and his quickness if he could have slotted in at second base does make me wonder if history would see him and consider his game just a little bit differently.

At any rate, it's awesome to consider a man who defies the stat-head obsession with what value bunting brings as it relates to run production and all the somewhat silly arguments in the realm of statistical calculation, in part because Butler epitomized the realm of possibility, the possibility that hangs between the moment you realize the bunter is squaring up to do so and the moment the ball is on the ground, in play.

And putting the ball in play is something that most of us just hope we can do.