no. 48 - dave baldwin

Who is the man: Dave Baldwin had just finished the most successful portion of his major league career in 1970 -- four years as a reliever with the Senators and Brewers. He wouldn't return to the majors again until 1973, for three games with the White Sox.

Can ya dig it: Wow, I'm sure if I was collecting cards as a kid in 1971, I would hate this card. It'd be on the "no give-backs" list.

Right on: That's some hairdo. What do you call that?

You see this cat Baldwin is a bad mother: He is indeed. After his career ended in '74, he earned a Ph.D in genetics. He published his baseball memoir in 2008, called "Snake Jazz," and a collection of poetry under the pen name DGB Featherkile. But for me, the most bad-ass achievement is that he has a painting -- called "Fugue for the Pepper Players" -- displayed in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Shut your mouth: Baldwin played for the Senators when Ted Williams was the manager in 1969. Like most pitchers at the time, they would get riled up when Williams went into his often-told "pitchers are stupid" speech. In "Snake Jazz," Baldwin recounts Williams saying, "I'll bet not a single one of you even knows how a curve ball curves," to pitchers during spring training,

Baldwin spoke up, mentioned the Magnus force on a spinning ball and illustrated it with a baseball. The explanation stole Williams' thunder. The manager simply said, "Well at least one of you knows."

No one understand him but his woman: In 2000, Baldwin spoke at the Science of Baseball Symposium. His topic was the decision processes of baseball managers.

(A word about the back): This is Baldwin's final card, so this is the only picture on a card of him wearing a Brewers cap -- if it's not airbrushed on him.