Episode 64: Upper Deck 1990 Baseball Card Collector Michael Unger, Part 5

If you're a fan of Michael Unger's 1990 Upper Deck baseball card project, then it doesn't get better than this episode of The K.P. Wee Podcast—which features a non-stop stream of sports history, trivia, game deconstructions, and remembrances. Enjoy this return visit from a fan favorite known to baseball card collectors through his social media handles udeck1990@Twitter or upperdeck1990@Insta. Michael and K.P. do a deep dive into some of the exciting (if sometimes forgotten or obscure) players that Michael has been posting about regularly as he works his way systematically through each of his 1990 Upper Deck baseball cards. His social media posts have created a community through which he and K.P. initially connected and became friends.  Players from the 1990 card set discussed in this episode include Greg Briley, Mark Portugal, Tim Teufel, Ivan Calderon, Donn Pall, Rob Ducey, Steve Lake (and his pet parrot), Rob Murphy (and his laptop), Rick Rhoden, Kirk McCaskill, Chip Hale, and Steve "Bye Bye" Balboni. Two other former players not in the 1990 Upper Deck card set, Glenn Burke and Rodney McCray, are also mentioned.  The conversation, though, doesn't center on baseball stats, as Michael shares quite a few fascinating non-baseball tidbits associated with each of these former players (or their names and/or nicknames), many of which he came across in his research in his amazing quest to tweet about all 800 cards from the 1990 Upper Deck set.  K.P. also shares a story involving Calderon and Pall, and he also remembers (foolishly) thinking Portugal was never going to lose another major-league game when the right-hander won 12 straight decisions to end the 1993 season. When the name Glenn Burke comes up, Michael recommends the YA novel A High Five for Glenn Burke, written by Phil Bildner.  Check out A High Five for Glenn Burke, written by Phil Bildner: https://www.amazon.com/High-Five-Glenn-Burke/dp/0374312737