Titans to Omaha

(Image Link: Fullerton Titans.com)

My Alma Mater is going to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. Cal State Fullerton easily came out of their Super Regional Tournament with a full head of steam. They defeated Louisville 11-2 on Saturday and 12-0 on Friday.

Fullerton, which will be making its fourth trip to Omaha in the last six seasons and the first under second-year Head Coach Dave Serrano, improved to 47-14 overall on the year, having won its last nine games and 15 consecutive contests at home. The Titans, who have advanced seven times out of nine super regionals with a 15-6 record, will meet Arkansas in their opener at the College World Series after the Razorbacks swept host Florida State by the scores of 7-2 and 9-8.

They are currently ranked 2nd in the country behind UCI (who failed to make it out of the regional tournament). The tournament starts on June 13th.

Go Titans!

Card of the Week: In Your Face

Here we have a very common 1990 Upper Deck Baseball card of back-up infielder Jose Oquendo. This fellow spent most of his career with the Cardinals. He had a fairly unremarkable career, but did fill a niche. Oquendo was a very patient hitter and an able utility man. In fact, he could play any position on the diamond, including pitcher.

Oquendo even made it into TV.

In 2004, a comical one hour special aired on ESPN and was produced by MLB Productions about José Oquendo. It featured Randy and Jason Sklar of Cheap Seats going on a trip all the way to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on a campaign to get José "The Utilityman" Oquendo inducted for his versatility to play any position on the baseball field. The special included the Sklars receiving Oquendo's blessing to lobby for his spot in Cooperstown, collecting signatures for the petition, and giving a lackluster presentation to the Hall of Fame's committee. After initially denying their claim, the committee agreed to place his plaque in a spot that fits the man- the utility closet.

Now, why is his card the "Card of the Week?" Well, it's not the front of the card that strikes my fancy, but the reverse which makes me laugh. This card features a wrongly placed hologram sticker on the back that covers Jose's face.

I guess Upper Deck was still working through some kinks as they improperly aligned the card sheet when putting on the holograms. I have 6 different cards like this, as well as, 3 no hologram cards, and they are all number in the 300's. I do not believe other double hologram/ no hologram cards exist on cards starting with a number other than 3.
Here is a Willie Wilson no hologram card.