1980 TCMA Waterbury Reds Baseball #5, Paul Herring

Yesterday's 1980 Peninsula Pilots placed in the MiLB Top 100 All-Time teams, thanks to their 100-40 record and runaway Carolina League title (set profile). While comparatively less successful on the field, these 1980 Waterbury Reds sit atop my list of all-time player names. Here are my faves from their TCMA checklist.

• Tom Lawless
• Randy Town
• Steve Christmas
• Skeeter Barnes
• Doug Neuenschwander
• Paul Herring

Paul Herring. On the Reds. Yup!

Not only is it hilarious that Paul's a "Reds Herring," but if you count the border, he's a red Herring TWICE. So funny, yes? (I'll just be over here, snickering to myself.)

Paul hit decently in 7 minor league seasons (career stats), but didn't peak high enough to reach the bigs. After a slow start for Waterbury in 1982, he signed with Tabasco of the Mexican League and finished his pro career with another five years south of the border.

("Red Herring." Hee hee hee!)

Value: 1980 TCMA singles cost a dollar or two and none of the Waterbury players became famous enough to reach star value.

Fakes / reprints: Thanks to Ryan at Cardboard Zoo, we know some black-backed (instead of the pictured blue back) TCMA cards went into post-1980 collectors sets. Find out more at his own 1980 Waterbury Reds post.