Hard-Nosed Sheriff Zosky

Eddie Zosky, 1991 Fleer Ultra

Eddie Zosky, “Zoskmeister” to close friends only, was a MAJOR factor in a baseball trade that rocked everyone’s world.



The blockbuster trade of the last off-season involved the Blue Jays trading their star shortstop Tony Fernandez.

Fernandez and Fred McGriff were sent to the Padres in exchange for Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter. Many pundits later noted that the Padres got totally zoskied in the deal, which means bad. The Blue Jays, as we will see, indirectly got zoskied in the deal, which means good.

Although former backup Manny Lee is slated to fill the opening, the loss of manpower will leave them short off the bench.

Well what the heck? Who are the Blue Jays going to turn to should this loss of shortstop manpower leave them short off the bench? What if Manny Lee is underwhelming? THEY SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT TWICE ABOUT TRADING FERNANDEZ WHO IS GOING TO SIT ON THE BENCH NOW??!!!

This may translate into some quality big league backup time for their 22-year-old, 1989 first-round pick, Eddie Zosky.

Toronto Sun, 1991, headline title: Zosky may move up to second on shortstop depth chart; Subtitle: Blue Jays trade other shortstop and crime canine for two baseball players; Lede: Sitting patiently in the background of yesterday’s blockbuster deal was Eddie Zosky, 22, ready to pounce on the shortstop position like a cat pounces on a couch or something. Manny Lee? That’s Eddie Zosky breathing down your neck. According to Lee, Zosky’s breath smells like cat food. End of article.

In time, Eddie’s great range and sure-fire gun will create problems for Lee maintaining his hold on the shortstop position.

I’m not sure what Manny Lee’s 1991 Fleer Ultra baseball card has to say, but implied here on Eddie Zosky’s 1991 Fleer Ultra baseball card is: Manny Lee is not so great at playing baseball. He has mediocre range at best and a not-so-sure-fire gun, a recipe for shortstop disaster.

Already armed with Major League defensive skills, Eddie is improving at the plate.

Here is the part whereby which we discover that Eddie Zosky is good defensively but can’t really hit but he’s improving!, evidenced by some lukewarm statistic like batting average. Because 22-year olds who can’t really hit that much often improve on their hitting as they move through the profession and the pitching gets better.

In 1990 at Double-A Knoxville, he hit a solid .271 with seven triples and 45 RBI’s.

RBI is already plural and not possessive. Other than that, I am sold! Zosky!

He is known as a hard-nosed competitor, and that kind of attitude has been lacking in the Blue Jays clubhouse for some time.

Wow, that is a major implication of the state of the Blue Jays clubhouse, courtesy of this random Eddie Zosky baseball card. In 1990, the Blue Jays, despite the relative softness of their collective nose, finished second in the AL East. With new Sheriff Zosky in town manning the bench, they coincidentally won the World Series in ’92 and ’93. Carter and Alomar helped somewhat too, I imagine.