Eric Show
Mustache Rating: 3.5 Fingers*
Years Active: 1981-1991
Teams Played For: San Diego Padres, Oakland Athletics
Career Stats: 101-89, 3.66 ERA
Was He Ever a Diamond King?: No
Claims to Fame:
-Gave up Pete Rose’s 4,192nd hit in 1985
-Hit Andre Dawson in the face in 1987
-Most Career Wins as a Padre (100)
-Jazz guitar enthusiast and member of the John Birch Society
-Died at 38 following a drug overdose
Show had a sad but fascinating life. The San Diego Union Tribune published a nice piece on him in 2008. Prior to this series, I only knew him as the guy that gave up Pete Rose’s record-breaking hit, and one of the many pitchers in the 1980s who had a mustache.
* an additional half-Finger has been awarded for how well he wears the brown-and-gold warmup jacket
January 8th, 2010 - 1:07 pm
How does the finger rating system work and what is a Diamond King?
January 8th, 2010 - 1:14 pm
I’m glad you asked!
The Fingers Ratings System is based on the mustache of Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers, whose glorious handlebar mustache is that by which all other Mustachioed Pitchers of the 1980s are judged. A mustache on par with Rollie’s would be five Fingers. Fingerses?
Diamond Kings were a Donruss baseball card subset from 1982-1996, featuring Dick Perez’s painted portraits of each MLB team’s top star. I featured them last year in this post.