Carlos Baerga, 1992 Leaf, “Studio” series
Carlos Baerga only wears his sunglasses on three occasions: at night, during the day, and when he’s in the studio posing for an alarmingly metrosexual baseball card photo. In fact, this very card is often credited with the turn-of-the-century boom of metrosexuality, but back in 1992, this card was only considered to be one thing: totally gay. But if you really think about it, all you have to do is remove the mustache and the clothes, and you’re left with a picture of A-Rod laying out on the rocks in Central Park. And it wasn’t easy for Baerga to become the godfather of metro. It was so cold in the studio that day that Baerga had to cover up his nipples, which were actually poking through his baseball jacket. It took five interns, eight bottles of Paul Mitchell hair gel, and two cases of wine coolers to even get through this photo shoot, which lasted four hours. (Ultimately, when billing MLB, the Leaf Co. chose “uncooperative nipples” as an explanation for the lengthy session, which caused Baerga to miss the first three innings of an Indians game versus the Blue Jays.) That back of the card states that Baerga’s favorite singers are “Michael Jackson and M.C. Hammer.” When asked earlier this year if he’d like to take a mulligan on that, Baerga refused, saying, “I’m too legit to quit those choices.” Nobody laughed. It may have been Baerga’s affection for “the King of Pop” that caused him to name his glove “Ben,” which is also the name of a Michael Jackson song about a big ass rat.
Did you know?
Carlos Baerga had zero errors in 1992. Ben had 19.
