The basics: Gary DiSarcina was coming off his first full major league season when this card was issued. He played in 157 games for the Angels and recorded 128 hits.
Card thoughts: An excellent batting cage shot with all kinds of detail in the background. Stuff like this was standard in cards from the '70s, '80s and '90s. Bring it back!!
There is another player in a batting cage next to DiSarcina's but all you can see are the batter's legs. At left in the back is possibly a reporter (wearing the casual look of reporters of the era -- polo shirt and baggy jeans). At right is an Angels coach -- maybe first base coach Bobby Knoop -- talking to someone in what looks to be sandals and shorts.
Also, the Marlboro ad is prominent, as it has been on many a baseball card both before and after Fleer was whitewashing the ad from behind Randy Johnson in 1989.
Backs are important in '93 UD: One of the more famous back photos in 1993 Upper Deck. It's been the topic of blog posts in the past. However, with the arrival of AI searching, finding something like that is now nearly impossible. But I did come across a reddit thread that clears things up.
DiSarcina, in the middle, a.k.a. "Frack", is posing with Bobby Rose ("Frick") and Lee Stevens ("And Hack"), all revealing their T-shirts under their uniforms. The phrase, based on an old comedy routine in the 1930s, underlines the close friendship between Rose, a prospect whose last MLB at-bat would come in 1992, and DiSarcina. (note: I'm bad with facial recognition unless it's players from the '70s and '80s but I was proud of myself for identifying Stevens).
The blurb under the stats is interesting, not only because of DiSarcina changing his number in honor of Larry Bird, but it also explains why DiScarcina is wearing No. 11 in the picture. He wore No. 11 from 1990 to some time in 1992 when he changed it to No. 33.
More from '93: On this date in 1993, eventual NBA Finals participants, the Phoenix Suns went up on the L.A. Lakers 3-2 in their NBA Western Conference first-round series with a 112-104 victory. Charles Barkley scored 31 points.
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