Milk Carton Co-All-Stars of the Week......6/2/09

I had such a tough decision deciding on one guy for this week's MCAS of the Week. On the one hand, I wanted to honor the Orlando Magic's return to the NBA Finals by bringing back one of their unsung heroes from their last trip to the Finals. On the other hand, I stumbled upon a picture of one of the unsung heroes from Gabe's New York Mets that just couldn't wait for next week. So, in the interest of fairness, I decided to share the honors amongst both deserving men. Without further ado, here are your Milk Carton Co-All-Stars of the Week. Enjoy!

The man on top(pause) is former Magic sharpshooter Nick Anderson. Unlike Milk Carton All-Stars of the past, Anderson was actually a decent pro(He once dropped 50 on the Nets....before it became fashionable). He played 13 seasons with Magic, Kings and Grizzlies. He scored over 10, 000 points and he finished his career averaging close to 15 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists a game playing alongside Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway on a Magic team that made the Finals for the first time in franchise history(Side note: During those playoffs, Anderson hit 41 threes, which is impressive considering the format at the time require less games than today's playoffs) Another fun fact about Anderson was that, after being traded by Orlando to Sacramention for Tariq-Abdul Wahad, he was a throw-in in the Mike Bibby-Jason Williams trade that sent Bibby to the Kings and transformed the Kings into a team that could've been a NBA champion if the NBA scriptwriters hadn't already hitched their wagon to the Shaq-Kobe Lakers.

The second man of the hour(incase you couldn't read the name on the bottom of his card) is journeyman outfielder/Mets legend/Gabe Rodriguez role model Derek Bell. Bell shuffled around the league during his 11 season career, starting initially with Toronto and going to San Diego and Houston before finishing his career with two brief stints in New York and Pittsburgh. Bell's career numbers are nothing to sneeze at: .276 lifetime average, 134 homers and 668 RBIs. In 1995, he finished 14th in the MVP voting(Thanks, baseballreference.com!) behind legendary sluggers like Ron Gant, Reggie Sanders and Eric Karros. His numbers in that banner year? .334 average, 8 homers and 86 RBIs. More impressive than that, however, is his untouchable standing as arguably The Ugliest Man To Ever Step On A Baseball Field.

So let's give it up for 'em, folks.....Nick Anderson and Derek Bell!!!

---Dave