A New Starting Lineup and a Carlos Quintana Oddball

It was kind of a weird day today.  I received two packages in the mail, both of which contained items for a couple of my favorite under-the-radar players from the teams from the late 1980's and early 1990's, when I became a fan.

Up first is this oddball Carlos Quintana:

This is a Pre-Production Sample of Quintana, who is the player on the right (Bob Zupcic is on the left).  This picture was not used in the regular Topps set, instead it was a more focused shot of Quintana catching a pop-up.  Something that is really strange about this card, that I cannot explain, is that I have a Pre-Production Sample, but the color scheme is the same as the regular Topps set.  This one has the orange triangle containing the player name.  I have no explanation for the difference, but I don't really care either.  This is a new Quintana card for my collection.  I have mentioned many times that Quintana was one of my favorite players early on, despite the fact that he was nowhere close to being a star.  

And then we have this:

I don't pick up as many Starting Lineups these days anymore, but I will make an exception for unusual players, and Jody Reed definitely qualifies.  This one was more of a regional release and was hard to find around here.  Adding to the appeal is the fact that this contains two cards.  Jody Reed was another underrated favorite player.  Reed was a steady defensive middle infielder who had some doubles power and was a prototypical #2 hitter.  He hit 40 doubles three seasons in a row, including tying for the league lead in 1990.  He was a pretty good player that played in the shadows of his more famous teammates.