Mike Lieberthal: The Man in the Middle

I guess you could say that Mike Lieberthal has become stuck in the middle.  He made his major league debut on June 30, 1994 with the Philadelphia Phillies and played his last game on September 22, 2007 with the Dodgers.  During his playing career he was a two-time All-Star, Gold Glove Award Winner, and 2002 National League Comeback Player of the Year.  Lieberthal made his debut in the majors right after the Phillies went to the World Series in 1993 and he left the Phillies the year they went to the playoffs for the first time in awhile back in 2007.  In his last year of playing professional baseball the Dodgers didn't make the playoffs.

Lets fast forward to 2008.  Right now the Philadelphia Phillies and LA Dodgers are headed towards each other in the National League Championship Series.  All I can think about is how Mike Lieberthal must be feeling stuck in the middle.  If he would have played one more year he would have had a chance of going to the World Series.  I'm sure this has happened before and will happen again in the future.  I guess you could say that he is the Tiki Barber of baseball.  If you recall, Tiki Barber retired one year before the Giants won the Super Bowl.

Mike Lieberthal does have a small collecting base.  Some of his key cards would include his 1991 Bowman RC, 1991 Topps Desert Shield RC, and 2004 Sweet Spot Autographed card.  Personally, I would like to see more cards of him.  In my opinion, Mike Lieberthal deserves a World Series ring.