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Advance scouts stay one step ahead of the teams that employ them, constructing reports on how to beat their next opponent. They focus on how those opposing players are doing at the moment with no regard to the past or projected future.

In the collection is an advance scouting report on Paul O’Neill. O’Neill enjoyed a 17-year big league career that featured five World Series championships, a batting crown, and five All Star appearances. Though he felt short of Cooperstown, O’Neill is immortalized in Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park.

The scouting report is from July 30, 1987, during his time with the Reds. A mere 54 games into O’Neill’s big league career, the 24-year old was platooning in left field with Tracy Jones who never had as many as 400 at bats in any of his six Major League seasons. O’Neill had two at bats in the game, lining out to second before collecting his 19th career hit on a line drive single to right.

The information on the Reds rookie is less than flattering: “…can overpower him up with fastballs – swings right through them. Can be curved. Can also pitch in at the hands. Some sock mainly on ball down and out over the plate.”

No one could’ve predicted O’Neill’s later success. By the time he hung up his spikes, O’Neill amassed 2,105 hits, and 1,269 runs batted in. Nicknamed “The Warrior”, O’Neill appeared in 19 post-season series including six Fall Classics.

O’Neill has signed the report in the top left corner, writing, “To Jim, Quite a report on two ab’s!”, before affixing his autograph below that.

 

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Paul O’Neill played in 85 post-season games, earning five World Series rings – one with the Reds and four with the Yankees. In the collection is this lineup card from Game 2 of the 1997 American League Divisional Series.

In the bottom of the first, Cleveland pitcher Jaret Wright issued three consecutive walks to Derek Jeter, O’Neill, and Bernie Williams to load the bases. Tino Martinez followed with a double to left to score Jeter and O’Neill to kick off the scoring. Later in the fifth, O’Neill added a lineup drive single off of Wright. The performance wasn’t enough as the Indians downed the Yankees 7-5 before 57,360 at Yankee Stadium.

Cleveland took the series in five games to oust New York from the playoffs. It was the only season the Yankees failed to win the Fall Classic during their five-year run from 1996-2001.

In addition to O’Neill, this card is also signed by Hall of Famers Derek Jeter, Joe Torre, and Tim Raines as well as Andy Pettitte, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, Joe Girardi and Chad Curtis.