Sometimes in life, one thing leads to another, and you end up someplace you never thought you’d be.

Sometimes, you even end up in places that didn’t exist when you set off on your journey.

Take young Scott Jordan, for example, who could have started his journey in professional baseball in 1984 when the Red Sox drafted him in the 16th round out of Georgia Tech.

Instead, Jordan kept his nose to the engineering grindstone and continued to build his baseball legend with the Yellow Jackets, for whom he reached base in a school-record 79 straight games.

The Cleveland Indians came calling in the fourth round of the 1985 draft, and this time, Jordan signed. From there, the speedy centerfielder sort of trudged along near the bottom of Cleveland’s system, until September of 1988.

Find 1989 Donruss Scott Jordan on eBay (affiliate link)

Find 1989 Donruss Scott Jordan on Amazon (affiliate link)

With 33 stolen bases that season at Double-A Williamsport, the 25-year-old Jordan made enough heads turn in Cleveland to get a September call-up. From September 2 through October 1, he went 0-for-7 in six appearances, whiffing twice but at least picking up one sacrifice.

Then, on October 2, Jordan drew the start in center at home against the Boston Red Sox in the Tribe’s last game of the season.

In the bottom of the sixth, with two outs and pinch runner Eddie Williams on second base, and with Cleveland already up 5-3, Jordan stepped to the plate against Boston reliever Tom Bolton. On a 2-2 count, Jordan delivered a single to right, and Williams scored.

It was the last time Jordan would come to plate in the Major Leagues. It was his only hit. It was his only RBI.

Jordan played in the Houston organization in 1989, splitting time between Double-A and Triple-A, and then was finished in professional baseball. And yet … he managed to parlay that ten-at-bat cup of coffee with the Tribe into a 1989 Donruss card.

How did that come to pass, you may ask?

Well, the innocent explanation is that everyone was a prospect back then, and card companies loved to hedge their bets by casting a wide net when it came to building out their yearly checklists. In that regard, it’s somewhat surprising that Jordan didn’t show up as a Rated Rookie.

But if you’re into conspiracies and inside jobs and no-such-thing-as-coincidences, consider that Jordan became a baseball card dealer in Georgia after he hung up his spikes.

And also consider where the man is today — namely with Leaf Trading Cards, a 2010 resurrection of the brand name that first started bringing us baseball cards in 1948 and later merged with … that’s right, Donruss.

The pull of the game is strong, and so is the pull of the hobby. Scott Jordan is one of the very few who can say he’s made his hay in both.

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