Mike Richards, 2012-13 Upper Deck Day with the Cup (Return of Stanley Cup Week No. 2)

Name: Mike Richards
Team: Los Angeles Kings
Position: Center
Value of card: 12 ounces of fish guts
Key 2011-12 stat: 4,412 worms hooked
Here's how Mike Richards spent his day with Lord Stanley's Cup: Richards woke up before the sun rose, put on the standard frat boy uniform and drove to the river, with the Cup riding shotgun. He loaded the trophy into his boat, the Puck Bunny, and steered toward his favorite fishing hole. He cast into the deep blue and pulled up a fish. Then another. And another. And another. At the end of the day, with a haul of 48 bass, he headed back to the pier, where he spent two hours cleaning his bounty, tossing the guts into the Cup. He packed up and headed home, dropping the Cup off with the NHL, fish guts included.

Mike Richards, 2012-13 Upper Deck Day with the Cup (Return of Stanley Cup Week No. 2)

Ron Karkovice, 1991 Donruss

Name: Ron Karkovice
Team: Chicago White Sox
Position: Catcher
Value of card: One blank fortune-cookie fortune
Key 1990 stat: Four house-training lessons
The new legend: After finding so much success with Greg "The Kodiak Brute" Luzinski, the Chicago White Sox sent scouts all over the world, looking for their next slugger. They needn't have bothered — he was already on the South Side. Abandoned at age 7, Ron Karkovice grew up feral along the shores of Lake Michigan, fishing with his bare hands, building a shelter out of mud and garbage, and befriending a family of raccoons. At age 24, the hulking Karkovice was spotted by a scout sailing the lake. The scout saw the next Luzinski, but lightning did not strike twice for the Pale Hose. Karkovice had never seen a baseball bat before, and swung over more curveballs than Pedro Cerrano. But his years of snagging carp out of Lake Michigan had made him quick-handed, with reflexes previously unseen in baseball. As a catcher, he knocked down pitches eight feet outside the zone, and only a few times did he try to eat them. The Sox stuck him behind the plate, batted him ninth and tried to ignore the stench of seaweed emanating from his golden locks.

Ron Karkovice, 1991 Donruss

Steve Trout, 1989 Topps

Name: Steve "Insert Fish Reference Here" Trout

Team: Seattle Mariners (so fitting)

Positions: Pitcher, Mariner, Flounder

Value of card: Three nightcrawlers

Key 1988 stat: $25 fishing license

Drop anchor, it's time for another pop quiz:

What was Steve Trout's best nickname in 1989?

(A) Steve "LGBT Rainbow" Trout

(B) Steve "The Krout" Trout

(C) Steve "Give Him the Hook" Trout

(D) Steve "Master Baiter" Trout

(E) Steve "Bangkok Bait Shop" Trout

(F) None of the above

Fun fact: Steve Trout never played alongside longtime major leaguer Tim Salmon, but scouts consider Trout oilier than Salmon.

Card submitted by Patrick Cant

Steve Trout, 1989 Topps

Gorman Thomas, 1986 Topps

Name: Gorman Thomas

Team: Seattle Mariners

Position: Designated hitter

Value of card: 3 pounds of carp

Key 1985 stat: 20 knots, north by northwest

"Mariner," definition: (n) One who navigates or assists in navigating a ship

A moving fish story: In 1986, Gorman Thomas was battling scurvy on the seven seas. The same year, the Mariners weren't in much better shape. The team had lost 88 games the previous season, and attendance was in a free fall. Ownership came up with a plan: Bring in a real mariner and insert him in the starting lineup, giving the people of Seattle and fishmongers everywhere an everyman hero for whom to root. Scouts looked far and wide, and finally found their man: a 6-foot-2 net grizzled master baiter for the Sweet Loraine, a crab ship hunting for its catch in the freezing Pacific Northwest waters. Thomas was loathe to leave his life on the open seas, famously saying, "Why would I trade a life of scales and scurvy for one of dirt and dugouts?" Ownership persuaded him to forgo the nets and various forms of crabs and return to the diamond, where he had starred in high school. Thomas' asking price: 12 pails of fish heads, a dry cot and the rest of his beard.

Gorman Thomas, 1986 Topps