When John Smoltz saw his first baseball card upon opening a pack of 1992 Topps with us, it couldn’t have been much more perfect. It was the player he so often was compared to. The player whose career path was almost the same — from the starting rotation to the bullpen to the Hall of Fame to the broadcast booth.

It was Dennis Eckersley. And the fact that Smoltz found Eck while we were standing on the field at Dodger Stadium, in the first World Series there since that fabled 1988 Dodgers run, since that famous Kirk Gibson homer — well that was extra cool.

And that was just the start of a great new episode of “25-Year-Old Baseball Cards” with Smoltz, who will be in the Fox broadcast booth for Game 7 of the World Series on Wednesday night. Smoltz found a few Hall of Famers and told some great stories along the way.

John Smoltz of Fox finds Dennis Eckersley on a new episode of 25-Year-Old Baseball Cards. (Yahoo Sports) More

If you’re new to this series, we take old baseball cards that have been sitting around in my garage for years and open them with baseball players, coaches and famous fans. The cards aren’t worth anything, but they’re great fodder for nostalgia. And, inevitably, they inspire great stories from whoever is opening them.

Check out some of our previous episodes below:

Previously in 25-Year-Old Baseball Cards

MUST-SEE EPISODES: Pedro Martinez | Bronson Arroyo | Eric Davis | Dusty Baker | Hank Azaria | Alex Rodriguez | Scott Boras | A.J. Ellis | Bernie Williams | Chase Utley

MANAGERS/COACHES: Terry Francona | Joe Maddon | Bruce Bochy | Clint Hurdle | Buck Showalter | Brad Mills | Bob Melvin | Dave Roberts

CURRENT PLAYERS: Curtis Granderson | Noah Syndergaard | Kyle Hendricks | Clayton Kershaw | Todd Coffey | John Axford | Dee Gordon | Adam Eaton | Rajai Davis | Brad Ziegler & Tyler Clippard



STARS FROM BACK IN THE DAY: Frank Thomas | Sandy Alomar Jr. | Delino DeShields | Cliff Floyd | Dan Plesac | Aaron Boone | Bobby Bonilla | Andre Dawson | Ivan Rodriguez | Jack Morris | Jeff Nelson | Mark Teixeira

CELEBS: Alyssa Milano | Josh Duhamel | Joel McHale

ETC: Josh Kusnick | Jeff Passan | Ken Kendrick

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz

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