Walking in Pittsburgh

Matt at Bob Walk the Plank needs little introduction.  Seriously, if you need an introduction to him, click on the link, read his blog, comment on a few posts, and offer to send him Pirates. He'll send you cards for your team collections/player collections happily and without reservation. At least that's been my experience with him.

The real problem with Matt, though, is that he has sent so many cards my way that I'm starting to run out of themes/ideas for posts to feature the cards he send my way. I'm in a loquacious mood today, though, so I came up with one to feature the fantastic five cards that came my way in his great Christmas giving spree.

Card #1: Mark Knudson Leaf 2013 "Memories Buy Back" 1 of 1

I appreciate 1 of 1 cards. I really do. It's just a shame that card companies stoop to manipulation of this type to create false scarcity. 

For what it's worth, I follow Mark Knudson on Twitter. He's a broadcaster with Mile High Sports and writes for AXS.com and, according to his Twitter bio, he "[doesn't] have a humble opinion." I've gotten into some conversations on Twitter with him about college football; he's very much an "East Coast bias" conspiracy theorist. At times, I agree with him, though -- for example, Christian McCaffrey should have been the Heisman Trophy winner this year.  

Anyway, a song to go with this card:

A shameful money grab by Leaf deserves a song called "Walkashame." 

Card #2: Greg Vaughn 2015 Topps Tier One

Matt sent a note with this envelope saying that he thought he had sent me this card already. He was right, but I don't mind.  It's a very nice card of a guy who was a bright light for the Brewers in the post-Yount days in the mid-1990s. 

My favorite memory of Vaughn actually comes from a game in Pittsburgh. I was there for a wedding of a college friend in early August of 1996.  We decided to go to a Pirates v. San Diego Padres game -- I suppose to say that we had been to Three Rivers -- shortly after Vaughn was traded to the Padres. Vaughn slammed a massive home run off Dan Miceli to lead off the fourth inning to help give Fernando Valenzuela the win (and set up Trevor Hoffman for the save).

So, to go with Vaughn and to celebrate that 20-years-ago home run trot:

Considering I only heard of this song thanks to RUN-DMC, that's the version I needed to use.

Card #3: Robin Yount 2008 Upper Deck Sweet Swatch Memorabilia

I love the loose thread in the middle of this swatch of fabric. With the gray color, I'm guessing this is from an away jersey from late in Yount's career...unlike the photo showing him in those wonderful blue away jerseys from the glory days. That uniform is probably my all-time favorite Brewer uniform home or away -- probably because, in the 1980s, we didn't get every game on TV...we only got away games.

This song is a recent favorite of mine; we'll see if it stands the test of time with me.

This song from Passion Pit is pretty catchy, and it always leads me to sing along with it. That's usually a good sign that I'll like the song for a while. On the other hand, I sang along with Billie Jean all the time in 1982...

Card #4: Yovani Gallardo 2008 SP Legendary Cuts Memorable Moments

So, this is the second 1 of 1 card in this envelope from Matt. I like this one more than the Knudson, certainly. It's a great addition to the Gallardo collection, but well...let's be honest. It's a little boring for a 1 of 1. No autograph, no swatch, no patch, no DNA-tested part of that scraggly goatee that Gallardo was sporting this year...just a single sentence about striking out 8 Kansas City Royals on June 24, 2007.

Let's wake up:

Pantera should wake y'all up. Usually, the piercing guitars played super loudly serves to wake me up pretty quickly. Other times, though, the repetitive guitar, bass, and drum lines in 1980s heavy metal -- especially Metallica -- will lull me to sleep. No lie. I've used Metallica's "Master of Puppets" on repeat as my fall-asleep music on overnight flights on at least a couple of occasions in my life already.

Card #5: Rollie Fingers 1999 Fleer/Sports Illustrated Autograph Collection

Rollie is a classic. I see his visage on a card, and it makes me smile. Those early 1980s teams were my "good old days" and always will be, and the trade after the 1980 season to get Fingers was truly a fan's life-changing event for me.  

Another classic?

Young Johnny Cash singing what would become a signature song for him -- so much so that his biopic was named for the song.

Matt, thank you very much for the Walk down memory lane and through these walking songs!