tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65817492002821658412024-03-14T15:07:32.081-04:00Off Hiatus BaseballWriting about Brewers and Milwaukee baseball history, collectibles, and cards. And music, general baseball history, and whatever else I want.Tony Lehmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05204647806905827474noreply@blogger.comBlogger746125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-25998866261286258752019-07-11T20:13:00.000-04:002019-07-11T20:13:27.519-04:00PWEs, Accompanied by Song<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I decided to write a post tonight comprised of recent PWEs that I've received in the mail lately accompanied by songs that have been randomly going around in my head.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, a word of explanation as to how some of these songs got in my head. My wife and I have a game that we play on Fridays and Saturdays. I put together playlists of songs for her to guess the artist name and song title. We mute the TV and usually put baseball on (or some other sport if it's not baseball season) and have a couple of drinks and unwind and catch up on the week. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It almost always goes the way that she has to guess the songs and titles. I don't want to sound too cocky here, but she gets really frustrated with me because I get way too many songs correct way too quickly for her tastes. Then she plays music to "challenge" me -- read as literally stuff I have never heard before in my life -- and it stops being fun because she doesn't like the music she's playing either. I've gotten to the point where I'll act like I can't remember a song or artist just to listen to the song!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In any event, the songs to accompany the cards are ones that came up in some of the playlists that I put together for my wife and which now I can't get out of my head. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let's start with the PWE that my good pal Kenny a/k/a Zippy Zappy sent my way -- a couple of cards that missed his initial package of Brewers and Bucks and Packers:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kenny sent me a two Brice Turang cards -- one of him as a Brewer and one as a 15U USA team member. Turang, of course, was the Brewers first round draft pick in 2018 out of Santiago High School in Corona, CA. The Brewers paid him the money not to go to LSU to play baseball. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/brewers-draft-brice-turang-with-first-pick-c279797680">MLB.com</a> pointed out a couple of interesting facts about Turang when this selection occurred last year. First, Brice's dad Brian was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 20th round of the 1987 draft out of Long Beach City College. He didn't sign, and then ended up and total <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/turanbr01.shtml">afterthought selection of the Mariners in 1989</a> -- the 51st round from the University of Hartford. Despite that less than stellar draft record, the elder Turang worked his way up to the majors and got 283 plate appearances over two years in 1993 and 1994. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second interesting fact about Brice Turang is that he is the first shortstop that the Brewers have selected in the first round of the draft since <i style="font-weight: bold;">1987</i>, when the team led off the draft with Billy Spiers. Before that, the Brewers had a bunch of notable shortstop selections, including Gorman Thomas (1969 by the Pilots), Robin Yount (1973), Paul Molitor (1977), Gary Sheffield (1986), and Spiers. But then it took 31 years for the next one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He also sent me an Adrian Houser card with Houser on the Astros. Since I got this card, Houser has been godawful, so I may just start the card on fire as a sacrifice to the baseball gods to get Houser back on track.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of my wife's favorite songs to chop vegetables by in the kitchen is "Starships" by Nicki Minaj. Its chorus is incredibly catchy and gets stuck in my head with regularity...and having found it on YouTube and let it play for a bit, I'll probably wake up with it in my head too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a related idea, does anyone listen to a lot of podcasts? I got turned on to a podcast from the Vox Network called "Switched on Pop." It features a musicologist (Nate Sloan) and a songwriter (Charlie Harding) who try to figure out what makes songs or artists hits. The episodes stand alone well, and the <a href="https://www.switchedonpop.com/is-there-an-indie-rock-conspiracy-featuring-joywave/">first one I listened</a> to featured the lead singer from indie-pop band Joywave -- which featured in Kenny's "What I'm Listening To" post -- wondering why so many alternative hits seem to have very similar sounding choruses. I won't spoil the ending for you if you do listen, but I will say that this was the first time in 30 years I'd heard the term pentatonic scale. It's quite an enjoyable podcast if you enjoy thinking about what you're hearing as music and what makes it good.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i><br /></i></b>The next PWE I received came from the potato chip largesse being enjoyed by Mark Hoyle in Massachusetts, as he scoops up all the Utz chips in sight and keeps the cards he needs while sending away ones he does not. Thanks to Mark, I now have two Utz cards -- Jonathan Schoop and Lorenzo Cain. I'm still looking for Jesus Aguilar and Christian Yelich, so if anyone sees these floating around, I'm up for them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My wife loves country music. Her favorite artists are Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, and Sugarland, but she likes a lot of country music generally. One guy whose music kept being recommended to be played was Luke Combs. His song, "When It Rains, It Pours" is one that gets stuck in my head all the time -- again for its chorus. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The things I like about Combs is that, well, he doesn't look like a male model, he doesn't try to be a country rapper, and he sings well without much help from the autotune. He just seems like a good old boy who is relatable. Others agree with me; the Associated Press, of all outlets, had a story last year that was headlined, "<a href="https://www.apnews.com/154c3cc5c1764438a5092f4bce64edaf">Country singer Luke Combs' unassuming appeal makes him a hit</a>." The guy built up a fan base not because he's got good looks, but instead he just played over 200 shows in 2016 alone all over the Southeast. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe all that is why I like him, I guess. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i><br /></i></b>The final PWE I got during the last week of June came from Matt Prigge. Matt puts together custom cards for the Brewers season to fill in gaps for Topps Now or, more to the point, to put cards together that he likes. He had made up four of these Keston Hiura "Rated Rookie" cards and gave three away through a Twitter giveaway. I was lucky enough to catch the last one of them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Yeah!" by Usher f/Lil Jon and Ludacris is pretty old school at this point. Having not been a big dance club guy or pop music guy at all in the mid-2000s, I missed this one when it came out in 2004. It was pretty ubiquitous -- it was, after all, the top ranked song of the <i style="font-weight: bold;">year </i>in 2004 and it was the second overall song for the entire decade of the 2000s according to Billboard -- so you can tell I was totally in my own little world in 2004...probably just playing FIFA 05 over and over. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, this song gets stuck in my head pretty regularly in the day after my wife and I play our game. It's not a bad thing with this one though -- it's upbeat and a pretty fun song.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks go out to Kenny, Mark, and Matt -- I greatly appreciate y'all being so kind as to send me cards. </span></div>
Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-91710618017812411762019-07-07T10:05:00.000-04:002019-07-07T10:05:06.002-04:00Meet the Brewers #44: Wayne TwitchellAs is usual in September for teams going nowhere, the 1970 Brewers called up a few guys from the minors to give them an opportunity to be around the big club and dip their toes into the big league waters. Such was the case on September 7, 1970, when another tall righty pitcher from the Brewers system made his debut in the first game of a doubleheader.<br />
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Six-foot, six-inch tall Wayne Twitchell was summoned from the bullpen for the bottom of the fifth inning with the Brewers having rebounded in the top of the inning from 7-1 down to pull within 7-4 against the Minnesota Twins. Twitchell was tossed into the deep end -- he was asked to face the heart of the Twins order...the 4-5-6 hitters. The first guy Twitchell ever faced in the big leagues was Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew, and Twitchell struck him out. In fact, Twitchell struck out all three guys he got for outs in his first inning of work -- sandwiching an error by Roberto Pena and a walk in between each out.<br />
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<a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/twitcwa01.shtml">Wayne Lee Twitchell</a> was born on March 10, 1948 in Portland, Oregon. As is often the case for players in this era, Twitchell was a multisport star in high school and was named to the Oregon All-State team in both football and baseball. According to the <a href="https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/c50fc10b">excellent SABR biography</a> for Twitchell, he had the chance to play college football at Arizona State. If he had done that, he would have been following in his father's footsteps, as his dad was a standout running back for Oregon State in the 1930s. </div>
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When decision time came, however, a new option had arisen. Twitchell was selected third overall in the 1966 MLB Draft by the Houston Astros -- behind complete washout Steve Chilcott and Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson. Twitchell's dad had warned Wayne that his family had a history of knee problems, and those problems would have only been exacerbated by trying to play football. </div>
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So, baseball it was. Twitchell was known for being a hard thrower with questionable command, and he toiled for four up-and-down seasons in the Astros organization. As he put it himself, "I always seem[ed] to have the knack of always bringing the teacher out in people. I was taught close to 20 different deliveries, which complicated things." </div>
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The Astros gave up on Twitchell in November of 1969 and sold his contract to the Seattle Pilots. Twitchell was ecstatic to be pitching back in the Pacific Northwest. That ecstasy was dashed when the team was sold and moved to Milwaukee, but Twitchell spent 1970 at home in Portland in Triple-A -- and met his future wife that year as well. </div>
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Twitchell only appeared in 2 games for the Brewers in September of 1970. His second outing was much worse than the first, as he gave up three hits and two earned runs in 2/3 of an inning. Interestingly, Twitchell recorded those two outs by way of a strikeout as well. So, for his Brewers "career," Twitchell has a K/9 of 27. Only the immortal Ray Krawcyzk of the 1989 Brewers finished with more Ks and a K/9 of 27, striking out 6 in 2 innings of work on April 28, 1989 in his only Brewers appearance.</div>
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Still, things between Twitchell and Milwaukee were not good. Twitchell's SABR bio quotes him as saying that he "just didn't fit in with Milwaukee. They had their ideas about pitching and it wasn't about my style. I was a fastball pitcher and they were trying to make me into a spot pitcher." This quote makes me wonder if, perhaps, the organizational ethos over the years held back the team from developing pitchers. Obviously things changed a lot in the early years, and that couldn't have helped either.</div>
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Despite being a 22-year-old pitcher with a history of being a first round pick and for whatever reason, the Brewers gave up on Twitchell quickly as well. At the end of spring training in 1971, Twitchell was traded to Philadelphia for minor league outfielder Patrick Srkable. Skrable played one year of 70 games in Triple-A for Milwaukee and was done. Twitchell himself said that he almost quit baseball after he was traded. </div>
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Thankfully for him, he was sent first to Triple-A Eugene in Oregon. Surrounded by family and his new wife and having a manager in Andy Seminick who left him alone, Twitchell pitched for the last time in the minor leagues -- because he spent the next 9 seasons in the major leagues. Called up to the majors in 1971, Twitchell blossomed in Philadelphia and made the All-Star team in 1973.</div>
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Unfortunately, just as Wayne was getting on a roll, those knee problems from the Twitchell family history kicked up. Billy Williams of the Chicago Cubs was trying to beat out an infield single on September 18, 1973 at Wrigley Field and slid head first into Twitchell's knee. That was the end of his season and led to a four-hour surgery and eight weeks in a full leg cast. The rehab was brutal and necessary; his doctor told him that if he didn't follow his rehab to the tee "you'll never walk normal again."</div>
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From that 1973 season, it was downhill. Twitchell stayed in Philadelphia into 1977, with his only real success being in 1976 -- a 1.75 ERA and a 3.72 K/BB ratio working mainly as a reliever. Stats like that make me wonder if he wasn't misplaced in the starting rotation. He was traded in 1977 to the Expos on June 15, and stayed there through the 1978 season. In 1979, he pitched in 33 games for the Mets before his contract was purchased in August of 1979 by Seattle. Finally getting to pitch for his "hometown" team had to be a pleasure for him, but he was released after the season and was done with baseball.</div>
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After his baseball career, he moved back to Oregon and became a commercial real-estate broker. He fought cancer for quite some time, but <a href="http://blog.oregonlive.com/mlb/2010/09/former_wilson_high_school_and.html">lost that battle on September 16, 2010</a>, aged just 62 years old.</div>
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The three cards that picture Twitchell as a Brewer are shown above. I don't have any of the 1971 cards, as that card is from the difficult-to-find high number set. Weirdly, by the time that the card came out, Twitchell had long since been traded to Philly, but I guess that card had been designed long before. It's also weird to me that the Brewers/Miller used a New York Mets photo for his 1994 Miller card -- I guess it's all they could find.</div>
Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-13350800602458791312019-06-24T19:00:00.000-04:002019-06-24T19:19:32.094-04:00What's Kenny Listening To, Part II<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's part two of the Kenny/Zippy Zappy appreciation post.</span><br />
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<b>Supertramp, "Goodbye Stranger"</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Supertramp was a staple of 1980s classic rock stations -- at least the ones that I heard in Milwaukee in the 1980s. I don't know if they still get radio play any more or not. In fairness, I'd pretty much forgotten this song existed, but once the first notes started playing, my memory was quickly jogged.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of course, in typical 1970s classic rock fashion, this song lasts about 2 minutes longer than it really needs to last.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Similarly, I'd pretty much forgotten that Michael Reed played with the Brewers before getting this card from Kenny. Of course, that forgetting is much less forgivable than forgetting about a 40-year-old classic rock song, since Reed played for Milwaukee as recently as 2016 and was still in the Brewers system through 2017.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">of Montreal, "Paranoiac Intervals/Body Dysmorphia"</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I've heard all kinds of buzz for of Montreal for a few years now. I'm very disappointed in myself for not having done any looking into them before this.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">of Montreal originated in the best city in the whole wide world -- Athens, Georgia, of course. The band is fronted by Kevin Barnes, who added Derek Almstead and Bryan Poole upon his arrival in Athens in 1996. Almstead and Poole both were/are members of noted Athens band Elf Power, whom I know I saw at least once in the mid-1990s during law school.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For a while, of Montreal was on the legendary Athens record label called Kindercore alongside bands like Japancakes, Kitty Craft, and The Mendoza Line. I feel like I can recall that the label's formation was pretty big news in town back then. But, I might be projecting memories of being cooler than I actually was when I start having memories like that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On the other hand, Yasmani Grandal -- even though he is shown playing for the Bakersfield Blaze -- is far cooler than my memories. Here's hoping that he'll stick around in Milwaukee for one or two more seasons.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Soccer Mommy, "Cool"</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Soccer Mommy is Sophie Allison, a Nashville native by way of being born in Switzerland and after attending two years of college at NYU and dropping out. Wikipedia says that she cites Mitski, Taylor Swift, and Avril Lavigne as influences, but my ear on this song picks up an influence that may have come from touring with the man -- Stephen Malkmus and Pavement. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's a good song. It's one of those songs that will get stuck in my head if I listen a few more times -- lots of hooks and very catchy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Joe Alexander was the Milwaukee Bucks first round pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, and boy did the Bucks screw up this pick. Alexander was the eighth pick overall in the 2008 draft out of West Virginia. Every single other first round pick other than the very last pick of the first round (J.R. Giddens out of New Mexico) played more games and more seasons in the NBA than Alexander did. Alexander appeared in 67 games over two seasons in Milwaukee. Players selected after Alexander included Brook Lopez, Roy Hibbert, and, in the second round, DeAndre Jordan. Alexander was last seen playing in Turkey for Besiktas. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Denzel Curry, "ZUU"</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Curry is a Miami rapper whom I've never heard of before. Curry just released his new album, also called ZUU, on May 31, 2019. This song is short -- barely 2 minutes long. I like it, though. There's not a ton here lyrically, but the beats are good.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Plus, I give the guy props for wearing a throwback Marlins jersey. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Jones emerged last year as the best running back the Packers had on the roster. After the Eddie Lacy pick went from golden to Golden Corral with Lacy successfully eating his way out of the NFL, the Packers went from converted WR (Ty Montgomery) to 4th round pick Jamaal Williams to 5th round pick Jones over the past three years. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It might also help if Aaron Rodgers would stop checking out of running plays because he thinks he's the best offensive coordinator in the stadium.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Twin Shadow, "Slow"</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kenny says that this song sounds like She Wants Revenge or Joy Division to him. Yup, definitely that 80s New Wave/00s Renew Wave sound going on. Twin Shadow a/k/a George Lewis Jr. sounds to me is even more influenced vocally by Morrissey. Again, that fits into that genre quite well, since New Order and The Smiths were contemporaries in Manchester in the 1980s.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's not the sound I was expecting, to be fair, but I'm a fan. Definitely.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I am surprised at how nostalgic I feel toward the Heritage set this year, what with it being 1970 and all. As a kid, I used to love the 1970 set for having the Seattle Pilots in it even though the team became the Milwaukee Brewers that season. I don't know why that is -- perhaps it was a reflection of my enjoyment of <u>Ball Four</u> or perhaps it was because the 1970s were the decade I was born and felt much closer in time to me than anything from the 1960s. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is why this card is such a good analog for the Twin Shadow song. I wasn't expecting to like this year's Heritage as much as I have, but I'm a fan.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Eladio Carrion, Khea, Cazzu, and Ecko, "Mi Cubana (Remix)"</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As Kenny's blog said, this is a trap song entirely in Spanish. Interestingly, Eladio Carrion is actually from Kansas City. No kidding. That kind of deflates the song for me. Sure, the other three are all Argentine, but finding out that Eladio Carrion is from Kansas City is just disappointing. Maybe that's just me, though.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kenny Clark is going into his fourth season as a defensive tackle for the Packers. Clark is a good player, no question -- getting 6 sacks in 13 games from defensive tackle is no mean feat -- but the next time Kenny Clark starts 16 games will be the first time. Yes, he played 16 games in 2016, but he only started 2 and only racked up 21 tackles -- he was a special teamer for much of the year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have not been impressed with the Packers most recent drafts. I feel like they don't take enough SEC players. Sure, I'm biased toward the SEC in that regard, but I thought taking the best players in the draft was the idea. Maybe that's just me, though.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have heard of this band before thanks to their collaboration with Big Data on the song called "Dangerous" from about five or six years ago. This song is only okay to me. It just doesn't grab me. Maybe it's the mood I'm in today or what have you, but it just isn't something I want to hear again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Similarly, while Keon Broxton is an excellent defensive outfield to my eyes, advanced metrics for him are all over the place. Add in his terrible inability to make contact on anything approaching a regular basis, and you can see why he's on his third team this year already. Granted, the Brewers got him for basically nothing from the Pirates a few years ago, so we are already ahead on that equation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Well, folks, that's it for the Kenny Appreciation post for 2019.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now that we know what Kenny is listening to these days, I would be interested to hear what everyone else has filling their ears. Are you a country music fan? Do you dig disco? Is New Wave your jam? Tell me what you're listening to!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And Kenny -- as always, thank you very much. You're a good man.</span></div>
Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-39460785598904673852019-06-23T10:56:00.000-04:002019-06-23T15:06:33.143-04:00What Kenny's Listening To with Cards from Torren' Up Cards, Part I<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When it comes to music or information in general, I tend to be very omnivorous. I read a ton, whether that includes reading for work or for pleasure. I watch tons of documentaries on Netflix, YouTube, and Amazon Prime on my Roku as well as trying to find ones being shown on PBS or elsewhere that sound interesting. I also listen to about any music under the sun that comes my way at least once to see if I like it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, this love of knowledge tends to get in the way of my blogging, because I'm more likely to say, "that documentary about Oasis on Netflix sounds interesting" and start watching that instead of sitting down and blogging.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, it's been a couple of weeks since the ever awesome Kenny a/k/a Zippy Zappy sent me a zippy zapping accompanied by his massive "<a href="http://cervinupcards.blogspot.com/2019/06/what-ive-been-listening-to-2019-edition.html">What I've Been Listening To</a>" post. Kenny is a 20-something whose tastes in music are all over the place, and I think he likes trying to find stuff for me to consider that might either offend or otherwise fall outside the realm of my tastes as a Gen-X'er.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because Kenny posted 14 songs, I'm going to break this into two posts. It's just a lot to type and listen to all at once!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As always, to highlight the great cards Kenny sent and the (we'll see what an appropriate adjective is) music Kenny is listening to, here's my response post. Music first, followed by the card.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, Now: "SGL"</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kenny's post said this song is his favorite of the 14 songs that he posted, and after listening to this song twice *and* looking up the lyrics, I can see why. As Kenny noted, the band Now, Now is a two-person indie band from Minneapolis comprised of Cacie (or KC) Dalager and Bradley Hale. They met in high school in marching band -- something I can relate to, having been a marching band geek myself all the way through college.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This song is a really catchy poppy indie rock song. NPR featured it in <a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/05/11/527605612/songs-we-love-now-now-sgl">November 2017</a> as one of the "Songs We Love." "SGL" stands for "shotgun lover," which in this context seems to be simply that she is a quick hookup for her lover. The rest of the lyrics of the song seem to provide feelings of unhappiness about that arrangement. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I'll leave all the interpretation to you. YMMV.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since we're going with favorites up front, I will go with a card of Christian Yelich from Series 1 Topps. There's nothing more I can say about Yelich that hasn't already been said, really. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay, one thing. If Yelich gets one homer between now and the All-Star break, he will set a Brewers record for most homers before the All-Star break. Yelich currently has 29 Homers in 70 games; Prince Fielder set the record in 2007 when he had 29 Homers in 87 games. Fielder finished 2007 with 50 homers. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lit, "My Own Worst Enemy"</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I didn't need to listen to this song specifically for this post because this has been a personal favorite song since its release in 1999. It was kind of a joke between me and one of my friends that this song was sort of my theme song because I enjoyed going out, smoked cigarettes like a chimney when I drank, and generally I had a tendency to undermine myself at that point in my career. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So that's why it was kind of a joke and kind of just sad, really. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even sadder is the fact that this song is now 20 years old. Which means Kenny was like 4 when it was released. </span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6UaXzCqwflk/XQ93QwifOrI/AAAAAAAAcTc/9LWWJ4W7MwImtcor3NI_M7IPlaIWhy_aACEwYBhgL/s1600/Scan%2B7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1115" data-original-width="754" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6UaXzCqwflk/XQ93QwifOrI/AAAAAAAAcTc/9LWWJ4W7MwImtcor3NI_M7IPlaIWhy_aACEwYBhgL/s320/Scan%2B7.jpeg" width="216" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1989 Bowman pairs well with a 1999 song. Indeed, Dale Sveum pairs well with a song about being one's own worst enemy too. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sveum's baseball career was essentially derailed in 1988 when, while playing shortstop, <a href="https://www.providencejournal.com/article/20111117/SPORTS/311179990">he went back into left field</a> to chase a blooper. Left fielder Darryl Hamilton was charging in hard for the ball. A terrible collision resulted, and Sveum's left tibia and fibula were snapped. It was ugly. Even worse, the bone did not heal properly and a second surgery to re-break the bones to allow them to heal correctly resulted in 1989. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He missed the entire 1989 season, and the promise that he showed during his 25-homer season in 1987 was gone. His missing 1989 led the Brewers to calling up a petulant youngster named Gary Sheffield even earlier than Sheffield's abilities and maturity should have allowed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sveum also <a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/8712089/dale-sveum-chicago-cubs-manager-shot-robin-yount-milwaukee-brewers-hall-famer-offseason-hunting-accident">made the mistake of going hunting with Robin Yount</a>, leading to Sveum getting bird shot going through his right ear. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Drowning the Light, "The Spear of Longinus"</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can read Kenny's intro and discussion on how he was introduced to this song by the Metal Attorney, the <a href="http://redsoxfaninnebraska.blogspot.com/">Red Sox Fan in Nebraska</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am not terribly impressed by this song, in large part because it is really repetitive and to my ears, quite boring. I used to use black metal/death metal/speed metal to fall asleep on international flights because it was like active white noise. More than once, I would set up a playlist of nothing but the song "Master of Puppets" played 4 times in a row to help me fall asleep. And it worked too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the things that Kenny sent me was this Clay Matthews sticker from Panini. My Packers fandom has been waning over the past eight years -- since the Super Bowl win, really. This entirely coincides with my no longer playing fantasy football. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will admit that I don't miss the NFL at all. My football watching is all on Saturdays these days -- watching Georgia play along with paying attention to the other SEC games is usually enough for me. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gypsy and the Cat, "Sorry"</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A generally innocuous indie rock song. It's something that I would listen to again if it came on, but I'm not sure I'd actively seek it out. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Interestingly, the band seemed to fall apart due to its own former record label, Sony, screwing them over in some respects. According to <a href="https://tonedeaf.thebrag.com/how-sony-soundcloud-accidentally-derailed-an-aussie-band/">this article</a> from April 2016, when SoundCloud became a monetized streaming service in 2016, Sony Australia locked down their artists' songs to make sure that the songs were not freely streamable -- that people had to be paying for the right to stream the songs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before that time, music bloggers often embedded SoundCloud files for songs in their blogs. Blog embeds are tracked by a service called Hype Machine, and it has its own charts. Prior to the Sony lockdown, Gypsy & The Cat had a song called "Inside Your Mind" that reached number 2 on Hype Machine. The next week, after the lockdown, the song was no longer on the chart.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Frustratingly for the band, Gypsy & The Cat had not been a Sony artist for over five years at that point. Yet, Sony's actions effectively derailed their efforts on the 2016 album. One can't help but think that bullshit must have played a role in their breakup.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a side note, band member Xavier Bacash has a new EP out under the name "Sonny". I haven't listened to it yet.</span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zgVSWDHT4nE/XQ93O-1CsEI/AAAAAAAAcTk/Re58P6oIe6kJApp1SsJtk3nccqM1v8l2ACEwYBhgL/s1600/Scan%2B1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1037" data-original-width="748" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zgVSWDHT4nE/XQ93O-1CsEI/AAAAAAAAcTk/Re58P6oIe6kJApp1SsJtk3nccqM1v8l2ACEwYBhgL/s320/Scan%2B1.jpeg" width="230" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I feel like this "Top Shelf" chrome of Ryan Braun fits well here. I sometimes forget that Braun is still with the Brewers -- he's almost like a name of a bygone era at this point. He's a solid player at this point in his career. He's never been a great on-base guy -- his value is tied heavily into his batting average, which happens when you walk only 17 times in 266 plate appearances as Braun has this year through June 23 -- so he's basically a replacement-level player even with his 12 HRs and 40 RBI this year. At least that is what bWAR says -- 0.1 WAR and a 94 OPS+ is pretty much replacement level, right?</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I Set My Friends On Fire, "Life Hertz"</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A catchy song. I've never heard of this band before, apparently because they come from the genre of "screamo" -- where they scream everything they sing. It's a decent song, but based on what Kenny's post said, I'm not seeking out anything else by them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A relatively interesting card visually, though the colors behind Rogers look like some sort of rainbow fingerprint. I'll take this opportunity to note that these all-white uniforms look terrible to me. In fact, pretty much all of the color rush uniforms look awful to me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This card is decent, but I'm not seeking out anything else from Panini here.</span></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DECO*27 - 妄想感傷代償連盟 (Feat. 初音ミク)</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That "featuring" portion reads "Hatsune Miku" in Japanese. Kenny points out that Hatsune Miku is a "vocaloid icon," which means that she is a completely fictional CGI anime girl. People go to concerts to seek Hatsune Miku sing these songs, so it's sort of like gathering to watch a TV show.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The song is pretty catchy, as you'd expect from computer-generated vocals. I wonder what the words are.</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dT1y1ay9xWM/XQ-KibdhbZI/AAAAAAAAcTs/0AwJMf8tGsoEbxWSCWWYLbrkxr0XEQ6RgCLcBGAs/s1600/Scan%2B10.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="751" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dT1y1ay9xWM/XQ-KibdhbZI/AAAAAAAAcTs/0AwJMf8tGsoEbxWSCWWYLbrkxr0XEQ6RgCLcBGAs/s320/Scan%2B10.jpeg" width="231" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Appropriately, in the cards that Kenny sent, there is a computer-generated Taylor Jungmann to go with Hatsune Miku. Also appropriately, Jungmann has been pitching in Japan for Yomiuri Giants for the past two years.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gucci Mane f/Migos, "I Get the Bag"</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you, Kenny, for giving me some music from Georgia to talk about. Gucci Mane was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and moved to Atlanta in 1989. Gucci's Wikipedia article notes that he was actually a good student in high school (he's a DeKalb County kid, having attended McNair High School), but that he also got started with dealing drugs in school too. He's been in and out of prison for gun charges and drugs. Hopefully he's gotten cleaned up. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Migos is comprised of three guys -- Takeoff, Offset, and Quavo -- and are managed by Coach K, who used to manage Gucci Mane. The three all grew up in Gwinnett County, the county due east of DeKalb County. Parts of Gwinnett are quite urban, while other parts are very country. I like these guys because Quavo in particular is a huge Georgia Bulldogs fan.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The song is pretty good too, by the way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kenny sent me several of these 2011 Minor League Heritage cards, including one of Jimmy Nelson. Nelson attended high school in Florida and then went to college at the University of Alabama. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His overcoming injury to come back and pitch this year has been a great story at the same time as it has been sad. Before his injury, he was verging on being a true #1 starter, finishing 9th in the Cy Young voting. Since his return, he has been terrible -- 3 games started, 12 innings pitched, 10 walks, an ERA of 9.75 and a WHIP of 2.167 pretty much says it all. He is being moved to the bullpen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's the end of Part I. Any comments from y'all as to which one of these songs is your favorite? How about the cards -- anyone like any of these cards more than the others? Why?</span></div>
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Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-77457403978143800332019-06-22T09:31:00.001-04:002019-06-22T09:31:31.328-04:00Meet the Brewers #43: Floyd Wicker<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIL/MIL197009040.shtml">September 4, 1970,</a> two dead-end teams were playing out the string in front of a disinterested collection of less than 12,000 people in an almost entirely pointless one-game series on the Friday before Labor Day in Milwaukee. The 49-90 Chicago White Sox limped into Milwaukee in the middle of what would become the Sox's longest losing streak of the season -- 8 games. For their part, the Brewers were not any great shakes either, as the second year team was carrying a 52-85 record.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brewer #43, outfielder Floyd Wicker, joined the festivities as a pinch hitter for Bernie Smith in the bottom of the eighth inning; Wicker promptly tapped out to the pitcher for the final out of the inning, stranding Tommy Harper at second and then replaced Smith in RF. Yet, Wicker would eventually be the hero of the game. The slog between the two worst teams in the American League went into extra innings tied at 2, and Wicker broke the tie with a single in the bottom of the 10th to drive in Harper for the walk-off victory.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1971 Dell Today's Team Stamps. Wicker's airbrushed Expos hat is in the Brewers' book.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wickefl01.shtml">Floyd Euliss Wicker</a> was born in Burlington, North Carolina in 1943. He went to East Carolina University for one season as a 16-year-old, turning 17 in the fall of that freshman year. As a freshman, his team won the NAIA national championship. According to the <a href="https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/3527#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&xywh=-1%2C-208%2C4390%2C3363">ECU yearbook</a> for that year, Wicker was the third baseman for that team. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The major league rules being what they were at the time, his ability drew attention from scouts and he signed after just one year of college with the St. Louis Cardinals. Wicker did an interview in 2012 on a blog called <a href="http://baseballhistorian.blogspot.com/2012/03/interview-with-floyd-wicker.html">The Baseball Historian</a> where he stated that he had had the chance to sign as a professional right out of high school, but he chose a year of college near home instead.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He played in the Cardinals system in Classes C and D at the ages of 17 and 18 for his first two years in the minors, and he then moved up to A ball in 1963. At that point, his career was interrupted by two years of military service. He still played three to five games a week in the service, but it is hard to say that he faced the same level of competition there as he would have in the majors. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wicker came back to the Cardinals organization in 1965. He was pushed to Double-A in 1966 and responded with a big season -- .303/.392/.417. He followed that up with a creditable year in 1967 at Triple-A Tulsa and a good spring in 1968 such that he put himself on the Cardinals radar for when their other outfielders had to serve their military service. As such, in 1968, Wicker made his big-league debut on June 23 as a pinch hitter. He appeared in 5 games for St. Louis in total, all as a pinch hitter or pinch runner.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Apparently, that was not enough for the Cardinals to make sure that Wicker was on their 40-man roster, however, and the Montreal Expos swiped him from the Cardinals in the Rule 5 draft after the 1968 season. The Expos gave him 41 plate appearances -- all but one against right-handed pitching for the lefty-hitting Wicker -- and he struggled mightily with an anemic slash line of .103/.146/.103. In fairness, it's tough enough to hit in the major leagues, but it's even tougher when you only get 24 plate appearances between May 16 and September. On the other hand, you don't help yourself when you fail to get a hit in any of those 24 plate appearances.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That Rule 5 season turned into a lost year for Wicker -- one he never got back developmentally. As soon as the season ended, Wicker was named as the player-to-be-named later in a trade in which the Expos received Marv Staehle from the Seattle Pilots. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wicker spent most of 1970 in Portland and had an excellent year in AAA -- .329/.441/.521 with 14 HR and 78 BB in 471 plate appearances. He also featured in a Ray Peters story, in that Ray used Floyd's bat to hit the one and only professional home run that Ray ever hit -- a grand slam for the Beavers the week before Ray got married. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thus, Wicker got a call up to the Brewers in September. Wicker then played in 11 games in 1971 starting April 30 and ending May 30 for Milwaukee. Again, he struggled for playing time -- getting only 10 plate appearances and never getting a start for the Brewers. He was then traded on June 1, 1971 to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for utility infielder Bob Heise. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wicker's professional baseball career ended in 1971. As he detailed in an interview in <a href="https://www.thetimesnews.com/article/20120927/Sports/309279801"><i>The Times News</i> (Burlington, NC)</a> in 2012, even though he stopped being a pro, he still loved the game. After he left baseball, he went to work for the United States Postal Service for 33 years, retiring in 2005. During that time, he helped out the Southern Alamance High School and Middle School baseball teams and even coached American Legion ball in the 1980s. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wicker still shows up in newspapers in the area of North Carolina where he lives. The 2012 article above was done in conjunction with his receipt of the Distinguished Service in Sports Award that he received from the Alamance County Sports Development Counsel. The article notes his heavy involvement with the North Carolina Baseball Museum and his role in getting two teams from the 1910s from his old high school recognized there as champions. Many of the articles with him involved are for golf tournaments for fundraising for that Museum. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Floyd Wicker has 4 total cards as a Milwaukee Brewer as shown above. I actually own all of them.</span>Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-88143338472683626312019-05-28T20:01:00.000-04:002019-05-28T20:01:15.560-04:00Snake Jazz and Snakeskin RefractorsA PWE arrived at my house a little over a week ago, and I just didn't feel like writing last week. Tonight, though, I'm in the mood for a post. So, it's time to celebrate the great cards that Brian from <a href="http://subjectiveandarbitrary.blogspot.com/">Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary</a> packaged up and sent my way. In the spirit of Snake Jazz, this post is going to be heavy on jazz and perhaps a bit light on writing.<br />
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Let's start with Mr. Snake Jazz himself, Dave Baldwin. This card is one that Baldwin gives out to those who write to him, I believe, and it's my first autograph from him. Baldwin says that the term "snake jazz" refers to offspeed pitches generally -- that it means "curvy pitches." Obviously that line never made <i>Ball Four</i>, but I'll take Baldwin's word for it since he played the game in the majors and I never played beyond high school.<br />
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The song "Take the A Train" was in the news recently thanks to Jeopardy! phenom James Holzhauer. It was the Final Jeopardy question with the following "Jazz Classics" clue: "In one account, this song began as directions written out for composer Billy Strayhorn to Duke Ellington's home in Harlem."</div>
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It's a jazz standard -- one nearly every student jazz musician should play before they leave high school. I played it in high school too (I was a sax player until I graduated college).</div>
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Next up are four yellow parallels from this year's flagship effort from Topps. I don't understand why "Milwaukee" gets the big letter effect on the team card whereas "Anderson" and "Hader" do on the individual player cards. Shouldn't "Brewers" be the big name? </div>
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I think I'd like the cards better if Topps did, in fact, swap the last name for the first name. The way it is written now is just silly and looks wrong.</div>
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I never understood "Green Onions" as a young saxophone player. That may be because it really didn't have much for me to do unless I was the one soloing. At its core, this song is just a great excuse for a jazz combo to jam and trade solos with one another. You have the walking bass line setting the chords and the rhythm, the drummer keeping time on the snare and bass drum with some flourishes on the toms and cymbals, and otherwise it's just the guitarist and organ trading solos back and forth. That's it.</div>
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Don't get me wrong -- with great soloists, it's worth every second -- but it's not groundbreaking or anything. </div>
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Next up are two guys that the Brewers traded away. Gomez helped rebuild the farm system with Domingo Santana, Josh Hader, Brett Phillips, and Adrian Houser while Villar was flipped for Jonathan Schoop last year. </div>
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Gomez has bounced around since that time, hitting Houston, Texas, Tampa Bay, and now back to the Mets where he started his career. The way he is playing this year, there may not be a next year for the almost 34-year-old. </div>
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Villar is doing fine in Baltimore -- 7 HR, 9 SB -- and is about a league average hitter with a .736 OPS. He still goes up there hacking, though, walking just 16 times in 238 plate appearances.</div>
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According to Wikipedia, scrapple is a "Pennsylvania Dutch" (er, that's German, folks) dish of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and wheat flour (often buckwheat) and other spices. Perhaps a song about "Scrapple from the Apple" is an appropriate accompaniment for the pork scraps and cornmeal that are Gomez and Villar.</div>
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You can identify whichever of them you want as the cornmeal and which one is the pork scraps. </div>
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The next two cards are variations (I think) from Panini's attempts at continuing to issue baseball cards. If you're Panini and in light of MLB extending Topps's exclusive license, how long do you keep trying? I suppose they must be making money or they'd stop issuing cards, right? </div>
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Brewers fans are asking similar questions of Jesus Aguilar right now. His hitting has been so bad that his bWAR is -0.7 and his OPS+ is just 60 -- way below average for the league, not just first basemen. Frankly, his struggles are not new. After the All-Star game last year, he slashed at just .245/.324/.436 -- an OPS of .760. But, his .604 OPS so far this year has continued the decline. His lack of offense has led the team to go back to Eric Thames for a jump start. </div>
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On the other hand, there's Christian Yelich. Yelich has sort of struggled in May himself -- at least in comparison to his ridiculous March/April. In March/April, he hit 13 HR and slashed .353/.460/.804 (1.264 OPS). In May, he's only hit 7 HR and slashed .275/.393/.623 (a 1.016 OPS). Perhaps the real problem here is only that Yelich simply has not had as many guys on base in front of him in May -- only 10 RBI as compared to 34 at the start of the month (that's comparing 29 games in March/April to 19 in May).</div>
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"Stardust" is a jazz standard. It's one I have never played. It's sort of a mid-tempo song that is fine but it doesn't stand out to modern ears. At least mine, that is.</div>
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Purple Ryan Braun refractor, anyone? Damn the colored refractors in 2017 appeared to be some sort of futuristic nightmare. </div>
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After "Stardust," I felt like a great Louis Armstrong version of "Sweet Georgia Brown" should help redeem things. </div>
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Does everyone still associate this song with the Harlem Globetrotters? I remember as a kid that it was always a special day on "Wide World of Sports" when the Globetrotters were on. They made the kind of jokes that a kid could appreciate. My older self would probably be bored seeing the same jokes get rolled out but man, when I was 8, they were awesome.</div>
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To close out the blog post today, I have the bookend to Snake Jazz -- a Snake Skin refractor! Sort of.</div>
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Brandon Woodruff has been excellent this year for the Brewers. I was hoping he would be, and he has not disappointed -- unlike his fellow youngsters Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta, both of whom combined to destroy my fantasy baseball team's ERA and WHIP in April to the point where I had to cut them so I could stop slotting them in hoping for a rebound. Just terrible. </div>
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Pitching in April was the Brewers big concern, but the offense outside of Yelich, Mike Moustakas, and Yasmani Grandal has really been limping along in May. That's why Keston Hiura got the call from the minors -- to try to kick start something. </div>
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To close out on a high note, I have to go to saxophone maestro John Coltrane. Coltrane and Charlie Parker were the guys I wished I could sound like when I was a high schooler. </div>
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Of course, that was akin to me saying that I totally wished I could pitch like Bret Saberhagen or Dwight Gooden in 1987. While it was a nice daydream, there's no way in hell it was really going to happen.</div>
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So, I watched those two pitch and listened to Coltrane and Bird. After all, if you can't be the best, you should watch/listen to the best to appreciate them while you can.</div>
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Brian, thanks for being one of the best -- and for the cards. </div>
Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-44630110000141415282019-05-16T19:25:00.000-04:002019-05-16T19:25:06.779-04:00PWEs and a Little MusicThank you to all of you who read my post trying to honor the memory of Ray Peters. Your comments meant a lot to me. Ray was truly a special man who will be dearly missed.<br />
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In the meantime since my last post, I have been the honored recipient of two single-card plain white envelopes. The first arrived a couple of days ago from New Jersey and my Twitter friend Nick Vossbrink who also blogs at <a href="https://njwv.wordpress.com/">NJWV</a> and, in addition, is one of the two new co-chairs of the <a href="https://sabrbaseballcards.blog/2019/05/01/the-passage-of-power/">SABR Baseball Cards Committee</a> and Blog Editor. Nick is one of those people with whom I feel I could converse about any subject and learn something new. I like people like that.<br />
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Nick sent me an awesome thank you note featuring an Auguste Renoir painting of a ballerina that totally pump-faked me into thinking it was an Edgar Degas because whenever I see Impressionists and ballerinas that is a Pavlovian response.<br />
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See what I mean? But even now, thirty years later, I still hear the teacher I had in high school for training for the Academic Decathlon competition -- which is where my Impressionist knowledge comes from -- saying, "yeah, but look at the eyes. Those are Renoir eyes."</div>
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Anyway, Nick sent me a very cool 1980s oddball to add to my collection of a Giant turned Brewer, Rob Deer:</div>
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I'm pretty sure Deer is either about to swing and miss or crush the ball. That was what he did. For many Brewers fans, Deer's approach at the plate reminded them of an earlier Brewer hero, Gorman Thomas -- lots of homers, lots of strikeouts, a pretty good number of walks too, and low batting averages that didn't kill the team thanks to the OBP and the SLG.</div>
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To thank Nick further, here's a Baroque composition featuring attractive women looking cold on a beach with Tomaso Albinoni's Adagio in G Minor accompanying them.</div>
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Thanks Nick!</div>
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Next up, a PWE showed up yesterday from Mark Hoyle. Mark has either been buying a lot of potato chips from Utz lately, or else he ran into a deep, cheap vein of these cards at his local card shows. </div>
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Whichever one of these it is, Mark was kind enough to share an Utz card with me:</div>
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If I were inclined to add any more player collections -- and trust me, I'm more likely to get rid of some than add some -- Lorenzo Cain would be in the running definitely. LoCain is such an upbeat guy, and he's also an incredible center fielder as well. It is unbelievable to me that Cain has yet to win a Gold Glove -- he deserved one last year, in my opinion, so I hope that issue gets addressed this year.</div>
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To thank Mark for the card, I think I'll give him faster horses, younger women, older whiskey, and more money -- from Tom T. Hall.</div>
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I grew up on country music in the 1970s, and I do recall this song. I probably would not have remembered this song, however, except for Twitter stalking Mark's timeline and seeing that he had interacted with the Great Wes Moore talking about the lyrics to this song specifically. </div>
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Now that's what you call a friend -- someone to remind you of a Tom T. Hall song from 1976 that you haven't thought about in probably 40 years. </div>
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Thanks, guys, for the great cards!</div>
Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-39826213816646483812019-05-13T19:43:00.004-04:002019-05-14T15:49:44.588-04:00Rest in Peace, Ray<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I had a feeling something was wrong with my friend Ray Peters all week last week. When I made my first post back blogging about Pete Koegel on May 4, the first thing I did after finishing it was send a link to it to Ray by email. I kept checking my email all week expecting to see a response from him. It wasn't like Ray to let an email go unanswered for that long -- he should have responded by Wednesday or Thursday at the latest in my mind. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I hoped that he was alright</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">My first autograph from Ray</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Unfortunately, things were not all right. When the email came in yesterday from his account as sent by his wife, it surprised me how much loss I felt in many respects. I had never met Ray in person, but he had quickly become a friend to me through his many emails and through the multiple calls that we had. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As you can see above, we bonded over our love of history. Ray received a degree in Spanish and Latin American studies from Harvard, and I have a degree from Vanderbilt in political science but focused on Latin American politics and history, so we had that in common along with our love for baseball. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The thing that defined Ray to me was how much he wanted to make sure that his teammates were never forgotten -- especially their contributions to his success. For example, the card above was a photo of Ray having hit a grand slam homerun for the Portland Beavers after being sent down to the minors in 1970. He was quick to point out to me that he used Floyd Wicker's bat to hit the home run and gave Floyd credit for that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Ray helped spearhead the Topps Heritage subsets of the Pilots in 2018. He told me a lot of things about how that whole process worked that he asked me not to share, and I will respect that. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I will say this, however: he loved his card in the subset for the 2019 Heritage set. As he said to me in an email in February, "I am ecstatic to say the least. Truly after 50 years I finally have a Topps baseball card from the team I played with in The Show! How fortunate am I ???!!!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Funny thing was that the Brew Crew Autographs subset in 2019 Heritage was identified as being on the checklist long before Ray was asked to be a part of it. When he did find out, as you can see, it made him incredibly happy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ray was kind enough to send me both of the Heritage autographs that he signed. And whisper it, but I think I have a 1/1 from the 2018 Heritage: I believe I have the only one that Ray signed with a red sharpie instead of a blue one. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ray was always generous with his time for me as well. Even when he should have been impatient with me, or when I went days or even weeks without corresponding, he never said a cross word to me. Not even when I delayed and delayed on writing the "Meet The Brewers" for guys that were his friends. Not even once.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I knew he was having some health issues. He mentioned them in passing in his emails and minimized their severity. But, you can tell just looking at his autograph on the 2019 Heritage card above -- as compared to its 2018 compatriot right next to it -- that he was starting to struggle a bit. His signature was shaky, and when I saw it, I actually started to worry about him. Even in my last email to him, I said that I hoped he was well and that I would get to talk to him soon. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I wish I had had that opportunity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ray was much too young to pass away. He was only 72 years old. I know -- that sounds like a long life, but it's not. Not these days. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">All the things they say about telling people that you care for them before it's too late apply here to me. I wish I had gotten the opportunity to tell him how much I appreciated his thoughtful deep dives into Brewer history. I wish I had taken the time to tell him how much I enjoyed his emails and his calls. And, I wish I had another ten or fifteen years to get to know Ray better, to hear more stories, to learn more about him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Yet, I know I'm lucky. Thanks to Ray, I spent an hour on the phone talking to one of his roommates from the minor leagues -- Jim Slaton -- just hearing about Jim's career. I hope someday to hear more. Thanks to Ray, I got to talk with Fred Stanley a bit about his career and to buy this incredible print:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thanks to Ray, the 1970 Milwaukee Brewers went from being names on a piece of paper or on the internet to being wonderful, humorous, and even sometimes flawed human beings. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">According to the email that I (and others) received from his wife Janis, Ray died on May 4, 2019. His younger son set up a website called Big Train Ray (<a href="https://bigtrainray.com/">https://bigtrainray.com/</a>) to honor his dad. It's a great website, and it has numerous links to stories about Ray's career and life. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Though I never met you in person, I'll miss you, Ray.</span></div>
Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-5959614211869545032019-05-12T09:34:00.000-04:002019-05-12T09:34:47.768-04:00Recent Brewers from Matt Prigge<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Across the country, the changing seasons often have milestones peculiar to the area. For example, here in the South, spring does not begin in March, or February, or April, or when you might otherwise thing it does. Nope, it only lasts about 30 to 45 minutes after the pollen dies down from yellow hellfury to mere annoyance, as this video explains.</span></div>
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the most certain ways that Wisconsinites can tell it is summer is when all the Catholic churches bring in two or three beer trucks, attach taps to the outside, put up a stage, and have a festival in their parking lot. This happens literally only during the months of July and August, but it keeps tons of cover bands, polka bands, and random polka-rock fusion bands busy every weekend. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yes, polka-rock fusion. You'd be surprised how many of these exist. And, it seems, Matt Prigge of the <a href="http://summerof74blog.blogspot.com/">Summer of '74</a> blog and, recently, a man who picked up his second master's degree from the <a href="https://twitter.com/mjpmke/status/1126963141873737729">University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee</a>, is apparently an aficionado of Wisconsin-famous band Happy Schnapps Combo. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Matt sent me a bunch of Brewers cards mostly from 2018 and some from 2019. Rather than write all about those, I'll show some (with a little commentary) but focus here on the Happy Schnapps Combo. While you do, remember that people in Wisconsin <i style="font-weight: bold;">follow bands like this around.</i> No lie. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's the stack I won't get to:</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Like I said, he sent a bunch. To cover this bunch appropriately, let's go to the first Happy Schnapps Combo song I came across on YouTube. It's called "Fleet Farm (A Love Song)." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Appropriately, this video appears to have been shot in a parking lot during a summer festival sponsored at least in part by the Port Washington Lions Club. Lions Clubs, in case you're not aware, are service organizations found in chapters around the world who apparently try to help with everything from <a href="https://lionsclubs.org/en/discover-our-foundation/mission">childhood blindness to disaster relief</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fleet Farm (not to be confused with Farm and Fleet, by the way) is store that would result if <a href="https://www.fleetfarm.com/#">Walmart and Home Depot had a bastard child</a> and, for good measure, they had a mutation that incorporated a Pet Smart. No kidding. Look at the website for it -- everything from guns and tree stands to lawn mowers to tires to Cookie Monster toys to dog beds. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of course, making things confusing is the fact that <a href="https://www.farmandfleet.com/">Farm and Fleet</a> does basically the same thing on a slightly smaller scale. I never could tell those places apart. Guess that's why I had to leave Wisconsin.</span></div>
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why am I highlighting a Neil Walker card? Because I'd completely forgotten that he spent 38 games with the team in 2017. He was a Yankee last year, and he's a Marlin this year. Which all makes sense, I think.</span><br />
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I can't imagine a more Wisconsin YouTube clip than this song. First, it's a polka. Second, you've got the random drunk guy in front of the band (is that you, Matt) in gas station sunglasses and a cut-off t-shirt and jeans dancing and singing the whole song along with the band. Third, it's a polka about Blatz beer and sauerkraut. Fourth, the guy says you can get your "Boone's Farm" by the "bubbler."<br />
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Y'all know what a bubbler is? It's a drinking fountain or a water fountain in pretty much the rest of the country, but not in southeastern Wisconsin.<br />
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Last year just after spring training ended, I noted that Yovani Gallardo was trying to make the Brewers, failed, and ended up as cannon fodder for the Rangers for a little while. I was hoping he'd make the team so I'd get more Brewers cards of him. Then I stopped paying attention and didn't realize that he did not need to make the team to get a Topps card in Series 2.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This Happy Schnapps song might be the official state song. Wisconsin is well known for its drinking, after all, and there have been a number of times when I'm there that I have wanted to yell this at someone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's also what Topps's set production people yell at Wisconsin fans when we complain about the questionable player selection for Brewers players -- like, for example, putting a guy who didn't even make the team in Series 2 instead of people who actually played. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This may be one of the worst looking cards of 2018. Is Domingo Santana Thor? Look at the size of his hand next to the very small bat that appears over his shoulder. I mean, I get and understand perspective, but that bat is all wrong. It's terrible looking. And his head looks like it's the size of its own solar system.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I gotta stop looking at these new cards. They're getting me pissed off all over again!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An appropriately shitty song for a shitty card.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay, it's time for the MVP portion of the package. First off, we have a 2019 version of the 1984 Topps for Robin Yount. It's been said before but I'll say it again -- it's cool to see these old designs being reused, but I'd much prefer having the designs used for players who did not appear on the cards the first time around.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, since Yount is about the only former Brewer that Topps has an agreement with at this point (he and Molitor, thanks to the Cooperstown agreements), I'll take what I can get.</span></div>
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You might be noticing a theme here from the Happy Schnapps Combo. I had never heard of them before Matt tweeted about them in passing a couple of days ago. Their whole catalog is either about the Packers or about smelling bad and toilets, it seems. </div>
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Granted, with all the beer and brandy old-fashioneds and bratwurst and sauerkraut that get consumed in Wisconsin, it makes sense to sing about "what you know."</div>
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Another Brewer MVP in Ryan Braun. I guess this was an insert last year. </div>
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I'm still trying to figure out where I go with my collecting at this point. I've decided once again to start over on Trading Card Database and catalog all my Brewers cards. I cleaned out what was there previously, though, so it appears right now that I have nothing. That's probably as good a place to start as any. I'm not sure what I'll try to collect going forward -- but Braun, Yount, and the next guy will be part of it.</div>
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Wisconsin football fans have long hated the Dallas Cowboys in a full-on, irrational way. There are good reasons for that, dating all the way back to the Ice Bowl in the 1960s, to Dallas's claims to be "America's Team" in the 1970s and 1980s, to the playoff battles between the teams in the 1990s, and then to the present with again meeting in the playoffs and the whining that came about with the Dez Bryant catch/no-catch controversy. </div>
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It's a different hate than that reserved for the traditional NFC North rivals, but it's a hatred nonetheless. So, of course a truly emblematic Wisconsin band like the Happy Schnapps Combo had to write a song making fun of all the criminals on the Cowboys.</div>
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The final MVP to feature in the envelope Matt sent to me is, of course, Christian Yelich. <a href="https://offhiatusbaseball.blogspot.com/2018/02/christian-yelich-card-1.html">I had a feeling</a> he would take well to Miller Park last year, and it turned out beyond my wildest expectations. </div>
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This year has been an odd start to the year for him, though. He hits at Miller Park at a home-field-advantage level not seen since the days of Dante Bichette at Coors Field pre-humidor. On the road, he looks like 2017 Christian Yelich -- a bit of pop, good average, decent slugging, but just a solid player. At home, though, he looks like peak steroid Barry Bonds or peak hotdog eating Babe Ruth -- crushing homer after homer. </div>
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Like I said above, the vitriol reserved for the NFC North rivals -- the Vikings and the Bears -- is on a special and different level than that held for other teams. These two songs prove that some. Of course, that Vikings song needs to be updated since it still refers to the Metrodome as the Vikings home field, but I'm sure they can come up with something.</div>
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Matt, thanks greatly for the cards, and I hope you have enjoyed the musical stylings of what must be one of your favorite bands of all time.</div>
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Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-6144272223816189662019-05-08T20:00:00.000-04:002019-05-09T07:06:42.149-04:00Autographs and No Hitters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I had to drive about two total hours today to take a deposition for work. It gave me time to think about whether I wanted to post today. I decided I did because depositions often suck. Today's pretty much did.</div>
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Depositions are sometimes fun, sometimes painful, and oftentimes frustrating. I sit in a conference room with a court reporter, another lawyer, and a witness -- in the simplest cases, that is...in more complicated cases, there may be 5 or 6 other lawyers in attendance in person or by phone and there may be a videographer present as well -- and I literally ask questions to the witness about events that took place one, two, or more years ago and expect the witness to have perfect recollection about seemingly inconsequential events that now have consequence. </div>
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In the most frustrating cases, you end up with a witness who is long on generalities, short on specifics, but swears constantly that their generalities covered everything in the case perfectly. Then you ask them, "did you send an email about this" and their answer is "oh no, we did everything verbally."</div>
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No one does everything verbally anymore except witnesses who really didn't do what they said they did and are trying to claim they were perfect and your guys were the cheats, liars, scammers, and phonies.</div>
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It's a great system, let me tell you.</div>
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That said, last night about 12:45, the power flipped off in my house randomly for about 15 minutes. It woke me up, of course -- we have fans going in our room for white noise and to cool us off, and it gets deathly quiet without them. My nature is that I do not snooze or hit the snooze bar -- ever. Once I'm up, I'm up. That's a problem when I've only slept 3 hours, like last night. </div>
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But, that inability to fall back asleep meant that I was awake at about 2:15 AM Eastern when Mike Fiers was trying to close out his second no-hitter of his career. I actually got to see the final out thanks to some guy on Twitter live streaming the TV feed using his camera on his phone, which was cool. </div>
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It got me thinking today -- how many guys who have thrown no-hitters do I have autographs from? The answer was, "More than I thought."</div>
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There's the guy that started the discussion. Mike Fiers is one of only 35 pitchers to throw multiple no-hitters in his career, and he is one of only seven pitchers to throw no-hitters on more than one team -- Jim Bunning, Ted Breitenstein (1890s pitcher who threw a no-no in his first major league start), Randy Johnson, Hideo Nomo, Cy Young, and Nolan Ryan are the others.<br />
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Speaking of Nolan Ryan:<br />
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I'm pretty sure this is authentic. It was the result of an autograph request through the mail in the mid-1980s. While Nolan Ryan never threw a no-hitter against Milwaukee, he did win his 300th game against Milwaukee at Milwaukee County Stadium.<br />
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Speaking of the Brewers:<br />
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The one, the only is still Juan Nieves. Nieves threw his no-hitter in the middle of the 1987 Brewers 13-game season-opening win streak on April 15, 1987. He blanked the Baltimore Orioles 7-0 thanks to two great plays in the outfield -- one by Robin Yount and the other by the immortal Jim Paciorek -- and thanks to scattering 7 walks...<br />
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Two more Brewers ties. The first one is pretty weak, but hey -- I've got an autograph from the guy:<br />
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Carlos Villanueva never threw a no-hitter in the majors, but he was a part of a minor-league <a href="https://www.brewcrewball.com/2006/7/15/223915/190">no-hitter as a Nashville Sound</a> in 2006 in the Brewers system. I know -- kinda weak.<br />
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The next one is not weak, but he didn't throw his no-hitter as part of the Brewers:<br />
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Len Barker threw the first perfect game in the American League against a team using a designated hitter. He threw <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len_Barker%27s_perfect_game">his perfecto</a> on May 15, 1981 against the Toronto Blue Jays. Barker was never known for having good control, so his no-no may have been one of the most unlikely perfect games in baseball history.<br />
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Speaking of the Toronto Blue Jays:<br />
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Stieb returned the favor to the Cleveland Indians on <a href="https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/september-2-1990-dave-stieb-pitches-first-no-hitter-blue-jays-history">September 2, 1990</a>, throwing the first no-hitter in Toronto Blue Jays history. Stieb famously lost <a href="https://www.thestar.com/sports/bluejays/2015/09/02/blue-jays-dave-stieb-still-laments-the-no-hitters-that-got-away-25-years-later.html">three other no-hitters</a> previously by giving up hits with two outs in the ninth inning.<br />
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Many of us thought Dave Stieb had a chance for the Hall of Fame while he was pitching. He was good for a long time -- but not long enough.<br />
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Unlike the next no-hit hurler:<br />
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Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven threw a no-hitter on September 22, 1977 as a member of the Texas Rangers. He threw the no-hitter against the California Angels in his final start as a member of the Rangers. He was traded in the off-season to the Pirates in a four-team trade.<br />
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Blyleven was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a Minnesota Twin. This next guy never threw a no-hitter as a Twin, but he did combine on a no-hitter <i>in spring training</i>.<br />
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I got Viola's autograph in-person at a Brewers/Twins game in 1986 or 1987. Viola, Hrbek, Brunansky, Kirby -- all of them were incredibly nice guys even to Brewers fans.<br />
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Three more left, and all of these guys threw their no-hitters in the National League.<br />
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Fernando Valenzuela threw a no-hitter on June 29, 1990. Earlier that same day, his former Dodgers teammate Dave Stewart had thrown a no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays. Having watched that, he turned to his teammates and supposedly said, "<a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-06-30-sp-434-story.html">That's great, now maybe we'll see another no-hitter</a>." And Fernando went out and blanked the St. Louis Cardinals, scattering three walks and an error.<br />
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Perhaps the autograph most dear to me in recent vintage is this Charlie Lea card. I got this from Charlie about a year before he died. More importantly, I got the card because I was working at the time with his son Brian, who himself pitched some but who is an academic and <a href="https://www.jonesday.com/blea/">legal stud who clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas</a> on the U.S. Supreme Court. Brian passed along that his dad loved that I remembered him for this very card -- the huge wad of chewing tobacco in his mouth featuring, of course -- so Charlie sent me an autographed one and one of his 1981 Fleer cards.<br />
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And finally, a story about no-hitters and autographs would not be complete without this ball. It's a late-in-life autograph of the great Warren Spahn that my good friend Wes f/k/a Jaybarkerfan sent me a couple of years ago as part of our monster trading war. Those were fun days, what with seven priority mail boxes packed full of Brewers and Milwaukee Braves showing up in the space of less than a month.<br />
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So, what about you -- do you have any autographs from guys who threw no-hitters?Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-48497787696109695242019-05-07T19:40:00.000-04:002019-05-07T19:40:12.672-04:00A Welcome PWE from Bru<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We all have times in our lives where we just don't have time for ourselves. That's where I've been the past year. Many nights after work, it was all I could do just to stay awake long enough so I wouldn't wake up at 3 AM. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />Yet, I also could have made time for cards from time to time. I just didn't have it in me. I didn't feel like spending time and money on every new card to come around the corner from Topps or Panini or anyone else. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The same thing happened with blogging. I was having more fun -- and it took less energy -- to spout out a one-liner on Twitter or get into a deep discussion with the guys doing season sets like Matt Prigge and Marc Brubaker and Nick Vossbrink about how they went about selecting photos, making the cards, getting them printed (or not), etc. It was a lot of fun checking out Mark Hoyle's daily 4:30 AM post of some crazy rare and extremely cool Boston Red Sox item.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The great thing is that it still is fun to do all those things. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But I guess I missed blogging a bit. I missed finding random songs on YouTube to put into posts. I missed Meeting the Brewers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So I came back now. As I told some folks on Twitter, I'm back to write when I feel like it about what I feel like writing about. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sometimes, though, it will be just a good old-fashioned "Look what I got in the Mail today" post -- like today.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Today, I got mail from Bru at Remember the Astrodome -- who himself has gotten busy with other things in life now. He'd built up a few cards that he said he wanted to send me, so let's roll them out!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let's start with the flying hair of Josh Hader. Hader went from being the prospect lefty who came over with Domingo Santana, Adrian Hauser, and Brett Phillips from the Astros in exchange for Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers (I think the Brewers won that trade -- that's a gut instinct though) to being *THE* guy out of the bullpen who teams have to plan for on a regular basis. I like how the Brewers use him in many respects, though I'd rather have Knebel in the 9th and move Hader around some.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">P.S. Josh Hader's entrance music, according to this 2019 Bowman card, is "Renegade" by Styx. Yes, I must post this classic rock saw.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I think that songs been on classic rock radio since I was in middle school. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Next up is Jacob Barnes from the 2018 Heritage High Numbers. Due to the fact that Barnes has been scuffling some during this first month of the year and due to him having one minor league option year left, I have a feeling that Barnes will be on the San Antonio Shuttle pretty regularly once the Brewers get Jimmy Nelson back to as good as he'll get sometime late this month or in June. He's been walking too many guys so far this year, but he's a solid bullpen arm.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Speaking of the San Antonio Shuttle and also from the 2018 Heritage High Numbers, here's Jacob Nottingham. He was the return for Khris Davis. The thinking at the time was that a catching prospect is worth much more than a ragarm outfielder with suboptimal on-base skills. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It was probably the right move in many respects because if Davis is still in Milwaukee, does the team still go after Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We're still waiting for Nottingham to emerge, though. He is still 24, but he has to hit more than he has in Triple-A to prove he belongs in the majors. Here's hoping he develops this year with Yasmani Grandal and Manny Piña in front of him and can be a big leaguer next year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A throwback here. It feels like so long ago that Jonathan Villar was with the Brewers. It feels like so long ago that Honus Bonus thought people would buy cards of guys in black and white and without logos and try to play fantasy baseball online with them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At least Villar had one big year for Milwaukee. Of course, Jonathan Schoop was a massive bust last year down the stretch, but it was worth a try to see if he could be the answer at second for a year as we wait patiently for Keston Hiura.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bru sent me two 2019 Orlando Arcia cards. 2018 was a year to forget for Arcia, whose batting was such a black hole that his defensive contributions were cancelled out in the whole WAR equation on Baseball Reference. He's doing a little better this year in two respects. First, he's already hit more homeruns this year in a month (129 PA) than he did last year over 119 games (366 PA) -- 4 to 3. He's also walking at a better clip -- 9 walks in those 129 PA versus just 15 all year last year. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He's still not great at the plate, but at least he's not an embarrassing negative.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was hoping that Chase Anderson can help stabilize the rotation, but then he went out and had his callouses on his middle pitching finger -- you know, the one you use to throw a curveball -- bust open. Anderson is a serviceable 4th/5th/6th starter so long as he can keep the ball in the park or limit how many people are on base when he gives up his standard HR every 6-7 innings. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Brent Suter is quickly becoming one of my favorite players on the Brewers. It's too bad he had to have Tommy John surgery last year. He's becoming a favorite for a couple of reasons. First, he's smart -- a Harvard grad who actually played baseball there I'm told and did not use that as an excuse to get in the backdoor through parental bribes. Second, the guy is a glue guy. He keeps guys loose, brings guys together, makes people laugh -- the team is better with him around.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Plus, he follows me on Twitter. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When Christian Yelich was traded to Milwaukee last year, I knew he would have a good year. His swing seemed tailor made for Miller Park's cozier dimensions than the Miami Mausoleum, and all indications were that he was a good "makeup" guy -- someone who would fit in with teammates. That was a big part of why I said I was going to collect his cards. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I had no idea he would become the MVP and turn into the monster he has become. I'm excited to see how good he can become in Milwaukee. He's still only 27 years old this year, after all, which might be his peak but it could be a peak that is sustainable for three or four more years easily. He's signed through 2021 at a reasonable salary ($9.75 million this year, $12.5MM in 2020, $14MM in 2021) with a team option in 2022 at $15 million. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Many thanks go out to Bru for the cards. Bru, just stick with us on Twitter. We'll be around when you get time again. </span></div>
Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-44620694067097133842019-05-04T17:35:00.001-04:002019-05-05T07:52:13.276-04:00Meet the Brewers #42: Pete Koegel<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When rosters expanded in September of 1970, the Brewers were quick to make some moves. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the moves made no difference on the field but made every difference in the world to a long-time Milwaukeean: the Brewers signed <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kuennha01.shtml">Harvey Kuenn</a> to a free agent contract and placed him on the active roster to allow him to accrue additional service time to max out his MLB pension. The 39-year-old Kuenn did not get an at bat -- unsurprising since he had been serving as a coach all year and had not played in the majors since 1966. But, it was the thought that counted to Harvey; he became a fierce supporter of Bud Selig from that point forward.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Another more run-of-the-mill transaction also occurred on September 1: minor leaguers getting called up to get a cup of coffee in the majors. Such was the case for Brewers prospect Pete Koegel. Koegel came in to <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIL/MIL197009011.shtml">pinch hit in the bottom of the sixth inning</a> for starting pitcher Lew Krausse against Twins ace Jim Perry, who won his 20th game that day and went on to win 24. Alas, Pete tapped out to Perry in his first ever major league at bat. Koegel went on to bat just 9 times total that September, but he did hit his first and only major league homer on <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA197009251.shtml">September 25</a> against a guy who should be in the Hall of Fame -- Tommy John.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/koegepe01.shtml">Peter John Koegel</a> was born and raised in Seaford, New York, which is on Long Island about three or four towns west of Amityville and south of the famous suburb Levittown. Koegel was drafted straight out of high school by the Kansas City Athletics in the <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?draft_round=4&year_ID=1965&draft_type=junreg&query_type=year_round">fourth round of the first-ever draft</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Koegel was known for his prodigious power even in high school. He was voted the most valuable player in the Hearst Sandlot Classic, played August 21, 1965 in Yankee Stadium, after slamming a 420-foot triple just shy of the auxiliary scoreboard in deep left field in old Yankee Stadium. He received the MVP trophy from Lou Gehrig's widow, Eleanor, days before signing for a $45,000 bonus with the A's. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thanks to that bonus and his hitting skills, Koegel was immediately assigned to the Midwest League for his first minor league experience. As an 18-year-old who was about 3 years younger than the average player, he slashed .233/.319/.450 and smacked 21 HR and even stole 10 bases. His team paced the league with 117 HR that season, so he may have been the beneficiary of a favorable home park -- the next highest was 93, and the worst was the San Francisco affiliate, which hit 23 as a team! Still, Koegel hit homers throughout his minor league career everywhere he went, finishing his career with 175 HRs in 1238 minor league games (4722 plate appearances, .248/.335/.429 slash line).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Koegel joined the A's at the time that they were putting together quite a good farm system. During spring training in 1967, he was vying for playing time against such notables as Joe Rudi and Reggie Jackson in the outfield and Dave Duncan at catcher. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Even in the Arizona <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi?id=56fb6651">rookie league in 1966</a>, he had to contend with future big leaguer Ted Ford, and the A's also had future Brewer Sal Bando playing the position a step higher in the organization.That rookie league team was stacked. It included Rick Monday, Dave Nelson, Cito Gaston, Reggie Jackson, Duffy Dyer, and Rollie FIngers. Later in his career, he shared minor league fields with Vida Blue, Gene Tenace, and Skip Lockwood. The A's did some great player identification work in that 1965 draft.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As Koegel worked his way up in the A's system, the biggest problem he had was finding a position. He played third in Arizona, outfield in his first pro season, first base and outfield in his second season, and mostly outfield after that. But when you're behind and play the same position as Joe Rudi, Rick Monday, and Reggie Jackson, you become expendable quickly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As a result, Koegel joined the Pilots organization in August of 1969 when the now-Oakland A's decided they wanted Jim Bouton's archenemy Fred Talbot and sent Koegel and <a href="http://offhiatusbaseball.blogspot.com/2015/09/meet-brewers-14-bob-meyer.html">Bob Meyer (Brewer #14</a>) to Seattle. It was in the Milwaukee system that an attempt to put Koegel behind the plate as a catcher was tried -- just to get him on the field. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Koegel went on to play in just nine total games for the Brewers -- 7 in 1970 and 2 in 1971. He was then shipped out by Frank "Trader" Lane along with friend of the blog <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1971/04/23/archives/phillies-trade-briggs-27-to-brewers-for-2-rookies.html">Ray Peters to the Philadelphia Phillies</a> for John Briggs on April 22, 1971.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nothing personal, Ray or Pete, but I think Lane got the better of that deal. Maybe it was due to Ray messing up his shoulder in 1971, but Briggs spent parts of 5 seasons with Milwaukee and hit 80 HRs with the club and sported an OPS+ of 131 (31% above league average) over that time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After that trade to the Phillies, Koegel appeared in a total of 20 games in the major leagues, with 12 of those appearances being at catcher. Thanks to those 12 games, however, Pete is still the owner of a major league record: at 6-feet-6-inches tall, Pete is tied with Don Gile and Grayson Greiner as the tallest players ever to play catcher in the major leagues. Greiner is the most recent of the three to play, <a href="https://www.thestate.com/sports/college/university-of-south-carolina/usc-baseball/article210535804.html">making his debut last year in May</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Because Ray Peters is still in contact with Pete, I asked Ray to ask Pete if the measurement of 6'6" tall was legitimate or if it was like college football measurements -- you know, a little bit of "extra" getting added in to improve appearances. Pete passed along that this is a legitimate measurement -- and in fact shorts him by 1/2"! He was measured at 6'6-1/2" by the United States Government for his military draft physical -- and that half inch meant that he was too tall for military service!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For what it's worth, the 1970 Milwaukee Brewers in spring training had the beginning of a good pickup basketball team. With Pete at 6'6-1/2" tall and with Ray Peters measuring nearly exactly the same, the team also had Gene Brabender at 6'5" tall, Wayne Twitchell at 6'6" tall, and 1971 debutante Bill Parsons also standing 6'6". Add in Don Bryant, who was a Rule V draftee (who was returned to the Astros) and stood about 6'5" tall as well, and you can go 6 players deep!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ray also passed along a great story that Pete told about height. Pete was watching the MLB game of the week, and Tim McCarver was interviewing Dave Winfield. Winfield also stands a legitimate 6'6" tall, and he made two innings of appearances at third base. Winfield then claimed to be the tallest ever third baseman, and McCarver quickly corrected him to say that no, Pete Koegel is taller than you and he played 4 games at third in 1972.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Finally, Pete was a prodigious hitter in the winter leagues. While I am not sure what records he set with Leones, this <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/413275703284518809/?lp=true">Pinterest page</a> says he has some. Plus, it gave us this great shot of Pete after the 1970s caught up to his facial hair:</span></div>
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My thanks to Ray Peters for giving me some great stories from Pete and about Pete, and thank you for reading. Koegel's three Brewers/Pilots cards are shown above, and I am missing the autographed 2018 Pilots Heritage card from last year.</div>
Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-68212290284439888982019-04-10T08:43:00.000-04:002019-04-10T08:43:00.119-04:00On Hiatus....Maybe Back Soon?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have no idea what the song above is, but it came up when I Googled "Hurricane" and didn't want to use that country song by Luke Combs.<br />
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In any event, this is just a quick post -- posted when I should be working. I'm hoping to be back soon -- next month, hopefully. I want to write about baseball history again somehow. I want to write about Brewers baseball again. I may even write about baseball cards again.<br />
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But, I'm super busy until then. During the week of April 22, I am one of the Program Chairs for an American Bar Association Forum on Construction Law seminar taking place in Hollywood, Florida, called "<a href="https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/events/construction_industry/2019/ci_brochure_2_11_19.pdf">Dealing with Natural Disasters: Here Comes The Flood (Of Legal Issues)</a>." We are expecting between 450 and 550 people to attend this meeting, and I've been working for the past year-plus to put my portion of the meeting together.<br />
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Once that is done, I will finally have a little room to breathe on weekends (at a minimum) so I will hopefully get back to writing about things I really enjoy -- baseball, bourbon, music, the Brewers, history, baseball history, and Brewers history, among other things.<br />
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Until then, just find me on Twitter.<br />
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Thanks.Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-22652193624266993802018-05-07T19:43:00.001-04:002018-05-09T06:44:31.325-04:00Cardboard Jones Sends Out Dairy Cards and AutographsOne of the first guys I ever interacted with and traded with is Steve a/k/a Cardboard Jones f/k/a The Chop Keeper. I especially appreciate his interaction on Twitter, where he frequently feels like a voice of reason amidst a sea of greedy giveaway hawks, overzealous sales pitches, and strange bracket competitions.<br />
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It's been a couple of months since he sent me the four cards I'm going to blog about today. So in penance for that failure to post these cards with any kind of haste at all, I'm posting music of Steve's liking to go with the cards. Hopefully Steve still likes Taylor Swift.<br />
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That's a joke, y'all. A joke.<br />
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At least I think so.<br />
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Anyway, here come the cards and the music courtesy of my pal from Idaho.<br />
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The first three cards are all from the 1960 Lake to Lake Milwaukee Braves set. I will note first that I do not believe that that is Johnny Logan's autograph on this card, as I have an exemplar that it does not match at all.<br />
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That out of the way, let's talk first about Lake to Lake Dairy. According to <a href="https://www.wisfarmer.com/story/news/state/2018/05/01/series-feature-history-lake-lake-dairy-cooperative-may-19/568338002/">this article</a> from a few days ago in the <u>Wisconsin State Farmer</u> newspaper, Lake to Lake was a dairy cooperative formed in 1946. The cooperative was formed because the dairy farmers wanted to be able to negotiate dairy prices more collectively and get better returns for their milk products. The cooperative formed in the Manitowoc County area and included the surrounding counties such as Kewaunee and Calumet -- the same area that produced the "Making a Murder" series on Netflix. Lake to Lake Dairy was bought out by Land O'Lakes, Inc. in 1981.<br />
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The first band that I'll highlight is Black Country Communion. Members of this supergroup include Glenn Hughes, Joe Bonamassa, Jason Bonham, and Derek Sherinian. Hughes was the vocalist for a few iterations of Deep Purple and, for a short time in the mid-1980s, for Black Sabbath. Bonamassa, of course, is a legend in blues rock and was a child prodigy who opened about 20 shows for B.B. King at the age of 22. Bonham may be the best known of the group thanks to his famous father John Bonham being Led Zeppelin's drummer and thanks to Jason playing the drums for Zeppelin fairly regularly. Finally, Sherinian is a keyboardist who played in Dream Theater and has toured and recorded with Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and Yngwie Malmsteen, among many many others. </div>
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For whatever reason, this is the first time I've heard this band and this song, "Collide." It reminded me a little of Soundgarden/Chris Cornell. That's what came to mind without watching the video. Call me crazy.</div>
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You may have noticed that these cards are in pretty rough shape -- missing big parts and all. That should come as no surprise, as these Lake to Lake cards were originally <i style="font-weight: bold;">stapled</i> to milk cartons distributed by the dairy around Wisconsin. As the Standard Catalog notes, these cards were also redeemable for prizes ranging from pen and pencil sets to Braves tickets. When redeemed, the cards were punched with hole punches.<br />
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It is an understatement to say, as the Standard Catalog does, that these cards "offer a special challenge for the condition-conscious collector." Also, as a further aside, the Ray Boone and Bill Bruton cards are very difficult to find -- Boone's because he was traded and the card was withdrawn, and Bruton's for no discernible reason (other than, perhaps, his card was a grand-prize type giveaway).<br />
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Steve is a pretty big fan of the Tedeschi Trucks Band. I have no idea if this song was in the "<a href="https://offhiatusbaseball.blogspot.com/2017/02/late-december-card-show-post-part-i.html">Tiny Desk Concert</a>" that I posted in February last year (as recommended by Mark Hoyle, who also recommended Joe Bonamassa). Susan Tedeschi is a Bostonian by birth who attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. Her husband Derek Trucks is 9 years younger than her and is a Jacksonville, Florida, native who got his start at the age of about 9 playing with the Gregg Allman Band. Good stuff here.</div>
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The last of the three Lake to Lake Dairy cards was Del Crandall. If you can find any of these in Near Mint condition, you'll pay a pretty penny. Even in 2011, the price for a NM Red Schoendienst was estimated at $75 and a Hank Aaron NM was estimated to cost $500. </div>
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If you're interested in getting me an early Christmas gift, a complete set of the 28 cards is available on <a href="https://www.ebay.com/itm/1960-Lake-to-Lake-Complete-SET-of-28-cds-Milwaukee-Braves-Aaron-Spahn/372000865044?hash=item569cfabb14:g:gWEAAOxyVaBSwKsI">eBay for $1,499.99</a>, plus $2.99 shipping. You know, that kind of pisses me off that someone would charge $3 shipping for a $1500 set. You mean you can't spring for it? You mean you're just going to toss them into a bubble mailer and ship them that way? Come on.</div>
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This next song is actually one I remember well from the 1980s, though I could have never told you that the band that sang the song was called Saga. I also could have never told you that Saga was from Oakville, Ontario, Canada (though I'm quite positive that Canadians would probably hang me, draw me, and quarter me for that admission). </div>
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For what it's worth, you will never be able to see Saga live again, if they are to be believed. They performed a farewell tour in 2017 and 2018 and held their last show in Toronto at the Phoenix Concert Theatre on February 24. It was a good run, I suppose.</div>
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Finally, the last card was not a 1960 Lake to Lake but, instead, a 1989 Swell Baseball Greats Del Crandall card autographed by the man himself. Do these "Swell Baseball Greats" cards qualify as being 1980s oddballs? I think they probably do, so I will have to add this set to the queue to be written up. As I've mentioned on Twitter, I take requests, after all.</div>
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So, I cheated a bit here. Steve was singing the praises of a Michael Schenker Group album awhile back, but I was sort of jonesing for this old McAuley Schenker Group song from 1987 called "Gimme Your Love." It's great to see how often rock bands in the 1980s tried to help down-and-out club dancers by giving them roles in rock videos.</div>
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This song and band were much better than many of their contemporaries who got more famous, such as Slaughter, Winger, and Poison. Those guys couldn't sing or play in the same state at MSG, to be fair. This song still rocks.</div>
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As does Steve -- he's one of the best guys out there to trade with or just talk with on Twitter. Thanks, Steve.</div>
Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-77291111004207241572018-04-28T10:43:00.000-04:002018-04-28T10:43:51.122-04:00A Parallel Universe PostIt's been almost two months since I received an excellent envelope of cards from <a href="https://twitter.com/robbyt86">Robby T a/k/a Boobie Maine</a>. He used to blog -- it's been nearly a year since he did so at his blog, <a href="http://detroittigerscards.blogspot.com/">Detroit Tigers Cards and Stuff</a> -- but he's fallen victim to what draws me away often as well, which is just going to Twitter and hanging out.<br />
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Around February or so, I almost went up to Nashville for the big card show up there that I attended last year. In the end, I decided not to make the drive for various reasons that I have forgotten by this point. So, Robby sent me cards in the mail. Because all good posts require music, I've mined his Twitter timeline for some help.<br />
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Let's start with the oldest cards and work our way forward.<br />
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Starting with Chuck Porter from 1984 Fleer. Porter came over to the Brewers as a street minor-league free agent in 1980, after the California Angels released him. Porter was a 7th Round pick of the Angels in what was Harry Dalton's penultimate draft as the Angels GM. He pitched well enough in 1980 at Single-A Burlington and Double-A Holyoke to find himself in Triple-A in 1981. That meant that he ended up on the Milwaukee-Vancouver shuttle (which must have a connecting flight somewhere along the way...maybe it was Minneapolis?) in 1981 and 1982 and made 6 appearances for the Brewers.<br />
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In 1983, thanks to various pitching injuries (Pete Vuckovich made only 3 starts, Moose Haas appeared in only 25 games, and Bob McClure pitched in only 24 games), Porter started 21 games and pitched pretty well. His major league career was <a href="https://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/03/22/The-Milwaukee-Brewers-Friday-placed-right-handed-pitcher-Chuck-Porter/4768480315600/">effectively ended in 1984</a> when he suffered a torn <a href="https://www.hss.edu/condition-list_mcl-medial-collateral-ligament-injuries-elbow.asp">medial collateral ligament</a> (a/k/a ulnar collateral ligament) in his right elbow and went through Tommy John Surgery. He came back in 1985, but by then the Brewers had moved on to promote Ted Higuera.<br />
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All that pain probably had Chuck Porter saying that he wanted a new drug. As a kid at the age of 12 in 1984, I'm not sure what I thought this song was about -- probably just pills or something. Reading the lyrics, it's pretty much not about any of those other than references to how other drugs (like alcohol, cocaine, amphetamines, marijuana, and barbiturates) wouldn't help him talk to a woman. </div>
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For what it's worth, this song came about here because Robby retweeted Huey Lewis's tweet about how the album "Sports" was one of just 5 number one albums for the entire year of 1984. </div>
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I'm grouping the next three together as "Late 90s Brewers." Obviously, Cirillo and Burnitz made an impact on the franchise enough to be player collections for me. David Hulse, though, has hardly made any impact on this blog. Hulse played 200 games for the Brewers in 1995 and 1996 since the Brewers were duty bound by league rules to play 9 fielders and a designated hitter in every game. He was awful as a Brewer (and not much better with the Rangers, from whom the Brewers got him) -- a slash line of .243/.281/.320 for an OPS+ of 53 (where the league average is 100) is terrible. Hulse did steal 19 based in 23 attempts, so I guess he had that going for him. </div>
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A few days ago, Robby retweeted the fact that in 1987, U2's <u>Joshua Tree</u> began its 9-week run atop the Billboard album chart. And if ever there was a song that best described the Brewers under Sal Bando's general managership, it is "Running to Stand Still." Everyone else in the league was moving ahead, promoting good young players, increasing scouting budgets, and the Brewers were running on the cheap to prove to everyone that Bud Selig was right about small-market teams not being able to compete.</div>
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Every time I see one of these gold parallels from 2009, I wonder to myself why it was so important to highlight "58 years of collecting" on the front of the card. Yay Topps? I mean, sure, Topps correctly realized in the late 2000s (after Michael Eisner's private equity fund took Topps back private again) that its best path to profit increases was to suck as much money as possible out of older collectors coming back to baseball cards for the nostalgia. But, really -- who cares about "58 years of collecting" unless they are issuing cards for older collectors who have actually been collecting for 58 years? Shouldn't the caption be, "58 years of selling" or "58 years of collector frustration because they think they can do better"?</div>
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How appropriate is it that Robby's next tweet about music that I found is actually a cover song? I was thinking before I scrolled further into his tweets that I should try for covers to go with all the nice parallel cards he sent and, lo and behold, here's a great cover by one of my favorite female singers whose music I was introduced to in college -- Juliana Hatfield. If you don't know who Juliana Hatfield is, find the song "My Sister" from about 1992 or 1993. It's excellent and it's her signature song, I'd say. That, or "Spin the Bottle." She just released an album of all Olivia Newton-John covers, for what it's worth.</div>
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As we move into the 2012 "surfboard" parallels, I will note that Cody Ransom got a card in the Update set as a Brewer that year. Interestingly, Ransom became a Brewer on May 23, 2012 when the Brewers picked him up off waivers after the Arizona Diamondbacks cut him. Then, on August 31 and after he put up a .196/.293/.345 slash line, the Brewers placed Ransom on waivers. He was promptly picked up by...the Diamondbacks. That's some weird kind of seller's remorse going on there.</div>
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Also, I was pleased to add a red Target parallel of Ryan Braun's All-Star card from the Update set. </div>
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Since Robby tweeted he was listening to 99 Luftballons, I felt like I needed to keep it accurate to his timeline. Otherwise, it would have been a much easier transition from that Ryan Braun Target Red card to the English version of this song by Nena, "99 Red Balloons."</div>
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Alas, transitions are not always smooth in writing.</div>
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With the demise of Toys R Us, I wonder if we will start getting inundated with purple parallels in repacks? Or, were there so few Toys R Us packs such that this Nyjer Morgan is rarer than that Braun NL Home Run Leaders card that is serial numbered to 2013? </div>
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I recall going once to a Toys R Us that is sort of near where I live -- about 6 miles away (and for comparison, within 6-1/2 miles, there are four Target stores) -- and going to buy cards in 2014. They had a standalone card display positioned sort of near the toy section and sort of near the kids' sporting goods area with blister packs that included three purple parallels in them. It allowed me to "pack search" in the way we used to look for rack packs with the cards we wanted on the top. But man, to try to put together a team set that way was impossible. </div>
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The tweet that brings this ELO song on is one where Robby said that he'd been listening to the top 100 Billboard songs from 1979 and how he thought it was "interesting how many songs at the bottom should be at the top, and vice versa." Well, not sure if he meant this song, which finished at #81 on that year-end chart, but I had never put an ELO song here on the blog. So, deal with it.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tJL8NEcxKFE/WuSC-FAmU3I/AAAAAAAAb-E/g9-GyuhP4RYrQGs0FuQBawnc4YJbQYgxACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B1.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tJL8NEcxKFE/WuSC-FAmU3I/AAAAAAAAb-E/g9-GyuhP4RYrQGs0FuQBawnc4YJbQYgxACK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B1.jpeg" width="285" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lfei9_mN1GY/WuSC-ExMNLI/AAAAAAAAb-M/iwV_Y25V9HkzN8PBGXsKnsyv2UsWpqpqgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B3.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lfei9_mN1GY/WuSC-ExMNLI/AAAAAAAAb-M/iwV_Y25V9HkzN8PBGXsKnsyv2UsWpqpqgCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B3.jpeg" width="285" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CC6cssxW2c8/WuSC-LOOd0I/AAAAAAAAb-I/flice4ubGA4gDD_evhzfYvsBdiCplCe_wCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B4.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CC6cssxW2c8/WuSC-LOOd0I/AAAAAAAAb-I/flice4ubGA4gDD_evhzfYvsBdiCplCe_wCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B4.jpeg" width="285" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HUYaIWQJouM/WuSC-DQQp9I/AAAAAAAAb-Q/5AlGt4IfPYMoSpsaPMp8UkxNduk40kmZQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B5.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HUYaIWQJouM/WuSC-DQQp9I/AAAAAAAAb-Q/5AlGt4IfPYMoSpsaPMp8UkxNduk40kmZQCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B5.jpeg" width="280" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aFZHWx-Q66Q/WuSC-Krea7I/AAAAAAAAb-U/N3Ay2TdIERIGc0MY77iHfzOzZ5kWBFXowCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B2.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aFZHWx-Q66Q/WuSC-Krea7I/AAAAAAAAb-U/N3Ay2TdIERIGc0MY77iHfzOzZ5kWBFXowCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B2.jpeg" width="286" /></a> </div>
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Cards from 2014 have sort of a special place in my collection because it's the year I got back into collecting. I have much warmer feelings towards the 800 parallels from that year than I do from, say, 2016. That said, Robby sent me a bunch of great 2014 parallels -- so many that I've split them into two groups. </div>
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I guess the warm feeling I have is in part due to these being the cards I came back to in the hobby. If I had come back in 2013 instead, I'd probably dislike these because of the complete lack of variety in their photographic choices -- a problem which continues to this day. Too zoomed in on action shots, too many action shots, poor cropping of photos -- it's an epidemic in 2014 cards.</div>
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Just as 2014 parallels will make up the last two groups of cards, the last two songs come from when Robby posted two "Friday Night 80s Album Reviews" at the beginning of April. The first comes from a band called Easterhouse. I'm embarrassed to say that I had not heard of this band before, because I should have heard of them. </div>
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They are a Mancunian band -- Stretford, really -- that ran in the same circles as The Smiths, but they are named for a suburb of Glasgow that was essentially a huge public housing estate -- council housing, as the Brits put it. Easterhouse the suburb became one of those mistakes that served as a warning to others -- filled with housing and lacking in shops, sports, parks, and transport links, it became a blighted area with high unemployment and a breeding ground for gangs. This ties to the band because the band wanted to promote a revolutionary Communist agenda, so naming the band after a notorious/infamous council housing estate brought that to the forefront.</div>
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Also, it's a great song. My listening history on YouTube is such that the next song it autoplayed was "I Wanna Be Adored" by The Stone Roses. Like I said, I should have heard of Easterhouse before.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8NtJcxddvKg/WuSF_TKl8_I/AAAAAAAAb_E/T1fTe55GwNISEzcfxu3odj4d-OdqB2nLwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B6.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8NtJcxddvKg/WuSF_TKl8_I/AAAAAAAAb_E/T1fTe55GwNISEzcfxu3odj4d-OdqB2nLwCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B6.jpeg" width="281" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-01Lc0-MVC0M/WuSF_WHhKmI/AAAAAAAAb_I/Ph2BaYzL5jQNG9V1IyzVQBLXInMTrkF8gCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B7.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-01Lc0-MVC0M/WuSF_WHhKmI/AAAAAAAAb_I/Ph2BaYzL5jQNG9V1IyzVQBLXInMTrkF8gCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B7.jpeg" width="278" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IkB7AzLRr7A/WuSF_ZWo7BI/AAAAAAAAb-8/z2t2Ir766eYPiQrPMasF7NkuW98EhpCYwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B8.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IkB7AzLRr7A/WuSF_ZWo7BI/AAAAAAAAb-8/z2t2Ir766eYPiQrPMasF7NkuW98EhpCYwCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B8.jpeg" width="285" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v2ukg96rPUE/WuSF_e27XTI/AAAAAAAAb_M/oR1_J4frr0oBOUuMR-t-dGioqhTnYWhNwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B9.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v2ukg96rPUE/WuSF_e27XTI/AAAAAAAAb_M/oR1_J4frr0oBOUuMR-t-dGioqhTnYWhNwCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B9.jpeg" width="283" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FP8kRMFAtY0/WuSF_VNIYNI/AAAAAAAAb_Q/jp3V_TA6-_UKh3VWem8GP-VnxHguL7ATwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B10.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FP8kRMFAtY0/WuSF_VNIYNI/AAAAAAAAb_Q/jp3V_TA6-_UKh3VWem8GP-VnxHguL7ATwCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B10.jpeg" width="288" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1go8B_8jmq0/WuSF_kwodCI/AAAAAAAAb_U/F5Kh6zC1abA6kixMP245IFww0w_lQuaegCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B11.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1go8B_8jmq0/WuSF_kwodCI/AAAAAAAAb_U/F5Kh6zC1abA6kixMP245IFww0w_lQuaegCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B11.jpeg" width="288" /></a></div>
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None of these guys are with the Brewers five seasons later. Of these guys, Scooter Gennett would certainly still help the team in light of the black hole that second base became immediately after Gennett's departure last year. Of the rest, Davis and Gomez would not be upgrades in the outfield, in my opinion, and the players that the Brewers got for Gomez and Mike Fiers from Houston made swapping him out a good deal. </div>
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As for Davis, yes, he's been mashing with Oakland. The guys the Brewers got for him are starting to knock on the door of the big leagues. Jacob Nottingham made his big-league debut this April while Manny Piña was disabled for 10 days, while pitcher Bubba Derby reached Triple-A last year and has been relatively successful despite pitching for Colorado Springs. He's struggling a bit with control this year in limited innings there, but it is still early. Time will tell if these two guys can match Davis's performance, but the trade is not looking all that good right now.</div>
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A final song from Robby's timeline comes from the other album he reviewed a few weeks ago. This band is Rhythm Corps and the song and album are both called "Common Ground." Rhythm Corps was from Detroit, but they sure sound like they could have fit into the Manchester scene or whatever alternative scene you might identify from the mid-to-late 1980s. As their Wikipedia page points out, they played shows with The Psychedelic Furs, The Jam, Billy Idol, and toured with The Romantics. Yeah, those fit pretty well.</div>
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My thanks go out to Robby for the great cards, the patience in waiting for me to write this up, and the excellent musical offerings on his timeline!</div>
Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-21626267761972764652018-04-23T19:34:00.000-04:002018-04-24T07:00:04.058-04:00Brewers Autographs: A Follow Up<a href="https://offhiatusbaseball.blogspot.com/2018/04/blog-bat-around-part-ii-brewers.html">My post yesterday</a> was okay. Not great in my mind, but okay. What was wrong with it?<br />
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A few things. You see, I put together my list looking both at statistics and through going with my gut or my heart. Sometimes, when you do that, it gets disjointed. What I mean is this: the advanced statistics like WAR put the four starters I had (Ted Higuera, Ben Sheets, Yovani Gallardo, and Mike Caldwell) higher than a guy who should have been on this list.<br />
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The guy that should have been on the list was Jim Slaton. Slaton is still the team's leader in career wins with 117. He's only one appearance behind Dan Plesac for career pitching appearances with the team. Plesac, though, was a reliever for all but 14 of his career 365 games with the team and only threw 524-1/3 innings. Slaton threw nearly four times as many innings -- 2025-1/3, which is still tops in team history. He is #4 in strikeouts, first in shutouts, and first in batters faced by exactly 2000 over Mike Caldwell.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WWsVdkangXM/Wt5i06iPe-I/AAAAAAAAb6E/jTbN1kMQOdEB_0JQBbuVh2_cMCWoabZ-gCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Scan%2B2.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WWsVdkangXM/Wt5i06iPe-I/AAAAAAAAb6E/jTbN1kMQOdEB_0JQBbuVh2_cMCWoabZ-gCK4BGAYYCw/s400/Scan%2B2.jpeg" width="287" /></a></div>
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He's also the only player with whom I have a photo as a kid:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oKWPyBLgWfI/Wt5ie8CkdnI/AAAAAAAAb54/Jmw6lsmwrLkgPhl_RPRyUw1-OpOfG5RoACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/IMG_0013%2B%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oKWPyBLgWfI/Wt5ie8CkdnI/AAAAAAAAb54/Jmw6lsmwrLkgPhl_RPRyUw1-OpOfG5RoACK4BGAYYCw/s400/IMG_0013%2B%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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My only defense is the disconnect of thinking of him as a starter, I suppose. From 1971 (as a 21-year-old rookie) through his trade to Detroit after the 1977 season and then his return as a free agent in 1979 and his shoulder injury three starts into the 1980 season, Slaton made 255 appearances as a Brewer. Of these, just 15 were relief appearances. Even in 1981, he made 21 starts in 24 appearances. But in 1982 and 1983 -- the seasons most ingrained in my brain -- Jim started only 7 times and actually had more saves (11) than starts. </div>
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Still, I should have included him somehow -- not only for his place in Brewers history, but also because he was one of the most consistently nice guys and good signers on the team. And, also because he indulged me with an hour of his time in January of 2017 thanks to Ray Peters introducing me through telephone calls and the like to Jim. Slaton returned to Milwaukee after the 1978 season as a free agent because he loved the people and the club and the players on the team, so the least I could do is thank him for all of that.</div>
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So, Jim, thank you once again for being one of the good guys -- the patient one with obnoxious Wisconsin kids like me who dressed terribly and were loud and always wanted autographs and, maybe forgot to thank you every time. Thank you.</div>
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The other thing I should have done but didn't was to look outside of my autographed baseball cards for autographs. In looking through old programs and yearbooks, I surprise myself with the number of random autographs I have found. </div>
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I would often find the yearbook reasonably early in the year on the newstand at the local grocery store and talk my mom into springing for the $2.50 to buy the thing. Then, I'd take the yearbook to one game and end up with random autographs in it or on the cover. For example, Ted Simmons was drawn jumping into Rollie Fingers's arms on the cover of the 1982 Brewers Yearbook. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7a5TgKtJKxk/Wt5lxuj5RwI/AAAAAAAAb6Q/Z_EIzZkt7cwnoWDCrdKfEMFOn14k752YQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Scan.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7a5TgKtJKxk/Wt5lxuj5RwI/AAAAAAAAb6Q/Z_EIzZkt7cwnoWDCrdKfEMFOn14k752YQCK4BGAYYCw/s640/Scan.jpeg" width="496" /></a></div>
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If you look closely at Simmons's large hindquarters, you might see some handwriting:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XFuZJG6Ha-0/Wt5mSrn42iI/AAAAAAAAb6c/vf_iOh6IhiwYP7Kf0BV-7tQRZSiMESTigCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Scan%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="470" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XFuZJG6Ha-0/Wt5mSrn42iI/AAAAAAAAb6c/vf_iOh6IhiwYP7Kf0BV-7tQRZSiMESTigCK4BGAYYCw/s640/Scan%2Bcopy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Apparently, 10-year-old Tony thought it was a good idea to have Charlie Moore autograph Ted Simmons's drawing.</div>
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On the bottom right, you'll see former pitching coach Pat Dobson's autograph. Dobson was a Buffalo guy who played in the majors for the Tigers, Yankees, Padres, Orioles, Braves, and Indians and, most notably, was one of the four members of the 1971 Baltimore starting rotation to win 20 games (Mike Cuellar, Jim Palmer and Dobson all won 20, and Dave McNally won 21) on a team that was put together by then Orioles General Manager Harry Dalton. Dobson passed away in 2006 in San Diego from leukemia one day after being diagnosed with the disease.</div>
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Inside the yearbook, there are two player autographs and one broadcaster autograph. It is not a surprise to see that one of the player autographs is that man again:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DpeVtBlyrnA/Wt5nlyL-tMI/AAAAAAAAb6o/z4iw0LZUcZcx4xJikBHuA2gIpbzv4SWeQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Scan%2B1.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DpeVtBlyrnA/Wt5nlyL-tMI/AAAAAAAAb6o/z4iw0LZUcZcx4xJikBHuA2gIpbzv4SWeQCK4BGAYYCw/s640/Scan%2B1.jpeg" width="470" /></a></div>
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The other two autographs are from Ned Yost and broadcaster and former first baseman Mike Hegan.</div>
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A similar story is told from other yearbooks and programs from that era. </div>
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<li>My 1983 Official Yearbook is signed by Paul Molitor, Charlie Moore, and Pete Ladd. </li>
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<li>Two 1982 World Series Programs: one is autographed by Charlie Moore and the other is signed by Paul Molitor, Pete Ladd, and Mark Brouhard.</li>
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<li>My 1982 ALCS program is signed by Pat Dobson, Jerry Augustine, Sal Bando, Tommy John, Mike Hegan, Bowie Kuhn, and Jim Slaton. </li>
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<li>My 1981 Team Yearbook is signed by Paul Molitor, Jim Gantner, and Jim Slaton.</li>
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<li>Even my 1984 Yearbook is signed by manager Rene Lachemann. </li>
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By 1984, I was focused on getting cards signed, so that ended my chasing with the yearbooks. I wish in many respects that I had focused on filling up the 1982 Yearbook with autographs on every player photo in the book. That would have been a very cool keepsake.</div>
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One more item from 1982 saddens me more than anything thanks to the deterioration of its condition. At a signing in 1982, I won a free Brewer-logo baseball. Jim Gantner was the first to sign it. Thereafter, I added tons of autographs to it, including: Ned Yost, Robin Yount, Marshall Edwards, Bud Selig, Buck Rodgers, Paul Molitor, Rollie Fingers, Don Sutton, Mark Brouhard, Bob Uecker, Dwayne Mosley (radio guy), Steve Shannon (TV guy), Mike Hegan, Sal Bando, Pete Ladd, Don Money, Mike Caldwell, Bob McClure, Bob Gibson (the white guy again), Charlie Moore, Roy Howell, and even Ted Simmons:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m2DsVL1KaG0/Wt5q1GzBpJI/AAAAAAAAb60/9UQNlUBxPuwdJWKC8sWtjiTZRG3OPFOkACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Photo%2Bon%2B4-23-18%2Bat%2B7.19%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m2DsVL1KaG0/Wt5q1GzBpJI/AAAAAAAAb60/9UQNlUBxPuwdJWKC8sWtjiTZRG3OPFOkACK4BGAYYCw/s640/Photo%2Bon%2B4-23-18%2Bat%2B7.19%2BPM.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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You can see, though, the problem. The autographs written in blue pen have nearly completely disappeared from the ball's surface. I mean, you have to squint to be able to see Bob Uecker's autograph across that MB logo. I will even admit to trying to trace over some of the autographs in sharpie in a vain attempt to resurrect those autographs. </div>
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It was my pride and joy as a 10-year-old, but 36 years later, it's just something I wish I had done a little differently by using a sharpie with all the autographs. </div>
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As a final postscript, I purchased a program from the 2002 All-Star Game on eBay several years ago because Robin Yount is on the cover. I don't recall seeing any mention of this in the sales description for the program, but inside, there were several autographs:</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zL-k7LoZTAU/Wt5sfOa_vRI/AAAAAAAAb7A/o203oPCFjnIfat1RmhF-V7SPUtdBWYvLQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Scan%2B2.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="578" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zL-k7LoZTAU/Wt5sfOa_vRI/AAAAAAAAb7A/o203oPCFjnIfat1RmhF-V7SPUtdBWYvLQCK4BGAYYCw/s640/Scan%2B2.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Thanks to the holograms and other exemplars in my collection, I know that the top autograph is Gorman Thomas. Under that is Dennis Martinez, Don Money, and Sweet Lou Johnson. Martinez was the only one who did not play for a Milwaukee team, as Johnson played in 61 games for the 1962 Milwaukee Braves. </div>
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I then turned the page, and in the middle of an adidas advertisement, there was one more autograph:</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7A02xfb9iog/Wt5s-eLCyDI/AAAAAAAAb7M/3i1_MPUFZD0ZhYQgz7la1XupeSHH2XpMACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Scan%2B3.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="444" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7A02xfb9iog/Wt5s-eLCyDI/AAAAAAAAb7M/3i1_MPUFZD0ZhYQgz7la1XupeSHH2XpMACK4BGAYYCw/s640/Scan%2B3.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Cubs and Rangers great and baseball Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins!</div>
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So, if I go back to my original autograph post, how about giving me a starting rotation of Warren Spahn, Fergie Jenkins, Bert Blyleven, and Don Sutton and maybe Blue Jays great Dave Stieb as my fifth starter? </div>
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I'd take that. </div>
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Thanks for stopping by, and perhaps sometime soon I'll go through some cards that some of my trading friends have been nice enough to send my way.</div>
Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-33468685392986078362018-04-22T11:40:00.000-04:002018-04-22T11:40:51.634-04:00Blog Bat Around, Part II: The Brewers<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q6TVC8IB7Fo/WtyPlbGhFZI/AAAAAAAAb1s/ehdiQXj_5w8Hzu5RdOmYChZlPbP_OTRiQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/bat_around_header.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="107" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q6TVC8IB7Fo/WtyPlbGhFZI/AAAAAAAAb1s/ehdiQXj_5w8Hzu5RdOmYChZlPbP_OTRiQCK4BGAYYCw/s400/bat_around_header.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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As I mentioned <a href="https://offhiatusbaseball.blogspot.com/2018/04/blog-bat-around-part-i-non-brewers.html">yesterday</a>, I decided to take part in the <a href="http://cervinupcards.blogspot.com/2018/04/bat-blog-around-my-all-autograph-team.html">Torren' Up Cards Blog Bat Around</a> in two parts. Yesterday, I put together my "non-Brewers" list. As I was thinking about my post last night after reading it and some others, I realized that I had some pretty glaring omissions from both my autograph team and my honorable mentions. <div>
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First, I definitely messed up on my starting pitcher. It's not that Bert Blyleven is not worthy of being listed there. Neither, for that matter, would Don Sutton have been improper to list. But, I failed to recall one of the items that I got in the midst of my war with Wes back in 2015: a Warren Spahn autographed ball:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0FoIAk4FcUU/WtyQvw2AJMI/AAAAAAAAb14/smtyKuZcDBs0Nq4kfBFtV6iWDeIHxAkAgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/aaaSpahn.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0FoIAk4FcUU/WtyQvw2AJMI/AAAAAAAAb14/smtyKuZcDBs0Nq4kfBFtV6iWDeIHxAkAgCK4BGAYYCw/s320/aaaSpahn.jpg" width="295" /></a></div>
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As good as Blyleven and Sutton are, they are not as good as Warren Spahn. That was a major omission on my part.</div>
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Second, while he would not supplant Tom Kelly for the managerial position, I neglected to mention my JSA-certified Eddie Mathews manager card from 1974 in the honorable mention section:</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DLhPco6xY6A/WtyRl7mmyHI/AAAAAAAAb2E/NeI_ZCdQtfwixl_HqoMwHCutdogiRZZ9ACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/aaaaMathews.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DLhPco6xY6A/WtyRl7mmyHI/AAAAAAAAb2E/NeI_ZCdQtfwixl_HqoMwHCutdogiRZZ9ACK4BGAYYCw/s320/aaaaMathews.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div>
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In addition, I should have added Ted Simmons to the catcher honorable mention since my autograph of him is on a St. Louis Cardinals card. Similarly, I have a couple of Rob Deer autographs of him on the San Francisco Giants, so he should have been an honorable mention in the outfield. Also, I know I have a Johnny Logan autograph here, so he should be a shortstop honorable mention.</div>
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Finally, in going through the various programs I have accumulated over the years, a few of them have autographs too. I don't remember them all, so I'm not going to say who I missed. But I missed those guys. I know I have Tommy John in a program next to Bowie Kuhn and Bud Selig, for instance.</div>
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Okay, enough errata. On to the Brewers Autograph team!</div>
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<b><i>Catcher: B.J. Surhoff</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bRVgUSufS_4/WtySwCy7KAI/AAAAAAAAb2Q/2KUoSwwXZecJyn2Ezpv5av7Rdyg0-uEZQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Surhoff.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bRVgUSufS_4/WtySwCy7KAI/AAAAAAAAb2Q/2KUoSwwXZecJyn2Ezpv5av7Rdyg0-uEZQCK4BGAYYCw/s400/Surhoff.jpeg" width="285" /></a></i></b></div>
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Surhoff getting drafted overall in the 1985 draft was a big deal in Milwaukee, as you would expect. The Brewers were terrible in 1984 -- some of which can be blamed on Paul Molitor having Tommy John Surgery and the rest of which can be blamed on the core of the 1982 team all getting old and injured at the same time. For whatever reason, the Brewers drafted Surhoff as a catcher -- probably due to that being a position of need in the organization -- over Will Clark, Barry Larkin, Barry Bonds, and Rafael Palmeiro, among others. Also going in that first round were Bobby Witt, Pete Incaviglia, Chris Gwynn, Tommy Greene, Willie Fraser, Brian McRae, Gregg Jefferies, and Joey Cora. </div>
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At least the Brewers weren't the White Sox. They drafted Kurt Brown, a high school catcher who never made it past Triple-A.</div>
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Surhoff edges out Jonathan Lucroy here because I got the Surhoff in person, and the Lucroy was just a Topps certified autograph. That matters to me. </div>
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<i>Honorable Mention:</i> Dave Nilsson, Bill Schroeder, Ned Yost, Rick Dempsey, Johnny Estrada, Rick Cerone, Charlie Moore, Jonathan Lucroy</div>
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<i>Guy I wish I had an Autograph for: </i>Ted Simmons as a Brewer</div>
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<b><i>First Base: Cecil Cooper</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uvOKAwidOmg/WtyUMP59LFI/AAAAAAAAb2c/V-XjuzgcQVsk6j2_k9LmTn1XSqAyCSTNwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Cooper.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uvOKAwidOmg/WtyUMP59LFI/AAAAAAAAb2c/V-XjuzgcQVsk6j2_k9LmTn1XSqAyCSTNwCK4BGAYYCw/s400/Cooper.jpg" width="282" /></a></i></b></div>
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The Brewers and Red Sox made a fair number of trades with one another in the early 1970s. Perhaps the Red Sox thought that they could create a farm-club set up in the way that the Yankees of the early 1960s did with the Kansas City A's. In any event, the Red Sox had Yastrzemski at first base and put Cooper at DH. Then the Sox sent the soon to be 27-year-old Cooper to Milwaukee in exchange for 33-year-old George Scott after the 1976 season. Scott turned in a very good season in 1977 but then at age 34 fell off the table in 1978. Cooper was just getting started.</div>
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For a long time in the early 1980s, Cooper was a difficult autograph to get. He just wanted to get home after games and did not want to hang out signing autographs. Eventually, in the midst of his last year in Milwaukee in 1987 -- when the team kept him on the roster without ever playing him after mid-July -- he did a signing at Mayfair Mall. Nearly every Cooper autograph I have was from that day.</div>
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<i>Honorable Mention:</i> Greg Brock, Lyle Overbay, John Jaha, Billy Jo Robidoux, Antone Williamson, Kevin Barker, Matt Clark.</div>
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<i>Guys I wish I had an autograph for</i>: Prince Fielder (tons of relics, no autos), George Scott, Johnny Briggs</div>
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<b><i>Second Base: Jim Gantner</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8ffExm5kwco/WtyVYEWHn4I/AAAAAAAAb2o/_Txamyq3v1gzeCQUDyzyy23MFlRCG_b2QCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Gantner.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8ffExm5kwco/WtyVYEWHn4I/AAAAAAAAb2o/_Txamyq3v1gzeCQUDyzyy23MFlRCG_b2QCK4BGAYYCw/s400/Gantner.jpg" width="271" /></a></i></b></div>
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As the local boy on the team after the 1983 season finally saw Jerry Augustine's albatross-like contract come off the books, Gantner was the guy that a lot of kids related to. They didn't idolize him, certainly, since Gantner was just a good player and not a great like Robin Yount or Paul Molitor. Gantner took his role seriously, though, and signed autographs after practically every game I ever attended and tried to get autographs. </div>
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This slot came down to Gantner and Rickie Weeks. My nostalgia won out.</div>
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<i>Honorable Mention: </i>Rickie Weeks, Ron Belliard, Juan Castillo, Fernando Viña, Hernan Iribarren</div>
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<i>Guys I wish I had an autograph for</i>: Pedro Garcia, Willie Randolph, Scooter Gennett</div>
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<b><i>Shortstop:</i> Robin Yount</b></div>
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<b><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FeIsa_BpV4k/WtyWgRauqeI/AAAAAAAAb20/jzs02M-ozZsoJPqghJd65T3cXHTqP5tKwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Yount.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FeIsa_BpV4k/WtyWgRauqeI/AAAAAAAAb20/jzs02M-ozZsoJPqghJd65T3cXHTqP5tKwCK4BGAYYCw/s400/Yount.jpg" width="277" /></a></b></div>
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The only questions with Yount were (a) which autograph I'd use and (b) at what position he would appear in this team. I chose shortstop because he was better in 1982 as MVP than he was in 1989 as MVP in centerfield, and I felt like having Gorman Thomas on the team. </div>
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This autograph is on one of the team-issued photo sets from the early 1980s. I got it at a signing that Yount and Molitor did together at a shoe store in 1983. I remember Molitor's first wife Linda hovering over both of them as they signed autographs. The line was incredibly long, so to increase the number of people who could get autographs, the store had Yount sign these to hand out instead.</div>
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As a position for the Brewers, shortstop has been a position of bright, short-lived stars. A lot of guys have been the next big star at short for Milwaukee, and most of those guys were pushed out the door or fell on their face, unfortunately.</div>
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<i>Honorable Mention</i>: Jean Segura, Ernest Riles, Orlando Arcia, Fred Stanley, Ed Romero, Rob Picciolo, Bill Spiers, Pat Listach</div>
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<i>Guys I wish I had an autograph for:</i> J.J. Hardy, Craig Counsell</div>
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<b><i>Third Base: Jeff Cirillo</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P8lQqfhyJB0/WtyX6sMi6MI/AAAAAAAAb3A/40Egy9SILl8VbPBhDsGGLeiOqMTkDQ3fACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Cirillo.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P8lQqfhyJB0/WtyX6sMi6MI/AAAAAAAAb3A/40Egy9SILl8VbPBhDsGGLeiOqMTkDQ3fACK4BGAYYCw/s400/Cirillo.jpeg" width="400" /></a></i></b></div>
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This is the first autograph on this team that I did not obtain myself in person. I got this Cirillo from <a href="https://offhiatusbaseball.blogspot.com/2017/05/cards-from-award-winning-writer.html">Matt Prigge</a>, a fellow Brewers collector and the purveyor of the <a href="http://summerof74blog.blogspot.com/">Summer of '74 Blog</a>. Cirillo was one of the few bright lights in the morass that was the late 1990s Sal Bando-assembled Brewers. Sal Bando lost a lot of my respect for him during that time. I've heard that he got therapy because he lost my respect, though that's just a rumor.</div>
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I put Cirillo in here rather than Paul Molitor because Molitor could literally have slotted in at half the positions on this team and reached his pinnacle at DH rather than playing a position.</div>
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<i>Honorable Mention</i>: Dale Sveum, Randy Ready, Roy Howell, Bill Hall, Kevin Seitzer, Don Money</div>
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<i>Guys I Wish I had an Autograph for: </i>Tommy Harper, Sal Bando, Aramis Ramirez</div>
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<b><i>Left Field: Ryan Braun</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iXlcPe51En0/WtyZaGfjn2I/AAAAAAAAb3M/GFkI218XYJ8EMWE9lQvhgst8rRvJVsdNACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Braun.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iXlcPe51En0/WtyZaGfjn2I/AAAAAAAAb3M/GFkI218XYJ8EMWE9lQvhgst8rRvJVsdNACK4BGAYYCw/s400/Braun.jpeg" width="400" /></a></i></b></div>
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Braun is reviled around the league thanks to his steroid use and, more terribly, his lying about it and halfway ruining a guy's life after the protocols for handling his test samples (that came out positive) were not followed. That said, Braun is a good player. He's into the point of his career where injuries are keeping him off the field for 20-30 games a season. Yet, he's reaching major milestones now, having just surpassed 1,000 RBI for his career.</div>
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He'll never make the Hall of Fame, nor do I think he should based on where his numbers project to finish. Yet he will be one of the best players in Brewers history for a long time to come.</div>
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<i>Honorable Mention:</i> Ben Oglivie, Glenn Braggs, Mike Felder, Drew Anderson, Kevin Mench, Carlos Lee, Geoff Jenkins, Jim Paciorek, Greg Vaughn</div>
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<i>Guys I wish I had an autograph for:</i> Johnny Briggs, Danny Walton</div>
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<b><i>Center Field: Gorman Thomas</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-liUm15pnkM8/Wtya9Dj1nCI/AAAAAAAAb3Y/hMQn543LdpcKtcHeBcpNYTpL1rivoG_xwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Thomas.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-liUm15pnkM8/Wtya9Dj1nCI/AAAAAAAAb3Y/hMQn543LdpcKtcHeBcpNYTpL1rivoG_xwCK4BGAYYCw/s400/Thomas.jpeg" width="287" /></a></i></b></div>
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I never got Gorman Thomas's autograph in person. He was a baseball gym rat and loved being in the locker room around other baseball guys, according to Daniel Okrent's <u>Nine Innings</u>. For autograph hounds in the 1980s, that meant we never saw him. He arrived 4 or 5 hours before the game and then hung out in the locker room after the game drinking beer. So, he avoided all of us little kids. So, that means I end up having to get his signature through later cards like this Panini Hometown Heroes set.</div>
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<i>Honorable Mention:</i> Lewis Brinson, Logan Schafer, Rick Manning, Scott Podsednik, David Hulse, Michael Reed, Carlos Gomez</div>
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<i>Guys I wish I had an autograph for:</i> Mike Cameron, Brady Clark, Marquis Grissom, Darryl Hamilton, Von Joshua, Davey May</div>
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<b><i>Right Field: Corey Hart</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tReaLpTzs-g/Wtybs5n_poI/AAAAAAAAb3k/jaG6Y5OkqfkFOZZazrSo2bKsSmhHdME0QCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Hart.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tReaLpTzs-g/Wtybs5n_poI/AAAAAAAAb3k/jaG6Y5OkqfkFOZZazrSo2bKsSmhHdME0QCK4BGAYYCw/s400/Hart.jpg" width="291" /></a></i></b></div>
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Going by statistics, Hart is outshined by Jeromy Burnitz for the right field slot. To me, there is something that is attractive about the fact that Hart came up in the Brewers system and was a key cog in Milwaukee's winning in the late 2000s and early 2010s. That's as opposed to Burnitz, who piled up big stats in the steroid era on legitimately terrible teams. Winning matters.</div>
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<i>Honorable Mention:</i> Dion James, Mark Brouhard, Matt Mieske, Brett Phillips, Marshall Edwards, Rob Deer, Jeromy Burnitz</div>
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<i>Guys I wish I had an autograph for: </i>Sixto Lezcano, Nori Aoki, Domingo Santana</div>
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<b><i>Designated/Pinch Hitter: Paul Molitor</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hUA9tGkZM1o/WtydDP4b-AI/AAAAAAAAb3w/ZqPuszvlE_IkUBq6IVu1I_Luebrphp-hgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Molitor.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hUA9tGkZM1o/WtydDP4b-AI/AAAAAAAAb3w/ZqPuszvlE_IkUBq6IVu1I_Luebrphp-hgCK4BGAYYCw/s400/Molitor.jpeg" width="285" /></a></i></b></div>
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Molitor has to be included on this team, of course. Molitor was the guy I most liked as a player as a kid. During his fifteen years in Milwaukee, Molitor did not pitch or catch, but he played in games everywhere else: 131 games at first, 400 games at second, 792 games at third, 57 games at short, 4 games in left, 42 in center, and 4 games in right -- along with 418 games as a DH, 22 games as a pinch hitter, and 4 games as a pinch runner. After leaving Milwaukee, he only played DH and first. Of course, he left at the age of 36.</div>
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I'm just glad that he did not sign a pro baseball contract directly out of high school. I would have hated Paul Molitor as a St. Louis Cardinal.</div>
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<i>Honorable Mention</i>: Larry Hisle</div>
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<i>Guys I wish I had an Autograph for: </i>Dave Parker, Dick Davis, Julio Franco, Hank Aaron</div>
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<b><i>Starting Pitching</i></b></div>
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While the team that Kenny called for had just one starter, I decided to include four starters. The Brewers do not have a history of strong starters, but I have a lot of autographs so four it is.</div>
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<i><b>SP1: Ted Higuera</b></i></div>
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<i><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9p-j092jLc8/Wtyfc9iAjFI/AAAAAAAAb38/AJnlCZ7JQfQLXANKoBED-3dOoFynvdArwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Higuera.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9p-j092jLc8/Wtyfc9iAjFI/AAAAAAAAb38/AJnlCZ7JQfQLXANKoBED-3dOoFynvdArwCK4BGAYYCw/s320/Higuera.jpeg" width="228" /></a></i></div>
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The biggest shame about Ted Higuera's career is that he did not get into US baseball early enough. He made his debut in Milwaukee in 1985 at the age of 27 despite pitching with his hometown Juarez team starting in 1979. If only the scouting system were a little better, perhaps Ted could have been in the bullpen for the 1982 team at the age of 24 to help out when Rollie Fingers went down.</div>
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<br />Oh, who am I kidding, though? Harry Dalton would have flipped him to the Astros instead of Frank DiPino probably.</div>
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One thing I always liked about Higuera's autograph is the fact that he did not anglicize his autograph. His real name is Teodoro Valenzuela Higuera (yes, his mother's maiden name was Valenzuela) so his autograph was always "Teo Higuera" rather than "Ted".</div>
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<b><i>SP2: Yovani Gallardo</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vfSU6rifT-A/WtyijCA6P1I/AAAAAAAAb4I/_CjXh5XFZjkMCBJrEPhCa2sptt1dzv9UQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Gallardo.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vfSU6rifT-A/WtyijCA6P1I/AAAAAAAAb4I/_CjXh5XFZjkMCBJrEPhCa2sptt1dzv9UQCK4BGAYYCw/s400/Gallardo.jpg" width="282" /></a></i></b></div>
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I was disappointed when Gallardo did not pitch well enough this spring to make the Brewers. That disappointment was completely selfish, because I was hoping to add a few more new cards to my Gallardo collection. Instead, he ended up in the Reds bullpen as batting practice fodder for hitters wanting to improve their statistics before the Reds dropped him like he's hot. Shortly after, the Rangers signed him to a minor league deal.</div>
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The Brewers pretty much sucked the life out of Gallardo's arm toward the greater good of winning divisional championships and the wild card. His stats have been in decline for several years now. It's tough to believe that he is only 32 years old, having turned 32 in February. </div>
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<b><i>SP3: Mike Caldwell</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TxD2Rxqe1XE/WtyjtTmJcBI/AAAAAAAAb4U/13EVGJ0DepcItZ7ELoHkGaKWtN-ge_iXwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Caldwell.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TxD2Rxqe1XE/WtyjtTmJcBI/AAAAAAAAb4U/13EVGJ0DepcItZ7ELoHkGaKWtN-ge_iXwCK4BGAYYCw/s400/Caldwell.jpeg" width="285" /></a></i></b></div>
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Mr. F**king Warmth. So named sarcastically for his surly overall demeanor by his teammates, Mike Caldwell actually was usually pretty nice to me. Caldwell was the workhorse of those late 1970s and early 1980s Brewers teams. There was never an "ace" for those teams, but Caldwell was as close as it got. He owned the Yankees, and his 1978 was a masterpiece of pitching -- as he threw nearly 300 innings and completed <i style="font-weight: bold;">twenty-three</i> games of his 34 starts AND had 6 shutouts AND even added a save for good measure. </div>
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His falling off the map ability-wise in 1983 and 1984, getting really old really fast, helped accelerate the team's decline into the abyss in 1984. </div>
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<b><i>SP4: Ben Sheets</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eIEcJ6VygDo/WtykeSfDuhI/AAAAAAAAb4g/qZ1uEFHpmf48KvBv0xVEl4JjMUGtQB-NwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Sheets.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eIEcJ6VygDo/WtykeSfDuhI/AAAAAAAAb4g/qZ1uEFHpmf48KvBv0xVEl4JjMUGtQB-NwCK4BGAYYCw/s400/Sheets.jpg" width="400" /></a></i></b></div>
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Sheets had pinpoint control matched with great swing-and-miss stuff. He holds the Brewers team record for most strikeouts in a game with 18, racked up against the Atlanta Braves in 2004. His curve just dropped off the table and befuddled hitters. The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vmUtBMkVYo">ever obnoxious Chris Berman</a> even compared the curve to Bert Blyleven's -- the gold standard of curveballs. So many of those strikeouts were on curves that bounced. So those balls looked tantalizing enough to hit but were nowhere near hittable. </div>
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His pitching is just fun to watch, if you can find some YouTube videos to do it.</div>
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<i>Honorable Mention:</i> Ray Peters, Tim Leary, Chris Bosio, Mike Birkbeck, Bill Wegman, Juan Nieves, Jaime Cocanower, Pete Vuckovich, Chris Capuano, Ben Hendrickson, Nick Neugebauer, Johnny Hellweg, Chuck Porter, Steve Woodard, Mike Fiers, Ricky Bones, Jimmy Nelson, Taylor Jungmann, Danny Darwin, Jim Slaton, Moose Haas, Tom Candiotti</div>
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<i>Guys I wish I had an autographs for: </i>Lew Krausse, Marty Pattin, Jim Colborn, Bill Travers, Scott Karl, Cal Eldred, Jaime Navarro, Zack Greinke, Kyle Davies, Junior Guerra, Brent Suter, Hideo Nomo, Doug Davis, C.C. Sabathia, Gene Brabender</div>
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<b><i>Right Handed Reliever: Mark Clear</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yIDlhxCQJzI/Wtymsd2QJOI/AAAAAAAAb4s/Qa-3g29lMCg16krxxqxmUeDRDaEQS9hiwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Clear.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yIDlhxCQJzI/Wtymsd2QJOI/AAAAAAAAb4s/Qa-3g29lMCg16krxxqxmUeDRDaEQS9hiwCK4BGAYYCw/s400/Clear.jpeg" width="267" /></a></i></b></div>
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Watching Mark Clear pitch during his time in Milwaukee was mesmerizing. He was so thin -- just look at him in that photo! -- and having his stirrups showing the way he did emphasized how tall he was too. And, when it comes to good curveballs, Clear is right up there. He couldn't always get it over the plate, but man did it break. </div>
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Clear is nowhere near the best righty reliever in Brewers history. He just as easily could have been listed under closers here too. But he was one of the most enjoyable middle/late inning relievers to watch thanks to that curve.</div>
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<i>Honorable Mention:</i> Jorge Lopez, Pete Ladd, Carlos Villanueva, Jose Capellan, Bill Castro, Bob Gibson (the white one), Chris Demaria, Tom Tellmann</div>
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<i>Guys I wish I had an autograph for: </i>Chuck Crim, Eduardo Rodriguez, Jeremy Jeffress, Todd Coffey, David Weathers, Danny Frisella</div>
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<b><i>Left Handed Reliever: Dan Plesac</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3D7TCDHfITY/Wtyn2OqypdI/AAAAAAAAb44/x_9JPuaAz9M7-QgH6X48iObIvTsJKeE7ACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Plesac.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3D7TCDHfITY/Wtyn2OqypdI/AAAAAAAAb44/x_9JPuaAz9M7-QgH6X48iObIvTsJKeE7ACK4BGAYYCw/s400/Plesac.jpeg" width="285" /></a></i></b></div>
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I'm cheating again here to get Plesac into this team. Plesac is still the Brewers all-time leader in saves with 133, and he is also the all-time pitching appearances leader for the team with 365. He finished 269 games and even started 14, so he pitched more in non-save situations than in save situations. That's my excuse -- he was never a pure closer.</div>
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After being drafted out of N.C. State in 1983, Plesac came up at the age of 24 in 1986, so he was 10 years older than me. He was another Midwest kid, which is probably why I gravitated toward him. He won 10 games and saved 14 in his first season in the major leagues before taking over as closer through 1990 and making the All-Star team three times. He lost the closer job in 1990 thanks to a spike in his walk rate from 2.5/9 innings up to 4.0/9 innings. He left Milwaukee after the 1992 season and became a LOOGY, finally retiring at the age of 41 in 2003.</div>
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<i>Honorable Mention:</i> Jerry Augustine, Rick Waits, Josh Hader, Will Smith, Graeme Lloyd, Mike Potts, Wei Chung Wang, Ray Searage, John Morris</div>
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<i>Guys I wish I had an autograph for: </i>Mitch Stetter, Bob McClure, Jesse Orosco, Valerio de Los Santos</div>
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<b><i>Closer: Rollie Fingers</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wj5kSfCAaLQ/Wtypx5s446I/AAAAAAAAb5E/sk2diY5fmvQmz68ZJdDBOZxPz4SqvLX6QCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Fingers.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wj5kSfCAaLQ/Wtypx5s446I/AAAAAAAAb5E/sk2diY5fmvQmz68ZJdDBOZxPz4SqvLX6QCK4BGAYYCw/s400/Fingers.jpeg" width="290" /></a></i></b></div>
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When life gives you a Hall of Famer, you do not look that gift horse in the mouth. You employ the Hall of Famer. I know Rollie gets a lot of love in Milwaukee and rightfully so. But, to me, he's not a Brewer. He's an Oakland A, having spent 9 years of his career there. Plus, I'm not sure I've forgiven him for screwing up his elbow in 1982 so that the team had to use Pete Ladd as the closer in the World Series.</div>
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Even so, Rollie was the Cy Young and MVP as a closer. It's tough to top that. </div>
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<i>Honorable Mention: </i>Dan Plesac, Mike Fetters, Corey Knebel, Doug Jones</div>
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<i>Guys I wish I had an autograph for: </i>Bob Wickman, Dan Kolb, Trevor Hoffman, Ken Sanders, Doug Henry, John Axford, Francisco Rodriguez, Francisco Cordero, Curt Leskanic</div>
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<i style="font-weight: bold;">Front Office/Managers</i>:</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jdtk-HlZXoA/Wtyq3l3v1KI/AAAAAAAAb5U/LLMC5YMUg945zMCSrC3XB6B0triChKjmQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Bamberger.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jdtk-HlZXoA/Wtyq3l3v1KI/AAAAAAAAb5U/LLMC5YMUg945zMCSrC3XB6B0triChKjmQCK4BGAYYCw/s400/Bamberger.jpeg" width="267" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1YXXUAdjoxA/Wtyq3k_VeUI/AAAAAAAAb5Y/c937xvrdVYwZoyKYBDQXsFkA8ak_CgpQgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Dalton.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1YXXUAdjoxA/Wtyq3k_VeUI/AAAAAAAAb5Y/c937xvrdVYwZoyKYBDQXsFkA8ak_CgpQgCK4BGAYYCw/s400/Dalton.jpeg" width="267" /></a></div>
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The Dalton Gang changed the franchise in the mid-1970s, and Harry Dalton and George Bamberger are inextricably linked as a result. Dalton is the only GM for which I have an autograph.</div>
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<i>Honorable Mention: </i>Managers: Buck Rodgers, Tom Trebelhorn</div>
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Coaches: Dave Garcia, Herm Starrette, Andy Etchebarren, Tony Muser</div>
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<i>Guys I wish I had an autograph for:</i> Doug Melvin, Frank Lane, Marvin Milkes, David Stearns, Davey Lopes, Phil Garner, Ron Roenicke, Ned Yost as Manager, Harvey Kuenn as Manager, Del Crandall, Dave Bristol, Joe Schultz, Alex Grammas, Jerry Royster, Jim Lefebvre, Cal McLish, Rod Carew, Rich Dauer, Robin Yount as a coach, Don Baylor, Frank Howard</div>
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All in all, this isn't a bad team. It's been just as fun for me to see who I would like to get some autographs from as well. </div>
Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-65692903384142203562018-04-21T11:48:00.000-04:002018-04-21T11:48:58.392-04:00Blog Bat Around, Part I: The Non-BrewersI've been incredibly busy this past month away from the blog. I've been working a lot -- getting into the office early and staying late in an effort both to stay on top of my work and in trying to catch up on my billable hours that suffered early in 2018 thanks to Georgia football. Plus, I've been lacking in inspiration again. It happens.<br />
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Then, I saw Kenny's idea for a <a href="http://cervinupcards.blogspot.com/2018/04/bat-blog-around-my-all-autograph-team.html">Blog Bat Around</a>: creating an all-autograph lineup from cards in his collection.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1xslYsGbwbM/WttC_4seSPI/AAAAAAAAbyQ/qww-3GOfCNYCpp7FN_ymo7DWQY5-OZpvwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/bat_around_header.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="106" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1xslYsGbwbM/WttC_4seSPI/AAAAAAAAbyQ/qww-3GOfCNYCpp7FN_ymo7DWQY5-OZpvwCK4BGAYYCw/s400/bat_around_header.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The idea is this: build a lineup out of the players from whom you have autographs. Kenny put together a list of 13 total positions to fill -- a Card Gen lineup -- including two relievers, a closer, a starter, a DH/PH, and then the 8 position players. </div>
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I looked at my autographs and realized I could drag this one out into two posts -- one based off non-Brewers (today's post) and one based off Brewers (which hopefully will be tomorrow's post). So, without further introduction, let's get started.</div>
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<b><i>Catcher: Gary Carter, Montreal Expos & New York Mets</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RcojD8xn__o/WttEAsJBLSI/AAAAAAAAbyk/dfqDhzK4KbU6YhvLfAhlvVZ-ff4FpLJmACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/IMG_0011%2B%252812%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RcojD8xn__o/WttEAsJBLSI/AAAAAAAAbyk/dfqDhzK4KbU6YhvLfAhlvVZ-ff4FpLJmACK4BGAYYCw/s400/IMG_0011%2B%252812%2529.jpg" width="286" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JLarAMTawx0/WttD7cqY6vI/AAAAAAAAbyc/06jRSfe6J6U6qBm1qhL9A-leMOG9fHx6gCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/IMG_0003%2B%25284%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JLarAMTawx0/WttD7cqY6vI/AAAAAAAAbyc/06jRSfe6J6U6qBm1qhL9A-leMOG9fHx6gCK4BGAYYCw/s400/IMG_0003%2B%25284%2529.jpg" width="286" /></a></i></b></div>
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In the early 1980s, it was well known among autograph collectors that Gary Carter was one of the good guys who would sign pretty much anything you sent his way. Around 1983 or so, he started asking for a donation for a cancer charity or foundation of some kind in exchange for signing baseball cards issued after that date. I was poor and didn't have a checking account, so I kept loading up on cards from earlier times. In all, I have 18 total cards autographed by Gary Carter.</div>
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<i>Honorable Mention</i>: Larry Haney, Johnny Oates, Joe Ferguson, Terry Kennedy, Jim Sundberg, Sal Butera, Lance Parrish, Tim Laudner, Don Slaught, Mike Stanley, Rick Dempsey, Rick Farrell, Geno Petralli, Dwight Lowry</div>
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<b><i>First Base: Steve Garvey, Los Angeles Dodgers</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8VUMKEvilv0/WttGvmb8zRI/AAAAAAAAby0/N3rVjpkD8EcAAnkuGo3Zx2w4Nr3UxxOkACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8VUMKEvilv0/WttGvmb8zRI/AAAAAAAAby0/N3rVjpkD8EcAAnkuGo3Zx2w4Nr3UxxOkACK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan.jpeg" width="285" /></a></i></b></div>
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Yeah, it's not the best or most striking autograph you'll find of Garvey. But, it's still mine. I got this one through the mail in the early 1980s as well. Garvey was both a favorite and a villain to me as a kid. He was a good player, no doubt, but he was such an attention seeker. It may seem contradictory to love Gary Carter, whose love of the flashbulbs was well known, but not to like Garvey. I played catcher, though, so Carter was forgiven where Garvey was excoriated.</div>
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<i>Honorable Mention:</i><b> </b>Mike Squires, Terry Francona, Kurt Bevacqua, Andres Galarraga, Darrell Evans, Dave Bergman, Kent Hrbek</div>
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<b><i>Second Base: Lou Whitaker, Detroit Tigers</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d6GR6CcvRXs/WttIsldNKWI/AAAAAAAAbzA/urp-kIUU0004N6GpTrVFpTO_ybibu8SWQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B1.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d6GR6CcvRXs/WttIsldNKWI/AAAAAAAAbzA/urp-kIUU0004N6GpTrVFpTO_ybibu8SWQCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B1.jpeg" width="196" /></a></i></b></div>
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By the late 1980s, Lou Whitaker had been called a "temperamental" signer. He might sign and return your cards, he might not. He might sign it with just "Lou Whitaker" or with "Louis R. Whitaker" or, as here, "Louis Rodman Whitaker II." Or, you might never see your cards again. So, I guess I got a bit lucky in getting this oddball and a 1987 Topps card back from him in about 1987 or 1988. Whitaker deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, as he was almost certainly the best second baseman in the American League in the 1980s (eclipsed <b><i>maybe </i></b>by Ryne Sandberg in the National League).</div>
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<i>Honorable Mention: </i>Tom Herr, Steve Sax (probably fake), Jerry Browne, Rex Hudler, Jim Walewander</div>
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<b><i>Shortstop: Alan Trammell, Detroit Tigers</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YZxuOdfE1XE/WttKJsLFucI/AAAAAAAAbzM/ZIsVCdJAF7w1ixo7TffjyvvuFRKRnaMjACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B2.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YZxuOdfE1XE/WttKJsLFucI/AAAAAAAAbzM/ZIsVCdJAF7w1ixo7TffjyvvuFRKRnaMjACK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B2.jpeg" width="285" /></a></i></b></div>
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An easy choice with his well-deserved election to the Hall of Fame this year, Trammell was a great guy to get autographs from in the 1980s whether in person or through the mail. This 1987 Topps was an in-person autograph, but I have another 3 or 4 that I got by sending cards to Tiger Stadium. Weirdly, Trammell got into the Hall before Whitaker though Trammell was at best the third-best shortstop in the American League in the 1980s behind Robin Yount and Cal Ripken.</div>
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<i>Honorable Mention:</i> Rob Picciolo, Bill Russell, Greg Gagne, Ozzie Guillen</div>
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<b><i>Third Base: Mike Schmidt, Philadelphia Phillies</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fiFenyzR2b8/WttMVtjgQfI/AAAAAAAAbzY/BLER_ckrxjEfOpYxxRCHHRhHQk98BU9cgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B3.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fiFenyzR2b8/WttMVtjgQfI/AAAAAAAAbzY/BLER_ckrxjEfOpYxxRCHHRhHQk98BU9cgCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B3.jpeg" width="400" /></a></i></b></div>
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Despite his fame and the accompanying mail loads that must have produced, Schmidt was always good for signing at least one card in mail sent to him in care of the Phillies. I'm not sure why I sent a 1988 Topps Big card to him to sign, but, well, I must have. </div>
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<i>Honorable Mention: </i>Ron Cey, Bill Madlock, Wade Boggs, Roy Howell, Buddy Bell, Tom Brookens, Tom O'Malley, Tim Wallach, Steve Buechele, Larry Parrish, Doug DeCinces</div>
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<b><i>Left Field: Jim Rice, Boston Red Sox</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PMQ9PKsSJRU/WttNsX4wyVI/AAAAAAAAbzk/s7XG7BRdDkMD1KppiDPGRzjlz1Sb7Ib9ACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PMQ9PKsSJRU/WttNsX4wyVI/AAAAAAAAbzk/s7XG7BRdDkMD1KppiDPGRzjlz1Sb7Ib9ACK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan.jpeg" width="283" /></a></i></b></div>
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I had heard bad things about Rice returning mail, so I didn't exactly send him the best-conditioned cards to sign. I'm still not sure if it is real, either. One of the other bad things I heard about Rice was that he employed either an Autopen or a clubhouse man to sign his mail for him. I've posted this autograph on Twitter in the past, and people have told me that it looked good to them. If it is legitimate, it's cool to have another Hall of Fame member.</div>
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By the way, for the outfield, I'll do honorable mention at the end.</div>
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<b><i>Center Field: Chet Lemon, Detroit Tigers</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RBqQfkRk3RA/WttOeyEdlII/AAAAAAAAbzw/LXwcT-Q-yr4xu8gMVr-PPlnoVmkqAc0bgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B1.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RBqQfkRk3RA/WttOeyEdlII/AAAAAAAAbzw/LXwcT-Q-yr4xu8gMVr-PPlnoVmkqAc0bgCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B1.jpeg" width="283" /></a></i></b></div>
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The outfield on my autograph team is decent, but it's not awesome. Chet Lemon is a member of the hall of the very good, certainly, but he was never an all-time great. Still, JAWS rates him as the 20th best center fielder of all-time, so he's not *that* bad. He was drafted in the first round in 1972 by Oakland, and was part of a trade in 1975 that sent him to the White Sox for Stan Bahnsen. He was a major league regular with the White Sox at the age of 21 in 1976. The White Sox then traded him to the Tigers after the the 1981 season for Steve Kemp. I got this autograph after a Brewers v. Tigers game in 1987. Looking through my collection, I can say unequivocally that the Tigers of the 1980s were some of the best signers in the American League.</div>
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<b><i>Right Field: Tom Brunansky, Minnesota Twins</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7e2s_1R_5o8/WttQEoQVeqI/AAAAAAAAbz8/7D2bgc1riV0qVBCLjHIDyeVQp_b6GZxdACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B2.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7e2s_1R_5o8/WttQEoQVeqI/AAAAAAAAbz8/7D2bgc1riV0qVBCLjHIDyeVQp_b6GZxdACK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B2.jpeg" width="283" /></a></i></b></div>
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Bruno is undoubtedly the worst player on this team. This spot would have been filled by Tony Oliva, whose autograph I got on a Twins sticker at the same game I got this autograph, but I sent that Oliva autograph away to a Twins collector. Brunansky was known for his rifle arm and his power bat. He was absolutely helped by the Metrodome, which made him into a 30-homer guy on two occasions. The Twins got him from the Angels for Doug Corbett and Rob Wilfong, but then got rid of him in 1988 in exchange for Tom Herr from the Cardinals. The Cardinals traded him to Boston in 1990 for Lee Smith. Boston let him leave for Milwaukee as a free agent after the 1992 season, and the Brewers traded him back to Boston in June of 1994 for Dave Valle. </div>
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<i>Outfield Honorable Mention</i>: Rick Manning, Steve Henderson, Jay Johnstone, Manny Mota, Paul Householder, Bob Clark, Reid Nichols, Gary Matthews, Dusty Baker (probably fake), John Moses, Ron Kittle, Oddibe McDowell, Pat Sheridan, Mike Kingery, Bobby Brower</div>
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<i style="font-weight: bold;">Designated Hitter/Pinch Hitter: Wade Boggs</i><b><i>, Boston Red Sox</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XaRTCQPwiWM/WttSqgdhU4I/AAAAAAAAb0I/zRlYU4xowFoVBCvdTRs9-kaafHrMNkvAACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B3.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XaRTCQPwiWM/WttSqgdhU4I/AAAAAAAAb0I/zRlYU4xowFoVBCvdTRs9-kaafHrMNkvAACK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B3.jpeg" width="400" /></a></i></b></div>
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He's the best autograph in my collection not playing in the starting lineup, and he was never better than Mike Schmidt. So, Boggs gets put here. If I recall correctly, this one was a TTM. It compares well to autographs from that period, though his later signatures got pointier on the "W" than this one. I think it's good, but I'm not going to get it certified by anyone because I don't care about that.</div>
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<i>Honorable Mention:</i> Probably Andres Galarraga.</div>
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<i style="font-weight: bold;">Starting Pitcher: Bert Blyleven, Pittsburgh Pirates/Cleveland Indians</i></div>
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<i style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ah35JbRpCgs/WttTpEJYyeI/AAAAAAAAb0U/Y_wtowQ1pw4-IFmgyInqtf17uohXWcqCwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan.jpeg" imageanchor="1"></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BuqJOhkEeeE/WttUgA_xDJI/AAAAAAAAb0g/dASMgaoUBuA-3MPfuGJaxmNsfQXQ1W4TQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B1.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BuqJOhkEeeE/WttUgA_xDJI/AAAAAAAAb0g/dASMgaoUBuA-3MPfuGJaxmNsfQXQ1W4TQCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B1.jpeg" width="283" /></a><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ah35JbRpCgs/WttTpEJYyeI/AAAAAAAAb0U/Y_wtowQ1pw4-IFmgyInqtf17uohXWcqCwCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan.jpeg" width="283" /></i></div>
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Like Alan Trammell, Blyleven is another Hall of Famer who was an incredibly fan-friendly guy to fans in the 1980s and who would sign through the mail or in person. I got the Indians one in person, and the Pirates one through the mail. Man, he grew one hell of a beard and mustache between 1981 and 1982, though, didn't he?</div>
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<i>Honorable Mention:</i> Don Sutton, Mark Fidrych, Len Barker, Pat Dobson, Dave Goltz, Joe Niekro, Charlie Lea, Danny Darwin, Dave Stieb, Fernando Valenzuela, Storm Davis, John Tudor, Bruce Hurst, Rick Sutcliffe, Frank Viola, Eric King, Frank Tanana, Jose Guzman, John Cerutti, Steve Trout, Ray Peters, Jim Bouton</div>
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<b><i>Right Handed Relief Pitcher: Dan Quisenberry, Kansas City Royals</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c_4VeRiVb5I/WttVoN518OI/AAAAAAAAb0s/3DU8JRO6vtwUoETEm_wI5Z8HtQVRS2rUwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B2.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c_4VeRiVb5I/WttVoN518OI/AAAAAAAAb0s/3DU8JRO6vtwUoETEm_wI5Z8HtQVRS2rUwCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B2.jpeg" width="283" /></a></i></b></div>
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Another of the really good guys in the 1980s. Memories of Quisenberry have faded over the years as closers began piling up crazy save numbers through use in the single-inning role that predominated starting in the late 1980s. Quisenberry did not make it to the majors until age 26 thanks to ditching an over-the-top delivery for an extreme submariner approach. He then led the AL in saves five times, was an all-star three times, finished in the top 5 in the Cy Young Award five times, and finished in the Top 11 for the MVP 5 times. He lost his exclusive closer role in 1986, as Bud Black and Steve Farr ate into his opportunities, and the Royals cut him mid-year in 1988. He had a late career reinvigoration with the Cardinals in 1989, then finished up with 5 nondescript appearances for the Giants in 1990. He died just 8 years later from brain cancer.</div>
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Should he be listed at closer? Perhaps. </div>
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<i>Honorable Mention (middle relievers only): </i>Dwight Bernard, Jim Kern, Don Aase, Nate Snell, Pete Ladd, Mark Clear, Tom Tellmann</div>
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<b><i>Left Handed Relief Pitcher: Tug McGraw, New York Mets/Philadelphia Phillies</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kyczwE6PNGc/WttYmjwOfbI/AAAAAAAAb08/T005GtcenyUG_Vm-HRGsSGybY9zBNdH5gCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B1.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kyczwE6PNGc/WttYmjwOfbI/AAAAAAAAb08/T005GtcenyUG_Vm-HRGsSGybY9zBNdH5gCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B1.jpeg" width="283" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hGm5_d3bppc/WttYmsTiLRI/AAAAAAAAb1A/RvJ6esQCkRkz1cJndYV5xnE6mn6PzoVZACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hGm5_d3bppc/WttYmsTiLRI/AAAAAAAAb1A/RvJ6esQCkRkz1cJndYV5xnE6mn6PzoVZACK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan.jpeg" width="283" /></a></i></b></div>
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Sure, the Tugger was more of a closer than middle reliever. But, lefty relievers are tough to find in my collection. I apparently engaged in the type of discrimination common in baseball even up to the 1970s -- viewing relievers as "lesser" pitchers. And I sure was not going to list Steve Howe here. Anyway, McGraw was an excellent TTM signer, so I have many of his cards autographed. </div>
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I wonder if Tim is as good of a signer as his dad was, or if Tug was as good of a singer as Tim is.</div>
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<i>Honorable Mention: </i>Rick Waits, Steve Howe</div>
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<b><i>Closer: John Smoltz, Atlanta Braves</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-35Cg4GLPeD4/WttaO5D1KCI/AAAAAAAAb1Q/49j7V7sIOg8aYA9GHUwU2KYMnS5hLDgBQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B2.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-35Cg4GLPeD4/WttaO5D1KCI/AAAAAAAAb1Q/49j7V7sIOg8aYA9GHUwU2KYMnS5hLDgBQCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B2.jpeg" width="283" /></a></i></b></div>
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This autograph came in the great Christmas collection haul of 2015. My in-laws bought a collection from a friend whose husband had passed away, and it gave me months of sorting fun and cool finds. None of the finds got much better than finding a John Smoltz autograph on a 1989 Score. </div>
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<i>Honorable Mention (the Closers): </i>Dan Quisenberry, Tug McGraw, Mitch Williams, Jeff Reardon, Steve Bedrosian, Michael Jackson, Doug Jones, Bob Stanley, Jeff Russell</div>
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<b><i>BONUS: Manager: Tom Kelly, Minnesota Twins</i></b></div>
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<b><i><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YbkpskrcFps/WttbvYh1boI/AAAAAAAAb1c/8nkIkWroOFkbnefahyj7c-wxKwPa0i1qACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YbkpskrcFps/WttbvYh1boI/AAAAAAAAb1c/8nkIkWroOFkbnefahyj7c-wxKwPa0i1qACK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan.jpeg" width="227" /></a></i></b></div>
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I have no recollection of getting this one myself, nor do I recall having found it in that Christmas Collection. I'm thinking my younger brother might have picked it up at some point in the early 1990s at a game in Milwaukee.</div>
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But, I chose Kelly here because my other options were Bob "Buck" Rodgers on his 1987 Topps card and Rene Lachemann on his 1982 Donruss card. If you know about Buck's involvement with the Milwaukee organization, you know Buck wasn't a bad manager. Lachemann, on the other hand, never displayed any great skill as a manager -- whether in Seattle (total record of 140-180), Milwaukee (1 year at 67-94), Florida (221-285 from 1993 to 1996) or the Cubs (0-1 in 2002 as interim manager).</div>
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Neither are anywhere near as good as Kelly. Also, I was not going to choose any one not listed as a manager or acting as manager at the time of their autograph. So, sorry Terry Francona -- you'll probably get to the Hall as a manager, but not as a player. </div>
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This was fun, definitely. We'll see how the "Brewers only" lineup goes. </div>
Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-48264935683764183012018-03-25T10:25:00.001-04:002018-03-25T10:25:58.727-04:00New Cards from Brent<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's no surprise to anyone who follows <a href="https://twitter.com/OffHiatusBBC">me on Twitter</a> or, for that matter, to anyone who reads this blog that I'm less than excited by new card issues. The most excited I got recently was when my pal Ray Peters and my more recent acquaintance Fred Stanley both got cards in the Heritage autographs of the Seattle Pilots. Of course, the initial excitement over those autographs -- and their scarcity -- have made getting any of those from eBay a losing proposition.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In any event, I have been focusing on getting cool 1982-related items. But, in an effort not to fall "behind" the current times, I've signed on with the official BrentandBecca® email list to get my Brewers team sets and an occasional short print. Let's start with some of the Heritage Brewers regularly printed set.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bT11wWF_zH8/Wreod__CmYI/AAAAAAAAbtM/PpeHnXfwpA4Ox7WKh458sgG8Gx9VuhMWQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B3.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bT11wWF_zH8/Wreod__CmYI/AAAAAAAAbtM/PpeHnXfwpA4Ox7WKh458sgG8Gx9VuhMWQCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B3.jpeg" width="285" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xCgAvp9TJP8/Wreod1iT1KI/AAAAAAAAbtY/5ATVrX-X1g4QX8CpQ0Ki9mYBbhV4FuzGgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B5.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xCgAvp9TJP8/Wreod1iT1KI/AAAAAAAAbtY/5ATVrX-X1g4QX8CpQ0Ki9mYBbhV4FuzGgCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B5.jpeg" width="283" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MKNIWbwIIec/WreoeCZmN0I/AAAAAAAAbtk/wSiFyct4pqo2omUWXh8yWPAQk9tNlZCqQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B6.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MKNIWbwIIec/WreoeCZmN0I/AAAAAAAAbtk/wSiFyct4pqo2omUWXh8yWPAQk9tNlZCqQCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B6.jpeg" width="286" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1CmNRL90YlQ/Wreod7_-n4I/AAAAAAAAbtc/3mnp9PmdLCY0mxHeK0jKZykkiVU1KohgwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B7.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1CmNRL90YlQ/Wreod7_-n4I/AAAAAAAAbtc/3mnp9PmdLCY0mxHeK0jKZykkiVU1KohgwCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B7.jpeg" width="285" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0k1ZU275evA/Wreod3DmsEI/AAAAAAAAbtQ/4ibJi8sGhNQ66E3Za8dgJnel8jeojzTIQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B8.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0k1ZU275evA/Wreod3DmsEI/AAAAAAAAbtQ/4ibJi8sGhNQ66E3Za8dgJnel8jeojzTIQCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B8.jpeg" width="281" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iXJROxrpRMo/WreoemApmII/AAAAAAAAbtg/GczERWCAvOUHqbFuKmVPyS0x1HEcD_udwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B4.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iXJROxrpRMo/WreoemApmII/AAAAAAAAbtg/GczERWCAvOUHqbFuKmVPyS0x1HEcD_udwCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B4.jpeg" width="285" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, believe it or not, the Brewers had <i style="font-weight: bold;">TWO </i>members of the Topps 2017 All-Star Rookie team last year. In fairness, there were not too many rookie catchers of any value last year, but Manny Piña was the catcher on the ASR team. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, what is going on with Domingo Santana's photo? That's some messed-up perspective with his hand looking like it's approximately three times the size of the rest of his body, and that bat looks like it's a kid's toy. In fact, it almost looks like his head has been photoshopped into that photo. It just looks weird.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jo1YRFNTEN0/Wress-zweCI/AAAAAAAAbuE/5hqFXZpbS-sn50GcpZJX8d9voI3N008CQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B1.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jo1YRFNTEN0/Wress-zweCI/AAAAAAAAbuE/5hqFXZpbS-sn50GcpZJX8d9voI3N008CQCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B1.jpeg" width="285" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XEeibVvo6x8/WresskHpPeI/AAAAAAAAbt8/DLX6Jv7N4aMaq_O7_ZgtoApocHPWvH21wCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B2.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XEeibVvo6x8/WresskHpPeI/AAAAAAAAbt8/DLX6Jv7N4aMaq_O7_ZgtoApocHPWvH21wCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B2.jpeg" width="285" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">From the short prints, Brent had two of the five Brewers short prints available. I'm wondering when the first set to show Lewis Brinson as a Marlin will be -- and, at the same time, when the first set to show Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich will be showing them as Brewers. We have to be getting close, right? I think that Topps's most recent releases are somewhere near early January with catching up with team changes. Perhaps by Allen & Ginter? Or will Yelich & Cain get left out of that set?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">When I say, "Topps's most recent releases," I could be talking about the Opening Day set. Despite the fact that Jonathan Villar was absolutely shit last year, Topps is acting like 2017 never happened and are including him in practically every set they put out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">It's either Villar or Eric Thames, who had a great April last year followed by a so-so rest of the year. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The "so-so rest of the year" really came out of the fact that the Brewers had to figure out whether Thames had improved his ability to hit left-handed pitching. He had not, so that led to a platoon with Jesus Aguilar and it is why Thames may be on the bench more frequently this coming year when Ryan Braun gets to play first.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">That weird set up is why the two outfielders who played reasonably well last year -- Keon Broxton and Brett Phillips -- were sent down to Colorado Springs this week even though they really do not have anything more to prove in Triple-A. Simply, there just is not enough playing time for Braun, Santana, Yelich, Cain, Thames, and Aguilar if either Broxton or Phillips remained in the majors. Now, injuries and days off will allow those guys to all play enough -- Braun's injuries last year alone would have made that possible. But, when will this logjam of major-league-level outfielders be cleared up? Hopefully a starter will be heading to Milwaukee soon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">And finally, I picked up this 2018 Topps Ryan Braun short print from Brent.</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> I still need a Braun from both the regular set and the Opening Day set for my team collection, and I probably need to pick up another one of those short prints from Heritage for Braun. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">All in all, buying current team sets in this way makes me much happier than trying to get the cards one by one in some fashion. It's easier, it's less expensive, and it limits the amount of time I have to deal with current Topps cards. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks for stopping by.</span>Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-56145117981932347312018-03-20T20:16:00.000-04:002018-03-20T20:16:46.736-04:00EA Sports Introduces Zippy ZappyBack when Zippy Zappy was in elementary school in 2005 and 2006, I was in my 30s and single and happily antisocial. It was a blissful time in 2005 and 2006 -- before social media, after all -- so no one really noticed if I sat home on a Friday night with my dog, a bottle of wine or two, and my PlayStation (and then PlayStation 2) just playing FIFA 2005 and, later, FIFA 2006.<br />
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I have to admit that I sort of miss those relatively carefree days. There's a lot more pressure being more "grown up" with a wife and all kinds of other responsibilities. I don't play video games anymore either -- I stopped after the PS3 became obsolete and, well, I stopped when I got married. Playing video games to me was a solo event, and now my solo time is spent with baseball cards.<br />
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At any rate, those FIFA games had absolutely brilliant soundtracks. In fact, I found myself going down rabbit trails finding more music by the bands featured on these two games. Since Zippy Zappy likes to share with me what he's been listening to, I thought I'd share some songs that perhaps he's heard and perhaps he has not heard. Oh, and since he sent me cards, that's my excuse for doing it.<br />
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Let's start with something that he has a chance of having heard:<br />
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Japanese rap trio Soul'd Out starts us off with their bouncy little ditty called "1,000,000 Monsters Attack." It appeared on the FIFA 2005 soundtrack, which was put together by noted British DJ Paul Oakenfold. Oakenfold only included one of his own songs on it, but the soundtrack was very diverse and included songs from artists from nearly 20 countries. This wasn't the only rap song on the soundtrack, but it was the only Japanese song.<br />
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It would be poor form if I did not pair the Brewers 2017 first round draft pick with this song since Keston Hiura is a Californian of half Japanese and half Chinese descent. This guy can flat out rake. He got a long look in spring training this year and did well against lesser competition, and he's destined to move quickly up the chain if his defense can keep up with his bat.<br />
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When it comes to the music on FIFA 2005, this is the song that got stuck in my head with regularity -- to the point of my buying the album on which it appeared and, then, multiple albums by The Streets. I absolutely love this song, "Fit But You Know It." It's off a concept album called <u>A Grand Don't Come for Free</u> that some people know for the sappy slow song near the end of the album called "Dry Your Eyes" that Mike Skinner (who is The Streets) did with Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin. </div>
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A wonderful song from FIFA 2005 deserves a wonderful football player. Juan Mata is the one Manchester United player that literally everyone in the world loves. Strangely, his name means "John Kills" in Spanish, but he's a true gentleman. He started a charity called <a href="https://www.common-goal.org/">Common Goal</a> to which he and nearly 40 other international stars donate 1% of their salaries to a collective fund to support football charities that promote social responsibility. Its members include American women Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, and Heather O'Reilly as well as German defender Mats Hummels, Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, Japanese star (and Mata's former Man Utd. teammate) Shinji Kagawa, and Bournemouth defender Charlie Daniels.</div>
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Speaking of Manchester United, here's the song that was considered Morrissey's major comeback single in 2004. He had been without a record deal for over seven years when the album <u>You Are the Quarry</u> came out and featured this song and "First of the Gang to Die." That second song was seen as a direct paean to Morrissey's massive following that had built up sort of oddly among the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/08/why-do-mexican-americans-love-morrissey-so-much/?utm_term=.826b32ba0883">Mexican American community</a>.</div>
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Jesus Aguilar is Venezuelan, not Mexican. He's also seemingly a man without a place on the Milwaukee Brewers. Last year, he served well in a semi-platoon role with Eric Thames at 1st base. This year, with the logjam in the outfield, that's more likely to be Ryan Braun's role. The Brewers have to hope that they either can sneak him through waivers or that he can be traded. </div>
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He's also a massive human being -- so massive that Zach Davies and Orlando Arcia can fit in Aguilar's pants together:</div>
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Okay then...that's a large man.</div>
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Indeed, Japanese rap and English rap were also joined by Brazilian rap from rapper Marcelo D2 with a song called "Profissão M.C." or "Professional M.C." Marcelo is from Rio, and was a member of a band called Planet Hemp. I wonder what it was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_Hemp">that they rallied around</a>. The album in 2003 from which this song was drawn was known worldwide for its collaboration with will.i.am from The Black Eyed Peas. But don't hold that against Marcelo.</div>
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Speaking of large first basemen, I wonder if Jesus Aguilar could fit into Prince Fielder's pants. They'd probably be a bit short for Aguilar, since Jesus is 3 inches taller and weighs 25 pounds <i style="font-weight: bold;">less</i> than big Prince. </div>
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FIFA 2006 brought a different feel to the music. It's less rap, I feel like, and more straight ahead rock, like Bloc Party's "Helicopter." This song was my introduction to Bloc Party, and I ended up buying this album, which had other great songs like "Like Eating Glass" and "Banquet".</div>
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I don't think Josh Hader has anything to do with Bloc Party at all that I can discern. I just think that this photo of his Medusa-like hair is pretty awesome and deserved a good song.</div>
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LCD Soundsystem got this song on<b><i> six</i></b> different games -- FIFA 06, SSX on Tour, Burnout: Revenge, Forza Motorsport 2, and two Dance Dance Revolution games. Critics loved this album. Well, I should say, really, that critics LOVE this band. The types of reviews you get for LCD Soundsystem are fawning and absolutely fall all over themselves to give out plaudits. I think they are a pretty good band, though nowhere near as good as the critics make them out to be.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pe2PP96I_GU/WrGgwJYsr7I/AAAAAAAAbsA/KHOr_98F4SgaGF8ezx2j3JkV1lRLDhpvQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B4.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Pe2PP96I_GU/WrGgwJYsr7I/AAAAAAAAbsA/KHOr_98F4SgaGF8ezx2j3JkV1lRLDhpvQCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B4.jpeg" width="281" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gg0jMSUFaII/WrGgwMg4mZI/AAAAAAAAbr8/A1nq2VOc_0kOgaagiPlQ8z2thKyfuXTPgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B5.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gg0jMSUFaII/WrGgwMg4mZI/AAAAAAAAbr8/A1nq2VOc_0kOgaagiPlQ8z2thKyfuXTPgCK4BGAYYCw/s400/scan%2B5.jpeg" width="277" /></a></div>
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In the interest of finishing this post today, I am putting up both Tristen Lutz and KJ Harrison. Lutz is still miles and miles away from Miller. I would anticipate that he might play in short-season in Helena again or perhaps move up aggressively to Single-A Wisconsin. I'm just not sure that the Brewers will put him in full-season ball already this year. </div>
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Harrison is a Hawaiian whom the Brewers drafted in the third round out of Oregon State. As with any catching prospect, he may take some time to work his way up to the major leagues. But, we'll see -- perhaps he can move relatively quickly and make the Brewers forget Jacob Nottingham.</div>
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Finally, yet another song that convinced me to buy a complete album based off an awesome song on the FIFA 06 soundtrack, this is "Strasbourg" by The Rakes. The Rakes album <u>Capture/Release</u> starts off with this song, and it's actually a bit heavier of a song than much of the rest of the album. I also really like the song "Open Book", and it's worth a listen too.</div>
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Caden Lemons was a second round draft pick out of high school from suburban Birmingham (Vestavia Hills High School). The school is a baseball powerhouse which has also produced Chris Hammond, Josh Hancock, and Colter Beam in addition to golfer Smylie Kaufman. Lemons is a 19-year-old pitcher. Remember, TINSTAAPP.</div>
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Similar warnings go with Brendan Murphy, who was a fourth round pick out of Mundelein High School near Chicago. Neither one pitched a lot for Milwaukee's farm teams last year. Both might become something in a few years. Murphy had control issues in his 16 innings (12 walks), and Lemons only threw 2-2/3 innings as a professional. </div>
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We'll see if they ever become something. It would be a nice change to have the Brewers produce a star pitcher from their farm system.</div>
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My thanks, as always, go out to Kenny. What did y'all think of the music? </div>
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It made me nostalgic.</div>
Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-61869554232048280652018-03-17T09:30:00.004-04:002018-03-17T09:30:58.244-04:00Meet the Brewers #41: Dick Ellsworth<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On August 7, 1970, the Brewers purchased Dick Ellsworth's contract from the Cleveland Indians. Ellsworth hurried to Kansas City from Cleveland -- where his final two appearances were both walk-off losses over the previous weekend against the Chicago White Sox. Ellsworth arrived in Kansas City in time to give up three earned runs in mop-up time in the second game of a doubleheader. Luckily for Ellsworth's future employment, however, those would be the final runs he allowed all season as he finished the year with the Brewers on a run of 15-1/3 scoreless innings.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">1971 Dell Today's Team Stamp, issued in the Brewers team set.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/e/ellswdi01.shtml">Richard Clark Ellsworth</a> was born in Lusk, Wyoming, in 1940. Thankfully, Ellsworth has a <a href="https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/34a59b3d">SABR Biography</a>, so I am drawing liberally from that biography. Ellsworth's family moved to Fresno, California, when he was three years old. Ellsworth grew up there and became the ace for a Fresno High School team that featured (including Ellsworth) three noteworthy future major-league players -- including Jim Maloney and Pat Corrales. Other noteworthy Fresno HS alumni include Frank Chance, Dutch Leonard, Tom Seaver, and former Brewer Sean Halton.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ellsworth was quite heavily pursued for his signature on a contract out of high school. As his SABR biography quotes him, "Before I graduated I received at least one Christmas greeting from a scout on every major league club." Based on getting a cool $60,000 bonus (nearly $521,000 in today's money), he signed up with the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs decided to start him in their annual crosstown charity event against the White Sox, and Ellsworth promptly pitched a complete-game shutout three days out of high school. So, the Cubs kept him on the roster and let him start against the Reds -- who rocked the kid for 4 earned runs in 2-1/3 innings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Cubs were pretty hard up for pitching at that point of their existence, so Ellsworth became a rotation fixture just two years later, in 1960. At the age of 22 in 1962, Ellsworth joined a club of dubious membership -- finishing the season with a 9-20 record (and a 5.09 ERA) for a team that was the first in Cubs history to lose 100 games. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next year in 1963, however, the team around him was far better, and Ellsworth got both better run support and super lucky on giving up hits (going from over 10 hits per nine innings to 6.9 hits per nine). He finished 22-10 in 290-2/3 innings pitched and, <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1963.shtml#all_NL_MVP_voting">according to WAR</a>, he edged MVP Sandy Koufax out for being the best pitcher in the NL (Willie Mays beat both of them). The team being better mattered because <a href="http://ilovebaseballplayers.wikia.com/wiki/Suddenly_A_Star_--_Dick_Ellsworth,_Chicago_Cubs">Ellsworth relied on a sinker as his out pitch</a>, and he learned a slider. Offseason rule changes to expand the strike zone also helped.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That 1963 season led to Ellsworth being an All-Star in 1964 at the age of 24. He did not get to pitch in a game which the NL won by putting up four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning against Boston's closer Dick Radatz. That 1964 Cubs team came into the season with great expectations that were deflated quickly by the off-season death of Ken Hubbs in a plane crash in Utah (<a href="http://www.thisgreatgame.com/dick-ellsworth.html">as Ellsworth himself said here</a>). Yet, by far, that 1963 season was the pinnacle of Ellsworth's career. 1965 and 1966 saw the Cubs return to the depths of 1962, and Ellsworth's win-loss records reflected that -- 14-15 in 1965 and another 20-loss season in 1966 (finishing with an 8-22 record).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since in 1960s baseball being a 20-game loser meant you were morally a bad person -- even if, as Willie McCovey said, the players recognized that Ellsworth's win-loss records was "misleading" -- the Cubs traded Ellsworth to the Phillies in December of 1966 in exchange for Ray Culp and cash. He struggled in Philadelphia, and so he found himself traded again after the 1967 season to the Boston Red Sox. Coming off the "Impossible Dream" season, the Red Sox were trying to improve their pitching, and Ellsworth did exactly that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, Boston ace (and future Brewer) Jim Lonborg got injured in a ski accident shortly after Ellsworth was acquired, so Ellsworth ended up as the Red Sox Opening Day starter in 1968. Still, a 16-7 record with a 3.03 ERA (well-deserved, with a 3.04 FIP) despite missing several starts in August thanks to contracting the mumps in August was a good return for the Bosox. But, when it came to 1969, Ellsworth chipped his ankle during spring training. The injury -- along with Boston's self-scouting hinting that he'd lost some speed off his fastball -- led Boston to trade him to Cleveland.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eH5CPFnZ_Zg/Wq0U_6eEFaI/AAAAAAAAbqU/Oq1psqOqOcgPNjRKQVcsxbuDSw7ZaNPOQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/106202-15248711Fr.jpg" imageanchor="1"></a>Looking at Ellsworth's stats may give a little support for the Red Sox view on his fastball. His strikeouts declined from 4.9 K/9 in 1968 down to 3.2 K/9 in 1969. Then, in 1970 with the Indians, Ellsworth was down to just 2.7 K/9 and up to 2.9 BB/9 prior to his sale to Milwaukee. Ellsworth's great results down the stretch in 1970 did not carry over into 1971, however, and Ellsworth made just 11 appearances for the Brewers in 1971 before he was released at the end of June. He never played in professional baseball again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, he was not done with baseball. He was very successful in real estate with Grubb & Ellis/Pearson Realty in Fresno and <a href="http://www.ngkf.com/home/about-our-firm/global-offices/us-offices/fresno/professional-profiles.aspx?d=29220&title=Dick-Ellsworth">he is still a Senior Vice President</a> with that company's successor company, Newmark Knight Frank. In fact, he was so successful that he purchased an ownership stake in the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies. He also had the privilege of getting to see his son Steve Ellsworth make 8 appearances in 1988 for the Boston Red Sox. Steve did not have as long or as successful a baseball career as his dad did, though.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have <a href="http://www.tradingcarddb.com/Person.cfm/pid/1696/Dick-Ellsworth">three of the four baseball cards</a> that the Trading Card Database has Ellsworth listed as a Brewer. The one I am missing -- and which is missing from here -- is Ellsworth's 1971 O-Pee-Chee card #309. </span></div>
Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-21654346156309229222018-03-15T20:11:00.000-04:002018-03-15T20:11:41.872-04:00Thanks, JennyA new-to-me blogger and Twitter card collector is <a href="https://twitter.com/JennyMiller521">Jenny Miller</a> who blogs at <a href="https://jennyscardcollecting.wordpress.com/">Jenny's Card Collecting</a>. I was excited to get rid of some Twins cards -- even though I'm about 98% sure I'll be attended a Twins/Brewers game at Target Field in May, that doesn't mean I have to keep Twins cards around the house, you know. I knocked off a bunch of Jenny's Twins Project needs from the late 1970s and early 1980s.<br />
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In return, Jenny sent me a couple of cards that I needed for my collection. It being a Thursday night I figured I'd go for musical accompaniment. Then again, I might say that about any day. I just like musical accompaniment. Believe it or not (I know, you believe it), I actually put a spreadsheet together of all the songs I've used on my blog. I'm up to 806 right now (before this post)! Crazy.<br />
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Anyway, let's see what Jenny sent:<br />
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Yes, it's a Maverick from 2018 Topps. With the logjam in the outfield brought about by the off-season trades, Mav will probably end up at Triple A unless the team keeps him over Broxton as the guy who can fill in at CF behind both Cain and Yelich. Then again, since both Cain and Yelich can play center and with Braun, Thames, and Santana all still available, why would the team keep either Broxton or Phillips in the major leagues? Tough situation.</div>
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I unwittingly told two or three people that I needed only Brett Phillips to finish out my Series 1 Topps run for 2018. Thing is, I still need a Ryan Braun because I spaced out and forgot I need two of those. So, I duplicated Phillips just like I'm duplicating this song. I know I've played Cowboy Mouth's "Jenny Says" before -- my spreadsheet tells me so -- but I like the song, the band is from New Orleans, and I'm going to New Orleans next month. So there.</div>
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Speaking of needing two Brauns for my base sets, here's a 2017 Stadium Club that I needed. This one was, in fact, for my team set as the second of the Brauns from that year. It's always good to get closer and closer to completing team sets.</div>
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This reminds me to say two things about team sets and how I'm collecting. First, I will gladly take any and all inserts and parallels of non-player-collection Brewers that you want to send my way. But, I'm not as militant about feeling like I need to collect those going forward from sets from this year forward. </div>
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Second, I am also happy to take any and all Brewers cards of any genre, year, or make that you might want to send to me. That may seem intuitive, but there were times I really was not a huge fan of all the duplicates. Now, though, I'm saying bring 'em on. Of course I prefer cards I don't have -- but I'll take the others too.</div>
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I shouldn't use a song using the past tense about Jenny so soon -- I know that. But I really like this song off <u>Hot Fuss</u> by The Killers. As much as Brandon Flowers comes across as a self-important ass at times, the band's first major label album was one of the best albums of the mid-2000s in my opinion. It didn't hurt that I was in a major Brit Pop phase and this album worships at the altar of New Order, The Cure, and Depeche Mode.</div>
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Finally, Jenny sent me a Zach Davies 2017 Stadium Club card. Zach is an interesting guy. He looks like he should be delivering the morning paper on his bike like it's 1984 until you see his tattoos all over the inside of his left arm. Nothing wrong with that at all -- but it adds a little edge to him as a result. Davies benefited from good run support last year, and his strikeout rates were troubling for his future growth. Then again, he's only 24 years old so perhaps that will come in the next couple of years.</div>
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Let's close this out with a little Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels. They are almost certainly known best for their cover of the Motown song "Devil with a Blue Dress On." This song, "Jenny Take a Ride," was the band's first top 10 hit, selling over a million copies and going gold. </div>
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But...there's one more song that needs to be played...it's a cliche at this point, but so what:</div>
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Jenny, thanks for the cards. Hope we can trade again soon.</div>
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Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-29423652319001515662018-03-13T20:05:00.000-04:002018-03-13T20:05:47.186-04:00From One Brubaker to AnotherOver the weekend, I wrote up the bio for the fortieth player that the Brewers used in the 1970 season, Bruce Brubaker. The first person to comment on that blog post is my good trading pal and member of the Twitterati Bru a/k/a @marcbrubaker there. Bru is a great guy who runs "<a href="http://remembertheastrodome.blogspot.com/">Remember the Astrodome</a>" and knows my love for oddballs.<br />
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For whatever reason, I never discussed colleges with Bru until recently, when I learned that he is a former Texas A&M Aggie. I was a bit surprised when A&M joined the SEC several years ago, though it makes sense if the Aggies are trying to get out of the sizeable shadow of the Longhorn Network. A&M people are a different breed. They don't have a fight song, for example. They have a "war hymn."<br />
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Granted, their infatuation with the University of Texas within this "war hymn" reminds me of the inferiority complex that grips the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets when it comes to their big brothers from the east, the Georgia Bulldogs. </div>
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Yeah, but I like Bru. Even if my brother-in-law is a two-time University of Texas graduate. </div>
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At any rate, let's see what Bru sent to me.</div>
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Let's start with the baseball cards that are just sort of normal, run-of-the-mill Topps and Upper Deck and Fleer -- and that sneaky appearance of B.J. Surhoff on a 1993 Leaf checklist. When I sort through cards, I find myself really liking pretty much every Fleer Ultra set, though if that was all I could collect I'd get bored quickly. They are straightforward full-bleed photos that tend to have similar designs. But, I really end up liking that 1993 Leaf set. For whatever reason, they just look good -- they look and feel special.</div>
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So, when you get down to it, that Aggie Cadet precision and drilling doesn't seem to lend itself to a thriving music scene in the same way that liberal arts schools like UGA and Texas do. Yup, sometimes having that school that doesn't help you get a job but encourages creativity helps foster a real music scene. </div>
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I looked to try to find some College Station bands or Texas A&M-graduate musicians. About all I could come up with were some American Idol contest and Lyle Lovett. Lyle Lovett it is. And that's right -- I'm not from Texas. Bru, are you originally from Texas?</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vLIvUOL26yo/Wqhi3RWOB7I/AAAAAAAAbnw/7w0uPSEKnSIlIcw9fMd6RiZMbypsHzQpACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B14.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vLIvUOL26yo/Wqhi3RWOB7I/AAAAAAAAbnw/7w0uPSEKnSIlIcw9fMd6RiZMbypsHzQpACK4BGAYYCw/s640/scan%2B14.jpeg" width="512" /></a></div>
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The second item is identified on the back of this 8x10 glossy photo of Ted Higuera as a "TV Sports Mailbag" item. Now, this photo is labeled as being from 1988 on the back. In 1989, TV Sports Mailbag got an entry on the Trading Card Database (<a href="http://www.tradingcarddb.com/ViewCard.cfm/sid/91709/cid/6488100/1989-TV-Sports-Mailbag-75-Teddy-Higuera">here is the Ted Higuera from that set</a>), perhaps because the photos are numbered and the backs have full licensing identification, copyrights, player names, and team names. </div>
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It's a great oddball, though, to get that set's predecessor.</div>
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Lyle Lovett's sound is an old-school sound for country/blues, big on fiddles and strings and acoustic guitars and without the flash or rock-lite sounds featured by folks like Luke Bryan or Jason Aldean. Here, Lovett is covering a song that Townes Van Zandt wrote in 1977. Van Zandt is a tragic figure who died far too young in 1997 at the age of just 52 years old. His music, too, is worth a listen.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h1dGKCOiHBk/WqhlaDNVHsI/AAAAAAAAbog/GVvVjopJkTMkoL3qv-jqQ57Ts5NlEcK6wCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B8.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h1dGKCOiHBk/WqhlaDNVHsI/AAAAAAAAbog/GVvVjopJkTMkoL3qv-jqQ57Ts5NlEcK6wCK4BGAYYCw/s640/scan%2B8.jpeg" width="512" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RpHUQdG91zA/WqhlZx_6QoI/AAAAAAAAboA/6dq8hs3sbfkaAP9qy8SynKBZN8hjRcQ8QCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B9.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RpHUQdG91zA/WqhlZx_6QoI/AAAAAAAAboA/6dq8hs3sbfkaAP9qy8SynKBZN8hjRcQ8QCK4BGAYYCw/s640/scan%2B9.jpeg" width="512" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KLj4mB4lCVw/WqhlZwtBC4I/AAAAAAAAboU/Use_NbKX7K8ERpC8ZG3fVFQzKpq3HTQMwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B10.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KLj4mB4lCVw/WqhlZwtBC4I/AAAAAAAAboU/Use_NbKX7K8ERpC8ZG3fVFQzKpq3HTQMwCK4BGAYYCw/s640/scan%2B10.jpeg" width="512" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7GoxlfUKZlk/WqhlaFZ0v6I/AAAAAAAAboY/kK4TvLUqHnQ99yop7w04TcGVdj4QO-RBwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B11.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7GoxlfUKZlk/WqhlaFZ0v6I/AAAAAAAAboY/kK4TvLUqHnQ99yop7w04TcGVdj4QO-RBwCK4BGAYYCw/s640/scan%2B11.jpeg" width="512" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z-3FjdHdxB8/WqhlaB6XjmI/AAAAAAAAboc/7q2ElzTRwZcZ18sFojMD3GA_-z-p1j3xACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B12.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z-3FjdHdxB8/WqhlaB6XjmI/AAAAAAAAboc/7q2ElzTRwZcZ18sFojMD3GA_-z-p1j3xACK4BGAYYCw/s640/scan%2B12.jpeg" width="512" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Inah48Mjop8/WqhlaKlymII/AAAAAAAAbok/qMN-VwhvcwAmCnf0ButSm_U8of2OEx3FgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B13.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Inah48Mjop8/WqhlaKlymII/AAAAAAAAbok/qMN-VwhvcwAmCnf0ButSm_U8of2OEx3FgCK4BGAYYCw/s640/scan%2B13.jpeg" width="512" /></a></div>
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And finally...</div>
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These are incredible items. All of these are 8x10 photos on cardboard. Based on design, font, photo quality, and the like, all of us Twitterers decided or figured out that they were issued by a company called T&M Sports. We figured this out because the design is eerily similar to that used by T&M for its <a href="http://www.tradingcarddb.com/ViewCard.cfm/sid/10075/cid/436047?PageIndex=1">1989-1990 Senior League</a> set. I already had a couple of these in the past and never knew who had issued them. I'm still not sure I've ever seen a complete set list for this set either. So, I have no idea if I have all the Brewers or not. And that's the fun part of these large cards.</div>
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It's too bad I couldn't find a good video for Lyle Lovett's biggest song, "It's Not Big, It's Large" so instead we are on "The Road to Ensenada". This is a really good song anyway.</div>
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Of course, I'm still not sure how he ended up marrying Julia Roberts. It must have been that Texas Aggie charm.</div>
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Bru, thanks for these great oddballs! </div>
Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-79109370217272328002018-03-10T10:53:00.001-05:002018-03-10T10:53:25.675-05:00Meet the Brewers #40: Bruce Brubaker<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA197008050.shtml">August 5, 1970</a>, Wisconsin native Gene Brabender got knocked out of the box early in the game -- getting hammered by the Chicago White Sox for 6 earned runs on 4 hits and 3 walks in just 1-2/3 innings. Bob Humphreys relieved Brabender ably, giving the team 4-1/3 innings and allowing only one unearned run. To finish out the game, Dave Bristol brought in a 28-year-old pitcher who had made only one other appearance in the majors (and it was in 1967) to finish the game -- Bruce Brubaker. That August 5, 1970 game would be Brubaker's only Brewer appearance, and it would be his last in the majors.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/brubabr01.shtml">Bruce Ellsworth Brubaker Jr.</a> was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on December 29, 1941. He graduated high school in 1959 at the age of 17 and was a schoolboy phenom -- having pitched in 5 games and giving up a total of 4 hits in those games. Thanks to his high school success, a bidding war for his services broke out, with the Phillies, Orioles, Dodgers, Pirates, Reds, Tigers, White Sox, and Braves all in the competition. Oddly enough, the winner was neither the Pirates nor the Phillies, but instead the Milwaukee Braves, who gave Brubaker a $35,000 bonus to sign.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Sporting News</i> cited Braves scout John Ogden as saying that Brubaker had a great wrist snap on his pitches and had pinpoint control. Credit for that wrist snap was given to Bruce's father, Bruce Sr., but not because of his baseball skills. No, Bruce Sr. was cited as being "the world's champion bait-caster for accuracy, having won the title [in 1957] in Brussels, Belgium." So, when Bruce Jr. was able, his dad started taking him fly-fishing and teaching him how to use a casting rod.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was able to get in touch with Brubaker via email. He had fond memories of his time with the Braves. No one gave him a hard time about that big signing bonus at all and no one hazed him at all either. Instead, he only had great memories about dinner and a night out on the town in Bradenton, Florida, with the great Ed Mathews and pitching star Bob Buhl.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Being as young as he was, Brubaker worked his way up fairly slowly through the Braves system. It took him until his fifth season in the minors to reach Triple-A -- by which time he'd already been traded to Detroit for pitcher Pat Jarvis. On multiple occasions with the Tigers, Brubaker received plaudits for being a top pitching prospect and for having the best curveball in the International League. These honors gave him opportunities to go to spring training with the Tigers to win a roster spot, but the results in spring often did not follow his talent level. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Looking at his <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=brubak001bru">minor league stats</a>, it looks a bit like Brubaker was brought down by the lack of understanding of stats beyond wins and losses. He had very good control for most of his minor league career, giving up just 3.0 BB/9 innings, and his strikeout levels tended to run in the 6 K/9 range -- which at the time was excellent.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brubaker only has one Milwaukee card. I found this through Google Images.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eventually, the Tigers left Brubaker off their roster and available for the Rule 5 Draft. The Phillies pounced, but once again his work in the spring led him to be sent to the minors. Syracuse (Detroit, really) passed on reacquiring him, so the Phillies sent him to the Pacific Coast League in 1966 to be a Padre. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He only lasted a year with the Phillies system. His talents led the Los Angeles Dodgers to pick him up in the Rule 5 draft. He got his first taste of major league ball there as a 25-year-old, pitching 1-1/3 innings in mop-up duty early in the year. He was optioned to the minor leagues again, and he spent all of 1967, 1968, and 1969 in Spokane. After the 1969 season, the Dodgers traded him to the Brewers in exchange for pitcher Jerry Stephenson, who had pitched in five seasons for the Boston Red Sox before being a Pilot for a year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After making his single Brewers appearance in 1970, he found himself back in the minor leagues in Portland in 1971. But 1971 was the beginning of the end of Brubaker's baseball career. As Bruce told me by email, he had a game against Indianapolis where he threw over <i style="font-weight: bold;">200 </i>pitches and, unbeknownst to him, he strained his shoulder. He started the American Association All-Star game, and then went on the DL. For the rest of 1971, he rested his shoulder and hoped it would heal -- but it did not. So, after just three games and five innings in 1972 at Evansville, he retired. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some other tidbits from my correspondence with Bruce Brubaker:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of his favorite teammates included Wade Blasingame, John Miller, Sal Bando, Pat Dobson, Ray Orlikowski and Arnold Umbach</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bruce became a successful businessman after baseball. He started as a car salesman for Ford. He parlayed success as a salesman into purchasing a Ford-Lincoln-Mazda dealership in Owensboro, Kentucky. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That dealership was successful enough that he was able to purchase two more dealerships that his sons Bruce III and Tyler run</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He and his wife Leda will celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary this year. They have homes in Owensboro and in Naples and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and he is happy to sign autographs for people resourceful enough to find an address for him.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brubaker never appeared as a Brewer on a baseball card during his career, so his 1994 Miller Brewing Company card is the only one for him in my collection. He appeared on two Topps cards, though -- in 1965 as a Tiger Rookie with Bill Roman and in 1967 as a Dodger. Then, in 2016, Topps featured him in Heritage as a "Real One Autograph" on his 1967 card.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's great to get to correspond with guys like Bruce Brubaker. As he put it in closing his email to me, he had "no regrets and I don't know of anything I would have done differently. Playing for all those different managers sure showed me how to manage people and also some showed me how not to!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My thanks to Bruce Brubaker for taking the time to answer my emailed questions and to you for reading.</span></div>
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Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6581749200282165841.post-2451493502647077392018-03-08T19:51:00.000-05:002018-03-08T19:51:03.432-05:00Cards From the AtticIf you follow <a href="https://twitter.com/cardsfromattic">Cards from the Attic</a> on Twitter, you may have done as I did and partook in the wonderful sale of reasonably priced vintage singles. The man behind the account has a website also called <a href="http://cardsfromtheattic.com/">Cards from the Attic</a> where his cards for sale are listed along with other cool things like giveaways, videos, and trade wrap-ups.<br />
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I dove headfirst into his sale and bought a bunch of Braves that I needed for the Braves team set (and a few for my player collections). Let's go in year order -- 1960 through 1965 -- and see what I bought for a total of $50. What does $50 buy these days?<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UIvB5koOi1g/WqHQtlnTtfI/AAAAAAAAbg4/c0FVd7hThDQpRS3HjuBDOOBxfyYzHWX0ACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B18.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UIvB5koOi1g/WqHQtlnTtfI/AAAAAAAAbg4/c0FVd7hThDQpRS3HjuBDOOBxfyYzHWX0ACK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B18.jpeg" width="320" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aDwiAsFSD34/WqHQtsLgsgI/AAAAAAAAbg8/C7DA93CYSU0qI4VTXC3cu8Lm8uH6qsuUwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B19.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aDwiAsFSD34/WqHQtsLgsgI/AAAAAAAAbg8/C7DA93CYSU0qI4VTXC3cu8Lm8uH6qsuUwCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B19.jpeg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Two cards from 1960 -- a Lou [sic] Burdette and a Chuck Cottier without those strange lines that the previous Cottier I received had on them. Chuck and Lew are just the opening acts, of course. But with these two cards, my 1960 Braves want list is down <a href="https://offhiatusbaseball.blogspot.com/p/milwaukee-braves-want-list.html">to 8 cards</a>: Hank Aaron, one Eddie Mathews, two Warren Spahns, Stan Lopata, two Eddie Mathews All-Stars, a Hank all-Star, and a Del Crandall All-Star.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0stQN78CH18/WqHR7T6ASxI/AAAAAAAAbhg/2N56vpJ_4JYTmr9u4TvqIxdV_KddUkqjwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B1.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0stQN78CH18/WqHR7T6ASxI/AAAAAAAAbhg/2N56vpJ_4JYTmr9u4TvqIxdV_KddUkqjwCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B1.jpeg" width="228" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r9lCEGQ64NY/WqHR7TcvgJI/AAAAAAAAbhQ/7ssXaFo1rRwUT3sH_nqbceudpJRZjjOmQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B2.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r9lCEGQ64NY/WqHR7TcvgJI/AAAAAAAAbhQ/7ssXaFo1rRwUT3sH_nqbceudpJRZjjOmQCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B2.jpeg" width="229" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--qsEbgjWrO0/WqHR7d10NOI/AAAAAAAAbhk/VmJLSTHLaxQ1O1NXxECE-XtKOgUS__5FwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B4.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--qsEbgjWrO0/WqHR7d10NOI/AAAAAAAAbhk/VmJLSTHLaxQ1O1NXxECE-XtKOgUS__5FwCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B4.jpeg" width="228" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ag0QKgTCsqM/WqHR7dntUMI/AAAAAAAAbho/ohS0C2cYGCEqSLsrDusfcdk0A3Y3MWu7ACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B5.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ag0QKgTCsqM/WqHR7dntUMI/AAAAAAAAbho/ohS0C2cYGCEqSLsrDusfcdk0A3Y3MWu7ACK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B5.jpeg" width="227" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ExBkDlu2A0U/WqHR7SHm_9I/AAAAAAAAbhs/UaJdOEYIskA1JCLL8bWQu44L6xwZRzUigCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ExBkDlu2A0U/WqHR7SHm_9I/AAAAAAAAbhs/UaJdOEYIskA1JCLL8bWQu44L6xwZRzUigCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan.jpeg" width="231" /></a></div>
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Moving on to 1961, I got five cards, all of which go into my team collection. I feel like it's a rare thing to have cards like the Bob "Hawk" Taylor card with the player nickname in quotes. I mean, we've seen the "Rock Raines" cards, and frankly many of Taylor's cards just list him as "Hawk," but including the nickname (which he got in childhood because his favorite movie serial was "<a href="http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/6b27bf1f">Hawk of the Wilderness</a>," according to his SABR Bio). Hawk was a bonus baby so he made 7 appearances and got to bat once for the 1957 Braves. Unfortunately, he never even appeared enough as a Brave from 1957 through 1963 to lose his rookie eligibility.<br />
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But that name just seems weird to me. Anyone have any idea about that?<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nmjcudXL4wY/WqHT-XNK9QI/AAAAAAAAbi4/-PTIobkuoCIqH2NvBtCiDfkJIT-KzUqogCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B10.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nmjcudXL4wY/WqHT-XNK9QI/AAAAAAAAbi4/-PTIobkuoCIqH2NvBtCiDfkJIT-KzUqogCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B10.jpeg" width="232" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cVGPkmRTBbQ/WqHT-S6NlpI/AAAAAAAAbiY/d77mG4FzThsWa0AtlPb0k_0CNBbuzeLqwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B12.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cVGPkmRTBbQ/WqHT-S6NlpI/AAAAAAAAbiY/d77mG4FzThsWa0AtlPb0k_0CNBbuzeLqwCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B12.jpeg" width="229" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GvRRv8lXptM/WqHT-CkUB6I/AAAAAAAAbiE/KYUfodiNABIY-hrW9Cg3Hn0HPXJq3IvFQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B13.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GvRRv8lXptM/WqHT-CkUB6I/AAAAAAAAbiE/KYUfodiNABIY-hrW9Cg3Hn0HPXJq3IvFQCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B13.jpeg" width="225" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5axR4d6b51Q/WqHT-Y_-8wI/AAAAAAAAbi0/N_OrSKo4c2YhI3JgkMdTGtqs6_uLI6AOwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B14.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5axR4d6b51Q/WqHT-Y_-8wI/AAAAAAAAbi0/N_OrSKo4c2YhI3JgkMdTGtqs6_uLI6AOwCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B14.jpeg" width="226" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1OWa9TVk28A/WqHT-QbaAXI/AAAAAAAAbiw/LSifVCP454ARRBkOTbI3t-WiP8YLH4zKgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B15.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1OWa9TVk28A/WqHT-QbaAXI/AAAAAAAAbiw/LSifVCP454ARRBkOTbI3t-WiP8YLH4zKgCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B15.jpeg" width="225" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eb451htXfEk/WqHT-QRxcGI/AAAAAAAAbio/WPW-L23Diccab2eMwK_UYc9S0LR11pnDgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B16.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eb451htXfEk/WqHT-QRxcGI/AAAAAAAAbio/WPW-L23Diccab2eMwK_UYc9S0LR11pnDgCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B16.jpeg" width="224" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7B357ZCoGJE/WqHT-UYf_oI/AAAAAAAAbis/8bgsLjgV6HobV_yfk3UsT3SOXSq134hPgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B17.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7B357ZCoGJE/WqHT-UYf_oI/AAAAAAAAbis/8bgsLjgV6HobV_yfk3UsT3SOXSq134hPgCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B17.jpeg" width="229" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QEjCE1SC1Kk/WqHT-SKN5EI/AAAAAAAAbig/Q1UfNULromIvgiht68FIInwOJ8etFuCiQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B26.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QEjCE1SC1Kk/WqHT-SKN5EI/AAAAAAAAbig/Q1UfNULromIvgiht68FIInwOJ8etFuCiQCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B26.jpeg" width="229" /></a></div>
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1962 is like the second wood-grain set, if you count Bowman's wood-grained TVs as being a wood-grain set. If you think about it, 1962 + 1968 = 1987. You can call 1968 "burlap" but that light tan made into wood grain literally is 1987. 1987 being 25 years after 1962 probably isn't a coincidence either.<br />
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At any rate, you can see Topps getting lazy with my Midwest players already -- using the same photo for Joe Adcock for 1961 and 1962 is 100% lazy, or Topps's photographers were simply negligent and failed to take his photo enough.<br />
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Also, Carl Willey has three different variations of his card -- two of which show him in a cap (one with a weird green tint) and this one, which does not.<br />
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Finally, Mike Krsnich is not the only major league baseball player to have his name start with four straight consonants. I can confirm this because his brother Rocky Krsnich also played major league baseball (for the White Sox in 1949, 1951, and 1952). The Krsnich brothers grew up in West Allis, Wisconsin, and attended West Allis Central High School. For what it's worth, Mike made 4 appearances in 1960, didn't play in the majors in 1961, and played in 11 games (and hit 12 times) in 1962 -- and that was it for his career. Of course, he was already 30 years old in 1962. His only three cards ever issued were this card, a 1966 James T. Elder Postcard, and...a 1962 buyback that came out with 2011 Topps Heritage.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pzr6L4tcwdU/WqHWTI8HhOI/AAAAAAAAbjs/eAntiiyIrisg1YIbQEFtPqWoH1XmM1NHgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B3.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pzr6L4tcwdU/WqHWTI8HhOI/AAAAAAAAbjs/eAntiiyIrisg1YIbQEFtPqWoH1XmM1NHgCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B3.jpeg" width="224" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BlZh7lIT2uc/WqHWTTxMRtI/AAAAAAAAbj4/BvL01nnOCuUjhMIp0OV6t2G-BD-xpNavgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B6.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BlZh7lIT2uc/WqHWTTxMRtI/AAAAAAAAbj4/BvL01nnOCuUjhMIp0OV6t2G-BD-xpNavgCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B6.jpeg" width="225" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1x3OfDKJPsM/WqHWTKLXcRI/AAAAAAAAbjg/AGU9MG-LLs80iSQe0vIVrKWunC41hBL9ACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B7.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1x3OfDKJPsM/WqHWTKLXcRI/AAAAAAAAbjg/AGU9MG-LLs80iSQe0vIVrKWunC41hBL9ACK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B7.jpeg" width="232" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n1kiTxPwSs8/WqHWTHKW1dI/AAAAAAAAbjw/nE2EpHlgiVohL9LrOCf7iBHUwOZxYHLdwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B8.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n1kiTxPwSs8/WqHWTHKW1dI/AAAAAAAAbjw/nE2EpHlgiVohL9LrOCf7iBHUwOZxYHLdwCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B8.jpeg" width="226" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-spyQdh6ePFE/WqHWTS1O8zI/AAAAAAAAbj0/qf3REqRPHHg3C-iWrBdYCaVOWEUC90VywCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B9.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-spyQdh6ePFE/WqHWTS1O8zI/AAAAAAAAbj0/qf3REqRPHHg3C-iWrBdYCaVOWEUC90VywCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B9.jpeg" width="229" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dAUW-PEUaM0/WqHWTGccrYI/AAAAAAAAbjo/1qnfAhYFV5oMhhDqLhnjchhcnM9DmL8EgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B11.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dAUW-PEUaM0/WqHWTGccrYI/AAAAAAAAbjo/1qnfAhYFV5oMhhDqLhnjchhcnM9DmL8EgCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B11.jpeg" width="232" /></a></div>
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Yes, there are more. As everyone knows, the 1963 Topps set was the design-father for 1983 Topps. This Lou [sic] Burdette was needed for the Burdette PC. You can really tell, though the terrible attempts at painting M's on the small photos for guys like Constable, Cline, and Johnson. The sizing is all off. And did the Braves have uniforms with the huge numbers on the sleeve like Cline has on? Nope...but the Cleveland Indians sure did.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IDrI-Y1H4HM/WqHXjvlrcnI/AAAAAAAAbkQ/Qnx0gVqD9vgFoPmkrbGdzXStE1_eQYkggCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B25.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IDrI-Y1H4HM/WqHXjvlrcnI/AAAAAAAAbkQ/Qnx0gVqD9vgFoPmkrbGdzXStE1_eQYkggCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B25.jpeg" width="228" /></a> </div>
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I've been lucky to find a lot of 1964 Topps at card shows in the past, so my want list did not correspond all that well with what was available. McMillan came over to the Braves in December of 1960 from Cincinnati in exchange for Joey Jay and Juan Pizarro. Jay was just 25 years old when he was traded, and he promptly rattled off two straight 21 win seasons for the Reds. Pizarro was flipped by the Reds to the White Sox on the exact same day he came in for the Reds to get Gene Freese. McMillan stayed in Milwaukee for three years and 8 games (total of 399 Games) before he was traded to the New York Mets.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zh-n66Cp0QE/WqHY6Vs6QHI/AAAAAAAAbkw/LK4Szf7bz2Axr_RFQ3tX-MEfC0Fgrg5agCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B20.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zh-n66Cp0QE/WqHY6Vs6QHI/AAAAAAAAbkw/LK4Szf7bz2Axr_RFQ3tX-MEfC0Fgrg5agCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B20.jpeg" width="228" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pSWsA7UDt2w/WqHY6XdV9sI/AAAAAAAAbk4/QI-njJHEekI-TBvGeZOGhF-6CWihmT0KwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B21.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pSWsA7UDt2w/WqHY6XdV9sI/AAAAAAAAbk4/QI-njJHEekI-TBvGeZOGhF-6CWihmT0KwCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B21.jpeg" width="227" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aHGgfS93sCQ/WqHY6RHlYlI/AAAAAAAAbk0/j-0Cn6a2mh8RnU4vozwC2PmDOmOn-8SIwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B22.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aHGgfS93sCQ/WqHY6RHlYlI/AAAAAAAAbk0/j-0Cn6a2mh8RnU4vozwC2PmDOmOn-8SIwCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B22.jpeg" width="227" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aMB9XYEtzeM/WqHY6bPr3hI/AAAAAAAAbkc/wUL2omDuw341DrZgaFHVVsvoWn5x9KhGQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B23.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aMB9XYEtzeM/WqHY6bPr3hI/AAAAAAAAbkc/wUL2omDuw341DrZgaFHVVsvoWn5x9KhGQCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B23.jpeg" width="225" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-11OivXaoBMg/WqHY6WdUo1I/AAAAAAAAbk8/PWAox00_DcYPs8VOUzMVXnrO2TPNl_srQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/scan%2B24.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-11OivXaoBMg/WqHY6WdUo1I/AAAAAAAAbk8/PWAox00_DcYPs8VOUzMVXnrO2TPNl_srQCK4BGAYYCw/s320/scan%2B24.jpeg" width="224" /></a></div>
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And finally, it's 1965. Billy O'Dell's photo kind of weirds me out, to be honest. Billy attended Clemson after he graduated from Whitmire High School in Whitmire, South Carolina. O'Dell was the Braves closer in 1965 racking up 19 saves in 62 appearances and finishing 42 games while throwing 111-1/3 innings with a 2.18 ERA. It being 1965, O'Dell also started a game. Joining him in the bullpen for most of the year were Dan Osinski (61 games, no starts, 26 GF, 6 SV) and Phil Niekro (41 games, 1 start, 21 GF), both of whom saved 6 games.</div>
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Toys in the Attic begets Cards from the Attic, after all.</div>
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So, what do your $50 of 2018 Topps Heritage look like? That's like what, 2 blasters and a hanging pack?</div>
Tony L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01349226671097456632noreply@blogger.com4