COMC Black Friday Buys #1: Jim Slaton & Bill Wegman

The first year I got back into card collecting in 2014, I did not even think to go shopping anywhere online for cards on Black Friday. That was mainly because I was going into a period of major uncertainty in my career -- one which has since been resolved to a large extent -- but also it was because I almost always am traveling back to Georgia from Wisconsin on that day after Thanksgiving. 

That was the case in 2015 as well -- getting back into Atlanta from Milwaukee, driving the 40 minutes home from the airport, and getting unpacked took up most of the day and almost all of my thoughts. 

This past year, though, was slightly different. First off, my wife did not go with me to Milwaukee for a couple of reasons too lengthy to get into here. So, I traveled by myself. That gave me plenty of time to read Twitter and the card blogs while traveling, and that gave me the reminder to check out the deals on COMC. 

As a result, I end up spending a decent amount of money loading up on cards. It wasn't so much the free shipping as it was the deals themselves that helped convince me to buy a number of the cards I got. I ended up buying about 250 or 300 cards that day, and then I got to wait for about a month to get them. 

So, today, let's start looking at the cards I got. We'll start with two right-handed pitchers who mostly started for Milwaukee in the years they spent with the team: Jim Slaton and Bill Wegman.

Jim Slaton

I only found two Jim Slaton cards that I needed -- his 1984 Topps Sticker (shared with Mike Heath) and his 1977 Hostess card. 

So, for those of you who barely recall (or don't at all recall) Jim Slaton, here's a quick rundown of his career. The Seattle Pilots selected Slaton as their 15th round pick in the 1969 June draft. In that draft, the Pilots selected Gorman Thomas with their 1st round pick. That made the 1969 draft a far more productive draft than 1968 was (literally only three players who made the major leagues being selected with an overall WAR of 0.6 among all three).

Slaton moved up quickly in the Brewers system and made his major league debut (as Brewer #53) on April 14, 1971, throwing 6 shutout innings against the Chicago White Sox and picking up the win thanks to a Tommy Harper run scoring single off Tommy John in the top of the 7th inning.

That was the first win of a still-team-record 117 wins as a Brewer for Slaton. He pitched in four other seasons outside Milwaukee for California (near where he grew up) and Detroit, totaling another 34 wins. He was traded to Detroit after the 1977 season in which he was an All-Star. Don Money had been selected as the Brewers representative for the 1977 game, but he came up injured. Slaton did not appear in that game, however, because he was scheduled to pitch against the Yankees on the first game after the break.

I was fortunate to have gotten the opportunity to speak to Mr. Slaton last weekend. He lives in the Phoenix area now. A lot of former Brewers seem to live in and around Phoenix -- perhaps because the Brewers have held spring training in Arizona for as long as they have been a franchise, I suppose. The good thing about that for those guys is that it is relatively easy for them to stay in touch with one another, to get together for charity golf tournaments, etc. 

My thanks go out to Jim Slaton for taking the time -- close to 45 minutes -- last Sunday to talk to me even as the Packers and Cowboys were playing. Both of us were watching the game too.

These two cards bring my Jim Slaton collection up to 57 cards/photos/autographs.

Bill Wegman



I was able to pick up 10 different Bill Wegman cards from COMC, all of which were quite reasonably priced because, well, it's Bill Wegman. 

The Brewers selected Wegman in the Fifth Round of the 1981 June Draft. I always enjoy looking at what other players the team could have selected, so here are a couple of notables that were selected after Wegman: John Franco (by the Dodgers with the very next pick), Devon White (8 picks later in the sixth round), Alvin Davis (in the sixth round by Oakland; he did not sign), Fred McGriff (9th round by the Yankees), and a right-handed high school pitcher named Mark McGwire, who was selected with the 199th pick overall in the 8th round by the Montreal Expos. Of course, he did not sign then.

Despite those "what could have beens," the Brewers did okay with Wegman. He stands 7th overall in team history with 81 wins (and second overall in losses with 90, 31 behind...Jim Slaton) and fourth in innings pitched behind Slaton, Mike Caldwell, and Moose Haas. He spent his entire 11-year career with the Brewers. He retired after the 1995 season at the age of 32 when, by his own words, he wasn't enjoying the game as much and was tired of the travel.

As this story from 2001 mentions, though, Wegman's life changed in the late 1980s. He became a born-again Christian and stopped drinking. He then returned to his hometown of Cincinnati and became a pastor at Faith Fellowship Church. He has since moved on to become an elder with the Grace Covenant Church and, now, he is also a grandfather. 

These 10 cards brought my Bill Wegman collection up to around 110 cards; I've added a couple of more since this package came in, so I'm now at 114 Bill Wegmans, which might be more than Wegman himself has.

Thanks for stopping by today and reading -- and there will be more catching up on trade packages coming soon.

A PWE From the Shoebox featuring Flogging Molly

I recently packaged up a bunch of cards that I didn't want and didn't need -- they weren't Brewers, after all -- and sent Shane at Shoebox Legends an envelope that he wasn't expecting. It had been a while since we had swapped cards, so it was good to surprise him with a bunch of cards that he needed.

With it being St. Patrick's Day and all, it would make sense if I put the PWE I got in response from Shane to music. Spotify tried to help me out with a playlist called "Greatest St. Paddy's Day Hits."  Then I looked through it, and it's nearly useless. Yes, there are songs by The Pogues, Dropkick Murphys, House of Pain, and even Macklemore & Ryan Lewis's "Irish Celebration."

But what, pray tell, does the Van Halen song "Runnin' With The Devil" have to with St. Patrick's Day? Or "Take On Me" by a-ha? Also, how can you put together a 12-hour playlist for St. Patrick's Day without a single song by Flogging Molly?

Seriously, check out this 185-song monstrosity for yourself.

Just unbelievable.

I have to do something about that. So, featuring cards sent by Shane, here's your Flogging Molly playlist.

"To Youth (My Sweet Roisin Dubh)"

Let's start with a song featured on the FIFA 2005 game soundtrack. I played the hell out of that game, and the music EA picked for that game was just excellent. This one, "Irish Blood, English Heart" by Morrissey, "Fit But You Know It" by the Streets...just a crazy good soundtrack that included this great song that is an homage to youth and to a very old and famous Irish political song.

By the way, "Roisin Dubh" is a reference to a black rose.

To go with this song, I go to a player from my youth -- Ted Higuera -- who made a huge splash with the Brewers in 1985 and was Milwaukee's best pitcher in the second half of the 1980s before shoulder injuries from all the mileage on his arm in the Mexican League caught up with him.

"Salty Dog" & "The Lightning Storm"

"Salty Dog" was the first song on Flogging Molly's first album, Swagger. and this is Irish-punk done as it should be to me. It doesn't hurt that the lead singer is actually Irish. As he says mid-song, 

"It could be worse, California. It could be worse. 

We could be Welsh!"

BONUS: Watch after "Salty Dog" ends for a toast to Johnny Cash just before they break into "The Lightning Storm."

These were the oldest cards that Shane sent me, to go with the oldest Flogging Molly song on the playlist. I'm midway through opening a box of 1992 Fleer Ultra, and the design is close enough that I thought that these cards belonged to that set. They don't -- they are from 1993 -- and they reminded me what full-bleed cards without distracting smoke effects can look like.

Good, that is.

"Drunken Lullabies"

One of my absolute favorite Flogging Molly songs is the title track. This appeared on a video game as well -- "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4." It's a song about how as much as things seem to change, we still seem to repeat the mistakes of the past -- "Has the shepherd led his lambs astray to the bigot and the gun?"

For whatever reason, this Bowman Platinum card seemed appropriate for this song. The Bowman line of cards expands and contracts fairly regularly, it seems. Topps never learned its lessons from the overproduction era, though. Rather than cutting back on the number of sets and the number of cards printed, instead it chases artificial scarcity and buzz about crazy photo variations and 24 wacky parallels each serial numbered to numbers ranging from 599 to 1.  "Catch the collecting fever, kids!"

"Float"



Float is another great song that is catchy and sad all at once. It's especially sad watching the paperclip man walking sadly through the dirty streets looking for who-knows-what to make himself happy. Then, he builds himself a boat, only to get buried under the first wave that comes along.  

It's tough to explain, but I get legitimately sad for that little guy.

See, that's the thing about real punk music. Yes, there's a lot of upbeat aggressive music, but it's also about a mentality that things need to change for the better. 

Then again, I guess that doesn't go as well with drunkenness off crappy green beer as "Hotel California."



To go with this general sadness, here are cards from two guys the Brewers traded away. Vaughn was traded ostensibly to assist with a rebuild in 1996. Getting Bryce Florie, Marc Newfield, and Ron Villone didn't build anything, though.

Matt LaPorta was the Brewers first round draft pick in June of 2007 out of the University of Florida. Thankfully, the Brewers ditched him with Rob Bryson, Zach Jackson and a player to be named later for CC Sabathia. Weirdly enough, the PTBNL ended up to be the best piece of that trade for the Indians since they received 2014 All-Star and the third-place finisher in the MVP race that year: Michael Brantley.

"Requiem for a Dying Song"




This song is upbeat, though it still has the punk in it -- "Does the Government whip crack across your back? Is the Order of the Day don't listen, attack?"

Still, it's a fun-sounding song. It puts me in a better mood than before.  

Just as a new addition to my Prince Fielder collection puts me in an even better mood. This "Upper Deck Elements" was a new one on me -- I'd never seen it before. 

I criticized Topps earlier for blowing through different "brands" or products regularly. Well, Upper Deck might have been the king of doing that. You would get the flagship and Sweet Spot about every year, but otherwise, you could end up with just about anything -- Goudey, O-Pee-Chee, Baseball Heroes, The Ballpark Collection, even Fleer one year.

Upper Deck should get a lower-priced license to release two sets a year -- one with current players, one with former players (or a mix of current and former players). Impose discipline on them, and they'd be a fantastic addition.

"Rebels of the Sacred Heart" (NSFW language)

Careful -- there's a bit of cursing here.  But it is punk, so tough f**king luck, right? Now THIS is a proper Irish punk jig -- tin whistle and all. Just an awesome song, done live with a ton of energy. And I mean, come on, it talks about being drunk (Three sheets to the wind), being human (aiming for heaven, probably winding up in hell), and being free in the end ("no ball or chain, no prison shall keep!")

To go with it? The exuberance of youth -- or, more particularly, of a prospect still on his way up in Tyrone Taylor. 

For Tyrone and for all of you on this St. Patrick's Day -- when we're all a little Irish:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of your hand.

Failing all that, just send out a lot of PWEs to your blogging friends no matter who they may be. That's what makes our hobby fun and great -- and my thanks to Shane for the great reminder.

Songs in the Key of Night Owl

Stevie Wonder had his double album called "Songs in the Key of Life" back in 1976. It was critically acclaimed from its release and spoke to many facets of life -- recollections of childhood, first love, lost love, songs about faith, and songs about social justice for the poor. Later acclaim came nearly 30 years after its release in 2005, when Rolling Stone named it number 57 on the list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

In the blog world, the most critically acclaimed blog around is Night Owl Cards. Greg's writing is excellent and reflects well on his real-world newspaper job. Greg also has consistency and staying power -- he had 329 posts last year, and that was his lowest output since his four-month debut in 2008.  Speaking for myself, I have trouble putting out five posts every week, whether it's because work gets in the way, or my wife says I'm spending too much time with my cards again, or I have a social commitment that I can't get out of (or, even, that I don't want to get out of), or I just don't feel like writing.  

Greg sent me an envelope of cards recently that crossed off several cards off my late 1980s/early 1990s want lists.  To thank him, yes, I'm going with a musically themed post. It's songs in the key of Night Owl!

1.  1990 Baseball Cards Magazine 1968 Topps Design Robin Yount

For whatever reason, I feel like Baseball Cards Magazine did a better job with mimicking the old Topps designs than Topps Archives has lately.  I am not sure if the magazine cards would stand up to the side-by-side scrutiny to which Archives is subjected here, though.

What song goes with this card? How about a Roy Orbison Demo Recording:

2.  1984 Fleer: Moose Haas and Ed Romero

This Moose Haas card shows what to me looks like a guy who was way ahead on fashion trends -- sporting a mullet a full 5 years before the rest of America caught up with him. Haas is remembered as a guy who never seemed to reach his potential, but I choose to remember him as the pitcher who won game 4 of the ALCS in 1982 in snow flurries -- forcing the game 5 that the Brewers won to get to the World Series.

For a guy who played in just 730 games over 12 seasons, Ed Romero certainly enjoyed a great deal of success. He made it to two World Series (1982 & 1986, both losses for his team) and also was a member of the 1988 Red Sox that lost in the ALCS to the Oakland A's.

Success like that enjoyed by these two guys deserves a song off someone's greatest hits album.  How about Little River Band's "The Night Owls"?  Appropriately, this song is from the early 1980s too.

3.  1992 Score

Yet another card I needed for my player collections, the Chuck Crim 1992 Score is now safely in the Crim pages.  Bill Spiers bunting here seems appropriate -- he was drafted in the first round and seemed to have such promise coming out of Clemson.  To be fair to Spiers, he showed the kind of decent player he could be when he was in Houston later in his career -- he had too many injuries in Milwaukee, and the club deemed him expendable.

The less said about Stubbs, the better.  When the best I can say about a guy is that he was a poor man's Greg Brock....

To go along with these cards -- all of which I needed but which by themselves are fairly nondescript -- let's go with an upbeat song from the 1960s by surfer rock king Dick Dale and his Del-Tones called, of course, "Night Owl."

4.  1992 Stadium Club

Though not at all reflective of what is on these cards, I did a "Search Google for this image" for each of these.  The Doug Henry "Best guess for this image" returned, "ken griffey jr autographed" while the Gary Sheffield result was, no lie, "doug mirabelli."

It made me laugh, I guess.

Sort of like the original Blues Brothers movie made me laugh. Perhaps a little known fact is that the Blues Brothers backup band featured three members of the band Booker T & the M.G.'s -- an R&B/funk band which released a hit called "Green Onions" that became a staple for the jazz ensembles at my high school back in the 1980s.  They also had a great tune called "Night Owl Walk."

5.  1987 Donruss Opening Day

This year's Donruss offering used the border design from the 1987 set, but that's where the similarities end.  More to the point, this Opening Day set -- as opposed to Topps's set called Opening Day -- gets it right: Donruss's 1987 set included each team's starting lineup. If Topps did their set this way and didn't use the base set's design -- hell, just use plain white borders, even -- I'd love that set.

This card went right into the Gantner PC for me. Gantner appears to be daring all of us not to admire his auto-tint glasses. 

A song I had never heard before this blog post but which I really liked came from Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Famers The Lovin' Spoonful, and it's called "Night Owl Blues."

6.  1989 Bowman Bill Wegman

It helped complete a team set, so I had to post it.

Not that it has anything to do with my song choice, either.  R&B Legend Wilson Pickett released two of the best "hang out and party and have fun" songs in the 1960s, one of which stands up better, in my opinion, than the other.  The one that doesn't stand up well is "Land of 1000 Dances" -- I mean, any song that's was covered by the WWF Wrestlers int he 1980s.... The one that stands up much better is "Mustang Sally," but I may be biased because I played saxophone.

Wilson Pickett also had a song called "Night Owl" that he released in 1969.

7.  1991 Score 100 Rising Stars

George Canale never sounded to me like he'd be a "rising" star or a star of any kind.  I mean, the former Virginia Tech Hokie told the local newspaper that he wanted a trade in 1991 because the Brewers weren't giving him a chance to play.  Well, George, if you hit .254/.349/.393 in DENVER in 1990 with only 12 home runs in 544 plate appearances, tell my why you deserve a chance?

It also makes me wonder how low the bar for being a "rising star" was.

It's similar to my feelings about Carly Simon as a singer.  I know she was a huge star in the 1970s, but listening to her music then, now, and anywhere in between, I start to wonder whether musical tastes were a bit....off when she hit the top of the charts.  But, she has a greatest hit called "Night Owl" as well.

Greg, thank you very much for the cards, and I hope that at least one of these songs is one you enjoy!

Don't Have a Breakdown

Sometimes, you know your car isn't running right.  You can feel something is wrong, or you can smell a strange smell, or you hear a knock that just doesn't sound right.  The Federal Trade Commission has a list of information to consider when you are looking for a good mechanic.  

Once you find a good mechanic, though, they try to keep you coming back -- often through mailed and e-mailed reminders that your car is due for service.  

I did not, however, expect to get my service reminder from a Goodyear in Oregon inside of a bubble mailer.

This, clearly, is no ordinary service visit.

What do you think, Mr. Braun?

Oh, you think that's funny, do you? 

Hey, wait a minute, that's not my car, Ryan.  I think that one belongs to someone else. Who's damn car is this?

Morgan? I mean, didn't you leave with that Tony Plush alter ego a couple of years ago?  I thought you took all that other junk with you too.

Oh, come on -- get rid of Kevin Barker's car.

Didn't realize you were here, Barker. 

Wait...dadgum it, I didn't tell anyone they could park here.  Who's car is that?

Wait.  Don't tell me.  That's GOT to be Burnitz's car.

Of course it is.  Hey, this is kind of fun trying to figure out what car each guy drives...

For some reason, this could only belong to one former Brewer pitcher:

Here's a car model I've never seen before...what the heck is a Venirauto?

Oh, you say it's Venezuelan? Then it has to be this guy's car, and he seems none too happy about being outed with owning it:

One more....a safe reliant automobile:

Which could only belong to a man of the 1980s...

This auto repair reminder was brought to me by Baseball Card Breakdown. Gavin often uses offbeat and unusual items as inserts to protect the cards that he sends out in trades, and this time I got his auto service center reminder that he needs to get his oil checked.

Gavin participated in the Nachos Grande Heritage case break and got the Brewers as one of his teams.  He was kind enough to send those cards my way -- including one of all the high numbered Brewers of Braun (above), Jonathan Lucroy, and Carlos Gomez (below) and two of all the rest of the Brewers.

He also threw in some other Brewers, as you saw above -- the crowning card of which is that Bill Wegman autographed 1989 Bowman.

Gavin, thank you very much for the great group of cards you sent to me.

And please, go get your oil changed.

Explain the Infield Fly Rule

I've never been big on the April Fools' joke stuff.  First off, everyone's expecting stupid gags. I'm pretty sure the height of the April Fools joke to me was pointing behind my brother's head and telling him that he missed a hot-air balloon.  I'm sure of that, and I am also sure that I was no more than five years old at the time.  Of course, that's pretty much the target demographic for such jokes.

But, not wanting to let a good excuse for a theme post go by, I decided to use the day to highlight the package of all kinds of needed cards that I got from Adam at Infield Fly Rule.  I sent some shiny Rockies his way, and he sent me a bunch of junk wax that somehow has eluded me.  

Now, Adam is not a fool.  But this day has me ready to talk about fools in pop culture.


1.  MOVIE:  Fool's Gold
First, there was a flat out awful movie that came out in 2008 called "Fool's Gold". Rotten Tomatoes reviewers have 16 people who liked it and 128 people who called it Rotten. The movie starred Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey as a divorcing couple whose 8-year-long treasure hunt led them to financial ruin and a tattered marriage. Co-star Alexis Dziena had the best scene in the movie when she was almost impaled by a sword, and the on-screen result was this:

I saw this movie. In fact, it was the last movie that I watched in a movie theater. I went to the movie in Dubai, of all places, so the screen shot above would have to be completed with Arabic subtitles.  I saw it in the Mall of the Emirates, which features the indoor ski runs:

And I saw the movie because I was going around town with some Aussies, and the movie was filmed in Australia.

A propos of nothing, this is as good of an excuse as any to show Rob Deer cards.  Why? Because Deer often looked really bad at the plate, got paid plenty of money, and made as much sense for a team to continue employing him as it did for someone to build a ski hill with a black diamond run inside in the freaking desert!

Yes, I needed all of those late 1980s cards -- the Score, the Fleer, and the Topps Big.  I had the Score already, but my copy was signed by Deer in person in 1988 at a game. So, I needed a clean version.

2.  MUSIC: Fools Gold

From the horrendous (or, at least the Rob Deer) to the excellent. A band from Manchester called The Stone Roses never got much airtime in the United States much beyond one song off their second album (the song was called "Love Spreads").  The Stone Roses came out of the "Madchester" scene around the same time as Inspiral Carpets and The Happy Mondays, and they probably influenced the direction of music in the UK at least as much as The Smiths or the punk scene of the late 1970s.  

On their self-titled first album, the Stone Roses released a nearly 10-minute long track called "Fools Gold."  It's an upbeat, dance-type song that is worth a listen some time.  They also did a much shorter version on the BBC's "Top of the Pops":

For a song and a group I consider to be sublime, only a sublime player's cards will do:

A Hall of Famer will fit the bill.  Beloved by Brewers fans and Twins fans and thanked by Blue Jays fans for his part in the 1993 World Series, Paul Molitor was a gentleman to all fans -- even obnoxious kids like me.

3.  TV: BBC's Only Fools And Horses

This is a very English show.  Much as Coach and Sam Malone are part of our American TV vernacular from the 1980s, Del Boy and Rodney are a part of the British TV language from that same time. Even more, though, Only Fools and Horses actually added new slang to the "Queen's" English -- such as "plonker" (meaning a fool or an idiot). 

Slapstick is always funny.  Just ask this guy:

I don't think Plesac has added any words to the English language as of yet, but he is an habitual jokester who fits into this category reasonably well.  Plonker.

4.  Movie: Fools Rush In

Matthew Perry and Salma Hayek star in a hilarious romantic comedy about two people who have a one-night stand. She gets pregnant, and they decide to get married. In the process, the two realize that they have to compromise some of their own cultural traditions. Hilarity ensues.

No, I've never seen the movie.

But, really, any movie starring Matthew Perry has to be the epitome of the 1990s.  

Kind of like Stadium Club is, in many respects, the epitome of the 1990s in baseball cards. You get parallels. You get blurred photos to give the effect of movement.  Heck, you even get Dave Nilsson having to give up his Aussie Culture to come live in the surf-less Midwest to pursue his childhood dream of baseball.  

See, it's got everything.

5.  Music: What a Fool Believes

The 1979 Doobie Brothers hit "What A Fool Believes" is an interesting song to me.  Michael Jackson actually sang backup on the original Doobie Brothers track.  Seriously:

It's sort of like when you collect a player and see him giving a cameo on some other guy's card:

Yup, there on Chuck Knoblauch's actual Topps Rookie Card in front of almost 15 fans in the bleachers in Milwaukee is none other than Greg Vaughn trying to break up a double play. I'm guessing it's after Knoblauch threw the ball already, but it's tough to say.  Still, there's Vaughn singing backup on Knoblauch's hit.

6. Movie: April Fool's Day

An 80s slasher pic with a typical set up: nine college kids stay at a friend's remote island mansion and end up murdered over April Fool's day weekend.

Yikes.

Nothing says slasher pic like...

Come on -- look at the guy. Mild mannered. Quiet. No one would suspect this guy singlehandedly murdered the Brewers.  To be fair, he really didn't do it himself.  It was counting on him to be healthy that did it.  That, and Phil Garner deciding that his pitching staff didn't need no stinking ligaments or rotator cuffs and that what Billy Martin did in 1980 with the Oakland A's was a great way to run a pitching staff.  

Three starters in 1992 -- Wegman, Jaime Navarro, and Chris Bosio -- all threw over 230 innings that year.  Wegman threw 261-2/3 innings.  What made that egregious for Wegman was the fact that he missed most of 1989 and 1990 with injuries. He pitched 193-1/3 innings in 28 starts in 1991, then the 261.2 innings in 35 starts in 1992, and then he threw 307 total innings after 1992 over three seasons for Milwaukee.  

Substitute Dr. Jobe and Dr. Andrews for a murdered, and you see the blood on the floor. Just in a controlled setting.

7.  Music: Why Do Fools Fall In Love

Last one.  Thankfully for y'all of course.  

In 1955, Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers recorded a big hit called "Why Do Fools Fall in Love."  The original title for the song was "Why do birds sing so gay", but someone decided that the lyrics should be changed to something less feathery.  The result:

And the easy card analog:

I mean, of course this is the 1991 version of the 1953 Topps card of Ed Mathews, but such a glorious reprint deserves to be treated with the respect of the original  At least now.

Adam -- thank you very much for the great cards, all of which filled gaps in my 1980s and 1990s collecting days.  

And, thank you to all of you who read this -- you are the ones who suffered all these fools.