Living in Enemy Territory

Living in Atlanta as a Brewers fan isn't too bad, for the most part. I'm disconnected from the day-to-day crap that can inhabit fans from local news and local sports radio, so it's easier to come to my own conclusions about things going on in Brewerland. At the same time, I am also living in a city that really does not have any strong feelings about the Milwaukee Brewers. Braves fans generally think of Milwaukee as that place that the Brewers came from and that's really it.

On the other hand, living in Chicago -- especially the north side of town -- cannot be easy. Sure, Cubs fans will claim that they really don't care about the Brewers, that their rivals are the Cardinals. Historically, yes, that is accurate. But I would venture to guess that the next few years will make Cubs fans dislike the Brewers more and more.

I bring this up because I recently traded with a fellow Brewers collector, Robb a/k/a Brewers 792 (whether at his blog or on Twitter). I sent Robb a bunch of my early Brewers duplicates, and he filled in some gaps in my collection for me with some old and some more recent. Robb is the man who lives on the north side of Chicago, so he has to live among our enemies. So, let's see what Robb sent me with some appropriate music.

 Let's start with the recent cards:

Scott Podsednik would not have had a baseball career in the major leagues without the Brewers. He was drafted by the Rangers out of high school in 1994. He played a couple of years in their system before being the player to be named later in a trade to bring back prodigal son Bobby Witt to Arlington. Two years later, the Rangers suffered from seller's remorse and grabbed him back through the Rule 5 draft. He struggled to stay healthy and/or play well in reaching Double-A Tulsa in 1999 (a .155/.190/.190 slash line in 123 plate appearances is pretty bad) and the Rangers cut him. 

Seattle signed him, and he played well in a couple of years at Triple-A, but Seattle had enough outfielders in 2000 and 2001, so he only got 31 plate appearances in the majors. So, after his age-26 season, the Brewers plucked him off waivers. He impressed greatly -- .314/.379/.443 in 628 plate appearances led him to finish second in the rookie of the year race in the NL in 2003 behind Marlins phenom Dontrelle Willis. Pods only lasted 2 seasons in Milwaukee before being traded for Carlos Lee to the White Sox, though, so he's just a fan-favorite footnote from a period when fan favorites were tough to come by.

The White Sox...yeah, they used to be big enemies.

The one time I ever attended a White Sox/Brewers game in Milwaukee, the bleachers about a section over from where we were sitting looked pretty similar to the end result of this Shinedown band meeting. Those games in the days when folks could easily get overserved at the game -- it was, after all, the days of the origins of the Two-Fisted Slopper at County Stadium -- led to tons of fights and arrests. It's tough to describe, but Milwaukee people and Chicago people don't always get along all that well.

The late 1990s and early 2000s is a common black hole for many of us who left collecting as younger men or youths and came back in the past 5 to 10 years. So, these UD Choice, a Turnbow SP Authentic, and a random Pacific of Jeromy Burnitz were greatly appreciated. 

As an aside, that same time period featured the worst Brewers uniforms ever. I'm not a huge fan of the current uniforms either, but they were tons better than that weird ass font that the team used then. I'm pretty glad that none of the card companies even bothered showing Milwaukee in that timeframe.

I'm thinking that Butch Vig would agree with me that the Cubs and White Sox are the enemies. As his band Garbage with the lovely Shirley Manson tells us, "Sex Is Not the Enemy." Remember -- Butch Vig and his band mates other that Shirley (Duke Erikson and Steve Marker) are all originally from Madison, Wisconsin. They may not care about baseball, but that's not important here.

The true highlights from this package were these awesome Milwaukee Braves from 1960 (and one thrown in from 1958 too). It's not often you get a 58 year-old card of a Hall of Famer in a trade package, but there's that Red Schoendienst to make that happen. Throw in future manager Chuck Cottier -- whom I would have sworn was much younger than his 48 years old when he took charge of the 1984 Seattle Mariners near the end of that season. Those lines on Chuck's card are on the card too, which I suppose makes it okay that this one here ended up being a second copy of a card for me. 

This was actually the song in my head that got me started on the path of finding songs about enemies. Green Day is total pop punk, which means to me that their version of punk is less nihilistic and more hook-filled and lighter. 

Still, I bet Robb really knows a ton of our enemies living in the midst of them. To be fair, it still seems weird to me to dislike the Cubs since I didn't grow up with them being the focus of boyhood hatred -- that role was reserved for the New York Yankees and, to a lesser extent, the Chicago White Sox. 

Thanks, Robb, for the great cards. Everyone else -- be sure to follow him on Twitter and try to cajole him into blogging again. 

#SuperTrader Mark Hoyle

Mark Hoyle was the first person I ever traded with who simply commented on my blog and who does not have a blog of his own. Part of me is envious of that, since the time it takes to write blog posts is not inconsequential. 

But, I enjoy the creative (okay, sort of creative) writing that I get to do here. I get to let my madman run wild here, so to speak, and just let the posts go where they go based on the cards I get, the music in my head, or the music that the cards lead to.

I have a post brewing inside me coming up that has nothing to do with the cards I've received or traded away, but I think I need to cogitate for a while on it. At least until after this post is done.

So, let's stay light and happy and highlight the cards that Mark sent my way!

That's right -- clap along if you feel like that's what you want to do! Even if the scan of this first card is really dark and the card itself is a bit dark in hand thanks to Topps not doing a very good job with the card's concept and printing in the first place:

When the light catches this "Diamond Stars" insert of Derrick Turnbow from the 2007 Opening Day set just right, it's a really cool card. Looking at it directly without any reflected light, it looks like a bad attempt at an Upper Deck hologram logo sticker from 1991. 

Wait, that's not Happy!

Let's try again.

That's it! Let's be happy together! What makes everyone happy? Cards of legends, that's what. Everyone appreciates a Hall of Famer, or at least respects the Hall of Famer, right?

These two cards were needed for my Paul Molitor collection. Can you tell that the Topps Magazine card of Paul Molitor is from the early 1990s? Really, you could? What was the give away? Oh, yeah. The very 1990s design, of course. Surprisingly, this card's back notes that it is "Design-a-Card Winner #1," which means that someone at Topps not only had to wade through all kinds of crappy designs, but it means that there were all kinds of crappy designs far worse than this one!

The other card shows Molitor suited up and giving his induction speech in 2004. Man, that was 12 years ago already? Molitor turns sixty years old this year? Gah. And, he's married to a woman named Destini? Really? Now I'm getting depressed again.

Dang it, I was trying to be Happy! Let's try this again...

If there is anything that is almost always guaranteed to make me happy, it is music from Athens, Georgia. In my time there for law school, I ran into/saw (and left alone) Michael Stipe several times. He was a strange guy, no doubt -- wearing clothes that no one else on the planet would wear -- but everyone in Athens really just let him live his life because, well, the guy is a legend. 

Even better is that Kate Pierson is stunningly gorgeous in this video. I freely admit that I had a pretty huge crush on her around this time...and here's a little secret: in this video in 1991, she was forty-three years old! Wow. Even today, now that she is married to her longtime girlfriend and is sixty-seven years old, she still looks pretty good...which sounds weird to say but it's true.

These cards are a bit like Kate Pierson in that B-52s video -- they are forty-two years old now, but they still look damn good. Sure, Felipe Alou's card has some writing on it -- probably some youngster trying to fix that satiny hat and giving up -- but Tom Murphy has sharp corners on it. It's a very rare card in my collection that is over 30 years old and has sharp corners! So, Murphy is definitely a condition upgrade for the one currently in my Brewers collection.

Okay, now I'm feeling better...gotta keep things light and happy, right? Light...

Wait, The Smiths tend to be universally depressing, what with Morrissey's never-ending yearning and with lyrics like, "And if a double decker bus, crashes into us, to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die."

Wow, that got dark. But if we are talking about baseball and lights that will never go out -- and to be completely serious for a moment -- there is no better personification of overcoming years and years of racism, ugly treatment, and demonization than Hank Aaron.



Hank truly is a light that will never go out, in many ways. He is, of course, a legend in Atlanta and Milwaukee. I chose not to collect him as a player collection in large part because he really is identified much more with Atlanta despite spending more of his time in Milwaukee thanks to breaking Babe Ruth's record as an Atlanta Brave. Of course, he also resides here and is a special assistant to whatever general manager the Braves have at any point in time. Still, these cards are excellent and much welcomed.

We've gotten a bit wistful here now. Let's pick up the pace again for the last song:

What Jeremiah the bullfrog was doing with mighty fine wine, the world will probably never know. Also, I'm a little suspicious of Three Dog Night as well since they want to throw away cars and bars with wars. I like going to bars. 

Still, I can't argue too much with this song, such that it glorifies being a straight-shootin' son of a gun.

And it's joyful, so let's be joyful about my original "main" player collection from the 1980s alongside my "main" player collection now:

That Gary Carter collision at the plate is pretty cool. It must come from the late 70s or early 80s, because that sure looks like a Padre-clad Ozzie Smith there. Still, I don't know why the card refers to Carter blocking the plate in the 1979 All-Star Game with this photo/drawing on the front...since Smith and Carter would have been on the same side in that game, of course.

Finally, that Robin Yount 3000th Hit card. Sure, no logos, but still a great action shot. If cards simply showed players playing baseball with normal photos -- not overly redone, not overly painted up, not overly airbrushed/photo shopped, not overly blurred in the background such that the player could be playing literally anywhere, and not overly zoomed in -- maybe we collectors wouldn't find as many reasons to complain as we do.

Oh, who am I kidding? We're a cantankerous bunch of old guys (and gals). We're programmed to complain and not to be happy.

Mark, thank you very much for these and all the rest of the cards you sent my way. They are very much appreciated. 

And to the rest of you?

Cards from the Best Section in Fenway

I've never been to Fenway Park, so I can't vouch specifically for the idea that Section 36 in Fenway in the best section in the stadium. However, no other stadium section has sent me cards in trade, and no other stadium section that I'm aware of has a baseball card blog. 

Also, I'm pretty sure that I have not seen any other baseball card blogs do an interview with either Miss Massachusetts Lauren Kuhn or Miss Vermont Alayna Westcom. Based on those two facts alone, I'm pretty sure Section 36 must be the best section in Fenway.

Right, Ms. Kuhn? [Insert tenuous reason to include swimsuit photo of pageant winner]

Do you agree Ms. Westcom?

I have to say that the coolest thing about Alayna Westcom is not that she is a very attractive woman. It's that she is a strong advocate for focusing on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) in schools. Everyone wanting to be the next Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg looks to create that multi-billion dollar business needs to have a STEM background.

Don't be like me and become a lawyer. We've got plenty of lawyers in the world. If I had to do it all over again, I'd probably still become a lawyer...or a history professor somewhere... but that's all because I never liked physics. So don't be me. 

Oh, yeah, baseball cards.

Right.

To match Lauren Kuhn's yellow bikini, we have a Derrick Turnbow All-Star Workout-Used Jersey Relic from 2006 Topps:

And to match Alayna Westcom's red bikini, how about a few 2008 Topps Opening Day cards? Works for me!


While those cards and the excuse to post beautiful women in bikinis would be more than enough to keep me happy [I really am a simple man], there were a ton of other cards.  Let's go for player collection groups.

First, the rest of the Yovani Gallardos:



Followed by the Carlos Gomezes:



Next up, Corey Hart:



Let's put a pitcher and catcher together and show off Jonathan Lucroy and Ben Sheets together.



A number of gaps in the rapidly-climbing-toward-a-full-2000-player collection of Rickie Weeks were filled:



And, finally, a couple of fantastic Paul Molitors:



Shockingly, I did not have the Stadium Club of Molitor. That's a great photo of Molitor stealing second base at the old Milwaukee County Stadium.

The cool thing: if that were Fenway, I'm pretty sure Section 36 would be right behind him.

Many thanks go out to Section 36. If I ever get to Fenway, that is the section I will go to immediately!

OH: And, a lot of mail went out today to:

78235 (France)
K9J 3P1
13039 (Italy)
03301
19390
91770
21788
33511
60586
77573
02919
16101

More will go out soon, hopefully!