Correcting the Record with an Old Photo

I'm very embarrassed to say that my post yesterday regarding Glenn Braggs contained an inaccuracy. I linked to the Glenn Braggs swing-and-a-miss on which he broke his bat over his own shoulder and said, incorrectly, that he struck out on the at bat. I didn't check myself against the Baseball Reference play-by-play, and there was the mistake. 

I still hadn't realized I'd made a mistake, though, until today. Late yesterday afternoon, I tweeted out the link to the post again, but this time including Glenn Braggs's Twitter handle in the Tweet. Imagine my surprise today when none other than Mr. Glenn Braggs himself corrected my mistake:

@OffHiatusBBC @pksteinberg Thanks for mention btw it was a fly out not a k! These things matter to hitters! Lol

— Glenn Braggs (@Gbraggs) May 9, 2016

Thankfully, as you can see, he was a good sport about it. Trust me when I say that I would not want to be on his wrong side.

Braggs actually holds another distinction: he was the first player to attend the University of Hawaii to make it to the major leagues. He actually had some pretty stiff competition for that distinction, as the second Rainbow Warrior to make it to the major leagues was one of Braggs's collegiate teammates. He's also one of my player collections: Chuck Crim. Perhaps surprisingly, the Brewers had four of the first eight Hawaii alumni to make the major leagues -- the other two being Joey Meyer and Scott Karl.

Apropos of thanking him, here's another Glenn Braggs item. This one is about 28 or 29 years old. When I was in high school, my mom had a job in a photo finishing factory -- one of those "overnight" photo developers. That meant, of course, that the second and third shifts were the busy time of the day for the place, and my mom worked third shift. 

Every once in awhile, she would come home with photos of baseball players. The place where she worked sponsored the Brewers "Photo Night" at the stadium, so that was often the time I'd most likely get some extra copies of photos. 

After the 1987 version of Photo Night, I got a bunch of 5x7s of various Brewers players. One of them was of Glenn Braggs, and I was lucky enough to get him to sign it:

I also got an unsigned 8x10 of him:

I worry about unleashing that photo on the Internet, though, because that look on his face could turn into a meme pretty easily...but if it does, I think someone should notify Mr. Braggs immediately.

Thanks to the wonders of Twitter, I was able to thank Glenn Braggs today personally for signing that autograph about 28 or 29 years ago...after he read a post I wrote and took the time to correct me on it.

Isn't technology a wonderful thing?

Thanks again to Mr. Glenn Braggs for being a good sport, and thank you all for reading. 

Long Weeks and Bubble Gum

We all have those weeks where, no matter what you do, work and life kicks your butt. This week has been one of those weeks. I certainly didn't mean not to post since Monday's astronaut post, but here we are.

Today, though, I have a little work to do but otherwise it's a card day. My wife has a board retreat for one of the nonprofits she works with, so I get a quiet day to flip channels for various soccer games (currently flipping between Tottenham v. Watford and Eintracht Frankfurt v. Stuttgart and throwing in Atletico Madrid v. Eibar on BeIn Sports Espanol). I am thankful for the respite, definitely.

I am also thankful for a great envelope that showed up on Wednesday at my house. Jeff from Wish They Still Came With Bubblegum sent a bunch of cool stuff -- some oddballs, some Chrome, some inserts, and a program.  Let's dig in and see what he's sent...and to do so, how about I take random stuff off Jeff's Twitter timeline!

@andrewhirsh let it out pic.twitter.com/zEOvZZHUfB

— Jeff (@jonesbwp) December 13, 2015

Well, don't mind if I do for just a moment. So, Jeff used to be a Georgia Bulldogs fan. Then, he relocates to the State of Florida. Rather than remaining true to his roots and being an upstanding, moral, decent person, instead Jeff became a Florida Gators fan.

It's okay, in the end, I suppose, because that means that Jeff occasionally sends me cards like these two:

Now, other than both going to Georgia and both being Pro Bowl honorees in their respective rookie years, A.J. Green and Todd Gurley also share the distinction of both having been suspended in their final season at Georgia for profiting off their likenesses -- Green by selling his bowl jersey to a nefarious agent-wannabe for $1000 and Gurley selling his autograph to some bastard Florida fan.

By the way, Jeff, where were you during the fall of 2014? You better not have been near Athens...

Build a WALL!? Kidding me? pic.twitter.com/jtexkBkL7g

— Jeff (@jonesbwp) August 7, 2015

What could possibly go with one of the, well, dumbest ideas in the presidential campaigns -- Donald Trump's claim that he would "force" Mexico to build a border wall ([/rant]: please note: I don't like Trump, but that's also true for about everyone in the campaign currently on both sides of the aisle. What I mean is, I don't like the primaries and I'm not a big fan of politics generally...there's too much b.s. and not enough well-thought-out statements of policy based on actual evidence as to what works and what doesn't...[/endrant])

Well, how about these:



I never really understood these buttons, whether when I was a kid or now. I mean, I like them as oddballs, of course, but there is just no good way to display or store these things. Of course, since they show major league baseball players clothed as Milwaukee Brewers, I feel compelled to collect them. 

So, I guess that I am the dumb one in the end.

We're still over .500 AND we get to play Philly this weekend #tweetthepositives #Braves pic.twitter.com/vi2i2R95Pn

— Jeff (@jonesbwp) April 23, 2015

Sure, the Braves ended up trading anything that moved away by midseason and then falling into an abyss deeper than the Marianas Trench.  The worst part of the season for the Braves was a stretch starting August 17 and ending September 6. In that timeframe, the Braves sported a 1-19 record. The lone win was a 5-3 win over Colorado on August 24, which broke a 7-game losing streak and preceded a 12-game losing streak that included a 15-4 loss and a 20-6 loss to the Yankees and a 15-1 loss to the Nationals.

At least the Brewers started out last season badly so there never was much hope to begin with. Both teams are looking toward the future with their transactions now, and Jeff sent some great cards of some of the younger guys.



Former Alabama Crimson Tide pitcher Jimmy Nelson is in the majors already. Coming in to 2015, Tyrone Taylor was the Brewers second-best prospect according to John Sickels at Minor League Ball. Monte Harrison was third, and Gilbert Lara was number 14.  

Thanks to the Carlos Gomez trade, the Gerardo Parra trade, the 2015 draft, and development (either by these guys or by guys in the 2014 draft), those numbers have changed. Lara is now number 6 thanks to his decent showings in two short-season leagues at the age of 18. 

Harrison is now number 9 after a poor Midwest League showing and an injury (though Sickels says Harrison is a high-risk, high-reward guy with an Andrew McCutchen-like physical ceiling...I'd take that). 

Taylor dropped all the way down to 18. Sickels says he is the low guy on Taylor, not seeing him as much more than a fourth outfielder at this point. Taylor slashed at .260/.312/.337 in Double-A as a 21-year-old in 454 at-bats with 10 steals, 31 walks, and 55 strikeouts. He's still young, certainly, but the outfield situation in Milwaukee has gotten much deeper.  

And Sickels's ratings were done on December 2 -- before Adam Lind was traded (for 3 minor leaguers), before Garin Cecchini joined the organization, before Jason Rogers was traded (to add Keon Broxton and Trey Supak), before Rymer Liriano was acquired, and before Tyler Wagner joined Jean Segura in the Arizona trade which brought Isan Diaz to the Brewers.

So, yeah, the organization has changed a lot in that two-month period.

Classic JUp "@MLBGIFs: Wall ball. pic.twitter.com/TCBAncYn1s"

— Jeff (@jonesbwp) April 17, 2015

 A fun Gif of Justin Upton seeing the dead leaves and the dirty ground in Wrigley Field eating up a baseball.  It has literally nothing to do with the highlight of Jeff's envelope to me, but I liked the gif. 

That highlight?

Just a Brewers Program from 1990 featuring Robin Yount alongside fellow Hall of Famers Hank Greenberg and Stan Musial. At the time, I believe that these three were the only three players in baseball history to have won the MVP at two different positions. For Musial and Greenberg, it was first base and outfield. For Yount, it was shortstop and outfield.

It's hard to believe that 1990 was 26 years ago now. But, it is.

Jeff, thank you very much for the great cards and the program -- even the ones I didn't highlight here. And, be careful what you Tweet...I might just use it against you!

Fantastic Mail Day

I've made trades through Twitter before. I've won Twitter contests before. I try to follow as many of you as I can find on Twitter as well. On occasion, I'll even post a snarky remark on Twitter directed at Topps, or Harold Reynolds, or some other deserving-of-snark target. 

I have even had people reach out to me to get my address to mail me something through Twitter.  That's what happened a few days back to me when Weston from Fantastic Catch sent me a DM (that's a "Direct Message" for those of you less technically inclined...yes, that was snark/sarcasm) to get my address.  

I tend not to follow too many baseball players on Twitter though. Simply put, most of them are pretty boring to follow. Still, perhaps I should look into following a few of them...maybe the guys whose cards Weston sent?

First, let me get the guys who I just can't find on Twitter out of the way. For any of these guys, if you happen to know their Twitter handle, please let me know and I'll fix this.

Matt Cline

Cline was an All-Star at Brevard County in 2010, but he was 24 in High-A and coming off a lost 2009 season. He crashed and burned at Huntsville in 2012 (after a none-too-impressive 2011), and that was it for him in minor league baseball.

Richie Sexson

Y'all know who he is. Sexson has been out of baseball since 2008, making nearly $69 million between 1998 and 2008 for his troubles. I am older than Richie Sexson by 3 years and 2 days, and I have not made $69 million for my troubles. 

Not yet.

But, I hear you have to buy a lottery ticket to win the lottery. So that probably won't change anytime soon.

Geoff Jenkins

I am surprised by these guys who are, essentially, my contemporaries who apparently view Twitter or computers with such contempt or fear.  But hey, he's on LinkedIn!

Taylor Green

Wow.  This is going badly at this point. I can't find any of these guys on Twitter.  Green made it to the majors for 78 at bats split between 2011 and 2012. He tore a labrum in his left hip in 2013, had surgery, and hasn't been back up in the majors. He's still at it though -- he's at Double-A Biloxi currently.  I predict he'll end up managing the Brewers in 2024.

WAIT -- I really did find some guys!

Like Erik Komatsu (@KomoBeatz)

Komatsu was another High-A All-Star in 2010 at Brevard County. The Brewers traded him to the Washington Nationals in 2011 for Jerry Hairston as a trade deadline pickup. He then got selected in the Rule 5 draft by the Cardinals that Decement. The Cardinals tried to send him down, but the Twins selected him off waivers.  Between the Twins and Cardinals in 2012, he played 30 games in the Major Leagues.  He moved around a bunch last year -- released by Washington, signed and released by the Angels, and then signed and released by the Brewers. 

He's playing in the independent Atlantic League this year, and he fashions himself as a Music Producer.  His latest Twitter post is a mix of stadium announcers saying "now batting" with a Beyonce song. It's actually decent.

Dustin DeMuth (@_doubled16)

DeMuth played college baseball with Kyle Schwarber at Indiana. Schwarber is with the Cubs; DeMuth is in the Midwest League with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. He's hitting pretty well there. But, that's the difference between a first round pick and a fifth round pick, I suppose.

Thomas Keeling (@Thomas_Keeling)

Keeling is a 27-year-old pitcher who ended up in the Braves system in 2013, washed out, played in independent league ball in 2014, and does not appear to be playing this year. Perhaps it was telling that he repeated at Helena in Rookie League ball in 2010 and 2011. His last tweet was complaining to Southwest Airlines about something.

Haven't we all been there before...

Troy Stokes (@Troy_Stokes15)

Stokes is a very active tweeter. Over his three years on Twitter, he's Tweeted in excess of 14,000 times. I hope he's working on his education, though -- he's not highly thought of in prospect circles and did not make MLB's top 30 prospects in the Brewers system as of midseason.

Hunter Morris (@HunterMorris15)

A little bit of Hunter Morris jersey there for you. He's now in the Pittsburgh organization, and his Twitter home page has just two words that only my wife could love: War Eagle.

Bleh.

Carlos Gomez (@C_Gomez27)

When you have over 72,500 followers, I think you qualify for the little blue "verified" check mark. Granted, Topps may think you're Khris Davis, but that's a little thing.  Gomez tweets pretty regularly in what can only be called Spanglish.

I hope he stays with the team at least through the offseason. The Brewers should trade him, but I tend to think that the return will be more if the team waits.

Prince Fielder (@RealPFielder28)

The best card in the envelope -- the black 2009 Topps Update serial numbered to just 58 -- came from the least interesting Twitter follow of the group. Prince has nearly 150,000 followers. He's shared a grand total of 74 Tweets...and of those, I think about 1/3 to 1/2 include corporate sponsor-type stuff like shout-outs to T-Mobile and Sponge Bob.

I think that's why I follow bloggers instead of baseballers.

Like Weston (@cardscrush99).

Weston, thank you very much for the great cards and the excuse to troll through Twitter for a few minutes!