P-Town Songs for P-Town Tom

Last week, I received an envelope from P-Town Tom with a note that said, in part, that he was emptying out his trade boxes. He added a postscript, though, that made me smile. He complimented my blog and said that it has "great music and lots of creative writing to go with all that research."

I'm blushing, Tom. I really am. 

I say that because I often feel that I ask a lot of my readers to wade through the long and often unfocused journey through my mental processes that lead me to highlight a card. Many times, a single word sends me down a rabbit trail, into the weeds, deep into the briars, over the river, and through the woods in ways that getting to Grandma's house would be a relief even if a big bad wolf was at the end of the trip. 

Tom has sent so many packages to me that I am now officially reaching for a theme. The thing is, though, that, with mailings from Tom, there has to be a theme of some sort because there are always so many cards that he sends. I like to highlight more than one or two, so it ends up almost more like a scanner dump than it does a real review of what he's sent. 

So, I came up with a theme. We've covered bands who are from Peoria, but what about songs that mention Peoria? Sure -- why not.

This song, "I Wish't I Was in Peoria," was apparently written in the early 1920s by Billy Rose and Mort Dixon and copyrighted for the first time in 1925. The guys in the video above are called The Banjo Kings. The person who posted this tagged this video as being taken on Main Street at Disney World.

Having never been to Disney World, I couldn't tell you about that. 

This is a pretty decent little ragtime ditty. Perhaps the funniest part is when about a minute into the song, some woman walks up to the band, stands next to the washboard percussionist and poses for a photo. What was that?

For some reason, the ragtime whimsy led me to put up these cards from the late 1990s. I guess it's just that the late 1990s gave us such ridiculous cards like that Burnitz Ionix (which is probably from 2000, but...) with 6 photos of Burnitz on it. Then there's that Black Diamond look which Panini's creative team apparently thought was the very pinnacle of baseball card making -- as opposed to the PInnacle Aficionado card of Dave Nilsson, of course.

Seriously, though, if you don't take these cards with a grain of salt and a pocketful of whimsy, you'll get angry at the fact that they actually still look better than some of the cards that Topps and Panini have been putting out the past few years.

At least I would. But I'm an angry person sometimes.

Now, for something far less uplifting. The band Songs: Ohia -- really just singer-songwriter Jason Molina -- was an indie band in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Some folks call it folk, some call it alt-country, and some call it indie rock. This song is called "Peoria Lunch Box Blues," and it features Molina's friend and fellow Secretly Canadian label mate Scout Niblett providing the vocals. 

This is truly a blues song without being "the Blues." It's atmospherically depressing, and the vocals lend to that atmosphere. Unfortunately, it's also appropriate, as Molina was an alcoholic who died on March 16, 2013 -- the result of alcohol abuse-related organ failure -- at the age of 39. 

None of the cards that Tom sent really go with that incredibly sad and depressing story, so let's go the other way:

The two top cards are the first Topps Chrome cards in my possession from this year. I kind of like that blue cracked ice parallel, though I hope me saying that doesn't encourage Topps to issue 7 different variations on that theme. Dear God Topps needs to scale it back with the parallels. 

The middle row features 2 1990 Fleer boxed set cards of PC members Dan Plesac and Robin Yount. Red borders look good on cards to me. Other than those Target parallels, has Topps ever used red borders? They should. But not as parallels.

The bottom row? Yes, I'm still working on Series 2 of Topps. It happens every year. I get fired up for Series 1 and even get into case breaks for them. Series 2 rolls around and I barely notice it.  The shiny card is Greg Vaughn's Denny's Grand Slam Upper Deck card. It scanned incredibly well. The actual card looks like a cheap mirror. 

I guess that's sort of depressing. 

Sometimes, these random searches unearth some true gems. This is not one of them.

The YouTube counter says this video for "the peoria song" by jeff govednik (hey, I'm respecting the poster's decision to hate capitalization) says that he has gotten 474 views of his song. It appears that this guy has a really cool basement or he's in a really clean, empty, well-lit bar. Every line in this song starts with "the stupid f**ks," so I'm guessing mr govednik really hates Peoria.

Maybe he should leave Peoria if it's that bad to him. There's a pretty big country out there. Heck, he could just move to Pekin.

I single stacked these cards to make them bigger. Some of these cards were made by card companies whose names probably should have also begun with "the stupid f**ks." 

Pinnacle, for example. What the sam hill is that Aficionado set? I may have said it before a few weeks ago when I got a Dave Nilsson from the same set, but that large, disintegrating profile shot on the right side may be the ugliest feature ever on a baseball card. 1995 Fleer is ugly as a concept, but Aficionado takes it to a whole new level. 

And what kind of name for a card set is "Aficionado" any way? Were they trying to capitalize on the whole cigar craze thing that got hot for about 6 months in the mid-1990s? You know, the whole Swingers phase, when annoying a-holes went around calling their friends "money" and calling women "beautiful babies"? Plus that movie was so ridiculous. There's no way that Heather Graham ever gives Jon Favreau her attorney business card, unless she felt compelled to do so since he bought her a drink.

Still, it may be better than simply repeating the same damn photo on the front of the card like Upper Deck did to Robin Yount.

See, I'm getting angry. Let's move on.

Okay, so that's actually an attempt by Bradley University to make Bradley seem hip-hop. In fact, it's literally an official video from Bradley. The singer/songwriter is Josiah Williams, a 2014 Theater Arts graduate from Bradley who grew up in Milwaukee.

So, at least he's got that going for him. 

The song is pretty upbeat and catchy. Maybe he'll rename himself Brad Ley to take a riff off his clear musical influence, Flo Rida.

The good thing is that this was upbeat, so it's perfect for the finale -- the rest of the cool cards that I wanted to showcase.



Let's start with the angry Ryan manurelic. It's cool because it's the retro logo. Otherwise, it's a pretty bad photo of Ryan Braun. 

The next card down is my first encounter with Bowman Platinum for 2016. Platinum was a Wal-Mart exclusive this year. Thanks to the way that the BP set was put together, you are looking at the one and only base set card for the Brewers. There are a few other cards from this set that I need, and it has the full panoply of Orlando Arcia autographs scattered in the inserts. It also features a "Top Prospects" set that includes Brett Phillips, Arcia, Trent Clark, and still-non-prospect David Denson. I'm on the lookout for those cards.

There's a wonderful 1979 O-Pee-Chee of Cecil Cooper that made me wonder if I had accidentally mixed up the cards from Angus and had forgotten to post this, but nope -- it came from the Flatlands.

Finally, the bottom row features an excellent Bill Schroeder autographed 1986 Topps cards and a Ben Sheets Gold Label card. The Gold Label features a pretty clearly airbrushed/ photoshopped uniform and hat logo -- and probably stirrups and socks as well, since his sanitary socks are looking a little powder blue there. 

And, the Schroeder autograph is great because I don't think I have any Schroeder autographs. Despite his being the TV color guy for many years in Milwaukee now, he was always a bit elusive and somewhat difficult when he was a player. From all impressions, he's a decent dude now though.

Tom, many thanks for the cards, and I hope you enjoyed this slice of music! 

Hazed by Bowman

I never joined a fraternity in college. Shocking, I know, that a guy who collects baseball cards would not join a fraternity. For the most part, I actually stayed away from the frats at Vanderbilt because I really wasn't all that much into beer drinking in college. Sure, I'd drink mixed drinks without a problem. 

But fraternity beer was crappy stuff like Milwaukee's Best Light, so a taste was enough to convince me not to drink too much. Later -- like, the year after graduating from college -- when I had a little bit of money, I started enjoying beer drinking. I tend not to drink as much beer these days as I have in the past thanks to getting back into enjoying wine more and starting on gin instead. 

But, thanks to my non-fraternity background, I "missed out" on the indoctrination of fraternity hazing. Strangely enough, some people actually have posted a hazing song from their fraternity on YouTube, calling it a "Vintage Sigma Chi Hazing Song."



I don't get the appeal of it. Yeah, I guess it gives you an in with sorority girls, maybe. And maybe making a few friends you might not have otherwise made could be an appeal as well. Still, it seems puerile and obnoxious to need to rely on paying dues to hang out with your friends.

But, that might just be me.

Why am I talking about hazing? Because all around good guy John Hazen sent me some Bowman cards -- that's why. John sent me an email saying he had a few Bowman from 2008 and asked if I needed them. I like people who ask me that.

So, let's see what I got!



This Stephen Chapman is not a Christian singer, nor does he write for the Chicago Tribune, nor does he play soccer for Appalachian State University. This Stephen Chapman was the Brewers 6th Round pick in the 2004 draft out of Marianna High School in Marianna, Florida (which is pretty much due north of Panama City inland in Florida's panhandle). 

By 2008, he was 22 years old and had spent his 2007 season at West Virginia in the Sally League where he hit 24 HRs and slashed .262/.326/.501. His batting eye left something to be desired -- 36 BB and 137 Ks in 511 plate appearances. He spent 2008 in the Florida State League and struggled greatly hitting -- so much so that he was out of the Brewers organization and with the Reds for the 2009 season. 2009 is the last year that he has stats on Baseball Reference, so I'm pretty sure he's not playing organized baseball any more.

David Welch was born in Sydney, Australia in 1983. He was drafted by the Yankees in 2003 and did not sign. The Brewers then drafted him in the 20th round of the 2005 draft out of Texarkana College in Texas. He was old for his levels in 2005, 2006, and 2007 -- reaching the Florida State league in 2007. 

He moved up to Huntsville in 2008 and pitched okay but not great -- only a 1.86 K/BB ratio in 147-2/3 innings. He returned to Huntsville in 2009 and was named to the Australian Baseball World Cup Roster that year. But, in 2010, he found himself in independent baseball with Sioux City, Mexico City, and back in Sydney with the Blue Sox -- even throwing the first no-hitter in the playoffs in Aussie baseball history against the Adelaide Bite. That 2010 season was the last that Baseball Reference heard of him, and he retired on July 18, 2011.

I'm sensing an unhappy trend here.

Darren Ford was an 18th Round pick of the Brewers in 2004 out of Chipola College -- in Marianna, Florida, oddly enough. Ford actually made it to the major leagues with the San Francisco Giants in 2010 and 2011. His grandfather, Ted Ford, also played in the major leagues in the early 1970s.

His most accurate position really would be "pinch runner," it seems. In his minor league career spanning 12 seasons and counting (as he spent 2016 in Double-A and Triple-A with the Giants), he has racked up 4944 plate appearances and hit 58 homers. But, he has stolen 450 bases since 2005. Ford stole 18 bases in 61 games in 2005, 69 bases in 125 games in 2006, and 67 bases in 123 games in 2007. 

But, midway through the 2008 season, the Brewers traded him along with another minor leaguer (Steve Hammond) to the Giants to rent the skeletal remains of Ray Durham for the pennant chase. The Giants released him after the 2011 season. The Mariners signed him for a year and then let him go. Then, the Pirates had him for a season and let him go. Since 2014, he's been organizational depth for the Giants.

Last one:

Speaking of guys from baseball families, here's Cleveland outfielder Mike Brantley. Of course, his dad Mickey played for the Mariners from 1986 through 1989. Though he never played for the major league team, he spent a portion of 1990 and all of 1991 in the Milwaukee Brewers farm system at Triple-A Denver.

Mike also didn't make it to the major leagues with the Brewers. He was a 7th round draft pick out of high school from Fort Pierce, Florida (which is on the east coast of Florida in St. Lucie County). Brantley was the player to be named later in the trade that sent CC Sabathia to Milwaukee. While Matt LaPorta and Zach Jackson were thought to be the key players at the time, Brantley turned out to be the real gem.

Brantley missed most of 2016 thanks to having right shoulder surgery in May of 2016. It was a shame that the got hurt, as he appeared to be turning into a minor star in 2014 -- making the all-star game, finishing third in the MVP voting (behind Mike Trout and Victor Martinez), and winning the Silver Slugger Award. If the 2014 MVP voting was done on WAR, Brantley (6.8, of which 7.0 came from hitting and -0.2 for his defense) would have been 5th behind Trout (7.9 WAR and MVP), teammate Corey Kluber (7.4 WAR), Josh Donaldson (7.3) and Adrian Beltre (7.0). 

Many thanks go out to John "Purple" Hazen for these great cards -- I'll be putting a package together soon!

Thanks and Happy Birthday Angus!

I'm always excited to get packages from Angus, the poor soul who cheers for the Cleveland Browns and writes Dawg Day Cards. The simple reason for my excitement is that I'm almost always assured of receiving Canadian cards of some sort that I just can't get down here in Atlanta. 

What with my sporadic ability to form coherent thoughts as of late, I've been sitting on this package -- figuratively, of course. If I were literally sitting on it, that would likely explain my inability to think. Then, earlier this week, I saw on Angus's blog that he reached another birthday on October 10. His post brought up a few famous musicians/entertainers that share that date of birth -- Thelonious Monk (for whom my law school softball team, Felonious Punks, was named), Ben Vereen, and David Lee Roth were his choices. 

Since I'm not in a writing mood but I'm always in a musical mood, I thought I'd see who else might share that birthday with Angus and use that to introduce cards. So, here we go.  Let's start off a little slowly:

My God I hated this sappy song in the 1980s. But, Spandau Ballet's bass player is a gentleman named Martin Kemp. Kemp's brother is the guitarist and lead songwriter. Martin Kemp also is an actor and has a role on the long-running BBC soap opera EastEnders. Of course, Martin Kemp's birthday is October 10.




Appropriate for the slow starting music are these Leaf cards from 1988. I saw a tweet recently asking if there was a set that got less respect than the 1988 Donruss set. My response is that 1990 Donruss did, and it got the respect it deserved. Another person pointed out -- correctly -- that 1991 Fleer with its bright yellow borders should get even less respect.

I hate it when I forget such things. 

Okay, what's next?

Oh crap, it's more overwrought emotional claptrap, isn't it? Mike Malinin, born on October 10, joined Goo Goo Dolls as its drummer in January of 1995. He stayed with the band until 2013. In 2014, he apparently was fired by Johnny Rzeznik and bassist Robert Takac because he wanted to be with his wife and his newborn twins. 

According to the Wikipedia entry about it, the suit alleged said that "punitive damages are appropriate to punish such sociopathic conduct and ensure there is no reward for hatred and despicable conduct."

Actually, Mr. Malinin, there is a reward for hatred and despicable conduct. Your respective political party might vote you to be their candidate for president.

Thank you folks, I'll be here all weekend. Try the veal. 

I wouldn't call these "sociopathic" in any way, but it Don Sutton does look a bit upset. My guess is that he was Suttoning and the photographer told him that the photo was going to be a headshot. If anything can make Don Sutton mad, it would be that.

Remember Don, you can't always get what you want. 

Okay, we need something a bit more upbeat...maybe even with some sex appeal.

The band is called The Saturdays, and they are an English/Irish girl group. The redhead in the group is Una Healy -- now Una Foden. She was born on October 10, 1981, in County Tipperary, Ireland. She married Irish rugby union fullback Ben Foden in 2012, and they have two children. She will be appearing on the Irish version of "The Voice" coming up soon. 

If you enjoy photos of attractive women, you can do a lot worse than an Google Image Search for Ms. Healy.

Upbeat and attractive?

There is nothing more upbeat than 1970s O-Pee-Chee! Especially the 1972 version with the beautiful art deco lettering. While it's been said before (H/T The Shlabotnik Report), I especially love the dye/airbrush job that O-Pee-Chee put on Cooper's appearance in the 1977 set -- repainting him as a Brewer after his appearance in the Topps set with the exact same photo as a Red Sox player:

Sure, his hat looks a little purple, but it'll do pig. It'll do.

But man, does this put me into a funky mood.

One of the originators of funk music was the band called The Meters (not The Funky Meters, just The Meters). This song is some badass funk that is so cool that the Blaxploitation films of the 1970s had to be invented just to showcase the music! One of the members of this band -- born on October 10, 1948 -- is Cyril Neville. 

Cyril is a percussionist and is the youngest of the four Neville brothers (Art, Charles, and Aaron are the others) who make up the band called, of course, The Neville Brothers. Back when funk was first developing, Cyril and Art had a band in which Cyril was the lead singer and danced and sang a lot like a funk king from Augusta, Georgia, by the name of James Brown. 

Funky baseball cards? Damn, I should have held back those cards from the 1970s, I guess. I'll have to just put up some others:



These beauties from the 1980s (and one from 2003 in the style of the 1980 Topps of Cecil Cooper) deserve that awesome funk sound. Granted, this might be the first time in Jim Gantner's life that he is appearing in the same neighborhood as "funky" -- especially without his usual mustache -- but we won't penalize the rest of the cards for Gumby's indiscretion.

Nor should we.

I also snuck in a 1984 Nestle card in amongst these mostly Canadian baked cards. I couldn't help it -- Angus snuck in the Nestle on me, so let's go eat some chocolate bars.

Okay, we need one more song to close this out. Let's get eclectic -- at least off the beaten path a bit...

Too much to go to Tanya Tucker -- born October 10, 1958 in Seminole, Texas? Maybe so. She's struggling with her health right now.  She had to cancel some shows in Canada and the northern US after contracting an upper respiratory infection while in South Dakota. 

Geez, she has some wicked vibrato going on in that song.

Okay, I can't close on that song. Let's shoehorn in one more 10/10 baby:

James a/k/a "Midge" Ure (Midge is Jim spelled out as if said backwards) is the Scottish lead singer of Ultravox, and he was born on October 10, 1953. Midge is actually on tour right now -- appearing TONIGHT (October 13) in Milwaukee at Shank Hall and then on Saturday here in Atlanta at The EARL of all places. Wow, that would be a cool show to see in that small of a venue!

Midge is also responsible for unleashing on the world one of the most well-known songs that patronizes Africa -- "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid and, indeed, the entire Band Aid effort was a joint effort involving Ure and Bob Geldof.

Apropos of that melange? This melange:

While I should have featured the 1960 NL Home Run Leaders by itself, it seems strangely appropriate to be added in here since it is a bit clipped -- it's probably about an eighth of an inch narrower than a normal card. Of course, you don't find that card cheap in most places, so hopefully that meant that Angus got a good deal on it!

Angus, thank you so much for all the great cards -- and Happy Birthday once again!