EllGab - Spite Board
Rikki Gins Lounge => ShayP Sports Shack => Topic started by: Walks_At_Night on July 14, 2018, 06:24:07 PM
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Let's see your favorite 'Cardboard Gods'
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I've always liked this card of Doug Ault (https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/aultdo01.shtml)
It's an action photo and obviously he didn't hit the ball the way he wanted. Ault was one of the original Toronto Blue Jays
and hit two home runs in the Jays first ever game on April 7th, 1977. By 1980 he was done with Major League Baseball
and eventually took his own life. However, I've always been fond of this card.
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I will see your Blue Jay and raise you....
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Ellis Valentine and his half football face mask
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That's the spirit! This might turn out to be a fun little thread. We'll see...............
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How's about a classic Robinson 'brothers' card:
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Cuz a 2fer is always cool.
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Collection of Early 80s Cubs suckkage. I put these together as a kid and forgot all about them until going through things at moms house.
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I have an autographed Ernie Banks rookie card and an autographed baseball.
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I think Cal's little brother deserves some votes. For his creativity with a felt pen on the knob of his bat
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Otherwise I always liked the cards featuring game action shots
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I wondered how he could hit standing like that. I also wondered who names their kid Jesus.
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When Topps was the only company licensed to put out player cards, there were a couple of years that Fleer put out sets of World Series cards with cartoon images - one card for each year.
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I ate a lot of bad cereal to get the 3D card in each box
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Who could forget Bouton's Ball Four, the first of the tell all sports exposés. Hey, it go a generation of jr high kids to read a book.
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There was also a sequel
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le grande orange...
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Simply because he was one of my favorite Buccos growing up, and his delivery was awesome. :)
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Not on a baseball card...but should've been. 8)
Former Yankee and Pirate Jeff Karstens. Look at that "pitch face!" :D
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There was a time that I was such a huge Detroit Tigers fan that I even collected cards from their AAA minor league affiliate at time - the Evansville Triplets.
That is where I can across this card that fascinated me:
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Stine Poole (https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=poole-001sti) He was a catcher buried in the Tigers system because at the time, Detroit had the beast that was Lance Parrish behind the plate. They also had a very capable backup by the name of Johnny Wockenfuss [we'll meet him at a future date] that could absolutely rake left handers. So there really was no place for a catcher to go in the Tigers system. Still, Poole looks happy in this picture. He was from California and he just struck me as the carefree Surfer type of dude. Plus there was that name: Stine Poole. I like my own name, it being the only one I've ever had, but I don't think it would suck to be called Stine Poole.
The Tigers eventually traded him to the Twins for Sal Butera. Straight up. No cash. No picks. No player to be named later. Just Poole for Butera.
You know your career in O.B. is in trouble when you get traded for Butera. Stine didn't last long in the Twins organization and his career was over before he ever made the Majors.
Seems like he has done okay for himself. He became a furniture maker (http://www.stinepoole.com) and a darn good one it would seem. He doesn't seem haunted that he never made the Bigs. The Bio on his website never mentioned that he played AAA ball. I think if I made it that close to MLB I'd tell *everyone*.............
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His stuff looks very nice I think:
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There was a time that I was such a huge Detroit Tigers fan that I even collected cards from their AAA minor league affiliate at time - the Evansville Triplets.
That is where I can across this card that fascinated me:
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Stine Poole (https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=poole-001sti) He was a catcher buried in the Tigers system because at the time, Detroit had the beast that was Lance Parrish behind the plate. They also had a very capable backup by the name of Johnny Wockenfuss [we'll meet him at a future date] that could absolutely rake left handers. So there really was no place for a catcher to go in the Tigers system. Still, Poole looks happy in this picture. He was from California and he just struck me as the carefree Surfer type of dude. Plus there was that name: Stine Poole. I like my own name, it being the only one I've ever had, but I don't think it would suck to be called Stine Poole.
The Tigers eventually traded him to the Twins for Sal Butera. Straight up. No cash. No picks. No player to be named later. Just Poole for Butera.
You know your career in O.B. is in trouble when you get traded for Butera. Stine didn't last long in the Twins organization and his career was over before he ever made the Majors.
Seems like he has done okay for himself. He became a furniture maker (http://www.stinepoole.com) and a darn good one it would seem. He doesn't seem haunted that he never made the Bigs. The Bio on his website never mentioned that he played AAA ball. I think if I made it that close to MLB I'd tell *everyone*.............
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His stuff looks very nice I think:
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That teak sink was a trip! Glad to see he apparently isn't bummed out by "what might have been" like so many other former players.
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Simply because he was one of my favorite Buccos growing up, and his delivery was awesome. :)
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Your image dropped temporarily- how about:
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And yeah that sidearm delivery was a kick to watch.
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One of them became a lot more famous in the dugout after his playing days ended.
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One of them became a lot more famous in the dugout after his playing days ended.
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Oh Clint. I like the guy but I am tired of him "managing" my Buccos.
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Not a favorite in any sense except that I think I had more of these cards than any other in any given time when I was collecting. That and Wayne Nordhagen (listed below this card). I must've had 20 of each of these dudes.
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What about the sticker albums?
My first one...
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The foil stickers were the All*Stars. Gold and silver. They were the premium when you were trading with friends. :D
I paid dearly for this one to complete my book...
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Not a favorite in any sense except that I think I had more of these cards than any other in any given time when I was collecting. That and Wayne Nordhagen (listed below this card). I must've had 20 of each of these dudes.
Oh that was a problem. I had 20+of this guy too.................
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Oh that was a problem. I had 20+of this guy too.................
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LOL! Wow. I don't remember THAT guy, but I most likely came across him. Good old Craig Skok. ;D
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Oh Clint. I like the guy but I am tired of him "managing" my Buccos.
Yep he wore his welcome out in Colorado too... :-\
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How about favorite sets? Every year they came out with new designs. I particularly like the 1978 Topps cards and the 1982 Fleer's. Something about the powder blue backs on those (Fleer). 8)
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...could scare the seams off the ball...
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...could scare the seams off the ball...
Yeah...no shit. :o
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Yep he wore his welcome out in Colorado too... :-\
I'm tired of his affirmations with every single press conference. It's like he's managing a bunch of snowflakes, or he's convincing himself he's still sober. :P
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I'm tired of his affirmations with every single press conference. It's like he's managing a bunch of snowflakes, or he's convincing himself he's still sober. :P
Kinda funny how the Rockies ended up with your old skipper and you guys with theirs.
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Kinda funny how the Rockies ended up with your old skipper and you guys with theirs.
Ha! Jim Tracy.
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Ha! Jim Tracy.
And also Jim Leyland...for one season... ::)
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And also Jim Leyland...for one season... ::)
oh. I forgot. :-\
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oh. I forgot. :-\
Lol, I believe Rockies fans might want to as well... ::)
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I like this 'card' of Joe Charboneau (https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/charbjo01.shtml). In full disclosure, it is a mockup made by the guy over at Cards that never were (http://cardsthatneverwere.blogspot.com/2014/06/1980-topps-joe-charboneau.html). The actual Topps Charboneau card is a rather bland card for a guy that was a wild man. I like this guy's rendition much better. It captures "Super Joe" in all his meat headed, Paleo-Gronkowski glory. The curly hair, the not quite cleanly shaved upper lip, the gold chain peeping out of his jersey and that fun loving smile. Charboneau is the dude you definitely want to party with.
He fought bare knuckle bouts in High School for extra cash. After having his nose broken in a bout, he straightened it out with a pair of pliers.
This left him with the ability to inhale beers through his nose at breakneck speed. He also had a knack for opening beer bottles with his eye socket.
He got a tattoo in a drunken binge but later decided that he didn't like it so he hacked it off with a razor blade. Those are just some of the stories that made up the Legend of Joe Charboneau
He started out in the minors in the Phillies organization but quit and went home to play in a softball league after having a falling out with his manager. Minnesota picked him up the next year and sent him to A ball and were well rewarded with a monster year from Charboneau - he hit over .350 with 116 RBI's. However, he was involved in a bar room brawl and the Twins sent him to Cleveland. In AA for the 1979 season, Charboneau again had a big year.
He was invited to Spring Training but as usual trouble found Joe in a hurry. The Indians were playing an exhibition game in Mexico when he was knifed by a fan. The fan was arrested and had to pay a fine of 50 Pesos for the incident. Charboneau said glibly "That's $2.27 for stabbing a person". He healed up while meantime the Indians big hitter Andre Thornton was injured, so the Indians put him on the big league roster.
He became a sensation and the Legend of Super Joe Charboneau was born. He was the AL Rookie of the Year in 1980 and tales of his off the field exploits were everywhere. There was even a popular song called "Go Joe Charboneau". It seemed as if the sky was the limit. Sadly, it was not to be. In spring training 1981 he wrenched his back on a head first slide. He was never right again and became the first ever Rookie of the Year to be sent to the minors the next season. After a number of back surgeries he would end his Major League career with the fewest ever appearances in a big league game by a position player that had won Rookie of the Year.
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He knocked around the minors some and appeared as an extra in the movie The Natural.
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He later did some sports management and had his own radio show. Then he returned to baseball as a coach and a manager. In a fairly recent
picture of him, he looks happy and relaxed. Apparently he must have calmed down as he got older
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I'll be damned Walks! I remember Joe. The history not so much. Thanks man! 8) 8) 8)
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I'll be damned Walks! I remember Joe. The history not so much. Thanks man! 8) 8) 8)
You bet. Here is the 'real' 1981 Topps card for Charboneau. Too bland for the guy. Too bland...........
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I like this 'card' of Joe Charboneau (https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/charbjo01.shtml). In full disclosure, it is a mockup made by the guy over at Cards that never were (http://cardsthatneverwere.blogspot.com/2014/06/1980-topps-joe-charboneau.html). The actual Topps Charboneau card is a rather bland card for a guy that was a wild man. I like this guy's rendition much better. It captures "Super Joe" in all his meat headed, Paleo-Gronkowski glory. The curly hair, the not quite cleanly shaved upper lip, the gold chain peeping out of his jersey and that fun loving smile. Charboneau is the dude you definitely want to party with.
He fought bare knuckle bouts in High School for extra cash. After having his nose broken in a bout, he straightened it out with a pair of pliers.
This left him with the ability to inhale beers through his nose at breakneck speed. He also had a knack for opening beer bottles with his eye socket.
He got a tattoo in a drunken binge but later decided that he didn't like it so he hacked it off with a razor blade. Those are just some of the stories that made up the Legend of Joe Charboneau
He started out in the minors in the Phillies organization but quit and went home to play in a softball league after having a falling out with his manager. Minnesota picked him up the next year and sent him to A ball and were well rewarded with a monster year from Charboneau - he hit over .350 with 116 RBI's. However, he was involved in a bar room brawl and the Twins sent him to Cleveland. In AA for the 1979 season, Charboneau again had a big year.
He was invited to Spring Training but as usual trouble found Joe in a hurry. The Indians were playing an exhibition game in Mexico when he was knifed by a fan. The fan was arrested and had to pay a fine of 50 Pesos for the incident. Charboneau said glibly "That's $2.27 for stabbing a person". He healed up while meantime the Indians big hitter Andre Thornton was injured, so the Indians put him on the big league roster.
He became a sensation and the Legend of Super Joe Charboneau was born. He was the AL Rookie of the Year in 1980 and tales of his off the field exploits were everywhere. There was even a popular song called "Go Joe Charboneau". It seemed as if the sky was the limit. Sadly, it was not to be. In spring training 1981 he wrenched his back on a head first slide. He was never right again and became the first ever Rookie of the Year to be sent to the minors the next season. After a number of back surgeries he would end his Major League career with the fewest ever appearances in a big league game by a position player that had won Rookie of the Year.
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He knocked around the minors some and appeared as an extra in the movie The Natural.
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He later did some sports management and had his own radio show. Then he returned to baseball as a coach and a manager. In a fairly recent
picture of him, he looks happy and relaxed. Apparently he must have calmed down as he got older
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Not BB card related but reminded me of Steven Petrosino for some reason. He got advanced degrees and is now some kind of health guy? :o
http://www.beerrecord.com/
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Not BB card related but reminded me of Steven Petrosino for some reason. He got advanced degrees and is now some kind of health guy? :o
http://www.beerrecord.com/
Ha! They look like they could hang together. Is that Howard Stern looking on intently in that Pix?
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Ha! They look like they could hang together. Is that Howard Stern looking on intently in that Pix?
Ha! Could be? They definitely could hang together, I think. In a way Guinness was good to get rid of certain, potentially dangerous, records but thinking on- it better in a book form with staff paying attention than kids doing crap on the internet trying to beat some record or stunt!
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How about favorite sets? Every year they came out with new designs. I particularly like the 1978 Topps cards and the 1982 Fleer's. Something about the powder blue backs on those (Fleer). 8)
Favorite set was 1971, with the black borders. Except every ding showed.
Also the back only showed the previous year and career stats.
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I liked the World Series cards that came out in the sets most years
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The playoff cards that year were in B&W
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Liked this card a lot
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Liked this card a lot
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Oh! That's a good one.............
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I liked the 1972 set as well. Holy shit, I've never seen this one before and I had a near complete set
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Yogi was still playing in '72?
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Yogi was still playing in '72?
Mgr
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I have this card. I got it from my uncle.
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Mgr
I didn't know managers had their own baseball cards. At least they didn't by the time I started collecting in the mid-70's.
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I didn't know managers had their own baseball cards.
See Ted Williams, Texas Rangers manager card above
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I have this card. I got it from my uncle.
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Dang, hold onto it and keep it in whatever condition it's in now
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Dang, hold onto it and keep it in whatever condition it's in now
I have some keepers. My uncle gave me and my brother a lot of cards from the 50's and 60's. Then my bro collected some in the late 60's to early 70's. I collected from about '75-'82. By '80 my interests had shifted to comic books though I still loved watching baseball. I inherited all the baseball cards and still have them.
Anyway have Mantle and Maris from 1962 or maybe it was '63. Oldest card I have is Satchell Paige from the St. Louis Browns.
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This is the Paige one.
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Here is the Maris card.
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Very cool. I love the Brownie cartoon image on Satchel's card
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Favorite set was 1971, with the black borders. Except every ding showed.
Also the back only showed the previous year and career stats.
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Ooooo yeah. That set is nice.
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I have some keepers. My uncle gave me and my brother a lot of cards from the 50's and 60's. Then my bro collected some in the late 60's to early 70's. I collected from about '75-'82. By '80 my interests had shifted to comic books though I still loved watching baseball. I inherited all the baseball cards and still have them.
Wow. You are so lucky.
I collected from about '77-'89. I amassed a big collection over time which I ultimately sold for a lot of money. I bailed at the right time because I wouldn't get even half of what I did then now.
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Wow. You are so lucky.
I collected from about '77-'89. I amassed a big collection over time which I ultimately sold for a lot of money. I bailed at the right time because I wouldn't get even half of what I did then now.
'76-'79 were my peak years and I have the whole sets from those years. I'm glad I still have them. They don't take up near the amount of room that my comic book, music, movie and book collections do. LOL. I have too much stuff. :-[ ;D
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By the way, Shay. Great to see you around! :D
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By the way, Shay. Great to see you around! :D
Thanks! :) Always good to see you as well. 8)
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For some reason I was always partial to these......
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For some reason I was always partial to these......
LOL! Yep. For 'some reason.'
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For some reason I was always partial to these......
How about this one? ;D
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You bet. Here is the 'real' 1981 Topps card for Charboneau. Too bland for the guy. Too bland...........
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Great storyline on Super Joe, haven't though of him in ages. Glad to see him well and adjusted at last!
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Favorite set was 1971, with the black borders. Except every ding showed.
Also the back only showed the previous year and career stats.
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And how about some fascinating back story on his service and later years:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Williams
On February 16, 1953, Williams flying as the wingman for John Glenn (later Senator) was part of a 35-plane raid against a tank and infantry training school just south of Pyongyang, North Korea. During the mission, a piece of flak knocked out his hydraulics and electrical systems, causing Williams to have to "limp" his plane back to K-13, a U.S. Air Force airfield close to the front lines. The plane burst into flames soon after he landed. For his actions of this day, he was awarded the Air Medal with Gold Stars.
Williams stayed on K-13 for several days while his plane was being repaired. Because he was so popular, GIs and airmen from all around the base came to see him and his plane. After it was repaired, Williams flew his plane back to his Marine Corps airfield.
Williams flew 39 combat missions in Korea, earning the Air Medal with two Gold Starsin lieu of second and third awards, before being withdrawn from flight status in June 1953 after a hospitalization for pneumonia. This resulted in the discovery of an inner ear infection that disqualified him from flight status. During the Korean War, Williams also served in the same Marine Corps unit with John Glenn; the future astronaut described Williams as one of the best pilots he knew,while his wife Annie described him as the most profane man she ever met In the last half of his missions, Williams was flying as Glenn's wingman.
Williams likely would have approached or exceeded Babe Ruth's home run record if he had not served in the military, and might have set the record for career RBIs as well, exceeding Hank Aaron's total. While the absences in the Marine Corps took almost five years out of his baseball career, he never publicly complained about the time devoted to service in the Marine Corps. His biographer, Leigh Montville, argued that Williams was not happy about being pressed into service in South Korea, but he did what he thought was his patriotic duty.
Following his return to the United States in August 1953, he resigned his Reserve commission to resume his baseball career.
After retirement from play, Williams helped Boston's new left fielder, Carl Yastrzemski, in hitting, and was a regular visitor to the Red Sox' spring training camps from 1961 to 1966, where he worked as a special batting instructor.
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How about this one? ;D
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And how darned good do you have to be to have the type of career he did playing in those swirling winds.
One of the strongest pitchers of all time!
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I have a fondness for the 1960 Topps cards too. I liked the format with the graphic, full scale pic, and photo. Good info on the back too. Definitely one of my top 3 favs. :)
This is the oldest card I still have. At one point I had over 20,000 cards. Now I only have 50 or so.
I kept this one because my Grandmother gave it to me. Dick Groat was one of her favorite players.
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(https://postimages.org/)
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(https://postimages.org/)
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Not sure what I did wrong.
Here are the images:
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(https://postimages.org/)
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(https://postimages.org/)
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[/url]
Height: 6 o'clock
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As I recall you have to make it last for a certain period of time in post images, or it's just a test post.
Working now though.
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As I recall you have to make it last for a certain period of time in post images, or it's just a test post.
Working now though.
Cool. I'm still an idiot when it comes to computer stuff. Oh but back in the 80's I was a wiz! ;D
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Cool. I'm still an idiot when it comes to computer stuff. Oh but back in the 80's I was a wiz! ;D
I still have DOS/Xtree flashbacks..not good ones either... ;D
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I've always liked this 1979 Topps Bo Diaz (https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/diazbo01.shtml) card. I think it was because with the hair and mustache he vaguely reminded me of my favorite character on the Emergency! TV Show - Chet Kelly.
Diaz was a pretty good catcher and had a nice career while being an MLB All Star twice. As a Venezuelan he also played in the Venezuelan Winter League prior to, during and after his MLB career. During the 1973 Venezuelan Winter season in he caught a no hitter pitched by Urbano Lugo. In 1986, he caught another no hitter but this time the pitcher was Lugo's son - Urbano Lugo Jr.
Bo Diaz was killed at the age of 37 while adjusting a satellite dish at his home in Caracas. The dish was knocked out of alignment by high winds
and while Diaz was working with it, it collapsed and crushed him.
1979 Topps Bo Diaz
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Chet Kelly of Emergency!
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I've always liked this 1979 Topps Bo Diaz (https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/diazbo01.shtml) card. I think it was because with the hair and mustache he vaguely reminded me of my favorite character on the Emergency! TV Show - Chet Kelly.
Diaz was a pretty good catcher and had a nice career while being an MLB All Star twice. As a Venezuelan he also played in the Venezuelan Winter League prior to, during and after his MLB career. During the 1973 Venezuelan Winter season in he caught a no hitter pitched by Urbano Lugo. In 1986, he caught another no hitter but this time the pitcher was Lugo's son - Urbano Lugo Jr.
Bo Diaz was killed at the age of 37 while adjusting a satellite dish at his home in Caracas. The dish was knocked out of alignment by high winds
and while Diaz was working with it, it collapsed and crushed him.
How the hell did I not know this? :o Maybe I just forgot. :-\
Chet Kelly. LOL! ;D
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Wow, crushed by a satellite dish!
Must have been one of those huge C band ones. Bummer. :-[
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Wilbur Forrester Wood Jr. (https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/woodwi01.shtml) I've certainly thought more about this guy's 1979 Topps card than anyone I know. It is more than fair to say that I have thought about it too damned much. The card grabs me, pulls me in and takes me back in time. I have this card. I look at it several times a year in fact. Embarrassing? Probably so. I don't care. This is Ellgab so we are all slightly crazed or why would we be here? So I guess it's okay to share my fascination with Wilbur Wood's '79 Topps card.
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The first thing one notices about the card is the awfulness of the uniforms that the Chicago White Sox wore then. They were a gimmick
of one of the wild man owners of the game at the time - Bill Veeck [who sported an honest to God, true blue, wooden peg leg]. The leggings
do not have the cool stirrups that were in vogue at the time. I loved the look of stirrups with the sanies underneath them - it is a travesty that
they have gone out of style with the modern uniforms. The leggings now look even worse than the ones Wood is wearing in this photo. The
version Wood is wearing at least shows off the sanies - the modern day pants just go right down to the spikes and look dumpy. Next thing
that pops out is the jersey. It's not tucked in Woods' belt - it is just hanging there. Also there is the collar. Bleech. It looks like Wood is wearing
some sort of weird bowling shirt. As bad as the leggings and jersey are the hat is beautiful in it's simplicity. All black with a simple "Sox" in
white lettering - the hat is easily the best part.
There are other things that become apparent upon a closer look. It's an action picture - always the best kind for baseball cards. Woods uniform
is black so he is pitching on the road. He is also wearing a sweatshirt underneath his jersey that indicates that it is probably cool out. Not likely he
would be wearing long sleeves in July or August. Looking at the stands in the back ground it appears to be Tiger Stadium in Detroit. There isn't
enough detail to be 100% certain but that shade of blue is comfortably familiar. I think it's Tiger Stadium. Looking at Wood's pitching log for 1978 shows he started two games in Tiger Stadium that year. One on August 4th and the other Monday, April 17th. Research shows that it was
50 degrees at game time for the April 17th contest - the weather for the August game wasn't recorded but it was bound to be reasonably warm out.
So the sweatshirt, 50 degrees and the belief the picture was taken in Tiger Stadium all point to the April 17th game - this game (https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/DET/DET197804170.shtml). We'll get back to that soon enough.
Other things that one notices when looking at the card is the fact that Wood throws left handed and that he is certainly not straining himself in an effort to throw with maximum velocity. He's not raring back to plant with his front foot to use as a fulcrum nor is digging in and driving with his back
foot. It is almost as if he is just having a semi-leisurely catch in the back yard - killing time before the hot dogs are done on the grill or something.
Wilbur Wood did not throw hard. He didn't have to, as he was the rarest of the rare - a southpaw knuckleball pitcher. A damned good one at that.
He won twenty games in four consecutive seasons and pitched well over 300 innings in each of them. Quite the workhorse. Wood is known
for 'starting' and winning two games in a double header once - if interested there are plenty of details on that here (https://www.fangraphs.com/tht/tht-live/40th-anniversary-the-day-wilbur-wood-became-a-legend/).
I've always been fascinated with the knuckleball and knuckleball pitchers. The Niekro brothers, Wilhelm, Bouton, Eddie Fisher, Charlie Hough and later Candiotti, Wakefield and Dickey. I was just a little squirt when my Old Man showed me how to grip the ball properly for the knuckler and told me what it should do if thrown properly - "bounce around like a pea in a drum". Wow. How awesome is that? I worked and worked at it until viola! I got one to knuckle. I'd eventually pitch in high school. I had a real nice curve and decent enough velocity but I'd always want to go back to the knuckler.
It was totally devastating when it worked. The thing is making it work consistently. I couldn't. Almost no one can. It's tough to get over the plate consistently and if you don't release it just right, the ball will roll and not knuckle at all. Then the hitter will absolutely tee off on the damn thing.
Dad, my coach and the catchers would tell me to drop the knuckler but what do they know?
The next thing noticeable with the card is the left knee. There is a squarish object visible there. Either a brace or a pad of some sort. A very necessary thing as Wood's left knee was a mess and the source of major friction in our household. Not something that one hears everyday is it? Family strife over Wilbur Wood's knee. Let me explain. On Sunday May 9th, 1976 Wood started against the Detroit Tigers in Tiger Stadium. My Dad had two tickets and we were supposed to be at that game. My parents probably weren't the best at family planning - they spread their kids out over three different decades with me being tail end charlie. No problem - not many guys my age can say that their Dad was WWII vet. The issue was the middle child. She came of age at the absolute perfect time for partying and she grabbed plenty of gusto. She was in her early 20's in 1976 but still living at home and from what I gather she came staggering in the house, completely trashed at 4AM. The old man was pissed. So pissed that the next day he gave the tickets to the game to family next door as he was in no mood to watch a game. That pissed me off royally. What was worse is what happened at the game that day.
In the bottom of the 6th inning the Tigers ex-heroin addict, ex-armed robber [who did his stickups with a rifle!] and center fielder Ron LeFlore smacked
a vicious line drive up the middle that hit Wilbur Wood directly on his left kneecap and shattered it into a jillion pieces. According to the dude next door it was epic. The ball striking Wood's knee sounded like a gunshot and Wood dropped like a stone. He was rolling around on the ground screaming his head off. Doesn't sound appealing now but to a little dude it was totally awesome! I could have seen it live but missed it because of my sister acting like a skankasaurus. I was so pissed at her. I remained so for a very long time.
By the way, Wood did eventually come back from his injury but he was never the same. 1978 would be his last year - it was rather a shame as many knuckleball pitchers last well into their 40's. It was not to be for Wilbur Wood. He was done at 36.
So that brings things back to the April 17th, 1978 game (https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/DET/DET197804170.shtml). No nothing too exciting happened but it turns out I was at that game. It was a Monday game and a total surprise. I was sitting in class when there was a knock on the classroom door and it was my Old Man. He yanked me out of class and told the teacher I had an appointment or something. When we got in the car he handed me my glove and Tigers hat and said that we are going to the game today. "Wilbur Wood is up against Mark Fidrych. Thought we should head down to the Stadium" How awesome is that? A knuckleballer versus The Bird! When they handed out Dad's, I did pretty good for myself! I'm not sure that the photo of Wilbur Wood was taken that day but I like to think so. The game? Fidrych had his own arm woes by then and neither him nor Wood would get through the 5th inning. The Tigers would score 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th for a 10-9 come from behind victory. Most excellent.
As for Wilbur Wood, by all accounts he seems to be a very nice man. Apparently, he became a pharmaceutical rep and worked at that job into his 70's.
I found this picture of him and Mrs. Wood at a class reunion he was attending. They look happy together:
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Here he is at some charity function. He looks like a sweet old guy indeed.
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For some reason the name "Wilbur Wood" always struck me like a southern guy from Mayberry, RFD. Not the case however. Wood was from Cambridge, Mass ("Our fair city" :P) and sure sounds like it. Wood did this interview a few years back and his Yankee accent is quite apparent.
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^^^^ TL;DR :P
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^^^^ TL;DR :P
I read it all, I also liked Wilbur Wood and knuckleballers in general.
Not only did he win 20+ games four years in a row, he also lost 20 games twice and 19 and 17 two other years. From 1971 to 1975 he started 42, 49, 49, 42, and 43 games, and wet 24-20 in 1973.
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Speaking of Fidrich, has there ever been anything quite like that - a flash in the pan with that level of kookiness?
A non-roster spring training invitee, he made the team but didn't start one until mid-May. He went 6-0 in June, ended up 19-9, 2.34 ERA, and 1976 AL Rookie of the Year. He was second in the league to Jim Palmer (22-13, 2.51) in Cy Young voting.
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Regarding phenoms, in 1975 the Red Sox had two rookies with the following stats:
Fred Lynn - 21 HR, 105 RBI, .331 BA
Jim Rice - 22, 102, .309
They were #1 and #3 in the AL MVP voting and #1 and #2 in Rookie of the Year
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I liked the 1989 Fleer set, with the grey pinstripes
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I read it all, I also liked Wilbur Wood and knuckleballers in general.
Not only did he win 20+ games four years in a row, he also lost 20 games twice and 19 and 17 two other years. From 1971 to 1975 he started 42, 49, 49, 42, and 43 games, and wet 24-20 in 1973.
Ha! I admire you for wading thru all that muck :P
Here's a card for a knuckleballer that doesn't exist but should
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Another card that fascinates me. Craig Kuscik (https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=kusick001cra) had a tall order in trying to take over Harmon Killebrew's spot at first base for the Twins. He never really excelled and then was forced to bench when Rod Carew moved over to first base for Minnesota. Eventually the Twins would sell him to Jays were he would end his MLB career soon after.
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It wasn't anything about Kusick's numbers or baseball talents that fascinated me. It was his appearance. He didn't look like a Major League ball player to me:
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He looked more like a Shop teacher. More preciously he looked like my shop teacher Mr. Ferguson. Which was kind of cool as
Mr. Ferguson was mad as a bloody hatter. We rotated through Wood Shop, Metal Shop and Drafting and I had him for all three. He was
Vietnam Vet and I don't think his time there did him any good. He was rather like the Sam Kinison character in Back to School.
Always screaming and throwing shit. I remember turning in a masterful mechanical drawing of a hex topped bolt. He then took my
drawing from the In-Box, put it on the floor and stepped on it. Then said "This drawing is dirty. That is minus points Mister. That is what
you get for wearing an ugly shirt like that in my classroom". If you bitched about stuff like that , he would just say "My Titties
bleed for you Walks_At_Night. They bleed for you". Tenure and seniority in the Union made him immune I guess.
He was a real piece of work................
From what I can gather, Craig Kusick was not like that at all. He was a very successful high school baseball coach for many, many years.
Unfortunately, both he and his wife passed away from different cancers within a year of each other. Very sad.
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"My Titties bleed for you Walks_At_Night. They bleed for you".
LOL!!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
That's all I needed out of your post. Granted it was an interesting post. Nonetheless... ;)
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The issue was the middle child. She came of age at the absolute perfect time for partying and she grabbed plenty of gusto. She was in her early 20's in 1976 but still living at home and from what I gather she came staggering in the house, completely trashed at 4AM. The old man was pissed. So pissed that the next day he gave the tickets to the game to family next door as he was in no mood to watch a game. That pissed me off royally.
Ouch, she parties and you get punished for it! That aint right!
Good story and background on the pitcher and incident though!!
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There have been three big leaguer's that have had the first name Auerlio. Aurelio Monteagudo (https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/monteau01.shtml), Aurelio Rodriguez (https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rodriau01.shtml) and Aurelio Lopez (https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lopezau01.shtml).
Aurelio Monteagudo
Aurelio Monteagudo was born in Cuba but would later become a Venezuelan citizen after the Castro revolution in Cuba. His Father, Rene Monteagudo played MLB in the 30's and 40's but he bounced around a lot and never quite broke through in the big leagues. Aurelio Monteagudo would follow the same pattern. He would break in with the A's at the age of 19 as a September call up and did well in the few games he got into. However, his next season would be a nightmare and all told he would play bits of seven seasons in the Bigs with a modest 3 and 7 record and an ERA of 5.05. Monteagudo would pitch forever in both the Venezuelan and Mexican Leagues. He would later go on to manage three different teams in Mexico and while managing the Saltillo Saraperos he would be killed in a car accident at the age of 46.
However, none of that is apparent in Monteagudo's 1964 Topp's A's Rookies card. He is coupled with long time A, Dick Green. While the photo is obviously posed, he has a knowing, hopeful look on his face and looks eager to face the future. Just like 19 year old phenom should have.
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Aurelio Rodriguez
Aurelio Rodriguez was from Mexico and would have a long, fairly successful 17 year career in major league baseball. He would play for 7 different teams but when he came over to the Detroit Tigers in the trade where the Tigers absolutely raped the Washington Senators (https://www.fangraphs.com/tht/tht-live/15000-days-ago-detroit-trades-denny-mclain/) he would find a long time home. He would play 3rd base for the Tigers for 9 years and it was unfortunate that he was up against Brooks Robinson, Craig Nettles and Buddy Bell for the Gold Glove because he was every good a fielder as those guys. He would win only one Gold Glove during the stretch and of course Robinson, Nettles and Bell had an advantage in that they could hit. Rodriguez would end up with a lifetime batting average of only .237 with 124 homers spread across 17 seasons, so he was no big threat with the bat. However, he had wonderful lateral range, soft sure hands and perhaps the best arm of any third baseman ever. At times he would toy with runners. He would pound the ball into his tattered black glove (he would use the same glove his entire career) and then zing - unleash a laser beam to first and nail the runner with ease. He was also just a nice guy. He loved Detroit and Detroit loved him back. He had a nice friendly smile that he flashed often.
Here he is smiling and showing off his beloved glove which he named "The Black Hand":
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It was a sad day in Detroit when it was announced that he was sold to San Diego in order to make room for Tom Brookens. It was hoped that
Brookens would hit better than Rodriguez. It turned out to be a forlorn hope and it was only through the fact that Sparky Anderson loved him as a player that Brookens would hang on at 3rd for Detroit for so long. They say that Managers have a soft spot for players like themselves and Brookens was Sparky reincarnated as a ball player but that is a different story.
Aurelio Rodriguez is probably most famous for his Topps 1969 card when he was with the California Angels. There is a pleasant looking young man in an Angels uniform and hat on the card. He certainly looks like a promising 21 year old ball player. The issue is the person on the card is not Aurelio Rodriguez. It is really Leonard Garcia the Angels bat boy. In 1968 the Major League Baseball Players Association told the players not pose for any Topps pictures due to compensation issues. This put Topps in a hard spot. In many cases old pictures that Topps had could be used. For players that had been traded, some strange looking airbrushing jobs were done. In some cases, Topps had no unused pictures of the player in question on file and Aurelio Rodriguez fell into this territory. So they simply bought photos from outside sources. They received a bunch of photos from famous photographer George Brace. One of these was a picture of the Angels batboy with the caption "Aurelio Rodriguez" written on the back of it. Topps never questioned it and the cards were produced that way.
Here is the 1969 Rodriguez card:
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My favorite 'real' Aurelio Rodriguez card is his 1978 Topps card. When I think of Rodriguez, this is exactly how I picture him. In his Tiger home whites and smiling to beat the band.
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After his career in the big leagues ended, Rodriguez would play and manage a number of years in the Mexican League. In September of 2000, Aurelio Rodriguez would be killed in Detroit. He had come to Detroit from Mexico for a baseball card show and while walking down the sidewalk, a car would jump the curb and crush him. The driver had a suspended license after a brain aneurysm issue and suffered a seizure at the time of the accident.
Aurelio Lopez
Aurelio Lopez was another mainstay in Detroit but during the 80's. He was a flabby, rubber armed, Mexican reliever and was known as Señor Smoke when he pitched in Detroit and as El Buitre de Tecamachalco (The Vulture of Tecamachalco) for his penchant for picking up late inning wins in the Mexican Leagues. He would spend 11 years in the Bigs sandwiched between 11 years in the Mexican League before and after his MLB years. He was fun to watch pitch - he was considered beastly fat at that time (of course in the age of Prince Fielder and Bartolo Colon no one would blink an eye at his gut now). So on top of his double chin and belly he would champ at his chewing gum furiously when on the mound. Like Pacman type champing. Then on top of all that he did this weird palsy like motion with his left leg during his delivery. I've never seen anything like it before or since.
I pitched some in high school and one day before practice we decided to mess with our coach. All the pitchers crammed towels, sox and stuff into our uniforms so we had guts and we each took a couple of pieces of bubble gum to champ on. Then we all did the little shiver with our leading legs while warming up. It drove coach out of his gourd. Really funny. Well. Maybe you had to be there. ;)
Lopez's most famous pitch would be delivered during the 1984 World Series while pitching against San Diego. There is a conspiracy theory about it to this day. The official story is that catcher Lance Parrish pumped his fist signalling he wanted a pitch out but Lopez, who couldn't see shit, thought there was a single finger dropped to indicate the heater. With the signals crossed, Lopez winged a fast ball right down the middle while catcher Parrish had stepped up and over to receive the pitch out. The fastball would drill Umpire Barnett right in the sweet spot and the ball would drop straight down with the runner not advancing. This is story that Lance Parrish will tell to this very day. Conspiracy theorists believe that Parrish dropped the one finger down and simply got out of the way of Señor Smoke's best fastball to punish Barnett for calling obvious strikes as balls. It's a nice theory but it would take a whole lot of chutzpah to do that in a Series game where your team just blew a lead.
To me the video seems to show Parrish dropping the old one number one and indicating he wanted it on the outside of the plate. It is so grainy you really can't tell. Here it is. Gum chomping. Funky leg kick and nutsack bashing. With Scully and Garagiola to boot.
Here is my favorite Aurelio Lopez card. Double chins. Gut hanging out. Bringing the heat.
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After his time in the bigs ended, Lopez would return to his hometown of Tecamachalco, Mexico. He was a big, big deal there. So big they erected
a rather odd looking statue to him:
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He would be elected the equivalent of mayor of Tecamachalco. He would not serve long in that role however as he was killed in a car accident just a few years after his election.
Yes there is a theme. There have been only been three big leaguer's with the first name of Aurelio and all three were killed in accidents involving automobiles.
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LOL!!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
That's all I needed out of your post. Granted it was an interesting post. Nonetheless... ;)
There are some phrases that one hears in life that you never forget. That was sure one of them. I've used it more than
once on little Walks when she has complained about something silly.
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My favorite, and only, baseball card is an autographed card of Hall Of Fame pitcher Tom Glavine. I used to work with his aunt, and she had him sign one for me. He was with the Braves at the time, and his aunt and I used to keep close track of his progress.
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Champ Summers (https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/summech01.shtml) never doubted that he was the greatest hitter in the world and for half of one year, 1979, he was.
I like his '82 Donruss card a great deal. I usually prefer action cards and if a Detroit player is involved, it is better if the
player is in the beautiful Tigers home white uniform. Neither is the case with this particular card but it still has a lot going for it.
It shows Champ totally embracing his Thomas Magnum/Tom Selleck look and the scar on his left cheek (more on that later).
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Summers' real first name was John but when his Father (who had done some boxing) took his first look at his newborn son he called him
Champ because he thought the baby looked like he had just gone 10 rounds with Joe Louis. Champ would grow up to be a gifted athlete
who seemed to be able to do anything he put his mind to in sports. He lettered in basketball, football, tennis, track and cross-country while
also swimming and diving. Notice that baseball was not on the list as he wasn't interested in it. At one point, Jimmy Connors mother asked
Summers to play her son Jimmy to give him some older, tougher competition. Champ Summers won the match and could always say that
he had beat Jimmy Connors in tennis.
After high school, Summers would attend Nichols State on a basketball scholarship. After a year and half he would leave school after
being kicked off the team for fighting with a team mate. He would end up in the Army, going through jump school and serving in Vietnam.
The experience made him grow up and once he finished his hitch he went back to school much more serious about getting an education.
He attended Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and played on the basketball team and did well enough to where he would be
offered a tryout by an ABA team and also by the Dallas Cowboys, although he didn't take them up on it. While playing intramural softball
he was noticed by the members of the baseball team and they encouraged him to tryout. Summers rolled up to the baseball field riding his
Harley and not wearing a shirt. The coach wasn't impressed and was even less so after learning that Summers hadn't played ball since the age
of 13. He finally let Summers hit in the cage and after watching him hit for a bit said "Where the hell have you been?" Champ Summers
would hit a pinch hit home run in his first collegiate at bat as a walk on senior. He would finish his only year of college ball in the top 10 in
all the hitting stats.
Most big league clubs were not interested in signing a 25 year old but eventually the Oakland A's did. He put up very nice numbers in the minor
leagues but the A's of the early to mid-70's were just stacked with talent. There was really no place for Champ Summers to play on the A's.
He finally made his major league debut in 1974 at the age of 28. He would be moved to the Cubs in a trade for Jim Todd but without the DH
Summer's would spend his two seasons as a Cub as a pinch hitter. They would move him to the Reds for a guy named Dave Schneck. Summers
would find it impossible to get into the lineup of the Big Red Machine. After a few years there, he would be traded to Detroit for Shelly Burnside
just after halfway through the 1979 season.
With Rusty Staub traded away by Detroit, the Tigers needed a big left handed bat in the lineup and at the age of 33, Champ Summers
would finally be given to play regularly. He made the most of it by having an incredible half season. He would hit 20 homers, knock
in 51 runs, hit .313 with a .614 slugging percentage in only 246 at bats. He would also walk more than he would strike out. He loved
his time in Detroit and the Detroit fans would love him back. He was always B.Sing with the fans. I remember a game that my family
attended where we had seats along the right field line. This area was known as Champ's Camp. Summers came over just before the
game started and chatted us all up. My Mom asked him about that scar and he said "I picked that up roaming the streets one night".
Pretty awesome response..................
Summers would have a good year in 1980 but then began to decline in his mid to late thirties. He would be diagnosed with degenerative
arthritis in his left shoulder. His last at bat in the big leagues would be as a pinch hitter for San Diego when they were playing the
Tigers in the 1984 World Series. With his career over Summers would sell cars at a Mercedes dealership for awhile but eventually
got back into baseball. He was the Yankees hitting coach for a time and finished up coaching and managing in the minors.
He would take a long, rather unique path to the Major Leagues. The man could hit, so it would have been interesting to see what kind of numbers
he would have put up if he had come up the standard way.
In 2012, Champ Summers would pass away at the age of 66 from kidney cancer.
Attached below is a picture of Champ Summers in Vietnam during the war (from what I read he split his time in country between
airborne and being a life guard - this must have been his life guard phase).
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Woodrow Thompson Fryman (https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/frymawo01.shtml) or Woodie Fryman was another favorite of mine. His 1983 Topps is a perfect depiction of him. Big thick legs, gut hanging out and he is biting his lip as he rears back to somehow fire yet another pitch with his debilitated arthritic elbow. The inset photo, shows the affable Fryman wearing his blue Expos warmup jacket. With a friendly grin on his weathered face. Fryman doesn't look like a Professional athlete here. He looks like a farmer and that is exactly what Woodie Fryman was. A tobacco farmer from tiny Ewing, Kentucky - he just happened to be a farmer who could throw a ball thru a brick wall.
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Woodie Fryman is another guy who didn't take the typical route to the Majors. He was scouted by the Pirates who saw him in a Semi-Pro league.
Fryman wanted a bonus to sign but the Pirates refused. Figuring they were trying to take advantage of him due to his 8th grade education Fryman told them to stick it and when back to the Farm. A few years later, the Pirates tried again and this time got him to sign. Figuring they would not be interested in a 25 year old prospect, Woodie shaved three years of his age. The 26 year old Fryman would make his big league debut in 1966
for the Pirates. A few years later, Fryman was traded to the Phillies. He did well and even made an All-Star team but by 1972 Fryman would
be diagnosed with degenerative arthritis in his pitching elbow. The '72 Phillies were terrible and at the beginning of August the Phillies put Fryman and his 4 and 10 record on waivers in hopes of sneaking him through so a trade could be made.
Billy Martin and the 1972 Tigers would claim the 32 year old left hander off of waivers. The Tigers had a very veteran team and with the farm system dried up they plucked up veterans here and there to fill the holes in their aging club. With the Woodie Fryman acquisition, the Tigers caught lightning in a bottle. Fryman would go 10-3 with a 2.06 ERA down the stretch and the Tigers would make the playoffs. They would fall to the powerhouse Oakland A's 3 games to 2 with Fryman pitching brilliantly in the decisive Game 5. Beating the stacked A's was just not to be.
After a couple of years the Tigers shipped Fryman to Montreal who would later move him to the Reds. Originally, Fryman welcomed this move as Cincinnati was less than a two hour drive to his farm. However, he would start slowly and lose his spot in the rotation. In July of 1977 the 37 year old Fryman called it quits and went home. This stunned the Reds as they had traded Hall of Famer Tony Perez to get him. In the off season, Fryman was convinced to come back if the Reds traded him. They managed to send him to the Cubs for Bill Bonham. After a miserable half season, the Cubs shipped Fryman back to the Expos for the last half of 1978. At age 38, Woodie Fryman had a career renaissance with his 2nd stint in Montreal. He would do okay as a starter in the last half of '78 and in 1979 manager Dick Williams moved the elderly lefthander to the bullpen. It was a smashing success. Fryman would be a quality pitcher all the way through the 1982 season and when his elbow would allow it, he was at times nearly unhittable.
As many pitchers age, they fall back on experience and guile to get by. Perhaps developing a sinker or some other junk pitch. Not so with Fryman. He brought the heat right up until the end of his career. On July 28th, 1983 Woodie Fryman's elbow finally gave out with a resounding popping sound.
The next day he couldn't even raise his left arm. He told the newspaper men, "The old boy is finally going to have to give it up".
Woodie Fryman would return to his farm and would continue to work it until his health failed. Woodie Fryman died of Alzheimer's Disease at the age of 70. A tragic ending for one of baseball's great characters.
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Woodie would load the bases then move around a couple of bone chips in his elbow and then proceed to strike out the next 3.
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Champ Summers (https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/summech01.shtml)
A relative, Al Barnes, was a big sports guy at Southern Illinois University. While visiting him as I was passing through the St. Louis area , I walked into one of his spare bedrooms as I prepared to stay the night... The room was full of jerseys and full uniforms from throughout sports. While I was a Padres fan and appreciated Champ's time with the Padres (especially after the worst brawl in baseball versus the Braves), There was something about his Yankees (road gray) uniform that gave off an incredible vibe.
After 1998, I hate everything Yankees... But then, it was a magical franchise to me.
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Mike Lum (https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lummi01.shtml) had a great picture for his 1979 Topps card.
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It's an action photo and a great one at that. We see Lum finishing off what looks to be a good cut at the ball. His head has finished in the proper
position, left shoulder tucked under his chin, left arm has extended fully and is parallel to the ground. It would seem that Lum has one of those beautiful swings that only lefty line drive hitters seem to have. Meanwhile, a blurry, blue windbreakered, Stanton Friedmanish figure observes Lum's handiwork here.
Mike Lum is from Hawaii was the first player of Japanese ancestry to play in the Majors. He spent most of his career on the Braves and Reds where he was pinch hitter and backup outfielder and first baseman. He had some really great players ahead of him that cut into his playing time - Hank Aaron, Orlando Cepeda, Rico Carty, George Foster, Ken Griffey and Tony Perez. He ended up playing 14 seasons in the Majors and is the only player ever to pinch hit
for Hank Aaron.
Lum played for one year in Japan after his MLB career and then he became a hitting instructor and kicked around the minors for many years. The photo below was taken when he was in his early 60's and it looks like he can still hit.................
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I've always loved the Topps 1988 Jim Walewander (https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/walewji01.shtml) card.
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It's not an action card but shows a clean cut, very serious young man. Which is ironic because Walewander was definitely a free spirit - of the Frosted Flake
variety. A middle infielder in the Detroit Tigers organization, he very easily have become depressed, as he had the great Lou Whitaker and Alan
Trammell ahead of him. Fortunately, for the City of Detroit and the world in general, not too much bothered Walewander, He became a bit of a
sensation late in the 1987 season. Sparky Anderson used him mostly as a pinch runner as he ran the bases well and had very good speed.
He scored some key runs against the Jays in the magical late season drive where the Tigers caught and passed Toronto to make the playoffs.
It really wasn't for his play that he became a minor sensation. His first big league at bat was against awesome curveballer, Bert Blyleven. When asked
after the game by reporters on how he found Blyleven. Walewander said "From the dugout, I went into the On Deck circle and then when it was time
I went into the batters box. When I looked up, there Blyleven was on the mound". The Detroit press went banana's........ Finally a guy that wasn't
going to say "I'm just here to help the team" Word got out about Walewander's apartment. He used Aluminium Foil as shades because it was
"Great at keeping the Sun out". He had a giant stuffed fish on his wall and when asked why he had such a grotesque thing, he said simply:
"I keep my spare change in it's mouth so it won't get lost in the couch cushions".
Then there was The Dead Milkmen. Jim Walewander was probably the biggest Dead Milkmen fan in the world. When they were playing in Detroit,
Walewander looked them up and invited them out to Tiger Stadium the next day. In a surreal moment, Sparky Anderson met the Milkmen and
yes indeed, There is a photo taken before the game.
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Sparky dutifully wrote Walewander's name on the Lineup Card and Walewander came through. He hit his only Major League home run ever that day.
After the game, the press asked him if the Dead Milkmen gave him inspiration. Walewander said "No. They gave me a T-Shirt". Asked what else he
remembered about the homer he said: "It was a righthander," he says. "A white guy. I hit it off a white righthander." When asked about his
childhood heroes he said "Ayn Rand and Thoreau. They had a kid and it was me."
Before long he had both a book and a song called "Jim Walewander Blues" by a local band - pretty amazing for an obscure utility infielder with less than
250 career at bats.............
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Walewander got an MBA from UCLA after his MLB career was over. Not sure what he is doing but I am sure what ever office he is working
in is not a boring place with the 'Wales' around. :)
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Great information From Walks_At_Night! 8) I especially liked the Jim Walewander story.
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Great information From Walks_At_Night! 8) I especially liked the Jim Walewander story.
He did not fear crossing the Mississippi
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He did not fear crossing the Mississippi
LOL! I am wavering, and willing to cross starting at, and near, the southern most point in Louisiana and go west on the Red River. Anything south of the Red River is fair game. I may explore further. :D
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Great information From Walks_At_Night! 8) I especially liked the Jim Walewander story.
Except of course the card isn't showing up in the post anymore. :'(
We'll try again with a different link:
Jim Walewander: Topps 1988
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Except of course the card isn't showing up in the post anymore. :'(
I can still see it. ???
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I can still see it. ???
Huh. Weird. Well there is a double dose of Walewander for some then 8)
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Great information From Walks_At_Night! 8) I especially liked the Jim Walewander story.
I loved it too. Thanks for sharing.
Check out Jim Walewander (@JimWalewander): https://twitter.com/JimWalewander (http://Check out Jim Walewander (@JimWalewander): https://twitter.com/JimWalewander)
Looks like he's laying low.
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I've always loved the Topps 1988 Jim Walewander (https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/walewji01.shtml) card.
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It's not an action card but shows a clean cut, very serious young man. Which is ironic because Walewander was definitely a free spirit - of the Frosted Flake
variety. A middle infielder in the Detroit Tigers organization, he very easily have become depressed, as he had the great Lou Whitaker and Alan
Trammell ahead of him. Fortunately, for the City of Detroit and the world in general, not too much bothered Walewander, He became a bit of a
sensation late in the 1987 season. Sparky Anderson used him mostly as a pinch runner as he ran the bases well and had very good speed.
He scored some key runs against the Jays in the magical late season drive where the Tigers caught and passed Toronto to make the playoffs.
It really wasn't for his play that he became a minor sensation. His first big league at bat was against awesome curveballer, Bert Blyleven. When asked
after the game by reporters on how he found Blyleven. Walewander said "From the dugout, I went into the On Deck circle and then when it was time
I went into the batters box. When I looked up, there Blyleven was on the mound". The Detroit press went banana's........ Finally a guy that wasn't
going to say "I'm just here to help the team" Word got out about Walewander's apartment. He used Aluminium Foil as shades because it was
"Great at keeping the Sun out". He had a giant stuffed fish on his wall and when asked why he had such a grotesque thing, he said simply:
"I keep my spare change in it's mouth so it won't get lost in the couch cushions".
Then there was The Dead Milkmen. Jim Walewander was probably the biggest Dead Milkmen fan in the world. When they were playing in Detroit,
Walewander looked them up and invited them out to Tiger Stadium the next day. In a surreal moment, Sparky Anderson met the Milkmen and
yes indeed, There is a photo taken before the game.
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Sparky dutifully wrote Walewander's name on the Lineup Card and Walewander came through. He hit his only Major League home run ever that day.
After the game, the press asked him if the Dead Milkmen gave him inspiration. Walewander said "No. They gave me a T-Shirt". Asked what else he
remembered about the homer he said: "It was a righthander," he says. "A white guy. I hit it off a white righthander." When asked about his
childhood heroes he said "Ayn Rand and Thoreau. They had a kid and it was me."
Before long he had both a book and a song called "Jim Walewander Blues" by a local band - pretty amazing for an obscure utility infielder with less than
250 career at bats.............
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Walewander got an MBA from UCLA after his MLB career was over. Not sure what he is doing but I am sure what ever office he is working
in is not a boring place with the 'Wales' around. :)
Great stuff!! So funny about Dead Milkman n Sparky. And thing I find myself doing n liking college ball (not metal) but cause the kids are clean cut n more disciplined. Sorta. But good stuff, keep them coming!
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This card brings back some special memories for me. We'll get to that in a bit, but for now the man of the hour is Aurelio Lopez, El Lanzallama, Señor Smoke, the rotund, rubber armed reliever for the Detroit Tigers.
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Lopez never made the Major Leagues until he was almost 30 years of age. Prior to that he pitched in the Mexican League where he was very successful - winning a championship and a league MVP. The records seem to be incomplete regarding his stats in the Mexican League so who knows how many innings he pitched there but I'd imagine it was a ton. The Cardinals bought him in 1978 but traded him to Detroit for Bob Sykes after the 1979 season. It was a great deal for Detroit, Sykes would never amount to anything much and Lopez would be a very valuable asset for the Tigers. He could close out a game or act as setup man.
He had an unusual presence on the mound. He was a gum chewer and he would champ away like mad between pitches. He was considered grossly fat for the time, now days I don't think any one would give him a second thought but the players were more fit then and he stuck out. Then he had this weird little leg kick he did with his left leg - almost like a shiver. Very distinctive - I'm not sure that I've ever seen anyone else quite do that before or since.
His best year in the Majors would be 1984. That was the year the Tigers won the World Series. Lopez would win 10 games against only one loss while saving 14 as the setup guy for Willie Hernandez who was absolutely dominant that year. Lopez would have an unforgettable moment in the World Series. A clip of it is below. Note the gum champ and the leg kick. Scully and Garagiola make the call.
After his time in the majors he returned to his hometown in Mexico. He would become Mayor after beating out the local political machine but he would sadly end up dying in a traffic accident at the age of 44.
So all of that leads to this little story. I pitched in High School. Not particularly well but good enough that the coach kept sending me back out there. Our coach was an old guy named Ochylski. Tough mother. Definitely old school. Ex-Marine - WWII, Korea and Vietnam vet. Whom after surviving all that would end up teaching Industrial Arts and coaching ball. He knew the game inside and out and was a very good instructor. Not exactly the most humorous person though. No one ever saw him laugh and I think the only time I ever saw him smile was when an opposing pitcher hit our big, dumbass first baseman in the head. "Look at that. He might have knocked some sense into Yakimovich's head".
Bright young lads that we were, we decided that we could make Coach Ochylski laugh. One day before practice, all of the pitchers shoved towels down the front of our uniforms so we would have beer guts and loaded up on Bubble Yum. So we trotted out and did our best Aurelio Lopez impressions. Champing away at the bubble yum, doing that funky little leg kick and yelling "ándale", "ariba", "Quatros" or whatever random Spanish word we could think of. Coach O had a conniption. When he asked us just what the hell we thought we were doing, "No habla ingles" was not the right answer. He wind sprinted us from foul pole to foul pole until half of us were barfing. I thought I was gonna die. I'll give him credit though - he was right there keeping pace. He most have been about 65 at the time, Not an ounce of fat on him, beady little eyes gleaming as he screamed demeaning things at us without ever using an obscenity. That ended the Aurelio Lopez impersonations and the attempt to make Coach O laugh.
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This card brings back some special memories for me. We'll get to that in a bit, but for now the man of the hour is Aurelio Lopez, El Lanzallama, Señor Smoke, the rotund, rubber armed reliever for the Detroit Tigers.
visitors can't see pics , please register or login
Lopez never made the Major Leagues until he was almost 30 years of age. Prior to that he pitched in the Mexican League where he was very successful - winning a championship and a league MVP. The records seem to be incomplete regarding his stats in the Mexican League so who knows how many innings he pitched there but I'd imagine it was a ton. The Cardinals bought him in 1978 but traded him to Detroit for Bob Sykes after the 1979 season. It was a great deal for Detroit, Sykes would never amount to anything much and Lopez would be a very valuable asset for the Tigers. He could close out a game or act as setup man.
He had an unusual presence on the mound. He was a gum chewer and he would champ away like mad between pitches. He was considered grossly fat for the time, now days I don't think any one would give him a second thought but the players were more fit then and he stuck out. Then he had this weird little leg kick he did with his left leg - almost like a shiver. Very distinctive - I'm not sure that I've ever seen anyone else quite do that before or since.
His best year in the Majors would be 1984. That was the year the Tigers won the World Series. Lopez would win 10 games against only one loss while saving 14 as the setup guy for Willie Hernandez who was absolutely dominant that year. Lopez would have an unforgettable moment in the World Series. A clip of it is below. Note the gum champ and the leg kick. Scully and Garagiola make the call.
After his time in the majors he returned to his hometown in Mexico. He would become Mayor after beating out the local political machine but he would sadly end up dying in a traffic accident at the age of 44.
So all of that leads to this little story. I pitched in High School. Not particularly well but good enough that the coach kept sending me back out there. Our coach was an old guy named Ochylski. Tough mother. Definitely old school. Ex-Marine - WWII, Korea and Vietnam vet. Whom after surviving all that would end up teaching Industrial Arts and coaching ball. He knew the game inside and out and was a very good instructor. Not exactly the most humorous person though. No one ever saw him laugh and I think the only time I ever saw him smile was when an opposing pitcher hit our big, dumbass first baseman in the head. "Look at that. He might have knocked some sense into Yakimovich's head".
Bright young lads that we were, we decided that we could make Coach Ochylski laugh. One day before practice, all of the pitchers shoved towels down the front of our uniforms so we would have beer guts and loaded up on Bubble Yum. So we trotted out and did our best Aurelio Lopez impressions. Champing away at the bubble yum, doing that funky little leg kick and yelling "ándale", "ariba", "Quatros" or whatever random Spanish word we could think of. Coach O had a conniption. When he asked us just what the hell we thought we were doing, "No habla ingles" was not the right answer. He wind sprinted us from foul pole to foul pole until half of us were barfing. I thought I was gonna die. I'll give him credit though - he was right there keeping pace. He most have been about 65 at the time, Not an ounce of fat on him, beady little eyes gleaming as he screamed demeaning things at us without ever using an obscenity. That ended the Aurelio Lopez impersonations and the attempt to make Coach O laugh.
I appreciate the use of champ.
HE GOT IT RIGHT IN THE CANARY!
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Grown ass men collecting sports cards. It's just fine when you're 9 but after a certain age you're just collecting PICTURES OF MEN???
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Thanks for that story. @Walks_At_Night 8) I remember Lopez. I had his '82 Fleer card. (From the only set I completed pack by pack) I also recall having a card when he was with the Astros. He didn't even look like a player. He was just standing there wearing a jacket. ;D
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Thanks for that story. @Walks_At_Night 8) I remember Lopez. I had his '82 Fleer card. (From the only set I completed pack by pack) I also recall having a card when he was with the Astros. He didn't even look like a player. He was just standing there wearing a jacket. ;D
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Ha! Yep, and I think there was a Topps one too. He looks like a 'super fan' instead of a player. ;D