Sunday, October 14, 2007
Caution: Sporadic Posts Ahead
I will be in Nashville, TN, dur the week of October 15. My posts will may be sporadic, not that they aren't as it is... :-)
2001 UD SP Legendary Cuts
The older I get, the more I have come to enjoy cards featuring the players that starred in the game before I was there to watch them. The 2001 Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts are nice cards, though a bit heavy on the gold foil. Still, surrounding great players with gold is a nice tribute. The cards feature the SP logo in the upper left corner, a gold border all the way around the card, and an inset 'frame' of gold with the players in black-and-white. Below the player pictures, the name is in gold, as is the Cleveland "C" logo. In white, the years of MLB play are below the players names, and beneath the "C" is the position the player held. On the back, a grey "sunburst" effect with a blue inset area featuring the player's name, biographical stats, a paragraph about the player, and their lifetime MLB totals adorn the card. The top of the back of the card features the Indians logo, expect on Flick's card, which features the collegiate-style "C" of the day...
The writing on the back is full of alliteration: "Feller's Fastball" and "Fleet-Footed Flick." Of these three, Feller is one the one I am most familiar with, so it was fun learning more about the others.
These three have been a part of my vocabulary since I was about 5 or 6 years old. They are among some of the first Indians I knew about, despite the fact that I was 5 or 6 in about 1975. I had just started liking baseball, and was beginning my love for the Tribe. Throughout my youth, I had other teams that I liked a lot... Mets, Phillies back in the powder blue/maroon days, the Pirates (I was born and raised there after all, and we're talking about the time when they were the hot team, or becoming the hot team), and the A's. But, no matter what teams I liked, I always loved the Tribe as "my" team. I can remember grabbing onto Boureau's name because it sounded so foreign to a kid from the 'Burgh...
Satchel Paige. Not until I was older did I know about his being an older rookie in MLB. It's amazing that today (well, not exactly today!), he would be 101...
On another note, the Tribe got their butts handed to them in game 1 against the Red Sox. But, seeing as it *IS* "Tribe Time Now," they came up with an amazing (and record-setting) 7-run 11th inning that carried them on to tie the ALCS, and get them back home to Big Jake! I was really worried for a while there, and of course never expected a run-away inning like the 11th! Statistically, by the numbers, Boston looks much MUCH better than the Indians on paper (and in many ways on the field), but the Indians are doing a killer job of sticking in there. During one interview, I heard one of the Tribe say they were playing as a team, that they saw themselves as a team. In today's world of "me, me, me" free agency, it's refreshing to hear a player say that about the team he is on. Though, for the most part, I believe that's how the Indians have always seen themselves - as a team... Or maybe that's how I'VE always seen them, anyway....
The writing on the back is full of alliteration: "Feller's Fastball" and "Fleet-Footed Flick." Of these three, Feller is one the one I am most familiar with, so it was fun learning more about the others.
These three have been a part of my vocabulary since I was about 5 or 6 years old. They are among some of the first Indians I knew about, despite the fact that I was 5 or 6 in about 1975. I had just started liking baseball, and was beginning my love for the Tribe. Throughout my youth, I had other teams that I liked a lot... Mets, Phillies back in the powder blue/maroon days, the Pirates (I was born and raised there after all, and we're talking about the time when they were the hot team, or becoming the hot team), and the A's. But, no matter what teams I liked, I always loved the Tribe as "my" team. I can remember grabbing onto Boureau's name because it sounded so foreign to a kid from the 'Burgh...
Satchel Paige. Not until I was older did I know about his being an older rookie in MLB. It's amazing that today (well, not exactly today!), he would be 101...
On another note, the Tribe got their butts handed to them in game 1 against the Red Sox. But, seeing as it *IS* "Tribe Time Now," they came up with an amazing (and record-setting) 7-run 11th inning that carried them on to tie the ALCS, and get them back home to Big Jake! I was really worried for a while there, and of course never expected a run-away inning like the 11th! Statistically, by the numbers, Boston looks much MUCH better than the Indians on paper (and in many ways on the field), but the Indians are doing a killer job of sticking in there. During one interview, I heard one of the Tribe say they were playing as a team, that they saw themselves as a team. In today's world of "me, me, me" free agency, it's refreshing to hear a player say that about the team he is on. Though, for the most part, I believe that's how the Indians have always seen themselves - as a team... Or maybe that's how I'VE always seen them, anyway....
Thursday, October 11, 2007
1974 Topps Stamps
I don't know where my fascination with stamps and stickers comes from. Perhaps I was denied such pleasures as a child, or maybe I was punished for peeling them and sticking them to walls of the house, who knows. Nonetheless, stamps (that is, baseball players done on stamps) have the same draw on me today as they did when I was a kid.
Gamble is ALL 70's - from the afro sticking out from every possible direction from under his hat, to his 'stache. Hendrick, on the other hand, takes the super-groomed, clean cut approach. Gaylord Perry has that, "Where is your mother?" look on his face. As long as I can remember, Perry always looked older than he was - maybe thew wisdom beyond his years....
Charlie Spikes fits somewhere between Gamble and Hendrick on the grooming scale - clean cut with the Elvis sideburns. Tidrow basically sports the same look a lot of players give when posing for their pictures. Bell seems a little confused, yet somehow confident. I was a huge Bell fan as a kid.
Chambliss looks like he is ready to take someone down, while Duffy has the classic Duffy look... I'm not sure what's going on with Duncan, though really, he is showing the classic "bigger white guy" look of the 70's...
Ellis is trying to look tough, but I don't think he quite pulls it off here.
I realize it sounds as if I am bad-mouthing my beloved team's players. I am trying to evaluate their pictures in relation to the era in which they were taken. Some players, like Gamble, Duffy, and Bell, maintained basically the same look for their entire career. Even before this picture was posted, had I said "Oscar Gamble," you would have most likely thought of the guy with the 'fro. Duffy? The guy in the glasses... and Bell is the toe-headed wonder of the Tribe.
I was about 5 or 6 when these stamps were issued, and so far as my memory serves, I never bought them or even saw them in the card store. These were added to my collection this past summer, during my quest to get my collection entered into a database. The program I use is "Card Collector 7," which comes pre-loaded with a ton of sets. As I entered my cards, I would browse the other editions of cards during that time or by that manufacturer and discover worlds of cards I had not seen before. That, of course led me to buying the ones I "needed" to fill my collection... It is a bittersweet addiction, this baseball card thing.... :-)
Gamble is ALL 70's - from the afro sticking out from every possible direction from under his hat, to his 'stache. Hendrick, on the other hand, takes the super-groomed, clean cut approach. Gaylord Perry has that, "Where is your mother?" look on his face. As long as I can remember, Perry always looked older than he was - maybe thew wisdom beyond his years....
Charlie Spikes fits somewhere between Gamble and Hendrick on the grooming scale - clean cut with the Elvis sideburns. Tidrow basically sports the same look a lot of players give when posing for their pictures. Bell seems a little confused, yet somehow confident. I was a huge Bell fan as a kid.
Chambliss looks like he is ready to take someone down, while Duffy has the classic Duffy look... I'm not sure what's going on with Duncan, though really, he is showing the classic "bigger white guy" look of the 70's...
Ellis is trying to look tough, but I don't think he quite pulls it off here.
I realize it sounds as if I am bad-mouthing my beloved team's players. I am trying to evaluate their pictures in relation to the era in which they were taken. Some players, like Gamble, Duffy, and Bell, maintained basically the same look for their entire career. Even before this picture was posted, had I said "Oscar Gamble," you would have most likely thought of the guy with the 'fro. Duffy? The guy in the glasses... and Bell is the toe-headed wonder of the Tribe.
I was about 5 or 6 when these stamps were issued, and so far as my memory serves, I never bought them or even saw them in the card store. These were added to my collection this past summer, during my quest to get my collection entered into a database. The program I use is "Card Collector 7," which comes pre-loaded with a ton of sets. As I entered my cards, I would browse the other editions of cards during that time or by that manufacturer and discover worlds of cards I had not seen before. That, of course led me to buying the ones I "needed" to fill my collection... It is a bittersweet addiction, this baseball card thing.... :-)
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
2007 A&G Trot Nixon G-U Bat
When I checked the mail yesterday, the empty box reminded me it was Columbus Day on Monday. Whoop-dee-doo... So, when I opened the mailbox today (Tuesday), I was glad to see a familiar manilla padded envelope with my name on it. Of course, I couldn't remember what I had bought recently, so opening it was a lot like Christmas. Sure enough, I pull out a 2007 Allen and Ginter's Trot Nixon Game-Used bat card. Very nice, especially with the post-season play he has had so far! :-)
The card itself is in that weird floral and gold border that is too big for the mini card inside. I am not a fan of this design at all. Why did Topps leave "floating space" around the card? Are we supposed to keep the card in this "protector?" Well, I do, but mainly because it helps the card fit into my pocket pages better.. :-)
The bat itself is exposed through a window in the mini card which is (somewhat) aligned to a window in the framed protector. The bat is not glued or attached to the card at all, and slides freely in the provided space on the mini card.
I like that Nixon has the bat in his photo planted on his shoulders, running behind his head. That's a nice touch on a G-U bat card.
The back of the card is the obligatory "We certify this is a ... blah-blah..." Seriously. Can we not put stats or a bio or some little fact back there? I mean, really....
Oh well, aside from my few complaints about the A&G cards in general, I am very happy with my newest acquisition!
Monday, October 8, 2007
It's Tribe Time Now!
CONGRATULATIONS!!
The Tribe takes out the Yankees in a ALDS Game 4 win, 6-4! Sizemore's 1st inning, 1st batter home run was awesome. Not in the "Man, did you see how far that thing went!?" sense of awesome, but rather in the, "Talk about setting the tone!" kind of way. I admit, by the third inning, I was switching between "Independence Day" and the game because it was dragging. I don't think I have seen such a slowly played ballgame in quite some time. Of course, it was worth the wait!
Part of the slow pace was due to Byrd's pitching, and it earned him the Chevy Player of the Game. Yeah, he gave up a couple runs, but he also pitched one helluva game!
Now, the question on all (okay, maybe just most) Tribe fans' minds is how well will the Tribe fare versus the Sox? It will not be easy. I'm not saying the Yanks were easy, but all-tolled, it was a pretty easy run for our guys. I think we had better bring a better game than we played during these last two, or we'll be gone before we get there.... Having said that, however, I whole-heartedly BELIEVE!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)