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Wait til Next Year . . . is making a come back.

I am going to mix a bit of the philosophy of my life into this blog as I continue to highlight some of my baseball card collection. (hoping the card collectors of this world welcome me back)

Its been a tough 18 months for me . . . the Chicago Cubs have had it rough as well.


This site will be devoted to all those who need to define what "wait til next year" means.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Born in 1960: Dave Valle

since I have not written a post in a couple of days (no good reason or excuse plugged in here) I have been reading plenty and thought I would revert back to an "irregular special feature" of mine I have neglected: players born in the year I was born - 1960.

Today I present Dave Valle (pronounced "valley"); a 1978 2nd round draft choice held onto a thirteen year big league career who played the majority of his games in Seattle (1984-1993) and had short stays with the Red Sox, Brewers and Rangers until he called it quits in 1996.

Primarily a catcher though Valle did play a bit at first base. He caught over 100 games in only four big league seasons having played catcher in only 902 career games. Valle hit 77 HR's, drove in 350 runs had a career BA of .237 and would you believe also had 5 stolen bases (ok he got caught stealing seven times too).

Valle's biggest "claim to fame" might have been in 1993 when he led the league in being hit by a pitch with 17. Another story I read about Valle that in Seattle in the early 90's bars around Seattle would price beer based on his batting average - today that sounds like a great deal.

When Valle left baseball he became a color commentator for the Mariners and probably most importantly in 1995 he founded a non-profit organization called Espernza. Valle and his wife have strong ties to the Christian community (Valle is a strong student of the bible as well) and helps families in severe need in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Valle organizes golf outings, fund raisers and makes numerous trips to this area every year.

A not-so-spectacular major league career has brought Valle into a rather super-spectacular after baseball career.

Congratulations to Dave Valle . . . for being born in the same year as me and giving back more than baseball gave him.

2 comments:

  1. I had Dave Valle in an APBA league in the late 80s and early 90s. Great glove and arm, but killed me at the plate.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Perspective is warranted;
    if you even make the majors,
    you are one of the elite players.

    ReplyDelete