Mystery Fergie

I received a card via a bulk (50 assorted Cubs) e-bay purchase last week and in going through to sort them I came across this Ferguson Jenkins card.

I can not place this card with a set or manufacturer. So . . . I am looking for some insight from the blogging community experts out there.

Anybody know anything about this 1992 Ferguson Jenkins ? the front artwork depicts Fergie in stride, with the cubbie blue stripeed uniform but no logo on the hat or jersey ?the back is not numbered in any way; has a Kodak Film, Colorado Rockies and a Major League Baseball Players Alumni logo along with the copy written 1992. The card also states "Reunion Edition Collector Card".

as we used to say in youth baseball when the someone would hit the ball beyond anyone's running ability . . . "little help" . . .

Duplicate Initials: D.D.

In my ongoing "irregular special feature" that is called Duplicate Initials I am up to D.D.

There are many players with D.D. as their initials like: Doug Dascenzo, Darren Daulton, Doug DeCinces and Delino DeSheilds. There are old-timers Dizzy Dean and Dom Dimaggio. And I could not forget to mention Doug Drabek, Dan Driessen or Dave Duncan.

But D.D. is more complicated than that. I sort of wanted to present, Dave DeBusschere but . . . . . . he is more of a NBA star. One of only eleven (11) other players to play in both the MLB and the NBA, DeBusschere did pitch for the Chicago White Sox in 1962 and 1963, going 3-4 with a .290 ERA. DeBusschere really made his mark as an NBA star for twelve (12) years playing and coaching for the Detroit Pistons and N Y Knickerbockers. An eight (8) time NBA all-star and elected to the NBA Hall of Fame in 1983 Debusschere would certainly have been a good choice.

But D.D. is a struggle for me because there is also Dodger (Brooklyn and Los Angeles) great Don Drysdale.
The 1962 Cy Young winner, played 14 years going 209-166, Drysdale was one of the greatest pitchers of his day. I will leave it at that, since there are so many Dodger bloggers out there I could not do Drysdale justice.

But those two aside my pick as my "favorite" D.D. is . . . . Dave Dravecky !

For those of you who remember, Dravecky was a solid starting pitcher for the Padres and Giants for the better part of eight years (1982-89) having a career record of 64-57. However, Dravecky's career will always be remembered for that one day in July of 1989, pitching for the Giants, in the sixth inning facing Tim Raines . . . when his arm and body went forward to pitch and his humerus bone broke - right there on the mound, his arm breaks and he is writhing on the mound in excruciating pain. This was after a tremendous fight and successful return from cancer in October of 1988 and bouncing back to pitch in the majors in less than a year.

The Giants went on to win the pennant in 1989 and in the post-game celebration Dravecky would break his arm again and during the examination doctors would notice the cancer had returned. Just three weeks later Dravecky would retire from baseball. That year he would earn the Willie Mac award for courageous spirit and leadership.

What makes Dravecky a personal choice for me is two things: one he is a cancer survivor and a battler (need I say more) yet secondly is that on July 18, 1991, after two more surgeries, his arm and shoulder were amputated -the exact same day (almost to the minute) as my daughter was born.

Dravecky has gone on to be an author and motivational speaker as well as my favorite D.D.

Bicentennial George Brett

Twenty-one (21) seasons in small market Kansas City, thirteen (13) times an all-star (consecutive years), three silver slugger awards, one AL MVP (1980) and one World Championship ring (1985). Career statistics that earned Brett a first ballot (98.2%) election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999 and he was the first player to have his number (#5) retired by the Royals.

The notorious "Pine Tar Incident" (1983); 3,154 career hits and according to historian Bill James; George Howard Brett is the second-best third baseman ever to play the game (behind Mike Schmidt).

I present his 1977 Topps All-Star card # 580 (with the stats on the back obviously depicting the year 1976). In 1976, Brett was elected to his first of thirteen consecutive all-star teams, led the league in hits (215, the most in his career with 160 singles), BA (.333) and total bases (298) and came in 2nd in MVP voting (behind Thurman Munson).

All that may be well and good but Brett was also very patriotic (even if he had not planned on being so). At the conclusion of the 1976 campaign, Brett had exactly 1776 hits ! (something I refer to as a "Clemente-ism", a statistical quirk occurring at the end of a year and depicted on ones card). Nice way to celebrate the Bicentennial !

Pay it Forward

No this is not a movie review, though "Pay it Forward" is a favorite of mine, and I highly recommend it to all (especially the young people in our lives). This post is an acknowledgement that since entering the world of blogging (December 0f 2008) it seems that the concept of "paying it forward" is more prevalent than I ever imagined.

Just the other day I received an email from blogger Tim of 90sboxbreaks that he was willing to send me some cards he had to fill one of my "wants". In my reply email I asked what I could send in return and his reply was "just pay it forward". This is the best answer any of us bloggers could hear and practice, especially since we all have our own specialities and collections.

Tim sent me four of the five 1991 Score Dream Team cards I was missing.

from Frank Viola's quirky "is that an apple in your hand or are you happy to see me" to "need a light" Doug Jones . . .
and Dave Stewart with his eyes posed to throw that ball at anyone who crosses him . . .
to Roberto Alomar seemingly floating in the air waiting to backhand that line drive shot (though he looks scared at the same time).

Now my Dream Team set is almost complete, just searching for that elusive last card, #12 Ken Griffey Jr. Thank you Tim for reminding all of us that our hobby is our own production of the movie as we all "pay it forward" everyday.

The oldest baseball player . . .

to ever appear in a game is pitcher Satchell Paige, at age 59 (in 1965), though his exact date of birth is still in question. As for a position player it would be Minnie Minoso at age 57 (in 1980) though his birth date is also un-certified.

Today, the two oldest players considered "active" are Jamie Moyer (46) and Randy Johnson (45) as of opening day 2009. The oldest living former baseball player is Tony Malinosky, born in 1909 and played in 1937.

While all of that might be true (or at least according to internet resources) . . . I present Dave Magadan - the "unofficial" oldest player ever to put on a major league uniform.

According to his Studio 91 card, he was born in 1862 ! Thereby making him a 124 year old Rookie (when he entered the league in 1986).

At that age it is unfair to classify him as "slow", stealing only 11 bases and chugging his way to 13 triples in 16 years in the majors.

If Studio 91 is correct then he was 139 years old when he left the game to "retire" in Tampa Florida. Good for him . . . it was about time he left the game . . .

The 30-40-50-100 Man

For those of you who are new to baseball (under 21 years of age) or dont bleed Cubbie Blue there once was a 2nd baseman who was pretty darn good.

He was elected to ten (10) all-star games, won nine (9) gold glove and seven (7) silver slugger awards. He has one NL MVP (1984) award in his pocket and his uniform number (#23) is hanging on a foul pole at Wrigley Field. His two game-tying clutch homeruns in a June 23rd, 1984 game has been "officially" named after him . . .

Ok . . . no big secret here . . .the "pretty darn good" 2nd baseman is Ryne Sandberg, Duh !

While 1984 is his MVP year, I will take note of his 1990 year (coming in fourth in MVP ballots): What is so special about 1990 ?

Sandberg hit .306, had a .559 slugging average and . . . . hit 30 doubles, 40 HR's, had 50 walks and drove in 100 RBI's (exactly); a 30-40-50-100 Man ! As an aside, he is one of only threee players ever to hit 40 HR's (1990) and steal 50 bases (1985) in ones career (joining Brady Anderson and Barry Bonds).

Score appropriately named Sandberg "Man of the Year" for 1990 ! I still call him the 30-40-50-100 Man !

Today in Baseball History

Happy March to all . . . it is now less than forty days until opening day reaches many ball parks throughout our nation and being the first day of the month I asked myself the question . . . did anything interesting happen today in baseball history.

The most important thing I could find was on March 1st, 1969, Mickey Mantle announced his retirement. Yes exactly forty (40) years ago today . . . In 1968 Mantle had a lackluster year hitting .237 the lowest of his career) and blasting only 18 HR's (also the lowest of any full season played).

While I never saw Mantle play in person, was never a "real" Yankee fan, nor sought collecting Yankee cards, I do have these two that I will proudly display on the 4oth anniversary of Mantle's announcement.

The ever eerie looking "floating head" checklist from 1967 (#103) and . . .

this (stating the obvious) "Super-Star" card with Killebrew, Mays and Mantle (Topps 1968 # 490). On the back of this card it says "this powerful trio has blasted 1462 homeruns". Interesting to me that these three would end up hitting 1769 combined. Now that is a "powerful" card.

Happy March 1st to all . . . I wonder if any "historical" news will be made today ?