Someones "junk" is someone elses treasure

Several months ago a most generous blogger John of Pursuit of 80's offered up a set he "did not like as much as he thought" and I because my thoughts are far less deep or poignant I asked and received this most unexpected treasure.

John had acquired the 1995 CardToons set of cards (copy written date of 1993 though not released until 1995).

For those not familiar with this set, it was a parody,simple as that. The base set of 95 cards spotlighted almost every star of the day in a caricature rendition with humor and sarcasm flowing freely. There were also several subsets printed including one aptly named Big Bang Bucks (showcasing the 20 highest salaried players on card currency) and Politics in Baseball ( an eleven card set focusing on the problems of baseball at the time).

My personal favorite subset is the Field of Greed (a nine card set) which describes the history of baseball (at the time) labor problems. The most interesting thing about this subset is that when completed and aligned (or put in a nine-pocket page) they make a complete Field of Greed picture.

The complete set has a comical approach to our national pastime and its players; fronts and back are very cleverly stated (or at least in my opinion) and gives me a chuckle every time I look at these cards.

A couple of my favorites are naturally the "Scrubs" (ie Chicago Cubs) cards:

Shawon (Tungsten Steel) Dunston

Ernie (Mr. Club) Banks

and if some remember this superstars' brief stint in baseball, Michael (Just Air) Jordan (sorry if the timing is perfect as he was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame (yesterday) as the GOAT (greatest of all-time) for a sport I rarely follow.

This 1995 Cardtoon set is fun, simple as that. Collecting baseball cards should be fun, simple as that. This set is now my "treasure". Thank you John !

a shadow of a career

in my Websters New Collegiate Dictionary copy written in 1973 (yes it is the only middle school graduation present that I still have) the word shadow has several definitions including:

a) an imperfect and faint representation
b) an imitation of something
c) a source of gloom and unhappiness
d) not functioning in a official capacity
e) of questionable merit

Knowing all of that I think this card of Kevin Orie (1998 Pinnacle # 71) and his shadow fits. Looks like Orie has a scared look on his face, is running from success and his career is well . . . all of the above work.

Orie was billed as the next Ron Santo for the Cubs after being drafted in the first round of the 1993 amateur draft. All those expectations lasted about a year as Orie never could produce numbers anywhere close to staying in major leagues.

Interesting to note is that Orie did have a respectable year in 1997, earning him enough rookie of the year votes to place 11th, yet from then on it was down hill. The Cubs traded Orie to the Marlins mid season in 1998, and Orie disappointed them too.

After appearing in just 77 games in 1999 the Marlins sent Orie to the Dodgers which began Orie's minor league travel odyssey; to the Royals, Yankees, Phillies and then back to the Cubs in 2002 to play 13 games with the big boys and then off for more travel signing with the Indians, Astros and Brewers yet never making it back to the senior circuit, finally "retiring" in 2006.

His career fits the above definitions of a shadow very well.

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.

1993 Upper Deck All Time Heroes

It has taken some time but I finally have completed sorting, storing and logging in all the Cubs Cards that Jim at gcrl sent me and I found these three unusual (shaped) cards (at least they were to me).

A little bit of digging found these are from the 1993 Upper Deck All-Time Heroes set. This set includes 165 cards (130 regular and 35 in what is called "classic combinations"), measure 2 1/4" x 5 1/4" and feature a three panel look. These cards are patterned after the T-202 Hassan Triple Folder cards of 1912.

The regular set of cards have a candid or action shot of the player in the larger middle pane with a portrait style photo on the left. The right panel has the B A T (Baseball Assistance Team) logo.

The backs have a nice bio of the player, a nickname and career highlights to go along with a description of the BAT cause (an organization to help baseball families in need).
Ferguson Jenkins # 74: Mr Durability

Ron Santo # 113: Hot Corner Hero

The classic combination cards have center panels featuring artwork or photographs of the "all time great" and the side panels have portrait style photos as well. The backs have the side panels with the bio's and the middle panel describing the players association with each other.
Tinker - Evers # 147: Hall of Fame Infield

These are quite unusual cards in many ways and I think I like them. Thank you Jim, for introducing these cards to me. That is one of the great things about this blogosphere we participate in . . . learning, exploring new ground and enjoying new cards.

If anyone has these cards and have tips on storing them, please help me. If anyone has any of these cards and does not want to store them . . . I will find them a good clean safe home.

These 1993 Upper Deck All-Time Great (BAT) cards are now on my "look for" list.

Born in 1960: Joe Carter

As my first real post for my "irregular special feature" called, Born in 1960, I wanted to highlight a Chicago Cub so here goes . . .

Joe Carter . . . ok, I know he really was not a Cub for very long; albeit only 23 games but nonetheless a Rated Rookie as a Cubbie ! Carter was the Sporting News College Player of the Year in 1981 and the Cubs made him the second pick overall in the amateur draft that year. Speed and power were his trademarks and he produced admirably in the minors winning the AAA Rookie of the Year award in 1983.

By June of 1984 he was sent to the Cleveland Indians (for Rick Sutcliff as part of a six player swap) in a deal that would catapult the Cubs to their division win. Sutcliff went on to go 16 - 1 and win the Cy Young award.

Carter on the other hand was belting HR's and striking out at a torrid pace. He ended his career with 396 career homeruns and 1387 strikeouts. Interesting enough, he had zero, none, nadda, zip, nil and no homeruns as a Cub but he did have 21 strikeouts. In the next fifteen years, Carter would go on to play in five all-star games, win two silver slugger awards and land in the top 20 for MVP voting eight times.

His career highlight will always be that game 6, ninth inning walk-off HR in the 1993 World Series in the dome of Toronto.

. . . a Chicago Cub . . . a World Series Trophy . . . and Born in 1960 . . .