two "special" cards

for those of you who know me probably know I am a Cubs fan and prefer "vintage" cards to the "modern" cards (though I am a quiet Rays fan since I live the Tampa Bay area called Sarasota and am slowly coming around to appreciate some newer cards)

That being said, two cards came to me from Jim at GCRL that are worthy of a "special" designation. First of all they came from a very generous blogger and that always makes a card special - thank you again, Jim.

Secondly, both of these cards are Dodgers; ok true, not my favorite team by a long shot but coming from a Dodger fan makes them special as well. Many of us get flooded with cards of our favorite team's so when cards come from the senders favorite team, it should be noted as "special".

Probably not as important as the two reasons above but both of these cards are what I have termed as a "Clemente-ism" (look at some previous posts under my irregular special feature onthe right, if you need a explanation of what I mean).

This 1978 Steve Garvey # 350 showcases his batting average at the end of the '77 campaign at exactly .300 !

And this 1986 Steve Yeager # 32 after fourteen years as a Dodger has his total career homeruns at exactly 100 !

You will have to believe me because I purposely did not show the backs of these cards in hopes that some of you might look at your own collections and see if you can find any other "Clemente-isms", just to designate them "special" too.

And finally these two cards are special because they are Steve's . . . and anyone with the first name Steve in my book is "special".

Born in 1960: Mike Marshall

for some of you (probably those over 40) I am speaking of the "other" Mike Marshall; not the 1974 Cy Young award winning relief pitcher for the Dodgers. This "other" Mike Marshall, born in 1960, was also a Dodger but throughout the eighties.

This Marshall spent the majority of his playing days in LA (1981-1989), was a one time all-star (1984) as well as earning a world series ring with the 1988 club.

Being born in 1960 is one thing he and I have in common. He was born in Libertyville Illinois and went to the local high school in Buffalo Grove, a town I moved to in 1987. No I never met him nor have anything else in common with him (kind of).

A career .270 hitter with 148 HR's, Marshall "greatest" accomplishment might have been in 1981 as a minor leaguer. He actually won the triple crown for the Albuquerque Dukes, the triple A team in the PCL; hitting .373, blasting 34 HR's and 137 RBI's. From there his promising career turned into a respectable utility role and 11 year MLB career.

A couple of footnotes to his career were:

a) he gained much unwanted "fame" for dating then rock-star Belinda Carlisle of The Go-Go's (most currently of Dancing with the Stars)

b) when Harry Caray said that Marshall needed to get "back to LA to get some cocaine for his foot" . . . quickly corrected by booth partner Steve Stone saying "Harry, that's Novocaine"

c) and, in his very first at bat in September of 1981, he hit a rocket towards (over) the right field wall at Dodger Stadium. Being hit so hard, it bounced off the stairwell and right back onto the playing field where Jack Clark (of the S F Giants) scooped it up, threw it towards the infield and Marshall had a double. Not sure if it was days or years later but Clark did admit to Marshall that his first hit should have been called a homerun !

d) he also is included in my "duplicate initial" archive: M M

So there you have it . . . born in the same year as I, lived in the same town, dated a rock star (my wife was in high school and college theatre !) and hit a "homerun" in his first major league at bat. Not so bad for being the "other" Mike Marshall.

Something is just not "right"

While I am not disappointed at all that Team USA lost in the semi-finals to Japan last night in the WBC, it just seems not "right" that this most North-American of games is now being "perfected" by countries that "we" taught. {It is like the French with their wines, the Irish with their Beer, Scotland with golf, Belgium chocolate, Russian Vodka, English soccer, China Gymnasts and Canadian Hockey.} It is just not "right" that the country who created and taught the world can now be considered second fiddle. Not being "right" does not make it "bad" . . .

I was happy that Team USA lost. Now lets get all those MLB players back in their regular team uniform, training with their "real" team and getting ready for the long 162 game season that will capture our attention for the next six months.

Speaking of cards that are just not "right" . . . I found this 1973 Frank Robinson.

No offense to my blogger friends who like the Dodgers, but Robinson does not look "right" in Dodger Blue - he looked much more "perfect" in Cincinnati Red or Oriole Orange. And another thing, his uniform # ! The only year in Robinson's HOF career he wore a number other than 20 - in LA with this # 36 (I know Don Sutton had uniform # 20 in 1972, but still - Frank Robinson had hit 500 HR's by this time in his career, 11 times an all-star, twice the MVP, ROY and Triple Crown winner in addition to being on his way to having # 20 retired by both the Reds and Orioles).

Another thing not "right" on this card, has the team of the California Angels listed below his name while he is wearing Dodger blue.

The world may not be "right" or perfect all of the time but that does not make it "bad".

1970 Topps: card # 5

Maurice Wesley Parker; the first legitimate "star" that appears in this set as card number 5. Playing first base for the Los Angeles Dodgers for nine years, six consecutive gold gloves (1967 thru 1972 and one World Series ring (1965) is only part of his story.

Parker had a career batting average of .267 had 1110 hits, 64 HR's while driving in 470 runs. His best offensive year was in 1970 playing in a league leading 161 games, batting .319 with 111 RBI's and 47 doubles; coming in 5th in MVP voting that year as well. Defensively, Parker was phenomenal; not only those six gold gloves but he had a career fielding percentage of .996 ! In 2007, Parker was named to the Major League Baseball All-Time Gold Glove Team, being the only eligible member of the team who is not in the Hall of Fame.

Parker was part of a string of outstanding first baseman for the Dodgers, being sandwiched between Gil Hodges and Steve Garvey.

In typical Topps fashion for 1970 , the back of his card notes a non-baseball factoid stating that Parker "is an excellent bridge player".

Interesting to note is that after his life in baseball, Parker had a successful stint as an actor, about 12 years worth. He might be most known (in the crowd aged under 30) as "that ballplayer" that appeared in a Brady Bunch episode promising Greg Brady "two tickets to a game if he gets an A in math". He also had appearances in several other show including being the "star" in All that Glitters a show that ran in 1977.

A star on and off the field . . . . Wes Parker the first "star"card of 1970.

Oh what a year it was . . .

. . . in 1959 for Chicago baseball.

While this year was most celebrated on the southside with the White Sox winning the American League pennant and facing the Los Angels Dodgers in the World Series (eventually losing to the Dodgers 4 games to 2), Chicago baseball can boast one thing !

Each team had their league MVP ! Nellie Fox led the White Sox and Ernie Banks won his 2nd consecutive MVP for the bottom dweller Chicago Cubs. 1959 was the year Chicago bragged about having two MVP's (as an aside, Early Wynn from the Sox won the Cy Young as well).

The same city MVP's had happened quite often in the 40's and 50's with the Yankees and Dodgers dominating the award (Brooklyn at the time) but for Chicago, 1959 was the year. The closest since 1959 was in 2000; Jeff Kent of the San Fransisco Giants (NL) and Jason Giambi of the Oakland Athletics (AL). So the Bay area fans can brag about that if they want to.

1959 is also the year that future Chicago Cub MVP and Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg was born.

Oh what a year it was . . .

Duplicate Initials: B.B.

The second letter of the alphabet and my second entry of my "irregular special feature" called Duplicate Initials must highlight the letter B, or in this case B.B. as the players initials.

Many of you might have already thought of "stars" Bobby Bonds or Barry Bonds or Bert Blyleven. There is also Bob Boone, Bob Brenly, Bob Bailey and Bobby Bonilla. There's Bill Bene and Billy Beane and so many others from various decades. "B.B." is not uncommon . . .

My choice is a player who "starred" for the Cubs yet came to into the League as a Dodger and came to "fame" as a Red Sox (or should I say Red Sock). None other than Bill Buckner !

I like this 1970 card, since I am 92 % of the way to complete the 1970 set, but more importantly for this blog post, Buckners card represents a double Duplicate Initial with Jack Jenkins appearing with him.

So there you go . . . my second in my simple series of Duplicate Initials. Next entry will be C.C. . . .who is your favorite C.C. . . . who will I "feature" ?

I give a "Hoot"

. . . Burt Hooton that is.

A Rookie Star in 1972 (correctly predicted by Topps) actually made his major league debut in 1971 appearing in just 3 games, going 2 - 0 and striking out 22 in 21 1/3 innings. He started 1972 like a "rookie star" should, pitching a no-hitter in his first start of the year on April 16, 1972 against the Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field. While that would be his Cubs highlight, Hooton went on to a 34-44 record and an ERA that rose every year would eventually be traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in May of 1975.


Hooton would have a solid career with the Dodgers, including going 18-7 in 1975 and 19-10 in 1978; earning him a second place in the Cy Young balloting that year.
His signature pitch was that nasty knuckle curve and 1981 Hooton earned his hardware; an All-Star selection, the NLCS MVP and a World Championship ring. Nicknamed "happy" by Tommy Lasorda, Hooton also could hit the ball; four career homeruns to go along with 49 RBI's. Hooton finished his career as a Texas Ranger going 5 - 8 in 1985.

While Burt Hooton will be most remembered for his knuckle curve, his playoff wins and world series ring as a Dodger . . . for me I give him four "hoots" for pitching a no-hitter in only his fourth game in the majors. A "rookie star" he was . . . as a Cubbie.

The Year of the "Bulldog"

Another beautiful evening in Sarasota, Florida gave me the opportunity to walk my dog (our five year old shetland sheepdog named Winnie) around the block and enjoy the dark blue sky with millions of stars. Upon our walk, we met a new neighbor who also had a puppy, a bulldog puppy. Now I can not honestly say that I like bulldogs but this puppy was cute.

When we got home, Winnie got her cookie and like any good dog owner I left her alone and went back to my baseball card collection, it was there I came across another "Bulldog", named Orel Hershiser.

Hershiser was given this nickname by manager Tommy Lasorda and lived up to that toughness. As most of my usual posts are directed to baseball and cards from the 60's and 70's I must take this time to acknowledge Hershiser.

To go back a few years, many would consider 1968 "the year of the pitcher" with Gibson' year ending ERA of 1.12, McClain winning 3 games and Louis Tiant having batters hit only .168 against all year. This was also the year that Yaz won the AL batting title with an anemic .301 BA. Throughout the sixties, pitchers were gaining the advantage over hitters and it was the year 1969 that MLB lowered the pitchers mound (from 15" down to 10") and restored the strikeout zone to the larger pre-1963 area. Hitters were now the focus of baseball . . . but here came Orel Hershiser and his glorious year of 1988 "the year of the bulldog".

Hershiser went 23 and 8, had a .226 ERA and pitched 267 innings. He was voted to the All-Star team, earned a gold glove and won the Cy Young award. Though that was just the beginning.

He ended the year with 59 (yes, fifty nine) consecutive scoreless innings (eventually broken on opening day 1989). Behind Hershisers pitching, the Los Angeles Dodgers went on to win the National League Pennant and World Series, crowning Hershiser MVP of both. Hershiser went 42 2/3 innings allowed only 5 earned runs, went 3-0, with 3 CG and 1 save in the postseason. 1968 may have been the end of an era favoring pitchers but 1988 was certainly the year of this pitcher, the "bulldog".

Maybe tomorrows walk I will come across a penguin, ryno, snake or a goose ?