The Strongest Handshake Ever

I shook the hand of a professional baseball player yesterday (name to be withheld for his safety); let’s just say he is a left-handed pitcher in the Minnesota Twins organization and throws ninety plus mph. He had the strongest handshake I ever griped. He gave me his latest card but I promised not to show it until he “makes it” (and he knows my blog is about “vintage” players and the Cubs). I would not want him to squeeze my head as hard as he squeezed my hand.

During my teenage years, the seventies, I worked at a golf course and shook hands with many golfers, including some professionals (Lee Trevino comes to mind quickly). I remember Trevino having the thickest and widest hands ever. Even today, at some golf tournaments I have attended, and shook hands with some pro’s, I have noticed the same strong and thick yet not overpowering golfer handshake. I also remember shaking some professional basketball players’ hands – they have the biggest and longest fingers in the world.

I have also shaken hands with many baseball players, at card shows, prior to games, as a youth and now as an adult and I believe that baseball players, especially pitchers, who throw upwards of ninety plus mph have the strongest handshakes. What do you think ?

Santo - Stone Trade in 1973

During every offseason, including this year, there are trades made by teams that many of us start to question. Some we like and some we dont. As I look back at some trades from years gone by, I still get angry and confused as to what some general managers or owners were really thinking.

For me, in one of the saddest (not worst) trades of Chicago Cub history Ron Santo was traded to the Chicago White Sox on December 11, 1973.

Santo was sent to the southsiders (ie Chicago White Sox) in exchange for four players; Steve Swisher (catcher), and three young pitchers including Steve Stone.

Previously, in 1972, Santo actually became the first player to invoke the ten-five rule and block a trade to the California Angels (the ten-five rule allowed players with ten years of service and the last five with the same club to veto any trade). Santo wanted to stay in Chicago, and complete his career with the Cubbies, but the Cubs top brass had other ideas and finally arranged this deal to the White Sox.

Santo was miserable, the worst year of his professional baseball playing life. Sox manager Chuck Tanner had high hopes of good production from Santo in the designated hitter role. Santo hated not being in the field. Tanner gave in, kind of, and put Santo at second base where he was less comfortable and ultimately embarrassed himself. To be fair to Tanner, the Sox had Bill Melton at third base a regular 30 HR man and good defensively.

Fortunately for Santo, the time in the White Sox uniform was short, only one year. Santo retired after that one year, hitting only .221 with five homeruns.

Stone’s best year was several years later; winning a Cy Young award and The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year award with the Baltimore Orioles in 1980 posting a 25 – 7 record. He would later be joined with Santo in the Cubs broadcast booth.

I remember buying these cards together, when I re-entered the hobby in 1984 for $ .10 cents each – probably still a bargain today. The best thing about these cards is that Santo is NOT in a Sox uniform or cap (note the airbrushing and no logo). Stone however is in his new cubbie blue cap.

Sometimes trades benefit teams, sometimes one player shines in his new uniform, and sometimes trades go unnoticed for years. This trade however left a scar in the Chicago Cubs history and was incredibly sad to see a great ball player like Santo reduced to this low level of performance. Sometimes trades are just sad . . .

Billy Williams - 1962 All Star Rookie

The year is 1969 and it is my first year playing “organized” baseball. I remember my father taking me to the sporting goods store and wanting to buy me my first real baseball glove. I picked out a Rawlings Fastback with Billy Williams name stamped right there in the palm. I still have this tattered, worn, shaped perfectly yet “old” glove. I remember shaping this glove by placing a ball in it, tying it with string and storing it under my mattress at night. This glove is a constant reminder to me of my childhood, playing ball (both 12” and little league as it was called back in the day in suburban Chicago). This glove fits perfectly alongside my collection of baseball cards.

Billy Williams, one of the all time greatest Chicago Cubs, a classy professional. Billy Williams played or coached for the Chicago Cubs for 31 years. Billy Williams, the iron man of his time, played in more than 150 games for twelve consecutive seasons. Billy Williams # 26 was retired by the Chicago Cubs in August 1987. Billy Williams, second in MVP voting twice losing out to Johnny Bench – both times his offensive numbers were better yet was snubbed by voters for the Big Red Machine’s leader behind the plate. Billy Williams, Rookie of the Year, 1961. Billy Williams Hall of Famer.

The card I am featuring is Williams’ 1962 Rookie card #288, highlighted by his Topps All Star Rookie trophy. The Topps ’62 cards have a somewhat bland look to them, brown border, rather small print area for the team and player name yet has a cute touch to it by have the corner look like the page is flipping over.

The back of the cards have the nine basic stats yet only show the current year, labeled simply as “year” and career totals labeled as “life”. An interesting (at least to me) tidbit is that Billy Williams is the only position player who played on the 1969 Chicago Cubs team that ever played a game in the post season, with the Oakland Athletics in 1975.

Thank you Billy Williams for playing for the Cubs, living Cubbie Blue and being such a vital part of my childhood (as Jimmy Buffet says in a song: “I may be growing old but not up”). I think for tonight I will put this card in my glove, put a string around it and put it under my mattress.

Happy Birthday to You !

Today, January 2nd, is my wife’s birthday (I will keep her age a secret, because that is something girls don’t like to tell). Let’s just say that we have been married for over 22 years, have one beautiful 17 year old daughter, a calm and friendly Shetland Sheepdog (Sheltie, named Winnie) and we live in “paradise” (that is what we call life in Sarasota Florida).

For her present, she asked me to promise that today I will not look through my cards, go on the computer to read blogs, look for sales or cards online, write about anything sports related, refrain from watching the MLB Network and simply “spend a day with her”.

Well, I tried, lasted all of fifteen minutes . . . I have too many baseball cards and memories to ignore (most from before I ever met her), too many blogs to write (and stay on top of things), too much to learn and read about and today is just the second day of the MLB Network and Don Larsen’s perfect game in the ’56 World Series is on.

So . . . Happy Birthday Karen ! I will take you to dinner, I got you a card (non baseball related) and will spend some of the day with you (you do tell me that I drive you crazy most of the time anyways).

I am not a strong person and cannot stay away from my cards for an entire day, certainly not the second day of the year when there is so much cardboard to talk about.

My wife, she is not a “collector” so she really does not understand this disease. To be fair, she is a writer, reader and shopper. She collects books and clothes.

She has now promised me that she will leave me alone on my birthday (in May). Just goes to prove another difference between the genders. Happy Birthday, Karen !

Willie May - 1970 - 600 HR on #600

My first baseball card post for 2009 is none other than Willie Howard Mays. Some regard Mays as the greatest all around baseball player ever (if not number one certainly in the top five on everyone’s list). While I was able to see him play in person only twice, his career numbers are incredible.

660 homeruns, .302 career batting average, 1903 RBI’s, to go along with 338 stolen bases, 20 time all-star, 2 time National League MVP (1954 and 1965), 12 time gold glove award winner, 1951 Rookie of the Year and naturally his uniform # 24 is retired by the San Francisco Giants. If that was not enough, the current Giant stadium (AT&T Park) is addressed as 24 Willie Mays Plaza.

The 1970 card of Mays, # 600 pictured here is one of my favorites. I like the cards from 1970, simple gray border, name printed in script and a posed picture with Mays’ eyes looking for that perfect pitch to be thrown. As in some of my earlier posts, I like the back of the card even better. The nine basic statistical categories and the listing of his entire career year by year; unlike the 1971 cards listing only stats from 1970 and career. Take a look at games played and you will see a player who played in over 150 games 13 years in a row – look at most of today’s players and the number of games played, it is a joke.

One most interesting stat on the back is homeruns. Mays ended the 1969 campaign with exactly 600 round trippers . . . his card is numbered 600. As I mentioned before in my Roberto Clemente 1973 post, I have termed this sort of coincidence as a “Clementi-ism” . Do you know of other cards with this sort of “coincidence” ? Let’s share . . .

Hockey at Wrigley ?

Before I get started . . . happy New Year to everyone. May all your cardboard dreams come true.

My first post of the new year is not about baseball cards, my collection or even something I got in the mail. It is about something of a higher power . . . something is happening in Chicago that makes me wonder . . . could this year be the year !

There is an old joke about H E double hockey sticks freezing over before the Cubs win a world series and as a Cub fan we don’t like that joke. However, something is freezing over right now and it is Wrigley Field !

Yes folks, the second annual NHL winter classic is being played at Wrigley Field. The Chicago Blackhawks vs. the Detroit Red Wings. The first time ever an outdoor hockey game will be played in a baseball field. I could not think of a better place, more picturesque or historic. Thank you to the N H L for choosing Wrigley Field.

So now that Wrigley is frozen over . . . could this be the year for the Cubbies ! Go Cubs Go !

My Current Want List

WANT LIST – Willing to trade for (updated March 22, 2009)

Topps All Star Rookie Cards (the ones with little gold trophies on them, though in some years the trophy was not printed): I am looking for:
1964: all cards
1965: Brunley, Chance, Lanier, Carty, Oliva, Bunker and McCool
1966: Blefray, Swoboda, Lopez
1967: all but Hundley and Helms
1968: Monday (no trophy), Smith, Williams, Hughes (no trophy)
1969: all but Holman, Nelson, Torres and Bonds
1970: Al Oliver and Don Money
1971: all but Munson, Cash and Foster
1972: all but Speier, Mangual, Buckner, and Grimsley
1973: all but Fisk, Brohamer and Bell
1974: all but (no trophy was printed): Boone, Thomasson, Lopes, Driessen, Terrell, Grubb, Coggins, Jones
1975: all but Foote, McBride, Tanana and Milbourne
1976: all but Carter and Rice

Topps 1970: currently have 675 of 720 94 %
I need:
140, 150, 166, 250, 442, 477, 478, 484, 486, 489, 500, 506, 507, 511, 521, 522, 528, 529, 532, 535, 557, 563, 575, 597, 634, 642, 645, 659, 662, 663, 666, 669, 686, 690, 692, 695, 696, 698, 700, 703, 706, 709, 712, 717, 718,

Fleer 1963:
I NEED:
1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 29, 30, 32, 33, 37, 38, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 48, 49, 52, 55, 56, 57, 60, 61, 62, 64, 65, 67

1991 Fleer, Fleer Ultra, Leaf, O-Pee-Chee, Topps Stadium Club, Studio ’91 (just because my daughter was born in 1991)

CHICAGO CUBS
any cards from the 60’s, 70’s or 80’sespecially looking for 1970, 1973 and 1976
any year any card any manufacturer

and finally –just for the fun of it
1988 Pacific Trading Cards: Baseball Legends ! (not sure how many in series)
I have the following:
1 – Aaron; 3 – Robinson, Brooks; 7 – Musial; 21 – Reese; 22 – Stottlemyre; 24- Mays; 27-Durocher; 33- Newcombe; 36-Banks; 40- Robinson, Jackie; 43- Jenkins; 53- Berra; 55-Snider; 60-Mazeroski; 71- Connors; 87-Hodges; 89-Maris; 90-Willimas, Billy; 91-Aparicio; 97-Santo; 100-Dimaggio; 101-Feller; 104-Kaline; 106-Boudreau; 109-Spahn; 110-Bench