Welcome Back Dubber

Welcome Back, your dreams were your ticket out.

Welcome back, to the same old Blogs that we laughed about.

That's right Kids! Dubbs is back; and so is his great blog Cheese And Beer.



So head on over and see what he's been up to.

Dubbs has always been one of my favorite bloggers. It probably started when he left me a comment on one of my more ridiculous posts and called it "genius". Being ever so humble I immediately thought "It's about damn time somebody figured that out."

Dubbs is clearly a genius in his own right for recognizing my genius.

He's been up to a lot of stuff. One of his big announcements is that he is now a homeowner in South Carolina. He's got a picture up on his blog, but I cut and pasted it here in case any of you are too lazy or too pressed for time to hit the link and look for yourselves.


It is a sweet looking abode. I'm sure there's a nice rug in there somewhere tying the whole thing together nicely.

So, if you are here, you probably have a blog. If you do, go over there and add Cheese And Beer back to your list if it isn't already there. Welcome him back proper.

I always felt like Beardy, Dubbs, and I were like the 3 Musketeers. Well, the 3 Stooges at least. I like the 3 Stooges better anyway.

Achiever Review: Part 3 From Dubbs

If you read the last post, you may remember that I have a review about cards from Dubbs that I should have done about 3 months ago. Well, here it is. Dubbs sent me so much cool stuff that it took me 3 posts and about 1/3 of a year to get through it all.



Grady Sizemore 2007 UD Future Stars
Grady Sizemore 2008 UD Timelines

Absolutely no reason not to start this thing off with Grady. I know he's in a slump right now, but I have no doubt he will be tearing it up shortly. I'm starting to doubt if the Tribe will be able to put it all together, though, no matter what Grady does.

The Timelines card celebrates the fact that Grady had registered 4 consecutive 20-20 seasons. Last year he actually went 30-30. Man's a stud.



Lou Boudreau 2002 Legendary Cuts

I'm not sure many people realize how great Lou was. In 1948 he was the MVP and led the Tribe to it's last World Series victory. Oh yeah, he was the manager too. He is a Cleveland Legend with his number retired. He played his entire career in Cleveland, except for a few games with the Red Sox at the end of his career. Whatever happened to the player/manager?

If I had to pick one current player to be the player/manager I have no doubt who it would be. Manny Ramirez. Hands down. He even has plenty of time to get it all organized.

Yes, I'm very serious. It would be the best thing to happen in baseball this year. Not sure if Night Owl would agree.

Sam McDowell 2002 Legendary Cuts

Man, the Tribe had some seriously awesome staffs back then. Feller, Lemon, McDowell, Score...those guys had some real juice. How did we only win one series back then? I really like these Legendary Cuts cards.



Ken Schrom 1988 Topps

You want to know how delusional I used to be? I remember not understanding why the Indians weren't better when we had guys like Ken Schrom. I really didn't get it. Every year I thought that we would be great.

Now, I realize that I'm stumped as to why the Tribe is so bad when we have players like Anthony Reyes in the rotation. Maybe that tells you something about me. Maybe it tells you something about all Cleveland fans.

Terry Francona 1989 Topps

Someone called JDS sponsors Franconas Baseball Reference page. Here is his quote:

"Manny’s suspension completely invalidates 2004 and 2007. I guess it is back to 90 years and counting Red Sox Nation."

While I disagree with this logically, and find it unsupportable, I do love it. The fact that someone payed out good money to sponsor Francona's page for the sole purpose of antagonizing the entire Red Sox fan base puts a huge smile on my face. And there's not a damn thing they can do about it. Delightful.



Kevin Millwood 2005 Donruss Leather And Lumber

In 2005 Millwood lead the league in ERA on a staff that included Sabathia, Lee, and Westbrook. If only the Indians could have a staff like that hitting on all cylinders at the same time. I think that's been the problem with Cleveland sport. They have had some phenomenal talent at times, they just never have seemed to be able to put it all together at the same time.

You know what makes me think? I'm older than Kevin Millwood.

Jeremy Guthrie 2003 Donruss Champions

Guthrie was the 2002 Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year and was drafted by the Indians with much fanfare. He was going to be the next success story like Sabathia had been. 5 years later he was put on waivers and claimed by Baltimore. I didn't understand it then and I don't understand it now. He was given very little chance to succeed here.

He's been, for the most part, very effective in Baltimore who plugged him straight into their rotation and left him there.

The Indians? They have given 37 starts to Jeremy Sowers since the start of 2007. He has left me underwhelmed.



Cory Snyder 1988 Donruss

Look at that dude. Cory Freakin' Snyder. How could you not love that guy?

Alex Cole 1992 Leaf Studio

I love love love this Alex Cole card. Look at those glasses!!! And, the back has no stats, just biographical info! Here's a sample:

Favorite actor is Wesley Snipes; movies are House Party 1 and 2; talk show host is Montel Williams; would like to meat Wesley Snipes.

Ignoring the glorious fact that his favorite movies are House Party 1 and 2 (HOUSE PARTY 1 AND 2!!!), it seems as if Alex Cole tailored his game after Willy Mays Hayes. I have to get the rest of this set. At least find a box on eBay.

Thanks Dubbs, you made my day again. This time for the second time with the same cards.

TBL Achiever: Dubbs

Welcome to Dubbs TBL Card Fest Page. Please check out his blog.





TBL060 Tony The Limo Driver #01 2008 Mayo
Dubbs



TBL041 Autobahn #02 2008 Upper Deck Timelines
Dubbs



TBL040 Malibu Chief #01 1990 Topps
Dubbs



TBL039 Bunny #02 1988 Topps Turn Back The Clock
Dubbs



TBL028 Walter #05 2008 Legacy
Dubbs



TBL027 Walter #04 2009 Topps Distinguised Service
Dubbs



TBL023 Knox Harrington #01 1973 Topps
Dubbs



TBL015 Marty #01 1960 Topps
Dubbs



TBL002 Arthur Digby Sellers #01 2008 Allen + Ginter
Dubbs

TBL Card Fest: Beardy and Dubbs

Getting back to The Big Lebowski set we have 3 posts worth of cards sent over by Greg (AKA Beardy). They are all really cool, but I think I've saved the best for last, so make sure you are checking back and don't miss any. After these posts go up our set will have reached 62 cards. I couldn't be happier with how this is turning out. All of the submissions are unique and interesting. I've really had a great time compiling these and I hope I continue to do so.



Liam #01 1958 Topps

Liam is Jesus Quintana's unlikely friend and bowling partner. It makes no sense at all that these two guys even know each other, but that just makes it all the more hilarious.


Da Fino #01 1958 Topps

Da Fino is a brother shamus (you know, like an Irish monk), and there is no physical harm intended. He digs the Dudes work. It's fabulous stuff.


Maude #02 1956 Topps

Maude is an artist. Her work has been commended as being strongly "vaginal". Hopefully that doesn't make you too uncomfortable.


Jeffrey Lebowski #02 1956 Topps

This guy's a goldbricker. I've never been so certain of anything in my life.

Here now is the latest submission by Dubbs:

Tony The Limo Driver #01 2008 Mayo

I love this Mayo card with the black and white. It's somehow perfect. It fits right in there. Read in his comments section for the enthralling tail of my brush with greatness in the form of Dom Irrera, AKA Tony the Cheauffeur.

Dubbs has said that this is the last TBL card for a while. Yeah right. It gets into you blood, man. The TBL set will not be put aide or ignored. I suspect we'll see another card from Dubbs shortly (at least I hope so. The kid's got talent).

More shortly.

TBL Card Fest: More from Dubbs

2 kick ass submissions from Dubbs. I'll have to count em up, but I think we have more Wlaters than anyone else so far.


Walter #05 2008 Legacy

Here is a Walter card from everyones favorite set...Yankee Stadium Legacy!!! Hey Walter doesn't care. He had friends who died face down in the muck so we could enjoy this ridiculous card set. He's stayin'. Drinking his milkshake. Enjoying his milkshake.


Walter #04 2009 Topps Distinguished Service

You know, as big a screw up as Walter is, I have little doubt that he was a very good soldier. Anyone else think that? Or, am I completely off on this one?

More to come.

Isn't this fun? I should have done this 3 days ago.

TBL Card Fest: Dubbs

Here are 2 cards from Dubbs at Cheese and Beer, the co-founder of The Big Lebowski Card Fest Set. This first one may be my favorite card so far. I'd been trying to figure out how to use an Allen and Ginter card. I don't think I could have done any better than this. It's the perfect subject for A+G.




Arthur Digby Sellers #01 2008 Allen and Ginter

As you can clearly see from the card, Mr. Sellers has health problems. As the writer for "Branded" (the bulk of the series) Mr. Sellers is clearly not a lightweight. And yet his son is a faqin dunce.



Marty #02 1960 Topps

Once again we have Marty. As far as I can tell this is the same card that we saw here. But since Dubbs sent it again, I'm posting it again. I think it's worth it, don't you?

On Deck: more from Beardy
In the Hole: Me

TBL Card Fest: Tastelikedirt

Here is the newest submission to The Big Lebowski Card Fest. It is from Jim at Tastelikedirt. You all know who he is.

It is our second Walter Sobchack card. He is in the midst of teaching Little Larry (who is flunking social studies) a very important lesson.

This is, in fact, what happens.



Strangely enough, I have it on very good authority that this is also what happens when you find a stranger in the alps.

There are more cards coming up. I have more submissions from Beardy ready to go. I have also made a few more prepared by yours truly, and I am expecting a few from the TBL Card Fest co-founder Dubbs.

Dubbs Cards: Part 2

Here's more stuff from Dubbs over at Cheese and Beer. I keep seeing his name and blog come up on other sites so it looks like people have caught on. The chances of anybody reading this blog that isn't already reading his blog is very small. Never-the-less, if you are the one person who hasn't been there...GO RIGHT NOW. Come back and read this garbage later.

Let's see what else I got from Dubbs.



11. 2007 Topps turkey Red Grady Sizemore #151

I'm starting all of these posts with Grady Sizemore cards for one simple reason. Grady Sizemore kicks ass. Look at it. How feakin' awesome are Turkey Red cards?

Do you want to know something crazy? Grady only got into the lineup in 2005 because of Juan Gonzalez's steroid use. It's true. By 2005 Juan was back with the Tribe. He actually got the job out of training camp. Sizemore was on his way back to AAA. Juan got hurt and Grady got called up to start the season. The rest is history...or maybe not.

Juan got healthy again and got his chance on April 11. First at bat, Juan injures himself again running to first base. I guess his body had just given up on him after all of the abuse.

Either way, Grady never gave up his spot on the field again. As far as I'm concerned he's the best player in the league. I wouldn't trade him for anybody.

12. 2007 Topps turkey Red Travis Hafner #156

Please please please please let Hafner's shoulder be OK this year. It is way too much fun watching Hafner when he's hot to think that I might never see it again the way it was before.

And, another Turkey Red card. I just wanted to start out this post by proving how freakin' awesome these cards are.

The back of the card tells me that Pronk hit for the cycle on Aug 14. I guess they are leaving it up to us to guess the year. Hard to fathom. I have a tough time picturing Hafner setting down that piano he's always lugging around long enough to make it to third base.




13. 1994 Pinnacle Julian tavarez #411

Good lord would you look at how ugly this guy is?! He's uglier than Otis Nixon, and that's saying something. He's even uglier than...

14. 1993 Score Eric Plunk #131

Plunk's not quite as ugly as these other guys, but nobody's giving him $10 for coming in second in a beauty contest either. I remember a passage from Ball Four. It was something about a girl one of the players was with looking like Joe Torre with tits. This is obviously not a compliment. I have the feeling that Eric Plunk may be the modern day, or at least early 90's version of Joe Torre. I wonder if when any of the fellas laid into a slump buster, they told their teammates the next day that she looked like Eric plunk with tits.

I've heard way to many stories to bet against this particular scenario.




15. 2001 Upper Deck Travis Foley

This isn't that long ago and I have no idea who this guy is. I've never heard of him, and I pay attention.

I want to know why he looks so serious in this card. What does he have to be worried about? Whatever. He's already my second favorite Foley of all time. My favorite is obviously Axel. Travis has a lot of ground to make up is he ever wants to make it to the top of this list.

Unfortunately, he does look like the kind of guy who might fall for the old "banana in the tailpipe". For those of you who don't get that, it was in no way, shape, or form dirty. I promise.

16. 1997 Upper Deck Jose Mesa

FUCK YOU JOSE MESA!!! You go to hell! You go to hell and you die!!!!

Sorry. My therapist says it's good for me to let my feelings out.




17. 2003 Bowman Heritage CC Sabathia #37

I'm so sad. I watched CC grow up (and out) into the dominant pitcher he is today. I have no hard feelings about him leaving. Who wouldn't take $160 mil? It makes me sad to think that he will probably be booed when he pitches in Cleveland. I don't want it to be that way, but it likely will be. I hate to admit it, but Clevleand fans can act very much like 14 year old middle school girls who've just been dumped. So, I'll have to sit there and be embarassed as we boo a pitcher that gave us his heart and soul for his entire career, as if he somehow owes us something.

18. 2008 Finest CC Sabathia #58

And, now I have to chose between wanting CC to win, and the Yankees to lose. As my favorite Nihilists would say: "Eeets naught fair". It was so much better when he was with the Brewers last year. At least he was in the NL and playing for a team that I've always liked. I could enjoy the incredible display he put on the last half of last year, even if I was a bit jealous.

Now, I have no idea how I'll feel about the whole thing this year. I just don't want him booed. He's too good a guy and he doesn't deserve it. It would really make me happy if Cleveland proves me wrong on this one.




19. 1993 Felix Fermin 107

Felix. The Gato. Gato means cat in German or something. So Felix was "the cat" at short. He was considered something of a wiz at short in the years he was with the Tribe. I have no idea if the stats bear this out. It's just what we all thought. I remember a lot of people being angry when Felix was traded for Vizquel.

Cleveland. We know our baseball.

20. 2007 Topps Opening Day Jhonny Peralta #127

Jhonny. Our 3rd baseman who we refuse to play at third base. Check this out:

Our best SS is Asdrubal Cabrera. He plays 2nd.
Peraltas best position is 3rd. He plays SS.
Derosa spent most of last year at 2nd. He'll be at the hot corner.
Yup, we have a pretty decent infield...all playing the wrong position.

It's not like we're talking about moving Capt Jeter off of SS after a Hall Of Fame career. We're talking about Jhonny freakin' Peralta. Why is this so hard?

Speaking of Jeter, the back of Peralta's card includes a testimonial from none other than Bob Wickman who says: "Jhonny reminds me a lot of Derek Jeter. [He} has a chance to be that kind of guy." I think Bob has a future in used car sales.

Well, that's all for now on another installment of "Let's review more of the free stuff that Motherscratcher got." Thanks again Dubbs. I think I have one more of these Left in me. Hopefully I'll get to that soon.

Cards from Dubbs: Part 1

Dubbs over at Cheese and Beer sent me a package a short time ago. He also made me that handy dandy banner you see at the top of my blog. Dubbs takes good care of me. The only thing I can figure is that maybe he feels like he owes me after taking CC Sabathia away from me last season (Dubbs is a Brewers fan). Whatever the case, Dubbs kicks ass, and so do the cards he sent me.

I've been trying to make it a practice to do a thorough review whenever I get some cards from another blogger. That's why it takes me so damn long to get the reviews and the thank yous up. I apologize to all who have sent me stuff that I haven't reviewed yet and I hope this in no way deters anyone from sending me free cards that I don't deserve.

Here is part 1 of the review of the loot from Dubbs who is a good man, and thorough.




1. Cliff Lee - 2003 Donruss Champions

Clifton Phifer Lee. Can you believe that's his real name? I always thought he looked like Don Flamenco.

People think that Cliff came out of nowhere last year to win the Cy Young. He did, in a sense. He had a terrible 2007. A lot of people forget that Cliff went 18-5 in 2005 and finished 4th in the Cy Young. What I hope is that 2007 was the anomaly, not 2008. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

2. Grady Sizemore - 2008 Bowman Chrome

I love Grady Sizemore, and I love Chrome. Be it Topps or Bowman, Chrome are probably my favorite cards. Right now my Sizemore collection stands at about 60 different cards (Dave and Mario are safe for the foreseeable future) but I had yet to lay my hands on this card.

It's a good thing I have it now. As much as I like Sizemore, I wasn't aware of the full extent of his skills. Grady, it seems, "combines precise mechanics with bat speed and lightning hands". I shit you not. Lightning hands. It says it right there on the back of my card.




3. Mark Lewis - 1992 Topps

Mark Lewis was going to be awesome. He was the second pick of the 1988 draft. A local boy from Hamilton Ohio. As far as I remember, Mark Lewis was the most exciting rookie that the Indians had since Joe Charboneau. He was going to save the franchise.

And for a while, it seemed like he really might. Back then, we cared about Avg, Hrs, and RBIs. Probably in that order. There was nothing you loved more than to look up your teams stats in the Sporting News or the local paper and see .300 or higher next to a bunch of your guys names. Mark Lewis was called to duty at the beginning of 1991. In April, he mostly rode the bench but made the most of his opportunities. May rolled around and Mark Lewis would no longer be denied. He played 27 games. He hit .355. That's all that mattered. He was a force of nature. I put all of my hopes and dreams in the capable hands of Mark Lewis.

Then came June.

4. Luis Medina - 1989 Donruss

I have very little memory of Funky Cold Medina the player. I have very strong memories of Luis Medina the Rated Rookie. I couldn't tell you a single thing about him, but I could have described this card to you in detail even though I haven't looked at one closely in years.

Luis Medina was going to be a star. He may not be a force like Mark Lewis, but a star never the less. I know this because he was a Rated Rookie, and the greatest card ever produced also had the same honor bestowed upon it. Only a player worthy of such a great honor would be allowed admittance into the that exclusive club presided over by Jose Canseco. That is how I knew Luis Medina would be a star. In his entire career, Luis Medina hit .207 in 51 games.

I will not be too hard on myself. Nor do I blame Donruss for misleading me. It seems that everyone thought that Medina deserved to be in that club. Before the Indians drafted him in the 9th round of the 1985 draft, Medina was drafted by the Mets (twice), Yankees, Reds, As, and Astros. Inexplicably, he would never sign. I guess he was holding out for Cleveland. Who could blame him? Who wouldn't want to play in beautiful, sunny Cleveland?




5. Victor Martinez - 2007 SP Rookie Edition

Go out and buy a box of this product. Why? Because the cards are cool looking, there are a couple of nice little speed and power subsets, you'll get a few autos, and a box will only run you about $25. You really can't beat it.

Anyway, I really like this set. I can only assume that the boxes go for so cheap because I'm the only one on the face of the earth that does like it, I'm just a sucker for cheap cards. And look at that card. That is a cool fucking card.

The back tells us that Victor "came out blazing" in 2007. You know who came out blazing in 2009? Michael Phelps HEYOOOOOOO!

6. Victor Martinez - 2007 SPX

I'm pretty sure this is what they mean by die cut. I think this is a fantastic card. I don't know what the significance of the "X" is in these cards and this set.




7. Travis Hafner- 2005 Bowman

Travis continues to insist that his shoulder feels great and he has no problem now. I sure hope so. I love Hafner. Good Times in Cleveland whenever he gets going.

The back tells us what Hafner's skills are. One of them is "makes great contact, hitting the ball where it's pitched". Just once I want to hear about the player that hits the ball where it isn't pitched. You know, just to fake out the defense.

Also, apparently Hafner is "aggressive on the bases". With 7 stolen bases in 7 seasons it's sure hard to argue that point. When I think of Hafner that's the first thing that pops into my head.

8. Travis Hafner - 2007 Upper Deck Elements

See, there he is, wreaking total havoc on the base paths. I have it on good authority that before the 2007 division series, Joe Torre told the Yankees that if they lost that series, it wasn't going to be because of Hafner's baserunning, by God. They were going to shut him down when he got on base. As it turns out, they did shut down Hafner. Not a single Stolen Base by him in the series. The Tribe somehow managed to defeat the Yankees anyway. But, it took an act of God (or possibly Jame Gumb). It sure as hell wasn't because Torre ignored Hafner on the Base paths




9. Colin Charland - 1992 Skybox

Who the hell is Colin Charland? I have no idea. Never heard of him before this card. It's a wonder he never did seem to pan out. Starting in 1986 he progressed steadily from A to A to A to A, until in 1989 he was promoted to AAA. He went 5-10 with a 5.49 ERA. No trace of him in 1990. He must have been selling used cars or something. Then back to A in 1991.

He seems like the perfect kind of player to stick on a baseball card and call him a pre-rookie.

10. Reggie Jefferson - 1992 Donruss

By 1992, the mystique of the rated rookie had worn off somewhat. I never had too much riding on the success of Reginold Jirod Jefferson. The most interesting thing on this card is on the back. It says :

How Acquired: Trade from Reds 6/14/91 for 1B Tim Costo.

OK, nothing strange about that. I even remember Tim Costo. Then under the Career Highlights, the first thing it says is "wound up with the Indians in June of '91 due to a clerical error by the Reds"

What? Say that again. A clerical error? Can you believe that this isn't expounded upon or explained further? Baseball reference has nothing. I have no idea what this means. Maybe it means they meant to trade someone else but they filed the wrong paperwork. They said "Ah fuck it. Keep him. We're not doing all that paperwork over"

Reggie had some good years in the majors. His biggest accomplishment in Cleveland was being part of the deal that brought us Omar Vizquel. For that, I will always love Reggie.

OK, that's enough for now. Be back with more from Dubbs, somewhere down the line.

Thanks again Dubbs.

Thanks Dubbs!

The new banner is awesome!

Dubbs from Cheese and Beer was kind enough to put me out of my misery and do the work for me. It's really kind of crazy. Literally 2 days ago I was asking my wife for help in creating a banner for my blog. I showed her Dubb's banner as an example and said "See this? Do you have any idea how I could do something like this?"




She did not. The only thing she is familiar with is power point. We briefly gave that a shot but it wasn't working. So I messed around on photoshop for about an hour and got nowhere. I'm completely helpless on computers.

So I get home tonight and check my email and Dubbs has sent me a banner all made up. And it's better than the one I had in my head. It's like he has my house bugged or something.

Weird

Anyway, check out his blog if you haven't already. He's one of my daily visits. You won't regret it. You have to admit, he probably has the best blog title going right now.