Random Packs Of Kindness From Tribecards

Here's a long overdue post as I forego the Indians game so I can watch the US v Brazil soccer game. Like a typical American I watch a limited amount of soccer, about every 4 years. I used to play a lot of soccer and was actually quite good. That was back when I could run more than 50 yards without having a heart attack.

But apparently this would be a pretty big deal if we won. I've heard that Brazil has a decent team (JK). So I'm watching...

GOAALLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No Kidding! We just scored as I'm typing this. How about that! Good times.

However, since I have no soccer cards to talk about, I'll stick with what I do know (allegedly). Baseball cards. Or, specifically, free baseball cards from David.

This is my random pack of kindness Indians cards. David, as is so typical for him, has started giving out 10 packages of every freakin' team to whoever asks. I barely got in on the Indians. I've decided to not sign up for any more teams until I get my thank you posts up for this one. So I have to get this up quick so I can sign up for more stuff.

David rules. Here's part 1 of 2 posts detailing what I got:



Roberto Alomar 2002 Stars of 89 Game Used Jersey

Right off the bat I get a jersey card of Robby Alomar. Awesome. You can save your Tinkers to Evers to Chance. I'll take Vizquel to Alomar to Sorrento. Best DP combo that a lot of us have ever seen.

I don't know what set this is from, but Upper Deck was kind of lazy on this one. Here's Alomar, best remembered as an Oriole, in a Tribe uniform, on a card commemorating 1989 when he was apparently a Met (I have no recollection of Alomar on the Mets). Would it have been too difficult to actually get a picture of him in a Mets uni if that's what the card is? Just lazy.

Works out for me, though. If UD wasn't so lazy, I don't get a Game Used card of Alomar in my pack.



1992 Upper Deck Robby and Sandy Alomar - Bloodlines

I think that this is the only card I have with both Alomar brothers on it. I also have no recollection of Roberto on the Blue Jays. Jeez, I thought I was a baseball fan. This is getting depressing.

*There's some kind of buzzing sound coming from the stadium where the soccer game is being played. It sounds like it's made by some kind of kazoo on steroids and it's more annoying than the Tomahawk chop. I heard it at the begining and figured that it would stop once the game got under way. Soccer fans are weird. Can't they just do the wave or something?

1991 Score Sandy Alomar Jr - Rifleman

Look at score go, man. Cool looking card. This was probably absolutely astounding back in...

GGGOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LANDON DONOVAN IN THE 26TH MINUTE! WE'RE OFFICIALY KICKING THEIR ASS!!!!!!

OK, where was I. Oh yeah, 1991 Score. From the back: "Believe it or not, some scouts rated Sandy's arm and all-round catcher's tool better than those of Benny Santiago."

I write that because I think most people forget just how good Benito used to be. Alomar too, for that matter. Except in Cleveland, where we love us some Sandy Alomar Jr.



Paul Sorrento - 1992 Leaf Studio

I LOVE Leaf Studio. They wrote the most ridiculous things on these cards. What do we have for Paul:

"Favorite singer is Robert Plant; actress is Kim Bassinger; movie is Goodfellas; book is Misery; talk show host is David Letterman."

Damn. That's pretty impressive. I would hope that my choices hold up so well after 17 years. I mean, I'm pretty sure Alex cole picked House Party 2 or something.

Well done, Paul.

Candy Maldonado - 1991 Fleer

Card Companys don't have enough balls anymore to put out a whole flagship set on bright yellow cardboard. I think that's why I like this set so much. It took guts. If I ever find out who was the guy who made that call I will nickname him Private Joker.

Why do I remember Candy as a power hitter? I'm looking at his stats on this card. He was not. He should have spent more time with Canseco.

* This Kaka guy makes me nervous. If you name your Brazillian kid Kaka you are pretty much assuring yourself that he will be a fantastic soccer player. It's a lot like if you name your newborn daughter Nikki. Yeah, you pretty much just pre-ordered her stripper heals and cocaine habit...estimated delivery date, 19 years.



Jose Mesa - 1996 Fleer

Turning Red....must look away....I will not cuss on this post....

Eric Plunk - 1994 Fleer Ultra

Love Fleer Ultra. I love Eric Plunk too. We could use him in the bullpen this year. It never mattered to be that he is the ugliest Indian in history not named Otis Nixon.

Or Julian Tavarez.

Actually, when you think of those guys, Plunk is quite handsome.



Kevin Seitzer 1997 Pinnacle

Pinnacle cards were great. I like this because it has a great shot of one of those ridiculous helmet flap extenders. What the heck were those about? Were there a lot of people getting hit in the chin? I could see if Jay Leno or Soda Popinski was stepping into the box. Those guys would need to take precautions. But Kevin Seitzer. His chin looks normal sized...to me, anyway.

Alex Cole - 1992 Donruss

Here's Mr. House Party 2. We got Alex from the Padres for Tom Lampkin. I'd do that again. Alex walked more than he struck out and stole a lot of bases. We would remember him more fondly in Cleveland if he wasn't immediately followed by Kenny Lofton.

He's probably the best player in Cleveland history to where giant goggles and 2 ear flaps. He will definately be a future member of the 2 Flap Syndicate.



Carlos Bearga - 1995 Sportflix

The back says "Always chattering and aleays hustling, Carlos is the heart and soul of the Indians". I'd have to agree with that. He was always a charismatic fan favorite. Cleveand was pissed when John Hart traded him. Hart turned out to be right, of course. Baerga crashed and burned soon after that. We of course got future Hall of Famer Jeff Kent. (I won't mention the fact that we immediatley traded Kent because we liked Jose Vizcaino a lot better).

Gaylord Perry - 1991 Sportflics Kellogg's Corn Flakes.

Another Sportflics card (before they became Sportflix, which is way more hip). Everyone remembers Gaylord. He has a shot at the Hall of Fame when he retires in a few years.



Ben Broussard - 2003 Topps

I liked Ben. I really did. I was always pulling for him. He always seemed more like a AAAA player to me, though. The best thing that he ever did for the Tribe was turn into Shin Soo Choo.

Reggie Jefferson - 1991 Upper Deck

NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Brazil scored. 2-1 Good Guys

Reggie had some good years. Much like Broussard, Reggie made his biggest contibution for the Tribe when he morphed with Felix Fermin and turned into Omar Vizquel. Man, John Hart really made some fantastic trades. That deserves it's own post.

WHOA!!!!!!!! WHAT A SAVE. Still leading by 1.



Youthful Tribe - 1993 Upper Deck

I've never seem this card before...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! SON OF A.... 2-2. Dang.

This card has Belle, Alomar, Thome, Baerga, and Lofton. This is even before Ramirez arrived. How in the world did we not win a Series?

Kenny Lofton 1992 Pinnacle Sidelines

I'm not sure how many people know just how great an athlete Lofton was. He was a starting point guard at Arizona and could have probably played in the NBA. This is an awsome card.

Thanks David. More cardboard goodness to come.

Dang Brazil 3-2. Only a few minutes left. And we just blew a great chance. What a bunch of Kaka.

ebay

Been busy lately. I haven't had a lot of time to post. Plus, after adding about 1,000 TBL cards to about 50 different posts for no apparent reason I needed to sleep for 21 straight hours.

Well, I was trying to think of something I could post really quick before I have to head to work. I figured I might as well show some of the latest stuff that I got off of eBay.

None of this stuff was very expensive. I can't remember how much I paid for any of it. I already deleted them from my account. It was no more than a few bucks for each. I'm such a bargain shopper.




The first is this Tris Speaker card stamp thingy out of Legendary Cuts. 2003, I think. None of this stuff is actually anything I was looking for. I just thought that it would be a good idea to have a card from one of the greatest players in the Indians history.

Historical Impressions, it says. It's some kind of stamp. I have no idea why there is a stamp made into a card. To tell you the truth, the card kind of sucks. First of all, the stamp wasn't applied very well. It is way off center. I don't know how you get something that far off. I didn't realize it when I bought it, but to tell you the truth, I probably would have gotten it anyway. Like I said, it was only a few bucks. The seller still got positive feedback.

Second of all, the whole concept is monumentally stupid. Why the hell would anyone want a card with a stamp? A stamp for what. It's not like it was an old stamp that used to be used to answer fan mail back in the day or anything like that. Upper Deck just made a stamp and put it on a card. Then they called it 177/250. OH BOY! WHAT A GREAT CARD! ONLY 250 MADE! I guess that's supposed to make it desirable or something.

Third of all, the stamp is backward. I don't really have a Tris Speaker HISTORICAL IMPRESSIONS card here. What I actually have is a SNOISSERPMI LACIROTSIH rekaepS sirT card. I don't know if anyone thought of this in their meetings before making this set. But, if they did, they chose wrong. If you're going to make a stamp, at least get it right.

Anyway,




Two more Sizemore cards. You knew these were coming. 2007 Turkey Red Refractor. This is a sweet card. The best player around on the best brand around. And, it's shiny as hell. What's not to like?

If there is a type of card I like almost as much as Turkey Red, it's Chrome. Chrome of all kinds. Topps, Bowman, whatever. If it's shiny, give me some, Plus, it's a refractor too, so that makes it extra shiny.





Two more Sizemore's. I was so excited to win these cards. OK, that's not true. I wasn't excited at all. They may be the dullest looking cards ever made. Upper Deck does it again. 2 cards, one grayish, the other pinkish. One /699, the other /99. Both have "EST. 1915" as the only historical info taking up the entirety of the card. Yeah. Great. Thanks. Sweet card. It's so rare.

But, it does have "Grady Sizemore" written on it. So now they're mine.




A Grady Sizemore "Sweet Swatch" out of Sweet Spot. I was just picking on Upper Deck a little bit for making stupid cards, and they were, so now I have to say that I really like Sweet spot. I think they look cool. And, on the back is a reprint of the signature of Richard P. McWilliam. That's right. The Richard P. McWilliam. I tell ya, honors and benefits already at the age of 34. Not too shabby.




Lastly, an Evan Longoria Allen + Ginter mini. I don't know if it's a rookie card or not. It says rookie card, but we all know how much that means. I'm not a huge Longoria fan. Nothing against him. He's an exciting young player. It was just one of those add another card for an extra 25 cents shipping deals that always seem to get me. I'm always buying stuff that I don't really want or need to save $1.50 on shipping. It makes no sense. I know it makes no sense. I do it anyway. Is there anyone else like that?

Oh well, like I said. I like Longoria so it's a cool card to have. And I'm not ashamed to admit I like Allen + Ginter. I know that this set is usually frowned upon in the collecting community and nobody seems to like it. There are no collectors who collect this, for some reason.

It will make a good trade or gift at some point.

Yankee Stadium Firsts

You may have heard.

New Yankee Stadium opened today. The First Game featured the Yankees vs the Indians in a battle of the last two AL Cy Young Award winners, CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee. As a loyal Tribe fan who was able to watch some of the game and listen to most of the rest I feel like I am in a unique position to report on a few of the historic firsts that inevitably transpired.

You're welcome.

1st hit - Johnny Damon - single in 1st

1st pitch - Sabathia to Sizemore (ball)

1st K - Victor Martinez

1st HBP - Mark Teixeira

1st Elk and Elk Injury Lawyers Injury Report - pregame

1st walk - Kelly Shoppach

1st double - Ben Fransisco

1st pop up to the first baseman with the bases loaded and no outs - Tony Graffanino

1st AB by a former Buckeye - Swisher fly out to center

1st AB by a player with 2 ear flaps - Shin Soo Choo ground out to 2nd

1st player inexplicably thrown out by Posada while trying to steal - Sizemore

1st Run - Ben Francisco

1st Thrown out at home - Peralta and the piano he carries

1st RBI - Kelly Shoppach

1st Error - Tony Graffanino

1st Player to start at second despite being below replacement level - Graffanino

1st Double Play - Turned by Yankees in 3rd

1st HR - J. Posada

1st Northern Ohio Toyota Dealers Pitching Change - 5th inning (Sabathia to E Ramirez)

1st 9 run 7th inning - Cleveland Indians

1st Grand Slam - Grady Sizemore

1st Indians player not to score in the 7th - Graffanino (why?)

1st Meaningless Run - Melky Cabrera

1st Guy to get laid post game - probably Jeter - maybe Sizemore

1st Spitzer Chevy Seventh Inning Stretch - 7th inning

1st Billy Joel song - You May Be Right

1st time I head that song - 1980 on Chipmunk Punk

1st Loss - Veras - Yankees

1st Win - Lee - Cleveland Indians

1st Total Ass Kicking - Indians over Yankees 10 - 2



*I will be out of town for a few days listening to dentists tell me stuff about teeth. Just in case, you know, anyone misses me.

End of an Era

The Andy Marte Era has officially come to a close in Cleveland. The Indians released Marte today to make room for a 30 year old minor league reliver on the 40 man roster. Everyone who follows the Tribe could see it coming. I'd wager that nobody wrote a strongly worded letter in his defense.




Marte was the third baseman of the future. He was a top Prospect of the Braves and tore up the minors. I'll bet once upon a time Dayf was sorry to see him go. After a brief stop in Boston, he was the centerpiece of the Coco Crisp deal. That trade went like this:

To Boston:

Coco Crisp - After playing very well in Cleveland, has been a huge disappointment in Boston.

David Riske - Dave bounced around a bit and has landed in Milwaukee. He's still a middle reliever.

Josh Bard - Josh Bard couldn't catch a knuckleball and was shipped off to San Diego where he played like an all-star for half a season and fell back to earth.

To Cleveland :

Marte - Could never put it together. Played horribly every chance he got. Ran out of chances.

Guillermo Mota - I think Guillermo Mota is doing time in South America for lighting someone on fire and killing them with a machete or something. Maybe that's Urbina. I can't remember. If he's not in the slam I have no idea where he is.

PTNL Randy Newman - 24 year old reliever who just made it to AAA at the end of last season. Not considered much of a prospect.

Kelly Shoppach - Became one of the best offensive catchers in the game last year. Played so well that the Indians talked about moving Ryan Garko (and the piano he carries on his back) to the outfield to make room for both Victor Martinez and Shoppach in the lineup. I heard some fans talk about trading Martinez.

I think the clear winner of this deal is the Indians and it's only because of Shoppach. Everyone else has been a disappointment or was never too valuable to begin with. The funny thing is I'll bet Shoppach was a throw in to give the Tribe another backup catcher to replace Bard.

I guess you never know how things will turn out

If I was another team, I'd snatch up Marte in a hurry. Not because I think he's any good. I don't. He sucks. But you never know. Maybe he just needs a fresh start. What makes me nervous as a Tribe fan is I feel the same about Marte as I thought about Brandon Phillips a few years ago.

Would anyone out there Like Brandon Phillips on their team?

I Can See!

I got Legs!

Pitchers and catchers report today!

What a happy day!

WHAT A HAPPY DAY!

Oh, this is too much.



That's right. Winter is officially over for baseball fans. Pitchers and catchers report today (at least for the Tribe) and practices will be starting up in a few days.



For the Indians, that means heading to Goodyear Arizona to their brand new $73 million spring facility.

Looking Good Billy Ray!

Tribecards Cards: Part 5

One more installment of the cards that I got from David at Indians Baseball Cards. Always.


42. Sandy Alomar Jr – 1990 Classic Baseball or something.

This immediately became the absolute pinkest card in my entire collection. My God, it looks like I pasted a poster of Alomar onto my 8th grade girlfriend’s Trapper Keeper. At least, that’s the way it would have looked if I had a girlfriend in 8th grade. OK, let me rephrase. If there was a girl in 8th grade who would have agreed to be my girlfriend, I would have pasted Sandy Alomar Jr onto her Trapper Keeper and then turned it into a baseball card set. Then I would have made sure that the set was widely distributed in Arkansas. Then I would have just bided my time until 2008, when I would be sure to get one. I love it when a plan comes together.

“That doesn’t make any damn sense” you say? Well, maybe it makes so much sense I just blew your mind.

43. Joey Belle – 1990 Classic Baseball or something

OK here’s another one. Only this time it isn’t pink. Basically, I got the manly equivalent of my imaginary 8th grade girlfriend’s Tapper Keeper for myself and pasted a pre Albert photo of Belle onto it. The only flaw in this whole thing is that I was in 8th grade in 1988, not 1990. But, it’s not like anyone really gives a crap, am I right?

I just wanted to mention that this set has a blank space on the back of each card marked “Autograph”. I guess you’re supposed to stand outside the player’s parking lot after the games in order to get the players to sign in the space provided…on the back…right where everyone wants their autographs. I find this idea strangely awesome.

This means that at some point there was a meeting where they decided to put this space on the back. It was heralded as a great idea. It must have been pretty close to 5 o’clock on a Friday. I wonder how many enterprising young collectors had their 1990 Classic set ruined when a callous player signed on the front of the card instead of the clearly marked space provided?

44. Ken Suarez – 1969 Topps

“Hey Ladies, how you’all doin’ this evening?”

45. Dennis Martinez – 1996 Topps Finest

This is the second Finest card in the bunch and it also has some crazy clear protective coating that must be peeled off. Only it isn’t peeled off. There must be a reason. I break out in cold sweats thinking of all of the terrible things that could happen if peeled back this layer. Good God Man! What if it got a scratch?

Hell no, I’m not going to peel off that coating. In fact, I’m going to look into a way to apply a protective coating to all of my existing cards. And it sure as heck isn’t going to be clear either. It’s going to be all black to keep out the suns harmful rays. Seriously, what if I have a card that needs to be transported some day? What the heck do I do then. Just move it in a penny sleeve and possibly a top loader? What, are you out of your frickin’ mind?

I’m not sure I’ll be able to sleep until I figure out a way to add a black protective coating to all of my cards. I could use post-it notes to keep track of what the cards actually are. Then they’d be safe.

There’s no telling how many 1988 Score cards I’ve ruined already. Somebody needs to do something.

46. Joe Charboneau – 1981 Topps

Super Joe Charboneau. The man, the myth, the legend. Rookie of the year for 1980. Rumor had it that Joe could open up bottles of beer with his eye socket. He has a larger than life hero to a city that really needed a hero at the time. I’m not sure what happened to him. Why he fell off. In any other city he probably goes on to become a great major leaguer. In Cleveland, he played for a few more years but never really was Super Joe any more. According to the back of the card, he was the subject of “Go Go Charboneau”. I don’t recall ever hearing this song.

47. Rocky Colavito – 1965 Topps

Is this for real? Did David really send me a Rocky Colavito card? This is significant. As far as Indians fans are concerned, Rocky Colavito is on the same plane as Mantle, Mays, and Ruth. Terry Pluto (a wonderful sports writer) wrote a book about the Tribe appropriately name “The Curse of Rocky Colavito. That’s right, we blame everything bad that’s happened to the Tribe on them stupidly trading one of the most popular players in franchise history (as he was about to enter his prime) to the Tigers.

So we trade Colavito, we had to get someone great, right? Try Harvey Kuenn on for size. That’s right, they traded one of the most popular (to this day) players in franchise history for some freakin’ slappy with no power AND no speed. Well, they hang on to the immortal Kuenn for one year and trade him for Johnny Antonelli and Willie Kirkland.

That’s right it turned out to be Colavito for Antonelli, Kirkland, and one year of Mark Grudzielanek’s step dad. Harvey Kuenn’s baseball reference page is still available for sponsorship, if anyone is interested.

The back of the card, like twisting a dagger, informs us that Rocky hit 4 HR’s in one game in 1959.

Go Tribe.

48. Horace Speed – 1979 Topps

With 4 career stolen bases in 3 part time years in the bigs, Horace Speed’s name is betrayed by the cold, hard, unforgiving numbers.

49. Al Fitzmorris – 1977 Topps

Al Fitzmorris had spent his entire 8 year career with the Royals before he was suddenly and rudely plucked from his obscure comfort by the Blue Jays in the 76 expansion draft. The Blue Jays got one look at Al and shipped him off to the Tribe before he ever appeared in one of their uniforms. Seems that a team that barely existed had little use for Al. The Tribe was happy to have him, though, as they sent 2 players for compensation.

My theory about this card is that they never told him who he was traded to. They just handed him a hat and then a mirror. The picture on this card was taken at the exact moment that Al Fitzmorris learned his major league fate. He didn’t last long after that.

Weep not for Al Fitzmorris. The back of my card tells me that Al threw a 2 hitter against the Twins in August of 1975. Seems that even though Al ended up in Cleveland, he had had his day in the sun.

50. Gorman Thomas – 1984 Topps

I had forgotten about the Gorman Thomas era in Cleveland. He was only in Cleveland for a little more than half a season (OPSing a stellar .726), but remnants of his glorious mustache live on to this very day.

In all reality, Mr Gorman’s greatest contribution was not on the field. OnJune 6 1983, Gorman was sent along with Jamie Easterly and one Ernie Camacho in exchange for the Tribe’s Rockin Ricks…Manning and Waits. Does this deal get done without Gorman Thomas? Better yet, does Cleveland welcome Big Ern into the wigwam if Gorman isn’t sporting a marmot on his upper lip? The world will never know.

What I do know is this; the Gods were smiling on Cleveland that magical June day.

51. Grady Sizemore – 2007 Topps Finest

Of course there were some Grady Sizemore cards in this lot. This is one of the best and seams like the a great card to end this review on. Ending a review on Sizemore is like leaving the ballpark on a warm night after you just saw your team sweep a double header from the Yankees. Life doesn’t get much better.

Thus ends the latest review of the great cards that David sent me, until I can somehow finagle my way into more free stuff.

Peace out Mofos.

Tribecards Cards: Part 4

At the end of last summer, David at Indians Baseball Cards. Always. had a scratch off contest. To congratulate me for coming in last place, he sent me a boatload of cards. A few game used cards that I had "earned" and a bunch more Indians just for the heck of it. There were so many great cards that I took 3 posts to review a few of my favorites. (You can read those here, here, and here)

Well, it wasn't long and David was at it again. Just a few weeks after I got up that long winded thank you I received another box full of Indians cards. I tried to come up with an explanation for my good fortune. I figure it must be either my winning personality, my rapist wit, of my undeniable good looks.

Well, although devastatingly handsome, I don't think David has ever seen a picture of me, so that can't be it. I'm not sure what a rapist wit is. I only heard that term in Dumb and Dumber. SO, I can't really attribute it to that either. And, as far as a winning personality goes, way to many people have called me an asshole for seriously consider any other alternative.

So, what could it be? What could I have done to deserve this? Oh...it say right here on the box. "Just For Fun" That's right! Fun is what this is supposed to be about isn't it. And, I think David probably has more than just about everybody when it comes to his baseball cards. And It's infectious. I had a lot of fun with these cards too.

Thank you very much David. Once again, this will take a few posts to get through.

Here we go:


34. Tris Speaker – 1991 Sporting News

Tris Speaker is one of baseball’s all time greats. The 7th player to make the Hall Of Fame, he started in Boston from 1907-1915, moved to the Indians from 1916-1926, and finished up with Washington and Philly. The dude was a lifetime .344 hitter. That’s not too shabby.

It makes very little sense to me that a guy already named Tris would need 2 nicknames, but Tris was also known as “the Grey Eagle” and “Spoke”. AS far as nicknames go, those two really kind of suck. I have no idea why they are promoted. I mean, seriously…”Spoke”? I guess someone somewhere thought it was clever.

“Hey guys, I got a great nickname for Speaker! SPOKE! Hahahaha. Get it? Spoke Speaker! It’s great! An instant classic! I’m a genius!” I guess enough people agreed because it’s stuck for a century now. I guess it was a different time.

I also notice that everywhere I turn, including this card, Tris’ height is listed as 5’11.5” That’s right. I’ll be damned if Tris is going to be cheated out of his half an inch. It seems to me that one of the greatest players of all time would get over not quite making it to 6 feet. That’s just me.

35. Lou Boudreau – 1993 Ted Williams

Did you know that there use to be (maybe there still is. I don’t know) a company called the Ted Williams company and they made baseball cards? I think I have one other of these but I forgot they exist. I’ll have to look them up to see what else they have and how long they made cards. This is a Nice card in what looks like a pretty cool set, especially for 1993.

And Lou Boudreau is a Cleveland legend. Player manager at the age of 24. That would be like if the Brewers said “Screw it, let’s just put Fielder in charge”. And it worked. He turned out to be a hall of famer and a great manager. If they made it into a movie you wouldn’t believe it.

34. Carmen Castillo – 1985 Donruss

I’ll give you three guess what I like most about this card and the first 2 don’t count. It’s not his shirt (although the short sleeves are pretty sweet). It’s not the wristbands either. Nope, IT’S THE HAIR! Just look at it. It’s glorious. It the kind of hair that deserves it’s own infomercial with that oxyclean guy. Don’t you just want to try to run you hand through it to see how far you get and see if you can get it back out? OK, that was a little weird.

On Sept 18, 1983, Castillo threw out 2 Yankees at home plate. In a less than spectacular career, even the averagest of average players can do something spectacular.

35. Wayne Garland – 1982 Donruss

In 1976 a 25 year old pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles came into his own. A 20 game winner, he hurled 14 complete games including 4 shutouts. Hell, he even threw in one save for good measure. He finished eighth in the Cy Young voting. Fresh off the high of a career year with no reason to think his good fortune wouldn’t continue, this young man singed a free agent contract with the Cleveland Indians. He has never heard from again.

Legend has it that Wayne Garland grew a mustache and pitched for Cleveland for 5 seasons before finally disappearing into bolivian. We may never know for sure what actually happened.

34. Travis Fryman – 1999 Topps

Guys named Travis have been good to the Indians. Fryman was one of my favorite players while he was here. As of the printing of this card, Travis had at least 80 RBIs (yes, RBIs with an “s”. I know it’s technically wrong. I’m sticking with it anyway.) in 8 consecutive seasons. Here in 2008 my brain tries to tell me that that doesn’t mean a whole heck of a lot. I can’t help my initial reaction of “Wow, that’s impressive!” No matter how many times I beat myself about the head with my copy of Baseball Between The Numbers, I think I’ll always have a part of me that wants to rack up those RBIs.

As a follow up to that, I’d have to check but I think that there was a point in this last season that Jhonny Peralta had 11HRs and 19RBIs. Think about that for a quick second. I wonder what the record for the most HRs with the fewest RBIs is?

35. Omar Vizquel – 2002 Upper Deck Vintage

By now you know what I think of Omar, so I won’t go over that again. This is an Upper Deck release so I’m not sure what set they are vintaging. The closest I can figure is they took 1971 Topps and flipped the picture to the top of the card instead of the bottom. Whatever they did, it’s a cool card.

34. Jaret Wright – 1998 Topps Finest

In the 1997 postseason, Jaret Wright, a 21 year old rookie went 3-0 and almost won the Indians their first World Series rings since 1948. His future was very bright. In Cleveland we thought he was the second coming of Bob Feller.

I believe that the Indians were pushing hard for Pedro Martinez after the 1997 season. The Expos wanted Jaret Wright in return. The Indians basically responded with “Jaret Wright for Pedro? You must be joking. This kid will be the greatest pitcher to ever live. You can keep Pedro, he isn’t that good anyway.”

Well, Montreal didn’t keep Pedro. Instead they sent him to Boston for Carl Pavano and Tony Armas. A few years later he was joined by Manny Ramirez. Please excuse me for a moment…I need to find some liquor.

35. Brandon Phillips – 2003 Upper Deck Honor Roll

Brandon Phillips, as I have written many times, (or at least once, I think) was actually the cornerstone of the trade that brought Grady Sizemore and Cliff Lee to Cleveland. We gave up on him. Now we continue to search for a second baseman while Phillips continues to play all-star caliber ball for the Reds. If only Shapiro had looked at this card before he let Phillips go. He might have thought: “Hey, Upper Deck put Brandon Phillips on the Honor Roll. Maybe I aught to give him one more shot. After all…Honor Roll. He has to be good. Why would Upper Deck lie about something like that?”

End of part 4

I decide to just continue with part 4. I figure, if I play my cards right, David might just keep sending me stuff and eventually I'll have 100 parts to this thing with 1000 cards. that would be somethin', wouldn't it.

Welcome To Paradise

It looks like The Tribe may have found their closer. After years of Wickman and Borowski it feels like Dennis Eckersley is coming back to Cleveland.

Don't believe what you've heard. The weather's beautiful. And, the river looks great when it's all lit up.

Tribecards Cards: Part 1

A while back David over at Tribecards sent me a package. It was for the scratch off contest and a trivia question I answered correctly. What I didn’t expect was around 100 baseball cards of various Indians players. Well I’m finally getting around to putting a thank you up on the old blog here. In my defense I have been fairly busy with the new kid and all, and I didn’t want to just post a few thoughts in a few minutes and call it a day. The cards deserve better than that. I tried to narrow it down to about 8 – 10 of my favorites, but there are just too many and I couldn’t. So, basically, I’m going to post these up there in about 3 installments.

What follows is just some of my usual, long winded ramblings on things, often not having very much to do with the cards at all. What can I say. I’m very strange, as it turns out, and I’ve decided I’m getting too old and tired to fight it. If a lot of this doesn’t make any sense to you, don’t worry, it doesn’t make much sense to me either.

So here they are. My hard earned cards from Tribecards. They are spectacular. I apologize in advance for my inevitable failed attempt to do them justice.

1. Jim Thome – 2008 Topps Moments and Milestones 125/150

This card commemorates Thome entering the 500 HR club. I’m not sure what 22 on the front means. I guess maybe it means that he is 22nd on the HR list, or possibly this card shows him getting his 22nd homer. That would explain why he is in a Tribe uniform on the front. Anyway, it’s a sweet card. 125/150. I still get excited about any numbered card. And, since it’s the ONLY 125/150 it can safely (according to the Ebay rules, unless I’m misinterpreting them) be considered a 1/1. Kick ass.

2. David Kelton – 2004 Bowman Futures Game Gear

This is the card that I got for answering a trivia question during the contest. In an incredible display of brainpower seldom seen outside the oval office, I was able to name the Indians players with 3000 hits. I would, at this time, like to clarify that I did this WITHOUT looking it up on baseball reference. I think it’s important that you know these things. David Kelton, as far as I can tell is out of baseball after amassing an incredible OPS+ of -8. I’m not exactly sure, but I’m going to say that this means I have had a more successful big league career than David Kelton as my career OPS+ is 0. David did have 3 more hits than me though.

3. Masato Yoshii – 201 Pacific Authentic Game Worn Jersey

I’ll start by saying that I can’t remember seeing a Pacific card that I didn’t like. This is a really great looking card. Yoshii broke into the league with the Mets in 1998 at the age of 33. He pitched for 5 years, even winning 12 games in 1999. He pocketed over $6 mil. Not too shabby for a guy I’d never heard of.

4. Travis Hafner – 2007 Topps Finest

I love Finest. They’re so damn shiney. Probably more than any other player, I’m pulling for Hafner next year to regain some of his old magic. It hasn’t been too long since he would go on these incredible streaks for a week or two where every time he stepped to the plate you expected him to absolutely murder the ball. It’s an incredible feeling for a fan and Hafner gave it too me more than any other player. But not recently. I want that feeling again. Hafner deserves it and Cleveland deserves it. Damn it, I deserve it.

5. Omar Vizquel – 2004 Fleer Inscribed

I may have already written about it but that won’t stop me now. I love Vizquel. Clevelanders will fight to the death anyone who dares utter that omar isn’t the best defensive shortstop EVER. (We’re kind of like Cincinattians and Skyline chili that way. The only difference is Vizquel is good. Skyline is shit on a hot dog.) I know there are stats and metrics (which I am a big believer in) that suggest that Omar really wasn’t all that great. Those stats didn’t watch him play every day for a decade from seats in Jacobs Field of in front of our TVs.
It reminds me of a joke I heard on Weekend Update a long time ago. I think it was David Spade. I’ll paraphrase how it went because I don’t remember it exactly. It was the mid 90s and Jacob Dylan had improbably and temporarily surpassed, for the briefest of moments, the popularity of his genius father with the Wallflower’s hit song “One Headlight”. Not long after this it was discovered that Bob had been “banging” Cheryl Tiegs (to use to parlance of our time), star of a generation of male adolescent fantasy. So the joke went like this: “While Jacob may be a popular rock star, Daddy’s an artist.” Well, that’s how Cleveland feels about Omar. Ozzie Smith et al. may be great shortstops, but Omar’s an artist.

6. Chris Bando – 1985 Topps

I always thought that Bando was good. Why? He was on the Indians. I’m not sure if I knew about the tremendous unibrow or if it would have changed my opinion one way or the other.
The back of the card states that “Chris enjoys golf, aerobics, and reading the Bible”. At this point I’m 43.72% sure that they just make this shit up. Or, maybe the athletes say these things to screw with people and have a good laugh when the cards come out. Seriously, aerobics? Is there any chance that aerobics is in the top 3 things that Chris Bando enjoys? Maybe it happened like this:

Phone rings in the clubhouse. Ernie Camacho answers.

Ernie Camacho: Yeah?

Artimus McGuillicutty: Hello, this is Artimus McGuillicutty from Topps. Could I speak to Chris Bando please?

EC: Sure, this is Chris. How can I help you Mr. McGuillicutty?
AM: Oh, call me Art please. Mr. McGuillicutty is my father. HaHaHaHaHa.
EC: Sure thing Art. What can I do you for?
AM: Well Chris, I’m calling because…
EC: Mr Bando.
AM: Excuse me?
EC: Call me Mr. Bando.
AM: Oh yes, of course, sorry. The reason I’m calling…ah…Mr. Bando…um…we’re…
EC: Sir.
AM: Huh?
EC: Call me sir goddamn it!
AM: Oh…I’m terribly sorry Mr. Bando sir.
EC: That’s better. Now, what the hell do you want Art?
AM: Yes…well…as I was saying, Mr. Bando, sir…I work for Topps, and …
EC: Spit it out Art. I haven’t got all day. If you haven’t noticed, I’m a very busy man. I’m a big league ballplayer. I’m a big deal so stop wasting my time Art.
AM: OK Mr. Bando sir. I’d like to know a few things that you enjoy so we can…
EC: Say, Art, have you ever heard that poem?
AM: Huh?
EC: You know, that poem that Bobcat Goldthwait tells in that Police Academy movie?
AM: The Police Acad…
EC: Yeah sure, Police Academy. Funny friggin’ movie. That Guttenberg guy is going to be a star.
AM: I’m not sure I follow …
EC: Well Bobcat tells this poem. Goes like this:
Gene Gene made a machine
Joe Joe made it go
Art Art blew a fart and blew the whole damn thing apart
Is that you Art? Did you fart on Gene’s machine?
AM: Look Mr. Bando, maybe I should…
EC: Sir.
AM: Huh?
EC: Call me sir. Look Art, we’ve already been over this. I’m a big deal remember? I’m not sure why I’m wasting my time if you aren’t going to pay attention.
AM: Maybe there would be a better time to…uh…reach you…uh…
EC: What’s wrong with now?
AM: Now? Oh…uh…It’s just…
EC: Will you get to the damn point Art?
AM: We’d like to know a few things you enjoy for the back of your baseball card.
EC: Oh…OK. I like getting drunk, getting laid and putting one in Balboni’s ear when he steps to the plate. That man’s a major asshole.
AM: Mr. Bando sir, we can’t put that on a baseball card.
EC: Why not?
AM: Well because we just can’t. We sell those things to kids.’
EC: OK OK. You’re a real drag Art, you know that? OK, just say golf and Creadence Clearwater Revival.
AM: Did you say golf and reading the Bible?
EC: Yeah.
AM: OK, we just need one more thing.
EC: Jesus Art, you’re relentless. How about aerobics.
AM: Aerobics? Really?
EC: Hell yeah. I’m a regular aerobics fiend. I’ve got all the jazzercise tapes with Richard Simmons. It’s how I warm up.
AM: Sure thing. Thanks a lot Mr. Bando.
EC: You’re kind of a jerk, Art.
AM: Have a terrific day.
-----------------------------
Chris Bando walks in from the shower.

CB: Who was that?
EC: Nobody.
CB: OK, just let me know if anyone calls. I’m expecting a call from Topps. I’ve got some things that they can put on my card this year that will make me look really cool.
EC: Sure thing boss.

Brett Butler laughs his ass off.

And…..scene.

Whew…I was beginning to doubt that I was going to bring that one around. I was just as excited as you guys to find out where that one was going.

What was I talking about?

Oh yeah. Baseball cards.

7. Jake Westbrook – 2006 Topps Turkey Red

I freakin’ love Turkey Red. I like Masterpieces too, but Turkey Red really…I don’t know…does it for me. Says here that Jake pitched 6 no hitters in high school. Not bad. On a similar note, John Perusek threw 2 no hitters his senior year – both against the same team. He was a hell of an athlete. I believe he played football at Mount Union from ’92-’96. If you haven’t heard of them, look ‘em up. They’ve been mildly successful.

Well, there it is. The overlong and ridiculously nonsensical first installment of The cards that Indians Baseball Cards Always sent me for doing nothing more than losing a scratch off contest. It seems like the less I do, the more good things come to me. It's about time, to tell you the truth. I've been faithfully following that creed my whole life and it looks like it's starting to pay off.

Thanks David

More to come.

Council On The Double Ear Flap: GrandMaster Choo

Who here has played some sort of organized baseball? Everybody, right? OK, who had two ear flaps on their helmet?

So why in the world do major leaguers wear helmets with only one ear flap? In a league where teams most likely (Marge Schott’s Reds being the exception) are willing to get each player their own helmet, the double ear flap is seen as rarely as Barry Zito sees the ninth inning. I guess that switch hitters must somehow strong-arm their respective teams into buying them two different helmets. It must be in the contracts somewhere. (I wonder if the equipment managers on teams with a high percentage of switch hitters get paid more.)

I just can’t really see the point. As a little leaguer I remember thinking that it must be terribly uncomfortable having an ear flap on one side and none on the other. And aren’t they worried about getting hit in the exposed ear? I know that a ricochet off the backstop into your ear is unlikely, but is it any more unlikely than Tony Pena Jr getting intentionally walked? It just always seemed a little reckless too me.

Well, it seems reckless to Shin-Soo Choo as well. When the Tribe traded for Choo, the first thing I noticed about him was the double ear flap. That’s how rare it is. I was a fan immediately.

He was gotten because the Seattle’s (since fired) GM decided that he was less valuable than Ben Broussard. This was around the same time that he also decided that Eduardo Perez was worth Asdrubal Cabrera. So the Tribe got two very promising young players for their ineffectual, aging first base platoon. It doesn’t surprise me that Bavasi got fired; it surprises me that it took so long.

Back to Choo. He was actually a hell of a pitcher with a mid 90’s fastball. He was signed by Seattle in 2000. Traded to Cleveland in 2006 and on July 28, his first game with the Tribe, he hit his first major league home run against, you guessed it, the Mariners, who I’m sure were thrilled to have either Broussard or Perez at first. This past July, Choo came back from Tommy John surgery and for the rest of the season had on OPS+ of 143. He was the player of the month for September and is in the driver’s seat for a starting job next season.

And he’s doing it all with the double ear flap. Without doing any research, I’m going to make up a year when major leaguers went to the single ear flap. That year is 1933. It is possible that 1933 may be the year that the double earflap became dangerously obsolete, if it was ever used at all above the little league level. I have managed to locate some other cards where players used the DEF. It is my assumption that these players are exceedingly intelligent and use the DEF to protect their massive brains. Smart people are on councils, so these players are anointed members of the Council On The Double Ear Flap. And Choo is their GrandMaster…because I like him a lot.

More members to come.

A great day for Tribe baseball

I'd like to congratulate the Indians for not losing a game today. Fantastic.


And the Sabathia trade watch continues.

And to a lesser extent, the Byrd trade watch.