1981 Fleer Dave Winfield

1981 Fleer Dave Winfield

I now have all 3 base cards from 1981 for my Dave Winfield collection.  This 1981 Fleer card reminds me of a Little League pose.  Thinking back to my playing days as a child, I remember posing just like this in the front row of my team’s picture.  The only difference is that when Winfield was 9 years old he was probably closing in on being 6 feet tall and 150 pounds while I was barely 5 feet tall and 100 pounds soaking wet!!

How many times do you think Dave Winfield got intentionally walked during Little League??  LOL!!!

You’ve got to love the ‘old-school’ Padres uniform that Dave is wearing proudly…

Building the ’5-Tool Player’ Using Stars from the 1980′s

Here’s another one of my many thoughts about the ’5-Tool Player’. 

This time, I thought it would be interesting to see who people would select if they were building the perfect example of a ’5-Tool Player’ using stars from the 1980′s.

The 80′s certainly had it’s share of excellent players and many fit the mold of what you would want from a player of this caliber.  But to create the best example of a ’5-Tool Player’ you must pick 5 players; each with that 1 skill that made them stand heads and shoulders above the rest.

Same rules as before – if you pick a player for 1 category you cannot use him again for another one.

Here is my ‘robot’ using players strictly from the 1980′s…

Hitter for Power – Mike Schmidt

Hitter for Average – Wade Boggs

Base Running Ability – Rickey Henderson

Defensive Presence – Ozzie Smith

Arm Power and Accuracy – Andre Dawson

So, let me know which 5 players from the 1980′s you would use to develop the ultimate ’5-tool’ player.

Hunting for Autogrpahs… 1 Month Later

It has been 1 month since I sent out 9 basbeall cards to some of the biggest baseball stars of the 1980′s in hopes of obtaining autographs.

Of the 9 players I chose, 2 have responded and 1 of the 2 was successful.  Both Alan Trammell and Barry Larkin returned my card to me quickly.  The difference being that Larkin actually singed my card while Trammell returned it unsigned.

I don’t know if 1 autograph in a month is good or not.  I also don’t know how much fan mail a guy like Don Mattingly or Andre Dawson still gets years after their playing days are over.

What I do know is that I love the Barry Larkin signed card I received and am very proud to own it.  I enjoyed watching Larkin play during his career with the Reds and appreciate him a little more now knowing that he responds quickly to his fans.

I’m asking anyone out there that has sent autograph requests through the mail…  what kind of time frame should I expect?  when do you just write it off and consider it a failure?  do certain letters appeal to these players more than others?

Let me know your thoughts.  In the meantime, I will continue to get excited as I pull up to my house hoping that my mailbox contains another card signed by one of these great players from the 1980′s.

Happy Anniversary George Brett!!!

On this day in 1992 you recorded your 3,000th career hit as a major league baseball player.

This baseball milestone was accomplished during your 20th season in the major leagues in which you played for just 1 team – The Kansas City Royals.  After completing your 21st season, you ended your career with an amazing 3,154 hits which is good for 15th all-time.

The amazing part of this career achievement is that Brett never showed signs of decline as a hitter during his lengthy career.  While averaging 150 hits per year over his 21 year career, Brett remained extremely consistent.  The total number of hits during his last year in 1993 was 149.

Congratulations Mr. Brett.  Your are a true baseball legend and hero!!!

1986 Topps Andre Dawson

1986 Topps Andre Dawson

 I just grabbed 4 of these cards for a quarter!!!  You would think that of all of the pictures Topps has of Andre Dawson in a Montreal Expos uniform that they would have chosen a better shot to use.  I am not a big fan of the 1986 design, and this picture of ‘The Hawk’ doesn’t help my opinion of this issue from Topps.

Card Design – D

Photo – F

4 Cards of Andre Dawson for 25 cents – A+

1983 Fleer and Donruss Andre Dawson

1983 Fleer and Donruss Andre Dawson

I already owned the 1983 Topps card, but again I can scratch the base cards of Dawson for 1983 off of my ‘Need to Get’ list.

The Topps card from this set stands out and is one of my favorite issues of all time.  But the Donruss card is very nice too.  Although the Donruss product was not terribly exciting in the early 1980′s, the Dawson cards they issued are strong.  And again, Fleer pulls up the rear with a card that couldn’t excite a hyper-active child…

Check these out:

Roger Clemens Used To Have A Personality That People Enjoyed…

 My, how the mighty have fallen…

1986 Topps, Fleer, and Donruss Dave Winfield

1986 Topps, Fleer, and Donruss Dave Winfield

I grabbed all 3 base cards from the 1986 sets.  Of the 3, the Topps card really stands out.  I don’t now what it is about dark blue, but it just doesn’t work for borders on cards in my opinion.  I like the brighter, more vivid colors.  The dark blue tends to just wash everything out and makes the card luck dull.

Cast Your Vote: Best Baseball Card Design From the 1970′s

That’s right.  After crowning the worst card design from the 70′s it is only fair to review the best looking cards from the 70′s to crown a champion as well.

So take a look at what I believe are the best designs and submit your vote…

1971 Topps

1977 Topps

1978 Topps

What Ever Happened To Gregg Jeffries???

Not too many rookies get the attention that Gregg Jeffries received prior to and during his rookie year.  Jeffries was noted as being one of the top players of his draft class, and playing for the New York Mets certainly added quite a bit more attention and pressure.

Jeffries was drafted by the Mets in 1985 and quickly became a star as he won the Minor League Player of the Year awards in both 1986 and 1987.  His ability to hit for average, power, and his speed stood out amongst his teammates and opponents and Gregg rapidly advanced through the Mets farm system.

Although Jeffries played in only a handful of games during the 1988 season with the Mets, the team and fans were thrilled with his talents.  He became a full time player in 1989 and quickly wiped those great feelings away as he was never able to meet the expectations put on him.  After 3 full seasons with the Mets, he was traded to the Kansas City Royals in 1991.  Things didn’t work out too well for Jeffries in Kansas City either and he soon found himself playing for the St. Louis Cardinals.  He enjoyed the 2 most productive seasons of his career with the Cardinals earning 2 All-Star appearances with the team.  Soon after, injuries and decline took over as Gregg played for 3 more teams in 5 seasons and finally retired with the Detroit Tigers in 2000.

Gregg Jeffries ended his career with a respectable batting average of .289 while hitting 126 home runs.  Unfortunately for him, he never lived up to the hype he had as a phenom with the New York Mets.

Today Gregg lives with his wife and is not involved with baseball.