2009 Topps Heritage Florida Marlins Team Set

I couldn’t resist this purchase.  My biggest mistake is that I only bought one of these team sets.  The cards look great, and being a vintage collector I cannot help but love the design.  My problem is that these would also be great to use for possible autographs…

I still have 2 Marlins Spring Training games to attend and I think these may be coming with me.  I can always pick up another set again, but how often will I have the chance to get some of these signed? 

I think the decision has been made!!!   And it was pretty easy too…

‘The 40/40 Club’ – 1980′s – Card #12

‘The 40/40 Club’ – 1980′s – Card #12

Randy Johnson – 1989 Upper Deck

In a literal sense, at 6 feet and 10 inches tall this guy stands heads and shoulders above all pitchers in the game.  Figuratively speaking, there are very few pitchers that debuted during the 1980′s that have had a bigger impact on the game than Randy Johnson. 

Randy Johnson debuted in the major leagues is 1988 with the Montreal Expos.  Larger than life and the competition, Johnson stood out for his physical presence long before he stood out for his dominating pitching skills.  Soon after, the baseball world took notice and by the early 1990′s Johnson had become a household name for baseball fans.  With his dominating fastball and penchant for strikeouts, ‘The Big Unit’ was living up to his stature and taking hitters out with ease.

Playing for mostly small market teams like the Expos, Mariners, and Diamondbacks, Johnson was able to escape the media spotlight for most of his career.  But in the baseball world, he was too strong of a presence to ignore as he racked up wins and strikeouts year after year for 21 seasons.  Going into the 2009 baseball season, Johnson is just 5 wins short of 300 career victories which is usually used to define pitching greatness.  He also ranks in second place all-time for career strikeouts with 4,789.  If healthy all season, he has an outside shot of reaching the 5,000 K plateau this season.  And if he does not hit that mark and plans to pitch in 2010 when he is 46 years old he will certainly reach that milestone too.

Randy Johnson is a 5-time Cy Young Award winner, with 3 2nd place finishes to his credit as well.  His best statistical season came in 2002 as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks.  In that season he started 35 games while winning 24 and losing just 5.  Amazingly at the age of 38, he was able to pitch 260 innings en route to striking out 334 batters while accounting for just a 2.32 ERA.  Johnson is also a 10-time All-star.

Randy Johnson has participated in just 1 World Series match-up.  As a member of the Diamondbacks in 2001, Johnson won his lone World Series championship title.  His performance against the Yankees was brilliant as he went 3-0 while pitching 17 innings.  In those 17 innings of work, Johnson struck out 19 batters while allowing just 3 walks and 2 earned runs.  Johnson went on to win the Co-MVP of the World series that year with teammate Curt Schilling.

Dan Plesac Autograph TTM Success!!!

In 36 days Dan Plesac returned one of the nicest signatures in my collection thus far.  It’s really just too bad that he signed these cards in ballpoint pen.  They look incredible, I just wish that they stood out more prominently.

Still anytime you can add a 3-time All-star’s autograph to your collection you’re having a pretty good mail-day!!

Thanks Dan.

While Watching The WBC Last Night…

Question : What were you doing last night between 1-2AM???

Answer : I was up with my 7-month old son who was craving a bottle.  And in that time, I flipped from channel to channel trying to find something to entertain myself with.  I caught a few minutes of ‘Rock of Love’ and then a little bit of ‘Man Vs. Food’ and then I stumbled on the WBC contest between Japan and Cuba.

Normally I would not stop to watch a ball game like that in which I know less than 5% of it’s participants.  However when I turned it on they were interviewing Dave Winfield, a personal favorite of mine, about the state of baseball.  For those of you that have never seen a Winfield interview, you would be immediately impressed by his dedication and work ethic when it comes to talking about the direction baseball needs to go.  He has been very involved with getting the Negro League players and teams recognized for their efforts and has had a vocal role when it comes to educating young players about the dangers of taking illegal performance enhancing drugs.

After the interview with ‘Big Dave’, the guys in the booth(there were 3 – 2 of which were Steve Phillips and Orel Hershiser) began commenting about how big and strong Winfield was during his playing days…

Then Hershiser says, ‘When I was playing, there were only 2 guys that I feared when they got into the batter’s box: Dave Winfield and Andre Dawson’.  When I heard him start his sentence I almost finished it for him.  I actually got chills hearing him say it out loud after I had just said it in my head.  I have always admired Hershiser’s approach to the game and I found him to be one of the finest competitors I have ever seen on the pitching mound.  For someone of his stature to admit that he was intimidated by the presence of these 2 guys says a lot about the respect that he had for their amazing talents.

And my respect for Orel Hershier just went up a notch!!!

#31 – It’s About Time That They Did This….

Finally.  Finally.  Finally.

Yesterday the Chicago Cubs announced that they will be retiring #31 to honor the careers of Fergie Jenkins and Greg Maddux. 

In my opinion, this move is long overdue.  Jenkins and Maddux are 2 of my favorite pitchers of all-time and it will be nice to see them recognized together.  I was pretty shocked when the Cubs let Maddux wear #31 in 1987 when he debuted in Chicago, but he has certainly lived up to his potential and is possibly the best pitcher of the last 30 years.

While Maddux had a great career as a Cub, it would be easy to argue that his best years were in Atlanta with the Braves.  Jenkins on the other hand, had a magnificent career, and his best years were undoubtedly in a Cubs’ uniform.

Congratulations to 2 incredible pitchers and 2 quality people. 

I want to be at Wrigley so bad on May 3….

Here are some links so you can check out the news as it broke around the sports world.

From ChicagoCubs.com

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090318&content_id=4012782&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

From ESPN.com

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3994049&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

From SportsIllustrated.com

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/03/18/cubs.jenkinsmaddux.ap/index.html?section=si_latest

‘The 40/40 Club’ – 1980′s – Card #13

‘The 40/40 Club’ – 1980′s – Card #13

Wade Boggs – 1983 Topps

One of the greatest contact hitters that the game of baseball has ever seen, Wade Boggs breaks into the ’40/40′ club at position #13.

With a lifetime batting average of .328, Boggs won 5 batting titles.  During his 18-year career, Boggs hit .300 or better 15 times and eclipsed the .330 mark 9 times.  Boggs ended his career with 3,010 hits – 2,253 of which were singles.  Boggs amassed 578 doubles and 118 home runs during his professional career, often using the ‘Green Monster’ to his advantage at his home ballpark.  Boggs also collected 1,014 RBI and scored 1,513 runs in the majors.

Always with a keen eye, Wade Boggs was an incredibly controlled hitter.  And for someone who averaged 500+ at-bats per season, Wade Boggs made the most out of each at-bat.  With just 745 career strikeouts to his credit, Boggs struck out on average just 41 times per season – just 1 time in every 12 at-bats.

Wade Boggs is a 12-time All-star.  He has won the Silver Slugger award 8 times.  Wade Boggs has collected 2 Gold Glove trophies.  He has finished in the Top 22 for the MVP award 9 times. 

Boggs has played in 2 World Series match-ups.  He was part of the forgettable Red Sox team that lost to the New York Mets in 1986.  Luckily he was rewarded for his hard work and dedication to the sport in 1996 as a member of the New York Yankees and their championship team.  During that championship series in 1996, Boggs hit .273 while collecting 3 hits, 2 RBI, and of course 0 strikeouts!!!

 

Tim Lincecum Cracks Me Up!!!

I love it when a guy is humble enough to laugh at himself.  Great work Lince…

And the cameo by Randy Johnson is perfect!!!

1988 Fleer All-Star Andre Dawson

Another one bites the dust!!!!

2 goes down to 1 as I finally add the 1988 Fleer All-star card to my Andre Dawson collection. 

I like the card design, and it clearly stands apart from the 1988 Fleer base card design.  I am just not sure if I care for the photo-shopped look or not. Prior to this, I had primarily been used to All-star cards with a normal photo and an All-star graphic.  It’s nice to see a change and see that Fleer tried something new, I am just not positive that it works for me.  I would have loved to see the same photo with the original background and then with the same header treatment that is used here…

I Have Joined The ‘Stan The Man’ Postcard Club!!!

It’s official, after 65 days I have become a full-fledged member of the ‘Stan the Man’ postcard club.

I sent a letter to Stan Musial 65 days ago requesting his autograph on my baseball card.  Going into this I knew that my chances of getting it signed were slim, but I also know that Stan has a great reputation of returning cards quickly along with a postcard giving his career highlights.

Now, that postcard is mine.  And my card is back too…

‘The 40/40 Club’ – 1980′s – Card #14

‘The 40/40 Club’ – 1980′s – Card #14

John Smoltz – 1988 Fleer

The stats don’t line up to the amazingly talented John Smoltz.  Part of this is due to the fact that as a starting pitcher, Smoltz missed up to 120 starts during his career due to being shifted to the closer role to secure victories for his Atlanta Braves team.

Right out of the gate, John Smoltz began racking up starts and innings for the Braves.  In his first full season in 1989, Smoltz started 29 games and pitched 208 innings.  In that year, he went 12-11 with 168 strikeouts and an ERA of just 2.94.  This year-long effort was enough to secure Smoltz a roster spot on the All-star team which would be his first of 8 appearances. 

The hard work continued as Smoltz became an important cog in the Brave’s starting rotation.  Averaging 30 starts a season along with 220+ innings of work became the standard for Smoltz and soon his individual stats began to flourish.  In 20 big league seasons, Smoltz has double-digit victories in wins in 13 seasons and when you consider that 4 years were spent in the bullpen, his numbers shine even brighter.  And the innings added up as he tallied 200+ innings of work in 10 of his 16 years as a starting pitcher. 

During his most successful individual season in 1996, John Smoltz was the best pitcher in baseball.  In 35 games, he won 24 while just losing 8.  Smoltz struck out 276 batters and walked just 55 which is good for a 5.02:1 K:walk ratio.  Smoltz’s tremendous season earned him the Cy Young award of which he placed in the Top 7 for the award 5 times throughout his career.

In 2001, John Smoltz was shifted to the bullpen to take over as the closer for the Braves.  This resulted in one of the greatest 3-season careers that baseball has ever seen by a closer.  Dominant as ever, Smoltz was closing games at a record pace and when done he saved 144 games in just 210 appearances. 

After the 2004 season, Smoltz was moved back to the starting rotation and picked up right where he left off.  In his first season back as a starter, Smoltz threw 230 innings while posting 14 wins and a 3.06 ERA.  His success continued over the next 2 seasons as he captured 16 and 14 more wins en route to 210 career wins.

John Smoltz has pitched in 5 World Series match-ups, but has won just 1 championship.  In 1995 his Braves finally won the title giving John his only championship ring.