Beyond Baseball – Grady Sizemore

Just a quick entertaining clip of one the most exciting players in the game…

Did You Know…

Ty Cobb holds the career record for stealing home plate.  He did it 54 times.

**factoid courtesy of ‘Armchair Reader – Grand Slam Baseball’

Happy Anniversary Mark McGwire!!!

Mark McGwire hit the first home run of his major league baseball career on this day back in 1986.

Before ‘The Bash Brothers’.  Before #71.  Before the steroid allegations.  Before all of this, Mark McGwire was an athletic;y gifted player with a skill of hitting the long ball. 

And on this day 23 years ago, home run #1 of 583 was smacked into the outfield seats of Tiger Stadium.    I doubt that the 20,000 fans in attendance thought much of this young kid from the opposing team.  To them he was the enemy.  And nobody knew that just 1 year later he would set the rookie record for home runs in a season with 49.  And nobody there thought for a second that this guy was going  to be the one to rescue the sport in 1998 when the game and it’s fan base were both spiraling downward…

But he did it.  Mark McGwire became ‘Big Mac’ right in front of our eyes.  And most of us enjoyed the thrilling ride that he took us on.

And it all started on this day back in 1986.

Happy Anniversary Mark McGwire!!!! 

Andre Dawson 2005 Upper Deck SP Authentic

 I have seen this picture all over the web featuring game-used pieces of jersey and pants and bats from Andre’s playing days with the Cubs.

I will add some of these to my collection in time.  Trust me!!

But first, I wanted to add the regular old no frills base card to my collection.

So here it is: 

Stay tuned to ’30-Year Old Cardboard’ as I plan to bring aboard a few variations of this guy as I find them!!!

Happy Anniversary Ernie Banks!!!

On this day in 1971, Ernie Banks hit the final home run of his amazing career!

#512 came in the bottom of the 4th inning in front of a crowd of 38,000+ at Wrigley Field.  The opposing team was the group that eventually earned the nickname of ‘The Big Red Machine’.  However on this day, it was a true celebration of Ernie Banks as he solidified his spot as the infielder with the highest home run totals at that time.

Mr. Cub is as classy of a player as their has been in this sport.  And on this day, in front of his home fans, he really gave them all something to celebrate and enjoy!!!

Congratulations and Happy Anniversary to you, Ernie Banks!!

Happy Birthday Cal Ripken Jr!!!!

Cal Ripken Jr. turns 49 years old today.

One of baseball’s most recognizable figures, Ripken built an incredible resume during his 21 years in the majors.  While Cal will probably be most remembered for his consecutive games played streak of 2,632, he also accomplished some amazing baseball feats.

With 3,184 hit and 431 home runs, Ripken is one of only 8 players in the elite 3,000/400 club.  Being in such an elite and limited group of the game’s greatest players solidifies Cal as one of the greatest of his era.

And the individual achievements that Cal conquered during his playing days makes him one of the game’s most decorated superstars - A Rookie of the Year winner, 2-time MVP, 19-time All-star selection, 8 Silver Slugger awards, and 2 Gold Glove trophies.

Happy Birthday to one of the game’s classiest players!! 

New Player Collections = Lots Of Time & Work!!!

Please don’t think for a minute that I’m complaining, because I’m not.  I just forgot how much work went into creating the checklists needed to get my new player collections up and running.

Building the template in Excel is the easy part.  The time consuming part is compiling the list of cards.  And even though I know exactly what I want to have in these player collections, obtaining the needed data to build my master checklist involves quite a bit of research.

I try to get it right the first time.  Using tools like Ebay and Sportslots.com gets me very close to where I need to be.  But from there the task becomes more of a challenge to ensure that each and every card that fits the criteria of my ‘PC’ is met.  Thankfully, I can rely on the Internet for most of my answers…

As of right now, my Jim Palmer checklist is completed.  My Darryl Strawberry list is 90% of the way there, and I still have Greg Maddux and Eddie Murray to go.

Stay tuned because I am ready to shop.  Once these four checklists are complete you can expect quite a bit of activity from me as I jump right into my new player collections!!!

Man I’m ready to shop!!!

John Smoltz Comeback – Take 2

OK, so it didn’t quite work out the way I thought it would when Smoltz joined the Red Sox a month or so ago.

I still think he has a lot to offer and obviously the Cardinals do as well.  He will take to the mound tonight to see if that is truly the case.

I will certainly be tuned in to see how Smoltz’s second comeback of the 2009 baseball season shapes up.  He is heading to a city that loves their baseball and is fiercely loyal to their team.  All it will take is 1 strong outing for the faithful Cardinals fans to count John Smoltz as one of their own.

And another trip to the World series still remains a strong possibility!!

Best of Luck Smoltzy!!!

1936 Headline: Feller To Start For Indians

Long before Johnny Bench, Dwight Gooden, and Ken Griffey Jr. became household names while in their teens there was Bob Feller.

Bob Feller made his major league debut on this day in 1936 at the tender age of seventeen!!!

On the road battling the St. Louis Browns, the Cleveland Indians turned to Feller to help the team continue their winning ways as they worked on a winning streak while shooting for a playoff spot.

In the game Feller was dominant as he struck out 15 batters en route to a 4-1 Indians victory!!  Quite an amazing feat for a kid just out of high school, huh??

Happy Anniversary Mr. Bob Feller!!!

Explain This – ‘Stupid Bat Tricks’

I don’t even know what to say.  I have watched this at least 20 times over the last 2-3 days and I am still in a ‘blurry’ state of mind because of it….

Either the editor of this video clip is really talented or David Copperfield is hiding behind the dugout…