Dave Parker 1982 Donruss – Take A Close Look!!!

Dave Parker 1982 Donruss – Take A Close Look!!!

If you look really, really close, you can see that Dave Parker broke his bat on this swing.

And since we all know that Parker was one of the strongest players in the sport during his prime, we have to assume that he had broken a lot of bats during his time in the majors.

I wonder if he connected for a home run on his hack!!

Did You Know…

The major league pitcher to capture the most wins after their 40th birthday is Phil Niekro.  Niekro won 121 games after his 40th birthday in 1979.  Jamie Moyer is second on the list with 103 wins after he turned 40.

1973 HEADLINE: Reggie Jackson Is The American League’s Unanimous MVP!!!

1973 HEADLINE: Reggie Jackson Is The American League’s Unanimous MVP!!!

On this day in 1973, Reggie Jackson won the American League MVP award in a unanimous vote.

Taking all 24 first-place votes, Reggie easily out-distanced Jim Palmer and Amos Otis who finished in 2nd and 3rd place respectively.

So, how did Jackson convince all of the voters that year??  Well, he let his bat do the talking….

Reggie led the league in five major offensive categories:  99 runs scored, 32 home runs, 117 RBI, .531 slugging percentage, and .914 OPS.

Very valuable indeed!!

Congratulations Mr. Jackson!!!!

Happy Birthday Curt Schilling!!!

Happy Birthday Curt Schilling!!!

Curt Schilling turns 46 years old today.

When you look at Schilling’s career numbers that span over 20 years, they are pretty impressive.  Don’t forget that for the first 12 years of his career he played with the Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, and Philadelphia Phillies.  None of these teams were doing much to support their pitchers while Curt was there. 

With 216 career wins, 83 complete games, 3116 strikeouts and 3 20-win seasons under his belt, I wonder where he ranks against some of the other pitchers of his era.  A 3-time runner up for the Cy Young award and a 6-time All-Star, Curt Schilling has accomplished what few pitchers have been able to do.  Curt got better after his 30th birthday; much better!  I know that a lot of this has to do with the fact that he pitched for Arizona and Boston, both of whom he won a World Series with, but his ERA and strikeouts improved as well and those are individual stats.

I am not certain if Schilling is a Hall of Fame worthy player or not, but having 2 World Series rings does not hurt his resume.  Think of all of the 200+ winning pitchers with no championships and all of a sudden Schilling rises to the top.

Happy Birthday Mr. Schilling!!!

Jim Palmer 2003 Donruss Signature ‘Century Notations’ Authentic Signature Card

Jim Palmer 2003 Donruss Signature ‘Century Notations’ Authentic Signature Card

It has been more than six months since I added a Jim Palmer certified autograph baseball card into my collection.  And back in April when I showed it off, it was the first certified Palmer auto that I had picked up.

Well, you can call this one the second!!

The card comes from the 2003 Donruss Signature set and it features a sweet ’76 Cy’ inscription.  I love the team-themed colors of the card.  And Donruss picked a great image of Palmer to use as well.

The card is serial numbered as 63/100!

Now I just need to find the cards with the ’73 Cy’ and ’75 Cy’ for my collection.

Time to go shopping!!!!

I’ve told you before, it is HARD to be a Marlins fan!!!

In what’s one of the biggest trades in recent history, the Marlins are on the verge of sending shortstop Jose Reyes, left-hander Mark Buehrle, right-hander Josh Johnson and catcher John Buck to the Blue Jays in exchange for a package of young players.

Among the young players reportedly headed to Miami are shortstops Yunel Escobar and Adeiny Hechavarria, right-hander Henderson Alvarez and minor-league left-hander Justin Nicolino.

CBSSports.com Insider Jon Heyman confirms the original reporting of FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal and Jon Morosi.