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NEW Missing Cards up on Facebook

Ben Henry — Mon, 21 May 2012 03:02:00 +0000

Have you seen the "Missing Card" for Reggie Smith? How about Joe Rudi? They're up now on Facebook, with many others that won't be posted on The Baseball Card Blog until the series is complete.

Check them out!

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards – #405T Rollie Fingers

Ben Henry — Sun, 20 May 2012 00:13:00 +0000

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards - #405T Rollie Fingers

Like Vida Blue and Joe Rudi, the league voided Charlie Finley's sale of Rollie Fingers to the Boston Red Sox at the June 15th trade deadline in 1976. Fingers was granted free agency at the conclusion of the 1976 season. The All-Star and leading fireman signed with San Diego.

Layout changes coming to The Baseball Card Blog

Ben Henry — Sat, 19 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Dear Readers,

We here at The Baseball Card Blog are growing restless with our blog template. So over the weekend we will be trying out new layouts. Lots of things will be taken into account, including ease of navigation, reliable load time, decent mobile viewing experience, large images, and bells and whistles that make it easier to share our content.

We have lots of great stuff to share with you, and we want to present it all in a format where it can shine. So if things are different the next time you visit, please have patience; we're aiming high.

Thanks,
Ben

From Creamed to Creamer

mkenny59 — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Kirk Gibson, 1988 Donruss Diamond Kings

Rhetorical question: What makes a Diamond King?

Here are some rhetorical answers: Being able to sit still long enough to be drawn, playing baseball, lightening bolts—a lot of people don’t know this, but Zeus has the final say on all Diamond Kings—being a gritty leader with a humongous figurative heart, being generally awesome, and of course, a healthy hatred of pranks.

The Los Angeles Dodgers found out last spring training what kind of competitor Kirk Gibson is.

When he collided with an opposing catcher at home plate during a meaningless early March exhibition game against a nearby college team, ending the young catcher’s career, his Dodgers teammates were like, “Whoa. Dude doesn’t have an off switch.” That seems like an adequate follow-up sentence re: competitiveness. Let’s see if I am in the ballpark.

When someone filled his cap with shaving cream, Gibson was furious with his new teammates and immediately questioned their desire to win a division title.

This seems like a great way to acclimate oneself to a new team. I don’t really see how this exemplifies being competitive, although it’s possible I’ve misunderstood that word my entire life.

Kirk Gibson: Puts on baseball cap, head feels smooshy, shaving cream drips down face. What the—WHO DID THIS??!!

Rest of Dodgers: Giggling.

Alfredo Griffin: Boom, roasted.

Gibson: I’LL ROAST YOUR FACE, GRIFFIN! NICE THREE HOME RUNS LAST YEAR. Takes some shaving cream from hat and smears in on Griffin’s face, knocking him over. NOW WHO DID THIS?!

Rest of Dodgers: Silent, scared.

Gibson: THIS ISN’T HIGH SCHOOL AND I’M NOT MR. DILLWEED. YOU WON 73 GAMES LAST YEAR AND LED THE LEAGUE IN BEING STUPID MO FOS. YOU THINK YOU’RE GONNA WIN A DIVISION TITLE BY PUTTING WHIPPED CREAM IN PEOPLE’S HATS? GET A CLUE!

Jesse Orosco: It’s shaving cream.

Gibson: NEVER HEARD OF IT. I SHAVE WITH A RUSTY BLADE AND RECYCLED WATER. IN THE OFFSEASON! FROM MARCH THROUGH OCTOBER I ONLY FOCUS ON ONE THING: WINNING DIVISION TITLES AND BEING AWESOME. MAKE THAT TWO THINGS! HOW ARE THE SHAVING CREAM HIJINKS WORKING OUT FOR YOU PRINCESSES?

Mike Scioscia: Dude, it’s just a prank. Take a chill pill. It’s meant to bring the team closer together, if anything.

Gibson: OH, LET’S BRING THE TEAM TOGETHER AT GIBBY’S EXPENSE! I DON’T THINK THE DODGERS ARE PAYING ME QUADRUPLE ALL YOUR SALARIES TO COME HERE AND GET CREAMED!

Rest of Dodgers: Giggling.

Gibson: SHUT IT! Impersonating the rest of team in little girl’s voice. OH, I CAN ONLY BOND WITH OTHERS THROUGH A MUTUAL LOVE OF CHILDISH PRANKS … HERE’S A PRANK FOR YOU … Punches hole in Scioscia’s locker. HOW ABOUT WE BOND BY WINNING THE DIVISION, A-HOLES?

Gibson, who was declared a free agent by an arbitrator in the offseason, developed not only into the spiritual leader of the Dodgers but the offensive leader and NL MVP favorite of many.

By spiritual did they mean “emotional?” I feel like those are two different things. Also, Gibson was the NL MVP favorite of, mostly, the people who vote for the NL MVP, because he won the NL MVP. I just wanted to clarify that.

And we all know how this story ends. Thanks mainly to putting shaving cream hijinks on the back burner and, in some small way, Orel Hershiser’s decent season and Gibby’s more direct baseball contributions, the Dodgers won the 1988 World Series. More importantly though, they won the division.

National-sized Expectations

Ben Henry — Wed, 16 May 2012 02:16:00 +0000

It's less than three months away... The autograph-guest lineup for the National has been announced and it looks like the entire Major-League roster from the late 1970s will be in attendance: Carlton Fisk, Jim Rice, Pete Rose, Ferguson Jenkins, George Foster, Joe Morgan, Jim Palmer, Bruce Sutter, etc. It should be interesting to see what the hierarchy of superstars will be, if everyone will sit peacefully side by side at long tables, or if some of the old timers will conspire on a power grab or coup for the best folding chair and a spot near the men's room ...

I'm interested to see what some of these guys look like now. Did Bruce Sutter just let his beard consume the rest of his face? Does George Foster still look like he did on his 1986 Topps card (the one where he's wearing shades like he's getting ready for his moonlighting gig as a keyboardist in a funk band)? Or do they all look like normal, older men?...

I don't see this anywhere on the NSCC website, but I would love to see some panel discussions as part of the show. Certainly on the state and future of the sports trading card and memorabilia industry, but also on the emergence of blogging (probably about four or five years overdue on this topic) and customer interaction ...

I also hope Topps, Tristar, Panini, Upper Deck, and some of the other larger companies do Apple-like product presentations. It would be encouraging to see the thought-leader companies take a commanding presence with customers in a venue away from the trade show floor, because I have a feeling I know what the industry trade show floor booths will be like: tons of people grabbing for anything and everything not bolted down. I'm thinking stacks of sell sheets, bins of individually wrapped promo packs, boxes of VIP card sets stacked behind presentation tables, lanyard-wearing industry types swigging bottled water and checking their BlackBerrys, and kids presenting fistfuls of bunched-up pack wrappers to trade in for a special Cal Ripken card. Oh, and lots of pushing ...

I'm not a fan of big crowds, which will make my few days at the National all the more harrowing, but I'll be impressed greatly if the show is anything like or anywhere near the intensity of Comic Con ...

What I'm hoping to accomplish at the show:

1. Meet the company representatives. Learn about their stuff for 2013 and beyond.
2. Meet reps from smaller, more eccentric companies and independent entrepreneurs with booths.
3. Get a few cards I've always wanted and hoard up on miscuts, blank-backs, and wrong-backs
4. Try to talk with some of the autograph guests without waiting in line for an hour (or more)
5. Swig bottled water with a lanyard around my neck and try not to get trampled by the teeming masses.

The reason I'm going:

To live-blog and tweet about what I find. This has been one of my goals since all the way back in 2006, when I started The Baseball Card Blog. I figure I'll post some videos, maybe an audio interview, some Twitter and Facebook updates, and write, write, write. I've never been to a show of this size, and despite all my bluster, I really don't know what kind of experience I'll have.

NEW "Missing Cards" up on Facebook!

Ben Henry — Wed, 16 May 2012 02:08:00 +0000

Did you know? If you haven't visited The Baseball Card Blog on Facebook, you're missing half of the conversation, including "Missing Cards" that won't be showcased on the blog until the series is complete.

Visit today!

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards – #26T Andy Thornton

Ben Henry — Tue, 15 May 2012 01:29:00 +0000

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards - #26T Andy Thornton

Let's talk about lopsided trades: Andre Thornton was traded straight up to the Cleveland Indians prior to the 1977 season for Jackie Brown. While not exactly Milt Pappas for Frank Robinson, with 20-20 hindsight it was an incredible deal for Cleveland.

Casting Agent: "Hops"

Ben Henry — Sun, 13 May 2012 22:26:00 +0000

This week's edition of "Casting Agent" is for a pay-cable mini series drama focusing on the trials and tribulations of running a brewery during the late 1850s/early 1860s in the United States. It will take place in Milwaukee and focus on a character based on Joseph Schlitz, the power struggles of running a profitable brewery, and more larger themes like the U.S. Civil War. I see this as a "television event"–type series, with six episodes (at most) and no additional series renewal. I'm calling it "Hops."

Characters

Jim Thome as Tom Schlipps, upstart owner of the Knüg Brewery/Schlipps Brewers

Harmon Killebrew as Augustus Knüg, deceased owner of Knüg Brewery (shown in flashback)

Mary Steenburgen as The Widow Knüg and future Mrs. Schlipps

Bob Moose as Lemuel Fjordsson, brewmaster at Knüg Brewery
and rival at Mountain River & Sons Brewery

Walter Johnson as Castleton Parnassus "C.P." Billingsley, local financier

Johnny Bench as Meinhard "Pete" Wermeißer, Schlipps' neighbor and friend

with Johnny Mize as James B. Cross, mayor of Milwaukee and later rival to Schlipps

and Mark Eaton as Martin Bartellschloss, a corrupt policeman
in the new Milwaukee Police Department

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards – #48T Joe Ferguson

Ben Henry — Sat, 12 May 2012 13:58:00 +0000

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards - #48T Joe Ferguson

Ferguson was famous for a few things: his home-run heroics in the 1974 World Series while a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers; his record-setting 1973 season when he made only three errors behind the plate; he had a bazooka for an arm, which helped gun down runners as an outfielder; and there was another athletic Joe Ferguson who was famous at the exact same time. I can think only one other occurrence of this off the top of my head: Eddie Murray, the great slugger for the Baltimore Orioles and Eddie Murray the kicker for the Detroit Lions.

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards – #235T Bert Blyleven

Ben Henry — Fri, 11 May 2012 00:25:00 +0000

1976 Topps Traded: The Missing Cards - #235T Bert Blyleven

Seems like a lot of guys in this custom set were big stars, doesn't it? I count at least four future Hall of Famers and lots of guys at the tops of their respective careers.