Sunday, February 27, 2011

Expos Best - Bill Stoneman. Custom card.

Bill also pitched really well in 1972, but I prefer his 1971 season for the IP and K's.

Bill pitched his first no-hitter in his 3rd start as an Expo. It was only the Expos 9th game in franchise history. The New York Mets have played 7806 regular season and 74 post season games without a no hitter. The San Diego Padres have also never had a no hitter in franchise history, and like the Expos they started play in 1969.

Bill had some great games for the Expos, and was a workhorse for the new franchise.

Some of his great games:

Apr 17 1969 900058 Game score 90
Sep 12 1969 9500412 Game score 85

Apr 12 1970 930037 Game score 85

May 26 1971 9211310 Game score 86
Jun 16 1971 9100114 Game score 98(!) (Cito Gaston singled in the 7th)

Aug 20 1972 920037 Game score 87
Oct 2 1972 900079 Game score 89

Unfortunately the last game of 1972 was also pretty much the last time Bill was an effective pitcher. He got hit hard in 1973 for the Expos and in 1974 with the Angels.

R.I.P. Duke Snider

One of the all-time greats.

Expos Best - Ellis Valentine. Custom Card.


There's a nice article on Ellis and his work with B.A.D. here.

Ellis never quite lived up to his promise as a player, with some of it being his fault and some of it being injury problems. He was an amazing athlete and a big part of the Expos when he was with the team, and when traded he brought back Jeff Reardon, who was a very important Expo as well.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Split handed, split fingered.

 Leon 'Daddy Wags' Wagner

 Mr. Tiger, Al Kaline.

 This was quite a unique card, especially for 1991 Score of all things.

WTF Guest star card. Tim Raines (Lance Parrish)

That has got to be the weirdest slide I've ever seen.  Tim looks like a fish flopping around out of the water. I'm guessing the reason for the weird slide is because Tim decided that continuing to live a normal life somewhat free of pain was better than running into Lance Parrish.

Friday, February 25, 2011

More Turk Wendell.





I bet if 3 digit uniform numbers had been allowed, Turk would have worn 182.

The Robbie and Bert show.

 "Yeah, you heard me right, 2011. I know it's only 1994 right now. Yes, I want tickets to Cooperstown and a hotel reservation. 2011. Yes, I'm sure."

Nothing says exciting like a little rainbow foil. Thanks TSC! Great action shot though.


"I'm so happy I got out of Minnesota"          "I'm so happy I got out of Cleveland"

Swing Sequences. Frank Thomas.

Frank was another in a long line of victims of the curse of turning 32. What curse is that? The curse of having your eyesight get a bit worse, that curse. So many players hit the wall at that age that it's ridiculous. And what's even more ridiculous is that it's not something that is discussed. Very few players get past that age without a dropoff, and those that do probably had super incredible vision in the first case.

Frank's line after the 2000 season:
.321 .440 .579 1.018
 And at the end of his career:
.301 .419 .555 .974 156
Those last 9 seasons:
.273 .387 .528 .915 136










Pitching Sequences. Dennis Martinez.

El Presidente. Watching him pitch was like watching a great artist paint. Although I'm sure that not too many great artists spat tobacco juice all over the place.

Swing Sequences. Ken Griffey Jr and Barry Bonds.

2 players who outshined their famous fathers.
Both played 22 seasons.
Both hit a ton of home runs.
Ken was the one that was considered a great fielder, but he only beat Barry by 2 gold gloves, 10 to 8. And of course Barry has 7 MVP's, Ken only one.
Barry walked almost twice as many times as Ken, yet still had more hits and less strikeouts. Barry drew 120 INTENTIONAL walks in 2004. Ken never walked more than 96 times in a season.
Ken was known for not working out, or even stretching. Barry? Well, we all know the stories that have been told. Let the courts decide.
Ken never played in a World Series, Barry did play in one but lost. Despite hitting .471 with 4 homers, 6 RBI, and 13 walks in 7 games.
Barry was blackballed, and never got the chance to reach 3000 hits or 800 home runs. Ken quit a year and a half later than he should have.

Ken will go into the Hall on his first try. Barry? Who knows. He should go in on the 1st ballot, but some would prefer he never got in. Personally I think he's a hall of famer. If he and others don't get in because of steroids, then throw out all the guys who did pep pills. And the guys that are already in the Hall that did steroids.

Say what you want about the steroids, but clearly Barry always had a big head!

Adam Wainwright, Tommy John, and mechanics.

I feel bad for you Cardinal fans, really. It's not been a good week for you. It's as if Don Denkinger is playing with his Cardinal voodoo doll.

With all the weeping and gnashing of teeth come the same old stories about workloads at a young age. Pshaw I say. Yes, PSHAW!

It's really quite simple. So simple that Jim Joyce can see it as if it was happening right in front of him.

Bad mechanics equals pitching injuries. That's it. If a pitcher has bad mechanics, it's not IF he'll get hurt, it's when. And it doesn't matter, he could be babied and coddled and never throw 100 pitches in a game, or he could pitch 300 innings at age 19. He will get hurt, it's just a matter of time and luck.

So they'll patch up Adam Wainwright, get him healed and rehabbed, and he'll be ready to go in 2012. And if he's got the same bad mechanics, he'll get hurt again.

Now here's where I really make Cardinal fans wonder. Why you ask? I'll tell you. I think the Cards should happily let Albert Pujols go. If they can get a package of prospects for him this year, even better. Face it. He'll be 32 for the 2012 season. 32 and beyond is the big drop off point for a huge percentage of hitters. Just look at Frank Thomas as an example. You got a World Series out of him, and some amazing seasons, but he's simply not going to keep doing it over and over. And while you're at it, try and unload that horrible Matt Holliday deal as well. Who in the name of Vernon Wells signs a guy to a deal like that one? Clank is laughing all the way to the bank.

As for Tommy John, isn't it about time he got royalties on the surgery? Heck, he should be in the Hall of Fame based on the number of players who have had his surgery. Oh, and the 288 wins. Don't forget those like the stupid voters did. Tommy should get a percentage of the wins that any pitcher gets after they have his surgery. Someone do the math, he'll probably be close to Cy Young soon.

Speaking of Cy, I just bought this card on eBay. It's card #120! That's special because Cy once had 120 at bats in a season, so it's really a one of a kind! (Yes Shirley, I jest.)

Pitching Sequences. Nolan Ryan x2.


Nolan Ryan was traded to the Angels in Dec 1971 as part of a package that brought Jim Fregosi to the Mets.  Ryan was 24, Fregosi was 29 and had received MVP votes for 8 seasons in a row with the Angels. Fregosi was a 6 time all star. 
Fregosi was never a regular after the trade. He played only 101 games for the Mets in 1972, putting up almost the same stats as he had for the Angels in 1971.
In 1993, Nolan's last season as a player, Fregosi was on his 3rd team and in his 10th season as a manager, and led the Phillies to the World Series, which they lost to Toronto.
I think we all know what Nolan did.
Man, did the Mets ever make some stupid trades back then!

Swing Sequences. Roberto Alomar and Carlos Baerga.



Two guys who came up with the Padres. In 1985 Robbie was drafted, while Carlos was signed as a free agent. Similar in size, and both played 2B for the bulk of their careers. They both played SS in the minors for at least one full season. 
Carlos was part of a trade for Joe Carter, Roberto was traded with Joe Carter.  
They each played for the Indians, Mets, Padres and Diamondbacks.
Robbie won 4 silver slugger awards, Carlos won 2.
Carlos was washed up at age 27, Robbie was effective until age 33. They both played their last season at age 36.
Two of my favorite players when they were active. I always wondered if Carlos was older than advertised. Or maybe Robbie's speed and better athleticism enabled him to avoid all of the collisions at 2B.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Expos Best - Gary Carter. Custom Card.

Even though it's B&W and not the greatest quality, I still really like this shot. I could have done this with the entire scene as a sideways card, and may still do so as a test.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Expos Best - Vladimir Guerrero - Custom Card.

There are tons of great action shots of Vlad, but very few portrait type shots that aren't showing his awful teeth.

1976 SSPC want list.

To me this shot is hilarious.

I bought a partial set on eBay to check it out, it was advertised as 425/630, but it actually came with 477/630. Nice bonus. I love sellers who under-promise and over-deliver. Obviously being a cheap partial set it's missing a lot of the stars, but that was expected.

I'm keeping an eye on a couple of full sets listed, but if I can fill in the blanks cheaply, I might go that direction.

If you have anything, let me know! Thanks.


5 PHIL NIEKRO
6 MIKE THOMPSON
7 ELIAS SOSA
18 CITO GASTON
22 SPARKY ANDERSON
28 CLAY KIRBY
31 JOHNNY BENCH
34 DAVE CONCEPCION
37 DOUG FLYNN
38 JOE MORGAN
39 TONY PEREZ
40 KEN GRIFFEY
41 PETE ROSE
44 GEORGE FOSTER
64 GREG GROSS
70 ANDY MESSERSMITH
73 DON SUTTON
74 RICH AUERBACH
75 RON CEY
88 TOM PACIOREK
91 BILL BUCKNER
96 GARY LAVELLE
98 CHARLIE WILLIAMS
103 WILLIE MONTANEZ
105 CHRIS SPEIER
107 GARY THOMASSON
111 BOBBY MURCER
117 DANNY FRISELLA
130 JOHNNY GRUBB
131 JOHN SCOTT
132 BOB TOLAN
133 DAVE WINFIELD
137 CLAUDE OSTEEN
141 BRIAN DOWNING
143 BUCKY DENT
146 BILL STEIN
151 CHUCK TANNER
156 RICH GOSSAGE
167 GEORGE BRETT
168 HARMON KILLEBREW
174 FRANK WHITE
178 VADA PINSON
185 WHITEY HERZOG
187 NOLAN RYAN
198 JERRY REMY
213 GLENN BORGMANN
214 ROD CAREW
216 DAN FORD
217 TONY OLIVA
219 BERT BLYLEVEN
220 LARRY HISLE
222 JERRY TERRELL
223 ERIC SODERHOLM
226 JIM COLBORN
231 CHARLIE MOORE
238 ROBIN YOUNT
239 HANK AARON
242 BOBBY MITCHELL
243 GORMAN THOMAS
252 STEVE FOUCAULT
255 FERGIE JENKINS
263 MIKE HARGROVE
265 ROY HOWELL
268 JIM SPENCER
274 LOU BROCK
275 RON FAIRLY
285 MARIO GUERRERO
286 LARRY LINTZ
295 JOHN DENNY
309 BILL MADLOCK
312 JERRY MORALES
313 TIM HOSLEY
330 NATE COLBERT
334 GARY CARTER
339 TONY SCOTT
342 ELLIS VALENTINE
348 DON CARRITHERS
351 DUKE SNIDER
354 MICKEY LOLICH
363 RON LEFLORE
372 MICKEY STANLEY
380 JIM PALMER
388 BOBBY GRICH
389 LEE MAY
390 TONY MUSER
392 BROOKS ROBINSON
394 DON BAYLOR
399 JIM NORTHRUP
400 KEN SINGLETON
402 FRED LYNN
403 CARLTON FISK
405 JIM RICE
408 DWIGHT EVANS
409 CARL YASTRZEMSKI
424 LUIS TIANT
425 JIM HUNTER
427 RUDY MAY
433 THURMAN MUNSON
434 CHRIS CHAMBLISS
435 ROY WHITE
437 GRAIG NETTLES
439 BOBBY BONDS
443 TERRY WHITFIELD
444 RICH BLADT
445 LOU PINIELLA
452 KERRY DINEEN
453 BILLY MARTIN
456 JOE HOERNER
457 TUG MCGRAW
459 STEVE CARLTON
463 JAY JOHNSTONE
467 GREG LUZINSKI
468 JOHNNY OATES
469 MIKE ANDERSON
470 MIKE SCHMIDT
471 BOB BOONE
473 DICK ALLEN
477 DICK RUTHVEN
478 JIM TODD
479 PAUL LINDBLAD
480 ROLLIE FINGERS
485 GLENN ABBOTT
488 ALVIN DARK
489 CLAUDELL WASHINGTON
494 REGGIE JACKSON
496 BILLY WILLIAMS
497 SAL BANDO
500 RAY FOSSEE
505 TOM BUSKEY
506 DENNIS ECKERSLEY
516 RICK CERONE
517 BUDDY BELL
521 FRANK DUFFY
524 BOOG POWELL
525 FRANK ROBINSON
536 FELIX MILLAN
537 RUSTY STAUB
541 JOE TORRE
542 DAVE KINGMAN
551 TOM SEAVER
555 RANDY TATE
558 CRAIG SWAN
559 JERRY CRAM
563 JOHN CANDELARIA
568 BRUCE KISON
572 DAVE PARKER
573 WILLIE STARGELL
584 WILLIE RANDOLPH
589 GEORGE BRETT/AL COWENS CL
593 CATFISH HUNTER/NOLAN RYAN CL
595 WILLIE MAYS/HERB SCORE CL
614 BILLY MUFFETT
616 WILLIE MAYS     

Hockey post. '56 '57 Parkhurst Missing Link.

This set came out for the 1993/94 season. I must have bought and opened a box of it then. I vaguely remember doing so.

It's a cool set because it never actually existed. Upper Deck took on the Parkhurst name when Pro-Set went bankrupt, and this was the 1st of 3 retro sets that they released.

Anyways, I recently dug out the remnants of my collection, and there's this box marked 56 57 Parkhurst. In my head I think it's a set, and I think that I'll take the set to the local card shop and trade it for baseball related product. But, today when I finally look at the cards, I realize that nothing is sorted. Which means that I opened the box, stuck the cards away and never did anything about them.

It's an 18 year late box break! (well, sorta)

Well, talk about crappy collation.

Here's the breakdown:

180 card base set

24 packs, 10 cards per pack =

240 cards in box

113/180 towards the set.

67 cards still needed for set

59 different doubles =

123 total doubles

14 cards x4
7  cards x3
8  cards x2
30 cards x1


0 inserts.

No doubles between 43-109 (hardly any cards between those numbers).


EDIT - I just realized that I was shorted 4 cards in the box! 

I have more doubles than I have cards for the set!

One would logically think that when the box contains 240 cards, and the set contains 180, that you should reasonably expect to fill the set.

There are 15 cards in this set that I got QUINTUPLES of. That's just ridiculous.



One team Hall of Famers.

Night Owl (one of my favorite blogs) had a great post the other day, and at the end talked a bit about the perception of there not being as many players around these days that stayed with the same team.

I've always though that's a bit of a myth, and that the true one team player has always been somewhat rare. I mentioned in my comment that if someone was really bored they could go through the Hall of Fame list to see how many of them played for one team.

Well, I was bored today.

Of 295 Hall of Fame players (not including the Negro Leagues), only 46 spent their entire career with one team. 15.6%.

Lots of them spent the bulk of their career with one team, but a lot of players tried to hang on and spent one season, even one game (Christy Mathewson), with another team. A few, like Ryne Sandberg, started with one team, got traded early, and played the rest of their career for that team.

I'd say that at least as many who played for one team played for 4 or more teams.

6 of the 46 played in the more modern era, where they could have been affected by free agency. It's easy to assume that free agency would help cause the perception that players don't play for a single team any more. However, one part of the perception is that there are 30 teams, so a lot more trades happen then when there were only 16 teams.

So what about the players on the 2011 HOF ballot? Larkin, Bagwell, Edgar, Trammell, Mattingly. All single team plaeyers.  Bernie Williams and Tim Salmon hit the ballot next year. Craig Biggio in 2013. After that most of the top candidates have played for more than one team.

There's only one guarantee. If a Hall of Famer ever played for the Philadelphia A's under Connie Mack, he played for more than one team in his career.


Luke Appling SS AL
Ernie Banks SS/1B NL
Johnny Bench C NL
George Brett 3B AL
Roy Campanella C NL
Roberto Clemente OF NL
Earle Combs OF AL
Bill Dickey C AL
Joe DiMaggio OF AL
Bobby Doerr 2B AL
Don Drysdale P NL
Red Faber P AL
Bob Feller P AL
Whitey Ford P AL
Lou Gehrig 1B AL
Charlie Gehringer 2B AL
Tony Gwynn OF NL
Carl Hubbell P NL
Travis Jackson SS NL
Walter Johnson P AL
Addie Joss P AL
Al Kaline OF AL
Sandy Koufax P NL
Bob Lemon P AL
Ted Lyons P AL
Mickey Mantle OF AL
Bill Mazeroski 2B NL
Bid McPhee 2B NL
Stan Musial OF NL
Mel Ott OF NL
Jim Palmer P AL
Kirby Puckett OF AL
Pee Wee Reese SS NL
Jim Rice OF AL
Cal Ripken Jr SS AL
Phil Rizzuto SS AL
Brooks Robinson 3B AL
Jackie Robinson 2B NL
Mike Schmidt 3B NL
Willie Stargell 1B NL
Bill Terry 1B NL
Pie Traynor 3B NL
Ted Williams OF AL
Carl Yastrzemski OF AL
Ross Youngs OF NL
Robin Yount SS/OF AL



46 OF 295 = 15.6%




19 National Leaguers

27 American Leaguers




3 C

3 1B

5 2B

4 3B

7 SS

13 OF

11 P

Expos Best - Dennis Martinez. Custom card and Graffitti 'chase' card.