Orioles Signed Postcards circa 1988

Digging further through boxes of 'stuff' as I attempt to organize my shelves I came across these Orioles team-issued postcards. I got them signed on one of my last trips to Arlington Stadium. I'm guessing 1988 or '89. After that I was too busy with kidsand coaching to make the regular trips to watch the Birds.

Nothing spectacular here. I used to stay at the same hotel as the team which was just across the parking lot from the ball park. Even though I am not much into autographs I enjoyed getting cards signed there. Most of these were signed in the lobby or hotel restaurant, a few in the parking lot. I always asked the player to sign to me and for the most part they did.

Funny thing, I wouldn't dream of approaching a player for a signature like that now at my age.

The last time I collected an autograph 'in the wild' was at Nationals' Spring Training when Matt Williams and Tony Tarasco came over to talk to us in the team box seats. Oh, and I did flag down Dennis Martinez at Minute Maid Park.

RIP Frank Robinson

My scanner hates bright white borders. I had to bump and bruise these cards to get images.

It was in the parking lot there at Arlington Stadium that I heard Eddie Murray speak for the first time. I'd previously been convinced that he was mute.

More fun stuff from my 'vault' coming soon.

How I Spent My Sunday

Last Sunday on the way to a teachers convention I took a quick side-trip to see the Rangers play the Angels in Arlington. I had driven past the place a time or two but I had never been in it for a ball game. I'd been to dozens of games in the old but very fun Arlington Stadium years ago. It was 'Oklahoma State University Day' at Globe Life Ballpark. They gave the USU folks in attendance orange/black/white Rangers caps. They was weird because those are obviously the Orioles' colors. You can see a couple of OSU people in the top picture. I talked to a few who were sitting by me. I think you had to buy tickets through a special promotion to get a cap. We also talked about Stillwater. I was last there when I took one of my sons on a recruiting visit. I like the place a lot. My son didn't.

A couple of impressions of the ballpark:

1) It has been a few years since I sat in an outdoor ballpark on a Sunday afternoon to watch a game. Minute Maid Park has it's charms but even when the roof is open I never get that 'I'm sitting outside for baseball' feeling. I miss that and it was fun to do it again.

2) The 'back of the house' (concourses, concession areas) seemed narrow. They posted the crowd at 34,000+ but I think they were counting everyone twice. I think 20K would be a generous guess but even so the walkways were kind of crowded. It might have been because many of the concession stands were not open and everyone had to use those closer to the home plate stands. I visited two different Ranger merchandise shops and both here packed. I would have guessed it was because they were air-conditioned but people seemed to be buying stuff. Speaking of 'stuff', I kind of felt like I was the only person in the place not wearing Rangers gear. They sell a lot of caps and t-shirts. I guess it helps when you've been in a couple of World Series'.

3) It was hot. Very few places I've been are as hot as north Texas in July. I had a much better ticket than the above picture indicates but I went up to the top row of the upper deck which has the open area behind it and I was able to catch a nice breeze. That shot was taken about 30 minutes before the game. There were a lot of people inside but most were hanging out on the concourses to avoid the sun as long as possible.

Later on, about the third inning I moved out to right field, again going up to the top row. If you look at the rest of the stands you can see that about 75% of the crowd has taken to sitting in a shaded area.

4) And finally, the Angels are good. Really good. Mike Trout is really really good. But you knew that. I saw him play in Houston last year, from a seat right behind the dugout. He's good even when you watch him from 400 yards away! The Rangers hung in there but fell, 10-7. By the time it was over I was sitting in a cool Dallas bar watching the World Cup overtime periods having a cold beverage.

A couple more pics:

Is that a hotel out behind left-center? Offices? If that area was open there might be a better breeze through to place.

Since I was too far away for any good (or even crappy) action pics of the game I'll post a Texas Ranger related card group. OK, maybe just a Ted Williams card group, after all, Teddy Ballgame was their first manager.

1958 Topps All Star card. After '58 there were no more Ted Williams Topps cards for a long time. My copy is pretty worn obviously but sometimes you have to just buy what you can for the money you've got, right?

This is a Baseball Card News promo card from 1983. I loved that publication. 

And finally this is the StarCal Ted Williams Large decal. I don't own this. I only wish I did.

A Brooks Robinson Sunday Tribute

Two reasons for posting all these cards of my favorite baseball player. First of all today is Brooks Robinson's 77th birthday and, more importantly, I read a story on the Baltimore Sun website yesterday that talked about how his health is improving and how well he seems to be doing. That's really great news!

1957 Topps Brooks Robinson rookie card. Posted several times but it never gets old.

1963 Fleer BRobby. Great card from a fun set I loved discovering as a kid.

A Brooksie Upper Deck from some set or another.

A Donruss Brooks. These last two came to me last summer from CaptKirk42

A signed Perez Steele Great Moments

1961 Topps All Star card. Awesome card being awesome!

1960 Leaf. Brooks looking like a halo'd St. Brooks!

1993 Ted Williams set Brooks

Brooks and yours truly at the old Arlington Stadium circa 1982

And finally, the 'Original' Brooks Robinson and my son, also named Brooks Robinson at a show in the late 90s. 

Heeeeey...Get your Pink Thing.....Get your Pink Thing here!!

I used to make it up to the old Arlington Stadium a couple of times a year to catch the Orioles as they rolled through North Texas to play the Rangers. Those were fun trips. I had college friends who lived up there so I always had a place to stay if I wanted it and sometimes I scored free tickets (great seats, too). But usually I'd head up with John, a fellow Orioles fan/collector who I met at Houston card shops and became great friends with over the years. He had a black Pontiac Firebird and drove like a madman but somehow always avoided getting a ticket. Considering how many radar units would hang out on I-45 between Houston and Dallas that's nothing short of a miracle.

Games up there were always fun. I saw some of the most ominous storm clouds I can remember rolling across the skies over Arlington Stadium. I only recall a couple of rain-outs though. Behind home plate the screen extended straight up and it lacked the usual section that angles back over the top of the seats behind home plate. Foul balls hit straight back would frequently hit the wall behind those seats and ricochet down into them with tremendous velocity. Seasoned Arlington Stadium goers who sat behind the plate knew they had to instantly 'duck and cover' when a batter nicked one back over the screen. You knew the rookies. They were the ones who turned to see where the ball was going. Ouch!

You could take your own beer into the stadium in those round thermos jugs like this one:

A stop at 7-11 on the way to the ballpark for a couple of quarts of Miller High Life or Coors was always on the to-do list. One of the many unique things about Arlington Stadium was a frozen ice cream novelty that vendors sold in the seats which was called a 'Pink Thing'. I never got one but they were pretty popular. Turns out they were unique to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and mainly associated with the Six Flags Over Texas amusement park. That makes sense since Six Flags was literally next to the stadium.

We liked to get to the park early and hang out in the lot between the stadium and the nearby hotel which was where the Orioles (and other visiting clubs I suppose) stayed. Players would walk through the lot and were easy pickings for autograph hunters (of which John was one for sure). That's also the lot in which I heard Eddie Murray speak for the first time. Up until the moment he answered John's request for a signature with an "OK, but just one" I had been nearly convinced that he was a mute.

All of this is a long roundabout way of getting to the card I posted up top. That's a pink Jared Crick chromey, shiny-type Topps card. I collect pink cards, I'm a Texans season ticket holder and Nebraska is my son's school so the card was a nice pick-up.

Here's a picture of the Pink Thing ice cream 'treat' from the link above. And yes, that's exactly how I remember it. Looks pretty nasty.