Feliz Cumpleaños to El Presidente!

I normally don't pay attention to birthdays, mine, or almost anyone else outside those of my wife and kids. But this morning I saw a quick blurb on the Spanish language TV station that today was Dennis Martinez' big day. Since he's one of my very favorite players I thought I'd just put up some Martinez items I've posted in the past.

I feel a kinship with him for reasons I've mentioned in the past and 'meeting' him, however briefly, at Minute Maid Park a few years ago was special to me.

• 4-time All-Star (1990–1992, 1995)
• Twice Top 10 Cy Young Award (1981, 1991)
• Led league in wins (1981)
• Led league in ERA (1991)
• Led league in shutouts (1991)
• 6-time Top 10 in shutouts (1979, 1981, 1990, 1994–1996)
• Led league in games started, innings pitched and batters faced (1979)
• 9-time pitched 220 or more innings in a season (1978–1979, 1982, 1988–1993)
• Set record for most wins by a Latin American pitcher (244 – August 9, 1998)
• Pitched the 13th perfect game in baseball history (July 28, 1991) with the Montreal Expos

Member Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

Happy Birthday indeed, El Presidente!

The Ballad of Carl Mathias (or Chasing Rabbits Down Holes)

When I research players for my 1960 Topps blog I try to find something entertaining for the Off The Charts entry. Something besides his numbers or vitals usually pops up for every player. Frequently it comes from a player's SABR bio, a Wikipedia entry, or local stories that pop up on a Google search. I always find something.

But when I was looking at Carl Mathias' card and googled him I was disappointed. I went through several pages of search results and hadn't found any references to him at all outside of the normal stat pages (Baseball-Reference, etc) and mundane stuff from the 'off-brand', copycat wiki pages.

Then I found something that led me down an entertaining path. The official site of the AA-level Reading Fightin' Phils had a page for Mathias in their Baseballtown section. It stated that his nickname was Stubby. That was a fun fact but I figured I could find more. And I came across this:

Carl Mathias and the flip side of Boston’s biggest rally

Turned out to be a 2014 entry from a blog related to a book about the 100 greatest games in Boston sports history. The author had come across Mathias' name in connection with an improbable Red Sox win in June 1961. The game didn't make it into the book but the author was intrigued enough by Carl Mathias' story that he tracked him down and interviewed him. It's really fun.

Here's a taste of the backstory...

The Red Sox, as I noted in the book’s introduction, once rallied for eight runs with two down in the ninth for a 13–12 win over the Washington Senators. That game, in June 1961, didn’t make the cut. But a detail from that game became lodged in my mind. While cross-referencing various sources, I noticed that Carl Mathias, Washington’s starting pitcher, was still in the game when the Red Sox started their historic rally. Then I noticed Mathias’s lifetime record: 0–2.
In other words, the poor guy was on the mound at Fenway Park with a seven-run lead in the ninth inning, one out away from picking up his first win in the major leagues … and he never got it.

And it also tipped me to something I had looked at but hadn't fully processed…Mathias pitched 29 big league innings. and allowed five home runs. Not that big a deal until you know that three of them were hit by Mickey Mantle.

Here's Mathias' 1960 Topps card. It'll be posted on the 1960 set blog soon.

I also found a few other quirky things while researching in the past few weeks. And both were prompted by comments from Fuji. The first was a minor error. I was reading about Dan Dobbek and found that his Baseball Reference's Bullpen page stated that the Washington outfielder had been intentionally walked by the Red Sox three times in a game early in the 1060 season. Fuji's curiosity was peaked, and he found that it was two walks, not a record-tying feat after all. Not a big thing, but it did remind me that just because someone writes something on the internet doesn't make it true.

And finally, a quote from Cub's pitcher Art Ceccarelli in yesterday's post caught Fuji's eye. Ceccarelli was commenting on pitching in Wrigley Field and said "It wears pitchers down. The winds are unbelievable. Willie Kirkland once hit a home run off me that Ernie Banks called for at shortstop."

Fuji mentioned that he would have liked to see Kirkland's homer. So I thought, remembering the Dobbek deal, that I should find out if Willie Kirkland had ever homered of Ceccarelli in Wrigley. Sure enough, it happened on August 13, 1959. But the neat part of that game turned out to be that the Cubs beat the Giants, 20-9. It was 10-7 Cubs after four. There were eight homers in that game. Giants pitchers issued 13 walks, four to Ernie Banks (yes, he was at short so the Kirkland homer story is possible). Stu Miller walked five of the eleven guys he faced (the wind must have played hell on his knuckler) and Don Elston got a five-inning save. Getting a save in a 20-9 win is weird in itself.

Of course, none of this comes close to the high adventure of looking into the cartoon on the back of  Don Rudolph's 1959 card.

Dammit, I miss hockey!

In a normal year, we'd be near the end of the second round of the NHL playoffs right about now.  Things would really be getting good. I'm fairly certain my Rangers would have missed out on the post-season (give us a year though!) but that has never stopped me from enjoying the Stanley Cup trek. I watch hockey, especially playoff hockey, no matter who is involved.

I spent a few days late last year sorting and cataloging my Aeros cards and assorted ephemera. Being a fan of media guides and programs I dug through boxes to see what I had kept. I found that I had five of the six guides. I found the missing guide on eBay and it's on its way now. now in hand!

I also found that my Gordie Howe poster, which he had signed at a promotional event, was missing. Who knows where it went after all these years. So I sought out and grabbed this signed photo. Gordie was the Bob Feller of hockey. He signed relentlessly over the years. He was Mr. Hockey and is still the greatest player I've ever seen. The photo didn't scan very well but you'll have to trust me that it's a beauty.

1972 was the Aeros first season. A lot of my buddies at the University of Houston came from hockey hotbeds, and we hopped on the bandwagon early. One of our group worked in the fledgling ticket office, so we got plenty of passes.

These programs are kind of fragile and I don't want to flatten them on the scanner so all I can show is front covers and a few backs. I also snapped a few pics which I'll sprinkle in. The Aeros' story is an interesting one. They were supposed to be the Dayton Aeros but lack of a suitable arena sent their ownership on a hunt for a good home and luckily they landed here.

The guide is, as you might expect, not very thick, just a dozen pages or so. Front office & coaching staff listings and brief player bios. A roster in the centerfold. Not even a schedule.

The back of the cover has the logos of the original WHA teams.

One of the things that attracted us (or maybe just me) to the WHA was the fact that some old NHL players had gotten second leases on their careers. Old school favorites like Harry Howell and old school enemies like Teddy Green and Norm Ferguson were part of it. Not to mention Bobby Hull.

For their guide the Aeros had a bit more to work with in 73-74 since there was a season under everyone's belts. I'm a bit surprised that there is no mention of the previous (inaugural) season since it had been pretty successful The Aeros had finished second in their division and won the opening playoff round before losing in the semi-finals.

The cover did the obvious, trumpeting the arrival of the Howe family.

That's my friend, Mike, on the left in the middle row on this page.

I used my letter opener to hold the pages open for pics. Interestingly Gordie didn't get a full career stat rundown like everyone else. Maybe they were afraid of running out of ink, or space, or both.

It was certainly huge news here in Houston when he signed to come along with his two boys. There were a few lawsuits as I recall as well. I think the NHL was trying to block the younger Howes from playing. They were underage junior hockey players or some such thing.

But the Howes sparked the Aeros to the first of their back-to-back WHA titles. The 74-75 guide showed off the trophy, the AVCO World Cup. We are somewhere in that crowd. The clinching game is one I'll never forget as the Aeros kept getting power plays and kept converting. A crazy night.

Here's my AVCO Cup story as I posted years ago....

[...]WHA story... It occurred the day after the Aeros won their first AVCO Cup. A good friend who worked at a department store that had a tie-in with the team was headed into work when he spotted the AVCO Cup trophy sitting all by itself on the loading dock. Just sitting there apparently after being delivered by the team for a promo. No one was paying any attention to it as it sat just feet from the morning downtown workers hustling by. Hard to imagine the Stanley Cup in that spot.

This time Gordie got a write-up, bio/vitals, and all the stats.  This was the first really substantial guide they issued, probably due to their recent success. Players get full-page bios, there are all manner of stats, some game action pictures, and playoff summaries. Pinocchio, you're a real boy now!

Another title brought another artistic rendering of the Cup being skated. The Aeros had dominated the playoffs, winning twelve games with only a single loss that came in the first round (to Cleveland and Gerry Cheevers).

With the good times came a really professional media guide. Not only were there write-ups for everyone in the franchise but the stats were extensive. They had pages for opposing teams, on-ice officials rosters, tons of team records and stats for the Aeros, and more.

The Fighting Saints were the Aeros big rivals, at least as far as we were concerned. Of course, the WHA being the goofy, fly-by-night outfit they were most of the time, had a second Minnesota Fighting Saints franchise in 1976. That team had previously been the Cleveland Crusaders.

Here is another story I related in a previous post:

At the Coliseum the visiting team would have to walk a gauntlet of fans between periods and at games end, trudging on their skates up a rubber mat along a path formed by a couple pieces of rope to the locker-room. It passed right through the concession area. Fans would give the Fighting Saints (we had another 'F' word that we used instead of 'Fighting') a real going over. I'm surprised that none of us ever got clobbered with a stick or kicked with a skate.

No 'Cup skate' to show in 1976 since the Aeros had lost in the finals to Bobby Hull and the Winnipeg Jets. They used the same artist to put Gordie on the cover. By now the team had joined the Rockets in the shiny, new arena known as The Summit. The whole vibe of the games had changed. The Sam Houston Coliseum had been a dump, but it was OUR dump, and we missed it.

Gordie was now wearing two hats, President and Chief Thrower Of Elbows In The Corner.

The Aeros were still a good team but not as good as they had been and early exits in the playoffs kind of reflected what was happening off the ice. The merger talks had everyone on a roller coaster. We fully expected to get into the NHL...at first. But the team had changed hand a few times and I suspect the folks in charge of the Aeros as the WHA started coming apart were more focused on the Rockets.

It became a day-by-day thing with nobody knowing what was going to happen. I was at the Houston Post at the time and had become friends with a couple of the writers (one who had covered the team, been hired away by them, and then returned to the paper). They all thought the franchise was going to land on its feet. But when the music stopped the Aeros were the one without a chair. I think there was talk of buying an existing team and moving them here but that was a pipe dream.

This last media guide had a 'cheaper' feel to it. The pages had changed from the glossy paper to plain stock. There was less to crow about so it wasn't as thick. Plus Gordie and his boys had moved on to the Whalers.

We did get a cool pic of tough guy Terry Ruskowski and an oddly disheveled  Bobby Hull.

And then they were gone. The WHA played a final season without the Aeros as part of it. In the 90s the IHL/AHL Aeros were formed and played here for about a decade. They were a Minnesota Wild farm club at the end. I had kids by then, and they fell in love with the 'new' Aeros. I enjoyed them as well, heck, hockey is fun no matter what level you're watching, but nothing could ever compare with those days at the creaky, dank Coliseum.

Brooks Robinson Print

My friend Mike McKay sent along this super nice 8x10 art print of Brooks Robinson recently. He won it on eBay and sent it to me because, well, because that's the kind of guy he is. And I'm most appreciative.

The print is just begging for a signature. That's why I am holding off on putting it in one of my frames for the time being. Brooks was here in Houston at the TriStar show in February. I didn't want to stand in line for his autograph at the time but had I had something interesting to get signed I might have. I know Brooks gets lots of mail but I may send this along to him. He's getting up there and has had some health issues and I don't know how many more chances I'll have.

As an alternative plan, I have some other signed items that I could turn into a cut signature to mount with the print. I'll come up with something or other because I want to get this on my wall here in my office/hobby room.

If you're reading this Mike...thanks much. I hope your family is well. Stay smart and stay safe. That goes for everyone out there in the hobby blogosphere.

1986 Topps Football What's not to love?

When I take deep dives into sets I think about chasing I have a couple of go-to places for info and opinion. One of them is Sports Collectors Daily. They usually have posted a time or two about any set and you can rely on them to give you the pluses and minuses concisely. What cards go for a premium and why etc.

I think they missed the mark on this one. I love this set. The 'football field' effect of the borders is terrific. SCD had this to say: "Putting it bluntly, the cards aren’t all that beautiful. With the green borders and diagonal yard marker lines, it’s easy to see that Topps was duplicating a football field. The end result, though, just wasn’t all that easy to look at. In addition, the color borders also display the slightest flaws, making them more noticeable."

OK, so beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but in this case, I'm f'ing right and anyone who sez different is wrong. 😉😉😉 I mean look at these things. This Eric Dickerson card is fantastic.

And Jerry Rice (shown up top) got a classic rookie card.

I like the way Topps numbered this thing. It's by team with the Super Bowl champion Bears first. And each team is (with a couple of minor exceptions) put in position order...team card first, then quarterback, running backs, wideouts, tight ends, kickers and so on through the defensive guys beginning with linemen and ending with the punter.

Teams vary in a couple of ways. Some have a pair of quarterbacks and the number of players at other positions changes from one team to the next. When I bindered it a few months back I recall that there was at least one player who was put between players of a different position, a kicker was mixed in with the linemen I believe. Rather than being an error, I'd guess that came about due to Topps finding they had no useable photo for someone who had been penciled in, or possibly they couldn't get the player to sign or return their release.

I need to do some homework there. And some teams lacked a kicker and/or punter.

I'll just post a few of the cards that I like, either for the player or the card itself. The Payton card shows how All Pros were designated.

Mike Singletary was a beast. He played at Houston Worthing and the stories that circulated among high school coaches back then made it seem like he was Superman.

I used to go to a dentist who also had Billy Sims as a patient. He told me that Sims terribly afraid of getting dental work and once braced himself so hard in the chair that he broke the footrest.

Tommy Kramer, my first fantasy football stud. And one of the few guys I ever recall paying for a signature.

I wish the Broncos would go back to these colors/unis. The stuff they wear these days is crap.

When I hear the name 'Reggie White' I think of him looking like this. Unhappy and ready to take it out on a QB.

I guess it's worth mentioning that I did something different with this set. I bought it in one piece. I usually enjoy the chase almost as much as the cards but in this case, I wanted a consistent, high-quality set, and buying this one piecemeal seemed less than ideal. And I was very happy with the set when it arrived. Not a corner ding in the bunch. Looks super in the binder.

Joe Morris was a guy my father enjoyed watching play for his Giants. I've taken up the torch as a newly minted Giants fan, btw. But that's a story for another post.

The team cards had a Fleer-ish (is that a legit term?) quality to them. What I mean is that they remind me of the stuff Fleer put out when they had the NFL license but not one with NFLPA.

The one subset is Record Breakers and it kicks off the set. Eric Dickerson is the Warren Spahn of football cards...it's damn impossible to find a bad one of him.

One thing SCD mentioned has me in total agreement... the backs of these things are bad. Terrible color choice, barely readable text, space wasted with pointless artwork, stat box and number both angled and at different angles at that.

Just not good. They could have made the info/stat box horizontal, Put the NFLPA logo in the upper right, centered the player's name, and done the card number differently. But they didn't ask me.

Topps had an insert set in their '86 packs. They went with their 1,000 Yard Club cards as they did for several football sets in the 80s. I'm saving those for a future post. There is a cool Eric Dickerson card in that bunch that deserves the spotlight.

Filling holes in a binder

Yesterday I finally got around to taking the 1974 cards I had acquired from COMC and thru the generosity of a fellow blogger or two (Hi Fuji!!) and putting them in my binder. It struck me that after all this time I still don't know what I think of this set. Ask me today and I'll tell you how much I like it, how I dig the team colors being used, etc

Ask me tomorrow and I'm liable to hand you the binder and never miss it. That sort of parallels how I feel about these specific cards, all coming from Fuji. They are all 'game action' shots. All show the player prominently but have sort of odd angles where the player isn't facing the camera. The backgrounds of each of them is out-of-focus. Are they brilliant, offbeat, quirky, artsy?  Or do they suck?

I dunno, ask me tomorrow.

From The Sublime...

...to the ridiculous.

This is a two-sided David Klingler laminated drink coaster. It was a $1 buy at the last TriStar show. It's exactly what I went there to find.*   It sits next to my keyboard at the moment.

*=that's just bullshit.

Oh, I forgot to include this '67 in my last post. Helluva lot of talent here I'd say.