The Other Fernando Tatis

I am a big fan of Fernando Tatis, the former Cardinals third baseman.  Hard to believe that he has a kid in the Majors.  Saying Fernando Tatis Jr. makes me feel old.  

I remember the old days when Fernando Tatis cards just said, "Fernando Tatis" on them.  

Then one day, several years ago this card showed up in my collection.  

Notice the front of the card does not say Jr.. 

I was a little skeptical of the other Fernando Tatis at first.  I mean, the White Sox did trade him to the Padres for James Shields.  That's either not a ringing endorsement of the other Fernando Tatis, or someone in the White Sox front office does not know what they are doing.  

I think we have our answer. 

I really like the other Fernando Tatis.  He's a fun player to watch, and I have dabbled in his cards a bit over the last two years.  Plenty of base cards, but nothing much in the way of a bigger card.  I fixed that last week.  

I ended up with an Allen & Ginter autograph.  

Not the most expensive, not flashiest, or shiniest Fernando Tatis Jr. card out there.  However, I am happy that I was able to add this card to my collection.  Maybe a few more to come, as long as people do not go too crazy over his cards.  

A 1980s Card Part 40 - 1987 Mini League Leader Danny Cox

I am a big fan of mini cards.  Sometimes I feel like that they might be unrepresented in my 1980s Cardinals collection, until I actually spend a little time flipping through my collection.  There are plenty of Cardinals minis from the 1980s.  I especially like the League Leader sets that Topps put out during the second half of the decade. 

The front of the card has some similar design elements of the Topps base set.  Not exact, but close. 

The wood grain is there on this 1987 Topps Mini League Leaders card, but the inside of the wood frame is a completely different design.  I know a lot of people like the 1987 Topps, and consider it one of the great base set designs. 

It's not. 

Here is the regular Topps Danny Cox card. 

I like the front of the Minis better.  Both the design and the action photo.  

The back of the Mini League Leaders is also different than the base set.  The cards only focus on a single stat, and show where the player ranked in their league.  Danny Cox was a League Leader in complete games.  

Tied for fifth with 8.  I am pretty sure that 8 complete games in a season nowadays would lead the league by five or six complete games.  I wish that they gave the other league rankings on the back of the card in a similar fashion as the featured stat.  That's a pretty big space.  Topps couldn't fit another bullet point in there with a "ERA #6 2.90"?  I think it would look a little nicer.  Still, a good card though.  I need to pull out my Jose DeLeon League Leaders card next week. 

The Normally Scheduled Post Has Been Cancelled

Monday post are always about a 1980s Cardinals card.  There are plenty of 1980s Cardinals cards still left to write about. However, while we all have a little extra time at home, I am using my card time to do some sorting, appreciate some of the cards that I have not looked at in a long time, and fill in a few holes in the collection.

Today, I thought I would cover a little long running side project that I have been working on the last few years that I was able to move forward recently.  I dabble in basketball cards.  I post some here and there, and in celebration of the Blues winning the Stanley Cup last June, I posted my 1961 Fleer St. Louis Hawks cards.  The connection being that the city of St. Louis had a team win a championship in the other three sports leagues prior to the Blues winning last season.  Many people forget that the Hawks were in St. Louis, and that they won an NBA Championship while they were there.

I have most of the St. Louis Hawks 1961 Fleer set, I am just working on the last few cards.  In the last weeks I found two of the missing cards that were in my price range, so I added both.

First up, a card of Len Wilkins, or Lenny Wilkins.

I am not sure if this is a rookie card, but he was drafted out of Providence College in 1960.  Seemed like a good player, but I don't know too much about his play on the court.  I just remember him coaching the Cavaliers and Hawks for a really long time.

Love the colors on these cards with the black and white player photos.  Really pops.  Love that Hawks logo too.  Almost looks like a volleyball, or something besides a basketball in the hawks talons.

My second new Hawks card.

I know that many people who collect this set like the base cards much better than the action shot subset.  They are kind of an after thought, but I like this card of Cliff Hagan.  I wish I knew more basketball players from the 1960s, and could figure out everyone who is in this picture.  Jerry West in the background perhaps? Anyway, I know that Hagan was a really good player around this time, multiple All-Star games, and ended up in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

One more Hawks card to find.

Baseball Card Cover Songs Part #1

I have spent a lot of time during my "work day" listening to music lately.  My wife and I are still fortunate enough to have jobs, but we are also teaching a third grader and pre-schooler while we are working.  The house is busy, and the music helps me drown out all the background noise while I am doing whatever it is that I have to do for the day.

My two sources of music are the music I have burned off of CDs into my ITunes account, as well as all of the songs and albums that I have purchased over the years from the ITunes store.  I also have found some really good playlists on YouTube.

One of the surprising finds along the way is a set of covers by Radiohead performing songs that you probably wouldn't put in their genre of music.  Glenn Campbell?  Not half bad.  Carly Simon? They pull that off too.  Probably my favorite are their covers of The Smiths.

The unfortunate part of listening to music on YouTube is that the second you pick out one song, they start recommending all sorts of different things they think you should be listening to while you are visiting their website.  Since I listened to all of those cover songs by Radiohead, I get all sorts of other cover songs in my feed.  

Like this one, don't listen for long.  

I don't actually mind Weezer, Pinkerton is really under appreciated, but this is not even close to as good as the original.  This is one of my favorite 1980s songs, but this is just something that I cannot listen to from start to finish.  

Which brings me to some baseball cards.  If you could go back and redo the way an old baseball card looks, what would you do?  Topps has been doing something along these lines with their Project 2020, which is taking 20 different rookie cards and having artists remake them in their vision.  Sort of like musicians redoing other musicians music.

Unfortunately, the cards are a direct buy from Topps.  

We all know I don't usually buy from them after they mangled my Aledmys Diaz rookie card a few years back, and they figuratively shrugged their shoulders.  It's been a few years, but I have not forgotten.  

So, the Project 2020 cards come in a case.  How bad can they mess them up?  I rolled the dice.  

They even used bubble wrap this time, along with a protective cardboard box.  The shipping department at Topps is stepping up their game.  

The packaging is actually really nice.  

I have ended up with two of these cards.  I am going to share one card in this post, and the other in a second post.  I am likely stopping there.  The first card I bought is a recreation of the 1959 Topps Bob Gibson rookie card.  It is one iconic Cardinals card that has alluded me over the years.  Here's what the original looks like.....

Obviously not mine.  Thanks internet.  

Here is the "cover" version.  

Obviously I like this card, or I would not have spent money on buying it.  Good 1950s vibe to it, and I like that the artist kept the pink coloring around the picture of Gibson.  I wish the picture of Gibson were slightly larger, but the design makes up for that minor detail.  

The back of the card.....

A quick description of the Project 2020 cards, and an artist bio.  The artist's name is Grotesk.  I am speechless.  I like the old fashioned Cardinals logo down in the bottom right hand corner.  Another Project 2020 card later in the week.  

The Super Utility Team Part 2

It's been a few days, back to some former Durham Bulls players. 

The last time I shared a card of a Durham Bulls player, it was an Inception card of Michael Brosseau, one of the current Rays players who seems to play everywhere on the field.  Really nice card too. 

Which brings me to another newer card in my collection.  I think I might have picked this up our first week at home.  A little bigger name than Brosseau.  Here is the card which is from this year's Topps Heritage set.  Love the black borders. 

I saw Brendan McKay while he was in college with Louisville, and again with the USA National College team a few summers back.  I am not sure if he is going to hit enough to stick in the Majors as a DH, but he's certainly talented enough as a pitcher.  For the moment, I just think it's neat to see the old "pitcher-dh" label on his baseball cards.  

I also like that McKay squeezed his signature into the lone light colored space on the card.  He's always had a small autograph, this card would stink he used that blue pen over a dark blue Rays uniform.  

A 1980s Card Part 39 -1988 Donruss Lance Johnson

Another week, another cool set of Donruss cards.  Last week, I gave this space to a Diamond Kings card of George Hendrick, this week I am going to spend a little time looking at the Rated Rookie cards.  The Cardinals did not get one in the first few Donruss sets, but starting in 1986 with Todd Worrell, they had a good run of players into the early 1990s.  I decided to pick one that flies under the radar a bit for my post this week. 

If you watched baseball in the 1990s, I am sure you ran across Lance Johnson with the White Sox, Cubs, or Mets.  He also briefly played for the Yankees at the end of his career.  I am not sure many people would remember him playing for the Cardinals, although he does seem like the type of player who would fit on their 1980s teams.  Speedy base runner, good defender.  He made his Major League debut in 1987, and the Cardinals actually used him as a pinch runner during the playoffs in the NLCS and the World Series. 

Our friend over at Courtside Tweets actually has a short video clip of Lance Johnson getting a hit in a Cardinals uniform. 

  

Johnson got traded to the White Sox in the middle of Spring Training in 1988 in exchange for pitcher Jose DeLeon.  The Cardinals played an outfield of Vince Coleman, Willie McGee, and Tom Brunansky that season, so Lance Johnson was blocked.  Although, Brunansky was an early in season trade.  

Back of the card.  

Lance did not do much with during his brief stint with the Cardinals, but he was a really good player in their Minor League system.  The numbers at the bottom of the card are pretty impressive.  

Weekend Countdown: Cardinals Diamond Kings Cards

Here are my rules and a little housekeeping for my Weekend Countdown on the Cardinals Diamond Kings:

• I am using the Donruss Diamond Kings insert cards from 1982 through 1998, and also the 2001 through 2005 cards.  I am not using any Diamond King cards since Panini brought the brand back a few years back.  Nothing from the past decade.  

• During the late 1990s, Donruss did not make a Diamond Kings card for every team.  There was not a Cardinals Diamond Kings card in 1998, 1999, or 2003.  

• Donruss made multiple Cardinals Diamond Kings cards in 2003, 2004, and 2005.  They are all ranked.  

• Two cards are from spin-off Diamond King insert sets that were in packs of Donruss card, but no cards from the card 2000s stand alone product of Donruss Diamond Kings.  

• Ranking of the card is based on two factors.  The art on the card is the first and greatest factor, but also worthiness to be on a card.  

• Lastly, I did not own a copy of the 1995 Diamond Kings card of Gregg Jefferies, but I am borrowing a picture from the internet and using it for the countdown.  

Don't hate me for the ending of this countdown.  

23. 2002 Donruss Diamond Kings Albert Pujols 

Pluses- It's Albert Pujols.  

Deltas- I do not like the art.  That does not look like Albert Pujols.  Is the artist named Tang? Looks like the artist transported Ryan Klesko's fu manchu onto Albert.  

22. 1995 Donruss Diamond Kings Gregg Jefferies 

Pluses- Gregg Jefferies hit .325 in 1994. 

Deltas- Does Gregg Jefferies have facial hair on this card?  What's with the shadows on his face? Why is he yellow and orange?  Is he jaundiced?   If my children asked me what stuff looked like in the 1990s, I would show them this card.  

21. 2001 Donruss Diamond Kings Mark McGwire 

Pluses- That expression McGwire is making on the card is well done.  He did that all the time.  

Deltas- His hair is the wrong color.  Not sure it was ever that long in St. Louis either.  Jim Edmonds hit 42 home runs in 2000, won a Gold Glove, and finished 4th in the MVP voting.  Rick Ankiel almost struck out 200 batters, and he was 20 years old.  McGwire played half a season.  Not very deserving at all.  

20. 2005 Donruss Diamond Kings Albert Pujols 

Pluses- It's Albert Pujols 

Deltas- He does not really look like Albert Pujols.  I see a little bit of Randy Winn in there.  

19. 2005 Donruss Diamond Kings Scott Rolen 

Pluses- It's Scott Rolen 

Deltas- It kind of looks like Scott Rolen with a lot of neck rolls.   

18. 1993 Donruss Diamond Kings Bob Tewksbury 

Pluses- Bob Tewksbury walked 20 batter in 233 innings in 1992.  That's pretty incredible.  

Deltas- This art work looks like a cross between Bob Tewksbury and Vincent Di'Nofrio.  

17. 2004 Donruss Diamond Kings Scott Rolen 

Pluses- It's Scott Rolen, and he was good at baseball.  

Deltas- Fred Durst or Scott Rolen?  

16. 1991 Donruss Diamond Kings Pedro Guerrero 

Pluses - He deserved a Diamond Kings card before this one. 

Deltas- This does not look like Pedro Guerrero.  I guess maybe the hair is close.  I really hate the border design of 1991 Donruss.  Some designer was sitting on their Mac II Paint program thinking about how many different designs they could throw onto a card.  A yellow stripe, light blue stripe, another yellow stripe, on of the tire tread looking things......

 

15. 1984 Donruss Diamond Kings Bruce Sutter 

Pluses - This is some pretty decent artwork here.  Lots of good detail on the uniform and the Bruce Sutter himself.  

Deltas- This is the most undeserving Diamond King card of a Cardinals player ever made.  Sutter is a Hall of Famer, and was a great closer during his time as a Cardinal, except not in 1983.  He was terrible.  Negative WAR terrible.  The 1983 Cardinals weren't great, but there are were at least four offensive players who had good years, and Ozzie apparently caught everything that was hit on the left side of the infield.  

14. 2004 Donruss Diamond Kings Albert Pujols 

Pluses- It's Albert Pujols 

Deltas- Can someone please draw or paint a decent picture of Albert Pujols?  He's one of the best players of his generation, he had several Diamond King cards, and this is the best an artist could do?  This is better than the rest, but it pains me to put the last Albert card this low on the countdown, because he's better than every player on here, save for one.  

13. 1985 Donruss Diamond Kings Joaquin Andujar 

Plus- Joaquin was a good pitcher for the Cardinals, and a character of the game during the 1980s.  I like the smaller action photo on this card that shows his windup.  Feel like the artist did a good job of capturing his leg kick.  

Deltas- I don't love the portrait photo of Joaquin.  His face is way too round.  

12. 1990 Donruss Diamond Kings Joe Magrane 

Pluses- I have written several times about Joe Magrane on this blog.  If there was ever a Cardinals player who could have had a better career, but was absolutely let down by his teammates, it's Joe Magrane.  In 1988, he won the National League ERA crown, and had only 5 wins for the season.  How do you have an ERA of basically 2 flat, and only win 5 games?   The next season, he had 18 wins in August.  He ended the season with 18 wins.  The last two starts Magrane made in 1989, he gave up 1 run combined, and walked away with an 0-1 record in those games. He deserved a Diamond Kings card in the worst way.  

Deltas- I cannot stand the background on this card, and I don't love Magrane's larger picture either.  I don't remember him wearing his hat like that.  It looks like a rarity based on an image search on Google.  

11. 1988 Donruss Diamond Kings Jack Clark 

Pluses- The artwork looks like Jack Clark, and his 1987 season was certainly deserving of having a Diamond Kings card.  

Deltas- Are those rainbows in the background?  Not sure if that's a good look for a Jack Clark card. 

10. 1989 Donruss Diamond Kings Vince Coleman 

Pluses- I like the large portrait of Coleman, but the little art drawing/painting looks off somehow.  I cannot quite put my finger on it.  The double ear flap batting helmet on Coleman is a good start, but the body does not quite look right.  

Deltas- The background is so busy.  Paint the background a solid color, and I am putting this card higher on the list.  

9. 1996 Donruss Diamond Kings Brian Jordan 

Pluses- Brian Jordan was a good player on an otherwise terrible 1995 Cardinals team.  They were the second worst team in the Majors that year.  I like the change up from the earlier Diamond Kings cards with the dark background behind the player, and the pattern around the outside of the card.  

Deltas- Ray Lankford was a better player on an otherwise terrible 1995 Cardinals team.  I am not going to turn this into a rant about how too few people appreciated Ray Lankford because he played on really bad teams.  Brian Jordan's hat looks a little too big.  

8. 1994 Donruss Diamond Kings Gregg Jefferies 

Pluses- Gregg Jefferies hit .340 something in 1993, and slammed a lot of batting helmets into the astroturf at Busch.  I suspect he had more than one that season.  I like the blend of colors, and I like the picture of Jefferies wearing the blue Cardinals helmet.  The Cardinals have worn the blue hats/helmets since 1992, but they only appear on three Diamond Kings cards.  

Deltas- There are three different fonts on card.  

7. 2002 Donruss All-Time Diamond Kings Stan Musial 

Pluses- This is one of two Diamond King insert spin offs in the countdown. I originally had this card lower, there is an element here that really bothers me, but that's for the deltas.  I got over it, and starting focusing on the painting of Musial.  I really like the art work on this card.  Clearly a young Stan, and while the art work is done in sepia tones, you can see a lot of good detail work on the picture.  The hat looks right, the hands on the bat and the way Musial is holding it look spot on, and the uniform all has all the little details that go with the 1940s Cardinals.  

Deltas- That All-Time Diamond Kings logo at the bottom of the card feels clunky, and it's covering up the artwork.  That's what bothered me about this card.  Simple brown border, and this would be in my Top 5 easily.  

A quick break.  The last six cards are all excellent in my opinion, and I spent a lot of time ordering and rearranging the cards.  I think there could be an argument for any of these cards to be the best on this countdown.  There is so very little wrong with each of them, and a lot that the artist got right.  

6. 1997 Donruss Rookie Diamond Kings Dmitri Young 

Pluses- I love this picture.  If I were ranking the cards solely on the accuracy of art work, this would probably be in my top 2 or 3 cards.  Great painting of a young Dmitri Young.  It's also one of the few Diamond Kings cards with a Cardinals player wearing a blue hat. 

Now, for those wondering if I should have dropped Dmitri down lower for not being deserving, this is a prospect based Diamond King insert in the 1997 Donruss set.  He was a high draft pick, and a highly regarded prospect.  Baseball America had him in the Top 50 the entire time he was in the Minors.  Dmitri turned into a solid player, even if it didn't happen for the Cardinals.  Definitely deserved a spot in this type of set.  

Deltas- They put the Donruss stamp in the middle of his hat.  

5. 1983 Donruss Diamond Kings Keith Hernandez 

Pluses- Hernandez was an important player on the 1982 World Series team and deserved a spot on a Diamond Kings card.  I think the art work on this card is generally very good.  The large portrait of Hernandez looks good, and the smaller picture of him batting looks excellent as well.  It's hard to notice, but I like that the artist put his uniform number on his sleeve.  The Cardinals wore uniforms like that during the late 1970s and early 1980s, not necessarily accurate for the 1982 Cardinals, but a small detail that I like anyway.  

Deltas- The STL on his batting helmet is off.  Should have a blue trim line around the letters.  That's all I've got.  

4. 1987 Donruss Diamond Kings Ozzie Smith 

Pluses- I love the art work here, especially the little picture.  If you ever go watch old videos of Ozzie fielding ground balls, this is a really accurate piece of artwork.  I also like the design of the 1987 Donruss cards.  I know that there is nothing that the artist can do about the border of the cards, but the black borders and grey and yellow baseball design in one of Donruss' better efforts during the second half of the decade.  

Deltas- The background is still a little busy, better than the Coleman and Magrane card.  Not as simple as some of the early 1980s cards though.  I do at least like the color scheme on the background with the different hues of blue, orange, and the edging from the Utah Jazz uniforms running across the middle.  

3. 1986 Donruss Diamond Kings Willie McGee 

Pluses- It's Willie McGee and it looks a lot like Willie McGee.  I like the large picture with the powder blue Cardinals uniform.  In the mid 1980s, Willie McGee actually used to write all on the underside of his hat brim, would have been cool to see that included in the art work.  There are lots of other small details though that the artist nailed in the small picture.  I like that his pants are a little high, McGee wore them that way.  I also love that he is only wearing one batting glove, which was a long running McGee quirk.  I believe it was only on his bottom hand.  The 1986 Donruss borders are also one of their better efforts.  

Deltas- I don't love the purple in the background, but it does not ruin the card by any stretch.  

2. 1982 Donruss Diamond Kings George Hendrick 

I already wrote about this card last week.  Great card.  

1. 1992 Donruss Diamond Kings Felix Jose 

Pluses- I wish that Donruss had gone with this design for the cards a longer period of time.  Clearly the formula for these cards changed in the early 1990s, but this was where they should have stopped.  Simple background, no crazy color combinations or weird designs, there are not three different fonts on the card, and a good painting of a player.  This is a really accurate painting of Jose too, with good details around the uniform and hat.  Even the facial hair with the mustache and beard stubble fits with pictures of him on the Cardinals.  

Was Felix Jose deserving of a Diamond Kings card?  I think the 1990s were generally a dark era for the Cardinals, but some of the players don't look as bad in retrospect.  Felix had some quirks, like he sat by himself away from other players in the dugout, but he was better than most people remember.  I think Cardinals fans sometimes got hung up on the fact that he looked like someone who should be hitting 40 home runs, but hit 40 doubles instead. 

He was offensively the best player on the 1991 Cardinals.  Better than Ray Lankford, Ozzie Smith, Todd Zeile, and Pedro Guerrero.

Deltas- I guess they could have made one of Milt Thompson.  He's was really good as a part time player.  

The Super Utility Team Part 1

Have you watched a Rays game in the last few years?  Is it just me, or is the team filled with utility players?  The answer is yes, they are everywhere on their roster.  Two weeks ago I posted a bunch of cards of players from last year's Durham Bulls team.  I know a lot of people do not necessarily follow the Minors outside of the big name prospects, so I gave a little blurb about each of the players.  

They sounded pretty ordinary.  

Like for Nick Solak...... 

I wrote that I saw him play in college, he went to Louisville, and that he was traded to the Texas Rangers.  What I did not mention was that Nick Solak played four different positions while he was in Durham last year. Seems to be a common practice with the Rays these days with the Minor and Major Leaguers.  Teams are using more relievers and have shorter benches, so who can blame them for getting players time at different places on the diamond while they are in the Minors.  

I decided to single out a couple of my recent trades and purchases for their own posts highlighting all of the utility players that appeared in Durham last year.  It was like watching a team of Jose Oquendo's, only it's less surprising when they hit a home run.  

Up first for my utility players is Michael Brosseau, who played every infield position and left field for the Durham Bulls.  He also played 51 games in Tampa where he played every infield position, left and right field, and he pitched in three games. Sure, all the pitching appearances were in lopsided losses, but he's got an ERA of 4.50, so he's better than Brett Cecil.  

This is a good looking card.  

I got this off of Ebay.  It's out of this year's Inception set.  I always like this product, but usually have to wait a few weeks to buy the cards.  I understand that people spend a lot of money to buy boxes of Inception, but I am not spending $40 on a card of Michael Brosseau.  

Yes, I really like him as a player.  Just not $40 worth of appreciation.  

Brosseau was signed out of Oakland University, the one outside of Detroit, as an undrafted free agent.  I am not sure that I have ever really seen him mentioned on any prospect lists, so he does not have many baseball cards before this year.  Since the 2020 releases have started to come out, Brosseau has appeared in the base Topps set, Heritage, and Inception.  Looking forward to finding more of his cards.  

A 1980s Card Part 38 - 1982 Donruss Diamond Kings George Hendrick

I am making a weekly post about the 1980s Cardinals cards in my collection, and I have made it almost a year without once writing about a Diamond Kings card?  My bad.  I definitely need to improve the ratio a bit while I have some time at home.  A Diamond King heavy post is coming this weekend, but until then I have this George Hendrick card to offer you. 

Let's get a little housekeeping out of the way in regards to my copy.  It's horribly off-center.  Let's move on to some other aspects of the card. 

The best thing about this card is the fact that Dick Perez, the artist of the Diamond King series, made the picture of Hendrick wearing a jacket underneath his uniform.  George was a big fan of the red satin Cardinals jackets.  Take out your George Hendrick cards, flip through them, and there are more cards with Hendrick wearing a red jacket than those without one. 

His base card in the 1982 Donruss set?  Red jacket. 

Newer cards? Red jacket.  

Older Cards?  Red jacket. 

Game cards?  Red jacket. 

All-Star cards?  Red jacket.  

Most people who watched baseball in the 1980s probably remember George best for wearing his pants all the way down to the tops of his shoes.  That was sort of his trademark fashion statement at the time.  Here he is in the 1982 World Series, barely any sock showing in this picture.  

A rarity in those days.  The pants and socks on Hendrick are my one criticism of Perez's artwork for this Hendrick card.  Clearly too much sock in the picture.  Blown up a little bit below.  

The back of the card is typical of the Diamond Kings, which usually featured a blurb about the player rather than any sort of stats.  The back is off-center to match the front. 

Nice little run down on George Hendrick.  I thought those home run and RBI numbers looked a little low at first, but I remembered that the 1981 season was shortened due to a strike.  So, 18 home runs and 61 RBIs in just 100 games is actually a pretty good clip.  In fact, Hendrick was in the top 10 in both categories in the National League.  

Good song from 1982?  

Duran Duran.