Something Different

Roughly 95% of the posts on this blog are about Durham Bulls or Cardinals players. That might actually be a touch low. 

Anyway, in an attempt to branch out, I have decided that there are other good players on other teams. Some of those good players have baseball cards and some of those cards might look nice in my collection.  

Enter Luis Arraez.

He is hitting .400. That's really all he is doing. Beyond the .400 average, Arraez has hit1 home run and stolen 1 base. So, not much power and not much speed, just hits.  

I recently bought one of his autographs, which came from last year's Gypsy Queen set.   

I have no idea what Topps has done with the design of this product in recent years. The important thing is that it's an on-card autograph.  

It would be cool to see someone hit .400 and Arraez seems to have a chance.  

Go team.  

Stadium. Stadium Club.

Stadium. 

I spent my Saturday afternoon watching the Durham Bulls and Norfolk Tides.  It had been a few weeks since I last attended a baseball game in-person.  The Bulls are in first place at the moment and had a chance to clinch their division this weekend, which is still possible.  The weather was a little warm, but still a nice day to take in a baseball game.  

I also got to check out Orioles catching prospect Adley Rutschman, who is the top overall prospect in all of baseball.  I saw him a few years back while he was playing at Oregon State and appeared for the USA Baseball team during the summer.  

A few pictures of Adley warming up before the game.  

Adley spent most of the time working with some Orioles coach who is wearing the black and orange wind breaker in this picture.  He needs a little bit of work on defense.  

He didn't get a hit during the game.  

The Bulls ended up losing the game 3-1.  Their lone run came on a home run by Alika Williams who was called up to the team from A Ball before the game.   Pretty good shot.  

2020 @RaysBaseball CBA pick Alika Williams clears the Blue Monster in his Triple-A debut for the @DurhamBulls. pic.twitter.com/IhmuXAN0YK

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) September 12, 2021

Stadium Club. 

Beyond going to the game, I also picked up three Stadium Club autographs earlier in the week.  They have been sitting on my desk for the past few days.  Really not that bad considering there a couple that have been there for multiple weeks.  These were easy to scan and post, so that's what won out today.  

First up is Ryan Jeffers.  

I saw Jeffers earlier this summer at a Tigers game.  He's from Raleigh and went to UNC-Wilmington for college.  I never saw him play in college, nor in the Minors.  I just know several local people who follow his career, seems like he might be a solid player.  The card was also really inexpensive.  

Next.  

I try to avoid Brewers cards, but Devin Williams is pretty awesome.  He's also from St. Louis.  It would be more fun to watch him if he was on the Cardinals, but they probably would have found a way to mess him up.  

Last card, which has a scratched up top-loader.  

Easily my favorite card out of the group.  I just wish it was a Cardinals card.  Topps has made a bunch of different Scott Rolen cards this year, but it feels like almost all of them are Phillies cards. 

A Giant Project: Update #4

I have slowed down a bit this month with my 1964 Topps Giants project.  I am nearing the half way point with the set, but still need a few more cards to get there.  This past week, I managed to track down two more cards for my set.  One Hall of Famer, the other would be considered a great player of the era. 

The Hall of Famer is up first.  

The small cost of these cards amazes me, but I was surprised to land a clean card of Harmon Killebrew from the prime of his career for less than $5.  It's not Billy Ripken, but the number 29 caught my attention when I saw this card.  Killebrew wore 3 with the Twins.  After digging into the 1963 Minnesota Twins roster, this bat likely belongs to long-time Reds outfielder Wally Post, who ended his career with the Twins.  

The write-up on this back of this card is actually incorrect.  In 1963, Killebrew did win his second consecutive home run crown, but it was his third overall.  He led the American League in home runs during the 1959 season, but missed out in 1960 and 1961 to Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris.  Killebrew won the home run crowns in 1962 and 1963.  Unless, they are not counting the 1959, because he tied with Rocky Colavito.  

Last card.  

I always think of Frank Howard as a Washington Senator.  It's easy to forget about him on the Dodgers during the first half of the 1960s.  Those teams had so much pitching, but Frank Howard was the Dodgers  best offensive player.  He won the 1960 National League Rookie of the Year and hit more than 20 home runs in every full season he played with the Dodgers.  That does not sound that impressive, but the National League was loaded with pitching at this point in time.  

The back of this card is another where half of the space is spent on his Minor League career, but I still found it interesting.  The fact that Howard was in the Minors for a season, hit .333 with almost 40 home runs, and the Dodgers let him play a whole season there would never happen today.  Topps mentions the high batting averages in his second season, but he got up to 43 home runs.  Crazy to think about those sorts of numbers in a single Minor League stop these days.  

Updated checklist.  21 out of the 60 cards.  

1 Gary Peters
2 Ken Johnson
3 Sandy Koufax SP
4 Bob Bailey
5 Milt Pappas
6 Ron Hunt
7 Whitey Ford
8 Roy McMillan
9 Rocky Colavito
10 Jim Bunning
11 Roberto Clemente
12 Al Kaline
13 Nellie Fox
14 Tony Gonzalez
15 Jim Gentile
16 Dean Chance
17 Dick Ellsworth
18 Jim Fregosi
19 Dick Groat
20 Chuck Hinton
21 Elston Howard
22 Dick Farrell
23 Albie Pearson
24 Frank Howard
25 Mickey Mantle
26 Joe Torre
27 Ed Brinkman
28 Bob Friend SP
29 Frank Robinson
30 Bill Freehan
31 Warren Spahn
32 Camilo Pascual
33 Pete Ward
34 Jim Maloney
35 Dave Wickersham
36 Johnny Callison
37 Juan Marichal
38 Harmon Killebrew
39 Luis Aparicio
40 Dick Radatz
41 Bob Gibson
42 Dick Stuart SP
43 Tommy Davis
44 Tony Oliva
45 Wayne Causey SP
46 Max Alvis
47 Galen Cisco SP
48 Carl Yastrzemski
49 Hank Aaron
50 Brooks Robinson
51 Willie Mays SP
52 Billy Williams
53 Juan Pizarro
54 Leon Wagner
55 Orlando Cepeda
56 Vada Pinson
57 Ken Boyer
58 Ron Santo
59 Johnny Romano
60 Bill Skowron SP

Upper Management Type

It's truly amazing how many former Durham Bulls players and managers have gone on to work as a managers in the Major Leagues.  Last season, there were two former managers, Charlie Montoyo and Brian Snitker, along with two former players, Kevin Cash and Rocco Baldelli, who were all managers with Major League teams.  All four led their teams to the playoffs.  

This is not a new trend with the Durham Bulls.  

Just in the past week, I have posted cards of Doug Rader and Mayo Smith.  Both were Durham Bulls players and both had stints working as managers in the Majors.  For today, I am going to focus on a different player/manager, spending a little time on Gene Mauch.  I have picked up a few cards of this well-known manager over the past few weeks.  

Mauch played with the Durham Bulls in 1943 as a 17 year old infielder.  He would play in the Majors for 9 seasons with the Dodgers, Cubs, Braves, Cardinals, and Red Sox.  He was a light hitting utility player, who only once played in more than 70 games in a season.  

Mauch has a few cards as a player.  

I haven't been too successful with collecting his player cards.  This 1957 Topps might be about it.  Really, we are here today for his manager cards.  So, these are the latest additions to my collection: 

Mauch's first managerial job in the Majors was with the Phillies starting in 1960.  He took over a perennial loser and turned them into a winning team.  It just took a few years.  In 1961, the Phillies lost 107 games, which included a 23 games losing streak.  Mauch has this sort of dubious reputation as a manager in some circles.  The long losing streak in 1961 is apart of that reputation.  

The back of the card has his player stats, with his managerial stats squeezed onto the bottom.  

I thought it was interesting that his Minor League managing record was included here.  

Next up is Mauch's burlap sack card from the 1968 Topps set.  

This was Mauch's final season with the Phillies.  In fact, he did not make it the whole season.  The team fired him after a 28-27 start to the season.  In learning more about Mauch in recent years, it somewhat surprises me that he last another three and a half years after the 1964 collapse.  I am not going to rehash the last two weeks of the season, but he made a few mistakes.  At the same time, his six winning seasons with the Phillies during the 1960s were one more than the team had during the 1950s, 1940s, 1930s, and 1920s combined.  

The first three quarters of the 20th Century were not kind to the Phillies.  Mauch was the team's winningest manager until Charlie Manuel passed him 2011.  

The back of this card actually mentions that he played for the Durham Bulls in 1943.  

Next.  

A pair of Expos cards.  I already have a few Mauch Expos cards from the fake pizza franchise promotional set I worked on last year.  Still a little upset that there is not really a La Pizza Royale restaurant in Canada.  

If I ever flee to Canada to start a pizza place, that's going to be the name of the restaurant.  Still really cool cards.  Yes, I still have them.

These are not fake.  

First up is Mauch's 1970 Topps card.  He was in the 1969 Topps set as the Expos manager, so this is his second as their manager.  It looks like Mauch is signaling for a new pitcher, but given that he was managing an expansion team, it is just as likely that he was hailing a beer vendor.  

The back of the card is slightly off-center.  

 I like the manager's cards where Topps went with the managerial records much more than the player records.  I also like that they included his Minor League experience as a manager, which was a surprising feature on the 1961 Topps towards the top of the post.  Topps also makes mention of his Minor League playing career at the top of this card, but nothing specific about the Durham Bulls. 

Love the design on the 1972 Topps cards.  Mauch was 47 when this card was made, but managing the Phillies and expansion Expos aged him horribly.  There is also something not quite right about the front of his jersey in this picture.  It looks like Topps airbrushed it, but I am not sure why they would do such a thing.  

Back of the card has a cool fun fact about catchers and foul pop outs.  

Last card for this post.  

I like these 1978 Topps cards with the player and manager picture on the front of the card.  Currently, there are a ton of catchers who are managing teams.  They have slowly taken over from utility and bench players who were frequently managers during the 1970s and 1980s.  At least, that's how it seemed at times.  

And we are back to this odd mix of player stats on the back of a manager card.  We get it, Gene Mauch was not much of a player.  There are a lot of people who don't think he was much a manager either, but I he stuck around a long time, even if he did not manage to the win a World Series.  

Set Appreciation Post #1 - 1986 Topps Mini Leaders

I have taken all the extra time at home to do a lot of sorting.

Part of the sorting has involved finishing off several sets.  I thought it would be fun to write about some of those sets, along with other sets that I have never had a chance to write about.  I have to start somewhere.  Why not here?

I posted a mid 1980s Topps Mini Leader card a few weeks back on my weekly Monday Cardinals post.  The product line started in 1986, running through 1990.  I really liked these sets, so I went on a bit of a hunt through my boxes to see what I had, and what holes I needed to fill in order to complete the sets.

My 1986 Mini Leaders set is finished.  Here's a look. 

Basic Design 

The 1986 Topps Mini Leaders set has an independent design from the Topps base set.  Some years the two sets were similar, but the first year the two were completely separate.  Really simple design, but I like the cloudy edges and simple print along the bottom of the card.  

The card backs for the Mini Leaders sets are all generally the same.  They have a short list of stat categories with the players rankings on the back.  Generally, the players featured in the set have finished in the top 5 of some important category. 

Well, most of the stats are important.  There is one stat in the 1986 Mini Leaders set that is somewhat ridiculous, but that is for later in the post.  

A quick note before I move on in the post.  I used a new scanning app for these cards.  They all fade on one edge of the back of the card.  Not sure why, but I am guessing I did something wrong with the lighting.  

Favorite former Durham Bulls player: Brett Butler 

I only had one choice in this set, so I have to go with Brett Butler.  He was with the Bulls during the 1980 season.  He had a spectacular season in Durham batting .366/.513/.513 with 36 stolen bases in just 66 games.  

The back of the card....

I wish that Topps had listed the categories printed on the bottom of the card in a similar fashion as the two at top.  I think it would have made for a cleaner look.  Perhaps if they had made the white box that reads "Major League Leaders" on the left side a tad smaller, they could have fit the other stat categories onto the card back easier.

Favorite Cardinals Card 

This would be a Vince Coleman rookie card.  Obviously not the one that I really wanted back in 1986, but this card had grown on my over the years.  I like seeing an action shot of Coleman.  Looks like a practice swing before stepping in the batter's box.  Is he yawning?   Still not as nice as the portrait photo on his card in the base set, but again a very nice card.  

Runs, steals, and triples.  This card back is Whitey Herzog approved.  I also love seeing the actual total number of steals that Coleman had in 1985.  That is the sort of number that we may never see again in our lives.  Coleman is in all four versions of this set, and I think each of the cards lists him as a League Leader in steals, runs, and triples.

Favorite Non-Cardinals Card 

This is a cool action picture.  Wonder what happened to his batting helmet?  

Who Would Lead The League In That Now? 

Let's look at the card of a pitcher from the set.  I randomly picked out Bert Blyleven.

When I first started flipping back through these cards the other week, there was on pitching stat that really stood out.  If Topps brought this set back, they would most definitely have a problem finding many players to include.  

Take a look.  Which of these stats never happen anymore?  

Look at that Complete Games and Shutouts stat line.  Who even led the Majors in that stat last year?  How many complete games and shutouts?  Bonus if you know the answer before you read any further down the post.  The answer is below.  

Those 24 complete games and 5 shutouts would never happen anymore.  Just scrolling around and looking at a few modern players, Justin Verlander has pitched in a total of 26 complete games in his career after pitching 2 last year.  In other words, it took him 14 years to pass Bert Blyleven's total from just 1985.     

Last season, Lucas Giolito and Shane Bieber led the Majors in complete games with 3.  Giolio, Bieber, and Sandy Alcantara were the leaders in shutouts with 2.  Not very impressive totals.  

The Dumbest Baseball Card Stat Ever 

Sorry to single you out here Lance Parrish.  You were a good catcher.  

Here is the dumbest stat that ever appeared on a baseball card.  The game-winning RBI stat.  

I am not anti-RBI.  I know there are people who put the stat in the same category as wins, but I am not willing to go that far.  There are is skill in getting runners across the plate.  I leave it at that. 

Why do I think it's a dumb stat?  I went and found an example that involves Lance Parrish.  He only finished third in the stat, so it took me a whole five box scores from the 1985 Tigers to find a good example.  

The game took place on April 14th against the Royals.  The Tigers scored two early runs, tacked on three more in the seventh, before the Royals scratch across a run in the 9th.  

In the third inning, the Tigers first three batters got hits, including an Alan Trammell single that put Detroit ahead 1-0.

After a Kirk Gibson flyout, Parrish grounds out to Royals shortstop Onix Concepcion, and Lou Whitaker, who was on third base, scored the second Tigers run of the inning.  That became a game-winning RBI for Parrish after the Royals scored a run off of reigning American League Cy Young Award Winner Willie Hernandez in the ninth.  

A ground out in the third inning of this game was one of Lance Parrish's 16 game inning RBIs.  The Tigers were already winning.  They never trailed the entire game.  There are plenty of other examples out there too.  

Yes, game-winning RBIs appear in other Mini Leaders set.  No, I won't complain in any other set appreciation posts about this stat being showcased in this product again.  

Big Leagues

The scan is really crooked, but I found the last Tim Beckham autograph I needed from last year.  He was in a few different Topps products last year, but somehow I missed this card from Big Leagues.  It's a sticker autograph, but I still like the card.  There have been a few up on Ebay with "Buy It Now" listings, but I thought I could get it at a better price.  A little patience paid off. 

Which brings me to this year's Big League set.  I ended up picking up a few packs the other week at Target, the blaster boxes are dirt cheap.  I got something good out of the box too.  First off, the base set is a disaster. 

Not sure you could squeeze much more onto a card.  My ADD is kicked into overtime here.  There is a crooked photo, a wood grain background, a bar with the player name, a pennant, a ticket stub looking box with SEC, ROW, and SEAT, and the brand logo in the top right.  

It looks like the car that Homer Simpson designs in that one episode where he finds out he has a brother who runs a car company.......

Terrible.  I won't even find the single Cardinals or former Durham Bulls players in this set. 

My good card....

This design is a little better, but after a week in my collection I still do not know what is a "Rookie Republic"???? What is it?  Anyone at Topps?  

Seriously, I really like that I got a Willians Astudillo autographed card out of a box of cards from Target.  The picture on the card makes him look slender, and you cannot see the true volume of his hair on this card.  

Definitely one of the better personalities in baseball at the moment. 

High Tek Iron Man

I really like the Topps Tek cards, but I do not really like the fact that boxes/packs of the cards cost $100.  You do get 40 cards, which is better than some of the box/pack products.  Still not something I would normally touch.  On the other hand, I do like buying the single cards from these products after someone else has gone ahead and spent the $100 to open up the cards.  

The week of Thanksgiving I had a little extra time and managed to sell a few extra cards that were occupying space in my card closet.  Rather than dedicating the earnings to something that was on a checklist waiting to get crossed off, I decided to go out and find the best card I could using the money I had just earned.  

Right around $40.  I think I did alright.  

For less than half the cost for a box of Topps Tek, I landed one of the better autographs that I could have pulled out of a box.  I know, Cal Ripken does not pop up on this blog very often, but I still like him as a baseball player.  One of the likable stars of the game from my younger years.  I would actually like to think that his pursuit of Lou Gehrig's consecutive games streak helped baseball recover after the player's strike in 1994.   

It's an on card autograph and has a very nice signature from the Hall of Fame infielder.  Love the looks of this card.  

I did end up with a second card.  It came from the same seller.  I had a little extra money after bidding on the Ripken card, so why not.  

Do I have a Brian Dozier autograph?  No.  He had a down year in 2018 and ended up getting traded to the Dodgers late in the season.  He's currently a free agent, so no team at the moment.  For a dollar or two, this is a nice card of a second baseman who has had a few 30 and 40 home run seasons.

Really, the important thing is that I got a Cal Ripken autograph.

I Love The 1990s Cardinals Part 35 - Tom Brunansky

There were plenty of Cardinals players who had short stints with the team during the 1990s.  Plenty of players get called up for a couple of days, get a few at-bats, and they are sent back down to the Minors.  For example, Ray Stephens played for the Cardinals in 1990........

and appeared in 5 games during the last three weeks of the season.  At the time, the Cardinals had Todd Zeile playing catcher, he was also one of their top prospects/young players at the time, with future three time Gold Glover Tom Pagnozzi coming in as a defensive replacement.  Ray did not really stand a chance, although he does have a few baseball cards and managed to reappear with the Cardinals for six games in 1991.    

There are dozens of other players with similar stories on the 1990s Cardinals.  

One of the more interesting players who appeared with the Cardinals for a short time during the 1990s was right fielder Tom Brunansky.  He actually had been on the team since 1988.  The Cardinals had traded long time second baseman Tom Herr to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for the power hitting right fielder at the beginning of that season.  The team also traded for Dodgers first baseman Pedro Guerrero later in the season.  The two made for a pretty formidable combination in the middle of the lineup for a few years.

Brunansky was the everyday right fielder entering the 1990 season.  The team started off the month of April pretty slowly, hovering just under .500 at the end of the month with a 9-11 record.  However, Brunansky's April was brutal.  He hit .158/.310/.263 with 1 home run and 2 RBIs.  At the time the Cardinals had Ray Lankford and Bernard Gilkey in Triple A, plus they had signed Milt Thompson and Rex Hudler before the season.  

Further, Brunansky was also a free agent to be at the end of the season.  The Cardinals also had Tony Pena, Willie McGee, Vince Coleman, and Terry Pendleton all set to hit the market too.  Not all of them were getting resigned.  

Bruno was the first to go, traded to the Red Sox in exchange for Lee Smith.  I know I can be critical of the Cardinals version of Lee Smith in this space, but the trade was initially a win-win.  Lee Smith could still blow his fastball past batters and Brunansky returned to his usual form and helped the Red Sox win the American League playoffs.  

I have heard from a Sox fan, or two, that this was a good catch at an important moment.  

Brunansky might have only played 19 games for the Cardinals during the 1990s, but he still managed to get a few baseball cards with the birds on the bat.  Given the time frame of set releases at that time, it's somewhat surprising that most of his cards weren't with the Cardinals.  However, there were two series sets, mid season releases, and update sets which gave him a fair number of Red Sox cards.  

I have a few favorites.  

Remember that we are going off a short list of 1990 Tom Brunansky cards, but this is still one of my favorite cards of his from his time in St. Louis.  The catcher is throwing the ball back, but he's already out of the batter's box, has the bat on his shoulder, and has that look on his face.  It's like he's deciding whether or not he wants to stay in the game.....

Brunansky thoughts.... "It's hot out here, shower would be nice" or "What's on tap at The Cubby Bear today.  Have I missed happy hour?"  

Next card.  

90% of all 1990 Topps cards of Cardinals players were photographed in Shea Stadium.  Seriously.  Many of the different Topps brands have pictures from the same at-bats.  Like, Brunansky also has a card in the Topps TV set, same background, and he has that same elbow brace on his arm.  I could put up more Brunansky cards up in this post, but they almost all look like this card.  

That's it, two cards?  For this post, I am going to add in a bonus card I picked up about two months ago, but never posted.  Bruno is a pretty prolific signer, no certified Cardinals autographs, but he has a ton of autographed Twins cards from numerous sets across several years.  He even has a Brewers card, which seems really weird.  

I mean, I drop Tom Brunansky's name, I am hoping that you are going to place him with the Twins.  I get the Cardinals and Red Sox too.  You tell me the Brewers, I am going to be disappointed.  You tell me the Angels, I think you read the player pages on Baseball Reference for fun.  

Of course, the autograph is a Twins card.  

That is a nice autograph and I am happy to have it in my collection.  The background pained me for the first few days I had the card in my hand.  I thought it was a non-identifiable generic background when I got it off of COMC, but I actually think it's Busch Stadium during the 1987 World Series.  The Cardinals did not win that one.  

Same picture, but zoomed in?  

Thirty years later, I am over it.  Brunansky was a nice player for his two plus years as a Cardinal.  As an added bonus he also appears in this horrible rap video which was put together by the NBC station in St. Louis prior to the 1989 season.  Have you ever thought: "What would it look like if Jose DeLeon had a rap video?"  This is your lucky day.  

The Mets are pond scum!!!