Twins Caravan: Tony Strikes Again

The original plan was to hit the Twins Fest in Minneapolis next week to get out of town, relax, and see if we could get a few more autos.

Well, when we moved from NC we ended up renting out our place because we couldn't sell it. No big deal, but the heating and air unit crapped out in mid-December. A lot of cash, all on credit. Then, maybe two weeks ago, one of our dogs got sick. I'll spare you the details, but by sick I mean "sick as a dog." Getting her taken care of (she's fine now) took the last of the cash on hand.

So no Twins Fest. Which kind of stunk because Daddy D had taken it upon himself to find me this card, Tony Oliva's first where he's by himself:

But that card is signed. Well, since the Twins are after a regional presence they have a Winter Caravan with different circuits from here to Montana. And, believe it or not, Tony was on our leg, as were Nick Blackburn, Matt Guerrier, and TC Bear. (No offense to TC or the Twins, but "TC" is begging to have an "H" put in the middle, at which point hippies start following the Twins around all summer and having drum circles and selling grilled cheese sandwiches in the parking lot before games)

Compa got her Tony fix and got him to put a great sign on this '65. I even got a picture of her giving it to him. No offer of mini donuts this time, so hopefully things are settling down on that front.

Have a good one everybody and goodnight Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

Tony Oliva: I'm Glad He's Got a Few Years on Me

I've scored some nice cards from 50 cent boxes lately. Last Friday I scored this '69 Tony Oliva for the compa. In general, though, the card shop in town doesn't do the best job of helping me out with my player collecting needs. There are several 5000 count boxes you can pick through but nothing is in order and yes, as a player collector it absolutely drives me nuts.

"Do you have...?"

"Check the box."

It kills me, but sometimes they have some beat up vintage I'll gladly take off their hands for 50 cents. Not what I went in for, but after going through 1000 cards I'm not remotely interested in for any reason I'll take it. Tony definitely fits that bill and even fits the player collections.

First, the photo is nice. It's a typical posed shot but Tony's not looking at the bat, the cameraman, or the viewer. He is looking somewhere off to his right at who knows what. In fact, it gives the photo a playful quality better suited for a GQ shoot than your typical Topps baseball card.

As for the card itself, what can I say? It's straight off off POBC's dream list. Wrinkles? Check. Creases? Check? Tape stains? Check. Massive piece of half-torn scrapbook page still glued to the back 40 years after it was first put in? Check.

In short, it's everything a well loved card should be.

It also nicely compliments this card, which I scored out of a 5/$2 box when we were last in Iowa.

Jay Ward played parts of three season with Minnesota and Cincy, and let's be honest: there couldn't be a bigger contrast in demeanor between these dudes. Ward is deathly serious and has a Marine's haircut. He's out to make the team, not taking any prisoners, and will not be denied. Oliva is sticking his tongue out at us, just having a good time. That's the kind of screw it whatever, happy go lucky self-confidence we could all use a little more off. You get the feeling the Oliva just knows he belongs, just know he's good, and that he'd be that way if he were playing ball, acting Shakespeare, or flipping burgers. The kind of guy who will offer your compa mini-powdered donuts, which will then have her taking about said donut offer for, oh, the next seven months.

I mean, that guy on the XX commercials has NOTHING on Tony Oliva.

Have a good one everybody and good night Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

Tony Oliva Wishes You a Happy Labor Day Weekend

filled with mini-powdered donuts and bright toothy smiles.

And in case you were wondering, this card was gifted to the compa (not me) by Daddy D. Once again, I'm glad that Tony Oliva is 71 years old, because even at 71 the compa says he'd give me a run for my money.

Have a great one, everybody!