Blue Skies Ahead

Vida Blue says "D@#! right." After Captain Canuck sent me this awesome 3D Blue, Daddy D dig some digging around in the vastness of his secret bb card warehouse and produced this gem. 99% of all the vintage goodness I post comes from him, and he doles it out in packages with cryptic messages from which I have to divine why different given cards are special. After he saw Capt'n Canuck's card, he sent me this one along with a 3D Fergie Jenkins from the same year simply because these cards kick ass. Well, they are no Sportsflicks (ha ha), but they are pretty awesome. The 70's are often overlooked in terms of bb cards and design, mostly because they followed the 50s and 60s, but as a decade cards from the 70s definitely have their own thing going on, and it's pretty good.

Which leads me to today. I'm in a good mood: end of the semester (thank you sweet lord Jebus), and I can honestly say that, having spent the last few months settling in, I love my job. I mean, I dig teaching. From the BS excuses about missing assignments to watching students learn more about themselves, their culture, and other cultures, I really dig it. Kinda like Mr. Blue up there looks like he feels about baseball. And yes, I'm aware of the issues that ended his career early, but let a man have his moment. It's currently -20 where I live (seriously) but life is pretty alright at the moment.

I'm off to spend the rest of the night relaxing and sipping some Templeton Rye (any thoughts on how to trade whiskey endorsements for free product I'm all ears----that stuff is good). Have a great one everybody and goodnight Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

CC HIghlights: 2007 Turkey Red

This is one of my favorite CCs, a shot of him diving to his left after a line drive. I got this card a while back (apologies if it was from a fellow blogger whose name I've forgotten; at 33 my memory comes and goes) and will admit it's one that has grown on me over time. CC's a HELL of a defensive player, but generally only gets credit for SBs or ripped for not having more power. As if tipping their collective hats to CC's offensive numbers, most cards showcase him running or batting, so these are a rarity.

In general I dig the Turkey Red. However, the portraits get repetitive after a while, which makes this card more exceptional for the set and how its player is usually portrayed. The colors of the OF wall behind him add to the overall feel, and the ad really fits the throwback field of the card and the Turkey set. The "Lines" can only be "Airlines," right? And that ties in with CC's flying throw the air after the ball, about to catch it but not quite yet. A moment, suspended indefinitely.

If you follow CC the back is a little old:

The scholarships he turned down, the SBs and triples, nothing about the GG defense on the front of the card. You've heard that stuff before, but overall this is an awesome card because of the amazing action shot on the front.

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

1959 Dale Long: WWFS?

As in, "What would Freud say?" The card is so comically phallic as to tend to self-conscious parody, I mean the guy's last name is "Long" and that's some of the strangest, most awkward bat positioning I've ever seen coupled with a camera angle that emphasizes Long's, err, bat.

You might have caught this over the NIght Owl's or in the NYT recently, but Long is one of three (!) left-handers that have logged a MLB game at catcher in the past, oh, 100 years or so. Both Daddy D and compa are left-handers, and to hear him tell it they should be a protected group of people under the law. He's full of trivia about "great left-handers" and killed me with a question about who the 3 left-handed catchers were.

It's funny, because that bit of info even made it on to the back of Long's '59.

But check it out: he's catching right-handed and there's no mention of why he was catching or had to use a 1B mitt in the first place. Poor left-handers---even when they do something os trivially historical significance the rest of us overlook their left-handedness.

Have a great weekend and goodnight Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

Cubs Bait: 1955 Edition

Hey Cubs fans, I grabbed these are in Iowa over Thanksgiving. I bought them to keep, but since they kick ass I thought I'd throw them out and see if anyone would be interested in them (preference to anyone with CCs for trade). They ain't mint (the Hacker has an old-school crease), but they are nice cards. Leave a comment and/or drop me a line!

He's no Angel: Rocky Bridges

Take a look at this guy. But not for too long, because he might kick your a@@.

After having posted on Daddy Wags the other day, I'll come out of the gate gate saying that the lettering on the late-50's, early-60's Angels unis is really great, especially the LA on the hat. What was the big controversy about their name recently?

Anyway, Bridges had a solid 11-year career, making the AS squad in 1958. What's crazy about this card is he has this kind of "World's Most Interesting Man"-look about him, like he knows something you don't and he's not willing to key you in as to what it is. Moreover, the right cheek full of chew and no visible hair make him look more like a Marine in a moment of respite than a SS for the Angels having his picture taken for a BB card. He's also not even bothering to look at you/the camera/the photographer, precisely the kind of indifference you'd want from a military man, er SS.

What's best, though, is the cropping on this shot. Night Owl has done several excellent exposes on the subject, so I'll refer to his as the expert. Although Bridges's face is centered, his body is not. We pretty much get the full jersey, but if you look closely you'll notice we also get part of the left shoulder and arm, which look like he's got his hand on his hip and is actually leaning slightly to the right. The ease, the relaxation conveyed by those little details just underscores the things I pointed out above, making this card a kind of Ass-Kicker's American Gothic.

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

Old School Errors: Forrest Goes "Smoky"

First off, Smoky is from NC. Pretty appropriate for a guy from NC, where every house has an out door, indirect smoker in operation from May to late September.

What's not to like about a catcher who, despite having LIMITED speed, is still shown stealing a base on his '56 Topps card? And by "limited" I mean he was 1-2 in steal attempts in 1955 (he looks safe here) and 13-27 lifetime over 18 seasons. Guessing CC might have been able to show Smoky a thing or two. Or maybe Smoky was just that slow. At 5'8, 180 lbs. I imagine he had to get a pretty good head of steam going before hitting full stride.

Love how the back calls him "Smokey" while in both his sig and the front he's "Smoky." Admittedly, we folks from the South aren't much for spelling things how other folks might see fit to spell them, but that's pretty rich. Laziness in the Topps print room? Someone just assuming Smoky was an idiot who couldn't spell his own name? You can almost hear the editors and proofreaders arguing over that, finally deciding to go with "Smoky" on the front but "Smokey" on the back, just to be safe. It's the kind of confusion that makes the old school cards great, free of the manufactured "Pedroia with a Yankis Logo" crap that passes for errors and oddities these days.

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

Daddy Wags

That's not part of the posed shot: Dude actually hit like that. And not just hit, but hit for decent power, totaling 37 HRs in 1962.

Daddy Wags's Baseball Reference Page Sponsor not only mentions the hand placement, but also the tragedy of his later life: he died homeless and alone. Again, coming off of Thanksgiving, just reminds me how thankful I am for the things I have. Hardballtimes also has a great writeup with some really choice quotes from the man himself. For example, despite his circumstances, Daddy Wags referred to his predicament as a radical lifestyle choice, like the hippies. Not only could Tim Lincecum learn a thing or two from Daddy Wags about what it takes to be a real hippy, but there's a dogged optimism in that statement, one that refuses to give in to self-pity against all odds. In one way or another we could all use a little Daddy Wags like that.