Happy New Year!

Interview with Negro Leaguer Carl Long

Things lately have been kind of...woof. It's a long story not worth getting into, if only to say ALL of the important things are going great. Overdue packages go out tomorrow or Thursday, scout's honor.

Anyway, I did something I've been meaning to do for quite awhile to distract myself a bit: edit video.

I'm not exactly a pro at this, but I'll imitate one from time to time. I had the chance to interview former Negro Leaguer Mr. Carl Long in Charleston last summer at a Riverdogs game, and I've been meaning to get this up. Hope you enjoy it! Thanks again, Mr. Long, for the interview at the ballpark!

FYI: I'm NOT the dude who didn't know Charlie Pride played in the Negro Leagues. 

Keep an eye out next week, I'll be giving away some cards Mr. Long auto'ed for me.

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

Cal Ripken: There is some good in the world

I owe packages; they ARE coming! 

I got this spring training picture emailed to me two days ago. Work and the impending arrival of Blue have had me swamped, and the events of the past few days flummoxed me a bit, as they did all of us. For the record, flummoxed is becoming something of my natural state.

The guy in the middle is the infamous world traveler Flat Stanley. Cal knew who Flat Stanley was, which is pretty cool. The guy on the left could stand to lose a few pounds (particularly around the cheeks), but I think both he and the Iron Man are doing well considering what they were up to in the 1990s. 

Cal stood out there all day in the heat, then signed everything for everyone after the books were done and all the pictures taken. It's a simple act of undue kindness, but those things yet matter.

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

The Trucks Auto winner is....

OK, sorry this took me so long. With a pregnant wife I keep getting distracted.

But you aren't here for that. You want to know who won.

Well, who won?

All three people who posted!

I mentioned I had more than one. Strangely, I had exactly three, so all three get Trucks autos! Drop me your addresses. 

And apologies to Doc, to whom I still owe the Garfoose auto from the last giveaway (it'll be in the mail Wednesday!).

Spring Training: Day 2

Don't forget the Virgil Trucks Memorial Giveaway ends today!

On the second day of spring training I drug myself out of bed early and went over to the minor league practice fields. I used the wrong entrance and made it all the way inside before a security guard caught me. He was cool about the whole thing, and I dutifully left, parked my car in the right spot, and and re-entered via the right gate.

There might have been 6 fans present. I guess that's the glory of following a team with poor attendance, but it made the experience that much more awesome. I had intended to grab an auto or two of some of the Rays prospects but decided not to in favor of just taking in the scene. Guys doing drills (the catchers were already working when I showed up), guys running between stations, fans and others milling about.

I had some great conversations, first with a friend of Durham Bulls manager Charlie Montoyo who had come down to check things out. It's strange, but I'm a Bulls fan even before I'm a Rays fan, and it was interesting to meet someone whose interest in the proceedings was limited exclusively to the AAA team.

Next I had a longish chat with an agent who said he was there to take a client or two out to lunch. He seemed like a nice guy. He had stories about playing Legion ball with guys who went on to be Charleston Rainbows and pointed out that the family of one player (a client, I'm guessing) was in the adjacent bleacher watching their kid take batting practice.

Finally, I ran across former Bulls coach Bill Evers. I stopped him for a moment as he passed by and told him that I really appreciated his Bulls teams. More than a decade after the ruined season of 1994, his teams were the ones I watched when I fell back in love with the game. Sadly, despite being wildly successful in terms of W-L record Mr. Evers lost his gig due to the, um, player development.

Later on we attended the Rays 6-4 loss to the Twins. It was a spring game that actually went into extras, which was something of a treat. Roberto Hernández looked serviceable in the battle to be the #5 starter and the ML relief corps of Farnsworth, Wright, Peralta, and Mcgee was outstanding as they allowed 2 hits over 4 innings with 4 Ks. Luke Scott also hit a BOMB, which hopefully is a sign of good health and good things to come later on.

Before the game, of course, I tried to get an auto or two.

After two near-hits in Minneapolis and Baltimore, I finally landed a Matty Ice. It was signed with someone else's pen for the sake of efficiency.

The big "score" I guess was getting Longo's signature for the Topps Rookie AS project. Folks were saying he never signs anymore, particularly not for adults, so I got really lucky.

Rich Thompson signed a team card for me, and in fact signed ttm for me last year. He's got a really cool story and, truth be told, is one of the players who fairly or not has been saddled with the AAAA label. Here's to hoping he gets a legit shot at coming back up this year. As side note, I briefly confused him with Brandon Guyer. I swear those dudes were separated at birth.

Another team card, this one signed by Chris Gimenez. He's battling for the backup catcher spot and having a hell of a spring (OPS of .917) but still has options remaining while other guys don't. What else can you do but play?

Stephen Vogt came up to the big club last year and went hitless in 25 AB. He's got the skills, so it's just a matter of time. I'm hoping he doesn't go a decade between ML stints like Thompson, or goes 30 or so hitless ABs to begin his career like new Ray Kelly Johnson. 

And the craziest auto:

Cecil Fielder was in the house through the Adopt a Legend Program. He was one of THE guys when most of us were young, and getting his auto in person was pretty amazing. I told him his 51-HR 1990 season was one of the most exciting things for my friends and I when we were kids. He said he was mostly lucky. There's "luck," then there's "lucky x 50," which points to successful process.

The highlight of getting autos that day was talking baseball to a mother and her son up by the wall. They are Stone Crabs fans and the son even goes to kindergarden with one of the kids of a Rays player.  I was able to given them cards of said Rays player, plus several others, Longo included. Last week I sent them a 400-couunt box of Rays, which I hope they enjoy!

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

Virgil Trucks Celebration Giveaway

With Mr. Trucks's passing, we all acknowledge that the world has lost someone who meant a good deal to a lot of people. 

If you ever wrote to Mr. Trucks you've probably seen one of these cards that celebrate his 2 no-hitters in 1952. If you haven't, here's your chance to own one.

Here's the deal: Mr. Trucks brought a lot of light into the world. Go out, do something, it doesn't have to be huge, that brings joy to someone around you. At some point in the next week leave a comment on this post and I'll random the responses on 4/1. No judging "best," "funniest," or whatever, no need even to say what you did. Just bring a smile to someone's face the way Mr. Trucks did for so many of us.

RIP Mr. Virgil Trucks

Not long after I started the blog I started getting into ttms. Like a lot of bloggers, one of the first gentlemen I wrote was Mr. Virgil Oliver "Fire" Trucks. As anyone who wrote him knows, he was a tremendous and frequent signer, often responded to you with a handwritten note, and always included two trademark stamps, one of a pitcher and another of a firetruck.

I saw on Twitter not long ago that Mr. Trucks passed away yesterday at 95.

What else can you say? If you read around the blogoshpere you'll find that Mr. Trucks brought a lot of joy to a lot of people. Like to William over at foul bunt. Like me when, in 2009, Mr. Trucks signed a whole bunch of cards for me to giveaway on the blog as a way to promote his book. It was one of the most amazing interactions I've ever had with one of my cardboard heroes.

Strangely, not too long ago while I was cleaning house I came across a few extra of these that he sent for me to giveaway. I thought I gave them all away long ago, but apparently not. To celebrate Mr. Trucks and his hobby legacy, starting tomorrow I'll give these last ones away.

I recognize the value and importance of mourning, but Mr. Trucks is one of those individuals who unselfishly brought joy into the world and through his own example taught us all that we should do likewise.

RIP Mr. Trucks.