A Ball Player's Ball Player: TTM from Rocky Bridges

Shortly after I did a post about Rocky Bridges, I did a little reading up on him. Apparently he's not only got a great sense of humor about some of the pitfalls of managing in the minors, but he's every bit the badass you think he'd be. I found a 1960 Topps to pair with the '61 Daddy D gave me.

Then they went in the mail. Rocky got them back to me almost immediately.

This is pretty cool. I've done a few TTMs at this point, but one of the things I'm starting to enjoy more and more is how different players take a lot of pride and care in signing for fans. Take this card for example. Mr Bridges signed between the lettering and the neckline on the jersey so that nothing got garbled by the sig. Everything is legible.

As for the other card straight up, I had thought about the fact that the 1960s are not ideal cards to get signed. They are great, but the horizontal orientation of the card and the predominance of the close-up portraits means they there's just not a great place for a sig. Check out this Julio Becquer card for comparison. He went with a BIG sig over the name, etc., but his portrait is also stepped back a bit which allows for a bit more space. It's a great sig, but there's a certain tension between the sig and the design.

Mr. Bridges went with a tiny sig on the posed action shot. Really, really interesting, and I think it turned out great!

Thanks Mr. Bridges.

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

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!