Don't Mess with Texas: Walt Williams Remix

Check the group break here. Some great teams have come open (Cubs, Reds) with more to come.

After me previous ttms from Mr. Williams I had to give it one more go with the 1968. It's his second card but first as the only player featured and sports the classic Topps Rookie All-Star Team trophy, none of this little cup stuff they went to in the 1980's.

Just for context, that dude is 5'6" and has some serious Hulk Hogan style pythons. David Eckstein, by comparison, is 5'7".  

"No Neck" had a solid 10-year career playing for the White Sox, Yankees, Indians, and Colt .45's, amassing a 91 OPS+ as an OF and pinch hitter. He's obviously also got one of the classic baseball nicknames and a great signature with a single large "W" serving to cover his first and last names.

This card is pretty sweet. Williams looks like he's 12 despite sporting those massive biceps. The wry smile, however, kind of hints he knows a lot more than he's letting on, that he already knows he's going on to a good career.

I also like the fact that he played in Durham and had no idea about that until I got this one. He also played in Winnipeg, which is only about 3 hours from here. That may be a lot to you, but out here that's practically next door. 

And those names bring me to one last point: I miss the days of far-flung baseball outfits scattered across North America.  The minors used to be a LOT bigger, and the journey through them a LOT longer. I'm heading out to my first Independent League game today to see former Cubs farmhand Nic Jackson tear it up. Still out there, chasing the dream.

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

Group Break Update and A Walt Williams Auto

Once again, please check here for info on the group break. For those bloggers who have signed up, if you'd drop a mention on your blog that's be awesome! Props to JC, who's been awesome supporting SMG and me in all of this!

First, I'm running a bit behind at the moment. My compa is out of town doing grad school stuff and I have been all alone for most of the week. You'd think it'd mean I'd be posting a lot more and getting scans done from my awesome trades lately, but no...

So I bring you the second card Walt Williams was kind enough to sign for me.

If you have the 1968 Walt Williams RC contact me: you have me over a barrel and I HAVE to acquire that card. As for this card, shoot, where does one start?

We've got the vertically oriented auto, which I find different and very cool. It only reinforces my opinion that Walt Williams is AWESOME. Other just sign. Williams signs with panache. 

And then the card itself...I mean WOW. It's one of those great Topps airbrush jobs that, despite Photoshop and billions of dollars, persist. That hat is radioactive. The "C" for "Cleveland" pertains to no font known to man. And then, to top it all off, no one thought to airbrush out the pinstripes on the uni or the massive "S" for "Sox"on the left side of the jersey. It's almost like Topps wanted to represent Walt mid-trade, between teams, neither fully of one or the other. Thanks again Mr. Williams!

Have a good one everybody, and don't forget to sign up for the group break. And good night Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

When Walt Williams Came to Town

Many of my monumental baseball moments aren't monumental at all. There are lots of potential reasons for that (strict Southern Baptist upbringing, relative isolation from MLB among others), but I'd prefer to think it's because most of what we have lived is a jumble of memories waiting to happen, moments waiting to be recalled. 

Sure, I remember the 1986 WS because 1) the Mets won and 2) I listened to games 1-4 and most of game 5 on the stairs until my father chased my into my bedroom among much shouting and gnashing of teeth. But we ALL have WS memories we carry with us, actively, every day. There's nothing unusual there.

A month or so ago someone posted about a ttm they got back from Walt "No Neck" Williams that brought back a lot of my adolescence in jumbled pieces. Charleston baseball has never been TOO big, at least no back then, and I've already written a lot about the park and what it meant elsewhere. Anyway, when the Rangers tabbed Walt "No Neck" Williams to manage the local nine the Charleston media went nuts. Just like that the Rainbows were a big deal and everybody wanted a piece of them. Williams was a REAL former big leaguer and he was coming to manage OUR team. That's pretty much the guy you see in this card: a 5' 6'' superhero who'd come to teach the guys some BASEBALL. 

Oddly, the Walt Williams years were the last few seasons I followed the Rainbows at all. I was in the process of rebelling against said upbringing, "killing the father" who'd chased me back to me bedroom for listening to the WS all those years ago, so you could blame it on the typical concoction of girls, poetry, and living in a town where, at least back then, being old enough to walk into most bars would get you served. And served it got me.

I picked back up with the Rainbows when they'd become the Riverdogs, property of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Walt was gone, and new guys like CC and Josh Hamilton were passing through. They had a new park, the games were HIP to go to, and there were no more nickel beer nights. Gotta pay for the fancy new park, I guess. 

Who knows where the years went, and like Baudelaire says, "a town changes more quickly than a man's heart." The Charleston I go back to when I daydream is one where certain friends are sure to be found stoned playing chess in certain now-defunct coffee shoppes and the streets are overwhelmed by the smell of horse piss in the summer. Walt Williams manages the local nine and the future he's looking toward in that card is wide open for all of us.

Thanks for the autos Mr Williams! 

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