The other half of the Zapping

I've kind of gravitated away from being a Blue Jays team collector the past couple of years, largely because of my rekindled interest in set building.  Not that I'll sneer at any cards that come my way featuring the blue birds.

The other half of the envelope that Zippy Zappy sent a few weeks back feature various types of cards which I was able to group together for this post.

A pair of cards from the top two pitchers in Blue Jays history (IMO).  Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of Dave Stieb's no hitter against the Cleveland Indians.  Doc, you are still missed.

Both of these gentlemen were homegrown Jays; Stieb was a 5th round pick in '78 and made his MLB debut a year later, while Halladay was a 1st rounder and made his debut with the Jays 3 years after he was drafted.

Stieb's career ERA in Toronto was 3.42.  Halladay's was 3.43.  Jimmy Key's Blue Jay ERA was also 3.42.  Only Henke and Ward (relievers) have better career ERA's as a Jay.

Parallels!  What would an envelope be without a parallel Blue Jay card inside?  I especially enjoyed seeing the Pink Chrome Dioner Navarro card.

Great photography!  The fact that Russell Martin is tagging out a Texas Ranger in Texas makes it even better.

Bluefield Blue Jays!  While Pillar made himself a bit of a cult hero in Toronto with his flying acrobatics in centerfield, A.J. Jimenez wasn't as fortunate.  A.J. just managed a dozen AB's with the Rangers in 2017 (yes, that's 12 more than I had as a major leaguer).

It's amazing how Vlad dropped off of collector's radars now that he's not a rookie.  I didn't realize that he was born in Montreal; I imagined it may have been in CA during his dad's time with the Angels.  I'm hoping that once 2020 is over and this COVID-19 craziness flies off into the distance (hopefully) that Vlad rebounds and has a great career with the Jays.

Many thanks to Kenny for the great cards, they truly are appreciated.  Maybe this pocket schedule reminded me of how overdue this post is...

Enjoy the hobby!!

Robert