Left side, Strong side!!

Oh, about 6 months ago, I wrote a post about a trip that the wife and I made to the Goodwill, and naturally part of that trip was me coming home with a bag of baseball cards.  Goodwill Hunting was the name of the post, and that post was actually the start of me collecting the '86 Topps set.

I arrived home from work last Friday to find on my chair another bag of cards, this time one that my wife had picked up on her solo "junking" effort at Goodwill.  Again, for $3 the cards couldn't be left at the store.  Mind you, the lot was pretty much a group of cards from 1990 Fleer & Topps, but still they were a fun flip through. 

A lot of them had a pattern I noticed after a couple of times through the cards, the pattern being a lot of lefties that I had a lot of memories about over the years.

Let's look back...shall we?

Jerry Reuss.  Dodgers, yes.  Pirates, yes.  Brewers?  Really?

Yea...really

I will forever remember him as a crafty lefty that was part of those great Dodgers teams of the late 70's -- early 80's.  Brewers just doesn't look right.

Somebody told me recently that this guy is still active somewhere!  Somebody needs to tell this guy that it is OK to retire. 

The Candy man obviously got around.  I had forgotten he pitched 10 games for the Expos in 89.  I looked at his stats...Mets, hardly remember him there.  Dodgers, White Sox, Twins?  Nope...sorry.

Zane Smith also.  2 seasons in Montreal?  No way.  Atlanta, sure!  Pirates, part of the early 90's teams there.  Must be that I've selectively shut out any Montreal memories....

At least these two guys are wearing uniforms that I remember them in.  Fernandez a long time Met that was part of the World Series Champs in 1986.  Teddy Higuera, who didn't pitch a game in the majors until he was 27, was arguably the most dominant lefty in the game for a 4 year period between 1985-88.  That screwball he had was a killer. 

Let's not forget the hitters:

These guys left impressions that made you remember them being on a certain team.  Griffey Sr. ...  Seattle, of course we all remember the Griffey's together.  Atlanta, New York, Cincinnati, all stops that Griffey played for that had an impact on the game.
Andy Van Slyke was as good a center fielder as there was for a 10 year period, including an awesome season in 1992 when he led the NL in hits and doubles, and finished 4th in MVP balloting.  I still remember when he was part of the Cardinals in the early part of his career. 

This final guy...well let's just say Blue Jay fans will remember what he did to the Jays on October 4, 1987.

A pitching duel for the ages.  The Jays started the day 1 game behind the Tigers for the AL East title. 

Tanana vs Key, two crafty left handers on the mound.

The only scoring in the game?  A 2nd inning homer by Larry Herndon.  Both pitchers throw a complete game.  Key gives up 3 hits, Tanana just 6 hits.

Tigers win 1-0.  The Jays went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position. 

Humph. 

I look at all these players and see a part of the reason why lefties are always a valuable commodity.

Just ask Darren Oliver.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Just how long can I carry a grudge?

You might find this one of the more interesting titles for a thank you post.  Tom over at The Angels, In Order posted a while back about some '86 Topps that he had promised someone...but he couldn't remember who.  I piped in that if somebody didn't claim the cards, I would gladly take them off of his hands. 

'86 Topps is my ugly duckling set, meaning that it's kind of neat in an ugly sort of way.  Ugly is probably even too harsh a word to describe the design, but to say that the '86 Topps set is one of their more notable designs would be overstating things.

OK...time to show off the cards...first, the basics

Love the DeJesus stache...

Now, some cards that were interesting, and also stirred up some memories.

First, Juan Samuel

It doesn't show very well in the scan, but this card was interesting because of the gum stain, front and back.  The stain extends from Samuel's left knee, all the way up to his forehead.  It is interesting because of the texture of the stain on the front, you can see the bubbles where the gum actually was stuck to the card, and the points in between where contact was minimal.  I may upgrade someday, I may not...this is not a set that's going to transcend time by any means.  I'm just going to have fun putting it together.

Next up, a couple of pitchers that will stand the test of time.

I love when cards make me look at statistics.  Did you know that Vida Blue wore five different uniform numbers while he was with the A's?  I also remember him pitching for the A's and Giants, but for the life of me can't remember him pitching in Kansas City in 82 & 83! 
Dennis Eckersley, yep I remember him with all the teams he played for.  Cleveland, Boston (twice), Cubs, Oakland and St. Louis.  I remember him being lights out against my Jays in the '89 ALCS, and then the Jays got their revenge in the '92 playoffs against him.  I remember him giving up the HR to Kirk Gibson in the '88 World Series.  But what I do really remember the most, is the absolute dominance for 3 years between 89-91.  Walked only 16 batters total over those 3 years.  1.74 combined ERA, including a 0.61 ERA in 1990.  If there was a period when a reliever was as automatic for such an extended period of time as Eckersley was, I would love to know.

Where's the guy who I hold the grudge against?   After all these years, this guy's name still brings a grumble when I say it.

10/16/85.  ALCS, game 7, Kansas City at Toronto.  6th inning, KC leading 2-1.  Jays have their ace, Dave Stieb on the mound.  Stieb is struggling a bit in the 6th, as he has walked 2 batters and hit another to load the bases with 1 out.  Up comes double play candidate Jim Sundberg, and Jays fans are thinking, "Stieb is gonna get out of this now".

Wrong.

Sundberg hits a triple off of the top of the right field fence, clearing the bases, and then scores on a single by Frank White to turn a 2-1 close game into a 6-1 lead that was insurmountable.

It was tough to say the least.  I was one of many fans who thought the Jays that year had a legitimate shot of winning it all.  They had won 99 games in the regular season, and had come home for games 6 & 7 with a 3-2 series lead.

Damn.

Damn you Jim Sundberg.

Oh yea, by the way Tom, thank you very much for the cards...only 600 to go to complete the set!!

Thanks for reading, Robert

Memories, pt 2.

Good Tuesday evening to you all, hope that your week is going well.  This is the 2nd part in a series of posts that were derived from my first contest, when I asked the blogosphere to post their favorite sports moment.

The post chronicles the choice of both Colbey, and Captain Canuck referencing "The Slide".

Here is the original version that Colbey posted:

"My memory is "the slide" from the 1995 NLCS. Braves fans know what I'm talking about. Braves down 2-1 to the Pirates in game 7. 2 outs. David Justice on 3rd. Sid bream on 2nd. Francisco Cabrera at bat. Justice comes around and scores. Bream comes around and narrowly slides under the tag of Pirates catch Mike LaValliere. Awesome moment I remember watching unfold before my eyes courtesy of TBS.


1995 Upper Deck Collector's Choice captured this play on cardboard beautifully. Sadly, I don't own this card...but one day I will"

I didn't notice it the first time, but maybe a lot of you did back then.  A slight typo here actually made the slide take over 3 years to complete....this play actually occurred in the 1992 NLCS.  Part of the reason I remembered that was the case is that living here in western PA, Pirates announcers constantly refer to that team as the last time the Pirates had their mini "dynasty".  Players such as Bonds, Bonilla, Drabek, Lind, Van Slyke had their last hurrah as Pirates during this year.

In an interesting twist of irony going back to the first memories post , Kirk Gibson was actually released on May 5th of the '92 season by the Pirates.

Tim Wakefield also started his major league career for the Pirates that year, throwing a 10 strikeout complete game in his debut against the Cardinals..

The manager of the Braves was Bobby Cox, who 7 years earlier saw his Blue Jays lose a 3-1 game lead in the ALCS to the Kansas City Royals, and was on the verge of losing a similar lead in game 7 before "the slide".  The Braves' offense was definitely not a juggernaut that year, though there were some good players on the club, such as Ron Gant, Deion Sanders (who led the NL in triples with 14), Otis Nixon and Terry Pendleton.  That '92 team was built around a tremendous pitching staff with Steve Avery, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Charlie Leibrandt forming quite a formidable rotation. 

Oh, and the play in question??  I don't think I've ever seen Sid Bream run faster in his life...see it here.

Colbey and the Captain (sounds like a TV show doesn't it?) also mentioned a card.  A quick thank you to Brian at Play at the Plate which is where I found the image for this card:

By the way, the Braves did go on to the World Series that year, only to lose to the Blue Jays in 6 games.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Memories pt. 1

Good Tuesday evening to you all, hope that you have made it through the first part of the week. 

A while back, you may remember for my first contest I asked you fine readers to provide me with your favorite sports memory. 

I chose this one first, because for me, it may be one of the best sports stories of all time, period.

This moment was submitted by the Night Owl;  this is one of those memories that even on my death bed I will not have a problem remembering.  Back in the late 80's/early 90's, I HATED the A's, with a passion.  At that time, my Jays were in the thick of the AL race each year, and the A's were the dominant team in the league.  The deepest lineup, the best pitching staff, and they had Dennis Eckersley, the most dominant closer of that time.

I love these two quotes, by the best baseball game play by play men that the game may ever know.

"In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened" - Vin Scully

"I don't believe, what I just saw" -  Jack Buck


Game 1, 1988 World Series, Oakland A's @ Los Angeles Dodgers


Take a look at the Video. 

Look at Gibson, barely able to walk to the plate.  The first swing he took, you could tell he was in unbelievable pain.  Gibson works the count to 3-2, and the rest is history.

This card says it all, 2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces #6. 

Night Owl, thank you for the inspiration.



















Thank you for reading, Robert