Some Fun From 1981

My girlfriend decided to surprise me with a few packs of 1981 Donruss and Fleer that she saw at the card shop, and they were definitely good for a few laughs.  Some of my favorites:

Dennis "Not So" Littlejohn:



I hear he was "stronger than dirt":

This next one is my favorite.  Why does it look like half his mustache is missing?  And what in the hell is up with the thin strip of neck-beard?????

Some olllld-school Ozzie.  Not sure which is better, the afro or the ugly-ass Padres uniform:

  

"Bake" or "Baked"?

"Stone" or "Stoned"?:

What an unfortunate name for a pitcher:

What an unfortunate name for an athlete:

And finally, how often do you see pictures of guys taking freakin' batting practice in the cage on a card??  On the other hand, nice leg kick!

It makes sense because in the book I recently read the author talked about how these Donruss and Fleer sets got thrown together at the last minute before the 1981 season when the Topps monopoly was struck down, and it showed in quality control.

Previous Trivia Question:

What Hall of Famer's real first and middle name was "Denton True"?

A: That name belonged to Denton True "Cy" Young.

Today's Trivia Question:

Who threw baseball's only (known) LSD-assisted no-hitter?



Trade with Potch Wheeler and the Cardboard Heroes

Darren at Potch Wheeler and the Cardboard Heroes was nice enough to respond to my recent call for trades to finish off some 2010 sets.  He sent me several cards from 2011 Heritage and a couple 2011 Topps inserts, but most importantly he sent me this:



That was the last one I needed for the Update Series.  Thanks Darren!

Previous Trivia Question:

Who was the first player to reach the 3,000-hit plateau?

A: Cap Anson was the first to get 3,000 hits, reaching that milestone on July 18, 1897.

Today's Trivia Question:

What Hall of Famer's real first and middle name was "Denton True"?

Big Trade With Crinkly Wrappers

A few weeks back Ted over at Crinkly Wrappers posted that he was looking for the Short Print parallels from the last couple Topps sets.  He said he was willing to trade big for them.

He wasn't kidding.

In return for my 2010 Topps Jim Palmer and Tris Speaker SPs he sent back a card bonanza!  It started with 2 of my missing cards from Topps Chrome, but went on to include a handful of 2011 Heritage...

...a few 2010 Topps Magic Football and 2010 Topps Baseball Inserts...

...a whole slew of 2011 Topps Inserts....

...some nice Brewer cards, including several of Braun and Fielder...

...5 more cards for my Platinum Diamond collection...

...and last, but certainly not least, a couple more Griffeys for my collection:

Thanks Ted!  Awesome trade!!

Previous  Trivia Question:

What player is famous for recording a hit while playing for two different teams in two different cities on the same day?

 

Answer: On August 4, 1982, Joel Youngblood hit a 2-run single as a member of the New York Mets during a day game at Wrigley Field.  He then left the game and was traded to the Montreal Expos, and he rushed over to join the team in Philadelphia.  Just hours later he entered the game as a pinch hitter and smacked another single.  Both hits came against future Hall of Fame pitchers (Ferguson Jenkins and Steve Carlton).

 

Today's Trivia Question:

 

Who was the first player to reach the 3,000-hit plateau?

Trade with The Lost Collector

As I've been going through my old baseball cards I've been setting aside various piles - Brewers cards, great photos, some selected players.  One of the players I made a note to set aside was Tino Martinez, since I knew AJ over at The Lost Collector can always use some more Tinos.  I managed to unearth a handful of Martinez cards that he didn't already have, along with a random assortment of Yankees from the past 15 years or so.

In return, AJ sent me a handful of Heritage cards to move me closer to my set:

Some 2011 Topps Inserts (including another Platinum Diamond~!) and Bowman Brewers:

I am of course thrilled to have Zack Grienke in a Brewer uniform, but the one guy I was truly sad to see go in that trade was Lorenzo Cain.  Every time that guy hit the ball last year it was a laser beam!

And finally, he also sent 3 more Griffeys to push me to the 650 mark!:

I really like the Record Numbers card.  If I'm not mistaken there is a Chrome version of that card too, and I'm sure the fireworks in the background like even cooler when they're all shiny.

Thanks AJ~!  Always a pleasure.  I'll be sure to look for more Tinos for you!

Previous Trivia Question:

Who holds the record for most career Triples with 309?

 

Answer: "Wahoo" Sam Crawford holds the record for most Triples (good work Dan!).  His nickname came from being born in Wahoo, Nebraska.

 

Today's Trivia Question:

 

What player is famous for recording a hit while playing for two different teams in two different cities on the same day?

Cards from Dan's Other World

Way back in February I submitted an entry to a contest run by Dan over at The Other World called "Card Love", where people submitted stories of a card they really loved from their collection (you can read my entry here). 

While I didn't end up winning the contest, Dan wanted to send everybody a little thank you for entering.  I got the cards a few weeks ago but just got around to posting them now.

He sent over a few small packs of cards:

The 2 highlights of the packs both came from the UDx pack.  A cool shiny Mark Teixiera and a card of one of my favorite players, Ichiro!



He also sent over a few cool Brewers cards:

I really like the old-school Larry Hisle, and the Seitzer Diamond King is pretty cool.  I miss Donruss specifically for the Diamond Kings....

Thanks Dan!

Previous Trivia Question:

What city hosted the hottest game ever played in recorded history, which happened just last season?

 

Answer:  On July 24, 2010 the Philadelphia Phillies hosted the Colorado Rockies at Citizens Bank Park, with the temperature at a balmy 106 degrees.

 

Today's Trivia Question:

 

Who holds the record for most career Triples with 309?

This Is A Call

Hello from my blog's new home base - the center of the sun!!

(Seriously, this year we didn't even have a Spring in Milwaukee.  We just went right from 40 and 50 degree days straight to a heat index of 100....)

Anyway, on to the business at hand.  This post's title is not merely meant to be a nod to a great song by a great band - side note: if you like rock music you should absolutely go buy the Foo Fighters' new album "Wasting Light".  You won't be disappointed - this is also a call to help me finish off a couple of 2010 base sets! For a while now I've had to see the last remnants of my want list sitting there, mocking me, everytime I open that page.  So let's put 2010 Topps and Topps Chrome to rest, shall we?  If anyone can come up with the following cards I'm sure I can find something to trade that you'll like:

Topps: #417-Dallas Braden, #488-Delwyn Young, #568-Jarrod Saltalamacchia, #US-72- Milton Bradley

Topps Chrome: #194-Cesar Valdez, #205-Ian Desmond, #211-Sergio Santos, #219-Drew Stubbs, #220-Wade Davis

Also, I'd love to set up a trade for some 2011 Topps Heritage.  My needs list was recently added to my "Help Me Complete a Set" page and I have a good number of doubles, so if you're looking to finish your set hit me up!

Previous Trivia Question:

 

What was Jerry Dior's big contribution to Major League Baseball?

 

Answer:  He is the creator of the MLB logo we all know and love:

 

It was once rumored that Harmon Killibrew served as the model for the logo, but Dior says that is completely not true, claiming the logo sprung from a composite of several photos of players. (And really, couldn't that logo look like virtually any player?  Hell, you can visualize the batter as being right OR left-handed!)

 

Today's Trivia Question:

 

What city hosted the hottest game ever played in recorded history, which happened just last season?