It Came From the Card Closet~! - Artwork Edition

I never took an art class in high school or college.  Just wasn't all that into it.  But for some unexplained reason, every once in a while I got the strange urge to draw something, just to see if I could do it.  My most ambitious effort was the time I tried to draw a photo of Griffey in mid-swing that was on the cover of Beckett Monthly.  It remains the first and only time that I ever attempted to draw textured clothes or a person's face.  I recently rediscovered this lost artwork while cleaning out my card closet.  In retrospect, I think it's not half bad!

I might have to do this again sometime.  I think I'll try Warren Spahn doing his big leg kick. :)

It Came From the Card Closet~! - Milwaukee Brewers All 70s Team, Part I

I found a still shrink-wrapped pack of cards in my card closet that was a giveaway at a Brewers game a while back.  It was the first of 3 giveaways that would feature the Brewers' all-decade teams for the 70s, 80s, and 90s.  The cards actually look pretty nice - they feature old-school photos with a nice gold foil stamp with the player's name and position (it looks black in the scans, for some reason the gold foil just didn't scan well).  The backs of the cards give a nice synopsis of their time with the Brewers, highlighting team records and great moments.  Since there are a lot of pictures I'm splitting this post into 2 parts - today we'll start with the skipper and infield:

Manager: George Bamberger. "Bambi" led the Crew in the late 70s when they first rose to prominence as a force in the American League 

Catcher: Charlie Moore.  A fan favorite that spent nearly his entire career with the team.  He later moved to right field.

First Base: Cecil Cooper.  Coop was one of the most underrated players of his generation.  Check out these totals from a career that spanned from 1971-1987: .298 lifetime average, 2192 hits, 415 doubles, 241 HRs, 1012 runs, 1125 RBIs.  He also won a pair of Gold Gloves!

Second Base: Tommy Harper. 

Shortstop: Robin Yount.  No surprise here.  The Kid made his big league debut April 5, 1974 at just 18 years and 6 months old.

Third Base: Don Money.  "Brooks" was best known for his defense, but he was a very capable offensive player who anchored the hot corner for the Brewers for a full decade.

Previous Trivia Question:

What feat do Lou Gehrig, Gil Hodges, Rocky Colavito, Mark Whiten, and Mike Cameron all have in common?

 

A:  They are 5 of the 15 players to have hit 4 home runs in one game.  There have actually been more perfect games than players with 4 homers in one game!

 

Today's Trivia Question:

 

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

It Came From the Card Closet~!! - Part 2

My second in a series of posts on what I found while cleaning out my old closet full of baseball cards.  :)

In one of the many, many piles of cards I found a whole cache of Younts all grouped together, and surprisingly (given how they were stored) they also are in excellent shape.  For whatever reason most of them were 1980s Donruss, so let's take a trip through the decade!:

Unfortunately, 1985 is the one year I didn't have in this stack.

I LOVE this painting of Yount.  This is one of my new favorite cards of all time!



It was so cool finding these in the middle of a random stack of commons.  I seem to recall deciding to gather up all of my Yount cards around the same time as I decided to start a Griffey collection.  Obviously the Yount collection didn't quite get off the ground.  Better late than never!

Previous Trivia Question:

I actually didn't know this until just yesterday when I went looking for Opening Day trivia, but my boy Ken Griffey Jr. is the co-record holder for most home runs on Opening Day with 8.  What Hall of Fame outfielder is he tied with?

Answer:  Frank Robinson also hit 8 homers on Opening Day

Today's Trivia Question:

What dubious distinction is held by pitcher Ken Johnson?

It Came From the Card Closet~!! - Part 1

With my Mom trying to sell her house I've had to finally go through my old closet full of baseball cards.  Among the piles and piles of 1992 Donruss, 1988 Topps, and 1993 Score (along with plenty of other junk wax sets) I've come across some interesting stuff that I had forgotten I even had.  I plan to put up a series of posts chronicling the forgotten, cool, and in some cases just plain odd things I find as I get everything into something resembling order.

Today, I have the first of a few different sets of cards I got as fan giveaways at Brewer games years ago.  This group of 4 marked the opening of the Brewers Walk of Fame that now lines the sidewalks around Miller Park.  They began with the 4 players that have had their numbers retired by the organization:

Hammerin' Hank Front

And Back

Since starting with Aaron, Fingers, Molitor, and Yount they have added over a dozen  others, including fan favorites Cecil Cooper and Gorman Thomas, legendary broadcaster Bob Uecker, and also Milwaukee Braves greats Warren Spahn and Eddie Mathews.

Previous trivia question:

The original Milwaukee Brewers, one of the American League's 8 charter franchises in 1901, eventually turned into what current big league team?

Answer: The original Milwaukee Brewers left town after just one season, becoming the hapless St. Louis Browns.  After 52 seasons in St. Louis the team moved again, and they became the Baltimore Orioles in 1954.

Today's trivia question:

In July 1993, Ken Griffey Jr. tied a big league record by homering in 8 consecutive games.  What other 2 players also accomplished that feat? (hint: one of them just became the manager of a major league team)