Snowbound and Stir Crazy

In case you missed it, Boston has received so much snow in the last few weeks that everything and everyone—including me—is at a breaking point. The MBTA doesn't work, the government is encouraging people to stay indoors and off the roads, and there are no signs that the cold and the snow will let up anytime soon. Which has given me plenty of time to stew in my thoughts...

I would really like to see colleges offer an intercollegiate stock car racing circuit, if only to see cars and fire suits covered in logos and emblems of universities and names of individual departments. Maybe the Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chair in Automotive Engineering?

I haven't bought any 2015 Topps Series One yet, but I'm digging the acetate parallel. It reminds me of the Slideshow insert set from 1995 Leaf. An idea's an automatic winner in my book if you need a functioning lightbox in order to enjoy the cards.

And while we're on Series One, the sheer volume of opened cards listed on eBay right now is staggering. Massive lots of hand-collated sets, "unsearched" (yeah right) lots of base cards, parallels, inserts, autographed cards, game-used swatches, and more. Didn't it just release a few weeks ago? It gets me thinking about collecting in Bachelor terms—here for "the right reasons" versus the wrong reasons. While all this stuff on eBay is great for cheapskate collectors like me who just want to see the cards, it's also off-putting. Why would someone buy so many cards in the first place if they're just going to try to flip them for pennies on the dollar? Is it really all about finding the case hits?

I finally put my 1969 Topps set in pages. Got me thinking, did Ultra Pro decrease the quality of its nine-pocket pages? The ones I bought seem flimsy.

Also put my Heritage High Numbers set in pages (with the rest of the Heritage set). Looks good. Wish I had disposable income enough to assemble Heritage every year.

Scott Crawford on Cards has a great idea about collecting over the course of a year: only focus on certain sets and interests during certain months. That way your individual collections each receive attention and your interest doesn't flag. For me, it would be

Jan/July: 1970s Topps basketball
Feb/Aug: Adding new players to my Red Soxlopedia
March/Sept: 2014 Topps Heritage Minis
April/Oct: 1969 Topps variations
May/Nov: Mega master set additions for 1978, 1986, and 1987
June/Dec: 2015 Topps Archives (only cards of players depicted in the 1976 style, and only those players who also had a card in the original 1976 set)

The much-discussed decline of blogging in the sports-card-collecting hobby is sad to me. There are literally scores of YouTube users who post box breaks but don't seem all that interested in the cards they find—unless those cards are serially numbered or autographed—or have anything to say about the cards. Blogging about cards allows for more than just posting images of the cards. It allows you to say what you like about the cards, about why you collect. It's important that this outlet doesn't disappear.

Lastly, with all these stamped buybacks, Topps has finally released the Archives: Commons set I predicted back in 2007.

Ring Leaders' Leaders

                                        Terry Pendleton, 1995 Stadium Club Ring Leaders

Stadium Club CEO, Hank Freck: Gentlemen, today is the first day of the rest of our baseball card lives. Today we begin designing the Ring Leaders series that is going to set the world on fire.

Stadium club execs: (cheer)

Hank Freck: I want no expense spared, and I want no wasted space. Whoever said "less is more" is a stupid dumbass.

Bill: Sir, didn't you say "less is more" when you started the comp-

Hank Freck: Shutup, Bill. Everyone? Bill is fired.

Bill: (cries) (escorted out by Stadium Club security, which is Hank Freck's 9-year-old son, Hank, Jr.)

Hank Freck: Listen up, everyone. I've been doing a lot of thinking, and I want this set to include as much stuff as possible. We're gonna stuff the hell out of this [extended expletive]. Nothing is off limits. Think about everything you know about rings, and hit me with it.

Stadium club execs: ...

Hank Freck: Hit me with it ... NOW!

Fred: Uh, uh ... rings flying through the sky?

Hank Freck: Awesome, good start. That is something rings definitely do. Barb - write this stuff down. Anyone else?

Gary: How about an explosion?

Hank Freck: Explosions are good. Done and done. Gary, you just exploded yourself into a raise.

Phil: What about a ... a ... a bald eagle?

Hank Freck: For crying out loud, Phil ... you're a genius. THIS IS AMERICA.

Stadium club execs: (cheer)

Phil: And maybe the bald eagle is like, eating a giant ring?

Hank Freck: Okaaay, okaaaay. I'm with you ...

Phil: And like, holding a baseball with its bird claws or something?

Hank Freck: Phil, you talk. Barb, you write.

Phil: AND THE BIRD IS POOPING ON HOCKEY BECAUSE HOCKEY SUCKS.

Hank Freck: Okay, sit down, Phil. Too far. You always go too far. Anyone else?

Bart: How about stars?

Hank Freck: Sure, why not. You can't have a ring without stars. That's just science. Oh and BY THE WAY, I don't want some professional "artist" (does air quotes) designing this thing. I want a real baseball fan, like, hey - Hank Jr., you up for this?

Hank Jr.: (picking nose) Duh, Dad. (under breath) Not.

Dave: Spaghetti and meatballs!

Hank Freck: Was that a suggestion, Dave, or do you have Tourette's?

Dave: Ummm, a suggestion?

Hank Freck: Charles, can we fit spaghetti and meatballs on this thing?

Charles: (furiously punches keys on computer) (dejectedly nods head "no")

Hank Freck: Dammit. Okay, well let's turn our attention to the back. So uh, what do baseball players win rings for? I literally have no idea.

Fred: All-Star games? Do they get rings for that?

Hank Freck: Seems right. Let's go with it.

Dave: Of course there's the famous batting title ring. That I know for sure.

Hank Freck: Makes sense. What about a bunting ring? Is there a ring for like, best bunter?

Stadium club execs: (shrug shoulders)

Hank Freck: Okay well let's play it safe then, and if a Ring Leader is also a good bunter, just feature him bunting while the bald eagle eats a giant ring behind him.

Charles: Guys, what about World Series rings? Are you gonna account for those?

Hank Freck: Uhhh, pretty sure they get hats for that, Charles. (under breath) Idiot.

Stadium club execs: (laugh at Charles)

Singing for an Unsung

Randy Velarde,1995 Pinnacle

Today’s card comes courtesy of baseball card blogger and generally pleasant person, Chunter. Let us all thank and praise him!

Unfortunately I had gone months without thinking about Randy Velarde, but Chunter was able to remedy that with one quick email. My wish now is that all of you will think about Randy Velarde more often, like I do, and in the manner that I do, which is to say fondly, with a sprinkle of not knowing his ethnicity.

As a Yankee fan growing up, Randy Velarde was always, like …how do I put this? … there. On the team. Doing things. Being around. Stuff like that. I have many memories of him being on the team when things happened.

I have just gone back and re-read the above paragraph, and I do not think I have adequately captured what I am feeling re: Randy Velarde. I need some help. Back of the card?

Randy is the type of player most teams would gladly carry on their roster.

Bam. There it is. Normally I don’t like to promote sensationalism, but you’ve got me hooked, card. I want to know more. For example, 1) what makes teams glad about having Randy Velarde on their roster?2) Are teams that do not have Randy Velarde on their roster sad? 3) You say“most” teams. Are there teams that are open about not being glad about potentially having Randy Velarde on their roster? Can you tell me which teams these are so I can hate them? (None of these questions will be answered, by the way.)

In case you have not felt the impact of this lede, consider that “We’d be glad to carry you on our roster” is the “you complete me” of organization-to-baseball-player compliments.

Largely unsung,

I find it hard to believe that this bench player who makes his organization glad by being on the roster is not also a superstar. As we can see by the word "largely," Velarde IS sung in some small circles, so there is that. But I do wonder how a player like Velarde manages to press on without the accolades reserved for people who are better than him at baseball.

he is nonetheless one of the more valuable Yankees for all the things he can do.

In the interest of fairness, I wanted to set this statement against my own personal value rankings of the Top 10 ’95 Yankees, along with a brief statement of what makes each player so valuable.

1)     Don Mattingly (most valuable player fo’ life)

2)     Pat Kelly (Irish)

3)     Melido Perez (jheri curl)

4)     Scott Bankhead (funny name)

5)     Wade Boggs (beer drinker, horse rider)

6)     Randy Velarde (does lots of things)

7)     Jack McDowell (rocker)

8)     Paul O’Neill (always pissed off, Irish)

9)     Darryl Strawberry (hits home runs sometimes)

10) Steve Howe (jk)

Granted, these value rankings aren’t necessarily what someone would call “sabermetric,” but I don't apologize that they're FROM MY GUT, OKAY? I also think they show beyond the shadow of a doubt that Randy Velarde was, in fact, one of the more valuable Yankees of his era. But let’s get more specific as to why.

Mainly, Randy fills in at second base, shortstop, third and left field quite frequently.

- - - - - - - -

Bar, Manhattan

Woman: Hey, handsome. What’s your name?

Randy Velarde: Name’s Randy. I’m largely unsung.

Woman: Hmmm, interesting. What do you do?

Velarde: Well, I don’t like to brag, but I do fill in at second base, shortstop, third base, and left field … quite frequently.

Woman: Sounds valuable. Can you buy me a drink?

End scene.

- - - - - - - -

He’s almost like a guy who plays regularly but he doesn’t have a regular position.

He’s almost like a guy who is like that. Not quite though.But you keep at it, Randy Velarde, and maybe someday the back of a baseball card will definitively recognize you as a regular player without a regular position.

Always ready when called upon,

Far be it from me to nitpick praise for Randy Velarde, butt hat’s sort of his job. Were he not ready, that would be a problem.

Buck Showalter: Randy, get in there!

Randy Velarde: Can't! Not ready.

Showalter: Oh, my bad. In an unrelated matter, you're fired.

Velarde: I'm ready now!

Randy hits the ball to all fields, advances runners and gets on base.

The role player trifecta, if you replace "gets on base" with "does whatever it takes to win." In 1999 Velard e hit 16 home runs and posted a solid .845 OPS as an everyday player. Granted, he may have been aided in this endeavor by parking lot steroid injections, but whatever. That's just an example of a largely unsung guy trying to be more valuable, and I'm not here to pass judgement. I'm here to say: Randy Velarde, you can fill in at (position) on the roster of my nostalgia anytime.

The Tao of Fred McGriff - Day 11

I've noticed lately that as they age, the one really noticeable place people gain weight is in the face. Even athletes, whose job it is to stay in impeccable shape. Just look at Tony Perez's Super Veterans card in 1983 Topps; he almost looks like two different people.

I bring this up because the more I look back through all these cards of Fred McGriff, the more it appears that he didn't gain face weight. Can that be right? His helmet looked comically oversized even late into his career (whereas someone like Tony Gwynn filled out under his helmet).

It's always shocking when you see an old retired athlete (take Larry Bird for example), because usually the first thing you think of is Hey, he really let himself go. And yet, take a look at this photo from a dinner in 2007. McGriff doesn't look like Rickey Henderson, but he also doesn't look like he stopped working out occasionally.

Anyway, I didn't really want to talk about face fat. I wanted to talk about good old National Packtime. Take a look at the lineup of this little set from 1995:

Alex Rodriguez
Barry Bonds
Cal Ripken
Ken Griffey Jr.
Tony Gwynn
Frank Thomas
Mike Piazza
Will Clark
Juan Gonzalez
Jeff Bagwell
Kenny Lofton
Fred McGriff
Deion Sanders
Matt Williams
Jose Canseco
Bob Hamelin
Tim Salmon
Raul Mondesi

You know, for all the future Hall of Famers and on-the-cusp guys in the set, the guy I was most excited by was Raul Mondesi. (You want to read something interesting? Read Mondesi's wikipedia page.) I still feel like Mondesi could, if he wanted to, get back into playing shape and make an impact on a team like Pittsburgh or Seattle. And I bet that with a few rigorous workouts, that face fat will leather itself taut. (Scroll down to the bottom of this page to see what Mondesi looks like now.)

Goudey Trade-away #19: Wasdin for Francoeur

This trade comes in from Pat in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Giving: Jeff Francoeur, #56 (red back)
Getting: John Wasdin, 1995 Topps

Pat writes: "One of my favorite things about baseball cards is looking back at 'future star' cards of players who turned out to be quite forgettable." I agree. There's nothing like coming upon Steve Searcy's 1989 Topps Future Star card and trying to figure out who he is. Or Mike Harkey. Or Pat Dodson, Todd Van Poppel, Jeff Juden, Earl Cunningham, Nigel Wilson, David Nied--stop me if I'm hitting nerves here. I mean, we all bought into these guys.

The only thing better, when it comes to rookie cards, is going back through old stacks and finding an overlooked star rookie. I have very clear memories of finding about six or seven of the 1986 Topps Cecil Fielder rookie during his breakout 1990 season. I also just pulled a few Torii Hunters and Derrek Lees from old stacks of 1994 Score (which, by the way, is a very clean, attractive set with a nice array of inserts. Unopened wax is also abundant and cheap, if you've got an itch for ripping old wax).

A couple fun things about Wasdin. The back of this card is just classic Topps: two photos on the back that are exactly the same. Good times. Also, although he's out of the game, he's in MLB: The Show 06, which I still play (I'm in season nine of my Red Sox franchise). And no matter how many runs I'm down, if the computer puts Wasdin in the game, I know I'll be able to tie the score or take the lead in one inning. I mean, he wasn't called Way Back Wasdin for nothing.