Happy Baseball Birthday, Jackie Robinson!

Today's #HappyBaseballBirthday! is in honor big the late, great, Jackie Robinson, born on this day, in 1919, in Cairo, Georgia.

Jack Roosevelt Robinson  is one of the most important people in not just baseball history, but in American History, and we should always remember the courage, determination, and passion he had for baseball, for life, and for the rights of all human beings to treated equally, no matter the color of their skin.

Jackie Robinson is my favorite Brooklyn Dodgers ballplayer of All-Time, as I wrote back in July, 2010.

I don't have an actual vintage 1953 Topps card of the Hall of Famer, but I love the Topps Living Set, and, until I get one, well, this card will do just fine.

Jackie Robinson is card #42 on the Topps Living Set, and was an easy choice for me to add to my collection.

My favorite old school team is the Brooklyn Dodgers, and I'll watch, or read, almost anything that I can on that magnificent team of the 1940s/50s, especially the 1955 Brooklyn team that won the 1955 World Series.

When the Ken Burns Baseball shows up on MLB Network, I make sure to tape the episodes about the Dodgers, and Jackie, even though I've seen them hundreds of times.

Have a great Sunday, and thanks again for taking time out of your day to stop and read my blog, I greatly appreciate it. 

Play BALL! ⚾

Football Card Friday... 1993 Upper Deck Mark Brunell

On Thursday it was announced that my Detroit Lions had hired former Pro Bowl quarterback Mark Brunell to be the teams QB coach under new Lions Head Coach Matt Campbell, a move that certainly surprised me.

(Photo from Detroit Lions Twitter Page Today, 1/29/21). 

As I was going through some cards, I came across Brunell's 1993 Upper Deck RC, #91, and, thus, it's this week's pick for Football Card Friday! 

Mark Brunell is a legend in Jacksonville, where, for the past eight years, he's been the head coach at Episcopal High School, taking the program to unprecedented heights , including guiding the Eagles to the teams first ever playoff win in 2019.

The former 5th round pick of the Green Bay Packers in 1993 came to Jacksonville in 1995 as the Jags became an the 30th franchise in NFL History.

I had the good luck to meet Mark Brunell at the Avenues Mall in JAX, where I was working at Chick Fil-A, and, on a lunch break, took a picture down to have him sign...he was the Jaguars backup QB at the time, behind Steve Burlein....their was, I believe, one person ahead of me in line. 

For the first five years, 1995-99, I had season tickets, and saw every Jags home game, including, the last game of 1995, a win against the Original Cleveland Browns, who's head coach was a guy named Bill Belichek.

I also had the pleasure of watching Brunell and the Jags pummel the Miami Dolphins non a playoff game in 1999...a 62-7 victory...and, the last football game of future HOF QB, Dan Marino.

It was also Jimmy Johnson's final game as a head coach in the NFL.

 

My photo skills continue to be very poor, from a horrible cell phone...I need one of those scanner things.

I saw this card was selling for a whopping $12 on Amazon, but, I'm not selling! 

Have a great weekend, as we prepare for  Super Bowl Sunday in 9 days.

Play Ball! 🏈

2021 Topps Card #1

Topps revealed the 2021 Series One Baseball Card #1 on MLB Tonight on Thursday, with the very talented Fernando Tatis, Jr. voted in by the fans, over many talented ballplayers, like Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Gerrit Cole, and, of course, Matthew Boyd. 

I always wait until I'm holding the cards until I comment on their appearance, and I'll do that again, waiting the couple of weeks until February  10th, when packs are available. 

Now, with the use of my tablet, the card is much nicer looking than it was seeing it on social media on my phone.

Most of the bad comments have been about how small the players name is, and those weird looking bars on the left. 

            The Topps 70th Anniversary logo is pretty good. 

                          🤔 What are your thoughts  on Tatis as Card #1?

                                What about the look of the card?

                             What player(s) are you looking to collect from 2021 Topps Series One? 

Of course, no matter what, I'll still collect all the Detroit Tigers cards, and, of course, as many cards of Matthew Boyd as I can acquire.

Play Ball! ⚾️

Tigers Card Tuesday... 1969 Topps World Series Card #168

Today is National Spouses Day in America.

😘 Every day is awesome when you're together with your favorite person, right? 

🐯 For this week's Tiger Card Tuesday! I thought it would be an appropriate day to show off one of my favorite "couples cards"

1969 brought us Tigers fans extra cards to collect after the club won the World Series the year before, beating the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 7, 4-1.

Mickey Lolich won Game 7 on just two days rest, winning his 3rd game of the Series, and clinching the World Series MVP.

👉Did you know? 🤔

🐯⚾ Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan hold the Big League record for most starts by a pitcher and catcher?

3️⃣2️⃣4️⃣ From 1964-75, the Tigers duo started 324 games as pitcher and catcher.

For me, this stat, plus their many other on field accomplishments, is more than enough to have both elected by the HOF Veteran's Committee one day.

My 1969 Topps World Series card has a nice autograph on it! 

Enjoy your Tuesday, and thanks for stopping by to read my blog. 

Play Ball! 🐯⚾

My 2021 Big League HOF Ballot

Tuesday night the newly selected members of the Baseball Hall of Fame will be revealed, and, as I try to do every year, I vote as if I actually had a BBWAA vote (which I should). 

🗝️ If you've read this blog enough, then you know my disdain for steroids abusers, so, don't expect any votes for anyone named Bonds, Clemens, Ramirez, Pettitte, or Sheffield.

❌ No analytics are used in the selections of players.

I've watched baseball for 55 years, I know how the game is played, and I don't need someone telling me that a guys has a great xWOBA, BABIP, or, the most infamous analytical stat of all, WAR. 

⚾ The Veterans Committee needs to elect Lou Whitaker, Dale Murphy, Jim Kaat, Tony Olivia, Tommy John, and, yes, Bill Freehan. 

🗳️ My HOF Ballot looks like this.

OK, no HOF Ballot is perfect, of course, but, as I've said in the past, I've watched a lot of baseball games in my life, and that's what matters.

Todd Helton is a HOF baseball player.

I'm hoping that Larry Walker getting elected last year will help Helton, because he was a truly great ballplayer, and playing for the Rockies just shouldn't be a factor.

👉 MLB decided to put a team in Denver, and that can't be the fault of players drafted, or traded, to play for the Rockies. 

🗻🗻 Todd Helton smacked 592 doubles.

Only 18 players have collected more two baggers than Helton. 

👉 Home runs, runs batted in, batting average, runs scored, wins, ERA, strikeouts, games played, All-Star selections, they all matter more than anything Statcast can ever tell me.

It's not that analytics don't have a use, but they can't tell you everything about a player, and they aren't infallible.

🤬 If Bonds, or Clemens, or Sheffield ever make it into the Hall, they need to be put into their own wing of the Hall, and their plaques should never be in the same area of Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Tris Speaker, or Sandy Koufax...call it the Jose Candeco Steroid HOF Wing.

🤔 If you had a ballot, who gets your vote? 

Make your case for a player...that didn't do steroids... that's a dead end.

The theory's that the majority of players during the steroids era were users is absurd, that's simply not true.

Saying that puts players like Biggio, Bagwell, Griffey, Edgar and Pedro Martinez, Jeter, Walker, etc., all in the same basket, it's just ridiculous.

Have a great week, and, as always, thanks for stopping by. 

 Play BALL! ⚾

Tigers Card Tuesday... 1987 Donruss "The Rookie" Mike Hennemam

Today's edition of Tigers Card Tuesday! comes to us courtesy of an article that I read today in the Sporting News.

Mike Hennemam is probably the most forgotten closer in Tigers history, even though his 154 career saves are the second most, behind only Todd Jones. 

🐯⚾ This post is being cut short because I'm not feeling well.

I've been trying all day to write this, but I just can't get through it. 

My apologies. 

Play Ball! 

Football Card Friday... 2020 Panini Illusions Tom Brady

This week's Football Card Friday! was originally scheduled as last week's FCF post, timed for the start of the NFL playoffs, however, I was having such horrible back pain that I had to stop everything blogging for a few days.

Tom Brady led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a win over the Washington Football Team last Saturday night, and this week they travel to face the New Orleans Saints.

Saints QB Drew Brees has led N.O. over Brady and the Bucs twice this year, and I'm hoping that Tom can find more magic this weekend and advance to the NFC Championship Game next weekend.

Tom Brady posted this on his social media.

The two future HOFers first met on the football field at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, while Brady was the QB at Michigan, and Brees was the signal caller at Purdue.

💛💙🏈 Brady and the Wolverines ended the Boilermakers 10 game winning streak. 

➡️ If you're not following the former Michigan QB on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, well, what're you waiting for?

This is the card that was delayed by a week.

The photo above is from the seller, the two photos below are from my camera.

2020 Panini Illusions #1 Tom Brady Blue Parallel

This card is fantastic...that blue background makes the card standout, and I absolutely fell in love with it when I saw it.

I'm hoping to add all of Brady's cards from this year in his Tampa Bay uniform...and...how awesome will it be when Tom and the Bucs break out those beautiful old school Swashbuckling Unis from the 1970s/80s!

Those unis will make for some very cool football cards. 

🤔 Who are you rooting for in the NFC playoffs?

🤔 The AFC?

🤔 What's the last football card you've added to your collection?

Have a great weekend, and, as always, thanks for stopping by to read my blog.

Play Ball! 🏈🇺🇸💯

Tigers Card Tuesday... Topps Living Set Graded GEM MINT 10 Matt Boyd

Today's Tigers Card Tuesday! is a first for me.

I actually bought a graded baseball card.

Not just any baseball card.

  2019 Topps Living Set #129, Matthew Boyd

I just couldn't pass up bidding on a PSA Gem Mint 10 of my guy! 

I'm not a graded card collector, although I do have a few, from winning a couple, to having a few graded cards sent to me by fellow collectors, like the 1955 Bowman Al Kaline that Collecting Cutch sent me.

➡️ Boyd Binder card count-  155

      🐯⚾ Matthew Boyd cards- 124

      

🔟 Are you a graded card collector?

Do you collect graded cards of a certain player, or team? 

Thanks for taking time to read my blog, I really appreciate it. 

Have a great week...Yeah BOYD! 

Tigers Card Tuesday... 2018 Bowman Prospects Isaac Paredes

Monday it was announced that Detroit Tigers 3rd Baseman Isaac Paredes had won the Mexican Eastern League Batting Championship this year, and I figured the news made for a good Tigers Card Tuesday!

Paredes was obtained by the Tigers in a trade with the Cubs a few years ago, and the young man from Hermosillo, Mexico made his big league debut on August 17, 2020 , at age 21.

The kid 3rd sacker got his first base hit and RBIs against the White Sox, and then, a few days later, in Grand Fashion, Isaac hit his first career HR.

We'd sure like to see more of this in the Motor City in 2021! 

For some reason, and I don't really know how I got them, I've come across a few of Paredes 2018 Bowman Prospects cards going through boxes over the last few months, and the news of him playing well in Winter Ball is certainly good news to us fans.

Paredes is certain to be the Opening Day starter at 3rd Base, unless, in some unforeseen turn of events, the Tigers haul in a corner power hitting 1st Baseman, which would almost certainly mean that Jemier Candelario would go back to the Hot Corner.

🥇🥈🥉 Jason Beck, who covers the Tigers for MLB.com, wrote this article on the best seasons ever by position. 

A certain hero of mine made the list, as he should have.

🐯⚾ In other Tigers news, the ball club signed veteran back up catcher Dustin Garneau. 

Of course, since I hadn't heard of him I had to head over to his TCBD page to see his cards.

Definetily his cards are worthy of the Catchers Card Binder.

He probably won't get any Tigers cards unless it's from Topps Update, bit that's fine.

Thanks for taking time to read my blog, it's much appreciated.

Have a terrific week...Play BALL! ⚾