Baseball Bulletin... July 25, 2017

It's been some time since I last made a Baseball Bulletin post...it seemed as if every time I started to write any blog post my bad health rared up and stopped me from finishing, so, I'm hoping this one gets finished.



Last night may have been Justin Verlander's last start in a Detroit Tigers uniform, and maybe that's why I'm posting today...I can't wrap my head around Verlander pitching for any other team than my Tigers.

For 12 years Verlander has been there for us to enjoy, winning 178 games, striking out 2,317 batters, tossing 2 no-hitters, winning the 2011 Cy Young Award and Most Valuable Player Award, while leading our boys from Motown to 2 American League pennants, in 2006 and in 2012.


If last night was his final start wearing the Olde English D, I wish JV the best, and will continue to follow him wherever he goes.


At times I write about baseball cards here on the blog, so why not add my favorite JV card...

...his 2012 Topps Series 2 Short Print... JV's holding two baseball's, one for each of his 2 No-Hitters.



Here are a few other things going on across the baseball world that I've come across...

➽  Speaking of my guy Justin Verlander, Marlowe Alter of the Detroit Free Press has the 20 Best Detroit Athletes right now.


➽ My favorite new player in baseball is... Johnny Field, a outfielder in the Tampa Bay Rays organization... how can you NOT like a ballplayer named Johnny FIELD!

I'm now in need of a Johnny Field baseball card...absolutely!

➽ Michael Clair had a great piece over at Cut 4 on old bullpen cars.


➽ T.M. Detwier of The Washington Post asks you how many of the 30 big league ballparks you've been too.


➽ Ben Linderg at The Ringer on how the baseballs are juiced this season.


➽ I love watching 12:25 With Alexa. a terrific 35 minute show from mlb.com that I watch LIVE on my Facebook page Monday thru Friday at 12:25 pm.



Oh, and why not, if last night was Justin Verlander's last start as a Tigers pitcher, here's a picture that I love, of Justin and his finance Kate Upton.

Well, that'll do it for now...until next time...PLAY BALL!

Topps National Baseball Card Day Checklist

Watching the Go GTS Live show last week I found the link to the checklist of the set of cards that will be given out by Topps on National Baseball Card Day on August 12th.

The only Detroit Tigers player in the set is RHP Justin Verlander.

All participating local baseball card shops will hand out FREE packs of cards, and any collector purchasing $10 or more at the card store will receive a special Mike Trout card.


The Trout card is card makes the set 30 cards...one for each big league ball club, but to get the Trout card you must make a purchase.

There are 11 autographed cards that are possible to pull, including, of course, the Yankees superstar rookie Aaron Judge.



Contact your local card shop for details.

Play Ball!

Jason Kendall and Bob Walk the Plank

My fellow baseball fan and blogger Matthew over at Bob Walk the Plank wrote a terrific piece on former  Pirates catcher, Jason Kendall.




It's a well thought out post on how Kendall has some of the best action shots on his baseball cards, and, well, because Blogger doesn't let me post a photo in the comments section,  I wanted to post about how I liked watching Kendall play baseball...being a guy who loves big league backstops...and post my favorite Jason Kendall card in my collection.

I know, its a relic card, not a action card, but it's a card called Gamers Lumber, and I pulled it out if a pack of 2000 Fleer Gamers, and, well, Kendall was a good hitting catcher, and I thought it was awesome that he was in the set...even though Jason only hit 75 HRs in his career.




Another reason why I always liked Jason is that he's a 2nd generation big league catcher...and I remember watching his Dad, Fred Kendall, also a catcher, who played in the 1970s, mostly with the San Diego Padres...he only smacked 31 dingers in the big leagues.


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If you're a Pirates fan, or a card collector, head over to BWTP and check out Matthew's blog.



PLAY BALL!

WIN a Aaron Judge Autographed Card

He's been the biggest slugger of the baseball card season in 2017, and now you have a chance to win an Aaron Judge  2016 Topps Certified Autographed refractor card from 2016 Bowman's Best.



                           



Blowout BUZZ has a contest running through July 15th , so head over to their site for your chance at a beautiful autographed card of the clear front runner for the American League MVP.




Judge has powered the Yankees into the surprise team in the first half of the baseball season, batting .326, smashing 27 home runs, with 62 runs batted in, as the Pinstripers are only 1 game behind the Red Sox in the A.L. Eastern Division as we start the month of July.




So, head over to Blowout BUZZ before July 15th to get entered into this awesome contest.



PLAY BALL!