Super Sunday, 2021

Today is Super Bowl Sunday, the 55th annual clash between the AFC and NFC Champions.

For me, well, I'm old, and this will be my 52nd as a fan, (I missed the first three), and, as I have the previous 9 times, I'll be cheering on my favorite football player, Tom Brady.

The 43 year old former Michigan QB continues to defy all the odds of age and sports performance, playing better than young QBs nearly half his age.

I first saw Brady play in person at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando following his Junior year at UM, as the Wolverines defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks.

That year Brady began his two years as the Michigan signal caller, leading the Wolverines to a 10-3 record.

In 1999, his Senior year, Brady led the Maize & Blue to a 10-2 record, including wins over Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Alabama in the Orange Bowl.

20-5 as a starter, including a 2-0 record in bowl games, Brady was the clear leader on that team, even though Head Football Coach Lloyd Carr was forced to play young phenom Drew Henson.

Win, or lose, Tom Brady is my guy.

Here's my Top 5 All-Time Quarterbacks.

Tom Brady

Johnny Unitas

Joe Montana

Otto Graham

Peyton Manning.

Who you rooting for today?

Give me your Top 5 QBs.

Have a great Sunday, and, as always, LET'S GO! 

PLAY BALL! 🏈 

Schoop, There It Is!

The Detroit Tigers have resigned 2nd Baseman Jonathan Schoop to a one year deal to return to the squad in 2021.

The 8 year big league veteran played in just 44 games for Detroit last year before getting hurt, batting .278, w/ 8 HRs, and 23 RBIs while playing nearly flawlessly in the field (.994%).

🐯 The Tigers position players should look like this, at least for now.

DH- Miguel Cabrera

1st Base- Jemier Candelario

2nd Base- Schoop

SS- Willie Castro/Niko Goodrum

3B- Isaac Paredes

OF- Jacoby Jones/Christin Stewart/Daz Cameron/Victor Reyes

With Schoop resigned, it looks as if Goodrum will have to battle the young Castro for the starting shortstop job, but Niko is a terrific all around player, and he'll definitely figure in on the teams success this year.

Have a terrific Friday night...Play BALL! 🐯⚾

Wear Red Day, 2021

As I was ready though my blog roll this morning, our friend Collecting Cutch reminded us that today is National Wear Red For Women Day.

I absolutely needed to post about this because our Heart Health is obviously very important, and we bloggers can, and should, help bring awareness to causes that relate to our health and well being.

You can donate here. 

My #1 adult celebrity crush has been #1 for over 30 years.

Kathie Gifford has been on my radar since she was the original "La La" singer on "Name that Tune!" in the late 1970s, when she was Kathie Lee Johnson, but it was on Live! With Regis & Kathie Lee that started my decades long crush on the beautiful singer, songwriter, actor, and TV host.

Of course, being married to the great Frank Gifford didn't hurt.

Cutch, of course, always finds cards of his favorite ballplayer, Andrew McCutchen, to show off on his posts, and, so, heck, why don't we all get involved by posting RED Baseball Cards of our favorite players as well! 

My guy Matthew Boyd doesn't have the number of cards that a lot of players do, but he does have a few RED Baseball Cards.

2020 Panini Prizm Red Donut Circles #199

The cards are #/99, as I found out on his TCDB page.

This last card of Matthew Boyd is one that I hadn't seen before, and I'm definitely going to have to add it to the Boyd Binder.

I hope to see more Red Baseball Card posts today ye olde blogosphere today.

Have a terrific weekend, and, heck, always remember to hug your loved ones...Play BALL! 

Happy Baseball Birthday! ... Norman Rockwell

This is a late night Happy Baseball Birthday! post as I've just found out that the great American painter, Norman Rockwell, was born on this date, February 3rd, in 1884.

For me, the paintings that I'll always remember seeing growing up were of our National Pastime, the great game of baseball.

I can only imagine how cool it was as a young fan, waiting for the "Saturday Evening Post"to get delivered so you could see the awesome paintings that Mr. Rockwell would come up with.

Hope y'all had a terrific Wednesday, and are staying warm, and dry out there...I had a good visit to my doctor at the Battle Creek VA today.

Play BALL! ⚾🎨🖼️

Tigers Card Tuesday/Happy Baseball Birthday!...Matt Boyd

Today is February 2nd, a day that all of America looks forward to...it's, of course, the Happy Baseball Birthday! of the the one, and only, Matthew Boyd. 

It's also Tigers Card Tuesday! , a first time combo on the blog, and fit for my favorite Tigers pitcher.

The lefty hurler for my beloved ball club turns 30 years young, and kicks of a fabulous month of Tigers Birthdays, including the awesome triumvirate of myself (19th), Justin Verlander (20th), and HOFer Alan Trammell (21st).

Have a great Tuesday, and, as always, thank you for stopping by to read ye olde Baseball Blog.

Play Ball! 🐯⚾🎂🎁

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! ⚾