I believe we're all entitled to our own opinions... which is why earlier in the week I was entertained by Goose Gossage and his thoughts on Jose Bautista. However... just because I have fond memories of Goose and tend to be a little old school myself... doesn't mean I agree with him.
2004 Topps Retired Signatures #GG
Fact: Gossage is not amused with Mr. Bautista and his iconic bat flip.
Opinion: Gossage got a little carried away with his rant.
Growing up... Gossage was always one of my favorite relief pitchers and had one of the most recognizable mustaches in baseball. He also possessed a powerful arm that he used to strike out over 1,500 batters. Plus there are only a handful of guys who played for both the Oakland Athletics and San Diego Padres during their hall of fame careers and he's one of them.
2013 Topps Five Star Autographs #JB
Fact: On 10/14/15, Bautista hit a home run and flipped his bat.
Opinion: On 10/14/15, Bautista hit the biggest home run of his career and produced one of the most iconic bat flips ever.
As a lifelong baseball fan... I'm a firm believer that players should respect the game and their opponents. However... I also understand that the game is changing and evolving. Instant replay is now part of the game. And now there's this "slide" rule.
To expect every single player to act in the same "old school" manner is not realistic. Players evolve... and so do their celebrations. As long as a player isn't going out of their way to show up the opposing team, I don't seen anything wrong with it. Pitchers are allowed to pump their fists and talk to themselves on the mound. Batters should be allowed to flip their bats.
Collectors change and evolve too. For the past few years, many of us have gotten used to Mr. Hoyle's epic vintage care packages. But did you know that he also possesses modern cardboard as well?
Here's a look at a few cards I picked out of his care package for today's "fact vs. opinion" post.
1999 EX Century #116
Fact: During the 1999 season, Chavez was only 21 years old.
Opinion: 1999 EX Century is one of the coolest looking sets from the 90's.
1987 Fleer #393
Fact: On 4/12/78, Haas struck out 14 New York Yankees batters, including Reggie four straight times.
Opinion: Moose is a sweet nickname.
2013 Allen and Ginter #60
Fact: Cespedes purchased a Grand Champion hog last month.
Opinion: Cespedes is awesome, but bacon is more awesome.
2001 Bowman's Best #95
Fact: Zito was the only member of the "Big 3" to win a Cy Young Award.
Opinion: Zito is cool, because he surfs and once jammed with Metallica.
2015 Stadium Club #83
Fact: Doolittle enters the Coliseum rocking out to Metallica's For Whom The Bell Tolls.
Opinion: Doolittle has the best beard in baseball.
2015 Topps Opening Day #94
Fact: The A's have announced that Gray will be their 2016 Opening Day starting pitcher.
Opinion: Gray looks young enough to still be in high school.
1986 Donruss All-Stars #57
Fact: Howell was selected to two MLB All-Star Games while with the Athletics.
Opinion: Dave Stewart deserved to be on the 1987 AL All-Star Game roster more than Howell.
Well... there you have it. A bunch of trivial pieces of information... and opinions you probably could care less about. But don't worry... there's always a chance I'll evolve and change the direction of this blog.
In the meantime, I'll leave you with one last fact and opinion:
Fact: Mr. Hoyle sent a generous care package filled with Oakland Athletics.
Opinion: Mr. Hoyle is needs to hurry up and start blogging.
Thanks Mr. Hoyle for the generous Super Traders package! I should have some Red Sox for your collection in the mail in the next week or so.
Happy Sunday and sayonara!
10 comments:
Love the concept of this post - topical and fun. As for Goose, he's entitled to his opinion, but his unusually strong hatred of "nerds" and unprovoked attacks on Bautista and Cespedes were almost disturbingly bizarre.
Fact: This post was very good.
Opinion: If pitchers are also going show up the competition by banging their chests like gorillas (Gossage's celebrations were also spectacles from what I hear) after a strikeout to end the inning, then we might as well criticize everybody every time they show a single emotion.
*single positive emotion. Players are still aloud to express negative emotions like regret, anguish, angst, self-loathing and sadness.
*allowed. Stupid Zippy.
Gossage actually didn't show anything more than your average amount of emotion on the mound when he pitched -- I saw him in many games.
He went too far with some of his opinion, but there are players who go too far with their attention-getting behavior on the field, too. What we need, as usual, is a balance between getting super sensitive about every perceived slight and the preconceived showboating that I believe actually hurts the NFL -- despite what Bryce Harper thinks.
I disagree with everything that Gossage said, but I loved the interview. It was like a professional wrestler setting up his match with the "new guy." All he was missing was a feather boa and sunglasses.
Gossage just made himself sound dated. The "nerds" in the front office bit is just tired and old.
Cool post Fuji. I had claimed some A's on another blog giveaway last year just to get some trade material. Hopefully I'll get a blog up and running soon
I have mixed opinions on the bat flip-big homer in very big game-don't really care. It is bat flipping on a routine day in a routine game.
tony b - thanks. i've used the fact/opinion idea in the past. it's my goto when i'm short on creativity. as for goose... disturbingly bizarre usually equates to entertaining... which his quotes were.
zippy - don't worry. homophone mistakes (and mistakes in general) are aloud on this blog. and a little emotion is good for baseball.
night owl - tried to look up some footage of gossage on youtube and failed... but I believe you. balance is always good. i don't want to give the impression that disrespecting the opposing team and their fans are okay. i just think that players should be allowed to celebrate... and the occasional bat flip is okay (assuming the batter isn't staring at the pitcher or the opposing team's dugout).
mr. scott - great comparison. a few weeks from now... gossage's words will be in the wind and i'll go back to remembering him as a relief pitcher instead of crazy old man who hates everyone ;)
mr. hoyle - that's great news. you have so many cool cards you've shared with fellow bloggers and myself... i'd love for you to share you words with collectors as well. thanks again for the awesome package.
brady - lol. don't think you'll have to worry about that anytime soon. can't imagine a bat flip after every single home run. on the flipside... if everyone did start doing it... could you imagine how creative they'd become ;)
Great thread! I sent your care package this morning.
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