Bay Area sports radio tends to focus on the San Francisco 49ers and the Golden State Warriors most of the year... but this past week... baseball got a chance to shine.
2020 Topps Opening Day Ballpark Profile Autographs #BPA-RBM
The week started off with news that Renel Brooks-Moon and the San Francisco Giants were parting ways after failing to agree on a contract. I grew up listening to Renel on KMEL back in the 80's. In 2000, she became the Giants public address announcer. Although the split appears to be amicable, there are many Giants fans (and non-Giants fans... like me) who were very disappointed to hear this news.
2022 Topps Tier One Prime Performers Autograph #PPA-BS
At least Giants fans received some good news that same morning when it was announced that last year's NL Cy Young Award winner signed with them. Personally... I was hoping the Padres would bring him back... so this along with the Brooks-Moon announcement was a double dose of bad news.
Then on Wednesday... fans of Sports Illustrated received some good news as the company will continue operations after finding a new publisher. Back in January, Night Owl shared a link in one of his blog posts about massive layoffs over at Sports Illustrated.
After reading his post, I pulled out some of my favorite issues... scanned them... and then never got around to showing them off in a post.
Well here they are...
October 21st 1974
This issue was published right after the Oakland A's took down the Los Angeles Dodgers to win their third straight World Series title. This was sent to me in one of Too Many Verlander's care packages last year.
One of these days, I'll get around to tracking down the other two celebration issues.
Next up is Michael Jordan's first cover appearance:
November 28th 1983
I had this issue when I was a kid, but recycled it at some point. Picked up this copy in 2022 for $2 at the De Anza Flea Market.
December 1st 1986
February 18th 1991
I remember when this issue hit the stands. At the time I was still working at my LCS and the owner picked up a bunch of copies for the shop. Pretty sure that's where I got this one.
December 23rd 1991
Even though neither of these Sports Illustrated issues from 1991 are considered rare... I loved them enough to hold onto them the past thirty-three years. And they'll continue to be valued keepsakes until the day I stop collecting sports memorabilia.
The same thing can be said about these SI for Kids cards that Rod over at Padrographs sent my way:
Sports Illustrated for Kids is a little closer to my speed... plus they offer cards with every issue.
I've probably had six or seven subscriptions since the late 90's, but I missed out on almost all of the earlier cards like the stuff Rod sent me.
Although I've seen plenty of blog posts featuring this year's flagship product, today was the first time I held the product in my hands. They look awesome!
1990 SI for Kids #168
Although I have a small collection of Sports Illustrated magazines, I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of the magazine itself. I had subscriptions to it off and on throughout the 80's, but I was much more into periodicals with graphs, charts, and statistics like The Sporting News and Baseball Digest.
1991 SI for Kids #271
1991 SI for kids #278
He has actually helped fill in plenty of gaps in my SI for Kids card collection over the years. His donations involve individual cards like the ones he sent last week... to complete magazines with cards.
In addition to the SI for Kids cards, he also sent me some stuff for my Japanese baseball players, San Diego Padres, and Steve Largent collections. But I'm going to hold off on sharing that stuff for a future post.
I'll wrap up today's post with some Oakland A's cards he included in his care package:
If you follow his blog, then you know that Rod received a bunch of baseball boxes for Christmas. He generously passed along the A's he pulled which includes some really nice inserts and parallels.
He also opened up a blaster of 2024 Topps and sent me these:
Thank you Rod for another generous care package. Thank you Dennis for that World Series Sports Illustrated issue. And thank you Minute Media and Authentic Brands Group for coming to an agreement which allows Sports Illustrated to stick around a little longer. Let's just hope they will be able to hold onto as many SI employees as possible.
Happy Saturday and sayonara!
10 comments:
Old SIs are so cool. I had that hologram Jordan issue for a long time before finally parting with it when I trimmed my collection down to mostly just Angels related issues.
Those magazine are legit. A world without Sports Illustrated doesn’t even sound fathomable to my brain. And yes, the 2024 Topps is a home run for sure!!
Rod definitely made his rounds.
Early SI for Kids cards are so cool. Love seeing them!
Love seeing the old SIs - and the Mason Miller sepia refractor rookie. I just picked him up for one of my fantasy baseball leagues in which I'm competing against Dominic (Ginko-5.)
May Sports Illustrated always reign! ... Once I became a teenager, I really appreciated SI, I don't think I would have survived those mandatory library sessions in school without it. I know they were one of the contributors to me wanting to be a sports journalist.
I wish I kept all the magazines from the many times I've subscribed but I have maybe 5. As for SI cards, I prefer the '90s Fleer versions. The SI for Kids cards are OK for showing athletes who rarely get cards, but they're pretty flimsy.
I never heard of her. Did she have the same job as Duane Kuiper (at least I think it was Kuiper), but with a different radio station?
Anyway, voting for Sergei Bubka.
I never knew the Giants PA announcers name until this week, but she is one of the reasons that I enjoy watching their games. PA announcers tend to be boring, but they have good voices. I am always impressed with not only her voice, but the energy she gives off when she calls the players name. Barry Bonds is coming up, get up and get excited.
Love that Snell is on the Giants. I think he's going to be really hard to beat in that ballpark. Hoping for another Cy Young Award this season.
the angels in order - i would consider collecting older issues of si if i had more space. i think the only ones i'll actively track down for now are the 1972, 1973, and 1989 world series issues.
sumomenkoman - even though it's not my favorite sports publication... si is the first one i think of due to its legacy
johnnys trading spot - yeah. saw a couple of posts around the blogosphere featuring his care packages. speaking of care packages... i opened up all three boxes you sent me and started sorting them. your thank you post should start popping up during my spring break :)
the lost collector - i know. one of my favorite collections is my si for kids collection. they're just so hard to track down.
gtt - honestly wasn't familiar with mr. miller until today. but it looks like he's had a solid spring. good luck this season
night owl - i love the 90's fleer si sets too. and my favorite thing about the si for kids cards are the balance between males and female athletes... as well as the variety of sports cards they offer. but you're right... they are indeed flimsy.
elliptical man - although she might have been on the radio doing play by play like kuiper... i'm more familiar with her at at&t ballpark. she was the one who introduced the giants before the game and welcomed the fans. she also did the whole "now batting..." stuff for the fans in the stadium.
the snorting bull - yeah... she has a very recognizable voice (like jon miller). and yeah... snell should dominate in that park. if he does win the cy young, he's gonna be in some elite company. can't imagine there are many guys who have won the award on 3 different teams
Great stuff from Rod!
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