30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Monday, July 1, 2019

Neighbor to the North

Six years ago, I made my first and only trip across the border into British Columbia with my parents.  We hung out the first day on Vancouver Island and at Butchart Gardens before spending the next few days in downtown Vancouver and the surrounding area.

I hope to one day go back, because the people were so nice, the food was amazing, and the hiking and scenery were fantastic.  Today our friendly neighbors to the north are celebrating Canada Day, so I figured I'd share a pair of cards related to the country:


1995 Donruss #254

Pete isn't Canadian, but he spent half of a season in Montreal back in 1984.  I've been looking to add an autograph of his to my Montreal Expos PC for quite some time.



Two weeks ago, I won this card on eBay for $15 (+ $3.70 shipping).  Whether or not you're a fan of Pete, you'll probably be entertained by what's written on the back of this card under his career highlights.  My scanner didn't do a very good job, so here's a screenshot from the same Pete on COMC:


Thirty-four years later and he's still waiting to be enshrined at Cooperstown.

The other card I picked up is this 90's hockey insert of The Great One:

1997-98 Donruss Canadian Ice National Pride #1

In regards to looks and ingenuity, this insert blows away 95% of the inserts produced by Topps or Panini... and this thing is over twenty years old.

I opened a ton of this product back in the day and pulled a few of these diecut acetate inserts, but never owned the Gretzky.


Thanks to eBay and $5.20 (+ $3.95 shipping)... I do now.  I usually try to avoid saying things like every hockey card collector should own one of these... but seriously... you might at least want to take a peek at the checklist.

Okay, here is today's question of the day:

What's your favorite Canadian sports franchise?  And who is your favorite Canadian athlete?

I'd go with the Montreal Expos as my favorite Canadian sports franchise and Patrick Marleau as my favorite Canadian athlete.

Well that's it for today.  Happy Canada Day and sayonara!

14 comments:

The Shlabotnik Report said...

It's been 20 years since I've been there, but Vancouver is a wonderful city. I always liked how you could walk the city streets, turn the corner and never be quite sure whether you'd see mountains or water or trees.

Back when the NFL had a labor stoppage in the early 1980's I watched a fair amount of Canadian Football and adopted the Edmonton Eskimos as my team, so if you'd ask me between then and about 10 years ago, I'd say it was the Esks... But now I'd have to go with the Expos.

I could probably name a half-dozen hockey players as my favorite Canadian athlete, but right now I'll lean towards curling and pick Olympic Gold Medalist Jennifer Jones.

Mike Matson said...

I've never been to Vancouver. Closest I've been is Edmonton/Calgary.
Favourite Canadian team is the Jays though I also love the Expos.
Canadian athlete....
Probably Larry Walker, though I do hold a spot for Charlie Simmer, since I went to school with his nephew and is from my hometown

Johnnys Trading Spot said...

I'd be lying if I said I knew who my favourite (candien flavour) athlete is. Probably one of those hot lady golfers, lol. All kidding aside. Larry Walker pops in mind. Just added him to my every growing PC list. Now all I have to do is comb through those dupe boxes and pull him out.

SumoMenkoMan said...

Not sure I have a favorite Canadian team, but I like me some Moosehead Beer!

Rebel Coyote said...

For favorite Canadian athlete I go for Chris Jericho and Edge

Sean said...

As a Canadian I reluctantly have to raise an objection to your use of a Gretzky card in anything but an Oilers uniform in this context. The trade that sent him south of the border is still a source of national trauma in Canada more than 30 years after it happened (I'm not exaggerating, ask any Canadian old enough to remember about this and you'll get the same reaction). I was about 11 years old at the time and was just utterly devastated by that trade, as was every other Canadian kid. It wasn't just that he was traded away from the Oilers, but that he went to an American team. Americans are totally oblivious to this but try to imagine if....if....actually I can't come up with an American analogy that would be the equivalent of this, it was that bad!

To this day I can't look at a post 1988 Gretzky hockey card and not feel a sense of sadness. If you want to make a Canadian happy, you have to pretend that the latter half of his career didn't happen and just show us cards of him during his Oilers days!

Angus said...

Sean, at almost 18 when the trade happened, I was shocked that Gretzky was traded, but didn't really care that much that he was going to a US team. I thought the media was making too much of a big deal of that aspect. I was just shocked that he wasn't going to be an Oiler anymore!

Right now, I would have to say the Saskatchewan Roughriders are my favorite Canadian sports team.

As for favorite Canadian athlete...I really dont know who I would pick right now.

night owl said...

If Joey Votto played for the Dodgers, he'd be my favorite Canadian athlete. But since that's not the case, I'll go with someone few have heard of:

Don Seale was one of the very first black players to compete for a U.S college hockey team, back in the 1950s. I did a story on him five years ago and formed a good relationship with Mr. Seale. I'm impressed with him to this day.

I don't have a favorite Canadian team. They're either in direct competition with teams I want to win (baseball, hockey) or I don't watch the sport (NBA, CFL).

Chris said...

I've always enjoyed and appreciated Canada (except when the US hockey team plays theirs) someday I'll visit again.

Favorite team-probably the Edmonton Oilers.

Favorite athletes-Steve Nash, Larry Walker, and half of the NHL :)

The Lost Collector said...

Usually my college team, Syracuse, has a decent Canadian basketball player or two, at least in recent years. So that usually gives me someone to root for from Canada.

Matt said...

I grew up a short drive from the Canadian border, and used to cross over at Niagara Falls on a yearly basis. Canada has had a deep influence on me, from music (Barenaked Ladies) and TV (Kids In The Hall) to food (poutine!) and drink (Canadian beer is better than American - there I said it.) As far as Canadian sports teams go, I'd have to go with either the defunct Expos or the Canadian Olympic Curling teams! My favorite player is probably current Sabres player Sam Reinhart.

Sean said...

I think you are definitely in the minority there, though maybe it impacted me more since I was younger, at 18 I probably wouldn't have cared as much. I sort of viewed Americans as Gretsky-nappers for a while after that (I was going to an American elementary school at the time so this was a source of tension)!

gcrl said...

I've a soft spot for the Blue Jays and most canadian teams in the nhl. Was very happy when Saskatchewan won the Grey Cup a few seasons ago. First favorite canadian athlete was Terry Puhl by virtue of finding out he was from SK from the back of his 1978 topps card. Overall favorite is probably Luuuuuuuuuuuc Robitaille who us unfortunately not included in the
1997-98 Donruss Canadian Ice National Pride checklist.

Fuji said...

the shlabotnik report - wow, nice call on vancouver. never thought of it that way, but you're right. i'm not sure how or why, but i've heard of the edmonton eskimos. didn't know who jennifer jones was until i looked her up.

mike matson - never been to edmonton or calgary, but i'd love to one day. hadn't heard of charlie simmer, but that's pretty cool that you knew his nephew

johnnys trading spot - larry walker is a solid choice. i still like adding his expos cards to my collection from time to time

sumomenkoman - not a beer guy, so i wouldn't know. in fact, the only canadian beer i'm familiar with is molson.

rebel coyote - nice. didn't realize these two guys were canadian. then again, i don't watch wrestling too much anymore. although, isn't bret hart a canadian wrestler too?

sean - sorry to stir up bad memories. i can see how that trade could be devastating to a lot of people. i wish i had a really cool pre-1988 gretzky card scanned and ready, but i don't. in fact, i probably don't have many pre-88 gretzkys in general.

angus - saskatchewan roughriders are a great team name. heck you could put practically any name with that city and sound awesome

night owl - joey votto is my favorite canadian mlb player right now. he's quite the character. as for mr. seale, i've never heard of him. but it's pretty cool that you've had the opportunity to build a relationship with the guy.

chris - i hope to return there soon as well. only half of the nhl? i wonder what percentage of nhl players were born in canada.

the lost collector - i've been rooting for syracuse the past two years. one of my former students is going to be a junior this upcoming year. every time she comes back to the bay area i get new syracuse gear.

matt - oh man... i had a buddy who loved kids in the hall when we were younger. i was more of a degrassi guy. you're the 2nd or 3rd person to mention curling. one of these days i'm going to start following it

gcrl - bummer that robitaille wasn't included in the set. i had the opportunity to watch him place a few times back in the 90's against my beloved sharks.