Wowza. What a week. Thank goodness it's Saturday... which means another This Week in Blogging post. Let's do this...
#1: The Kissing Bandit
Last Sunday, Nick over at n j w v wrote about his October TTM's returns which ranged from Len Randle to Brett Butler. But one performer stood above all others...
1990 Pucko Utica Blue Sox #27
If you watched baseball during the 80's, then you're probably familiar with The Kissing Bandit. A few years ago, I saw a documentary on her which inspired me to track down this team set containing her rookie card.
I'm so tempted to ask Nick for her address, since it only took her a few weeks to sign and return the custom card he created of her. If you haven't seen it, it's pretty darn cool. Just click here.
#2: Mr. Question Mark
On Monday, Brian over at Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary wrote a great post on Ben Grieve, who was a highly touted prospect in the Oakland A's organization since they used their #2 pick in the 1994 MLB Draft on him.
1998 Flair Showcase Wave of the Future #3
1999 Topps Chrome New Breed Refractor #NB11
1999 Topps Gallery Gallery of Heroes #GH8
Brian pointed out that the 1997 Minor League Player of the Year was well on his way to becoming a MLB star, before being traded to Tampa Bay. And as an A's fan who chased Grieve cards back in the 90's, I completely concur. His post inspired me to dig through boxes to find a few of my favorite inserts of the 1998 American League Rookie of the Year.
#3: One Franchise Players
I've always had a deep appreciation for athletes who were able to stay with one franchise their entire career. Earlier in the week, Kerry wrote a post about two Cardinals fan favorites... Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina... and the possibility that baseball fans might end up seeing them wearing different jerseys next year.
2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites Autographs #FFA-MNO
Mike Norris is the only Oakland Athletic to play ten or more seasons without wearing another MLB team's jersey.
1988 Fleer #582
Kerry... I'm crossing my fingers and hoping Yadi and Waino stay put in St. Louis and wrap up their careers there, because one franchise players are slowly becoming a dying breed.
#4: Way More than Toys
Whenever I see a blog post about a Kenner SLU card, I get excited. They're right up there with Sports Illustrated for Kids, Denny's holograms, and Topps Magazine cards in regards to interesting 90's oddball issues.
Yesterday, Peter over at Baseball Every Night showed off his 1993 Kenner SLU Kruk. I figured I'd share my Nolan Ryan from the same year. Technically Kruk was in the regular series... while this particular Ryan came out of the extended series.
#5: Rare Moment in History
2012 Topps #165
Last Sunday, Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks beat the San Francisco 49ers 37-27 at CenturyLink Field.
2005 Topps #431
Four days later Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers beat them at Levi Stadium... 34-17. Can't remember the last time my two favorite teams beat one of my least favorite teams in back to back weeks... let alone within a span of five days.
Wilson and Rodgers combined to throw 8 touchdown passes and zero interceptions. In regards to football... it was a pretty good week for me.
#6: Number 46
2008 Topps Campaign #C08-JB
And as the votes continue to roll in... it was a pretty good week for this guy as well.
Well that wraps up another TWiB post. Here are your questions of the day...
Do you remember Morganna, The Kissing Bandit?
Who are some of your favorite professional athletes who played for only one franchise?
Who is/are your favorite football team(s)?
Happy Saturday and sayonara!
15 comments:
That stained glass Grieve is awesome. I didn't realize that so few players had stayed with the A's or Padres. I definitely take note of current one-franchise players like Wainwright, Molina, Ryan Zimmerman, Clayton Kershaw, and Buster Posey. And of course Dustin Pedroia :)
Kenner SLU cards are great. One of these days I'm going to feed my inner child and buy some more figures.
This has certainly been a refreshing week-from the Packers game to the Presidential election. Nice to see the Seahawks beat San Fran, too.
I was curious...I could think of two Mets who fit your criteria of 10 seasons with the team and never playing for another team: Ed Kranepool and David Wright. Turns out there's one more: longtime backup catcher Ron Hodges played 12 seasons with the team, only once getting into more than 80 games. Yet he still had more WAR than Kranepool!
Three other Mets came very close: Cleon Jones played 12 seasons with the Mets and then played 12 games with the White Sox; Craig Swan played 12 seasons with the Mets and then wrapped up his career with all of 2 games with the Angels; and John Stearns spent 11 years with the Mets after playing exactly 1 game (2 plate appearances and one inning behind the plate) with the Phillies. I wonder how many guys there are like that who spent 10 years with one team and had a very short-term stop.
I'm a Giants and Jets fan, which makes it really inconvenient for me that this is one season where I'm home for every game (and I'm not on Singapore time). But nothing will upset me on this very, very glorious day...when my Northwestern Wildcats won a thriller over Nebraska!
(OK, that's not the MAIN reason it's a glorious day.)
Yes. Vaguely.
Mike Schmidt
Eagles
Lots of good stuff here Fuji! That Norris card is great.
I seem to recall a morganna and steve garvey interaction during a dodger game.
Bill Russell (dodgers) and dave Taylor (kings) both played for one franchise during the height of my fandom, and I also appreciated players like yaz, bench, brett, yount, and Puckett doing the same.
I currently follow the Vikings but have in past cheered for the rams, jaguars, Washington, saints, and jets.
1. Of course I remember Morganna. I believe she was on This Week in Baseball highlights a number of times.
2. Any Dodger who played their whole career for the Dodgers is my favorite. The other guys to do it don't matter. They're not Dodgers.
3. The Bills. When I was a kid, I rooted (very casually) for the Oilers.
Not only do I remember Morganna, I saw her at an Orioles game once.
I have no idea who Morganna is. I have to say Jeter, Bernie, and Rivera for guys who played whole career in Yankees uniform. There are quite a lot of others, but I'll be partial to those three since I witnessed it. As for football, the Bengals. Sad.
Awesome Gallery of Heroes
Haha thanks for the shoutout. Last month was probably the best month in terms of interesting returns I've every had.
I've been tempted to try and get 8x10s signed of the Giants 10-year, only-Giants guys. Had Robby Thompson and Jim Davenport back in the day. Would need to add Scott Garrelts and Matt Cain to have the full set so far.
And I no longer follow football but the 1980s-mid-1990s 49er teams from my youth still absolutely resonate with me.
1.Yes 2.Brooks Robinson,Jim Palmer and Cal Ripken. 3.Minnesota Vikings.Question -You have lived in the bay area all your life and the 49ers (5 SB wins)are one of your least favorite teams?
Of course I remember Morgana! She's as 1980s baseball as it gets. Not a football fan. And though I care not for Ripken or Jeter, I like them only because they played for a long time with one franchise. And I like all players that do that, too.
chris - yeah i'm a huge fan of those gallery of heroes inserts. i'm sure there are at least a few more that didn't meet the 10 year requirement
brett alan - had you asked me, i would have known wright, but not the others. absolutely saddens me when a player leaves and plays only a handful of games with another team.
elliptical man - nice call on schmidt. i root for the eagles at least twice a year (when they play the cowboys) plus i always liked cunningham and mcnabb
gcrl - i think i remember seeing a yt video of morganna and garvey. the vikings are one of those 3rd tier teams that i don't like... right behind the 49ers/cowboys (1st tier) and bears (2nd tier)
runfore!kelloggs - lol. ryne dodged her? or security got to her first?
night owl - i'm sure you're right. i feel like i can hear mel allen talking about her.
npb card guy - cal is one lucky guy and such a good sport. thanks for sharing the link to that post. didn't realize you had another blog
the lost collector - pretty sure the yankees have by far the most one franchise players in the history of baseball. you're the third bengals fan i've come across in the hobby
sport card collectors - yeah. they were quite the inserts back in the day
nick vossbrink - so glad they gave cain the opportunity to stick around. and i loved that 80's giants infield with clark, uribe, brown/williams, and thompson. shame thompson was the only one they kept around for his entire career. best of luck on that project
sg488 - my entire family are huge 49er fans. i probably should have just rooted for them, but i was a rebel and rooted for their rivals the rams (and the seahawks), because my cousin keith likes them. stopped rooting for the rams when they traded dickerson away (they traded everyone away back then) and started rooting for the packers (team my parents rooted for when they met in wisconsin). rooting for the packers was my way of compromising with my parents. even though they had become diehard 49ers fans, they still casually rooted for the packers
peter k. steinberg - yeah, it's such cool thing when a player spends their entire career with one team. things have to be perfect, because it's a two way street. both the team and the player have to see eye to eye
1990s inserts were so “psychedelic”. Such a unique sign of the times. Wish I would have collected more back then as a lot of this inserts go for big $$$!
sumomenkoman - while there are a few inserts that have soared... most haven't appreciated over the years. the past twelve years i've filled my hall of fame binders with insert cards found in dime and quarter bins.
I'm a Denver Broncos guy but I don't have anywhere near as much interest in the NFL as I do in baseball.
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