Back in February, Chris over at Nachos Grande challenged himself to come up with a list of his favorite games with one tiny catch. The names of these games had to start with the appropriate letter in the name of his blog.
Take the letters in your blog's title and pair each letter with a baseball player that you like. Feel free to use either first or last names when pairing your letters.
I enjoyed reading several bloggers' response posts, but haven't had time to hammer out one myself. Well... I've been slowly adding names and scans to this post and I'm finally ready to reveal my first BBA contribution of 2023.
However I tweaked things a little myself. Since my card collection isn't only focused on baseball, I opened it up to all sports. So sit back, relax, and see enjoy my response to The Alphabet Challenge...
T: Tony Gwynn
1998 Paramount Fielder's Choice #14
Tony has been my favorite athlete for most of my card collecting history. It's fitting that he kicks off this post.
H: Rickey Henderson
1981 Fleer #574
Henderson was my favorite baseball player before Gwynn. If only he hadn't gotten traded to the New York Yankees on December 5, 1984.
E: Ed Reed
2002 Topps Chrome Refractor #208
There are two E's in my blog title. One was a no-brainer. The other was a tough call.
Ed came down to a last minute audible. Eckersley was originally in this slot, but ultimately I swapped him out for one of the most exciting football players in the history of the game. The other E that I considered was Eddie Jones of the Lakers.
C: Steve Carlton
1983 Topps #70
Carlton was my favorite pitcher growing up and this card has been treasured for forty years.
H: Tim Hardaway
1990 Fleer Rookie Sensation #8
Hideo Nomo was the first "H" person that came to mind, but I moved him into another slot during the final revision of this post.
Hardaway was one of my favorite non-Lakers from my childhood and I'm a little ashamed that he didn't come to mind until right before I published this post.
R: Jackie Robinson
1997 All-Star Fan Fest Tribute to Jackie Robinson #5
I've had a deep admiration for Jackie Robinson for as long as I can remember. I only wish that I had started collecting his cards before the late 2000's.
O: Shaquille O'Neal
1999-00 Skybox E-X E-Xceptional #12XC
Not gonna lie... it feels weird having O'neal in this post when he isn't even in my Top 5 Los Angeles Lakers of all-time. But he's in the Top 10.
N: Hideo Nomo
1996 Upper Deck V.J. Lovero Showcase #VJ2
Nomo was the first Japanese athlete I can remember actively collecting. Sorry Lynn Sakata.
I: Ichiro Suzuki
2008 UD Masterpieces #81
When I returned to the hobby in 2008, Ichiro was one of the first baseball players I started chasing. Fifteen years later, I'm just as excited to add a new card of his to my binder as I was back then.
C: Steve Caballero
2019 Goodwin Champions 3D Lenticular #LB-SC
There's an outside chance I'm overlooking another athlete out there whose name starts with a "C"... but Caballero came to me early and I didn't even bother thinking about anyone else.
L: Steve Largent
1990 Action Packed #254
The third or fourth no-brainer on this list. Largent is my favorite football player of all-time.
E: Earvin "Magic" Johnson
1986-87 Fleer #53
The Showtime Lakers were the reason I became a Lakers fan in the 80's. They were super fun to watch... and Earvin was a huge part of that.
S: Kurt Suzuki
2012 Sega Card-Gen #J12-129
I'm sure glad there was an "S" in the title of my blog, otherwise I might have to rename it: The Khronicles of Fuji. Heck... I'm debating changing it for Kobe.
O: Shohei Ohtani
2018 SI for Kids #735
Yup. I'm definitely on the Ohtani bandwagon and I'm crossing my fingers he'll be a San Diego Padre in 2024. I'd rather see him in an Oakland jersey, but we know that won't be happening in my lifetime.
F: Brett Favre
1997 Green Bay Packers Police #4
Favre was my favorite football player throughout the 90's and most of the 2000's. And over the past few years, he's reclaimed the title of being my all-time favorite Green Bay Packer.
F: Jeff Friesen
2000-01 Topps Chrome Refractors #124
My all-time favorite San Jose Shark doesn't qualify for this post, but Friesen is a nice consolation prize as he's easily in the Top 5.
I thought about using Fernando Tatis Jr. and Mr. Fuji, but I've already picked eight baseball players for this post and Mr. Fuji was never considered my favorite wrestler.
U: Kanako Urai (Asuka)
2018 Topps WWE Women's Divison Champions #WC-15
On the other hand, Asuka is the only wrestler I really follow these days and her real name happens to fill the only letter I was seriously struggling with.
Before Urai... I was gonna use either Bob Uecker or The Undertaker. Both of these guys would have been a huge stretch.
J: Michael Jordan
1999-00 UD MVP Sample #S1
Jordan is one of my favorite player collections... even if I rarely write about it. He's also another consolation prize since I'm not able to use my all-time favorite basketball player: Kobe Bryant.
I: Arturs Irbe
1995-96 Parkhurst Goal Patrol #10
This post literally took me several weeks to write... and over that time Irbe was the only "I" name I considered. I'm sure there's another athlete I'm overlooking, so if you think of any... leave them down in the comment section below.
Heck... if you there were any athletes you thought I'd use for this Blog Bat-Around that I missed, let me know.
Here are four that I wanted to use, but couldn't because their names don't fit my blog title:
1. Kobe Bryant
2. Greg Maddux
3. Patrick Marleau
4. Kristi Yamaguchi
And here are a few other athletes that were candidates that were eventually cut from the list:
1. Fernando Tatis Jr.
2. Eddie Jones
3. Byron Scott
4. Joe Sakic
5. Devin Setoguchi
6. Aaron Rodgers
7. James Lofton
8. Russell Wilson
9. Ricky Steamboat
Alright... I'm pretty confident that I left a few of my favorites out. If you think of any, let me know in the comments.
Thank you Chris for kicking off this BBA! Sorry it took so long for me to write this post.
Happy Tuesday and sayonara!
16 comments:
Well done, now what would you have done if your blog name was super short? That would be a toughie.
Arturs Irbe. Haven't heard that name in a while!
Those UD Masterpieces cards are great.
I might have to give this challenge a shot. Though I'd definitely only use the main title of my blog ("Dime Boxes") because adding the subtitle ("The Low-End Collector's Journey") would really stretch that post out!
That Nomo card is weird and fantastic at the same time. Love it. Love the Caballero card too. Often toyed with the idea of starting a skateboarder collection.
Very interesting choices!
When I see challenges like this I kind of wish I could go back in time and give my blog a shorter name.
What a fantastic post and such a fun mix of athletes from multiple sports. I love everything about this! Thanks for participating!
Great choices of both names and cards!
Great cards and tough challenge. I don’t think I could stick to just baseball players like the post says I would have to do like you did and choose from every sport
Matt-SCC
Was hoping for Reggie Jackson for the J but cant argue with Michael Jordan.
I love that Jordan MVP. I know not high end, but Jordan cards just feel different. Nice work on this!
I dig the inclusion of Asuka!
Fun post!
johnnys trading spot - it would have been tougher to narrow down picks... but scanning and card selection would have been easier
wax pack wonders - irbe was a legend in my book. if i would have bought a player jersey back in the early 90's... it would have been his
nick - can't wait to read it. it was fun to write... but the searching for cards and scanning took longer than expected
the angels in order - it's nice to see card companies include skaters into products. i wish someone would release a set dedicated to them in this era
sean - there are pros and cons to the length of your blog name. on one hand... more letters means more searching and scanning. on the other hand... it allows you to add more of your favorites
nachos grande - thanks for bring this baa to the blogosphere.
dennis - thank you dennis!
anonymous - had i stuck to baseball, this would have been much more challenging and there would have been questionable choices
sg488 - this is gonna sound crazy, but i have never been a huge reggie jackson guy. i mean, i collect his cards... but i collect the a's... and hall of famers.
the lost collector - yeah... i looked through a stack of jordan promos and that photo is the one that stood out
adam ryan - she saved me. uecker or the undertaker would have been a stretch.
jafronius - thanks!
Wow! 2 weeks…this was a fun post to read! Thanks!
Was expecting Bert Campaneris as One of your Considerations.
What a Kick in the Nuts that A's are moving to Vegas though I believe you'll remain a fan of the Franchise regardless.
🌱🌿🍀🍃🌳
sumomenkoman - these days it seems like every post is a multi-week process.
xavier higgins - completely dropped the ball on campaneris. although... i'm not sure he would have bumped caballero and lefty trumps both of them. as for the a's leaving... i'm totally bummed, but will continue to root for them.
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