Challenge Accepted

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.

A week later, he tweaked the rules and turned it into a Blog Bat-Around.  Here's the challenge...

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!