Repack Haiku #332 (Jim Neidlinger)

Another "What If?"

Never got another chance

Despite pitching well

 

1991 Fleer #215 Jim Neidlinger (RC)

 

Another instance where a player's rookie card is also his sunset card. Neidlinger pitched quite well for the Dodgers during a late call-up in 1990. He started 12 games, going 5-3 with a 3.28 ERA. The back of his Fleer card even goes so far as to call him a "Rookie sensation". However, that was it for his career. He never pitched at the big league level again. So what happened? From a 2012 blog post, it seems he was just a victim of roster construction, as the Dodgers preferred veteran pitchers in their rotation. He toiled away in the minors until 1994, after which he retired.

 

Source: http://baseballhistorian.blogspot.com/2012/05/jim-neidlinger-no-regrets.html

Blog Bat-A-Round: Wordless Post

 

 

 

In Appreciation Of Terry Francona

Lost between the season-ending retirement of certain first ballot Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera and the recent retirement of another future Hall of Famer in manager Dusty Baker, was the news that a third future Hall of Famer also decided to step down.

Terry Francona has decided to end his 11 year run as the manager of the Cleveland Indians/Guardians. Although he doesn't say he's retired - leaving the door open to remain in some capacity with the game he loves - he's done with the grueling day-to-day responsibilities of a Major League Manager.

Francona was literally born into the game of baseball. His father, Tito, played 15 years from 1956-1970, enjoying his best years in Cleveland. Terry later came up with the Montreal Expos in 1982 and played well enough to carve out a 10 year career himself.

 

2016 Topps Archives - 1985 Father-Son Recreate
#FS-FF Tito Francona/Terry Francona

  

After his playing career ended, Terry began coaching and managing in the White Sox organization. His big claim to fame during this time was in 1994, when he managed one of the biggest stars in the world,  Michael Jordan, on the Birmingham Barons squad.  

 

Image taken from Google Images

 

Terry's first chance to manage at the big league level came in Philadelphia, which was not very successful. In four years his Phillies never had a winning record or placed higher than 3rd.

In 2003, Francona was hired to manage the Boston Red Sox, an incredibly talented team that had just missed a World Series appearance by one excruciating game. It was his job to get the team over the top, and he did just that. His leadership helped the Red Sox overcome a 3-0 series deficit in the 2004 ALCS, and from there the Red Sox kept rolling to a 4 game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals. After 86 years, the "Curse of the Bambino" had been broken!

 

2005 Topps #271 Terry Francona (MGR)

 

That year changed the franchise dynamic, and the team won the World Series yet again in 2007. Francona ran his World Series record to a historic 8-0 with another 4 game sweep of the underdog Colorado Rockies.

It was after this amazing Championship that my wife gave me what is easily one of the best Christmas gifts I had ever received. As it turned out, Terry Francona was scheduled to appear at a fundraiser for the University of Virginia's baseball team. She got us tickets, and in January we drove over the mountain to Charlottesville. There was a meet-and-greet with he team, followed by dinner. Afterwards, Terry Francona got up and spoke. He told numerous stories, obviously focused mainly on the past season's championship. I'll never forget how casually he spoke, with lots of good-hearted humorous stories. From Dustin Pedroia's competitiveness to "Manny being Manny", he made the crowd laugh and feel like they were there when it was happening.

After he spoke, I managed to make my way up to the head tables, shake his hand, and thank him for the fantastic job he did, both that night and with the Red Sox. I managed to get a few autographs.

 

  

My wife even got a picture of me with him. In was an absolute honor to meet him.

 

Francona would go on to manage the Sox for a few more years before moving on to become the winningest manager in Cleveland history. 

2017 Topps - MLB Awards
#MOY-1 Terry Francona

 

I wish Mr. Francona nothing but good health and fortune as he embarks on the next chapter of his life. I have no doubt that after 2 World Championships, 3 AL Pennants, and 1,950 wins (13th All-Time!) that a plaque in Cooperstown is in his future. I'm looking forward to hearing him speak again when he does. 

 

Thank you, Terry.

Repack Haiku #331 (Lance Lynn)

Rookie won Game 2

Of Championship Series

Threw only one pitch

 

2022 Topps Opening Day
#192 Lance Lynn

 

During Game 2 of the 2011 NLCS between the Cardinals and Brewers, St. Louis was leading 7-2 heading to the bottom of the 5th inning. Cardinals starter Edwin Jackson only managed one out, which was sandwiched between a walk and ground rule double putting runners at the corners. After Arthur Rhodes walked Prince Fielder to load the bases, manager Tony LaRussa called on the rookie Lynn. Lynn threw one pitch to Rickie Weeks - a ground ball to shortstop Rafael Furcal, who started the SS-2B-1B double play. That single pitch made Lynn the pitcher of record in an eventual 12-3 blowout.

Down The Ebay Rabbit Hole #3 - Top Sox Target Acquired

 

Continuing my ongoing adventures with a soon-to-be-expiring prepaid card...

Last time, I told you of one card in particular I wanted to target in my quest to use up what was essentially free money. I had another card in mind as well, just not one for set completion purposes.

A couple of years ago, I decided that one of the foci of my collection was going to collect at the very minimum, all of the Red Sox cards from the Topps base set from my birth year (1975) onward. I created a new blog page, Missing Sox, and started to track what cards I needed (as well as provide a list for potential trade partners). At the end of the page I even included a Top 10 list, with the most wanted of the wanted could be highlighted. Atop that list was I figured would be probably the most valuable card among the ones I don't have. That is, until recently:

 

 

In 48+ years of Topps base sets, there have been only 2 Red Sox cards that happen to be the rookie card of  a Hall of Fame player. I already had Jim Rice's 1975 card, and now I have the Topps rookie card of Wade Boggs. It may be off-center, but it was well within my price range!

Interesting Fact: According to the TCDB, this is the 70th rookie card of a Hall of Fame player I own, with Boggs being the 30th different Hall of Famer that I own at least 1 rookie card of.

The All-Time Rangers/Red Sox Roster

Congratulations to the Texas Rangers, who won the 1st Championship in the their 62 year history, ending the second longest title drought among the franchises (only Cleveland has waited longer). Personally, I helped contribute to the overall declining TV viewership numbers by not watching a single game. Instead I went old school, listening to the local radio broadcasts for each team courtesy of the MLB app. 

Back in 2018, when the Red Sox faced the Dodgers, I thought it would be fun to create a lineup consisting of players who have played for both teams. Since then, every new World Series champion has gotten the "Former/Current Red Sox who also played with that team" treatment. If you're interested, here's the list so far:

2018 - Los Angeles Dodgers

2019 - Washington Nationals (with a bonus Montreal Expos lineup!)

2020 - Since the Dodgers won, I didn't bother doing them again. Mookie Betts would have been the only change.

2021 - Atlanta Braves

2022 - Houston Astros

Now it's time for the Texas Rangers! As a general rule, I tried to avoid players from their Washington Senators days (there is technically one exception, which you'll see later, but since he has a card of him wearing a Texas Rangers uniform, I counted it!) Who are the greatest players that have suited up for both franchises?

 

Catcher: Mike Napoli

2012 Topps Update #US177 (AS)

2015 Topps Allen & Ginter #338 (SP)

By the time Napoli grew out his glorious beard, his days behind the plate were pretty much over. He was the starting catcher for the 2012 AL squad, joining 6 of his Texas teammates. The next year he joined Boston, where he was a beloved member of the 2013 Championship team. 

1st Baseman: Adrian Gonzalez

2005 Donruss #37 (RR)

2011 Topps Heritage #437 (SP)

Gonzalez only spent parts of two seasons with each team, but his one full season in Boston was everything you could have hoped for from a big off-season trade: In 2011, he was an All-Star, finished Top-10 in MVP voting, and won both a Silver Slugger and a Gold Glove. Unfortunately, 2012 was the Bobby Valentine $h!t show, and Gonzalez was traded to Los Angeles in one of the biggest salary dumps in MLB history.

2nd Baseman: Ian Kinsler

2007 Upper Deck #221

2018 Topps Update #US10

Kinsler's time in Texas will get him serious consideration for the Hall of Fame. That alone gets him as our starting second baseman. The Red Sox traded for him in 2018 to replace the injured Dustin Pedroia, and although he didn't put up great numbers, he was a solid member of the 2018 World Series Champions.

Shortstop: Scott Fletcher

1988 Donruss #11 (DK)

1994 Ultra #14

Speaking of solid ball players, Scott Fletcher was one of those types of players that didn't do anything particularly well, but rarely hurt his team on the field. In his 6 years with both teams, he accumulated 18.1 WAR.

3rd Baseman: Adrian Beltre

2019 Stadium Club #275

2011 Topps #302

Before 2010, no one considered Beltre a future Hall of Famer. He had a spectacular MVP runner-up season in 2004, but the 5 years in between were solid but not spectacular. The free agent was not finding many takers, and ended up signing a one year "pillow contract" with Boston. He responded with arguably is second best season ever. Now I'm not saying that his 8 years in Texas aren't the reason he's practically a shoo-in for the Hall, but I am saying that one year in Boston was the pivotal turning point in his career that put him on the path.

 

Outfielder: Jim Piersall

1993 Keebler Texas Rangers #294

1957 Topps #75

Here's where I cheated a little. Piersall never donned the Texas uniform as a player, as his time with the franchise was when they were in Washington. As you can see, he does have a Rangers card though, thanks to his brief time as a coach for the team. The 2-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner is famous for his memoir "Fear Strikes Out" which was made into a movie in 1957.

Outfielder: Jose Canseco

1994 Collector's Choice #560

1997 Upper Deck #24

Canseco has won more hardware, accolades, and championships than anyone else on this list. Too bad it was almost all with his time in Oakland. Still, he was a consistent power threat in the middle of both lineups while he was there. Plus, it gives me an excuse to show off this classic clip: 

 

Outfielder: David Murphy

2009 Topps #614

2007 Upper Deck #5

In 2007, Murphy was one of the young up-and-comers the Red Sox traded to Texas in exchange for Eric Gagne. That trade didn't work out so well in Boston, as Murphy became a dependable starter for Texas during his 6 1/2 years with the team.

 

Designated Hitter: Mitch Moreland

2014 Topps Heritage #228

2017 Stadium Club #82

"Mitchy Two-Bags" was a Gold Glove winner for Texas, and a surprising All-Star for Boston during that magical 2018 season. He's a fan favorite in both cities, and deserves recognition as this mashup team's designated hitter!

Starting Pitcher: Ferguson Jenkins

1976 Topps #250

1978 Topps #720

The first native Canadian to ever be elected to the Hall of Fame, the Rangers traded Jenkins to the Red Sox in exchange for the immortal Craig Skok. After two seasons, the Red Sox sent him back to Texas for the equally immortal John Poloni. 

Relief Pitcher: Jeff Russell

1992 Mother's Cookies Texas Rangers #8

1993 Leaf #494

All but 7 of his 186 career saves came in one of these two uniforms, topping the 30 save mark at least once for both teams. On an unrelated note, in my research to find the above Jeff Russell cards, I made a discovery that not enough people are talking about. Has anyone else seen Jeff Russell's amazing run of cards from the Mother's Cookies Texas Rangers sets? From 1987 to 1992, each card get more and more fantastic. Seriously, click on the link. It's frickin' art I tell you...

Manager: Ted Williams

1975 SSPC #19 (MGR)

1992 Upper Deck - Baseball Heroes: Ted Williams #35

Yeah, yeah, I know...Ted Williams never managed the Red Sox. It would be a crime against humanity for me to talk about the history of both these teams and not mention Williams though. The greatest player in the history of the Red Sox, who also happened to be the very first manager in Texas. 

Congrats to the Texas Rangers on an amazing World Series. You can't help but be happy for the fans who have waited over 60 years for this moment!

Repack Haiku #330 (Walt Weiss)

First guy to suit up

For both Marlins and Rockies

Could have managed both

 

1991 Topps #455 Walt Weiss

 

Prior to their inaugural season in 1993, the Florida Marlins traded for Weiss to be their starting shortstop. After that season, he signed with the Colorado Rockies, becoming the first player to play for both expansion teams. Weiss would go on to manage the Rockies from 2013-2016. He also could have been the first person to manage both teams, but he declined an opportunity to interview for the Marlin's position after the 2022 season.

Trapped In Time: Remnants Of The 51st and 52nd Trades

 

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming...

After using last Friday to kick off the World Series, it's now time to put some more Time Travel Trading cards on the proverbial chopping block. The first one is a biggie:

 

Trade #51 Brendan (The View From The Third Floor)
Traded 01/27/20: 1979 Topps #680 Carlton Fisk (AS), 1980 Topps #2 Willie McCovey (HL), 1981 Topps #100 Rod Carew (AS), 1981 Topps #210 Jim Palmer

Received 01/24/20:

• 1982 Topps #34 Joe Sambito (See Trade #78)
• 1982 Topps #74 Bob Clark (See Trade #78)
• 1982 Topps #190 J.R. Richard (See Trade #72)
• 1982 Topps #303 Bill Caudill (See Trade #187)
• 1982 Topps #399 Pat Zachry (See Trade #187)
• 1982 Topps #462 Dave Chalk (See Trade #187)
• 1981 Topps #82 Astros Future Stars (RC)
• 1981 Topps #98 Clint Hurdle
• 1981 Topps #121 Larry Harlow
• 1981 Topps #363 Geoff Zahn (See Trade #129)
• 1981 Topps #414 John Pacella
• 1980 Topps #29 Mark Wagner (See Trade #78)
  
• 1980 Topps #51 Joe Ferguson (See Trade #68)
• 1980 Topps #88 Ken Landreaux (See Trade #78)
• 1980 Topps #325 Dan Driessen
• 1980 Topps #362 Danny Goodwin (See Trade #78)
• 1980 Topps #572 Jerry Morales
• 1980 Topps #642 Ken Forsch
• 1980 Topps #655 Tug McGraw
• 1980 Topps #685 Padres Future Stars (RC) (See Trade #57)
• 1978 Topps #385 Tito Fuentes (See Trade #161)
• 1978 Topps (football) #487 Eddie Payton (RC) (See Trade #54)
• 1975 Topps (football) #13 Sam Cunningham (See Trade #54)
• 1974 Topps #534 Eddie Watt
• 1972 Topps #225 World Series Game 3 - Manny Sanguillen

Here you will find my very first trade with regular Time Traveler Brendan (The View From The Third Floor). In exchange for a quartet of Hall of Famers, Brendan loaded up the trading stack with 25 cards!

 

 

3/5 of these cards eventually made their way to other collectors, but a whopping 10 still remain. I'm surprised that the 1972 Topps World Series card has lasted this long, it's such a great photo!

Next up is a lone misfit card left over from a trade with TCDB member extraordinaire Mark Z!

 

Trade #52 Mark Z: (TCDB: mzentko)
Traded 01/27/20: 1971 Kellogg's (football) #1 Tom Barrington, 1971 Kellogg's (football) #5 Ron Johnson, 1971 Kellogg's (football) #39 Dick Butkus, 1970 Kellogg's (football) #3 Tom Matte, 1970 Kellogg's (football) #8 Jim Nance, 1970 Kellogg's (football) #56 Tommy Nobis, 1970 Kellogg's (football) #57 Ed Meador, 1970 Kellogg's (football) #58 Carl Lockhart

Received 02/07/20:

• 1990 Topps Hills Hit Men #29 Carlton Fisk (See Trade #53)
• 1972 Sunoco Stamp (football) #NNO Carl Eller (See Trade #54)
• 1970 Topps #457 Rico Petrocelli (AS) (See Trade #188)
• 1969 Topps #80 Norm Cash (See Trade #195)
• 1969 Topps #484 Joe Gordon (MGR)
• 1968 Topps #260 Jim Wynn (See Trade #89)
• 1967 Topps #1 The Champs (F. Robinson/Bauer/B. Robinson) (See Trade #220)
• 1967 Topps #127 John O'Donoghue (See Trade #54)
• 1965 Topps #104 Checklist 89-176 (CL) (See Trade #54)
• 1963 Topps #58 Bob Will (See Trade #54)

Poor Joe Gordon. It's not his fault some kid didn't like white borders. Maybe the kid was just ahead of his time and knew full-bleed photos would become all the rage in the hobby. Nevertheless, his modification means that there are a smaller, eclectic group of collectors who would even think of giving this card a good home. Could that be you?

 

 

Surely someone out there needs one of these cards? One way or another, their time with the Time Travel Trading Project is reaching an end. Make a trade, any older card will do!

Oh, and Happy Halloween tomorrow!

2023 World Series Tale Of the Tape

 

In 2017, the Astros and Dodgers met in the World Series. In every year since, one of those two teams has reached the World Series, until this year. We may have endured our 7th straight year of seeing the Astros in the AL Championship Series, but thankfully some new blood has reached the final stage, even if it's from the same state. The Rangers, who are only making their third appearance in the World Series, represent the AL. On the other side, one of the most surprising Cinderella runs in recent memory, courtesy of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

So who am I rooting for? I'm hoping for a great series either way, but I do tend to give preference to teams that meet certain criteria for me:

Former Red Sox Players

Diamondbacks: Tommy Pham

Rangers:  Nate Eovaldi, Martin Perez

2018 Topps Update #US51 Nathan Eovaldi

 

If I can't root for my Red Sox, I can at least root for the guys who used to play for them. Nathan Eovaldi was one of the heroes of the 2018 title team, and not resigning him last off-season was a big misstep for the Boston front office. Perez was a member of the Red Sox rotation for a couple of years, and provided stability if nothing else. 

The only Red Sox connection on the Diamondback is Tommy Pham, who was a questionable trade deadline pickup last year. He didn't really move the needle in his brief time with the team.

Advantage: Rangers
 

Shenandoah Valley Baseball League Alumni

Diamondbacks: Austin Adams

Rangers: none

 

 

Adams played for the Staunton Braves in 2011. Unfortunately, he suffered a broken ankle during the season and has not appeared in the postseason.

Advantage: Diamondbacks
 

University of Virginia Cavaliers Alumni

Diamondbacks: Jake McCarthy, Pavin Smith

Rangers: Josh Sborz

 

2023 Topps #312 Pavin Smith

 

Go Wa-hoos! Living a short drive from Charlottesville, I've gone to a few UVa baseball games. Both Sborz and Smith were a part of UVa's 2015 College Championship team. The speedy McCarthy unfortunately suffered an oblique injury during batting practice ahead of the first Wild Card game and has missed the entire postseason so far. (Geez...between him and Adams...talk about being *ahem* snake bit...)

 

Advantage: Diamondbacks
 

Championship Drought

Diamondbacks: 21 years

Rangers: 62 years - Never won a World Series

 

2004 Topps - World Series Highlights
#WS-LG Luis Gonzalez

The last (and only) time the Diamondbacks won a World Series, the heavy underdogs defeated the 3x defending Champion New York Yankees in one of the most exciting World Series ever. Ending a Yankee dynasty normally be worthy of bonus points, but not this time. The Rangers have never won a World Series in over 60 years of existence. They made back to back appearances in 2010 and 2011, but were unable to defeat the NL squads.

Advantage: Rangers

 

Personal Connection

Other than an appreciation of their former manager Ted Williams and a deep desire to see the team go back to the Stetson hat-wearing baseball logo, I've got nothing with Texas. As for Arizona...my wife lived in Tuson for awhile before I knew her. Does that count?

1975 SSPC 42 #19 Ted Williams

Advantage: Diamondbacks (I guess?)

 

Spring Training Adventures

Both teams hold their Spring Training in Arizona, so I never saw either team play during my few years of Florida fun. However, I do have a ball autographed by current Ranger Mitch Garver from when he was with the Twins.

Advantage: Rangers

 

Best 2023 Topps Base Set Card

2023 Topps #422 Jake McCarthy (FS)

2023 Topps #286 Ezequiel Duran (RC)

Since this is primarily a baseball card blog, I figured this post should have a card show-off! I decided to pick each team's best card from the 2023 Topps base set. No contest here, as McCarthy's almost straight-ahead vantage point as he slides into base is one of the best cards in the entire set, let alone just between these two teams. (Anyone else love how his foot fits perfectly in the space of "Future Stars"?)

 

Advantage: Diamondbacks 

Final Talley: Diamondbacks 4, Rangers 3

 

I won't be disappointed to see Texas wins it's first World Series trophy, but it looks like I'm embracing the chaos! Regardless of who wins, here's hoping for an exciting and memorable World Series!

Go Diamondbacks!