Canadians in the Majors: Jack Graney

 Hello friends!

I'm writing this today while still dealing with anxiety. I feel I may have done this topic before, but I don't really care right now.. I just find his story fascinating.. 

Today is Jack Graney. 

John Gladstone Graney was born in St Thomas, Ontario June 10, 1886. St Thomas is south of London, Ontario between the shores of Lake Huron and Lake Erie. 

He was signed by the Cleveland Indians (when they were still the Naps) and played his entire career with the club. Both his first career game and his last career game came against the St Louis Browns.

Graney started his career as a pitcher, but was converted to the outfield because the team was concerned about his control. It turned out to be the right move.  

Graney was also the first batter to face a rookie pitcher named George Ruth in 1914. In 1916, he was the first player to go to bat with a uniform number. Because it was a new concept, it was pinned to his sleeve, rather than on his back as the norm is now. 

Graney was friends with Ray Chapman and was devestated when Chapman was killed by the errant Carl Mays pitch. Jack never forgave Mays, believing the beaning was intentional. 

The beaning also caused a fight between Graney and Tris Speaker, based on how Chapman should be buried, Protestant or Catholic. Speaker was Protestant, Graney was Catholic. Chapman was baptized as Protestant, but married a Catholic woman and was about to convert. 

The fight between Speaker and Graney ended up making both men too injured to show at the funeral. 

He was on the 1920 Championship Indians team, though he was hitless in his three at bats. 

Graney played until 1922 and, after retiring, became the first ex-player to transition to the broadcast booth. 

Jack Graney passed away April 20, 1978 in Louisiana, Missouri. He was 91. 

He has since been inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, the Guardians Hall of Fame, and the recipient of the 2022 Ford Frick Award, 

The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame has an award named after Graney, awarded to the Journalist deemed to have made notable contributions towards baseball in Canada. 

The Cleveland chapter of SABR is named for Graney as well. 

Notable Achievements. 

• AL Doubles Leader (1916)
• 2-time AL Bases on Balls Leader (1917 & 1919)
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 1 (1916)
• Won a World Series with the Cleveland Indians in 1920.

An Anxiety Post

 Hello Friends!

I hope you haven't forgotten about me. I haven't forgotten about you.. I've just been very busy and dealing with a lot of anxiety right now. Including anxiety about not posting in almost a month.. 

Anyway, earlier today I was texting with Stuart from SR75 cards and he asked how my 1988 OPC build was going.. I have no clue, as I haven't looked in a while. 

Now that I'm sitting in front of my computer, I see that I only need 18 to finish the set.. 

What ones do I need? 

Some names.. Some regional names.. But there's a visual representation of the cards I need. 

I'm hoping to be able to do more on here again soon. I miss writing but I really have had no inspiration lately. I have ideas, but those ideas getting executed tends to be the roadblock. 

Team Set Joy

 Hello friends!

I did something last week that I haven't done in a long time. I bought something out of depression. However, I was able to stop the cycle in its tracks. I've had an issue with buying things before to make me feel better, only for me to feel worse because there were things that money could have gone to to help me survive.. I'd get feeling worse and repeat... 

So what did I buy in my depression? 

Two things.. 

One I'm going to show today.. The other, when I sit down and photograph the whole thing.. 

So today is the 1991 Score Toronto Blue Jays team set, I'm not showing all the cards, but some that I liked.. 

I like the front of the card.. I think this would have been a better choice for the flagship Score set design in 1991.. 

The Original Franchise.. 

Frank Wills. He played from 1983 to 1991. Toronto was his final stop in the Majors. 

For some reason, I get this guy and original Jay Mike Willis confused in my head.. 

Rene Gonzales played for Toronto in one season.. 1991.. He was a typical utility infielder from the era... Not much of a bat and decent with the glove.. 

Rob Ducey! CanCon! I actually need to find another single of this for my Canadians binder. 

Eddie Zosky was the next big thing in Toronto... Until he wasn't. Between injuries and having difficulty in the batters box, he was seen as the future. By 1993, that shine has gone to Alex Gonzalez. 

Steve Karsay. He was part of the package that went to Oakland for Rickey Henderson in 1993. His career was littered with injuries.. 

Ray Giannelli is a name I've heard but never saw a photo of, honestly. He played 18 games in the Majors. 8 for Toronto, 8 for St Louis. 

Jerry Schunk. I never heard of this guy until now.. After looking him up, I know why. He was a career minor leaguer. This photo would be from Spring Training. 

David Weathers. He started with Toronto. I remember him briefly in Toronto. He was taken in the expansion draft by the Marlins. 

His son is currently in the Majors. 

Doesn't that look gorgeous? I want to see Toronto get the All Star Game again sometime soon.. 

So unlike the regular Score sets, this has one season of stats. I do think it's a nice back.. 

Finally, The Terminator. In a way, his pitching looked effortless. 

So yeah, that's the 1991 Score Jays set in a nutshell.. 

What's In a Name? and BBA

 Hello friends!

I was looking through cards recently and wondered a) How many players used nicknames on their cards

and B) How often they showed up.. 

This has been a recurring thought for me because for example, Cito Gaston was always identified as Clarence on the cards from his playing days. He was referred to Cito on any card where he was a coach or manager.

And of course, when players use a nickname on their card, it's always interesting to see where the name came from.. 

Tug McGraw, or Frank, as his birth name states, was given the nickname Tugger by his mother based on the aggressive way he breast fed as an infant. It was shortened to Tug and it stuck, even wanting to be called that by his teachers. 

Clarence Coleman was given the nickname Choo Choo as a child by his friends because he was fast. 

Covelli Crisp hot the nickname Coco originally from his sister who thought he looked like a character off the Cocoa Krispies box. The name didn't stick until he was in Double A. On a questionnaire he put his nickname as Coco.. His teammates loved it and they started using it. It stuck and in fact, Crisp legally changed his name in 2013. 

Ed Ford. He was nicknamed Whitey for his light blond hair. It's funny though, some of the early cards are like the one shown, while others use Whitey.. 

Harry Lavagetto got his nickname in kind of a boring way.. 
He was nicknamed Cookie as a member of the Oakland Oaks after Oakland GM Cookie Devencenzi. 

Herschel Powell received his nickname from his father after the more famous Boog Powell. It stopped confusion, since Boog was the fourth Herschel Powell in the family (father, grandfather, and great grandfather) 

Jim Hunter. There are a couple stories on his nickname. The most commonly cited one is that the name was given to him by Charlie Finley figuring his 19 year old pitcher needed a flashy nickname. The other story, that later was found to be untrue, was that he went missing as a child and was found later with a string of catfish. 

I like the second explanation more than the first one, honestly. 

In looking through his cards, it wasn't until later on that Catfish showed up regularly. It would show in oddball issues, but none of the major ones until the 80s onward. 

John Odom. He got the nickname Blue Moon as a child because his round face reminded another child of the moon. 

Again, with Odom, his nickname appears on unlicensed and oddball issues. His Topps run all show John Odom. 

John Powell. John got the nickname Boog from his father. It came from the south, where kids who got into mischief were called Boogers, or Buggers. Powell's father shortened it to Boog. 

Leon Roberts got the nickname Bip from his mom because of difficulty saying "bit" as a youngster. He'd ask for a bip more food. He kept the nickname to honour his mother. 

Bip is one of those who rarely had his real name on his cards. 

Lynwood Rowe had a couple origin stories for his nickname. One was that he picked it up as a boxer. Originally is was Newsboy, but changed to Schoolboy. 

The other comes from playing in a semi-pro league for the newspaper as a 15 year old against men. He overwhelmed them prompting one to say they were beaten by a Schoolboy. 

Octavio Rojas got his nickname from aglicizing his Spanish childhood pet name Cuqui.. 

Raphael Freeman was nicknamed Choo but I can't find any reasoning behind it. 

Rich Gossage Got the nickname Goose after a friend didn't like the nickname he had, Goss. He claimed Gossage looked like a goose stretching to see the catcher's signs. 

With Gossage, his cards showed Rich until 1983, when Fleer, then Donruss, started using Goose. Topps always used Rich. Donruss would flip back and forth. 

Tim Raines is an interesting one. His nickname Rock, only showed up on cards for a couple years. And only on Topps.. 

Raines earned the nickname in High School Football because of his solid build and rough play style. 

His son Tim Jr, was nicknamed Little Rock. 

William Wilson

Apparently, he was given the nickname Mookie as a child because of how he asked for milk as a toddler. Really, it helped differentiate himself from the other speedy outfielder on the Royals, Willie Wilson. 

Mookie had three brothers who played Minor League Baseball, one being the biological father of Preston Wilson. Mookie later married Preston's mother, making him both stepfather and uncle.. 

These were just a few of many. I don't know why but I find it interesting when a player ends up being a nickname on his cards rather than his given name. I don't consider middle names in this set, considering then I'd have Lynn Nolan Ryan. 

Yes, I know I missed guys like Oil Can Boyd (came from his beer drinking days.. They called beer Oil)

and others, but I can't cover them all, right? Lol 

Blog Bat Around

There's a blog bat around going on right now about your three biggest accomplishments in card collecting/blogging. 

I'm not really one to do one like this, because honestly, me even sitting to write is an accomplishment every time since I started. Anyway

1: Starting and maintaining this blog as long as I have. I don't know how old this blog is but it's been around a while. 

2: Collecting the 1978 Topps set and working on the 78 OPC set. My birth year

3: Being able to find interesting tidbits of information people didn't know.. I don't know why but I like being able to hear "I Learned something today" who knows, there might be something here you didn't know..