Ballpark Postcards

Not too long ago, I bought two sets of ballpark postcards from Andrew Aronstein. I previously purchased the CMC minor league cards from him, so I knew things would be good. 

He mentioned to me that the first series is missing Ebbets Field. I did end up getting two copies of Shibe Park in there though. 

So, since I love ballparks and love collecting ballpark images, why not?

Let's see what they look like.. 

The usual suspects here with Polo Grounds and Sportsman's Park. I find it interesting that Municipal Stadium in Cleveland makes it. I also noticed the Municipal is spelled wrong. 

Candlestick, Comiskey and Shea continue the first series. 

Shibe, Forbes, and Memorial Stadium 

Series 1 ends with Wrigley Field. 

Series two starts with the Astrodome and Crosley Field. 

Dodger Stadium, Busch Stadium, and Milwaukee County Stadium are next

In a way, I miss the cookie cutters.. But not too much. 

Los Angeles Coliseum, Braves Field, and KC Municipal Stadium are next

It's nice to see some of the former parks here like Braves Field and Municipal Stadium. LA Coliseum was a very interesting park as well. 

Finally, Arlington Stadium, Wrigley Field LA, Fenway Park and Griffith Stadium round out Series 2. 

At first I thought we had two postcards honouring Wrigley Field in Chicago, then I looked and remembered that Wrigley Field in LA was Wrigley before Chicago's. 

LA's Wrigley Field was owned by the Wrigley family around the time the Cubs were playing in West Side Grounds. The Chicago Whales of the Federal League had what we know as Wrigley. It was then known as Weeghman Field. 

I'm also surprised the Rangers never used the Texas Shaped Video Board again. They should. 

Anyway, I'm looking for an Ebbets Field from this series. If anyone happens to have/find one, keep me in mind, please. 

1988 CMC Iowa Cubs

Well, back to the CMC cards. 

Today is the Iowa Cubs. 

They were 78-64 in the American Association West Division, good for second place. 

Bill Bathe played from 1981-1992

He played in the Majors for Oakland in 1986, and for San Francisco in 1989-1990

He spent time in the Athletics (82-86), Cubs (87-88), and Giants (89-90) organizations. 

1982 was spent with the Independent San Jose Missions.

He spent 1991 and 1992 in Japan. 

Bill Landrum played from 1980-1996

Bill played in the Majors for Cincinnati in 1986-1987, Chicago in 1988, Pittsburgh from 1989-1991, Montreal in 1992, and back to Cincinnati in 1993. 

Overall, he played in the Cubs (80, 88), Reds (81-87, 93), Pirates (89-91), and Expos (92) organizations. 

He spent the 1996 season with Lubbock. 

Bob Tewksbury played from 1981-1998

He played in the Majors for the Yankees in 1986-1987, the Cubs in 1987-1988, St Louis 1989-1994, Texas in 1995, San Diego in 1996, and Minnesota in 1997-1998. 

Overall, he played in the Yankees (81-87), Cubs (87-88), Cardinals (89-94), Rangers (95), Padres (96), and Twins (97-98) organizations. 

I didn't know he spent a year with the Padres.. 

Brian Guinn played from 1983-1992

He never made the Majors

He played in the Athletics (83-86), Cubs (87-91) and White Sox (92) organizations. 

Bruce Crabbe played from 1984-1992

He never made the Majors

Overall, he played for the Cubs (84-89), Braves (90-91) and Blue Jays (92) organizations. 

Damon Berryhill played from 1984-1998

He played in the Majors for the Cubs in 1987-1991, Atlanta 1991-1993, Boston in 1994, Cincinnati in 1995, and San Francisco in 1997.

Overall, he played in the Cubs (84-91), Braves (91-93), Red Sox (94), Reds (95), Giants (97), and Athletics (98) organizations. 

Dave Masters played from 1985-1993

He never made the Majors

He played for the Cubs (85-90), Expos (90-91), Giants (91-92, 93), Mariners (92)

Dave Meier played from 1981-1988

He played in the Majors for Minnesota in 1984-1985, Texas in 1987, and Cubs in 1988

He played for the Twins (81-85), Rangers (87) and Cubs (88) organizations. 

Doug Dascenzo played from 1985-1998

He played for the Cubs from 1988-1992, Texas in 1993, and San Diego in 1996. 

Overall, he played for the Cubs (85-92), the Rangers (93), Mets (94), Marlins (95), and Padres (96-98) organizations

He also spent part of 1995 with the St Paul Saints. 

Dwight Smith played from 1984-1998

He played in the Majors for the Cubs from 1989-1993, California in 1994, Baltimore in 1994, and Atlanta in 1995-1996

Overall, he played in the Cubs (84-93), Angels (94), Orioles (94, 98), and Braves (95-96) organizations. He also played in St Paul in 1997. 

Gary Varsho played from 1982-1995

He played in the Majors with the Cubs from 1988-1990, Pittsburgh from 1991-1992, Cincinnati in 1993, Pittsburgh again in 1994, and Philadelphia in 1995.

Overall, he played in the Cubs (82-90), Pirates (91-92, 94), Reds (93), and Phillies (95) organizations.

Greg Tabor played from 1981-1988

He played in the Majors for Texas in 1987.

Overall, he played in the Rangers (81-87) and Cubs (88) organizations. 

Jeff Hirsch played from 1985-1990

He never made the Majors

His entire career was spent with the Cubs organization. 

Jeff Pico played from 1984-1996

He played in the Majors for the Cubs from 1988-1990

Overall, he played for the Cubs (84-90), Athletics (91), Orioles (92), Angels (93) organizations. He played 1995-1996 for Bend. 

Jim Wright was a coach in the Cubs organization from 1984-1989. 

He was a coach with the Phillies from 1990-1996

He was a coach for Colorado from 1997-2014

Joe Kraemer played from 1985-1994

He played in the Majors for the Cubs in 1989-1990

Overall, he played in the Cubs (85-91), and Angels (92) organizations.

He played in Sioux City for 1993-1994. 

Laddie Renfroe played from 1984-1992

Laddie played in the Majors for the Cubs in 1991

He spent his entire career in the Cubs organization.

His real name is Cohen 

Len Damian played from 1985-1990

He never played in the Majors

He spent his entire career in the Cubs organization

Mark Grace played from 1986-2003

He played in the Majors for the Cubs from 1988-2000 and Arizona from 2001-2003

Those were the two organizations he played his entire career with. 

According to Baseball Reference, his nicknames were Amazing Grace or Little Hurt. 

Mike Capel played from 1983-1993

He played in the Majors for the Cubs in 1988, Milwaukee in 1990, and Houston in 1991. 

Overall, he played in the Cubs (83-89), Brewers (90), and Astros (91-93) organizations. 

Paul Noce played from 1981-1991

He played in the Majors for the Cubs in 1987, and Cincinnati in 1990. 

Overall, he played in the Padres (81-84), Cubs (84-88), Mariners (89), Reds (90), and Giants (91) organizations. 

Pete Mackanin managed or coached from 1985-2017

Manager: 

Peoria 1985-1986

Iowa 1988-1989

Nashville 1990-1992

Frederick 1993

Bowie 1994

Ottawa 1995-1996

Hickory 2001

Lynchburg 2002

Pittsburgh 2005

Cincinnati 2007

Philadelphia 2016-2017

He also held coaching/scouting positions for the Expos 1997-2000, Pirates 2003-2005, Reds 2007

and Phillies 2009-2017

Phil Stephenson played from 1982-1994

He played in the Majors for the Cubs in 1989, San Diego in 1989-1992

Overall, he played in the Athletics (82-85), Angels (85), Cubs (86-89), Padres (89-92), Royals (93), and Cardinals (95) organizations. 

He spent 1994 in Mexico

Rich Surhoff played from 1982-1989

He played in the Majors for Texas in 1985, and Philadelphia in 1985.

Overall, he played in the Phillies (82-85), Rangers (85-86), Cubs (87-88), Phillies (88), and Indians (89) organizations. 

Rich Surhoff is BJ Surhoff's brother. He is also the uncle to Colin and Brian Moran

Roger Williams played from 1985-1990

He didn't make the Majors. 

He spent the majority of his career with the Cubs organization.. (85-89) He finished in the Pirates organization (90)

Another one down. I'm not sure who I'll be doing next.. Just for fun.. Maybe the Oklahoma City 89ers. 

5 Things I Like, 5 I Don't..

I've been putting this off for a while.. 

I saw this being done and while I like the concept and wanted to put my twist on it, I couldn't bring myself to sit down and actually WRITE anything.. 

I still have a bunch of content for this blog, but I have had ZERO motivation to do a thing.. 

Anyway.. I decided to jump on the wagon here.. 

I'll do the Negative first, just to give us a Good thing to end on.. 

5 Things I Don't Like

1. My brain. 

Well, this is a love/hate thing. I love the fact that it's there and I use it etc.. I hate some of the thoughts it puts into my consciousness. I hate the depression and anxiety I deal with. The constant feeling that I'm not enough.. That I deserve to be alone and that nobody would truly even notice my not being here. 

2. Minis/Coins

I'm not really a fan of the coins and mini cards that have been popular the last while. I know the minis put out by A&G, GQ, etc are throwbacks to the old Tobacco releases. But at the same time, they get to be annoying if you don't have the proper storage/pages for them.. 

3. The "Angry Birds" Jays Logo

I've voiced my displeasure over these uniforms and logos before. This was the period in time where "Blue" was taboo apparently. I liked every Jays uniform and logo aside from this one. 

4. The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox

The teams both play in the same division as Toronto. 

But that's not the reason.. 

The reason is the entitlement I hear from both sets of fans.. Yankees fans believe they should be annointed a spot in the World Series Opening Day. I read people saying if this season happens with the Grapefruit/Cactus Leagues that "Yankees won't lose a game.. Just give us the Division" 

The Red Sox fans are not quite there for entitlement, but up there for obnoxiousness. Maybe it's a Boston sports trait.. I notice the same thing in Bruins fans. 

5. Redundant Card Sets/Not Listening to Collectors

There are 33 Topps branded sets in retail release in 2019. That's not including the Online exclusives.

We had 8 Bowman sets

Of the 8 Bowman sets we have two draft products, Base, Chrome, Heritage, Platinum, Sterling, and Best

Now.. I don't care about Bowman in the slightest since they're all over the place with numbering and what belongs to what set.. (when you have the same numbering system used in 3 products it's VERY annoying.. Especially when you also have CHROME in those products) 

With Topps, you know we have the Base, Opening Day, Update. 3 Chrome products, Big League, Allen and Ginter, Allen and Ginter X, Gypsy Queen, Three Archives products, Heritage, Tribute, Inception, Transcendent, Fire, Tek, Diamond Icons, Museum Collection, etc etc etc.. 

Now I know some of these products are aimed at "higher end" collectors.. And that's fine..

To me we don't need Two A&G sets. We can consolidate the Archives into One. 

Some of these, I'd (I know this suggestion will be blasphemy) but say for Heritage.. Consolidate Bowman and Topps Heritage 

Consolidate the Chrome

Big League is great for what it is.. An accessible set with not a lot of gimmicks. 

Some of these high end sets could go to online distribution and they could put Total into the retail wilds. 

Would anyone be upset if they had to order their Fire Or High Tek or Inception online?? 

Oh.. And for Bowman.... FIX THE NUMBERING AND CROSS SET INSERTS!!!!!!

*Big sigh and releases breath, calming down*

There.. I did it like that for a reason.. Why leave all worked up? 

Now... 

5 Things I Like

1. My Job

I really truly enjoy my job as a bus driver. I feel we have a very underrated effect on children and their education. I feel we can help set their days by simply being pleasant to them. I always greet them by name when they walk on my bus. 

2. The Card Collecting Communities

I've come across some amazing people online. People in the blogging community, the Twitter community, the Facebook community, and the Team Collectors. 

Through Twitter, I've found the Team Collectors, I've found First Row Collectibles. I've found bloggers I enjoy on Twitter and on the Trading Card Database. 

For the most part they're all supportive and understanding.

3. Ballparks

This one is fairly easy to get.. Close your eyes.. well.. Maybe wait until you're done reading this... 

But Close your eyes..

Say the word Ballpark

What comes to mind? 

Yankee Stadium.. Fenway Park.. Wrigley Field.. PNC.. Dodger Stadium.. Polo Grounds.. 

A field of green with odd quirks along the fencing and the facade. The only constant is the 90 foot square in the middle. 

But I love finding out about the parks. I love collecting cards on ballparks. 

4. Out of the Park Baseball

I love playing baseball management sims. I used to play Baseball Mogul for years but got into Out of the Park. It's deeper than Mogul, with almost limitless options to play. 

I'm playing a game I started in 2019.. And at the start of the 2022 season, the Miami Marlins moved to Austin Texas. I'm thinking about doing a simulation of a thought experiment I saw on Twitter based on this what if.. "What If the Dodgers never left Brooklyn?" 

5. Everyone reading this Blog 

Yeah I guess this is a mushy copout, but really.. I'd be writing this for practice and no real reason if I didn't have people like you reading my drivel. 

A COMC Birthday Post

So as I mentioned on my birthday post, I made a COMC purchase, and it was delayed.. Well, I got it today. 

Would you like to see what I bought myself? (Of course you do.. Why are you here otherwise, amiright?) 

1st. 1949 Remar Bread Oakland Oaks Ralph Buxton. 

Buxton was born in Weyburn Saskatchewan. 

He played in the Majors with the Philadelphia A's and the New York Yankees. 

2nd. 1952 Parkhurst Frostade International League Bob Alexander

That's how COMC labelled this one.. 

Bob Alexander was born in Vancouver BC

He played in the Majors for Baltimore and Cleveland. 

3rd. 1940 Playball Joe Krakauskas

He was born in Montreal, Quebec. 

He played in the Majors for Washington and Cleveland. 

4th. 1991 Conlon Collection Joe Krakauskas

From what the back of the card mentions, he was the last pitcher to give up a hit to Joe DiMaggio during his hitting streak. 

So.. That's what I was waiting for. What do you think? 

A Bit of Expos for the Birthday

I've been emailing with Richard from George Moon Gibson for a while. He recently emailed me asking if my address was the same because he had some Expos for me. 

Well, they came in. And there were some interesting cards in there. 

First that nice 1975 Topps Carter rookie. Very nice! 

Then some 1994 Collector's Choice Expos. I have the base already, so I added them to the Expos Project. 

The Silver Signature ones I didn't have many of, so these are all new to me. 

Thank you Richard!! 

The Birthday Post

Well, this is two days after my birthday and still waiting on my COMC order.. I decided to go on with what I've received and when I finally get the COMC order, I'll write again.. 

I'll admit this week has been tough mentally for me.. I've slept much more than I really wanted/needed to.. 

Anyway, let's look at what I did receive.. 

First, I placed an order on Card Barrel.. 

Some 1970 and 1971 Expos for the collection. These are all new cards to me, so they're in my Expos Topps Binder. My main focus this year, I think, is trying to get the Expos team sets till 1980 done.. 

That said, I'm still missing a few from both 1970 and 1971. 

Next, I ordered from COMC but they're still out in the Ether.. 

Finally, I ordered from my friend Curtis at First Row Collectibles

As he usually does, he sent extras with this.. More when he found out it was a birthday purchase.

I got a couple Larry Walker cards for the Canadians binder.. A Fergie Diamond Kings and a Rob Zastryzny autograph. Why the last one? He was born in Edmonton. 

Also, I got that Vladimir Guerrero patch card. I'm torn.. It's listed as an Angels card, but he's shown in Expos uni. I'll likely add it to my Project, since it does show him as an Expo. 

Now I'll show some of the extras I got. 

One for the 1978 set!

A Leaf Key and some Jays from the 90s. I like that Cliff Floyd Hall of Gold. 

Some more cards for the Jays binder and a Freeman for the Canadian binder.

Hall of Fame postcard of Fergie Jenkins! At some point now I'll need to get Larry Walker's. And quite possibly the Expos/Jays in there.. We'll see.. 

There was MUCH more in the box.. I just wanted to show the highlights in cards.. 

I also bought a 1989 Jays Scorebook from First Row. 

I did get another package around the same time, but I'll show that tomorrow.. 

Thank you for your generosity, Curtis!!