Signature Saturdays

 Hello Friends!

I decided to cheat a little bit this week. I own this one, but it's not in my grubby paws yet, as I have to request shipment. 

I bought this on COMC for $5.65. Brett Lawrie and Michael Saunders dual auto.. Two one time Blue Jays and Canadians with one stone.. 

It is unfortunate they couldn't put photos on it, but I know by 2012 they had no real licenses with MLB.

Oh well.. I still like it

Ballparks

 Ahhh Spring.. Spring Training is wrapping up shortly and the season begins. Fans will be heading to the ol' ballyard to root on the home team. 

I've always loved ballparks since I became interested in the sport. It's the only one that doesn't have uniform measurements for everything on the field. One place could have an outfield where the walls are 400 feet away to left and right, 450 to centre.. Another can have a section that's 30 feet up but 330..

The only part that's uniform is the distance to the bases and the mound to the plate. Who couldn't love that?

Starting today I want to show some ballpark cards that are in my collection. Since I'm a bit of a ballpark nerd, I collect them.. Surprise surprise, eh? 

Today's card will be Atlanta Fulton County Stadium. The Braves played in this yard from 1966-1996 after moving to Atlanta from Milwaukee.. 

In the 31 years the Braves played here, they made the playoffs 7 times. They won one World Series, and lost two.

The Braves moved into the stadium that was built for the Olympics in Atlanta, refitted for baseball and named Turner Field. Fulton County was demolished and turned into a parking lot. They did keep the place Home Plate was and the part of wall that Hank Aaron's 715th home run flew over. 

Signature Saturdays

 It's a Saturday..

Today will be a little different. Yes, there's still an autographed card to be shown. However, there's a little more too..

Today's card is actually one I just picked up through First Row Collectibles 

I've been buying from Curtis, who runs the store, for many years.. I think when it was just a website and possibly run from his house. Now he has a storefront in Winnipeg.

Really proud of the guy. He also has a lot of wrestling collectibles and other things.. Check it out..

Anyway.. Card... Enough babbling..

I'm always on the lookout for Canadian born player autographs. Jeff Zimmerman played for a few years in Texas and then vanished. 

I bought this card as an early birthday present to myself. I turn 45 on April 1. 

Any time I order anything from Curtis, he's nice enough to throw in a couple extra cards. This time was three Skybox cards. Bayron Lora screwed himself before he was 20 with assault allegations that had him dropped by the Rangers.. 

Carlos Colmenarez is an 18 year old in the Rays system.. 

Then we have a card of some guy named Griffey..

Thanks again for another easy and wonderful transaction, Curtis. And as always.. Check out his store at https://www.firstrow.ca/

Signature Saturdays

 It's Saturday. You know what that means....

Today is a multiple time Blue Jay. Part of one of the biggest trades in Jays history, then was back a couple years later. He spent four stints with the team. 

Tony Fernandez! 

He played in Toronto from 1983-1990. He was part of the trade with the Padres that sent McGriff to SD for Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar. 

He was traded by the Padres to the Mets, then was traded to the Jays for Darrin Jackson after Dick Schofield broke his arm. 

He signed as a free agent again in 1997 after stints in Cincinnati, New York, and Cleveland.

In 2001 he played for Milwaukee, was released, and signed with the Jays for the final time. 

This is a nice one to have in the collection. 

Signature Saturdays

 It's Saturday!

I'll be honest.. Today was almost a day I missed writing this if only because my bed was so comfortable I didn't want to leave it... Ever....

Anyway.. 

Today's is a rather obscure player..

It's Rich Butler. This is from a set called Signature Rookies. 

Rich, like his brother Rob, was signed by the Blue Jays as an amateur free agent. He was drafted by the Devil Rays in the expansion draft. He played in 1998 and 1999 for them and then was in the minors for a few years. 2000-2002 he played for the Intercounty Baseball League's Toronto Maple Leafs.

Blog Bat Around: Alphabet Challenge

 For the first time in a long time.. There's a Blog Bat Around going on! *cue Kermit cheering*

This one is naming a player for each letter of your Blog's Name... 

Some are nice and short like Nachos Grande, who I first saw doing this... Others.... Well... Aren't..

Mine is in the NOT short side of the table..

So without further ado.... 

Not Another Baseball Card Blog spelled out with players last names...

N Nabholz, Chris. Obviously this will be collection heavy.. Let's see how many Expos and Jays I can fit in

O Olerud, John. Two for Two so far

T Todd, Jackson

A Alomar, Roberto. I know he's had a lot of off field issues......

N Navarro, Dioner. 

O Overbay, Lyle. For some reason, he always reminded me of Olerud

T Tabler, Pat. Played his final season in Toronto.. Became a long-time broadcaster for the Jays

H Henderson, Rickey. Yeah he was only a Jay for a few months, but he won a 'Ship.. 

E Encarnacion, Edwin. Walking the Parrot on this list

R Raines, Tim. Could you imagine an outfield with Raines and Henderson???

B Bailor, Bob. An original Jay. The first pick by the Jays in the Expansion draft

A Alou, Moises. 

S Santangelo, FP. It's funny.. I always kind of rooted for the benchers.. 

E Eichhorn, Mark

B Barfield, Jesse It's actually kind of thrilling that he follows me on Twitter..

A Adams, Russ. I'm actually kind of curious to find out what happened to him... 

L Langston, Mark. Pitched for the Expos.. Was the return for Randy Johnson....

L Lawrie, Brett. Fiery player.. Think it worked to his detriment..

C Candaele, Casey. Mom was a pro player. Played on 'Spos.. Coaches in Jays system..

A Ainge, Danny. I... Think he made the correct career choice..

R Rodriguez, Henry. Oh Henry! As an Expo, he was showered with chocolate bars after HRs....

D Dawson, Andre. 

B Butler, Rob. Both him and his brother were Jays to start.

L Lindros, Eric. I'm cheating here. But he does have a Baseball card in 90 Score Update

O Oliver, Al. Played for both Jays and Expos. Was a "Zero Hero" after Pittsburgh (Wore 0)

G Galarraga, Andres. Two stints with the Expos. 

So there we have it.. I was able to make a list of just Jays and Expos.. 

I'm sure I could have made some different choices.. S could have definitely been for Stieb, for example.. But this is my contribution.. Did I hit it out of the park? Or am I waiting to be driven in?

So Many Clever Puns

Today I want to show some cards I received in a trade from a member on TCDB from Israel. 

Originally, I was just going to show some Shawn Green cards and title this "It's not Easy Being (Shawn) Green"

Then I decided to show a few Jason Bay cards that were in the pile as well.. So then I was going to go with a Green Bay pun... But then I didn't want to be accused of clickbait when there were no Packers to be found.. 

Instead, I just leave the Puns for in here.. Anyway..

These uniforms are my second favourite ones of the Jays.. The current/Original are first.. The Angry Birds uniforms are my least facourite.. 

I guess I could make a Pirates Bay pun too, but I don't really want to do that either.. 

Anyway, Bay started as an Expo, as a minor leaguer was traded to the Mets for Lou Collier.. Then traded to the Padres.. Then the Pirates.. Then the Red Sox.. 

Honestly, I would have liked to have seen Bay in the outfield in Montreal.. He likely would have been better than Collier. 

I have more cards that I want to show from the trade, which will show up on this blog sometime over the course of the week.

 

Signature Saturdays

 Today's Signature Saturday card is a "He was in the Jays system? Really???"

Joe Musgrove.. According to his transactions sheet on Baseball Reference, he was drafted by the Jays out of HS, then traded to Houston as part of the deal that got the Jays JA Happ.. 

I also have to say I was never a fan of the Playoff cards.I don't know what it was about them, but I can't get myself to enjoy them.. Same with Pacific... 

Anyway... I figured I'd get this out in the interwebs before I fall asleep again,.. 

A New Stadium Card

 I received a card in the mail today that I'm rather happy to receive. 

I took part in a stack sale by custom card creator Roselle Avenue. There were a couple stadium cards but when I got to them, only one was remaining. So I grabbed it.

It's of Forbes Field. I know a lot of custom creators like to make cards of players to fill voids by Topps. I'd love to make a series of stadium cards. 

I've already talked about getting an Exhibition Stadium Opening Day 1977 done.. My next thought is a Jarry Park card. Eventually, I'd love to be able to get/create as many stadium cards as possible. 

I think the only thing I'd do differently is this..

I'd want to put some info on the back like teams, World Series, All Star Games, and any little quirks. 

Still, I'm very happy with this card. 

Signature Saturdays

It's a Saturday. Time for another autograph from my collection. 

It's funny.. At one point I never thought I'd have autographed cards to show off.. Now here I am. 

Anyway..

 

Ken Singleton!

He played for the Expos from 1972-1974, then joined the Orioles. 

We all know him now more for broadcasting on Yankees games, but he was also a presence on TSN in Canada, calling games for the Jays in 1985-1986 and Expos from 1987-1996.

Signature Saturdays

 Saturday... In my place... I think it was Febraury 11...

Time for another Signature Saturday Post! 

This one is a little more well-known. He actually played in the Majors.. 

Claudio Vargas.. Isn't that a nice signature? 

He played for Montreal, Washington, Arizona, Milwaukee, New York Mets, And the Dodgers. 

Signature Saturdays

 It's Saturday. 

Feeling a little off today but I'm going to get this out and probably go back to bed. 

Francisco Rios. I don't recall how I got this card, likely though a member of the Team Collectors group I'm in. I don't actively hunt for newer Bowman. 

So Rios hasn't sniffed the Majors. Highest he got was Buffalo. He left the Jays organization in 2019 and has been playing in the Mexican Winter Leagues and Independent Mexican Leagues since. 

Provigo Expos

 This is honestly kind of a lazy post. 

I wanted to show something I got in the mail recently, but I also didn't want to scan or download each image from it, so it's kind of a fanned mess. 

I received a full set of the 1986 Provigo Expos Panels from Angus at Dawg Day Cards. He also sent some more Expos Panini stickers from the 90s. 

I'm keeping the panels together, but I also kind of want to get the set separated so I can binder them. Though I guess I could get binder sheets for these as well. 

Each panel has two cards and a promotional plug. Between ads for products like Frozen Fruit Bars, Peanut Butter, Hygrade meat sticks, Hostess chips, Rougemont Apple juice, Catelli pasta, Maple Leaf weiners, Ultramar/Gulf, Heinz, and Javex.. There's also a coupon for $1 off the price of a 1986 regular season ticket and a contest for $100000 sponsored by Scott Towels.. 

I wanted to show these for another reason as well.. I've been looking at trying my hand at creating a custom card or two.. The design I think would be easy to replicate and would fit my purposes. If I get past the yapping and get to the creating, I'll keep this place updated on the progress. 

Hall of Fame Inductee Day

 Today we found out the newest inductees to the Hall of Fame... 

What? We had that last week or a couple weeks ago? 

Aye, laddie... But this is the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.. 

Hall of Fame Inductee News

There are four inductees this year. Jesse Barfield, Rich Harden, Denis Boucher, and Joe Wiwchar. 

Induction into the Canadian Hall is slightly different than the one in Cooperstown. Inductees must be from Canada, or have made a significant contribution to baseball in Canada. There are many people, such as Joe Wiwchar, who are in that work on the amateur level to grow the game in their area. 

To go along with these inductees, John Olerud and Jaques Doucet are also being inducted from 2020. 

Jesse was drafted by the Jays in 1977. He made the jump to the majors in 1981. 

In 1985, he joined Willie Mays as the only players to have 20 HR, 20 SB, and 20 Outfield Assists. His 2 assists remains a Jays' record. 

He also spent some time with the Yankees..

Signed by the Jays in 1987 as an amateur free agent. (At the time, Canada was not part of the amateur draft like it is now) 

He made his MLB debut for the Jays in 1991, pitching for them until he was traded with Mark Whiten and Glenallen Hill to Cleveland for Tom Candiotti. 

In 1993 he was dealt to Montreal and made history as part of an all-Canadian battery with Joe Siddall. 

After his playing days he's been coaching at the National level, for team Canada both in international competition and in the WBC. 

He was originally drafted by the Mariners in 1999, but decided not to sign. He signed with the Athletics after they drafted him in 2000. 

He made his debut in 2003 and pitched until 2011 with the A's, Cubs, and Rangers. 

Joe Wiwchar

Joe made his mark in Manitoba as a player, coach, and administrator. He lead teams to provincial championships and medals at Canada Summer Games. 

He was part of a committee that founded the Manitoba Baseball Association in 1968. He was also a Baseball Canada executive in 1974-1975 and lead a group of five children to the World Childrens Baseball Fair in Japan. 

Most of the information here is from the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame website. 

Check it out.. I put a link up top. 

Signature Saturdays

 Hey Hey! It's Saturday.. You know what that means...

Honestly, lately I haven't been able to think of things to blog about aside from Saturdays.. Not much coming in through the mail lately plus just not wanting to show random cards I may or may not have shown is keeping me away a bit.. Well, that and my depression and anxiety.. 

I have ideas of things I want to try and things I want to do, but I have no clue where to start.. In a way it's almost like when I started making uniforms, hats, and logos for OOTP Baseball.. Then a wonderful member of the OOTP Forums created small programs with templates to help in the creation. 

One of the things I'd love to do is try making my own cards.. But again, I have no clue where to start.

Anyway.. Enough of my babbling.. You're here to see what signature I pull out today..

We're going back to the days of Parc Jarry.. Jooohhnnn Bocc! — a — beelllllaaaaaaaa

1973 was the only season of his career that he played in over 100 games.. He played from 1963-1974. In Montreal from 1969-1973. 1974 he was on the Giants. 

Here is a recording of the PA Announcer in Jarry Park introducing Boccabella.. 

Interesting aside. In 1991-92, there was a player on a team in the Midwest Junior Hockey League by the name John Boccabella.. Obviously not the same person, as Junior Hockey in Canada is reserved for teenaged players.. I just wonder if there's a connection to the catcher.. 

Anyway.. That's it for today

Signature Saturdays

 Today's card is one I'm glad I have and actually have in duplicate.. 

It's from 2019 Archives

Ken Hill as an Expo. 

As I said, I have two copies of this card. Ultimately I'd like to get the insert set of these. 21 cards total and a lot of decent names in there. Steve Rogers, Tim Raines, Andres Galarraga, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Dennis Martinez.. 

The base non-autographed insert set is also one I want to complete.. 

Signature Saturdays

 Today's is a case of having two copies because I was going to have them in two spots, but now I'm not sure..

Today's is Paul Spoljaric. The reason I bought two originally was to have one for my Jays collection and one for my Canadians collection. There are some that, if I got autos of them *cough* Vlad Jr *cough* I know I would only really be able to afford/justify one so.. It would be a case of Jays or Canadians.. 

Anyway, this is a long winded way of saying "Should I keep both copies of this card and do what I originally intended to? Or should I just put the one in the Canadians binder, since this would likely not be displayed in a binder in a Jays collection."

Also.. I just want to comment on the Myrtle Beach Hurricanes uniform that Spoljaric's wearing here. It's nice to see what it looked like, even though I can't really see it straight on like I want to..  

Ok, Topps.. I Tap Out....

 I'm going to start by saying I love the 1987 Topps set.. I completed it, and am working on completing the 87 OPC set. 

I thought it was cool when they used it in 2017 as an anniversary of the set.. But now... It seems like it's in a set every year.. And I want to show you something as an illustration for how frustrating it could be..

We start with Jose  Berrios. Not too bad.. Nice action photo. I do kind of miss the baseball stitching on the logo, but I know they've gone to this logo for the last couple years, so.. Whatever..

Next we have a Bo mid load up for a swing. Lots of blue in here, with the blue background and the blue uni, but again.. Whatever..

A shiny.. Vlad Jr makes an appearance as a chrome refractor kind of deal. The only debate for me really is if I want to keep it at one or if I want to try for a second to put into my Canadians binder..

Ok.. Here's where it gets fun...

A Shiny Chapman.. Easy enough to distinguish. 

Here we have another Chapman... 

And what's this? A THIRD Chapman?? 

So I have three Matt Chapman cards in the same design, but different photos thankfully.. Do I know what inserts these are from? Nope.. 

I think Topps has gone well past the point of beating this horse dead.. They've beat the horse so badly it stopped bleeding and everything is just a slurry... 

Cards from a Break

 I've mentioned before I'm part of a group called Team Collectors. Obviously, I collect Jays.. I do get Expos cards and the odd Canadian player from the other members, but mainly Jays.

All that being said, there was a break around Christmas. Update and a couple other boxes. I had another member nice enough to pay for my spot for me so I could take part. I received the cards in the mail on Friday, but didn't actually get them in hand until Sunday when I went and checked my box.. 

I'm not going to show all of them, but I'll show some interesting ones.. 

For some reason, I think this is called "New Classics" but of course, the silver/white combo makes it impossible to read.. It's a lot of fill in the blanks, but New Cais makes zero sense.. lol

Who doesn't love an Expos card? Here we have a Vlad Sr in 78 style. 

Here is my usual rant about the use of "Mascot" rather than the actual name of the mascot on the card..

If you're tired of reading it, I don't mind if you scroll on..

The Toronto Blue Jays mascot is named Ace. I don't know why they haven't been able to put his name on the cards, but it's annoying. I'd rather not have a card of Ace before seeing Ace listed as "Mascot" 

I feel this way about any mascot. They have names.. Put them on the card! 

I'm not sure what set this is from, but it's odd to see Carlos listed as a catcher (He came up as a catcher, was moved to LF, then 1B) and as a member of the Dunedin Blue Jays.

I'm sure you're wondering why this random Marlin is in with my Blue Jays.. Well, it's twofold.. 

One: He's Canadian. And after this card was released, he became a Blue Jay. 

Well, tihs is another non-Blue Jay.. He's another Canadian. At least we know we won't get him mixed up with a different Tyler Black. Especially since he goes by a different name nowadays... 

Vlad Jr Bomb Squad. Seems legit..

Here we have a bit of a "compare and contrast" exercise. 

Panini obviously was able to make a card of the famous Bautista Bat Flip. They even have his nickname.

Of course, this is the more popular version. Topps got a lot of mileage out of that image in 2016. I think I prefer the Topps card, though I do like the timing on the Panini version.

Which one do you prefer, dear reader?? Has my constant ranting about the mascot cards gotten annoying? Or do you tune it out?

Signature Saturdays

 The first Saturday of 2023 is a card I just recently received. 

Kevin Glew from the superb blog Cooperstowners in Canada sent me this card around Christmas. He read my other blog and knows my struggles. Also complimented the fact I was writing to get struggles out there. 

Anyway, he contacted me on Twitter saying he had this card and wanted to know if I wanted it.. 

I apologize for the flash glare. I tried a different method to take the scan/photo and it didn't quite work the way I wanted it to.. 

Anyway, it's a Fan Favorite John Olerud auto.

Olerud went from college to the Majors with the Jays in 1989. We know aboout his massive career year in 1993. I didn't realize he was an All Star exactly twice.. And won three Gold Gloves, all after he was with the Jays. 

He spent exactly three games in the minors near the end of his career while he was with the Red Sox. 

I have to say he has a really nice signature as well.