Stadium Friday

 I think I'm going to make this a regular thing. I want to take a day each week and highlight a stadium. 

Show a card of it and give some information on it.. 

Today is Metropolitan Stadium

Metropolitan Stadium was home to the Minnesota Twins.

It was also known as "The Met" and later "The Old Met" once the Metrodome was built. 

It started out as a Triple A Stadium for the Minneapolis Millers from 1956-1960. 

The Washington Senators moved here for the 1961 season, causing the seating capacity to go from 18,200-30,000, then 45,000. By time the Twins moved to the Dome, seating was 45,919.

So to get to the point where The Met was used by the Twins, we have a lot of boardroom dealing and other shenanigans. The Millers were the top team for the New York Giants. Thoughts were the Giants would move to Minneapolis. They ended up going to the west coast with the Dodgers, causing the Red Sox to take over the Millers as their farm team to allow the Giants rights to San Francisco. 

By time the Senators were being moved to Minneapolis, MLB folded the Millers and the St. Paul Saints. 

By the 1970s, there were talks of replacing the stadium already, as it had started to outgrow its usefulness to both the Twins and Vikings. Logistical problems and renovation issues also caused them to prefer a new stadium. Originally, the new stadium was just going to be for the Vikings, but the Twins joined in the discussion. The domed aspect was appealing due to the cold in April and Sept-Oct.. 

The stadium was not well maintained either, with railings falling off and the field not being up to par. 

The Old Met sat unused from 1982-1985 when it was finally demolished. In 1992, the Mall Of America was built on the site. 

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?