This is Downright Looney

    For Christmas (I believe it was this past one), my brother was kind enough to give me a binder full of baseball cards. I wonder why I didn't post this sooner... Anyway, this binder had a particularly interesting set of cards in it. Let's just say I didn't need to look through every card individually to see which 'good ones' there were. 

    The first page of the binder said it all:

    

    Lovely, isn't it? I looked through the whole binder, and it turns out that he gave me the entire 297-card set (or 594 if you count the back of the card like UD does). These are the only nine cards featuring 'players,' and the rest of the cards are comics. The players have some goofy stat line on the back, my personal favorite being Wile E. Coyote's.

It's no wonder he's a wretched pitcher considering that nothing from Acme works...

    

    I won't bother photographing the comics or anything for this post. Rather, I think we'll go with the other eight players. 

1-16: Bugs Bunny

    Oh great! Now the Dodgers have everybody! I love how they add in the part, 'Nothing about Bugs is average.' But I still kinda wanna know what his H/AB ratio is...

2-17: Daffy Duck

    I think I actually laughed like Elmer Fudd when I saw that he was second in everything to Bugs Bunny. The quote is charming.

3-18: Road Runner

    Uhhhhhh.....nothing much about this one, other then he always wins. Maybe the Yankees could have won the World Series had they kept him around. I find it interesting that they made him bat right and throw left, because in my baseball experience, that's pretty rare.

5-14: Sylvester

    Futility infielder? Seems a little bit harsh, but then again, it's Sylvester.

6-15: Porky Pig

    Porky's dillema seems typical of most broadcasters today. Seriously.

7-10: Tweety

    Again, besides a bunch of cheesy jokes, not a ton to say about this card. He makes Juan Soto look bad though when he acquires three times the walks.

8-11: Yosemite Sam

    Now we have a team I like. But of all characters, why Sam? I love what they did with his earned run total. Looks like Camilo Doval's not alone when it comes to wild pitching in San Francisco...

9-12: Tasmanian Devil

    It took me a while to figure out what was meant by 'Make nice hors d'oeuvres.' Now that I get it, I kind of wish that I still didn't. Earning the reputation as the worst interview takes real talent with all the competition he's been faced with.

    I think an Elmer Fudd card would have been a nice addition to the set, but all in all I really like it. I think they did well on the character bios for the most part, and the artwork is wonderful. Getting the entire set is great too. I've already added it to my TCDB collection, which is slowly gaining more cards and is up to about 370 now. I kind of just add as I post. I'm in no hurry.

    This would make for a happy ending, except for the part where I veer off to talk about something completely unrelated, but worthwhile nonetheless. The Diamond King is hosting another Serial Guessing Contest with 100 lovely cards to be given away to the winner. If you haven't seen it yet, then do it. (just click the link above). Wait, doesn't this make my chances of winning go down?!?!!??!?! Well, I do get a second guess for this, so I think it's way more than fair enough.

    I'm thinking of something Looney Tuney to end with post with, but nothing comes to mind except for throwing anvils in your face, and I don't wanna do that -- it means less people will read my blog! So, since I'm not going to cause any collateral damage, I think there's only one thing left to say...

Ripken's Ruined Season

     I am almost entirely sure that Cal Ripken Jr. is the player whose cards I have the most of. Back when the card store sold quarter cards, I would stalk up on Ripken and some other big names from the '90s. But of all my Cal Ripken cards, this one is my favorite:

    I really like the design of the 1993 Classic cards, and especially like the picture on the front of Ripken's card.

    In 1992 Ripken certainly didn't have his best year at the dish, when he slashed .251/.323/.366 with 14 home runs in his usual 162 games. Though I wouldn't consider this a terrible year, he did win the MVP the year before (34 homers, .323 batting average).

    Now, there is one thing that's a little bit peculiar about this particular card. If you haven't noticed yet, it states that Cal Ripken had a measely four home runs in 1992 instead of the correct 14. Just a slight error, but enough to make me wonder: what would his season have looked like if that were indeed the case?

    If Cal Ripken Jr. had actually hit four homers in '92, he would have had 10 less hits. But since the card has the hit total right, I'll assume that these missing home runs were all counted as singles. If this were indeed the case for the Iron Man, then his slugging percentage in that season would have been .319 instead of .366, less than his batting average of the year before! If we're being particular, then he also would have had less RBI and runs, but both of those are correct on the card, so I'll hold off.

    Therefore, I would indeed say that Ripken would have been genuinely bad at the plate had this typo been reality. Thankfully, it wasn't so, and he ended up not quitting after this season and retiring at 32.

    This was the only error on the card. Everything else is correct, including the quiz questions, though some of them are now incorrect over 30 years later. I guess I can use it as ammunition to throw a pop quiz at some friends.

    So Cal, rest assured that 1992 wasn't as bad as Classic gives you credit for. I bet your manager would have appreciated it had you put up the same stats as in the year before, but he'll take what he can get (Ripken did win the Gold Glove in '92). 

    Now that I've finished, I shall leave y'all to the rest of your weekend. Make sure to enjoy the hour that you get back this week, have a great Sunday, and happy collecting!

It is November First

     And I wait to bring this up until November first because today's Fernando Valenzuela's birthday. 5:00 on his birthday, but better late than never. Valenzuela passed away on October 22nd, so I know it's a bit of a wait, but I wanted to give him a small tribute on his actual birthday.

    The first card I got of El Toro was his 1990 Fleer card. 

    Valenzuela put up impressive numbers in his 17-year career, accumulating 173 wins and an ERA of 3.54. He won the Cy Young Award and the Rookie of the Year in the same season, 1981, when at the age of 20 he pitched to a 2.48 ERA and went 13-7 in the strike-shortened season. He helped the Dodgers win the '81 World Series, defeating the Yankees. Thus Fernandomania was roused, and Valenzuela took off from there.

    In 2003, Valenzuela took a role in the Dodgers Spanish broadcasting booth and was partners with his interpreter. He spent more than 20 years as a broadcaster before stepping away due to health.

    Fernando's number, 34, is retired by the Los Angeles Dodgers, who defeated the Yankees again in the World Series. Dodgers fans and baseball fans in general will miss the  pitcher from Mexico.

    I'm afraid I don't know all that much about Fernando Valenzuela. But I hope I knew enough to give him a good tribute. He deserves one.

You are not requred to start over, but you are required to keep going.

                                                                                        -Fernando Valenzuela

Fall Classic Games 3 - 5: Freddie Kills...But So Do Errors

     Let's face it; we all know what happened in these games. Right? Let me just make sure I'm not wrong. Anyway, I've lost my train of thought, so these are my takeaways from each game. (Warning: This post is going have an extremely different feel to it.) Buckle up y'all.

    This time, I didn't watch any of game three, due to being places at the time of the game. I watched a lot of game four. But, I watched all of the fifth game, and had a very mixed experience with that one. 

Game 3: Game 3 of the good ol' World Series was a story of Freddie Freeman. Again. If you're a Dodgers fan, you must be really happy. If not, then you're probably not too happy. Clarke Schmidt pitched a little bit less than idealy, and Aaron Judge continued to be confuddled by the Dodger pitching staff. The Dodgers ended up winning 4-2, and had a chance to sweep on Tuesday.

Game 4: Freddie Freeman. Yet again. Coming into the game, Freddie had the highest slugging percentage in World Series history at .853, and when he went yard in the first inning, extended his Fall Classic home run streak to six games, also a record. The tide turned when, of all people, Anthony Volpe hit a grand slam to make the game 5-2 in favor of New York (that kid has talent). Gleyber and Austin Wells also hit homers. And Aaron Judge finally got a hit, which happened to be off of Brent Honeywell Jr. who was actively getting shellacked. Maybe that heats things up for the next game(s)? Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that fans assaulted Mookie Betts to take the ball out of his glove. They got in trouble.

Game 5: I wrote this one while actively watching the game, which is why it's longer and more detailed. In the first inning, I totally called a rejuvenated Aaron Judge two-run bomb. When he stepped in the box I said, 'Here comes the Judge tank,' and he did it first pitch. Jazz went yard the very next at-bat, and totally showed up Jack Flaherty. Moving on to the fifth inning, Yanks up 5-0.
    Alright, I don't care who it is, no major league team can ever make that many errors and mental mistakes in one inning. Between dropped flies, throwing errors, and missing covering first base, the Yankees gave the Dodgers 5 free runs (and I mean free: 0 earned runs) to tie the game. I hate errors. Watching them hurts. Nonetheless, Gerrit Cole ended up going 6 2/3 innings in 108 pitches. The statline is definitely an interesting one with 5 unearned runs (cringe), but at least he left with a 6-5 lead. 
    After the ninth inning, I gotta tell you two words: errors kill. This could have been a 6-2 game, but instead, it's 7-6. I'm not trying to bag on the Yankees, believe me. I was rooting for them. But that fifth inning was really painful. 
    On the bright side, Freddie didn't hit a homer this game. So the streak ends.

    

    I donned my 2023 Rangers World Series hat for the ninth inning of game five, knowing that it could my last day of the Rangers being reigning champs. It's kind of sad what happened to them this season, but I know they can, and believe they will make it up next year and have a postseason run. However, that's a conversation for another day. For now, the Dodgers are the champions. And I thought it was gonna be the Padres......

    It comes as no surprise to anybody that Freddie Freeman wins the World Series MVP. An enormous walk-off homer in game one followed by three more in the next three games makes for an obvious choice. But, since I've posted cards of him in a bunch of posts these last days, I'm afraid it's time for Walker Buehler and Tommy Edman.

I'm afraid I got nothing special for these guys, just base cards from years past

    You know what Gerrit Cole, you can get a feature on this post too. You're a work horse. You deserve it.

    Though I wasn't exactly rooting for the Dodgers to win, I am kind of glad that the series is over, because I was starting to get sick of writing these game recaps. After I wrote the first one I was going to keep on though, even though these wore fairly boring to write, and probably boring to read. I have a few decent posts in my queue to be released into the world in the near future.

   

    Post Script:
    Tomorrow's post will mark my third in as many days, which I don't typically like to do, but the post tomorrow is one I really want to do, and it can only be done tomorrow. You'll get it when you see it. Anyway, thank you for reading, have a great rest of the week, and happy collecting!

I did it

     I've been wanting to do it for a whole few days now, and yesterday I finally did: I joined TCDB.

    Considering how much help they've given me, like telling me what on earth that Jacob deGrom card I had was (silver pattern foilboard), I think it'll be a beneficial relationship. I haven't listed any cards on it yet, and when I start it will be a very slow process. 

(Random card from the 2023 binder, though this one seems fitting. Freddie's kinda been historic)

    Well, just wanted to throw a post out there since the Yankees won last night and therefore I can't post on the World Series yet. It's a shortie today. Enjoy the rest of your week, and happy collecting. My collecting may get happier....I've already messed around on the website while seeing what it's like.

Fall Classic Games 1 & 2: Freddie for MVP

    Alas, I'm a dirty liar. It's baseball. I watched it. Most of it. I watched the entire first game of the World Series, and then most of the second game. Here are my personal recaps from them.

    

    The first game was a tale of (in my opinion) bad managerial decisions and a suffering bullpen. Nestor Cortes hadn't pitched in 37 days. That's typically the way it goes, I guess. I jokingly mentioned the intentional walk of Mookie Betts, and then it actually happened.

    I call it anticlimactic that the Yankees went through the free pass of Mookie, because Freddie Freeman deposited the very next pitch into the right field pavilion. Dang it. It was the first walk-off grand slam in (at the time) 696 World Series games.

    It also stinks that Juan Soto didn't have the best game on his birthday. You win some, you lose some.

    I had even less hope for the Yankees in Game 2. Carlos Rodon had been decent in the regular season, but he wasn't an ace. Yoshi Yamamoto is getting overpaid for a reason. He shut down the offense of the Yankees for 6 1/3 innings, his only blunder being a Juan Soto home run. Meanwhile, Tommy Edman went yard, and I called the second Freddie tank. After all Freeman's been through this year between his son's scary illness and the ankle injury, I'm kinda glad he's doing what he's been good at for so long.

    I left sometime in the fourth or fifth inning to practice dancing Footloose (I don't even know why I mention this), and came back somewhere in the last three innings. I saw Shohei get hurt attempting to steal second, which was a little bit frightening (hope he's alright). After a scoreless inning out of Mark Leiter Jr, the score was 4-1 in favor of the Dodgers, going into the ninth inning.

    Then Blake Treinen came on again, and instantly got himself into trouble. Juan Soto (who hit a homer earlier in the game), singled and then reached second on a wild pitch. Aaron Judge struck out again for the first out before a really weird Stanton RBI single off of third base. A Chisholm single followed, and then one of those classic Anthony Rizzo 'this pitch is inside so I'm gonna be on first base' plate appearances. This loaded the bases for Anthony Volpe. 

    Let me just say that I've never been more disappointed in a player when I have very little rooting interest in a game. That strike three pitch was so outside that I don't think he could have hit it with a 39 1/2 foot pole.

    And now, for the most anticlimactic portion of the game: Blake Treinen is pulled and Alex Vesia comes in to shut the door. Down to their last out, with the bases loaded, the Yankees send Jose Trevino to pinch-hit for Austin Wells. 

    He flies out on the first pitch, and that was all she wrote. 4-2 Dodgers.

    I know I said that I wasn't going to watch most of the World Series, but since it was on antenna, I was unable to hold back. Sure I was rooting against both these teams, I won't deny that. There is a ton of star-power in this series, which is definitely appealing. But the main reason for my watching is this: it's baseball. Whether or not you like the teams, this is the championship for this whole year of baseball. The rules may be less than ideal, and same with the teams, but this is the game that I've been with since I was in diapers. 

    So, I watched it. I will probably continue to watch most of it. But, maybe we can have the Rangers in the World Series next year for that adrenaline boost and the rooting interests. Please?

    Thanks for reading my very poorly written recaps, have a great start to the week, and happy collecting!

Those Nice Nippon Cards From Walmart.....

     Yeesh, this was a while ago by now. But yes, I was in Walmart when I found this nifty pack of 2021 Nippon cards for under eight bucks, so of course, picked it up.

    I don't remember exactly how many cards it came with, but considering my unwillingness to trade them to a friend (ha ha), I bet it was the fourteen I possess now. I was actually not going to make this a post at all, but, well, changed my mind. And now we're here.

    I really like these cards, but of course, have the same beef with the 2021 design. I like that the patterns match each other up when the cards are side-by-side, but the print is too small and the front of the cards are a little bit boring. However, I actually like the look of them better on the Japanese cards.

    We got three pitchers to start things off. And look who's in the middle, it's Kodai Senga! The 'u' in his name on the card threw me off a little, but it's the same pitcher. After an awesome rookie season that saw Senga end second in Rookie of the Year voting and seventh Cy Young voting, he only made one start this season due to injuries. 
    On the right we see 24-year old Kaima Taira, who has a 2.03 ERA as a reliever in seven seasons in Japan (1.94 in the Nippon Professional Baseball League), striking out about 10 batters per nine innings.

This is the back of the Senga card. Obviously, I can't read the words, though the stats aren't very difficult to figure out.

    The first two players on this row are major-leaguers; we see Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida, who has looked pretty good in the MLB across his 248 games. We also see Masahiro Tanaka, who pitched seven years with the Yankees, acquiring a 78-46 record and a solid 3.74 ERA in that time. He was an all-star in 2019. He is still pitching professionally in Japan at the age of 35, though he will be 36 on November first.

    No major leaguers in this one, though we have Munetaka Murakami, who through seven years in Japan has a .272/.395/.543 slash line with 241 home runs in 934 games. At 24 years of age, the slugging third baseman will be eligible to play in the majors after the 2025 season, and that seems to be his goal. I would look out for him, and will definitely be paying close attention to him.

    Again, no major leaguers, but we have a solid player in Eigoro Mogi, who in 915 games owns a .272/.350/.418 slash line. I also have a rookie card of pitcher Ryuta Heinai, who has a 12-16 record and 4.06 ERA across 197 1/3 innings.

    We end with a couple more players, and a rookie card of Masashi Itoh. Itoh has pitched four seasons in Japan, and has a 37-26 record and 2.73 ERA.  

    Favorite Card: I gotta go with Kodai Senga. He's looked great at the big league level (though injuries devastated him this year), and he has a great picture for the card.

    Least-Favorite Card: Eigoro Mogi's card is a little bit boring. Not much of an action shot out of the utility infielder. 

    A few of these guys are really young and performing well in Japan. I wonder if any of them will get the big league call and join the majors (with either the Dodgers or the Yankees, coincidentally). I don't know all of the rules for foreign players, other than being 25 years of age to come over, and I'm not going to look it up at the moment.

    Looking back at these cards reminds me of when I used to be able to watch Nippon games on my television. Those were the glory days (though we usually only watched a few innings). Maybe I'll see if I can find them on TV again. I'd be interested for sure.

    Speaking of foreign players, rising star Yoshinobu Yamamoto is slated to start Game 2 of the World Series, behind Game 1 starter Jack Flaherty. I could go into detail about the filthy talent this kid possesses, but that would take a whole other post. And, sadly enough, I don't have any of his cards.

    Hopefully this World Series will be an exciting one. Have a great rest of the week, happy collecting, and, as always, thanks for reading. I'm out.