|
|
Post by pippsheadache on Oct 26, 2018 19:16:44 GMT -5
Did you ever get a team photo card where the faces weren’t double printed beyond recognition??? Hah, those blurry photos could have been any random 30 or so guys dressed in baseball uniforms. There were also the "special" cards that served very little purpose -- I recall one called "Dodgers Mentor and Muscle" that showed Walter Alston standing between Duke Snider and Gil Hodges. There were several that featured Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle posing together. Those "Rookie Star" cards were always a crapshoot. There was a guy for the Senators named Don Dobbek who was on one. Shelley Duncan's father Dave rated one of those. One they had for the Yankees at the height of their early sixties glory was a pitcher named Billy Short, "the next Whitey Ford." |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2018 2:51:20 GMT -5
Same thing happened to me except my comics were also 86ed the very next day. My folks explained that normal 13 year olds don’t stare at the back of baseball cards or make up stupid games with them and they certainly don’t reread comic books and ignore their English reading assignments. To this day I remember Thurman Munson’s numbers, but damned if I can remember a single line of any of Shakespeare’s sonnets.
|
|
|
|
Post by pippsheadache on Oct 27, 2018 7:24:42 GMT -5
Same thing happened to me except my comics were also 86ed the very next day. My folks explained that normal 13 year olds don’t stare at the back of baseball cards or make up stupid games with them and they certainly don’t reread comic books and ignore their English reading assignments. To this day I remember Thurman Munson’s numbers, but damned if I can remember a single line of any of Shakespeare’s sonnets. Shakespeare couldn't block the plate to save his life. Although I have to confess I haven't been able to expunge some of his sonnets that we had to memorize. "Who is Sylvia, what is she, that all our swains commend her...." etc. I wonder if Thurman ever dabbled in sonnets? |
|
|
|
Post by desousa on Oct 27, 2018 8:21:51 GMT -5
You guys got me looking into my memory bank of baseball cards. Coot Veal, Hawk Taylor, Paul Foytak, Ed Kirkpatrick, Bobby Gene Smith, Eli Grba, Dan Osinski, Felix Mantilla, Joe Pignatano, Curt Simmons, etc. My brothers and I had over 2000 cards at one time. Should have taken them when I left home.
|
|
|
|
Post by pippsheadache on Oct 27, 2018 9:04:58 GMT -5
You guys got me looking into my memory bank of baseball cards. Coot Veal, Hawk Taylor, Paul Foytak, Ed Kirkpatrick, Bobby Gene Smith, Eli Grba, Dan Osinski, Felix Mantilla, Joe Pignatano, Curt Simmons, etc. My brothers and I had over 2000 cards at one time. Should have taken them when I left home. Oh man, I can picture every one of those guys. In fact I was going to mention Paul Foytack in my next wave of nostalgia. I believe he was from the same neck of the woods as the aforementioned Billy Hoeft. Baseball cards always told you where the player was from, and normally included a small cartoon on the back listing an often obscure achievement of the player ("Dave was third in the Sally League in putouts in 1957.") Curt Simmons was actually a pretty good pitcher for a fair number of years. I always heard the story about how he lost a toe or two in a lawn-mowing accident. Not exactly Three-Finger Brown, but as close as we came in the 50s and 60s. I picture Felix Mantilla in those brightly-colored Milwaukee Braves uniforms worn by Bob Buhl and Billy Bruton and Dave Jolley and Carlton Willey. Dan Osinski I recall as a relief pitcher for the Angels, although I am sure he pitched elsewhere. Other baseball card era relievers off the top of my head: Ray Narleski, Don Mossi, Bill Henry, Mike Fornieles, Jack Baldschun, Ron Piche, Claude Raymond, Chi Chi Olivo, Ed Roebuck, Don Elston, Al "Red" Worthington. And the first Japanese player in MLB, Masanori Murakami. Keep them coming! |
|
|
|
Post by inger on Oct 27, 2018 9:34:06 GMT -5
How about Reno Bertoia? Dan Dobbek...Jack Kralick, and the fellow who was always very careful to keep his zipper up and showered alone...Dick Hyde...They were all Washington Senators in the early 60's...along with Tex Clevenger...and Ted Sadowski...I remember Ted because my father lived next door to a Doctor Sadowski, which is odd, because I never met my dad until after I was 20, and I "met" Ted Sadowski when I was about 7 or eight through my cards... Were you guys aware that the 1969 Topps card (that was the year after my cards were confiscated, so I never had it) for Aurelio Rodriguez actually had a photo of the Angel's bat boy on the card instead of that of Rodriguez? I always liked Rodriguez because he could field so well, and I never saw him with a glove on his hand that wasn't black... stuffnobodycaresabout.com/2014/10/06/baseball-card-error-aurelio-rodriguez-the-bat-boy/ |
|
|
|
Post by desousa on Oct 28, 2018 10:31:56 GMT -5
I had a bunch of those Aurelio/batboy cards, but had no idea it wasn't him. He sure had a gun for an arm, but never hit much.
Don Mossi must of got hit with an ugly stick. Yikes!
I remember Bill Henry had big, Mossi type ears too.
Dan Osinski played with 6 teams in 8 seasons. I looked him up on Baseball Reference and he could spit a bowling ball between his front teeth.
Here's some more names. Five foot five Albie Pearson, Dick Schofield, Joey Amalfitano, Adolfo Phillips, Downtown Ollie Brown, Don Mincher, No-Hit Ron Hansen, Jim Beauchamp, Sandy Valdespino, Chico Carrasquel, Chico Ruiz, Chico Salmon, and Chico Fernandez.
|
|
|
|
Post by inger on Oct 28, 2018 11:35:40 GMT -5
Chicos and the man...
Lots of Chicos back in the day. More Hispanic players now, but nary a Chico in the bunch. I suppose the nickname has gone out of vogue...
|
|
|
|
Post by inger on Oct 28, 2018 12:46:13 GMT -5
I had a bunch of those Aurelio/batboy cards, but had no idea it wasn't him. He sure had a gun for an arm, but never hit much. Don Mossi must of got hit with an ugly stick. Yikes! I remember Bill Henry had big, Mossi type ears too. Dan Osinski played with 6 teams in 8 seasons. I looked him up on Baseball Reference and he could spit a bowling ball between his front teeth. Here's some more names. Five foot five Albie Pearson, Dick Schofield, Joey Amalfitano, Adolfo Phillips, Downtown Ollie Brown, Don Mincher, No-Hit Ron Hansen, Jim Beauchamp, Sandy Valdespino, Chico Carrasquel, Chico Ruiz, Chico Salmon, and Chico Fernandez.
Players like this hold an extra level of intrigue for me. He played in MLB for 10 seasons to accumulate about a full season's worth of AB, 661 in fact. Grinding out all of those seasons as a backup out fielder, sometimes first baseman and of course pinch-hitter in his National-League-only career that ended just as the DH era began...He accumulated a rather mild slash of .231/.288/.334 for a career OPS of +75. With those numbers, I would have to assume he was a great baseball citizen, liked in the clubhouse, and assuming gratefully his role as a back up player. One item of note is that although the slash line doesn't jump off the page and Beauchamp hit only 14 MLB HR, he did drive in 90 runs in those 661 AB.
He never even had a season with 100+ AB until he was 31, with only two more seasons of MLB ahead of him. Seeing his MLB marks, one would have no idea that after several seasons of modest success in MiLB, Beauchamp's bat erupted in 1963 when he was 23-years old and he won the Texas League MVP award with a neat .337/31/105 season. He followed that up with several more nice MiLB seasons during which he split time in MLB and MiLB. After his MLB career ended, he managed in the minors from 1975-1990 and had a long run from 1991-2001 as the bench coach for the Atlanta Braves. After that he spent some time as the Braves minor-league coordinator. On a final sad note, he suffered with leukemia in his later years and passed away on Christmas day in 2007 at only 68 years of age. His son Kash was a 1st round draft pick for the Blue Jays in 1982 and toiled modestly in the minors from then at age 19 until age 32. He then took a five year sabbatical from baseball, only to return to play INDY League ball in 2000 and 2001 at age 37 and 38, but with even more modest results.
Beauchamp was one of those players whose Topps card seemed to appear multiple times in my stack every year. I wonder if I ever saw him play? I seem to recall it, perhaps during one of his four World Series at bats???
|
|
|
|
Post by kaybli on Oct 29, 2018 4:43:42 GMT -5
Theme for this offseason:
Spend the money! Don't be a cheapass Hal!
|
|
|
|
Post by chiyankee on Oct 29, 2018 8:38:19 GMT -5
Theme for this offseason:
Spend the money! Don't be a cheapass Hal!
But spend wisely, I don't want anything to do with Machado or Kersahw. |
|
|
|
Post by greatfatness on Oct 29, 2018 9:00:13 GMT -5
Theme for this offseason:
Spend the money! Don't be a cheapass Hal!
In this scenario is Hal supposed to be Skinner or Krabapple? |
|
|
|
Post by inger on Oct 29, 2018 9:51:38 GMT -5
Theme for this offseason:
Spend the money! Don't be a cheapass Hal!
Such a horribly jaundiced cast on that show... |
|
|
|
Post by pippsheadache on Oct 29, 2018 20:08:49 GMT -5
I had a bunch of those Aurelio/batboy cards, but had no idea it wasn't him. He sure had a gun for an arm, but never hit much. Don Mossi must of got hit with an ugly stick. Yikes! I remember Bill Henry had big, Mossi type ears too. Dan Osinski played with 6 teams in 8 seasons. I looked him up on Baseball Reference and he could spit a bowling ball between his front teeth. Here's some more names. Five foot five Albie Pearson, Dick Schofield, Joey Amalfitano, Adolfo Phillips, Downtown Ollie Brown, Don Mincher, No-Hit Ron Hansen, Jim Beauchamp, Sandy Valdespino, Chico Carrasquel, Chico Ruiz, Chico Salmon, and Chico Fernandez. More good memories, Desousa. Yep, Mossi is generally considered to be the ugliest man to ever play major league baseball. You're right, Bill Henry was another ugly reliever. Also Gerry Staley. And Sad Sam Jones. Don't forget fat Eddie Watt. Albie Pearson was a pretty good player for a few years with the Senators and Angels. And Ducky Schofield -- classic good field, no hit IFer of the 50s and 60s -- father of Dick Schofield Jr. and grandfather of Jayson Werth, another of baseball's three generation families. I recall Downtown Ollie Brown as on of the Padres first stars, along with Nate Colbert. Don Mincher was for several years a secondary but nice addition to the Twins roster of sluggers in the mid-60s -- Harmon Killebrew, Bob Allison, Rich Rollins, Tony Oliva, Jimmy Hall. As Inger noted, lots of Chicos. The first baseball game I ever went to, Chico Fernandez was playing SS for the Phillies and was hit in head by a line drive off the bat of Gus Bell (foundation stud for another three-generation baseball family.) He was carried off the field on a stretcher, something I can visualize to this day, more than 60 years after the fact. Chico Ruiz is also famous in Philly for stealing home to give the Reds a 1-0 victory to start what would be a ten game losing streak that would cost the Phillies the 1964 pennant. Chico Salmon I remember for his devout belief in ghosts, to the point that it seemed to incapacitate him at times. And Chico Carrasquel I remember late in his career -- he was still an outstanding defensive SS, rather flashy in the field -- first Latin American player to start in an All Star game, and the third Venezuelan ever to play in the majors -- his uncle was the first. Joe Amalfitano -- I love long Italian surnames -- Vito Valentinetti, Joe Altobelli, Jim Pagliaroni, John Boccabella, Rob Picciolo, Frank Tepedino. I'll throw a few more oldies but goodies out there -- happy to hear any memories you have of them -- Mike de la Hoz, Bill Tuttle, Wayne Causey, Coco Laboy, Boots Day, Jerry Adair, Tom Phoebus, Joe Schaffernoth, Willie Kirkland, Al Luplow, Al Pilarcik, Bubba Phillips, George Altman, Glen Hobbie, Dalton Jones. |
|
|
|
Post by pippsheadache on Oct 29, 2018 20:10:03 GMT -5
Good story on Jim Beauchamp, (beautiful field, nice surname for a baseball player) Inger. Like you, I had a hard time seeing how that ended up being pronounced "Beechum." Without you putting up his stats, I would have thought he was a better hitter than that. I probably saw him play a couple of good games and it stuck in my memory.
As for Doug "Eyechart" Gwosdz, I can't begin to tell you how it came to be pronounced "Goosh." Silent w, silent d, o pronounced like "ew." Looks like a bad draw on a scrabble tray. Although I can see a few short words in there.
|
|
