Tuesday, January 22, 2019

2019 MLB Hall of Fame and the 30 teams/30 players blog bat around

There's two great topics to cover today instead of posting cards I bought, so let's hit 'em both!

First, the 2019 Hall of Fame election announcement.  Huge congrats to:
Roy Halladay200 wins, 2 Cy Youngs, 8 All-Star nods, a perfect game plus a no-hitter (the latter during the playoffs!) and a career bWAR of 64.3 over 16 seasons.  It's a shame he won't be there to celebrate his induction.
Edgar Martinez2 batting titles, 7 All-Star appearances, and a 68.4 bWAR in 18 seasons (though he didn't play a "full" one until his fourth).  Edgar was the Platonic ideal of a DH and made people appreciate OBP.
Mike Mussina270 wins, 7 Gold Gloves, 5 All-Star selections, a crazy 83.0 bWAR in 18 seasons, and he saved his best for last, winning 20 games in 2008 before retiring.  His Yankees career was bookended by World Series titles he missed out on, plus it's not his fault that Baltimore's owner was a cheap asshole.
Mariano Rivera652 saves (a record), five World Series rings (he was the '99 MVP), 13 All-Star selections, and a 56.2 bWAR in 19 seasons.  He waited his turn for a couple years then rode into the record books as a Yankees legend.  More often than not if the Yankees got to the 8th or 9th with a lead, it was "Enter Sandman" and the game was over thanks to the greatest closer the game has seen.  Also the first unanimous selection!

All four of these guys are very deserving and I look forward to their ceremony in Cooperstown this summer.

Next, the 30 for 30 blog bat around:  the player I immediately think of when I hear the name of each modern team.  (All scans that aren't mine come from COMC.)

2002 Upper Deck - [Base] #736 - Luis Gonzalez - Courtesy of COMC.com

Arizona -- Luis Gonzalez.  Came up with one of the biggest hits in World Series history--against Mariano Rivera, no less--after the D-Backs almost let the Yanks claim a fourth straight title.
Atlanta -- Greg Maddux.  With apologies to the likes of Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson, the best pitcher of his generation.
Baltimore -- Cal Ripken Jr.  Nothing against the Robinsons, but this one was easy.
1961 Fleer Baseball Greats - [Base] #152 - Ted Williams [VG] - Courtesy of COMC.com
Boston -- Ted Williams.  I've never been a fan of their recent teams so I went with an obvious classic choice here.
1959 Topps - [Base] #350 - Ernie Banks [Good to VG‑EX] - Courtesy of COMC.com
Chicago Cubs -- Ernie Banks.  C'mon, he's "Mr. Cub"!
Chicago White Sox -- Frank Thomas.  There was a period in the early 90s when I loved the White Sox, and that was mainly thanks to "the Big Hurt".
Cincinnati -- Barry Larkin.  The Big Red Machine was fantastic but give me Barry any day.
Cleveland -- Bob Feller.  An incredible pitcher who was fun to watch in old baseball videos and a pleasure to meet in person.
1997 Bowman's Best - [Base] - Atomic Refractor #67 - Larry Walker - Courtesy of COMC.com
Colorado -- Larry Walker.  He had his best years with the Rockies and put up some crazy numbers in his time.
Detroit -- Lou Whitaker.  So many to choose from, especially Al Kaline, but I'll go with my favorite guy growing up, another legend (and deserving HOFer) who stuck with the team for his entire career.
Houston -- Jeff Bagwell.  Man was his crouched stance and wound-up swing fun to watch as he mashed homers.
Kansas City -- George Brett.  A great hitter and representative of his era.  Three words:  "pine tar incident".  Three more:  "straight fuckin' water".
Los Angeles Angels -- Jim Abbott.  You younger guys can have Trout, but I'll go with another Michigan favorite, the amazing pitcher who throw a no-hitter with one arm.
Los Angeles Dodgers -- Kirk Gibson.  Gibby would have been a good choice for the Tigers too, but I'm putting him here for his storybook moment in '88.  None of the recent guys really appeal to me, but those 80s teams sure were fun!
1996 Topps Finest - [Base] - Refractor #100 - Jeff Conine - Courtesy of COMC.com
Miami/Florida -- Jeff Conine.  I'm not sure if I've seen him come up yet--Giancarlo Stanton is a popular choice--but he was an original Marlin that was among the team's leaders in games.
Milwaukee -- Robin Yount.  Another guy I got to appreciate a bit at the tail end of his career.
Minnesota -- Kirby Puckett.  Joe Mauer was my second choice (Killebrew was just too much before my time) but I had to go with the guy that brought energy to the '87 and '91 Twins.
2002 Topps Stadium Club - World Champions Relics #WC-GC2 - Gary Carter - Courtesy of COMC.com
New York Mets -- Gary Carter.  The Mets are one of the few teams here that I just never really cared for, but Carter's a HOFer that was a big piece of the '86 champs.
New York Yankees -- Derek Jeter.  I went with one of many obvious choices, just a more recent one.  Jeter was the face of the 90s/2000s Yankees dynasty, though I wish he would have made a pit stop in Ann Arbor on the way to Cooperstown!
Oakland -- Rickey Henderson.  The do-everything cog of the A's on four different occasions, he was the greatest base-stealer ever and put together the 19th best bWAR the game has seen.  And he was simply a blast to watch.
1978 Kellogg's 3-D Super Stars - [Base] #3 - Mike Schmidt - Courtesy of COMC.com
Philadelphia -- Mike Schmidt.  Nobody recent could topple the power-hitting 3B for the 1980 champs, though he retired when I was still quite young.
1955 Topps - [Base] #164 - Roberto Clemente [VG] - Courtesy of COMC.com
Pittsburgh -- Roberto Clemente.  I can't possibly add anything new in lauding a true legend and humanitarian.
St. Louis -- Stan Musial.  My modern choice would probably be Albert Pujols but Musial is such a beloved HOFer and career Cardinal that there was no question in my mind that he was "the Man" for the job here.
San Diego -- Tony Gwynn.  I opted against "Mr. Tiger" but went with "Mr. Cub" and now "Mr. Padre".  The greatest pure hitter of his generation lives on thanks to some very cool bloggers.
San Francisco -- Willie Mays.  This choice was far too easy, especially after I confirmed that most of his Giants career was spent in San Fran, not New York.  One of the greatest five-tool athletes ever.
Seattle -- Ken Griffey Jr.  The most fun player to watch in the 90s, health prevented him from being the true heir to Mays, but when he was playing, you stopped and watched.
2005 Donruss Prime Patches - Portraits - Name Plate Patch #P-36 - Rocco Baldelli /50 - Courtesy of COMC.com
Tampa Bay -- Rocco Baldelli.  First reaction:  "Eh, who cares?"  Second reaction:  "Jeez is Florida baseball garbage".  Third reaction:  "Ok, Baldelli was a good guy".
Texas -- Nolan Ryan.  He pitched for so long I got to see a lot of him in my formative baseball years, and the flamethrower was amazing to watch game after game.
1994 Score Select - [Base] #12 - Joe Carter - Courtesy of COMC.com
Toronto -- Joe Carter.  That World Series homer, tho.  Other guys have come and gone but if that moment doesn't scream Blue Jays, I don't know what does.
Washington/Montreal -- Vladimir Guerrero.  The current version of Washington doesn't have enough history yet so I'm going back to the Expos days.  Again, Pedro Martinez was a good option, but Montreal is where Guerrero built his legend as his generation's answer to Clemente while toiling in relative obscurity.

I realize a number of my choices were obvious and/or unoriginal but I tried my best to adhere to the "first guy you come up with while not thinking about it" idea.  What do y'all think?

13 comments:

  1. It's been kind of amazing to see how many of us chose Bob Feller, one has to wonder why that is, especially since none of us ever saw him play.

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    1. I guess there's just nobody that's more associated with Cleveland than Rapid Robert! I mean those teams in the 90s were great but nobody was there for THAT long--Belle, Manny Ramirez, Vizquel, Baerga, Thome....

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  2. Not to be the Cardsphere Police here, but I think the idea is you just say the first name that pops in your head without thinking about it, not necessarily who is your favorite or you think is the greatest from that team. Well ok, ok, you did have Rocco Baldelli in there.

    But nice cards. Is that your Mariano auto? Pretty sweet!

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    1. Yeah, I totally get you, and that's how I approached coming up with my list, but I think my write-ups might sound like they contradict that. And that is indeed my auto of Rivera that I got years and years ago. Thanks, and that's high praise from the guy who has so many amazing Retired Signature autos!

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  3. Nice call on Conine for Florida. Brings back memories of pulling his "rookie" inserts back in the mid 90's. Tampa Bay reactions were sweet too. I'm glad you stuck to the first guy you though of... not favorite or most popular guy from the franchise.

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    1. Thanks for backing me up on that as another guy who watched some of these players in the 90s. The Marlins just haven't been on my radar for a while other than being an example of how a team shouldn't be run. Guys like Josh Beckett were big for them for a bit but they never hung around for long!

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  4. Quite an impressive group of cards here, especially the autos and the Clemente. Kinda surprised you didn't pick Verlander as your Tiger..and yes, Florida baseball is hot smelly garbage lol.

    I'm not familiar with the second George Brett reference but I think every blogger has picked him or Bo Jackson as their Royal.

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    1. Thanks! Though all but a couple of the vintage are COMC scans, unfortunately. Verlander is definitely one of my recent favorites, but I grew up on the Tigers of Whitaker/Trammell/Gibson/Morris. The Brett video is decidedly not safe for work but hilarious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PseNrUeSmXk. Bo Jackson is a fantastic choice too, but Brett was still active when I was younger.

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    2. Chris - Dan Quisenberry was the first Royal to pop into my head

      Dennis - After watching that video... Brett will be the first person to pop into my head the next time I poop my pants.

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  5. Replies
    1. It definitely had to be Whitaker, and few Dodgers are all that memorable for me these days, so Gibby it was!

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  6. You and I see eye to eye on a lot of those players with their teams

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    1. Doesn't surprise me since we agree about a bunch of stuff

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