Mom's 6-for-6 Day at the Thrift Store

Mom is always on the lookout for cards for my collection. When she's not simply referring to my Eight Men Out list, she's unearthing some gems at a card show. This past spring at my nephew's first birthday party, she presented me with a small envelope of cards obtained at a local thrift store. Surprisingly, even amazingly, each and every one of them is brand-new to my collection. That's not usually a feat even I can pull off. It's never been as bad as getting five copies of the same card at one show, but I inevitably end up with a few I already had.

Not so when Mom is shopping for me.

I had the good fortune to witness Charlie Blackmon go 6-for-6 at the Rockies' Home Opener in 2014, the very first day The Rooftop deck at Coors Field was opened to the public. Mike Trout had a 5-for-5 day yesterday, so let's take a look at what a perfect day at the plate looks like.

1997 Upper Deck #479 Jaime Bluma DD

First up is a subset from 1997 Upper Deck, a Diamond Debuts card of Jaime Bluma. I'd never heard of this reliever before, and it's actually a bit tough to tell which team he's on. The stack of golden diamonds on the right each contain a small "KC" (which scan better than they look), but I never really noticed them while this card was sitting on my side table all summer.

Bluma was a late-season call-up for the Royals in 1996, converting five saves in 17 relief appearances. He held promise, and the card back tells us all about those five saves, but Bluma didn't return to the big leagues in 1997 or any year after. Also on the back is a 1995 Fleer-esque thermal image of the front photo, as well as what ended up being his complete MLB stats.

It's unfortunate when your rookie card is also your sunset card. But those two months in late 1996 must remain unforgettable for Jaime Bluma.

1997 Upper Deck #381a Ruben Rivera CF

Clearly, Mom found a rich vein of 1997 Upper Deck subsets. This gold nugget, with a conspicuous absence of copper, UD's favorite metallic element, documents a key pinch-hit that Ruben Rivera delivered during the 1996 pennant race for the Yankees. His efforts helped them (and his cousin, Mariano Rivera) win their first World Series since 1978, even though he didn't end up on the ALCS or World Series roster.

Rivera did end up playing a World Series game at the old Yankee Stadium in 1998, but he came up on the losing end that year as a member of the San Diego Padres. After that, he wrapped his career up as a Giant, but not before going down in history by executing one of the worst displays of baserunning ever seen. Despite that TOOTBLAN, the Giants still managed to salvage a win in 13 innings, although the very next game would be the final one of Rivera's career.

Quite the contrast to his cousin's Hall of Fame-worthy career.

1997 Upper Deck #280 Greg Norton

More 1997 Upper Deck gives us a subset I was at least familiar with already, the shiny Star Rookies set. As with Bluma's card, there's a small shield in the lower left with the date of Greg Norton's debut with the White Sox, and it's less than two weeks after Bluma's. He earned an interesting distinction in that debut game, becoming just the second-ever Major Leaguer to get his first two hits in the same inning.

Some real star power coming up in the AL Central in August 1996, right?

Pardon my sarcasm, but if I had to pick a least-favorite Rockie of all-time, it would be Greg Norton. He was a nice enough guy, and looking back, his stats aren't that bad, but he didn't start a ton of games, and when they did put him in as a pinch-hitter, he always seemed to strike out at the worst possible times. I do recall a grand slam, which was so uncharacteristic that I still remember Greg Norton once hit a grand slam.

2000 Upper Deck #241 Fred McGriff

That taps out 1997 UD, but there's a bit more of that familiar copper to ease us into the new millennium with their 2000 set. We also get to see a much more familiar player in Fred McGriff, not quite a Hall-of-Famer, but an MVP, World Series champion, and five-time All-Star.

Tampa Bay kept the "Devil Rays" name for so short a time that it's quite strange to see their early cards. By now, they've been the Rays longer than they were the Devil Rays, so it's definitely a case of a team still trying to find their identity. Getting out of Tropicana Field would help, and they do have a proposal for a new stadium, which would open in 2023.

Mom told me she was hesitant to give me this card at first, due to what she called an "unflattering" pose. I told her it was fine; action sports sometimes generate slightly awkward positions. Just a little extra reassurance that I am happy to have this card in my collection, adding to a very small stack of 2000 UD.

1997 Pinnacle X-Press #21 Vinny Castilla

I have an even smaller stack of 1997 Pinnacle X-Press, and now I get to add another Rockie to it, the first one of this post.

No, we're not counting Greg Norton.

Pinnacle didn't have much time left in late 1997, but they were still putting out nice sets. The border of this card is a bit fragile, but I like the design, color coding, and slightly different shade of gold that Pinnacle often used compared to Topps and Upper Deck.

There's a nice action shot on the back of Castilla applying a tag at third base to #4 on the Montreal Expos, who happens to be Mark Grudzielanek. In my constant vigilance for Coors Field cards, the 1997s tend to feature a lot of Expos. I'm not quite sure why, especially because it crosses over lots of card brands. You'll see plenty once I finally manage to complete my Coors Field frankenset.

1995 Ultra #373 Marvin Freeman

The final card is another Rockie, and this is the only one I even thought might be in my collection already. I bought a handful of 1995 Ultra when it was new, or at least some was purchased on my behalf. It was a bit spendy for an 11-year old. But I knew I had most of the Rockies from this set.

For that matter, I opened plenty of 1997 UD, but that's just been Series 1, and the three at the top of the post are all from Series 2. Mom managed to find just the right ones across two different sets. 2000 UD and '97 Pinnacle X-Press were wide open, though.

Rockies jerseys haven't changed much throughout the years, but back in the early days of the franchise, especially when they shared Mile High Stadium with the Denver Broncos, they didn't have the uniform number below the letters on the left side, as they do now. I'm looking right at them on the TV now, although a lefty is on the hill as I write this. If the uniforms looked then like they do now, we would see a "44" near Freeman's gloved hand. Its a bit less informative, but a slightly cleaner look, especially on this properly cropped full-bleed card.

So there you have it. Six brand new cards that I didn't go looking for, without a single duplicate to omit or toss in the extras box.

That's what we call batting a thousand.

Two Men In

Another holiday celebration, another card from my Eight Men Out list. Actually, two cards. I had barely placed the Tony Gwynn insert card my mom gave me for Hanukkah into my overflowing 1995 binder before Christmas rolled around. Yes, I grew up in a multi-religion household, so two December festivities were on the calendar. And if that means that three-eighths of my Eight Men Out list were delivered by the Hanukkah Fairy and Santa Claus (both played by my mom), then I'll take it.

2001 Upper Deck Victory #540 Jeff Cirillo

One of these days I'll properly take stock of how well my Coors Field frankenset is coming along, but this one will be a perfect candidate for slot #540. UD Victory was halfway through its five-year lifespan in 2001, depicting Jeff Cirillo in 2000, his first season as the Rockies' third baseman.

This UD brand shows us a sliver of how Coors Field has changed over the years. The white circle on the outfield wall is where Jackie Robinson's retired number resided for many years, until it was moved onto the base of the right-center seating deck, just above the bullpens, joining Todd Helton's #17 and Keli McGregor's "KSM" initials. Another change, slightly more recent, was the raising of the outfield wall. The yellow line that turns downward past the out-of-town scoreboard is no longer, and the wall is now flush with where the upper yellow line is in this photo.

The changes don't stop there, though. If the camera were to pan dramatically upwards, you'd get to see The Rooftop deck, instead of a few thousand more green and purple seats. And finally, though I'm not sure when it happened, they're no longer using lower-case letters on the out-of-town scoreboard. I think. I only recall seeing capital letters there for the past several years, but I'm not 100% sure that I'm not just imagining this. I'll have to do further research this season.

I know that Opening Day is still almost three months away, but I'm so eager for baseball to return that I already have the 2018 schedule pinned up in my cubicle at work.

1997 Upper Deck #442 Charlie Hayes

The final out of the World Series is always a bittersweet moment. Well, sometimes it's just bitter. But when the champion is finally crowned, it begins a long, dark season without any baseball. In the words of the great Rogers Hornsby, it's the time when we "stare out the window and wait for spring." Or perhaps read a bit. But many of those final plays in the World Series are historic, or at least memorable. And I remember this one.

Former Rockie Charlie Hayes was a third baseman for the Yankees in 1996, sharing duties with Wade Boggs. Joe Girardi was behind the plate, long before he would don the pinstripes as manager. The Yankees were playing in their first World Series of my lifetime, facing the Atlanta Braves, the team that loved to give the Rockies nightmares. So you can guess who I was rooting for.

I had only been watching baseball on a regular basis for four seasons, but that was enough time for me to develop a pretty good memory of past plays. And the way that Charlie Hayes squeezed the final out of Game 6 in foul territory looked exactly, to my eyes, like the final home out of the Rockies 1993 season.

Despite my attendance at Mile High Stadium on September 26th, 1993, I don't recall the hit by pitch that I identified on Girardi's 1994 Upper Deck card. But I do remember that final out, and it was caught by Charlie Hayes in a shadowy foul territory. I don't think it was quite as near to the wall as shown on this 1997 Upper Deck card (complete with copper and specific date), but it certainly jogged my 12-year-old memory.

It would be many more years before I had my first Budweiser, but at 12 years old, I already had a wealth of firsthand baseball knowledge to draw on.

As always, thanks to my mom for continuing to cultivate my love of baseball.

The Trading Post #108: All Trade Bait, All The Time

It was my own fault, I suppose.

Here I was, mentally acknowledging that I actually felt, you know, good. Happy. Content. And of course that lasted all of about eight minutes, because I had unwittingly tempted fate. Following that thought, what did Blogger decide to do to cut me back down to size than to overwrite a completed post when I was uploading the images with a completely blank draft?

Thanks, autosave.

So please forgive me if this second draft isn't as cheerful or well-written as the first.

But that doesn't change the fact that a fellow blogger, specifically All Trade Bait, All The Time, sent a PWE as part of his Operation Cardboard Christmas initiative. There are several piles on my side table from the usual generous bloggers, including one from Nachos Grande that I haven't even opened yet. But it's the holiday season, and I decided to let this Christmas-themed one jump the line a little bit.

1998 Topps #274 Andres Galarraga IL

The Winter Solstice happened just three days ago, and the days are finally getting longer. It still gets pretty dark at a quarter to five, but the trend is heading in the right direction toward its astronomical opposite, the Summer Solstice, a date that this Topps subset card is only three days removed from. (Yes, I ended a sentence in "from". Deal with it). Interleague play was a big change for the 1997 season, but the way this particular game played out is pretty much what you'd expect for one played at Coors Field.

Heading into the bottom of the ninth with a three run lead is a good situation to find yourself in. But sometimes things don't go your way, and that inning on June 18th, 1997 got away from Rangers' All-Star closer John Wetteland rather quickly. An early error let the leadoff runner on, and after he allowed another batter to reach, Andres Galarraga promptly evened the score at 9 with a three-run homer before an out had been recorded.

As this card tells us, the Rockies kept the Blake Street magic going the rest of the inning, loading the bases, still without recording an out, until the sharp-eyed Walt Weiss came up and drew a walk, forcing in the winning run. As the Rangers' win probability continued to fall of a cliff, that walk elevated the score to 10-9, elevated John Wetteland's ERA accordingly, and led Topps to document the occasion on their first of two straight gold-bordered sets.

That was just the sixth Interleague game in Rockies history, and just the second at home. You can spot an empty Rockies dugout behind the Big Cat's power stroke, and his pinstripes further cement this as a Coors Field card. To my eye, this looks better than a lot of the base cards in 1998 Topps, partially because it's a lot more readable. I do have one gripe, which is that the home team is usually listed on the right, opposite to this card's design. But that's the only point of confusion, as the pinstripes, stadium, and wild 9th inning pretty obviously locate this in a pre-humidor Coors Field.

1997 Upper Deck #197 Vinny Castilla GI

Vinny Castilla was on base during the above scenario, drawing an intentional walk two batters after Galarraga's homer. Remember those? When pitchers had to throw four actual pitches to put a batter on? Those were the good ol' days. And perhaps went just a little further in rattling Wetteland that day than if his manager could do it with a gesture.

Anyway, Galarraga's fellow Blake Street Bomber appeared on another subset card, this time from 1997 Upper Deck, shiny but somehow devoid of copper. I once opened a box of '97 UD, and these Global Impact subset cards were everywhere. I seriously wonder if they were double printed. My fellow blogger must have experienced the same, as he sent me Larry Walker's card in a previous trade. That covers the countries to America's north and south, Walker being from Canada and Castilla from Mexico, even though his card looks more like the Italian flag. You can just barely make out the central eagle feature of the Mexican flag under his left shoulder.

2005 Bowman #56 Jeff Francis

If Bowman International parallels existed in 2005, this one could have had the Maple Leaf behind Jeff Francis, giving us a nice tour of the world's flags. But this is a base card, one with a nice splash of red on the sides. I guess you could sort of pretend that's the Canadian flag. Jeff Francis didn't appear in a Major League game before 2004, but seven appearances that season was enough to qualify him as a veteran in 2005 Bowman, earning these red accents on his card instead of the usual blue for prospects.

I will never really understand Bowman, try as I might.

His photo on the back caught my eye, as it's pretty similar to his 2005 Diamond Kings card, sent by Daniel. In that, Francis is pictured wearing Canada's World Baseball Classic jersey along with his Rockies cap. At the time, I guessed that was an artist's rendering, perhaps to drum up interest in the first-ever WBC in 2006. But Francis has the same jersey on the back of this 2005 card, leading me to assume that it must have been taken during a qualifying round.

Canada never had much success in the World Baseball Classic, which was created in the wake of the International Olympic Committee's 2005 decision to remove baseball following the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The sport was absent from both the London and Rio games, but it will be making a return in Tokyo 2020, surely thanks to the increasing global popularity of baseball. Israel was a favorite underdog in the 2017 WBC, and it's even gaining traction Down Under. I hope the WBC continues in 2021 and beyond, and I think it's important to keep interest going, which was part of the reason that baseball was removed from the Olympic lineup in the first place.

I can't say I fully agree with the IOC's original decision, as there is lots of interest in the sport outside of the USA. "World" Series jokes aside, both Japan and Korea have highly competitive leagues, and the first three players in this post are from three different countries, Venezuela, Mexico, and Canada to be specific.

2016 Topps Archives #174 Tom Murphy (RC)

Tom Murphy adds the USA to that list, and he's a catcher prospect that the Rockies keep banking on.

The two big news stories this offseason are the Angels signing Japanese star Shohei Ohtani, and yet another Marlins fire sale. But in case you missed some of the more minor news, the Rockies are bringing back Chris Iannetta for 2018, penciling him in as the primary catcher. Veterans Jonathan Lucroy and Ryan Hanigan became free agents when 2017 ended, and it doesn't look like the Rockies are pursuing either of them. But no one can catch 162 games, so that means that Murphy and Tony Wolters will be the backups.

The batter's eye at the Salt River Fields practice facilities, Spring Training home of both the Rockies and Diamondbacks, is becoming a frequent sight on their Topps cards, especially in sets with lots of posed shots like Heritage and Archives. This 1979-esque card will go along nicely with several other cards from 2016 Topps Heritage. I just hope that Murphy starts showing up in the lineup as often as he appears in my collection.

2017 Topps Gypsy Queen #19a David Dahl (RC)

The Rockies outfielder situation, as usual, is a lot clearer. Even with the likely departure of Carlos Gonzalez, David Dahl and Raimel Tapia are waiting in the wings, and there has to be somewhere to put them. Topps is already mentioning Dahl in the same breath with retired legend Todd Helton. Both Dahl and Helton turned in .315 batting averages in their rookie year, which is about the extent of what's on the back of this sparse Gypsy Queen design.

2017 Topps Gypsy Queen Green #24 Adam Ottavino

In addition to that GQ base card, this green parallel arrived, which is a bit better centered than the Tapia card that Scott sent in a recent trade. Surprisingly, even though this appears to be precisely the same thickness as Dahl's card above, it feels a lot sturdier.

I have seen a few examples of this year's Gypsy Queen set, but I didn't truly notice the gentle rainbow gradient at the bottom of the design. Somehow the green border made it a little easier for my eye to catch. On the photo side, GQ tends to be hit or miss for me. This one is quite nice, and the shadows aren't obviously highlighted, unlike a particular Ben Zobrist card that I haven't quite been able to forget.

Ottavino had a rough season in 2017, but that was largely due to one rough road outing against the Dodgers. We started this post with that theme, where John Wetteland gave up four runs without recording an out in the middle of what was otherwise a pretty solid season. There's just no telling what will happen on any given day, and it doesn't even need to be in Coors Field. I'll kindly remind you that both roller coaster games in the 2017 World Series took place at sea level.

Depending on what happens with Greg Holland, Adam Ottavino is likely to play a larger role in the 2018 Rockies bullpen, despite his rough patch last year. The team as a whole is set to look quite a bit different next year, with numerous players throughout the talent range hitting free agency. Holland, CarGo, and Lucroy I already mentioned, Mark Reynolds is still on the market, and Tyler Chatwood and Pat Neshek have already signed on with other clubs. There's still lots of young and retained talent; I just hope that reaching the 2017 Wild Card game isn't the high water mark for the next decade.

The Rockies still have some work to do this offseason. But not right now. It's the Holidays, and I hope the Rockies and their front office are all set to spend some quality time with friends and family.

And I wish the same for you.

Just like I did the first time I wrote this.

Join the (Stadium) Club Part 2: The Commons

I found so much to like from a hobby box of 2014 Stadium Club that I had to split it up into two posts, a first here at Infield Fly Rule! In case you missed Part 1, I covered many of the parallels, inserts, and autographs that this box yielded, along with a couple classic 1990s Stadium Club cards for good measure.

For Part 2, I'll focus on some of my favorites from the 200-card base set, which is chock-full of awesome photography, as anyone who has seen this product knows.

2014 Stadium Club #117 Don Mattingly

One thing I was only vaguely aware of before I opened this box is that the set contains a mixture of both current and retired players. Current Dodgers manager Don Mattingly looks sharp in those Yankee pinstripes as he prepares to make a catch at first. In fact, this might be the best example of a first-baseman's mitt that exists on a baseball card. As I pointed out in Part 1, that patch on his right sleeve commemorates MLB's 125th anniversary, dating this photograph to sometime in 1994.

More on the retirees later, but for now we'll shift gears into some current baseball stars, starting with Prince Albert.

2014 Stadium Club #60 Albert Pujols

This photo was clearly taken in Angel Stadium of Anaheim, which is the only Major League stadium I've been to besides Coors Field and Mile High Stadium, where the Rockies played their first two seasons in 1993 and 1994 while Coors was under construction.

The unusual perspective of this picture lets an interested fan pinpoint it to the day. The catcher behind the plate is Brayan Pena, who wore #55 for the Detroit Tigers as a backup catcher. He only spent one season as a Tiger, and the only game he started in Anaheim that year was on April 21st, 2013. I find that this kind of detective work is one of the most fun things to do with a baseball card. When the photo allows it, the card gains a certain immortality, like George Brett's 1994 Topps card, which Nick crowned as one of his earliest "Gems of Junk Wax".

1994 Topps #180 George Brett

June 6th, 1993, in case you were wondering.

The great (and often horizontal) photography continues, capturing Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes mid-swing.

2014 Stadium Club #29 Jose Reyes

This is probably pretty early in the game, as the chalk line of the batter's box and first-base line are nearly pristine. When healthy, Reyes is typically the leadoff hitter for Toronto, so I am guessing that this was taken on the first at bat in the bottom of the 1st. I wonder if this is what makes for great photography on a baseball card - being able to figure out at least a little bit of the action.

Something about this top-down shadowy photo reminds me of another of this community's favorite cards, Orel Hershiser's from 1997 Upper Deck.

1997 Upper Deck #53 Orel Hershiser

In addition to a highly memorable card, UD kindly provides us with a date of May 12th, 1996. Many cards from 1997 Upper Deck contained the specific date on which the photograph was taken, another of their innovations I'd love to see more often.

I can't pinpoint this one to the day, but southpaw Jon Singleton is either motioning for the ball...

2014 Stadium Club #4 Jon Singleton (RC)

...or flashing the peace sign. Perhaps he is signaling an apology for the Astros moving to the American League, which confuses me to this day (even as I write this post), though it happened two full seasons ago. Houston always seems to be playing AL teams these days, which makes sense given their current affiliation. But when I steal a quick glance at an out-of-town scoreboard or the ESPN ticker, the baseball area of my limbic system hasn't quite reconciled this shift yet and I inevitably make some comment/exclamation about the frequency of interleague games.

I still long for the days of Houston being an NL club, as was the case when they wore these jerseys:

2014 Stadium Club #94 George Springer (RC)

Fans of throwback uniforms must adore 2014 Stadium Club, as they appear quite frequently. In fact, one of my scans from Part 1 was of Robinson Cano wearing an early Mariners jersey. Not only that, but Rookie-of-the-Year candidate George Springer is even sticking out his tongue during his swing, which is rather more amusing that Don Mattingly sticking his pinky finger out on the card at the top of this post.

Some of the most boring sets in history (read: 1990 Topps) could take a lesson from this. No one would care about that set in the slightest if not for Frank Thomas' "No Name on Front" error card.

[Scan not available. That's an $800 card.]

I mentioned earlier that there are a mixture of current players and retired greats to be found here. I'll start with perhaps the most Canadian baseball card ever, of Colorado native Roy Halladay throwing out the first pitch.

2014 Stadium Club #21 Roy Halladay

Halladay, a longtime Blue Jay, was invited to throw out the ceremonial first pitch for the Blue Jays' home opener this year (on April 4th, 2014, to be precise), which explains the Canada-ness of this card. I figure that only an occasion like Opening Day or an exhibition or playoff game would warrant the on-field presence of Canadian Mounties.

Halladay only recently hung up his spikes, but some older legends appear too.

2014 Stadium Club #113 Johnny Bench

Here, we see legendary catcher Johnny Bench taking some time for fan outreach. I see some Mets memorabilia that is being shoved his way, so this was probably taken in Shea Stadium, likely in the mid-1970s, based on the hair styles among his adoring fans.

Something about this set (perhaps the lack of recycled photographs) keeps inspiring me to research each one as though I were some kind of baseball-obsessed art historian. (As though?) Armed with my hypothesis, I found this photo on Getty Images, which confirms my guess of Shea Stadium, though doesn't specify a date. It's probably the same place Topps got it.

The cards of retired players even go back to the black-and-white days, such as a very young-looking Al Kaline.

2014 Stadium Club #77 Al Kaline

His name really makes me want to come up with a chemistry pun, but Mr. Tiger looks ready to belt the first of his 399 career home runs. The back of this card points out that he finished oh-so-close to being the first American Leaguer with both 3,000 hits and 400 home runs. That Kaline finished just short of such a milestone reminds me of Mickey Mantle and his .298 career batting average, though The Mick finished quite a bit higher on the home run list with 536.

While we're on the subject of milestones, I think this is an appropriate time for Roberto Clemente to appear.

2014 Stadium Club #127 Roberto Clemente

As many fans know, Mr. Clemente's career ended with precisely 3,000 hits. Tragically, he died in a plane crash in Nicaragua during the 1972-1973 offseason while providing humanitarian aid after an earthquake.

The Puerto Rican Hall-of-Famer was the first Latino player to make it in to Cooperstown, blazing the trail for the many Latino players and prospects in the game today. The card back tells us that "schools and streets have been named after Roberto", and his memory inspired a conversation my girlfriend and I had a few days ago, when she mentioned the amazing Puerto Rican cuisine (specifically rice and beans) that can be found near Roberto Clemente High School in Chicago.

Another player that put his career aside to serve a greater good was Red Sox great Ted Williams, who flew for the US Marine Corps in training during World War II, returned to baseball, and then saw combat action in Korea several years later.

2014 Stadium Club #133 Ted Williams

This card seems to be universally liked, as I've seen this card appear on numerous blogs by now. For the aviation enthusiasts, Williams is entering the cockpit of a Grumman F9F "Panther", an early fighter jet. Interestingly, Grumman was the company that designed the Apollo Lunar Module for NASA's moon missions.

In addition to being a Marine aviator, "The Splendid Splinter" (how awesome are those old-time nicknames?) was the last player to hit over .400 in a season, and even ran his own baseball card company in the early 1990s.

1994 Ted Williams #79 Bill Mazeroski

Anyway, thanks for sticking around for this long post. There's just more and more to like in 2014 Stadium Club the more I look, and all the opportunities for detective work made this a really fun post to write!

For one last card, I'm going to co-opt all the orange that appears on Adam Jones' card...

2014 Stadium Club #102 Adam Jones

...and wish the Denver Broncos good luck in the upcoming NFL playoffs.