Baseball Card Friday: Willie Mays 1971 San Francisco Giants

Here's my Willie Mays card.  This was one of my favorite cards as a kid.  I shared this card with three of my brothers so Willie Mays had an active life.  In mint condition it's worth a bunch of money that would never equal the enjoyment I had playing with this card.

I used this card in a Baseball Card Rap I did for a friend of mine named Miles Austrevich as a get well video.

Miles has a website called Jokes4Miles and he gets people to tell him jokes or sing songs, if you get a chance you should check it out.

Info in the song you might need, Miles is 19 and battling brain cancer.  Miles has an academic scholarship to Yale, and he plans on visiting all the national parks to photograph them after his next treatment. 

http://youtu.be/R7_3ppRmNt0

Enjoy the video, have a good weekend and baseball is almost here.

T. Sean

Baseball's Regular Season Has Already Started. What???

I knew that Seattle and Oakland were going overseas to play games, I didn't know the games were going to count for the regular season.  So the baseball season officially started Tuesday in the Tokyo Dome at 5 AM my time.  That means I was sleeping when the first pitch was thrown.  I didn't see it coming.
That was very sneaky Japan.  I thought we've talked about this.  No more surprises.

Frank McCourt

If everyone hates a person, and they didn't commit a heinous act against humanity, I usually have to get on that guy's team.   Baseball provides a lot of guys like that.  Barry Bonds, Jose Conseco, and lately it’s been Frank McCourt. 

I like me some Frank McCourt. 

Frank McCourt’s rocky reign is over but he did some cool things as owner of the Dodgers.

The coolest thing was a preseason game in the L.A. Coliseum.  That’s where the Dodger’s played when they first moved out west so it was amazing to get a chance to experience a baseball game in that stadium.

Another cool thing is for the last 3 years Mr. McCourt has made Bud Selig life a living hell.

Full disclosure, Frank McCourt is actually a very close friend of mine.  I’ve never met the man, but the enemy of my enemy is my friend. 

More Fantasy Baseball Tips

Hello friends.  Here’s some more advice to help you build the best Fantasy Baseball Team.

SLEEPER

Cory Luebke – San Diego Padres Starting Pitcher

He has a hard last name to pronounce and he plays for San Diego, that’s about as under the radar as you can get.  A late round pick that can get you some strikeouts and Cory should have a low ERA thanks to pitcher friendly Petco Park.

RISKY MOVE

Josh Hamilton – Texas Ranger Outfielder

An amazing player and I chose him first round last year but this season that could be a big mistake.  I have it on good authority from a guy in the commissioner’s office that after the All-Star break, MLB is going to ban any player who has tattoos on his forearms.  That should also scare you away from Diamondback’s Ryan Roberts.   I know some of you are thinking, “What about Prince Fielder?”  The rule doesn’t apply to black guys because their tattoos blend in better because of their skin tone. 

Fantasy Baseball Tips

Baseball nerds as well as regular Joes are preparing for their fantasy draft.  Here's a little inside information for you...


Do Draft:

Alex Gordon - Left Fielder for the Royals
Last year he had 23 home runs and 17 stolen bases and because he's hidden in Kansas City, he doesn't get a lot of attention so you might be able to wait til the 4th round to get him. 

Don't Draft:

Joba Chamberlain - Relief Pitcher for the Yankees 
This is based on a tip I got from a friend of mine who has a source in the Yankee clubhouse.  He tells me Joba might start the season on the DL and won't make it back untill July at the earliest.  So you can wait til the later rounds to grab him.

Baseball Card Friday: Bob Molinaro 1981 Chicago White Sox

I just bought a box of 1981 Topps cards.  The design of the card can be described as corny.  A hat with your position and team name.  It looks like something my mom would have done for my little league team.

All that said this is the greatest card ever because my man Bob is putting a dip in his mouth.  I guess this card could be described as an action shot.  Imagine the uproar this card would cause today.

Don't get me wrong, this might be my favorite baseball card of all time, but they didn't have any other pictures of Mr. Molinaro?

Lance Berkman is a good man. Jon Heyman is a squirrel.

 

Lance Berkman is a Good Man.  Jon Heyman is a Squirrel. 

             Lance Berkman, the self-proclaimed Big Puma, said in an interview “the commissioner extorted Jim Crane” into moving the Astros to the American League.  Later, sportswriter Jon Heyman wrote an entire article correcting Lance’s use of the term “extorted” and ignored the point Lance was making.  Mr. Heyman is a baseball insider for MLB so you expect a squirrel like him to take the party line.

             Mr. Heyman stressed that all the owners as well as the players union wanted both leagues to have 15 teams.  From his statement Mr. Heyman is imply that all the owner demanded it be the Astros, but that's not the case.  Again ignoring Lance’s point that there was no logical reason for the Astros, who have been in National League for 50 years, to go to the American League. 

            But no, Mr. Heyman can’t try to understand what Lance was trying to say, he has to focus all his attention on Berkman’s word choice.  If I’m in a bar making a point and someone interrupts me to tell me I misused a word and ignores the point I’m making, that person better be a woman or a kid or a guy much bigger than me.  Because if it’s just some wormy guy, I’m pretty sure I’m gonna put an end to that real quick   That wormy guy can bring a bat if he wants that’s not going to help him. 

But I don’t expect a toady like Mr. Heyman to be anything but a yes man.

 WHICH BEGS THE QUESTION

          Why hasn’t there been any outcry against the Astros being railroaded into the American League.  I haven’t read one article about the topic.  The obvious choice to move to the American League is the Brewers but no one has mentioned it.  I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that Bud Selig is the former owner of the Brewers and still has ties to the team.  I've learned from Mr. Heyman that Bud didn't "extort" the Astros.  I'm not sure the correct term, dicked over, screwed, Selig pulled a Sandusky on the Astros,

Let me debunk all the reasons given for the Astros moving.

The Astros don’t have a rival and this will start one between Houston and the Texas Rangers.

Besides Boston-New York, Dodgers-Giants, there are no other great rivalries in baseball.   So out of 30 teams, 4 teams have rivals.  So one of the reason given for the Astros date-rape into the American League applies to 25 other teams.

That said, I think Brian Stowe, the Giants fan beaten into a coma last year at opening day by two Dodger fans, might not agree with the Mr. Selig that a team needs a rival. 

The Astros are Closest to The West Coast So Travel Wise it Makes Sense?

Actually that isn’t true at all.   If your desire is to ease the travel schedule for the teams then the Brewers need to move back to the American League.  They could move back to the Central and be within driving distances to everyone in their division. 

That would free up the Royals to return to the American League West.  The Royals are in Kansas City, which is actually closer to all the teams in the American League West than Houston.  

            So, Mr. Heyman, I’m sure I’ve made some grammatical errors you can wrap yourself in and ignore what I’m saying, but I’m not like that.  I choose to try to understand what a man is saying and not how he says it.  But I know you, you’ll say I’m anti-semantic. 

You’re probably right.

Lou Piniella

Was watching Yankees - Pirates last night and Lou Piniella was sitting in with the Yankee announcers.  Piniella was so great and dead on with everything he said.  Russell Martin was on second and there was a ground out to the right side and he didn't advance and Lou starts going, "What's Martin doing still on second base,  if there's a balk or a pass ball he could score."  Sure enough a couple pitches later there's a pass ball and Lou keeps going "he could have scored.  He could have scored."  You could tell it really bothered him.  That guy can coach my team any day of the week.

Albert Pujols = Terry Bradshaw

Terry Bradshaw ruined my childhood.  As an Houston Oilers fan he was always there to crush my dreams.  Man, he was really good.

Albert Pujols has ruined the last 10 years of my life.   As an Astros fan any time he stepped into the batters box he never failed to make my stomach hurt.

And for this one year, before Bud Selig date-rapes the Astros and forces them into the American League, I look forward to Albert Pujols batting.  Man, he’s really good.  One of the best to play the game.   I saw a thing about him on 60 Minutes, Albert is a great guy too.  I hope he has the best year ever.

Then in 2013, it’s back to me having stomach pains 19 games a year.   

Tony La Russa is writing a book

Tony La Russa is scheduled to release a book this fall about his amazing career titled “One Last Strike: Fifty Years in Baseball, Ten and a Half Games Back, and One Final Championship Season,”.  I wish he would have called me, I’m an Emmy award winning writer I could help with the title.  Here are some ideas

Looking the Other Way: I thought everyone had acne on his back and tiny black balls: The Tony La Russa Story

Or

Riding the Steroid Wave: From Oakland to St. Louis.   This title lends itself to a great cover with the beach filled with McGwire, Cansaco, Giambi and a cartoon LaRussa on a surf board catching a wave.

Or

Asleep At The Wheel: I Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Driver.  The Tony La Russa Story

This isn’t about Tony ignoring steroid use but his arrest for DUI in Jupiter, FL.  Even though he was making 2.8 million dollars in 2007 he was drunk and discovered asleep behind the wheel in the middle of an intersection.   The cover would be his mugshot.

And my last title…

HALL OF FAME BOUND: Thank God Cooperstown Doesn’t Discriminate Against A Coach Who’s Responsible For Overseeing Steroid Use: The Tony La Russa Story.

Baseball Card Friday: Bob Bruce 1964 Colt 45's

With all the drama over the inclusion of a gun on the Astros throwback uniforms today's card is Bob Bruce.  
Bob is rocking the Colt 45 pistol on the front.  But there's no ball in his hand.  That's a balk. 

The betting line for the Astros to win the World Series is 300-1

If I had an extra $5,000 I would fly to Vegas tonight and get a hooker.  But I don't have that kind of cash laying around and there's no way the Astros are going to World Series. 

Bobby Valentine

They say Bobby Valentine is a "love him" or "hate him" type of guy.  I don't know enough about the guy to register a strong emotion about him.  But he seems like a squirrel.