The Kindest of Random Acts

Facebook, Twitter, and other such platforms have unquestionably had a number of negative impacts on our culture. I don’t need to outline them here. But one of the great things about social media (when used well) is that it can actually foster community. I have countless people who I have never met in person, but have come to know through social media, and have been greatly blessed by those friendships.

Perhaps nowhere is this so true as it is with the baseball card collecting community that I have become a part of through Twitter. I have had a blast trading cards through the mail with these people all around the country. Two things in particular have been amazing about the experience.

First of all, many of these people have collections that are breathtaking! I am especially awed at the vintage cards that some of these collectors have! Up until recently, I had only a small handful of cards from before my childhood in the late 70s. People building complete sets from the 1950s and 60s abound in this community, and many of them have cards much older than that. It’s a thrill to simply see cards from these collections!

The second thing that has been a wonderful joy is the generosity of people in this community. Unlike when I traded cards with buddies as a kid, and we all wanted to get the best end of every deal, the common practice in this community is to generously trade cards or even simply give them to one another. Almost daily, my Twitter feed includes notices of such Random Acts of Kindness (“RAK”s) that my fellow collectors have benefited from.

I have never seen a RAK quite as large or generous though as the one that was recently done for me. A few months ago, I undertook my first project building an older set, working on the classic (and beautiful!) 1956 Topps set. I fully realized that there were likely a number of cards in the set that I would never get, but I figured I’d try to collect as many as I could.

Well, I came home from work on Monday to see an unexpected box in my mail. I opened it to find a note on top of a stack of baseball cards. The note said that a group of people got together in the Twitter collecting community and wanted to do something for me and my son (who is undergoing treatment for leukemia), and they had included a bunch of '56 Topps cards to make us smile and realize that people all over the country were rooting for our family. 

I was humbled as there were over 100 cards in the package. Dinner was just about ready as I walked in the door, so I had to wait until afterward to look through the cards. After dinner, as our family was watching TV together, I started to unwrap and flip through the cards. My entire family noticed as I gasped, seeing a Hank Aaron card on top of the pile. They asked what it was, and I didn’t want to interrupt the show we were watching, so I told them to just go on watching it, figuring that I could tell them about it at a commercial. As I began to look through the pile though, I gasped once more: Kaline, Berra, Clemente, Mays and a number of other Hall of Famers, including finally a beautiful Ted Williams card.

My wife could see that I was almost in shock, and she insisted that I tell them what was affecting me. I handed the cards to my son as he paused the TV show and he showed them to my wife and daughter. I initially choked back tears but eventually conceded to them, as I considered the kindness that had been shown to me by this wonderful group of people. A few of the cards included were the kind of “holy grail” cards that I honestly thought I’d never own, and now here they were as part of my collection!

These 20 people (none of whom have I ever met in person, and only perhaps half of whom have I even interacted with) truly took my breath away with this act. I wish there were words that could adequately express how grateful I am. If there are such words, they are certainly beyond me. This much I can say: I count myself incredibly blessed not just to have been on the receiving end of such generosity, but simply to be part of such a community. I look forward to future opportunities to show similar kindness as I am able--both to them and to others, and I invite you to consider how your acts of kindness can help make someone else's day (or week, or month, or year)!

Some of the amazing RAK Hall of Famers

 

The Chicken

As far as TTM requests go, this one was definitely a little different! Though he never took a single at bat in the Majors, Ted Giannoulas was as big a part of my childhood baseball fandom as many players! In his role as "The Chicken," he starred alongside Johnny Bench in what was at the time my favorite TV show, The Baseball Bunch. Each week, a big league player would guest star on the show, giving an instructional lesson to the kids on some aspect of baseball.

In those days, NBC's "Game of the Week" on Saturdays might be the only game you saw all week long. And in that pre-internet age, players seemed so distant that they were almost like mythical heroes. The opportunity to see them interacting with real kids (just like me!) and giving a lesson that I could learn from was a treat beyond compare.

To add a comic element though, the show included The Chicken. Giannoulas played the mascot, who had begun in 1974 as The San Diego Chicken, sponsored by KGB-FM, a radio station in San Diego. He grew in popularity over the next five years, but a series series of legal disputes and court proceedings between Giannoulas and KGB culminated in the Chicken flying the coup and setting out on his own. On June 29, 1979, the San Diego Padres hosted his Grand Rehatching, in an event that can only be described as a spectacle! Giannoulas counts it as his favorite baseball memory.

Giannoulas was very kind to not only sign my card, but to also respond to my brief questionnaire. I asked him what his favorite episodes of The Baseball Bunch, and he responded that his two favorite were when Ozzie Smith and Jim Rice visited. Those two are included below.

 

 

One last thing about The Chicken: I was fortunate enough to see him perform in person once. The week after I graduated from college, a couple friends and I made a trip down to Birmingham to see a certain basketball player take a crack at minor league back in 1994. Though Michael Jordan was the reason for our visit, it was a thrill to get to see The Chicken perform, as he was in classic form! 

Check out some of his greatest bits below! 

Roger Craig

Today I came across an envelope in one of my binders that I’d forgotten about. It was the envelope in which I received a signed card from former MLB pitcher and manager, Roger Craig. Inside the envelope was a sheet with Craig’s answers to a few brief questions that I had asked him when I sent him the autograph request.

As much as I love getting autographs back, the answers to my questions are often more fun yet. Sometimes they say something candid or unexpected. Other times, they simply lead me down a path of research that is (at least for me) as entertaining as it is informing. This was certainly the case today as I looked into Craig’s career.

When asked what he would consider to be the biggest highlight of his career, he mentioned his first game. That, I suppose would be a highlight for many. To spend your whole life dreaming and working and waiting and hoping, I can only imagine the excitement of stepping onto an MLB diamond for the first time. There were two things that made Craig's debut even better though:

1. He pitched GREAT, allowing just three hits and one earned run in a 6-2 complete game victory!
2. Perhaps even more incredibly, Craig mentioned to me that it was not just the first MLB game he pitched...it was the first MLB game he'd ever seen!

You can imagine how star-struck Craig must have been. Nick Diunte quotes him as saying, “When I first walked in that clubhouse with Jackie, Pee Wee, Duke, Furillo, and all those great Hall of Famers, I said, ‘I don’t belong here, what am I doing here?" The Boys of Summer made him feel comfortable though, and his talent took over from there.

While his first start in 1955 certainly made for a great career highlight, Craig could have just as easily chosen his final start of 1955. It was game five of the 1955 World Series, and the rookie hurler earned the victory to put the Dodgers up 3-2 over the Yankees. Two days later, the Dodgers would win game seven, finally defeating their cross-town rivals, and earning Brooklyn's only World Series title.

Craig would pitch in the World Series again in 1956 (which the Yankees won), and then again in 1959 after the Dodgers had moved to Los Angeles. In that Series he matched up in games one and four with Hall of Famer Early Wynn, as the Dodgers won in six.

A few years later, he returned to New York as the Mets chose him in the expansion draft. He was the top pitcher for the woeful Mets, which meant that and he kept getting run out there against the other teams' top hurlers. He started 64 games over two seasons, including the very first game in Mets history. His ERA over those two years was an unspectacular 4.14, but with dreadfully little run support, he lost over 20 games both seasons.

He split time between the bullpen and the rotation, logging a 3.25 ERA in 166 innings pitched. In game four of the World Series, with the Cardinals trailing the Yankees two games to one, starting pitcher Ray Sadecki failed to retire the first four batters. With the Cardinals' season teetering on the brink, manager Johnny Keane hooked him right there, turning to Craig. The veteran got the Cardinals through five innings, striking out eight and allowing just two hits before being lifted for a pinch hitter. That pinch hitter (Carl Warwick), Curt Ford, and Dick Groat all reached to load the bases, and Ken Boyer hit a grand slam to give the Cardinals a 4-3 lead that would prove to be the final, earning Craig another World Series victory. He had done his job, and Bob Gibson would pick up two wins in the next three games to give Craig his third World Series ring.

Craig would finish up his playing days with a year each in Cincinnati and Philadelphia. He would later become a big league manager, spending two season in San Diego and seven in San Francisco (in addition to 18 games there in 1985). In 1987, he led the Giants to their first division title in 16 years. Two season later, his Giants would take the 1989 National League pennant, reaching the World Series for the first time since 1962, back when he was pitching for the Mets!

The Base Burglar

My earliest days as a baseball fan were spent sitting in the left field bleachers at Busch Stadium with my mom, watching Lou Brock. He was my first “favorite player,” and still holds that special place in my heart. For that reason, I decided to build a Lou Brock collection. Below are all of his Topps base set cards.

Some of them aren’t in great shape, and perhaps I will one day upgrade them. For now, I’m working on all the other Lou Brock cards that have been produced over the years. League leader cards, Kellogg’s 3D cards, Hostess box bottoms, and cards from other companies. There’s a lot to choose from, so it should be fun! I'll provide updates as I add them.
 

(Update)

In addition to cards, I have a handful of other items that I probably should mention here:

 

A number of old newspapers from when Lou Broke the MLB career stolen bases record, from when he got his 3,000th hit, and from when he was elected to the Hall of Fame. As you can see, they are not in the best of shape, but I was fortunate enough to get him to sign the one from when he set the stolen base record. The paper was 20+ years old at the time, and he seemed genuinely impressed that I even had it!

Lou appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated three times, so I of course needed to get those for my collection:

 

 

 

 

 

 

As Lou's career wound down, the Cardinals honored him with "Lou Brock Day," and my mom took me, as she had to many other games. I remember two things in particular about that day:
1) I found it odd that we weren't sitting in the left field bleachers (as we normally would have), but back then, there was no advance sale of bleacher tickets, and mom wanted to make sure we got tickets for that game.
2) I remember being impressed by the boat that the Cardinals gave him as a gift.

Here is the program we got at that game:     

A 45 RPM record Lou's career highlights

A Couple Lou Bobbleheads

I'm not really a purchaser of authentic replica jerseys, but for Lou, I'll make an exception!

 

My First T-206

I had always wanted to get a card from the famous T-206 set. The problem is they tend to be VERY expensive! I knew I couldn’t afford one of a well-known player (much less a Hall of Famer), so I figured I’d try to find one of a player who played in my hometown of St. Louis. For some time, I’ve been keeping my eye on eBay, looking for something in my price range (~$25). 

Recently I came across this card of a pitcher named Bill Graham, which appeared to be in pretty good shape. I bid on the card, and then I did a little research on Graham. It turns out that his name may actually have been spelled "Grahame," despite baseball cards and newspaper articles which omit the "E" at the end of his name. Of further interest (to me, at least) not only did he pitch for the St. Louis Browns, but he was from Owosso, Michigan, just down the road from the Flint area where I now live. In fact, he even pitched one season (1906) for the Flint Vehics in the only year of the Class C Interstate League! 

 

It seemed clear to me that I had to get this card (or at least try to), so even though the bidding ended up going a little higher than I wanted ($32), I went ahead and pulled the trigger on it. As a result, I am the proud owner of my first T-206! 

 

I later uncovered the fact that he was nicknamed "Wild Bill," which one would assume had to do with his control on the mound. Then again, my research also yielded the fact that he was arrested at least once for playing baseball on a Sunday, so maybe it was more about his lifestyle! 

Born July 22, 1884, Grahame died at the age of just 51 on February 15, 1936 in Holt, Michigan. I found a picture of his tombstone online. It is located at a cemetery a little over an hour from my home, and I may have to go visit it sometime.

Below, see some clippings from the April 22, 1908 edition of The Detroit Free Press, detailing Grahame's first career victory.

A Couple Strong Arms

8x10 of Neil Lomax from my favorite Big Red team (1984)

Another 8x10 that Mr. Lomax kindly added to my request

Hall of Famer, Don Sutton

95 and Counting...

Now up to 95 autographs for Project87. Here's the latest update:

A few months ago, I sent three cards to Ron Cey. He signed two of the three, one of which being the Cubs Leaders card that featured him and Steve Trout. I sent that card to Trout, and didn't hear back from him. Fearing that it might be gone for good, I sent Cey another one of the Cubs Leaders cards as well as the one he didn't sign last time. He signed both of them and returned them quickly, getting them back to me in just nine days!











Just ten days later (74 days after I'd originally sent them), I got these back from Steve Trout! Trout was a solid starter for the Cubs in the mid-80s, after having started his career with the White Sox. His best year was probably 1984 when he went 13-7, 3.41 for the NL East champs. The southpaw finished up his career with a few months with the Yankees and two seasons with the Mariners.











 Mike Fischlin was a solid, versatile defender who managed to have a ten season career despite not having much pop in his bat. His best season was 1982 when he had a .351 OBP in 322 plate appearances for the Indians.










While I still consider myself very much an amateur, my friend, Alex Hyde is a serious autograph collector. Not long ago he contacted me and asked if I still needed Dick Schofield for Project87. Indeed I did. Schofield was going to be signing at a show the next day in St. Louis, and Alex offered to get me his card signed for me.

Schofield had a very respectable 14 year career that spanned much of the 80s and 90s. He played mostly for the Angels, with short stints also with the Blue Jays, the Mets, and the Dodgers.  From 1986-88, he averaged a WAR of 3.3 per season, the two best seasons of his career coming in '86 & '88.

Schofield's father also played 19 years in MLB, including eight with the Cardinals.

I got a lot of six cards from Tom Tessier. They included:

Bobby Meacham was a first round draft pick of the Cardinals who was traded to the Yankees along with fellow prospect Stan Javier as a "make-good" for Bob Sykes, who ended up injured when the Yankees acquired him in October of 1981 in exchange for a young outfield prospect named Willie McGee. Sykes never pitched for the Yankees in 1982, while McGee starred for the World Champion Cardinals. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner threatened legal action so the Cardinals agreed to deal him two of their top prospects. Meacham was a starter for most of the 1984 and 85 seasons, leading the AL in sac bunts each season. He would only last six years in the MLB, but would stay in baseball and ultimately became the 2017 manager of the Blue Jays' AAA affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons of the International League.

Tracy Jones came up with the Reds and played for five teams in his six year career.

Tom Lawless is famous for two things: First he was the only player to ever be traded for Peter Edward Rose, having been sent to the Expos by the Reds when they acquired Rose to become their player-manager. Secondly, Lawless is the possessor of the most ridiculously epic bat flip in MLB history. In 1987 he had only two hits (in 25 at bats) for the Cardinals, but still found himself in the starting lineup of World Series. His fourth inning home run not only broke a 1-1 tie, but represented the only three RBIs he would get all season long. Even though it BARELY cleared the wall, Lawless acted as if it were out of the stadium completely.
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Chris Codiroli spent six of his eight years in MLB with the Oakland A's. In 1985, he led the AL with 37 games started as he went 14-14 with a 4.46 ERA.

Denny Walling spent 18 seasons as a corner infielder/outfielder, 13 of which were spent with the Astros. His best season was 1986 when he hit .312 with a career-high 13 home runs for the NL West champs. At the trade deadline in 1988, he was shipped to the Cardinals in exchange for one of my personal favorites, Bob Forsch, who I've written about elsewhere. Walling would spend the next two seasons in St. Louis before finishing up with a season with the Rangers and a few final at bats for the Astros.



Dane Iorg was a pinch hitter extraordinaire for the Cardinals in my earliest memories (1977-1984), and hit .276 throughout his ten-year career.

Available for Trade

When I was a kid, one of the best parts of collecting cards was trading cards with friends. In working on Project87, trades have been a fun way to reconnect with my youth. So I thought I'd post some autographed cards here that I have available for trade in hopes that a willing trade partner have some of the 1987 Topps cards I need. All autographs received TTM unless otherwise noted.

IP at a game in 1987