I'm not dead, but my bracket might be

Sorry bout the lack of posts.  Between school, other stuff and being in and out of town, it's been kind of hard to post.  But I'm still alive and kicking and hopefully will have some good stuff next week.

Best Job Ever, Next to MLB GM

Great article here on Gregg Forwerck who shot the '92 Bowman Chipper Jones Shorts card.

COTW for 3/9/08: 1994 Topps Finest #327 Marvin Freeman

"Starvin'" Marvin Freeman was one of my favorite players on the Braves in the early 90's. This was mainly because he was the only Brave to ever give me an autograph at the ballpark before the game started. He played for the Braves from 1990 to 1993 when he was released by the Braves and signed by the Rockies. When The Strike happened, Marvin was having a career year going 10-2 with a 2.80 ERA for the Rockies. Somehow, Marvin learned how to pitch in the thin air of Coors Field. Because of The Strike, he never got to be an All-Star. He pitched in the Majors until 1996, but never regained the form of 1994. Some say the incident with Jim Rome combined with his dwindling effectiveness sped up his departure from baseball. Marvin now is an assistant coach for a high school baseball team in Illinois.

COTW for 3/2/08: 1959 Topps #373 Herb Plews

In honor of last week's Topps Heritage release, we have this card. Prior to getting my Topps buy back in one of my boxes last week, this was the only 1959 Topps card I owned. I can't remember where I got it. I believe it was from one of those baseball card "chests" (it was actually a cardboard box that had a chest-like design on it) that you order from Lillian Vernon or a like catalogue that's filled with mostly late 80's Donruss and Topps crap, but you get some good old cards. Maybe not of stars, but old cards none the less. Old Smilin' Herb here played in the Bigs from 1956 to 1959 with his last season being 1959 where he split time between the Washington Senators and the Boston Red Sox. Herb wasn't known for his hitting, he only hit .262 for his lifetime average. Herb did put up some good defense, though with a career fielding percentage of .959. This is with Herb playing 2nd, 3rd and short stop in all 4 seasons that he played. Herb had some Real One autos inserted into packs of '59 Heritage and he currently lives in a retirement community in Boulder, Colorado.

Chipper. Hamstring. Tweaked.

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/stories/2008/03/02/chipper_0303.html