The Greatest Common Card Produced in the Early 90's (In Defense of Steve Avery)

When you think of the greatest cards ever produced, a few come immediately to mind: 1952 Topps Mantle, T-206 Honus Wagner, pretty much every card made by Topps from 1953-1956. But personally, I think that the greatest common card produced in during the baseball card explosion era of the early 90’s is this:

1993 Upper Deck #472 Team Stars Subset Strike Force

Is it any surprise that it comes from 1993 UD? Personally, I think this card is perfect. The greatest rotation ever on one card. Maddux with his icy glare, Smoltz and Glavine smiling happily. Avery looking happy to just be there. If there’s one thing that might throw someone off about this card it’s the inclusion of Steve Avery. Most would instantly glance at the card, see 3 sure-fire Hall of Fame players and then some other pitcher. Friends, I come to praise Steve Avery and not to destroy him and show that his inclusion on this card is warranted. First lets look at the raw stats:

1990 - 3-11, 5.64 ERA, 6.8 SO/9 in, 1.67 SO/BB

1991 - 18-8, 3.38 ERA, 5.9 SO/9 in, 2.11 SO/BB (6th in Cy Young voting, NLCS MVP)

1992 - 11-11, 3.20 ERA, 5.0 SO/9 in, 1.82 SO/BB

1993 - 18-6, 2.94 ERA, 5.0 SO/9, 2.91 SO/BB (Made All-Star Team)

I could keep listing stats, but that's what he had accomplished up to the point when the card produced except the 1993 stats as the season was just beginning or in progress when 1993 UD came out. Those came after the card came out. Now if you look at the stats of the Big 3, most of these numbers will seem paltry in some respects, but not in others. In 1991, Avery won 3 more games than Maddux and lost 3 less. His ERA was only 0.03 higher than Maddux in 1991 and had more strikeouts per 9 innings. Of course, the comparisons with Maddux pretty much end there as he went on to win the Cy Young Award from 1992-1995. Looking in comparison with Smoltz, in 1991 Avery's ERA was lower by 0.42 and he won 4 more games than Smoltz and lost 5 less. He also recorded 0.1 strikeouts more per 9 innings than Smoltz. In 1993, Avery's best year, he won 3 more games than Smoltz who had a much higher ERA than Avery at 3.62. Pitting Avery against Glavine, in 1991 Glavine won the Cy Young. He only won 2 more games than Avery and lost 11 compared to Avery's 8. Glavine's ERA was significantly lower at 2.55. Comparing Avery's 1993 year to Glavine's, Tommy won 4 more games to lead the Majors with 22 wins but lost the same number. His ERA, 3.20, was higher than Avery. In 1993, the only one of the four to not make the All-Star team was surprisingly Maddux, that year's eventual Cy Young winner.

I know that often comparing the stats I did doesn't work as there are great pitchers stuck on horrible teams or in a difficult division. However, since all of these pitchers were on the same team, all having to pitch to the same lineups and playing with the same offense and defense, it makes the comparison much easier. In looking at Avery's stats in comparison with the other incredible pitchers, I think that it makes perfect sense to include him on this card. He deserves to be there based on his performance and not just because he was the fourth man in an incredible rotation.

Night in the West End

When I decided to move to Greenville, one thing I was excited about was having a minor league baseball team here in town. Sure, there was one when I was in Jacksonville, but getting to the stadium and going to games always seemed like a chore and not like a time to have fun and watch some ball. In Greenville, they in the past few years have revitalized the West End of downtown with shops, the Reedy River Falls park and Fluor Field at the West End. The Greenville Drive, not the best team name but what can you do, is the Single A affliate of the Boston Red Sox. Prior to the Drive being in Greenville, the Braves had their AA affiliate there for years and years. Due to a quibble between the Braves and the City of Greenville over building a new stadium, the Braves up and moved to Pearl, Mississippi a few years ago. Funny thing is that Greenville DID build a new stadium. And when they learned it was going to be linked with the Red Sox, they made it a minor league replica of Fenway Park with the inside dimensions being the same, yet still allowing for the outside architecture to blend in with the existing buildings.

I went to a game between the Drive and the Kannapolis Intimidators, the Single A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. The Intimidators are leading their division of the South Atlantic League right now with an in-division record of 40-18. The Drive tried to make a valiant comeback late in the game, but ended up losing 8-6. The players that really stood out to me were Oscar Tejada for the Drive, who made some great plays at second. He has great range and is lightning quick. However, with Pedroia in Boston he looks to be trade bait or would have to shift to a different position. For Kannapolis, it was reliever Kyle Bellamy. He's not quite a sidearmer, but he gets really, really low in his delivery, had some nasty pitches and ended up getting the save. Overall, it's a really incredible ballpark and a great place to see baseball played. I'll leave you with some pictures that I took at the game.

Mail Day

I got a package from Joe over at The Average Joe yesterday and he filled in some needs from my list. Thanks Joe and I'll hopefully be able to fill in some of your needs and everyone should go over to his site and check if you have anything he needs.

Adam LaRoche is coming home

The Braves entered into the Trade Deadline fray and got fan favorite Adam LaRoche back from the Red Sox in exchange for Casey Kotchman. Adam was kind of in limbo on the Sox with no where really to play and with Victor Martinez coming in, they needed more of a bench player. I think Kotchman will do well in that role and Adam would not have. I never really warmed up to Kotchman and I'll be glad to see Adam back in in a Braves' uni.

[h/t ESPN]

I'M DONE! And a contest!

The last day of me taking the bar was Wednesday. Unfortunately, South Carolina doesn't give us our scores until October. Also, yes I have move from Florida to South Carolina for a myriad of reasons, but it also puts me closer to Atlanta and thus allowing me to attend Braves games. I haven't been to a game in 3 years so I'm looking forward to going to one soon. Also I'm in the process of unpacking everything and I'm having apartment issues so I'll be posting more, but they might be sparse here in the next few weeks.

Also, Ryan over at Trader Crack's is holding a great contest for a Razor Sports Icons cut signature. Head over there to check it out!

Hey Look! An Actual Card Related Post!

Yes yes, I'm actually posting about something card related. While everyone else is caught up in the mania that is 2009 A&G, I am still stuck on 2008 A&G. Hopefully I'll get my hands on some 2009 once things settle down and once I actually have a job that pays me money. I found a blaster at Target today when I went to pick up a few things. I was quite surprised to see a blaster still available, but it is right outside of a ritzy part of the Charleston area so cards might be below the people that normally shop there. Anywho, I ended up getting 6 cards I needed for the set (Needs List will be adjusted accordingly) as well as this

The material feels like it's from a wind breaker or something of that ilk. The box says that this pull is 1:1,000. Hey I'll take it. Pretty neat pull from a blaster. I always love the oddball inserts.

RIP Steve McNair

I never was a huge fan of Steve or anything, but he always seemed like he was a really nice guy and a pretty darn good football player. Such a sad way to go out.

(h/t News Channel 5)

Update on the Day Of Freedom

Boys and girls, while this is a day to recognize the freedoms in the country, my freedom will come in 25 days when I finish taking the bar exam. I'm studying hard and trying to kick as much legal butt as possible. I have bought 3 packs of cards in this time span: One of Topps series 2 a jumbo of OPC and a pack of 09 Goudey. Nothing in those was of note other than a few base set Braves. But I wish you all a happy 4th and look forward to picking every thing back up here in August. Until then I leave you with this which should be watched every July 4:

Finals Are Next Week

And I'm going to watch this before every one of them to get myself ready.

I really swear I'm still here

Guys sorry about the lack of posting in the last few months or so.  I'm graduating law school in the next few weeks as well as moving.  And then I'll be studying for the bar all summer and then moving again.  But I'll try to post a few things here and there, but they won't be too frequent.  Thanks to you all who still visit the blog even though I don't write anything.  Hopefully in August I'll be writing more frequently as things will have slowed down by then.

it's a Love/Hate Relationship

With this weekend being Valentine's, I hope that everyone out there has a great one.  I'm trying to stay away from the self loathing as much as possible.  But, I think what I'm going to do, on the coattails of my last post is all this weekend post things that I love and things that I strongly dislike.  I don't want to use the term hate as it has a lot of bad connotations.  Well, unless I'm talking about certain people.  So I think this is going to be Teams that I love and Teams that I strongly dislike.

Teams I love (or have a decent liking of):

Atlanta Braves

Atlanta Thrashers

Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta Hawks

Jacksonville Jaguars

Furman Paladins

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Florida Gators

Duke Blue Devils

Chattanooga Lookouts

Boston Red Sox

Chicago Cubs

Colorado Avalanche

Team Zissou

Teams I Strongly Dislike:

Georgia Bulldogs

Wofford Terriors

Appalachian State Mountaineers

Citadel Bulldogs

North Carolina Tar Heels

Florida State Seminoles

Ohio State University Buckeyes

Michiagan Wolverines

New York Mets

New York Yankees

Los Angeles Dodgers (Blame this one on the old NL West)

Los Angeles Lakers

Boston Celtics

James Madison University Dukes

Tampa Bay Bucs

Carolina Panthers

Dallas Cowboys

Philadelphia Phillies

Toronto Blue Jays

New Orleans Saints

Detroit Pistons

I have a lot more dislike than love apparently.

Things That I Am Not Particularly Fond Of

Topps Sterling Cards without Autographs

The price point of Topps Triple Threads

People who get excited over pulling a serial numbered card of the player's jersey number

People who do the same thing to a 1/# or to a card that's the last one printed.

Lima Beans

People who don't care about base cards at all

Nickelback

2008 Sweet Spot

Grey or White game-used swatches

The Mets

Having box hits be scrubs

Horrible Collation

Pop Ups

Blog Bat-Around #4

This is the 4th one of these, yet the first one I have participated in.  I'd like to thank Dinged Corners for hosting this one.  The topic is about the value of cards and what we should buy and hold for the future.  First, if you're in the hobby strictly for profit, get out.  I understand if you make a living that way owning a physical card shop or an e-bay store or something of that nature and your derive most of your income from cards.  However, if you are just in it purely for investment and the return you hope you'll get, it's not worth it.  Your ROI (return on investment) is much greater elsewhere.   Secondly, there are the obvious choices: Vintage (1984 or before) cards of already established stars, autographed cards, cut signature cards, some game-used cards, prospects that pan out, etc.  Here's the problem I see with these cards.  Everyone will be or already is collecting them.  If you look on YouTube, as painful as it might be to watch some of the box breaks, most everyone just goes after the hits and chunks the base cards to the side.  While a decent amount of bloggers are set collectors, they (we) represent a small fraction of the whole of the collecting community most of which is made up of people going after the hits.  You've got to figure out what people aren't collecting right now to determine what will be more valuable in the future.  That's why I think the things to go after are complete sets of base cards that come from products that are driven by hits.  In baseball, it'd be Sweet Spot, Prime Cuts, Topps Finest, Bowman Sterling, UD Ultimate, UD Premiere and other sets along that line.  

I know that many of the high end to mid range sets often are all serial numbered or have tons of short prints.  I think that's another reason why these sets are going to be worth having.  They're in limited quantity and they're hard to put together.  They're not like Heritage or Allen and Ginter which are set collector favorites.  The price point as well as the difficulty of set completion drives set builders away from these products.  Not to mention that these products are not focused at set builder as I previously stated.  They are focused on the collectors looking for the hits.  Imagine if you could get an entire base set of Topps Sterling.  Or National Treasures football.  Even something like 2007 Sweet Spot Classic.  All are limited in their production and would be hard to complete, but having a full set of those cards would be very rare.  And worth holding on to.  It might be worthwhile to become a set builder for the future even if you're looking for the hits right now.

Men's Fitness ranked Dallas-Fort Worth the 14th Fattest City in America

Get ready to move up the list because Tubby Jones is coming to your area!

reminds me of a candy bar....Chunky.

Man Walks Into A Restaurant

Waitress:  Good evening sir, what can I get you.

Man: I'd like a Filet Mignon please

Waitress: Very good sir.  How would you like that cooked?

Man: Rare.

Waitress: Would you like that 

super rare

or would you like that ultra rare?

Man:  I.....I don't know.  What's the difference?

Waitress:  To tell you the truth, I don't even know.

Man:  I'll take super rare.  It looks less likely to make me choke.

WOKKA WOKKA!

I've opened 3 retail packs and one blaster of Topps Mayo Football

For a total of 11 retail packs.  Out of those packs I've pulled:

LaDainian Tomlinson Game-Worn Jersey

Chris Cooley Princeton Back Mini

And now for the biggie.

Wait for it.......

Wait for it......

Andre Caldwell Black Card Back Printing Plate Mini 1/1

I think I'm going to keep buying retail.  Or quit while I'm ahead.  I haven't decided.

Mail Day!!

So I worked out a trade with Jamie, who just got back into collecting recently.  He also proved that yes, people other than the people who have blogs read this thing.  He helped me take out a big chunk of my '08 Heritage set, especially the Black Backs.  So I have adjusted the Needs List accordingly.  Here's what I got:

3 Base

17 Black Backs

2 News Flashbacks

1 Baseball Flashback

3 New Age Performers

1 Then and Now

2 Minis

1 Clint Sammons 2008 Topps Triple Threads #/50

I had no idea about the last card.  He said he was sending me something for a Braves fan, but I never thought it'd be that good.  Thanks Jamie and I'll get your cards out to you ASAP.

I Want, nay, NEED this Card

I'm a big Tech fan and I'm glad to see them represented in the 20th Anniversary set.

(h/t Night Owl Cards)

Costas Joining MLB Network Exclusively

LINK

Bob is leaving HBO and joining MLB Network exclusively on cable.  It doesn't affect his NBC relations.  I've watched only a little MLB Network so far, but I'm sure that will ramp up in the near future. I've always been a huge fan of Costas calling baseball games over anything else he does, even the Olympics.  And to me, like Ken Burns, he is always going to be linked with Baseball.  Thanks to MLB and their copyright restrictions, I can't find Costas' call of The Sandberg Game, but I'm sure you all remember it, right?

The Next Nostradamus

LINK

I'm going to quit law school right now, 15 weeks from graduating, and tour the east coast predicting Topps gimmickry. I'm sure that'll be more lucrative than law right?

Where We're Going We Don't Need Roads

Recently, I took the readers of this blog on an Excellent adventure back to 1997 with Tuff Stuff. Now I hate to abandon Bill and Ted's phone booth for time travel, but the way I see it, if you're going to go even further back in time, why not do it with some style? So that's why we're abandoning this

For this

That's right kids, the power circuits to the flux capacator are on, Mr. Fusion has been fed and we're going to get her up to 88 MPH so that way we can travel back all the way to 1970. I'll try not to create any alternate timelines while we're away. And why are we going back to 1970? For this!
No, not really. What good would this do us now? Not only are the statistics outdated, but going back to 1970 for it wouldn't make any sense. Unless Biff stole it and then went back to 1970...hmmm....no this is what we're really after.

The 1970 edition of Who's Who in Baseball. I found this gem when my Grandmother was cleaning out her basement and I asked her if I could have it and she said I could. I've decided to share it with the blogging world. There's a lot of really interesting things inside this book. But for this post, you're just getting the front and back cover. There's no color photos in this, but there are a ton of black and white photos. As for the cover, you have Tom Seaver NL Cy Young Award winner for '69, Denny McClain and Mike Cuellar who were Co-Winners of the AL Cy Young award and Harmon Killebrew and Willie McCovey who were the MVPs for the AL and NL respectively. On the back cover
The 1969 World Champion Mets. Yogi's on the front row, a young Nolan Ryan on the back row, Tom Seaver on row 3 and Tug McGraw on the 2nd. Just a very interesting picture compared to what some of today's team pictures look like. I'll be posting some more from this guide as long as I feel like it. If there's any players that anyone wants to see specifically from this guide, leave me a comment and I'll try and accomodate all requests.

Running Diary Review of Topps Heritage High Numbers Gum

12:33 - Opened Gum Wrapper

12:33 - Put Gum in mouth, began chewing

12:34 - mmm...a little sweetness with a strange hint of citrus

12:36 - Flavor gone

12:37 - It's starting to get a little bitter

12:39 - ok really bitter

12:41 - spitting it out due to the taste

Overall, this gum is lacking.  Not only does it lose its flavor, it starts tasting really really bad.   And then leaves a bad taste in your mouth.  Come on Topps, you can do better than this.  

Grade: D+

Really Quick Plug For Those Doing TTM

I've been doing Through The Mail (TTM) autographs since the early 90's and have seen lots of things change.  One of the great things are the resources that are now available for those who do autos TTM.  The best place I've found is SportsCollectors.net.  I've had the link on my page since the blog started, but never gave a plug I don't think.  Even if you don't join and pay the fee, there's still great resources for addresses, who signs, who doesn't and if they require a fee.  Being able to catalogue your successes and failures and how long it takes them to come back is one of the greatest features of the site and that feature is free.  So check them out.

Is Fatty Coming Home?

After signing Guillermo Mota, the Dodgers are looking to cut Andruw Jones or trade him to some team.  And he was seen at the Duke - Georgia Tech game last night wearing a Braves cap.  Is he sending subliminal messages to Frank Wren?

Source

Mail Day!!

I haven't bought any cards in awhile and with some Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket, I surfed over to Dave and Adam's Card World. I purchased one of their combos which was a box of 2007 SP Authentic, a box of 2007 SP Rookie Edition and a tin of 2007 Sweet Spot Classic. I also bought a box of 2008 Heritage High Numbers in order to start that set as I'm trying to do the whole 2008 Heritage set and am well on my way. I also got 2 packs of 2007 UD Elements as a free gift from D&A. Elements might be the most useless product I have ever opened a pack of. And that includes Topps Lazer. We'll start off with the 2007 SP Rookie Edition. There's good "rookies" in this set with Josh Hamilton, Tim Lincecum, Dice K and a few others. The rookie cards are done in various designs of Upper Deck SP of the past, much like Timeline, which I enjoy them using old designs. The box also had 2 rookie signatures per box. This is what I pulled:Kory Casto? Hmm...ok. Last year in 2008, Kory played in 66 games for the Nationals hitting .215 with 2 home runs and 16 RBI. He's not exactly lighting up the place. He's listed as OF on the card, yet the MLB site lists him as a 3B. So this means he's a pinch hitting utility player. Ok, so not a great card, but at least he's someone who's in MLB still. Next we have....Joe Smith, a pitcher from the Mets. Joe is now with the Cleveland Indians, but played last year with the Mets. He appeared in 82 games last year with a 6-3 records, 3.55 ERA and a .220 BAA. Joe appears to be a very good relief pitcher and should have a good career ahead of him. The only problem with this card is the ding at the top middle of it. It's hard to see on the scan, but it's there and it's really noticeable in person. Oh well. Let's move on to 2007 SP Authentic. The big thing with Authentic was the 2 By The Letter autographed patches that came in the box. Some people like them and some people hate them and I have never seen one really up close, so I thought this would be a good chance to get a few. Colation in this box is great as I'm only missing 4 cards out of the base set of 100 and I'll put these up on my need list ASAP. Now on to my hits

A rookie signature of Brad Salmon 20/75. Brad, a pitcher, for some reason is holding a bat on the card. Salmon now plays for the White Sox and didn't play in MLB in 2008. In 2007, he played in 26 games for the Reds with an 0-1 record and a 4.13 ERA. I got one more of these and it's much better than this one.Alex Gordon 23/25. Alex had a decent year last year with KC hitting .260 in 493 ABs with 16 HRs and 59 RBIs. Alex turns 25 next month so this should be the year that he starts his upswing of talent as he's been a highly regarded prospect for a long time. Now having some of these By The Letter cards, I really like them. I think they are well done. The Alex Gordon with the gold signature looks very classy and I like the shadow work on the "O" in Salmon's card. I know there are a few who are not fond of these, but I have no problem whatsoever with them. Now the manufactured letters with stickers on them or no auto, I'm not a fan of those, but these are just fine.

I'm not going to post anything about the Hertiage High Series as I got that just for the base cards. My hit of the box was an Aramis Ramirez plain grey game-worn jersey swatch. Nothing to get excited over. I didn't get a buy back and my refractors and chrome arn't anything to write home about. However, I'm saving the best for last. This tin of Sweet Spot is the first one pack product that I've bought. The tin was a Babe Ruth tin, so I was hoping for something big. I got 2 base cards #/575 of Jose Canseco and Judy Johnson. My hits were as follows.
An unnumbered swatch of Donnie Baseball. For some reason, I find Mattingly as one Yankee that I don't hate. I don't know why. Next:
A Sweet Spot Classic Sig of Dave Winfield 43/75. Hey a Hall of Famer! I could have done a lot worse. I also would have liked to have a sig that wasn't faded all to hell. I knew when I saw Mario's post that these things do fade, but man, seeing it in person is a different thing. It's really worse that the scan shows. I think it was a black ink sig and there's all kids of bleeding of the pen. And I know exactly why. The "balls" that the players are signing are basically plastic. This is the first time I've been able to feel one of the cheaper materials and the only cow this ball came from is one that's made by Mattel. UD needs to use better quality materials in order to make these sigs last. This is just ridiculous. I bet you're all wondering why I showed the Sweet Spot before the other swatch card. This is why:
Harold Baines patch 24/55. It's a really great 2 color patch. If I was Captain Ebay, it'd be a 3 color patch because there's literally 2 threads of white in the bottom left corner, but it's a 2 color. I really like this patch. Great stiching and great Sox colors. Overall, I think I did pretty well with these boxes and I really had fun busting them. If I knew that all the Sweet Spots I got wouldn't be faded, I might buy some more Sweet Spot Classic, but the fading might keep me away. But all in all, money well spent.

Updated Needs List

I've updated my needs list (which you can check out by the link to the right of this post) to include 2008 Goudey and the Baseball Icons insert set for 2008 A&G.  If you'd like to set up a trade, let me know with an e-mail (which can also be done to the right).  I've got a lot of random stuff, especially from 2006-2008.  I'm not going to be as busy as I was last semester, so I will respond to e-mails quicker and have set up an e-mail account specifically for the website so I'll have all my trades and blog filtered into one mailbox.  So if you e-mailed me about a trade sometime last year between, oh, September and December and it didn't patch out or I didn't respond, I'm sorry and please e-mail me back.  Thanks.

Turning Japanese, I'm Turning Japanese, I Really Think So

The Braves FINALLY made a move today.  Well other than that Vazquez trade and signing a backup catcher.  The AJC is reporting they've come to terms with Kenshin Kawakami and will be announced on Monday or Tuesday.  I've tried to find if he had any US cards from maybe the Olympics or WBC, but nothing has shown up. The only one that's close is this US produced 2000 Upper Deck Japanese Ovation.  But I'm sure we'll be seeing plenty of his cards this year.  Let's hope he pans out.

Tuff Stuff's Excellent Adventure Pt. 5

What exactly where to new products in July 1997? Well take a look and see the prices. I think my favorite prices are those of the Pacific cards. Would any of those cards come close to those prices today? Even in the book? What are y'alls favorite listings on these two pages?

Extreme Measures are Being Taken

Since the location is Augusta, Georgia, I know it's not dayf.  And plus I think his heart and soul, as well as mine, would sell for more than $78.77.  Or at least I'd hope so.  Check it out here.

So Long Smoltzie

Here's my Frank Wren Impression

Tuff Stuff's Excellent Adventure Pt. 4

Finally, something useful in a price guide! A card grading guide so you can tell what condition your card is in. Good use of 1971 Topps too as the black borders make for hard mint cards. I think some people on e-Bay might need to read this.

Tuff Stuff's Excellent Adventure Pt. 3

Oh to have a day when both Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones are extremely hot in the hobby....oh wait, that day was in 1997. Also making an appearance in the top 10 hot players, Grant Hill and No-MAH. Oh how times have changed. And check out the Card of the Month. To be back in 1997, when die cuts were all the rage.

Tuff Stuff's Excellent Adventure Pt. 2

Here I have an ad. A quite notorious ad. This is for Stan's Sports Memorabilia which is more than likely known to most people as one of the people/businesses who was caught up in the autograph forging business and part of a huge ring that was stopped by the FBI in Operation Bullpen. And if you haven't read the book about Operation Bullpen, you need to track down a copy an read it for yourself. It's quite astounding what these guys did. So take a look at this two page ad and click on the pictures to make them bigger and look at some of the prices. It's astounding what your money could have got you back in 1997, even if it was fake.

Tuff Stuff's Excellent Adventure Pt. 1

First thing I'm going to show you is an ad from 1997."OH MY GOSH WHAT COULD THAT MEAN??!?!?!! THIS AD IS BUILDING MY ANTICIPATION LIKE NONE OTHER!""1997 BOWMAN!!!"

My favorite thing about this ad is the stated odds and them basically telling you that you have no chance of getting that Jeter auto, in any of its forms. I also like that they're pushing Andruw Jones as one of the star autographs in this. Of course, this would have been right after his coming out party in the 1996 World Series and everyone was big on him. Now Andruw is just big.

Home Again, Home Again

Well I'm back from the 'Rents house and in Florida again. However I managed to sneak a few things out of the house that I'm going to get a lot of posts out of. I'll show you the first now.

Aww Snap! A July 1997 issue of Tuff Stuff. Thank goodness I'm a pack rat. I think I have the complete run of Tuff Stuff from '96 to '98 and if it's not complete, it's really really close. Jordan is just schooling Antwan "Baby Fat" Walker in this picture. I'm going to be scanning in some articles, ads and other stuff just to see exactly what was hot and new in the late 90's. I've got a few pages marked and I'll tell you right now, it's really interesting. Things have changed a lot in 12 or so years.

Da na da na da na da na na...BATMAN!!!!!

There are 3 autographed bats in my collection.  I've already shown you one of them in this post and now I'm going to show you the other 2.  

This is an interesting bat as it's signed by Mark Lemke.  The Lemmer wasn't known for his hitting prowess as much as he was known for his defense so it would make more sense to have an autographed glove from him, but I'm not going to complain about having this bat.  Next up:

Here's a bat signed by Mr. Halle Berry, David Justice.  Unlike Lemke, Justice was known for his hitting, having a .500 career slugging percentage,  especially his home run in 1995 to give the Braves the World Series title.  Justice waned in his abilities after he left the Braves, but he would win the World Series again with the Yankees in 2000.  Fun Fact: He collected 23 of 24 1st place votes to win the 1990 NL Rookie of the Year.  The other 1st place vote went to Delino DeShields.