Custom Card of the Day: Lawrie Edition



Because I've already pissed off enough Canadians this month (or year), I'll keep this one short and sweet. This guy could be the future of the Blue Jays. Aside from his helmet throwing antics, he seems like a good ballplayer, and is helping his team leave Boston in 5th, which I have absoultely no problem with. I can see that Joey Bats can't do all the work, since is Mexican Mystery Cream only worked for two years (Unlike Bartolo Colon's, which will allow him to pitch until he's 85). I'm kinda glad Lawrie got in there, to put a new star into the fold.

Coming Tomorrow- Ten years ago, this man was one of the best starters in the league. Now he's the third starter for a slowly rebounding team. What happened?

Custom Card of the Day: Aoki Edition



I think I'm on a roll this week. With yesterday's awesome Peavy to today's, I think I've just been having a great week now that I'm back on with consistency. This photo was positively awesome, and I figured I had to use it. Aoki has been low and under the radar. That is a shame, since he's such a great player, and has been in the Japanese league. I hope he blossoms in Milwaukee.

Still...the custom's quite awesome.

Coming Tomorrow- The big story in Toronto. And for once it's actually a Canadian.

Custom Card of the Day: Peavy Edition



You ever have one of those moments where you've done something really great, only for it to be eclipsed by a minor flaw? This custom is one of those cases.

You see, this photo was awesome. The design took a half hour to clear out. The contrast made the photo look cooler. Already, I knew this was gonna be one of my best customs. Then reality set in- the font I used for the last 1992 custom was lost, and I forgot what it was called.

My greatest custom was marred by a mediocre font.

So I wung it, and I went with Arial bolded. The custom is still pretty good, and it's a symbol of the pretty good season Peavy is having, though not as dominant as the one he had five years ago. I think it'll be on the end of the year list...fonts and all.

Coming Tomorrow- Will probably be one of my better customs of this year, and it's of a relative unknown Japanese rookie from Milwaukee.

Custom Card of the Day: Morneau Edition



For the record, I'm also surprised I could post 3 days in a row.

I'll say it now- the Twins have been pretty disappointing this season. For one thing, the two teams everyone thought would end up in last (Royals and White Sox) have been playing pretty well. So that leaves the Twins. The one saving grace, really, about this season has been the return of Justin Morneau. And what a return it is: he hasn't made a huge impact, but it's been a great return to form that nobody really saw coming. 5 years ago this guy was a can't miss player, who was said to have a long career.

They said the same thing about Chase Utley. Hey, at least this guy's playing baseball.

Coming Tomorrow- If I could get the font right, this could be my finest custom. And it's a White Sock, who's leading his pitching staff singlehandedly.

Custom Card of the Day: LaRoche Edition



Not much to say about this one. This man, before becoming old, was once a young infielder prospect for Atlanta. He was the team's only hope the season Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine had left. And he lent a hand for a while, before being dealt to dozens of other teams before finally landing in Washington. And he's been hitting well, finally. He's obviously not a starter, but he'll at least get some more playing time. I'm just glad he has some more in him.

Coming Tomorrow- Today's custom was for a Canadian. Tomorrow's is a Canadian. One whose team really needs him to play well right now. And no, Sizemore it ain't.

Custom Card of the Day: Trout Edition

Who knew that this guy would be Anaheim's top story this year? Seriously? Who?

Pujols and Wilson were supposed to be huge, and neither of them are doing very well right now. In comes Mike Trout, the young underdog who played a few games last year before being demoted. He's doing very well, mashing the ball and doing what Albert Pujols cannot seem to do.

Baseball's one crazy sport.

Coming Tomorrow- Eight years ago, he was the young, speedy starting infielder rookie for Atlanta. Look what happened. He's having a tiny renaissiance with Washington, but is it enough to put him back on the radar? Nah.

Custom Card of the Day: Van Slyke Edition

So a player originally discovered by one of the bigger cardbloggers finally gets to the bigs, and hits a game winning home run to break the game wide open and win. How do I NOT make a custom of that?

As we all may have heard, Scott Van Slyke hit his first homer last night, and whopped one for his first at bat, pinch hitting late in the game. And this is the same Scott Van Slyke that our own Night Owl basically said "This guy better be good, I have 5 million doubles of his BowChro card." And then Van Slyke, who actually IS related to Andy Van Slyke, blasts his home run, causing an "I told you so" post from Night Owl.

So before all the Dodger fans of mine (all one of you) could get the chance to say "please make a custom of this guy, he's awesome", I did.

I'll wait a little more before the next Dodger though.

Coming Tomorrow- in the process of making more. Probably Andy Pettite.

Another day, another retirement

You may have been injured quite a bit, and you probably won't be a Hall of Famer, but you still had a pretty nice career. You were dominant whenever you were on the mound, whether for Chicago, Cleveland or New York. And, as it seemed, you were a pretty nice guy.

The MLB will miss you.

Custom Card of the Day: Swisher Edition

I'm still alive. I just had absolutely no time to make customs. Which means it's a regular May for me.

Still, this Swisher custom's pretty cool.

Coming Tomorrow- I need to make more. Requests?

Custom Card of the Day: Wood Edition



The first time I was aware of this guy's existence, he was pitching several no-hit innings against my Phillies. Already, I wasn't a fan.

He was a rookie for Cincinatti, already the team's top pitching prospect, and there he was bamboozling my Phils. It was a true duel between him and Halladay, who both had no-hitters going that game. And I didn't know what shocked me more- that someone was close to no-hitting such a dominant team, or that the guy was someone I had never heard of.

Ever since, Travis Wood has been a decent pitcher for the Reds, and now the Cubs. I pulled a game-used of him earlier this year, so I'm hoping he sorta pans out. Just...no more nohitters against the Phillies.

Coming Tomorrow- A Yankee. Whether it's the one who just returned from death (read: retirement), or the outfielder who's been getting hot, I don't know.

Custom Card of the Day: Dunn Edition



The #1 question people are asking right now is "What happened to Albert Pujols?" The truth is, really, that he's having a crappy season. Believe me, it happens to everyone. Derek Jeter had a slump in 2003 that nearly derailed his season, but luckily he rebounded and helped his team make the World Series. Pujols...people are hoping he'll turn around, but nobody knows how.

Either way, the guy above could tell Pujols about having a crappy season.

Remember the Adam Dunn of the 2000's? Remember how awesome he was? He hit monstrous amounts of homers for Cincinatti, and his one-two punch combination with Ken Griffey Jr. proved to be deadly. Sure, his team never did very well, but he could really hit. He spent the later half with the D-Backs and the Nationals, the latter of which he did pretty well with.

Remember the Adam Dunn of last year? Remember how torrid he was?

Chicago fans will be the first to tell you that Adam Dunn pissed them off last year. Thankfully, so far he's been redeeming himself, hitting homers and actually playing like Adam Dunn. So maybe it was a one year thing, or at least that's what South Siders are hoping.

So maybe Albert'll bounce back next year, and maybe he'll become the hitting giant we know and love. If it worked with Adam Dunn, it'll work with anyone.

Coming Tomorrow- Meanwhile, on the other side of Chicago, another young ex-Cincinattian is making a new name for himself.

Custom Card of the Day: Altuve Edition



There isn't too much to say here. It's Jose Altuve, he's on the Astros, his team sucks, he's a good prospect. Weak night, I guess.

Coming Tomorrow- Last year he sucked. This year he's finally hitting.

Custom Card of the Day: Moyer Edition



1986 was the last season for three Hall of Famers: Tony Perez, Rod Carew and Rollie Fingers. But a lot of players were famous for making their debuts that season. Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, Bo Jackson, Bobby Bonilla, Barry Bonds, Will Clark, Matt Williams, Fred McGriff and so on and so on.

All of the above players are retired. Yet there's still one guy who debuted in 86 that's still here: Jamie Moyer.

Yes, I'm sure you've heard about his amazing season. At age 49 he's been pitching consistently for the Rockies, a team that was established seven years after he started playing. Jason Giambi, Todd Helton and Michael Cuddyer are his teammates, and they all made their start in baseball more than ten years after Jamie did. That's right- Helton and Giambi, both considered aging players, are still not the oldest on their team.

Moyer's always been a sentimental favorite of mine. I wrote an article for my middle school paper commenting on Moyer's age, and that he was nearing retirement. Said article was written three years ago. The first person to come to Moyer's defense was my 74-year old gym teacher. And yes, as a member of the Phillies for a few seasons he's raised some eyebrows. I remember one matchup between him and Jair Jurrjens, who was born in, you guessed it, 1986.

It isn't looking like Moyer will be a Hall of Famer when he retires. True, he's one of the longest tenured pitchers in the game's history, but they're not putting Julio Franco, John Franco or Jesse Orosco in the Hall of Fame either. All of those guys played until a very old age, and probably won't get that much of the vote. Moyer has less than 300 wins, not too many strikeouts, and a hell of a lot of innings pitched.

But if he's remembered at all, he'll be remembered as a guy who loved the game, and kept playing baseball for a very long time, just cause he felt like it. And, really, I have to give him props. This season is his 27th playing major league baseball. And I couldn't find a better thing to do every day for 27 years.

As Ferris Bueller famously said, "Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once and a while, you could miss it." Jamie Moyer lived his career day by day, year by year, with no real care for when to stop. And that's a quality most ballplayers should have.

Speaking of Ferris Bueller, and establishing a full-circle ending...what year did Ferris Bueller's Day Off come out? You guessed it- 1986.

Coming Tomorrow- Oddly enough, a 1986 custom, of a team whose best years were somewhere around 2005, and a second baseman who's trying to keep his team out of last and, more unsuccessfully, out of the AL.

Custom Card of the Day: Guerra Edition

 

Up until a few weeks ago I had absolutely no idea who this guy was. I know, shame on me.

The name first came up when I asked for requests one night, intending to use some names I heard of. A Dodger fan piped in, and suggested Kemp and Ethier, but also Javy Guerra. I didn't know who that was, so I kinda set him aside.

About a week later I found a yahoo article about the Dodgers' closer using his entrance music to honor mexican refugees. Sure enough, I found out right then and there that Javy Guerra was the Dodgers' closer. 

It is at this point that I might add that I had no idea Jonathan Broxton was in Kansas City until halfway through last month. So then I thought "oh yeahh...THAT'S who's closing in LA. Ohhh." 

I promptly slapped myself for not knowing that. Guerra is erasing any memories of Broxton, or even Gagne. He's a really good closer, and may have a future with the team.

Coming Tomorrow- Satchell  Paige isn't remembered for much in terms of the MLB, but he's remembered for pitching a game in 1965 in his sixties. He's the current holder of the oldest man ever to pitch a baseball game. And thanks to this man, his record is in danger.

Custom Card of the Day: Volquez Edition



Not much I can say about today's custom. The team's in last place, the pitching's unreliable, and this guy is turning into one of the bigger busts. Sure, he's pitching decently, but the other team's hitting him. Ever since the steroid allegations, Edinson's been getting bad luck.

Okay, I only did this cause the Padres needed a custom, and it's May. It's a slow day.

Coming Tomorrow- Eric Gagne ruled the mound for the Dodgers every 9th inning for five years. Let's hope this guy can do better.

Custom Card of the Day: Cain Edition

 

Why isn't this guy the main pitcher in San Francisco?

Oh. That's right. Tim Lincecum's the #1 guy.

I know, he's a great pitcher and I'm right in saying he deserves more than he's getting. It's just that Lincecum's been casting a pretty huge shadow that keeps people like him, Barry Zito and Madison Bumgarner out of the spotlight, and it's a shame. Also, Cain just signed a pretty decent figured contract. He'll be sticking around for a while, but who knows if Lincecum will. 

Cain's been getting a lot of attention since Lincecum's been slumping. I really hope he keeps it.

Coming Tomorrow- One of the bigger names in the deal that sent Josh Hamilton to Texas, he's now wondering where his career went on a team wondering where its fans went.

Custom Card of the Day: Damon Edition

 

When players age, the become known, to me at least, as travelers. I'm not referring to people like Chipper Jones and Mariano Rivera, who thankfully decides to stay the same place for a while. No. I'm referring to players who used to be regular players on teams for stretches of time, but now that they're older, they resort to thinking teams one year at a time.

Most of the time it's the career hitter nearing the end of his rope. He always sides with fun teams, and never brings me against him. Also, players like these have a tendency to always appear on the wrong team in the Topps regular series. Hell, sometimes they're on the wrong team in the update set, thanks to the Waiver Deal Firesale of 2009. 

But it's usually somebody who used to be a really great player for a great team...who can't seem to find a place to stay more than one season at. And there are lots of players like this- Hideki Matsui, Vladimir Guerrero, Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez...the list goes on and on.

But one that kinda perplexes me is Johnny Damon.

Sure, he's getting old, and he won't always hit homers for you, but I never understood why the Yankees shunned him like they did after the 2009 season. He was a pretty good outfielder, he could definitely hit, and he established a pretty good career with the previous teams. Is he a Hall of Famer? Probably not. But was he a good piece to our lineup? Yeah. And we should have kept him around.

Unfortunately, Cashman saw that Randy Winn would be a better left fielder than Damon. And we all know where that went.

Damon has spent the last two seasons in two uniforms, and is now residing in his fourth uniform in four years. True, that's no Octavio Dotel ratio, but it's kinda mind boggling considering that he's a decent player. Yeah, he's a DH, but he at least is a bit more mobile than most of the other DH's out there.

Either way, I hope Cleveland enjoys him. And vice versa. And I hope he at least sticks with this team.

Coming Tomorrow- Hidden behind the failure of Tim Lincecum is the #2 guy, a recently contracted youngster who's finally earning to become the superstar.

Custom Card of the Day: Weaver Edition



I feel like it's the 2010 season all over again. We're barely a month into the season, and we already have two no-hitters, from two AL teams no less. Jered Weaver's already a dominating pitcher, and the Twins really aren't doing too well, so it doesn't surprise me. But Weaver deserves to have something like this on his resume, and hopefully will get more accolades throughout his career.

I really hope this isn't the last no-hitter of the year

Coming Tomorrow- once again, I need to make more.

Custom Card of the Day: Mauer Edition



Not much else needs to be said. This is an awesome card, and it speaks in its own words.

Also, Joe Mauer's awesome. Even if he isn't what he was back in the 2000's. So there.

Coming Tomorrow- someone I can write more than 3 sentences about.