The Stars are Out: The Rest of 2022

 

This is how disorganized I've been in the last few months: the 2023 customs are almost hitting the blog, and I still haven't posted some of the rest of the 2022 ones. 

Might as well wrap these up now, while we're here. Biggest one first- the Mets made a very big deal about getting Australian brass instrumentalist Timmy Trumpet, famous for lending his horn to a song that has become Edwin Diaz' legendary entrance music, to come to Citifield. The first night they had him, as he threw out the first pitch, it was a blowout for the Mets, so...no Edwin. Timmy enjoyed the game, and they just figured 'hey, let's, uh...let's keep him around til Edwin shows up'. Sure enough, he attends the following Mets game, it's a closer game and Edwin warms up in the pen. The moment that Timmy gets to play on Edwin made the rounds online, as it should have.

Kyle Kuzma won a ring with the Lakers, was traded for Russell Westbrook and wound up on the Wizards. Currently, the Wizards are mediocre, despite also having Kristaps Porzingis. But the Nationals are also mediocre, even bad at times, so with the exchange it all works out. Kuzma is wearing the City Connect uniform design here, which is cool if you like things that are different. 

[Note: do you think we would have been fatigued by the 1999-era Turn Forward the Clock unis if they appeared in triple the games and on quadruple the Topps cards? Discuss]

The White Sox had some unusual First Pitches this year. Tom Lennon was in The State, and eventually Reno-911, which had a new season this year that the network forgot to advertise. Lennon is also responsible for writing most of the Night at the Museum films. He's an underrated humorist, so it's good he got to throw one out.

...lead singer of hard rock group Ghost, known to fans as Papa Emeritus IV, also threw out a first pitch in Chicago. I feel like if you're not into Ghost this is gonna be weird to you. Ghost is pretty much a parody of all the over-the-top metal bands of the past 15 or so years, their lead singer dresses up as like an undead Pope onstage, the music's pretty cool. Most people in the crowd must have been confused.

And then around playoff time some former players did some. The Mariners made it to October, so Felix Hernandez came back. Obviously he still gets a warm welcome in Seattle. They're seriously gonna look hard at his stats in a few years as the HOF ballot comes around, as he's got one hell of a case, even if it isn't a surefire. In his prime, Felix was the best in the game. 

Philly had a ton of legends throw out first pitches this fall, but one cool one who showed up was Ryan Howard. Even with his career decline in mind, Howard's first 6 or 7 years were wonderful, as he mixed insane power hitting with well-rounded play. Once the achilles went, that all kinda went out the window, but his home runs and power hitting made these teams worthwhile. Howard also has his own southern comfort place at Citizens Bank Park, complete with fried chicken. I have not tried it, but according to a friend who has, you're better off getting Bull's BBQ. 

And we'll end with Hall of Fame legend and Cardinals hero Ozzie Smith, who got to throw out a first pitch before the Cards were unceremoniously eliminated from playoff contention by an errant Phils team. I may not love the Cardinals, but I can't help but enjoy Ozzie Smith. 

That does it for the Stars are Out customs for 2022. And, honestly, customs from 2022 in general.

Maybe I'll post the first custom of 2023 tomorrow...