The Stars are Out: Hall of Fame Induction Edition

It's becoming pretty weird to me that a lot of the guys I saw play baseball when I was a kid get inducted into the Hall of Fame. I've made customs of a lot of these guys, and now here they are, in Cooperstown, getting inducted. Crazy stuff.

So, here are some more additions to the Stars are Out series I've been doing, showcasing all three of these guys throwing out the first pitch at games. I couldn't get photos of Vladimir Guerrero, Jack Morris or Alan Trammell, so we'll just feature the other three.

Trevor Hoffman goes first, because it took him the longest of the core four to get here. Hoffman is a San Diego legend, one of the greatest closers of all time, and deserves to be here.

And here's Larry Jones. Looking laid back, yet still owning his achievements in Atlanta as a landmark third baseman and legendary hitter. He also deserves this induction.

And this guy...one of my childhood heroes, and a guy who got me into the Phillies as a kid...is one of the strongest hitters I ever got to see live, and was a Hall of Famer even before he wore a Phillies uniform. I'm glad he finally got there. Jim Thome is a legend, and deserves to be enshrined, even if he's not a Phillie on the plaque.

So, congrats to all Hall of Famers. They all deserve it.

2018 Hall of Fame Results: Four Easy Pieces

What's great about this era of HOF inductees is that, with the exception of Trevor Hoffman, they all exist in the era of custom cards, so I can post blog-archived material for 3/4ths of the inductees. 

What's also great is that I would have voted these four in, like, in a heartbeat, so I'm insanely happy that they all get to be Hall of Famers now.

Chipper was a foregone conclusion. Of everybody on the ballot, I knew he'd be a definite. The way he played the game, and the consistency in the field and at bat over 20 years...you don't find that everyday. The easiest comparisons would be somebody like Brooks Robinson, but it's barely a comparison when Chipper paved the way to become his own type of athlete, and a poster child for Braves fans everywhere. Happy he made it in.

 Happier still that this guy made it. When I got into collecting, Vladdie was one of the most likable players in the fold, and he was insanely easy to root for, no matter what team he played for. Even when he was with the Rangers, I rooted for him. His style of play was based in power, and he was insanely powerful whenever he was on the base paths. He's also one of those guys that could have played for another 3 or 4 years. If only the Jays hadn't have effectively ended his career.

Happy for Vlad, and happy for Trevor Hoffman, who deserved the nod by just being an intimidating and fearsome closer for 18 odd years. But...I wanna reserve a bit for the last guy that got in...

Jim Thome, for a few years, was my favorite player in baseball.

He came to Philadelphia, made a name for himself within a span of 60 seconds, and made coming to Citizens Bank Park a must for me. The first time I went, it was incredible- Thome hit a home run, and the whole plays erupted in the kind of love he'd be responsible for whenever he'd show up in Philly for the rest of his career. The way he played the game owed itself to instant admiration. In the period before I got back into card collecting and hyper focused on who everyone was, I rooted for Jim Thome. I had every right to.

And now Thome's a Hall of Famer, because why the hell wouldn't he be? He deserved it, and I'm so happy I'll get to point him out to my eventual offspring in Cooperstown one day.

So...yeah, I'll say that Hall of Fame voters did well enough this year. I'd have made room for Edgar Martinez, but I'm thinking this means he'll be in next year.

Now...I wait a year for the 2013 inductions...which means I'll be waiting a year to talk about Hall of Fame cases for two of my OTHER favorite players...a guy named Mo...and a guy named Doc.

Custom Card of the Day: Freeman Edition

For the second or third year in a row, the NL East is so depressingly tight and pathetic that the team in front this time of year is basically in front because the other four teams suck more. True, the Braves are playing pretty well, but how well would they be playing without the collapse of the Nationals, Marlins, Mets and Phillies?

ESPN should say that they're in first place in the division, but have a little emblem next to it saying 'by default'. So if you want to see who is leading the NL East, they'll say it's 'The Braves, by default'. This should work for movies, too. If they want to advertise a really bad movie, like Sharknado 2 or something, they should bill it as "STARRING IAN ZIERING, by default'.

I kid, of course. The Braves are a really good team, as usual. After years of being shuttered to third place year after year, they finally have a promising team. It's kind of like their 90's squads. Which means Freddie Freeman is their answer to Chipper Jones.

Now I know what you're thinking, and yes, I know they play different positions, and played with each other for two seasons. But in all honesty, Chipper Jones acted as a leader to a team that effectively needed one. He was a defensive powerhouse, an offensive hero, and a generally nice guy off the field (now he's dating somebody my age, so I dunno what happened there). And now Freddie Freeman's doing basically the same thing.

I hope he sticks around for a while and becomes the legend that Jones did.

Coming Tomorrow- His team's not doing nearly as well as last season, but he's still going after the ball like crazy.

Farewell, Chippah

 

The Greatest Switch-Hitting Third Baseman of all time.

It's a shame that the last game of your career was marred by an error. I really hate that. But who's gonna remember you for that? They'll remember the other times, the better times, when you led the league, and won the World Series.

See you in 6 Years for your speech in Cooperstown.

Custom Card of the Day: Chipper Edition



Back when I was younger, I didn't know too much about baseball. Hell, the first real baseball player I'd ever heard of was Derek Jeter. But, at a young age, there was always some way of showing 7 or 8 year olds which players were awesome, in any sport. And it was called Backyard Baseball.

For the unaware adults, BB was an old computer game where you'd make your own team and essentially play a 6 to 9 inning game, with cool hitting or pitching bonuses. As a bonus, they'd throw in actual players. The ones I already knew at the time were obvious: Jeter, Giambi, Rodriguez and Ichiro were easy ones. I knew Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Jim Thome. But through the game I learned about others like Jeff Bagwell, Frank Thomas, Ken Griffey Jr, and even obscure ones like Jeff Conine and Richie Sexson.

Then there was Chipper Jones. I remember him cause he was the skinny one, and he seemed kinda young. Also, because I was 7, I thought it was funny that his name was Chipper.

So the years go by, and I keep playing that game. I learn how to assemble my hitters, so that the bigger hitters were kept to the middle of the lineup, and the young, fast ones would lead off. Due to my thinking, Chipper Jones always led off. He was the young one.

2007 comes, and that's when I first get into baseball cards. Thankfully I'm older now, but I'm relearning about who's good and who I put in the binders. Finding cards of all the players I knew from BB sure helped, cause I already knew Ken Griffey was good, and I already knew Randy Johnson was good, and so on.

Then I pull my first Chipper card. At this point I was flustered because a lot of people (Bagwell, Sosa, Nomar) weren't showing up on cards. I saw Chipper, and I was thankful that The Young One had stuck around.

It is at this point that I turn his card over. This is the exact moment that I stopped calling him the Young One. Cause he was 35.

Of course, I've learned to respect Chipper over the years, and he's definitely an Atlanta legend. Hell, I don't think there's anyone that really hates Chipper; he's just a great player, and a fun player to watch. And no matter how old he gets, he's still a pleasure to watch play.

This year, Chipper announced 2012 would be his last season. I can admit I saw this coming, but it's kinda weird. I've gotten accustomed to seeing Chipper on the Braves for all my life. It's just weird seeing him not there, not at third. It would be like turning on NBC on a Saturday night at 11:30, and finding some other show on.

Still, even as his career winds down, you kinda have to marvel at Chipper Jones. He'll always be The Young One, and he'll always be an Atlanta Brave.

(No, I will not do that for YOUR birthday)

Coming Tomorrow- The other aging infielder who celebrates his birthday today. Only this guy's 46. And started playing before Chipper.

Custom Card of the Day: Chippah Edition

I woke up at noon today. That wasn't really sleeping in, because I'd just had a nine hour sleep, after getting home late from the Harry Potter premiere. But you people don't care about that. Matter of fact, you're probably wondering why I don't have any Allen and Ginter with me? I haven't gotten a chance to go to Target yet. I'll get some soon, if you can wait a little bit.

Now, onto the person on the card. Chipper Jones' rookie card premiered 20 years ago in Topps products, which is another way of saying "Chipper Jones will be retiring soon". He's quite an interesting player, despite the fact that he's bowed out the last two seasons with an injury. He's a surefire Hall of Famer, and he's destined to get his number on the Turner Field wall. So basically, we're all just waiting for him to retire in order to really respect him. Or something like that. Still...CHIPPAH!

Coming Tomorrow- This post might come a little late in the day, since I'll be going to a Paul McCartney concert tonight, and lord knows when I'll get home. But nevertheless...there will still be a custom of a guy who's somehow the AL's top closer.

Chippah

Every team has that...monarch. That player on the team that everybody looks up to, and doesn't even try to be better than. The Yankees have Derek Jeter, the Mets have David Wright, the Mariners have Ichiro, and the Cardinals have Pujols.

Then the Braves have this guy. I can think of 29 other teams who are jealous. Because this guy, along with 3 other Atlanta players, ruled the 90's and 2000's. He may not have come up first, and at times I thought he was overshadowed by Maddux and Glavine, but he still powered through.

Now, with his hand needing surgery, it's unlikely that he's come back for the 2011 season. I guess Jason Heyward has big shoes to fill.

If this is your last season Chipper, then goodbye, and see you in Cooperstown. If it isn't, you've got a few years left of wowing Atlanta fans, and I'll still see you in Cooperstown.

(Does this post make me look like a Braves fan? It's not like I'm kissing up, it's simply respect.)

Coming Tomorrow- THIS post will be kissing up. I gotta do a post about a former Red Sock whose socks have turned white.

Custom Card of the Day

This was another easy one. I cut out the player, redid the background and put in Larry. My scanner keeps goofing up and keeps canning all my cards at an angle or without the border. This infuriates me so much, I may have to rescan them today. If that doesn't work, I will not have a custom card for you tomorrow.

In card-related news, My dad brought home some stuff he got while cleaning out my grandmother's house. He brought home A- A lot more 1987 Topps, which I don't need, for the last time (Anyone need to complete their 87 set?) and B- A small white square case. I opened the thing up, and I saw the COMPLETE SET of 1994 Action Packed Minor Leaguers. Inside, were such failures as-

• Pokey Reese
• Charles Johnson
• Trot Nixon.

And some pretty good players- like

• Phil Nevin, who also got an insert
• Derrek Lee
• Dmitri Young
• Johnny Damon.

But the two cards that made the set were-

• Derek Jeter
• Alex Rodriguez, who also came with an insert.

In other news, I was at a Barmytzfah party last night. Ugh, too loud for me. Plus, I don't know if any of you have seen the video for the Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow", but it is the trippiest thing I have ever seen. I haven't seen something that trippy since David Lynch made those PS2 ads (If this were Family Guy, I'd cut right to them, but I'm not that cruel.) Let me make it a point that that song is on the latest Kids Bop. Imagining kids singing that would be like seeing an elephant do the tango (You can see that on Dance Your Ass Off)

BTW- I will be doing something with my Tribe-loving friend. If cards are involved, I'll keep you posted, but you never know.

2009 Valley Forge Card Show

Wow.

It was a great show today, and I walked away with lots of cards. Among the older ones

1981 Traded Bobby Bonds
1982 Nolan Ryan and Don Sutton both on the Astros
1988 Traded Lee Smith with the BoSox. BOOOOOOOO!
1989 John Smoltz rookie.
1990 Nolan Ryan
1992 Frank Thomas and Bo Jackson both on the White Sox.

I also got a sweet numbered card of Dave Winfield, numbered to 550.

In addition to that, I got a ton of rookies

2002 Bobby Jenks
2003 BJ Upton and Johnny Gomez
2004 Zach Duke
1992 Draft Pick Jason Kendall
1992 Coming Attractions Jim Edmonds
AND...the icing on the cake...
1992 Top Prospects.
Manny Alexander
Alex Arias
Wil Cordero
and some kid on the Braves named CHIPPER JONES!!!!

In addition to that, a Philly favorite Dickie Noles was signing autographs, and I happened to be around at that time with his rookie card. Long story short, I now have something to brag about.

If that wasn't enough, my friend Dan (who also has a blog) came along with me and he got some even sweeter swag. I beleive he got rookies of Josh Hamilton, Mark Texiera, Pat Burrell and others.

All in all, it was a great show. Expect a new I love the 70's coming tomorrow, and a post about Gimmick #7 coming tonight.