M.I.A.

I realize my posts have been few and far between lately.  There are a few reasons for this.  Number one, once winter sets in I just get real lazy, and there are about 13 inches of snow outside with 2 to 4 coming down as I type.  Number two is that my wife has just discovered Face Book and my daughter has discovered the world of Bellasara, so computer time for me has been cut drastically.  This should wear off in a week or so I hope!  The other reason is there is no baseball to get excited over and that just plain sucks.  I’ve also been busy posting some of my collection on Flickr.  While on Flickr I have found some great old baseball pictures.  I absolutely love the history of the game.  If I could trick out a Delorean with a flux capacitor the first thing I would do is visit every major event in MLB history, but for now this will have to do…..

The Best Wrong Handed Pitcher Ever

It’s been a while since I posted any cards from the ’62 set and considering the blog’s name is Project ’62 , I thought I better do some posting.  The only new card out of the four is the bottom one.  It fills a hole in a couple of my collections, the first one is obvious, the 1962 Topps set.  The second spot it fills is in my no-hit collection.  It’s not a set I focus on too much but I’m slowly putting together a set that showcases no-hitters.  It seems that virtually every modern day no-hitter has a card that commemorates the feat.  They are usually fairly cheap and easy to find in bargain bins.  This one however cost me $7.  The third void this fills is for a collection I’m putting together for my son.  I’m putting a side any great left handed pitchers that I come across.  I know he is only three but he is following his mother’s footsteps as a lefty, and just in case he decides to be a pitcher like his old man, I think it would be cool to have a stack of cards featuring great left handed pitchers to give him someday.  Warren Spahn deserves to be at the top of that stack.  They named the annual award given to the best lefty after him for christ’s sake.  For right now this card is going in my ’62 set until I come across another.

Warren Spahn is one of the ball players I really wish I could of watched play.  He is nothing short of amazing.  He was able to rack up a total of 363 wins.  If it wasn’t for his 3 yr military service he probably would of easily reached 400 wins.  He almost averaged 20 wins a season for over 21 years.  At age 42 he went 23-7  including 7 shutouts, all while being the third oldest player in the league.  He is 14 time All Star, but only won 1 Cy Young award.  He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973.  His philosophy on pitching is one that I will teach my son and any other pitcher I coach,  “Hitting is timing. Pitching is upsetting timing.”   Plain and simple!  Oh yeah, he also holds the record for most career home runs for a NL Pitcher with 35.   And as you can see by the first card he also owns one of the worst autographs ever!

On another note I had a shitterrible nite at work.  When I got home I found two packages waiting for me.  The first was from Jeff of I am Joe Collector.  He was generous enough to send a gift box full of Cubs padded by a bunch of 2000 Topps.  Thanks to him I now have another set to chase.  He has been praised all over the ‘sphere and deserves every bit of it.  Jeff, you totally kick tall ass!  The other was a pack of 2008 Series 2 Upper Deck from Patricia at Dinged Corners.  It was the prize from the match game.  It is also the first blog contest that I have won.  I pulled a Fukudome RC.  I really hope he comes out next year and earns his cards value because there is no reason his cards are valued where they are.  I also pulled a sweet D Lee card I did not have.  A big thanks goes to both of them for making the end of my night not suck.  You do not know how much that is appreciated!!!!  THANK YOU!!

Card Show Booty

I was able to score one of my favorite cards and its autographed.  The same dealer had about a half dozen Turk autos but only one had him brushing his teeth.  For $3 it was a no brainer.

Then I scooped up this bunch for whopping $15

I also bought a couple mystery boxes and have a ton of trade bait now.  I grabbed a bunch of different Sandbergs out of a bargain box.  I should have enough soon to justify posting a want list.   All in all it was a good day and I can’t wait to see what happens in the next few days.  The winter meetings are like having Christmas early.  I asked Santa for a Peavy and a couple of Hall of Famers.  I so want to believe!!

Ronny And The Hall Of Fame

Warning:  This is a shameless plug for Ronny getting into the HoF.

I’ve been reading through several of the posts about who should get into the Hall of Fame.   Many players have strong cases for them and against them.  I wish most of them the best of luck.  One of the most deserving people on the list has to be Ron Santo.  It will be up to the veterans committee to decide his fate.  I hope with the help of Ryno, Mr. Cub, and Billy Williams he will get enough votes this time around.

His Playing Years

Ronny played 14 seasons in the bigs, all of them in the great city of Chicago, 13 years with the Cubs and one with the Sox.  He will go down as one of the best third baseman the game will ever see.  He received 5 Gold Glove awards.  He led the NL in assists from 1962 to 1968.  In ’63 he broke the assist record wit 374 put outs at third base, a record that had stood since 1904.  He then broke a league record for assists in 1966 with 391, a record that stood since 1892.  He went on and broke his own record again in 1967 with 393 assists.  His records stood until Mike Jack Schmidt put out 404 in 1974. He led the league in double plays six different years. He holds the record of the most consecutive games played at third base with 364 and the single season mark with 164 set in 1965.  This streak was ended only after he was hit in the face with a pitch fracturing his cheek bone.  This injury also led him to be the first player to have a batting helmet  with an ear flap.  He broke Eddie Mathews career records for double plays at third base and assists, again these records stood until Mike Jack Schmidt came along.  He is one of two third basemen to hit 300 home runs and win 5 gold gloves, the other, you guessed it, Mike Jack Schmidt.

His offensive numbers are not overly impressive but when you consider the era he played in they are not half bad either.  He had a career average of .277, 1,331 RBIs, and hit a total of 342 HR.  He is in the top ten of almost all of the offensive categories during his playing years.  He was also a 9 time All Star.

His impressive career is even more impressive when you consider all of this was done while trying to manage diabetes.  His consecutive games played record is the most impressive to me.  As a fellow diabetic I can tell you, you will definitely have a few off days a year.  To do this with the primitive treatments available in the ’60s and the ’70s is nothing short of amazing.

After Retirement

Santo has gone on with Pat Hughes to be the voice of the Chicago Cubs for WGN Radio.  I can tell you I would rather have no one than Ronny for this job.  I work second shift in a warehouse and I am forced to listen to more than half of the games on the radio.  Ronny isn’t particularly a great announcer, but he is the best one for the job.  You can turn on a game in the fourth inning and you can tell how it is going just by the sound in his voice.  He lives and dies with every pitch just like so many of us Cubs fans do.  It reminds me of watching games in the late ’80s and listening to Hary Caray butcher names and not have a clue what was going on with the game.  He was horrible and great at the same time.  Same goes for Santo.

Somehow with his busy broadcast schedule he finds time for charities and other special causes.  His main charity is the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).  He has raised well over 50 million dollars for diabetes research and raised more than that in awareness.  With the government ban on stem cell research, diabetes research has suffered greatly.  This makes his efforts all that more important.  This alone earns him a spot in my personal Hall of Fame.  I’ve had the privilege of meeting him on a few occasions and every time I am impressed by how upbeat he his.  He loves his fans and the game of baseball.  He will almost always stop for an autograph or a picture and then thank you for stopping him.  He has been in town on two separate occasions to help raise money for Little Cubs Field and again for the grand opening.  The first time he spoke to all of the local Little Leaguers on their opening day.  I was lucky enough to win a spot in a special private meet and greet.  He is by far one of the biggest stars and the nicest guys I have ever met.  He stood up for every picture taken which is quite impressive considering he is a double amputee below his knees.  His prosthetics  are decorated with blue pinstripes and Cubs logos,  that takes bleeding Cubbie blue to a whole new level.

What It All Adds Up To

Ron Santo deserves to be in the Hall.  He played the game with everything he had and he played the right way.  His numbers and stats are equal or greater than the other third basemen in the Hall.  He has stayed in the game since his playing days were over and become a fan favorite across the board.  He has done more good for the world than most people will ever get the chance to do.  Simply stated Ron Santo is a Hall Of Famer.  Good Luck Ronny!

	AVG	HRs	RBIs	ALL-STARS	GOLD GLOVES
Ron Santo (1960-74)	.277	342	1,331	9	5
Eddie Mathews (1952-68)	.271	512	1,453	12	0
Brooks Robinson (1955-77)	.267	268	1,357	18	16
Wade Boggs (1982-99)	.328	118	1,014	12	2
Mike Schmidt (1972-89)	.267	548	1,595	12	10
George Kell (1943-57)	.306	78	870	10	0