CMU97

I had mountains and mountains of those, and everything else baseball related during that era. Topps started the. Sticker Book in 1981. Those had a white border, and there were pages for each team, and all stars. Same in 1982, except the national league had a blue border, and AL had Red. Or vice versa, i'm going by memory. 1983 and have 84 basically stayed the same. Fleer started stickers in 1982, although they called them "stamps", and they came in this little plastic thing similar to a pez dispenser. It was impossible to pull the stamps out without ripping them to shreads and you had to open the dispenser. In 1984 Fleer did regular stickers in a sticker book like Topps, and those had a gold border. That was probably my favorite sticker set from that era. I'm not sure how long the sticker fad lasted, they weren't worth much. and I stopped collecting them. My favorite favorite odd ball set from that era was the 1981 Topps Scratch off cards. They were about the size of an old lottery ticket, and you could play a complete baseball game with them. I believe they had red, green, and blue versions. All of this is by memory, so I may not be 100% accurate in my recollection.

I have a second hand Ricky story. In 1988 a high school teammate of mine got to be a clubhouse boy for the Yankees for a series in Detroit. His dad and Billy Martin were friends, and Martin invited the family down for the weekend. My friend was basically a gofer and picked up dirty towels, but he had the time of his life. The Yankees had their traveling clubhouse guy, and Detroit had their visitor's clubhouse guy who did most of the work but Donnie and another kid got to hang around and do the unwanted jobs. At the end of the series, Donnie asked the players to sign a ball for him. All did without hesitation. Except for Ricky. It is a custom at the end of a series for the visiting team to tip the clubhouse guys. Since Donnie was just there helping for free, he didn't expect anything but a few guys did give him some (not a lot) of money. Except for Ricky. Here is the story: Donnie asked him to sign the team ball, and Ricky said no, but gave him a $100 bill. Which was way, way more then anyone else did. Donnie was shocked, and quite didn't know what to do, so he said, "thank you very much Mr. Henderson, but I really only wanted your autograph." Rickey took the money and Donnie's pen, signed the $100 bill, and said, "there you go". Donnie was in shock, said thank you, and walked away. Other players and Ricky started laughing, and he said he was just joking, and then he signed the baseball. Donnie got to keep the autographed $100 bill and has an awesome story. The postscript to this story is the Tigers swept that series, and Martin was fired for the 5th and final time by Stienbrener the following morning.

Jordan Zimmerman was also 29 when we signed him. (turned 30 early in 2016).

I just did a quick search to see if Detroit ever had any other Cobbs besides Ty. The answer is yes. Joe Cobb in 1918. He might be our moonlight Graham. 1 game, 1 at bat, 1 walk. OBP of 1.000.

That is exactly what was said 45 years ago when Dave Parker (congrats on the HOF nod) became the first $1 million a year player.

Bo Jackson throwing out Harold Reynolds out at the plate on a 100mph lazer bb after running 200 ft to catch a line drive at the wall in the left field corner. The end of that play was just as spectacular, the catcher (I think it was Bob Boone) was walking off the field because he thought the game was over. He had to dive back into the field of play, catch the ball, and tag Reynolds all at the same time. The whole play was absolutely incredible.

I may be optimistic, but I see his ceiling as Pete Rose, with maybe a little more power. He has the hit tool, I expected him to be a .300 hitter or better most of his career. And like Rose, I think he has the ability to move around to different positions as needed and be more than adequate. I don't know if he can become a gold glove at multiple positions, but be better than replacement. I think the bottom would be a Greg Gagne type. Not a gold glover, but incredibly consistant and durable. Hit .250-.280 with 10-20 homers for 10 years. Rose would be great, but I would take Gagne.

He has to be 65 years old now or so. I bet he has lost a few miles off his fastball. So he probably only throws about 105 mph now. I dont recall if he had any secondary pitches, or if he ever found his other boot. He might be a good opener.

My wife works at a major retailer and one of her many jobs is to source the toilet paper. 98% comes from the US or Canada, and the TP does come from China is currently tariffed at 35%. Also, the China TP is way below the standards Americans are use too. Many things may be affected, TP is not one of them.

Bobby has done a tremendous job improving the last half of this season. If Dirks is going to be on TV most of the time now, I prefer Bobby over everyone else. AA does a fine job too, but I don't think he wants the gig full time.

And I would swap Meadows and Sweeny. But, AJ does everything with a purpose, and it.may be a 6th inning matchup he is eying. In Hinch I trust.

Deuce asked for his "release ". He was in Chicago long enough to set things up the way he wanted, and things are running smoothly. He already has Detroit under his thumb, so no need to come back. His eye is on a bigger prize, most likely New York. After that, Las Vegas. Yes, the A's (or someone else) will get there. In NY, Deuce will have Manford under his watch full time, and Jim will make sure Vegas happens.

Rose was one of the best players ever to put on a uniform, there is no question about that. Like many of the greatest of the greats, he had a drive to win at all costs. He played in nearly every single game for 22 of his 24 years, and was very productive productive into his 40's. He could not stand to lose. He also came up in an era where star athletes were treated like God's, and their misdeeds were not reported. Thus, giving them a God like ego. I think this was definitely Pete, thinking that whatever he did off the field was his own business. I don't think he ever really had any remorse for anything he did, because he gave 110% on the field and that was enough. Off the field, he acted like the rules didn't apply to him, and anyone saying different was picking on him. The gambling, hanging out with convicted felons in the clubhouse, tax evasion, he never owned up to it in a clear way. Always more sorry he got caught then sorry for his actions. I don't think we should forget that if he played today, he would never have gotten to 3,000 hits; only won one WS; and would have never managed. In 1976 when he was 35, he had an affair with a 16 year old. He would have been out of baseball after that, just like Wander Franco, and we would not be having this discussion. And rightfully so. Great ballplayer, not a great human.

Aye Aye Aye...