| Tony La Russa 10 |
When I was at the show, I wore a shirt I bought from Uni Watch a few years ago.
Showing posts with label Tony La Russa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tony La Russa. Show all posts
2017-11-02
Bonus October Card Show Autograph
There's a mostly-monthly card show not far from me, with lots of signers that aren't household names. Then there's the big annual one every October, with nothing but Hall of Famers and huge stars. I don't collect football stuff, but this one had Emmitt Smith, Marcus Allen, and Tim Brown. I also don't really collect hockey, but Scotty Bowman, Curtis Joseph, and several other old time Blues were there. I do collect Bo Jackson, but his price was a bit too high for me, and I already have autographs from Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Ozzie Smith, and Red Schoendienst. I didn't make it there on Saturday for Bruce Sutter, but I did get this, which is now a cornerstone of my collection.
For some reason when I started watching baseball in 1992, I decided my second favorite team was the Oakland A's. As such, some of my favorite players were Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco, and La Russa was one of my favorite managers. I'm sure I've relayed this story on the blog before, but in 1995, some time after the Cardinals fired Joe Torre as manager (which was June 16), I was at a game with my dad and overheard some guys behind us talking about how they had some inside information that Tony La Russa would be the Cardinals manager in 1996. If I heard such a rumor today of course I'd go straight to the internet and see if anyone else was talking about it, but at that time all I could really do was tell myself that it'd be nice, but I didn't see it happening. Of course, I was a kid, I had no reason to feel like I knew what I was talking about. Tony did become the next Cardinals manager that offseason, and managed 16 seasons, winning 2 World Series.
When I was at the show, I wore a shirt I bought from Uni Watch a few years ago.
Tony took my baseball from the organizer next to him I had handed it to, looked up at me and gave a cordial "how ya doin?", then looked back at the ball, paused, looked back to me, and said "Dodgers?!". I suppose I hadn't really thought through his history with them, losing the World Series to them with Oakland and then being their division rival the past 4 years with Arizona. I also don't really think of the shirt as a Dodgers shirt, even though that's obviously what it's styled after. He was just giving me a hard time and laughed it off, but I can now say I was razzed by Tony La Russa.
When I was at the show, I wore a shirt I bought from Uni Watch a few years ago.
2017-04-07
Zistle Trade #30
Today's Zistle trade was just a small handful of cards that filled some random needs in my collection. In return, I sent a few Reds, all from 2011.
Tony La Russa was my favorite non-Cardinals manager as a kid, so I was thrilled when he came to St. Louis. Even when a lot of the local fans turned on him, I was a supporter. Of course, winning 2 World Series helped get him back on everyone's good side, and he left his managerial career on top.
| 1989 Topps #224 Tony La Russa 1991 Topps #58 Mel Stottlemyre Jr. 1991 Topps #171 Tony La Russa 2012 Topps Archives #24 Lance Berkman 2012 Topps Update #US44 Jeremy Hermida 2012 Topps Update #US68 Fernando Rodney |
2014-09-03
Zistle Trade #9
These cards cost me some Thomes, some Cabreras, some Ortizes, and a couple of Ichiros. But I got a few Cardinal managers, and closer to completing 2012 Update. It's win/win, like any trade should be.
Several of the Update cards happened to be Cardinals too, including Adam Kennedy and Cesar Izturis.
The sportscasters here liked to call Rzepczynski "Scrabble". I don't know if that nickname predated his time here, or just reflects our relatively low Polish population.
Finally I got one more Cardinal middle infielder, short-timer Ryan Theriot.
If my Zistle want list is to be believed - and it usually is - I still need over 70 cards to finish the Update set. But, this knocked out about a quarter of the list.
| 1987 Topps #68 Tony La Russa 1988 Topps #344 Tony La Russa 1988 Topps #744 Whitey Herzog 2012 Topps Update #US3 Adam Kennedy 2012 Topps Update #US26 Santiago Casilla 2012 Topps Update #US27 Cesar Izturis |
| 2012 Topps Update #US58 Manny Acosta #US69 Brett Jackson #US80 Jered Weaver #US92 Chone Figgins #US102 Brandon League #US115 Jason Grilli #US121 Johnny Damon #US141 R.A. Dickey |
| 2012 Topps Update #US162 Yu Darvish #US169 Steve Cishek #US205 Travis Ishikawa #US219 Brian Fuentes #US235 Marc Rzepczynski #US279 Ryan Cook #US289 Prince Fielder #US302 Lucas Harrell |
| 2012 Topps Update #US17 Joe Smith #US170 Jerry Hairston #US238 Shawn Camp #US294 Sergio Santos #US316 Ryan Theriot |
If my Zistle want list is to be believed - and it usually is - I still need over 70 cards to finish the Update set. But, this knocked out about a quarter of the list.
2014-07-17
eBay Wins #129
1987 Topps always reminds me of a wood-paneled station wagon. There's probably a deeper metaphor I could dive into about utility versus beauty, but let's just see some cards.
I'm always happy to add another La Russa card to my collection.
I didn't know Roger Craig played for the Cardinals until just now. He went 7-9 in 1964. I've even posted a card with him and Tony La Russa before.
Bob Tewksbury was probably the Cardinals ace - on a team that wasn't very good - when I started watching baseball, so I always have to remind myself that my memories of him are a bit twisted by my perspective at the time.
Clint Hurdle is another manager I didn't realize played for the Cardinals.
Eric Davis played 2 of his last 3 seasons for the Cardinals, but he was definitely on the downslope of his great career. Still, he was a good, consistent veteran to have around, which is always helpful in a game so focused on bringing up 19-to-21 year old prospects as soon as possible.
Since I like to tag all former Cardinals that I post so that I can quickly access any post by player, I'll have to stop here for the 1987 Topps pile. This is still part of my massive penny card re-shuffling, so these 45 cards add another 45 cents to my eBay Bargain Tracker.
| 1987 Topps #2 Jim Deshaies #3 Dwight Evans #15 Claudell Washington #18 Dick Howser #26 Greg Brock #40 Dave Righetti #68 Tony La Russa #115 Donnie Moore #130 Dwight Gooden |
| 1987 Topps #140 Bret Saberhagen #155 Eddie Whitson #166 Bob Boone #174 Henry Cotto #175 Bob Stanley #181 Cardinals Leaders #185 Roger McDowell #193 Roger Craig x2 |
| 1987 Topps #194 Kirk McCaskill #219 Cecilio Guante #220 Joe Carter #222 Denny Walling #230 Don Baylor #241 Danny Heep #243 Whitey Herzog #254 Bob Tewksbury #266 Jeff Hamilton |
| 1987 Topps #267 Howard Johnson #276 Jackie Gutierrez #283 Doug Drabek #285 Dennis Boyd #287 Dave Von Ohlen #293 Bob Rodgers #295 Len Dykstra #316 Brian Fisher #317 Clint Hurdle |
| 1987 Topps #319 Greg Swindell #343 Hal Lanier #374 Glenn Hoffman #399 Curt Ford #401 Billy Jo Robidoux #404 Doug Sisk #412 Eric Davis (x2) #426 Floyd Rayford |
Since I like to tag all former Cardinals that I post so that I can quickly access any post by player, I'll have to stop here for the 1987 Topps pile. This is still part of my massive penny card re-shuffling, so these 45 cards add another 45 cents to my eBay Bargain Tracker.
| eBay Bargain Tracker | |
| Total Cards Bought | 2999 |
| Total Spent | $48.52 |
| Per Card | 1.618 cents |
| Change | -0.009 cents |
2013-08-16
College Bowl Game Contest Win, Part 14
For the 2012-2013 College Football season, I entered the College Football Pick 'Em contest hosted by madding of Cards on Cards. I've won several of his contests over the years, and he always dumps a ton of Cardinals on me when I do. Yet, I think this time he may have outdone himself. I may have to work hard to get them all posted before the 2013-14 College Football season starts August 29, and I start posting my Power Rankings again.
[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 ]
If not for the different uniforms, I'd like to think these are 2 shots from the same play, and Tony's taking Chris Duncan out for a defensive replacement. Sorry, Chris, I like you on the radio though.
Spiezio might be responsible for the silliest Cardinals phenomenon until the Rally Squirrel. He had very long facial hair growing under his lip, and at times he dyed it Cardinal red. Of course, people cut up red fabric and made their own faux hair, and I think there may have even been an official promotion night around it.
Zoom in really far on that David Eckstein card. He's got quite the zombie eyes in that drawing.
I'd love to know what happened on this pitch, if this is based on a real photo. It could be a home run, a fly out, or even just strike 2. It looks like Albert might be swinging a little low for the ball.
Here's Eckstein looking much less Zombiefied, and journeyman extraordinaire Jeff Suppan. He wore my favorite number (37), so I almost bought a jersey when we won the World Series in 2006. Luckily I didn't because he quickly left for Milwaukee. One day I may get one anyway, along with Todd Wellemeyer and Kent Bottenfield.
[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 ]
| 2007 Topps #127 Chris Duncan #249 Tony La Russa |
If not for the different uniforms, I'd like to think these are 2 shots from the same play, and Tony's taking Chris Duncan out for a defensive replacement. Sorry, Chris, I like you on the radio though.
| 2007 Topps Updates and Highlights #UH44 Scott Spiezio |
Spiezio might be responsible for the silliest Cardinals phenomenon until the Rally Squirrel. He had very long facial hair growing under his lip, and at times he dyed it Cardinal red. Of course, people cut up red fabric and made their own faux hair, and I think there may have even been an official promotion night around it.
| 2007 Turkey Red #72 Chris Carpenter #87 David Eckstein #172 Kelvin Jimenez |
Zoom in really far on that David Eckstein card. He's got quite the zombie eyes in that drawing.
| 2007 Turkey Red #48 Prince Albert |
| 2006 Topps #36 Jeff Suppan #228 David Eckstein |
2013-08-14
College Bowl Game Contest Win, Part 12
For the 2012-2013 College Football season, I entered the College Football Pick 'Em contest hosted by madding of Cards on Cards. I've won several of his contests over the years, and he always dumps a ton of Cardinals on me when I do. Yet, I think this time he may have outdone himself. I may have to work hard to get them all posted before the 2013-14 College Football season starts August 29, and I start posting my Power Rankings again.
[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 ]
Has anyone heard if 2013 Allen and Ginter is out yet? That United States insert is needlessly thick. At first I thought maybe it was a relic, but no, it's just a very thick slide of cardboard. I'm guessing this set contained each state's most famous native ballplayer.
2008 Topps is a set I have a decent chunk of, by virtue of finding a lot of cheap packs at one point. Consequently, I'm chasing its completion in my mind, though I haven't gone so far as to put the missing cards on my want list yet.
I could come up with any number of excuses for putting the Ozzie in the wrong orientation, but you know the real reason. I wasn't paying attention. And I'm not going to go de-sleeve and re-scan it. Carpenter knocked a card off my want list, so I just have a few Cardinals to go in this set.
I feel like I've heard of Co-Signers many times, but this is the first card of it I own. That's probably because I'm not a huge autograph seeker, except those I acquire from an in-person meeting, and autographed inserts were the big gimmick of this set.
[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 ]
| 2008 Allen and Ginter #287 Chris Carpenter #326 Adam Kennedy |
| 2008 Allen and Ginter #44 Adam Wainwright United States #US29 Chris Carpenter |
Has anyone heard if 2013 Allen and Ginter is out yet? That United States insert is needlessly thick. At first I thought maybe it was a relic, but no, it's just a very thick slide of cardboard. I'm guessing this set contained each state's most famous native ballplayer.
| 2008 Topps #244 Adam Wainwright #272 Anthony Reyes #285 Tony La Russa #353 Brendan Ryan |
2008 Topps is a set I have a decent chunk of, by virtue of finding a lot of cheap packs at one point. Consequently, I'm chasing its completion in my mind, though I haven't gone so far as to put the missing cards on my want list yet.
| 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces #83 Ozzie Smith #85 Chris Carpenter |
I could come up with any number of excuses for putting the Ozzie in the wrong orientation, but you know the real reason. I wasn't paying attention. And I'm not going to go de-sleeve and re-scan it. Carpenter knocked a card off my want list, so I just have a few Cardinals to go in this set.
| 2007 Topps Co-Signers #67 Anthony Reyes |
I feel like I've heard of Co-Signers many times, but this is the first card of it I own. That's probably because I'm not a huge autograph seeker, except those I acquire from an in-person meeting, and autographed inserts were the big gimmick of this set.
2013-08-11
College Bowl Game Contest Win, Part 9
For the 2012-2013 College Football season, I entered the College Football Pick 'Em contest hosted by madding of Cards on Cards. I've won several of his contests over the years, and he always dumps a ton of Cardinals on me when I do. Yet, I think this time he may have outdone himself. I may have to work hard to get them all posted before the 2013-14 College Football season starts August 29, and I start posting my Power Rankings again.
[ Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 ]
There are quite a few young guys in that bunch, especially Motte and Robinson who are still with the team. The oldest guy is probably Smoltz, who pitched for us late in the year and his whole stint still seems a little surreal to remember. Also, horizontal cards can actually look pretty good when the whole set matches.
...nevermind. At least it's a manager card. But still, this kind of chicanery prevents a set from looking nice in a binder. Maybe if we can get Topps to go all-vertical or all-horizontal by 2015, then 2064 Heritage and beyond won't suffer from this problem. I do like the old Cardinals logo up top, though.
This card only goes with the rest of them in that it's an old-style, current player card, and I figure, that's good enough. Now if we could just get rid of that Ankiel mystery beard...
[ Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 ]
| 2009 Heritage #40 Ryan Ludwick #124 Jason Motte #327 Kyle Lohse #368 Aaron Miles #501 Shane Robinson #507 John Smoltz #518 Blake Hawksworth #590 Jarrett Hoffpauir #652 Tyler Greene |
There are quite a few young guys in that bunch, especially Motte and Robinson who are still with the team. The oldest guy is probably Smoltz, who pitched for us late in the year and his whole stint still seems a little surreal to remember. Also, horizontal cards can actually look pretty good when the whole set matches.
| 2009 Heritage #220 Tony La Russa |
...nevermind. At least it's a manager card. But still, this kind of chicanery prevents a set from looking nice in a binder. Maybe if we can get Topps to go all-vertical or all-horizontal by 2015, then 2064 Heritage and beyond won't suffer from this problem. I do like the old Cardinals logo up top, though.
| 2009 Topps 206 #159 Rick Ankiel |
This card only goes with the rest of them in that it's an old-style, current player card, and I figure, that's good enough. Now if we could just get rid of that Ankiel mystery beard...
2013-08-08
College Bowl Game Contest Win, Part 6
For the 2012-2013 College Football season, I entered the College Football Pick 'Em contest hosted by madding of Cards on Cards. I've won several of his contests over the years, and he always dumps a ton of Cardinals on me when I do. Yet, I think this time he may have outdone himself. I may have to work hard to get them all posted before the 2013-14 College Football season starts August 29, and I start posting my Power Rankings again.
[ Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 ]
Matt Holliday is the odd man out in this heritage collection, like Jon Jay in 2012, wearing his blue hat and road grays. And, a quick note about Rick Ankiel. I don't ever remember seeing him with a beard, but as you'll see in coming posts, he shows up on multiple cards like that. Maybe that's an issue with the Topps monopoly, and they just went and photographed him on one day. Somehow he managed 45 games played by June 8 this year, despite a week off after his release by the Astros, but then got released by the Mets at that point and hasn't caught on elsewhere yet.
I didn't realize the Cardinals had the top 2 NL wins leaders in 2009. Unfortunately it didn't help in our 3 game sweep by the Dodgers in the NLDS.
When I shave my head, I like to pretend I look like Matt Holliday. Unfortunately I'm a little heavier and a lot shorter, and look a little more like post-baseball John Kruk.
I'm keeping these chrome cards small so you can't see how badly they scan. I owe that much to the best battery the Cardinals have had in recent years.
[ Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 ]
| 2010 Heritage #11 Adam Wainwright #91 Colby Rasmus #118 Yadier Molina #127 Joel Pineiro #139 Tony La Russa #178 Matt Holliday #295 Rick Ankiel #358 Skip Schumaker |
Matt Holliday is the odd man out in this heritage collection, like Jon Jay in 2012, wearing his blue hat and road grays. And, a quick note about Rick Ankiel. I don't ever remember seeing him with a beard, but as you'll see in coming posts, he shows up on multiple cards like that. Maybe that's an issue with the Topps monopoly, and they just went and photographed him on one day. Somehow he managed 45 games played by June 8 this year, despite a week off after his release by the Astros, but then got released by the Mets at that point and hasn't caught on elsewhere yet.
| 2010 Heritage #47 NL Wins Leaders #347 St. Louis Cardinals #404 Rogers Hornsby |
I didn't realize the Cardinals had the top 2 NL wins leaders in 2009. Unfortunately it didn't help in our 3 game sweep by the Dodgers in the NLDS.
| 2010 Topps T206 #1 Matt Holliday |
When I shave my head, I like to pretend I look like Matt Holliday. Unfortunately I'm a little heavier and a lot shorter, and look a little more like post-baseball John Kruk.
| 2010 Topps Chrome #99 Chris Carpenter #161 Yadier Molina |
I'm keeping these chrome cards small so you can't see how badly they scan. I owe that much to the best battery the Cardinals have had in recent years.
2013-06-09
All-Star Winnings, Part 2
Way back in July 2012, I won a contest at Cards On Cards. The premise was to pick the Cardinals player who would have the biggest impact on the game, determined Sabermetrically. I picked the right player, and got a pile of Cardinals for my trouble. They've been sitting in that same pile, haunting me, for quite some time, so now is the time to show them to you.
Part [I]
First up in this batch is the player who won me these cards, Matt Holliday. If you can figure out what to do with it, the code from the 2010 Attax card is all yours. Matt changed jersey numbers for 2011, but Bowman apparently went with a 2009 shot in the 2011 product.
Here are 3 cards from 2011 Update, and right in the middle, Matt Holliday is celebrating that he had slightly more statistical impact than his 2 teammates at the All-Star Game. I don't think this pick is from the game, however, because Molina was on bereavement leave at the time.
Here's a little sunrise-sunset on Adam Kennedy, since he started his first stint with the Cardinals in 1999 (drafted in 1997), and finished the second one in 2008. Also from 2008, Tony La Russa, who probably didn't want to pose for this shot.
And finally for today, here are 2 Ozzies from 2010. Cards like this make me appreciate Topps reaching back to the past for card subjects. They even got the logo era-appropriate on the Peak Performance card.
Part [I]
| 2010 Topps - Topps Attax Matt Holliday 2011 Bowman #122 Matt Holliday 2011 Lineage #9 Matt Holliday |
| 2011 Topps Update #US114 Lance Lynn #US260 Matt Holliday #US294 Edwin Jackson |
| 1999 Topps #433 Adam Kennedy/Mickey Lopez/Jackie Rexrode 1998 Bowman #77 Adam Kennedy 2008 Topps #542 Adam Kennedy 2008 Topps #285 Tony La Russa |
| 2010 Topps Peak Performance #PP-80 Ozzie Smith Vintage Legends #VLC9 Ozzie Smith |
2012-06-19
My Favorite Vintage Card
Once again, Fuji gives me a good idea for a blog post. He needs to run these contests more often. This time he asks, What is your favorite vintage card and/or 90's insert card in your collection? Why? How did you acquire it?
At first I thought, I don't have very many cards I'd consider vintage, and the ones I do I mostly came across accidentally or just bought them because they were old. But, I gave my collection a glance starting from the oldest cards and found the obvious answer staring me in the face:
When I was a kid in 1994 or so, I really wanted this rookie card, but the only card shop near me had it at a price that was too high. It was probably semi-reasonable as card shops go, but it was over my budget. For awhile I went to that card shop almost every week, and usually peeked at the card. In 1996, La Russa came to St. Louis to manage, and the card got even more expensive. I quit collecting cards sometime in 1999, still not having the card.
When I returned to collecting in late 2010, Topps was doing a little thing called the Million Card Giveaway. I bought a ton of rack packs of 2010 Update, and through entering codes and completing trades, worked my way up to around 80 mediocre cards and a few gems. Then, I noticed how much shipping was going to be, and knew I needed to try to trade a big lot for a good old card. I decided to offer a huge pile of cards for the La Russa, and someone accepted the trade. I traded for a 1968 Dave Duncan that year as well, though that's not his rookie card. I think I can definitely say this is now my favorite vintage card.
And thanks again to Fuji for dragging a good post out of me.
At first I thought, I don't have very many cards I'd consider vintage, and the ones I do I mostly came across accidentally or just bought them because they were old. But, I gave my collection a glance starting from the oldest cards and found the obvious answer staring me in the face:
| 1964 Topps #244 Tony La Russa |
When I was a kid in 1994 or so, I really wanted this rookie card, but the only card shop near me had it at a price that was too high. It was probably semi-reasonable as card shops go, but it was over my budget. For awhile I went to that card shop almost every week, and usually peeked at the card. In 1996, La Russa came to St. Louis to manage, and the card got even more expensive. I quit collecting cards sometime in 1999, still not having the card.
When I returned to collecting in late 2010, Topps was doing a little thing called the Million Card Giveaway. I bought a ton of rack packs of 2010 Update, and through entering codes and completing trades, worked my way up to around 80 mediocre cards and a few gems. Then, I noticed how much shipping was going to be, and knew I needed to try to trade a big lot for a good old card. I decided to offer a huge pile of cards for the La Russa, and someone accepted the trade. I traded for a 1968 Dave Duncan that year as well, though that's not his rookie card. I think I can definitely say this is now my favorite vintage card.
And thanks again to Fuji for dragging a good post out of me.
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