Page Three - At The Bat Rack Frankenset

The Legend Continues! Page Three of the "At The Bat Rack" Frankenset is here. 

Page One

Page Two

Rules -
9 different players
9 different card sets
9 different teams
player is at the bat rack (or bat pile) in or near the dugout
Have fun (most important)

Page Three!

The Backs:

19- Denny Walling 1984 Mother's Cookies Houston Astros 
20- Mark Grace 1993 Fleer
21- Nolan Arenado 2016 Donruss (1982 Retro design)
22- JJ Hardy 2001 Upper Deck
23- Eric Helfand 1994 Mother's Cookies Oakland Athletics
24- Dave Cohea 1983 TCMA Alburquerque Dukes
25- Ernie Banks 2010 Topps (Turkey Red Insert)
26- Bill Skowron, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle 1982 The Mickey Mantle Story 
27- Sammy Sosa 2003 Upper Deck Sweet Spot

Well, I really wanted to follow those basic rules to start out, but it is hard to find more than one card at the bat rack for each number. I'll be looking for replacements for 2 of the 3 Cubs so I can have 9 different teams represented. Even though they are 10 years apart, using 2 different Mother's Cookies cards felt like a cheat as well. They are very bat rack heavy sets.

On this page, my fave is probably the Mark Grace card. The best factoid was that JJ Hardy is listed as a SS-P as he was his high school team's closer. 

I am already pretty close on page 4, just need to find 2 more to finish it. Look for it some time in 2021!

If I Had A Blog Then: Visiting Wrigley Field

It was July 28th, 2000 when I was visiting my brother for the first time in Chicago. I had just tried Horchata for the first time, and the world was our oyster. My brother said, "Hey, finish that drink, we're going to Wrigley."

It was a gray day, and the overcast skies were threatening rain but none fell during the game.

We were more interested in seeing some thunder - see that little blurry blob in the bottom left stepping up to the plate in the photo?

That would be this guy:

At the plate, the Cubs featured their own big slugger:

The 4th of July was long gone, but we were hoping to see some fireworks. Instead, the Cubs and Giants treated the North Side with a good ol' fashioned Pitchers' Duel.

 Courtesy of Livan Hernandez and .... Ruben Quevedo?!? Well, good for him. Livan outlasted Ruben, with the game's only 2 runs coming off the bat of Rich Aurilia, who crushed a 2 run dinger off of Cubs reliever Tim Worrell in the top of the ninth. Robb Nen faced the last two batters in the bottom of the ninth to pick up his 25th save of the season. Box Score

The weather didn't really co-operate, and the Cubbies did not score a run, but I got a chance to see Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa at Wrigley Field. The "Make 7 Up Yours" t-shirt should properly contextualize the late 90's early 2000's time this photo was taken. (I still have that hat by the way.)