Thursday Tradin' Post

Gavin from Baseball Card Breakdown sent me a festive PWE just ahead of Christmas. Included was this custom "SANT A" ornament for the tree!  

I am a proud member of Generation X-Treme! Just Kidding, I'm an OLD Millenial/Generation Y. 

The envelope concluded with a Quintet of Twins, all parallels!

Johan was numbered to just 45 copies! Thanks Gavin, that ornament will be a family heirloom!

Shifting gears, here's something that should appeal to Gavin, as it is tangentially related to his "Baseball cards on film" project.

I recently added a 25th Anniversary Special Edition DVD/Blu-Ray of the fantastic movie "A League Of Their Own," which included, you guessed it, commemorative baseball cards!

Geena Davis as the power hitting and defensive stalwart Catcher, Dottie Hinson. The cards remind me a little of the Topps All-Star Rookie Team test issue from 1971.

Next up was Tom Hanks, as boozing slugger and reluctant Rockford Peaches manager, Jimmy Dugan. There was a custom made card of Hanks / Dugan in the film, eagle eyed viewers will see that the card he rips in half is based loosely on the 1934 Goudey Jimmy Foxx.

The last card in the box was of Music and Film icon Madonna as speedy center fielder Mae Mordabito. The 3 cards had no wrapping around them and were just floating loosely in the box, so all three have dented corners. A bit of a bummer, but these were throw-ins so I can't complain too much.

The backs all have a quote from the movie and some very basic league-wide stats from the AAGPBL. I wish Lori Petty had a card, too. Kit was favorite character in the movie.

The box also had this booklet "The History of Women's Baseball," which contains a short essay on the development of the AAGPBL and some background on what came after. 

Johan Santana, Twins Hall of Famer

Johan Santana was acquired by the Minnesota Twins on December 13th, 1999 in a trade with the Florida Marlins. The Marlins were asked to pick Johan in the Rule V draft from Houston in exchange for pitcher Jared Camp. Johan had been in the Astros minor league system since 1995, but was only 21 years old.

Due to the rules of the Rule V draft, Santana spent the entire 2000 season on the Twins' 25-Man roster, but was more or less hidden at the back end of the bullpen. It wasn't until 2003 that Johan was added to the Twins' rotation, and even then he was shuttled between the bullpen and the starting five. In 2004, Johan became JOHAN.

No more bullpen duty in 2004, Santana earned his first Cy Young Award, and led the AL in ERA, Strikeouts, FIP, WHIP, K/9, H/9, and ERA+. He would remain the AL WHIP leader for as long as he pitched for the Twins, leading the league every year. He would win a 2nd Cy Young award in 2006, including a Pitching version of the Triple Crown (league leader in ERA, Ks, and Wins).

As a Twin, Santana was a 3-time All-Star and won a Gold Glove to go along with his 2 Cy Young Awards. He finished his Twins career with 1,381 strikeouts in 1,308 and 2/3 innings. In his 8 seasons with the Twins, he was only asked to intentionally walk 2 batters-- Miguel Tejada in 2003 in a relief appearance, and Mike Sweeney in 2005 in the 8th Inning of 2-1 victory over the Royals.  Every other batter was in serious trouble.

Even after being traded to New York, it was hard to not think of Johan as a Minnesota Twin first and foremost. At the time, there was a little bad blood - not just because he wouldn't re-sign with MN, but by stating it publicly that he wouldn't, he damaged what little leverage the Twins had in trade negotiations.

It's all forgotten now, of course, and during Santana's attempt to return to MLB, I kept hoping that A) he could return to his prior success, and B) that the Twins would try to bring him back. Yesterday, the Twins inducted him into the Twins' Hall of Fame, and fittingly it was phenom Jose Berrios on the mound for the team, blowing away Royals batters just like Johan used to.

The Secret is Out!

Let me start by saying that (Secret) Santa Claus is a Super cool dude. Jared of Cards My Mom Didn't Throw Out sent over these cards, stuffing the stocking to overflowing proportions! Jack Morris was just inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, and Tony Oliva has not. No disrespect intended to Morris, but Tony O is overdue, and this big Topps card should remind everyone that it's Tony's turn.

Johan is on the ballot for the first (and quite likely the last), and that too seems like a mistake in judgement. Santana didn't have the lengthy careers of many of the all-time great lefties, and doesn't have the post season resumes of his contemporaries like Pedro and Schilling. What he does have is a stretch of 5 straight 200 K seasons, a pair of Cy Young awards, and a career ERA+ of 136. He easily could have won the Cy Young the year Colon won it, making it 3 straight, but it was not meant to be. He's destined for the Hall of Very Good, not the worst place a guy can end up. Would have enjoyed the debate on his candidacy to continue a few years longer, but it's an overcrowded ballot.

I love Bert Blyleven's expressions during his windup. These 4 cards were all parallels of one form or another, with Corey Koskie being numbered to just 99 copies.

Hrbek was still just watching wrestling in 1982 instead of executing his best moves in the 1991 World Series - Big Dave was still bringing the aggressive swing in 1994, 21 years into his MLB career.

Another Hall of Famer, this time with a sweet tooth!

A nice round of Pucketts, and one big surprise...

Probably should have used a camera instead of the scanner, but this is a very cool piece. The pin packaging has career stats on the back, almost like a baseball card, along with mentioning a few of Kirby's more notable career highlights through the 1991 season.

Thanks so much, Jared!

Junk Food Can Be Quite Filling!

Bo from the fantastic blog Baseball Cards Come To Life! sent me an e-mail letting me know he had some Johan Santana cards in need of a new home. Happy to help!

 There was a great selection in the package of Santana cards, both vertical ...

... and horizontal.

Then a funny thing happened. Bo also mentioned he might have a few cards from my Junk Wax want list.

 There were PC guys

 even more PC guys

 80s wax . . .

 A fantastic variety . . .

Awesome.

Great stuff Bo, thanks so much! I am trying to gather a suitable return from your want lists.