Wednesday, April 30, 2014

El Otro Mundo

Got a nice little package from Dan at The Other World. A big ol' stack of Reds goodness in return for some Phillies. Let's ride.

A nice parallel of Dat Dude BP. 2011 Bowman Green #'d/450. Goes nicely with a few other colors I have of this one.
2011 Bowman Chrome Prospects Blue Dave Sappelt #'d/250. Sappelt played a little with the Reds, then the Cubs. He's now with the Phillies.

2013 Bowman Platinum Sapphire Joey Votto. Good looking card. And totally not blue. SAPPHIRE.

Here's a barrage of parallels.
2011 Topps Sparkle Paul Janish
2009 Topps 206 Bronze Brandon Phillips
2005 Bowman Gold Tyler Pelland
2010 Bowman Chrome Prospects Green Xfractors Dan Tuttle
2013 Topps Chrome Refractors Jay Bruce

How bout a couple Griffeys? You betchur ass.
2008 SP Authentic Achievements Insert
2008 Allen & Ginter

2000 Bowman Retro/Future Ty Howington. I don't even know what to say about this set.

Nice vintage action. 1960 Topps Cal McLish. His only year with the Reds, fyi.

And piles and piles of more goodness. Wicked awesome cards, Dan. Go Reds.

Monday, April 28, 2014

One and Done: 1994-1995

This is the fifteenth part of my running theme, unimaginatively dubbed 'One and Done'. Here, I focus on cards of Reds players who, whether it be their only year in the bigs or their only year with the club, found themselves on the Cincinnati roster for only one season, yet long enough to sneak onto a card donning the Cincinnati red. That was a very convoluted sentence that I am choosing not to edit.

Today we're looking at 1994-1995. In 1994 there were a mere 5 one-and-doners, due to the strike, I imagine. Then in 1995, that number shot up to 12. This would be Davey Johnson's last year at the helm, and rumor is he knew it before the season. He was directly told he'd be gone partway in, so I suppose he just threw all he had at the roster and prayed for success. And it worked, too. The Reds followed a 66-48 1994 season with an 85-69 1995 season, ultimately falling in the NLCS. Why was he fired? Well, Marge Schott. That's why.

Let's roll.

Tony Fernandez. 17 year career with 7 teams. 5x All Star, 4x Gold Glove, 2000+ hits, 1000+ runs, 1 cycle.

With the Reds: 1994, 422 PA in 104 games, 8 HR, 50 RBI, .279 BA.

Erik Hanson. 11 year career with 4 teams. All Star, 1995. 

With the Reds: 1994, 5-5 in 21 starts, 101 K's, 4.11 ERA.

Tim Fortugno. 3 year career with 3 teams. Gave up George Brett's 3000th hit. Pitched a no-hitter in the minors.

With the Reds: 1994, 30 IP in 25 games in relief, 29 K's, 4.20 ERA, 1-0 record.

C.J. Nitkowski. 10 year career with 8 teams. Found post career fame as a radio host and writer, including published articles in Sports Illustrated.

With the Reds: 1995, 32.1 innings in 7 starts and 2 relief appearances, 18 K's, 6.12 ERA, 1-3 record.

John Courtright. 1 year career with 1 team. So his career stat line is...

With the Reds: 1995, 1 IP in 1 game, 1 ER, 9.00 ERA, 0-0 record.

Mike Jackson. 17 year career with 8 teams. MVP votes in 1998. Over 1,000 K's in relief.

With the Reds: 1995, 49 IP in 40 games, 41 K's, 2.39 ERA, 6-1 record.

Pete Smith. 11 year career with 5 teams. Pitched in the 1992 World Series.

With the Reds: 1995, 24.1 IP in 2 starts and 9 relief appearances, 14 K's, 6.66 ERA, 1-2 record.

Darren Lewis. 13 year career with 7 teams. Gold Glove, 1994. Holds outfielder record for consecutive error-free games with 392.

With the Reds: 1995, 187 PA in 58 games, 8 RBI, .245 BA, 1 error.

David "Boomer" Wells. 21 (!) year career with 9 teams. 3x All Star. Perfect game, 1998. Postseason appearances with 6 teams. Sports Host on TBS. General bad ass.

With the Reds: 1995, 72.2 IP in 11 starts, 50 K's, 3.59 ERA, 6-5 record.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Missing from the collection:

1994
Rich DeLucia
Steve Pegues

1995
Damon Berryhill
Matt Grott
Brad Pennington
Frank Viola
Nigel Wilson (acquired, not scanned)
Craig Worthington

Go Reds.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Late to the Party: 2014 Gypsy Queen

New Gypsy finally came into my possesion. My Reds snagged a whopping 18 cards in the 350 card set. I only picked up 16 of em, as I can never bring myself to buy short prints. And making Billy Hamilton a short print is just not fair. So I fart in Topps' general direction on that one. At some point I'd like the Eric Davis though. Maybe in 3 years it'll be in a quarter box.

As far as the set itself, well, it's Gypsy Queen. We know what it's about by now. This year they moved the title to the bottom and hit it with whatever Photoshop filter they use and extra time or two, which yielded some pretty grisly faces. We still have the usual cast of retirees: Robinson, Perez, Bench, and Morgan. And Topps must know something about David Holmberg that no one else does, as he gets his second card of the year, after Heritage. Not bad for a guy with 1 major league appearance. Here be all the non-SP cards from the Cincinnati National League squad.


Go Reds.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Have an Ugly Vote in Group 7 of the Ugstravaganza

Alrighty. The end of the Opening Rounds is in sight. Vote for your ugliest 5 in the sidebar. Voting closes Wedenesday at noon eastern.

Card #1 - 1979 Topps Reds Prospects LaCoss/Oester/Spilman

Card #2 - 2006 Bowman Heritage Scott Hatteberg

Card #3 - 2003 Bowman Futures Game Prosepects Jerseys Wily Mo Pena

Card #4 - 1990 ProCards A/AA Reggie Sanders

Card #5 - 1998 Pacific Aurora Lenny Harris

Card #6 - 1998 Pacific Omega Willie Greene

Card #7 - 2005 Upper Deck ESPN Sportscenter Swatches Adam Dunn

Card #8 - 1996 Topps Barry Larkin Star Power

Card #9 - 2010 Topps National Chicle Joey Votto

Card #10 - 2009 TriStar Prospects Plus Bradley Boxberger

Go Reds.

Ugly Group 6 Results

Here be the 'winners' from The Ugstravaganza, Group 6. We now have 36 of the 60 cards moving on to the brackets. Group 7 will be up soon.

Presented in decreasing ugliness. Go Reds.


Thursday, April 24, 2014

Completely Red: 1981 Fleer Star Stickers

In 1981, as we all know, the Topps monopoly was stricken asunder, thus birthing Fleer as a major card producer. Joining their lackluster 1981 base set were these much cooler Star Sticker cards, which were sold in packs of five. Of the 128 cards in the checklist, the Reds got 6 of em, a full card better than the average per team. And all six in the set are fantastic, each being a member of the Reds Hall of Fame.

For the curious, the backs are identical to the base set, save for using blue ink instead of yellow.

STATS:

Cards - 6

RC's - 0

All Stars - 5 (Bench, Foster, Seaver, Griffey, Concepcion)

Hall of Famers - 2 (Bench, Seaver)

Reds Hall of Famers - 6 (Driessen, Bench, Foster, Seaver, Griffey, Concepcion)

Peelage - 0%

Blur - 100%


Checklist:

22 Dan Driessen
37 Johnny Bench
41 George Foster
49 Tom Seaver
60 Ken Griffey
101 Dave Concepcion

Go Reds

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

TTM Goodness - Don Gullett, Pat Corrales, Clay Carroll

Frist up, be sure to vote in the Ugstravaganza. Now, on to the autos.

Don Gullett was a first round draft choice by the Reds in 1969 and would quickly jump to the bigs at the start of the 1970 season. In seven years with Cincy, he would pitch in four World Series, totaling 39.2 innings and a 2.72 ERA with 2 wins. He would sign with the Yankees in 1977 and pitch in two more Series before shoulder problems forced his retirement in 1978. Gullett rejoined the Reds as a pitching coach in 1993, a position he would hold for over a decade. He was elected to the Reds Hall of Fame in 2002. Signed is a 1974 Topps #385.

Pat Corrales was signed by the Phillies as an amateur in 1959 and debuted for them in 1964. After a stop in St. Louis, he would begin his 5 year career with the Reds in 1968, logging over 130 games as a catcher. After two years in San Diego, he would retire to pursue a managerial career. He would spend 9 years total as the manager of the Rangers, Phillies, and Indians, notching 572 wins between 1978 and 1987. Signed is a 1970 Topps #293.


Clay Carroll was signed as an amateur by the Braves in 1961 and would debut for them in 1964. He would spend five years with the Braves before starting his eight year stint with the Reds in 1968. In 486 games for Cincy, mostly in relief, Carroll would go 71-43 with a 2.73 ERA. He would lead the league in saves in 1972, a then-NL-record 37, and maintained a 1.33 ERA in three World Series for the Reds. After brief stints for the White Sox, Cardinals, and Pirates, Carroll would retire in 1978. Two years later, he was elected into the Reds Hall of Fame. Signed is a 1970 Topps #133.

Go Reds.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Tuesday Card Dump

Enjoy a lazy pile of scans on this wonderful Tuesday. Also, have a vote in the Ugstravaganza. All cards are recently acquired by various means. Go Reds.