The Folder of Fun, as I like to call it, has been in the works for about three years. That's about the time I stopped buying retail and hobby packs and began tracking down cards which fit a certain general description: FUN. Here's a link to the first post in this series if you'd like to go back and catch up.
Page 24 brings us to a new section in the
Folder of Fun: the "Tells a Story" section. Some of the cards actually breakdown an event or recount something memorable on the backside, but others don't and are here just to jog my memory of something notable.
2014 Topps Allen & Ginter's, #70 - Dr. James Andrews
What I probably need here is a card of Dr. Frank Jobe, because he is the one who performed the first Tommy John Surgery in September of 1974. To my knowledge Dr. Jobe does not have a card.
1976 Topps, #416 - Tommy John
The back of this 1976 card gives the old "On Disabled List" line for Tommy John's 1975 stat line.
2011 Tri-Star Obak, #23 - Pete Gray
Pete Gray lost his arm in a childhood accident, but that didn't stop him from becoming a professional ballplayer. A
Winner Never Quits, which I haven't seen, is a biography of Gray's life.
2016 Topps Chrome, #FPC-2 - Mo'Ne Davis
Mo'Ne took the baseball world by storm when she lead her team to the 2014 Little League World Series.
2000 Upper Deck World Premiere, #76 - Jim Morris
The cinematic feature,
The Rookie (2002), was based off of Jim Morris' career. As a teacher and baseball coach, this movie easily falls in my Top-5 Baseball Movies.
1996 Topps, #96 - Cal Ripken, Jr.
I give Cal a lot of credit for bringing some national interest back to MLB after the strike, which shortened both the 1994 and 1995 seasons. McGwire and Sosa a few years later sure helped a bunch, too!
2011 Tri-Star Obak, #66 - Danny Goodwin
Danny Goodwin was drafted #1 overall by the White Sox in 1971 from the high school I graduated from twenty-five years later, Peoria Central High School. That, by itself, is pretty cool. But get this, he was draft #1 overall AGAIN in 1975 by the Angels. Goodwin is the only player to be drafted #1 overall twice.
2007 Uppder Deck Ovation, #90 - Curt Schilling
This card documents the "Bloody Sock Game" in 2004. If you recall this occurred during the ALCS in 2004 over the Yankees. The Red Sox would break the curse of the Bambino later that fall.
1990 Score, #696 - Nolan Ryan 1989 Highlight
This one celebrates Nolan Ryan's 5,000 strikeout. I believe 1990 Topps had a multi-card subset in their 792 flagship product which did the same thing. Sometimes less is more.
I have two more pages of these momentous cards to show off.
Thanks for stopping by!
That Ryan card says it all. Man, does he look tired!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link to Danny Goodwin's B-R.com page, as I had wrongly thought that he had been drafted #1 overall twice only to not make the majors, which was not the case. I believe that I was conflating Goodwin with Steve Chilcott, who was (in)famously taken #1 by the Mets in 1966 only to have injuries derail his career before he could make the big leagues. The #2 pick in that draft was, of course, Reggie Jackson.
ReplyDeleteThe Mo'Ne Davis card is quite cool. She was definitely a tour de force at the LLWS and I have seen her performance cited as inspiration for several successful female baseball players in this area, which was great to see. The Ripken, Jr. card is another that I used to have back in the day and I really like the editing on it. I currently have the Schilling card, although nothing involving him is anywhere near being deemed "fun" in my book. ;)
Not sure how many cards there are of Pete Gray, but I've always wanted one. Didn't realize there was a movie about him.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been never seen that awful Schilling card. I do like the Jim Morris though!
ReplyDeleteLots of cool stories on this page. I remember some of them like Davis, Ryan, Schilling, and Tommy John... but Goodwin, Morris, and Gray were new to me.
ReplyDeletesome cool cards on that page. the ripken was one of my favorite cards from 1996.
ReplyDelete