Pop, Rock and Drop it

Yea, I've been gone for a few days.  I'm not going to lie, I haven't really felt like blogging.

Combine that with two concerts (Kongos and J. Roddy Walston... more on that later), craziness at work and rebooting a daily running routine and suddenly you realize you haven't posted in almost a week.

So, it took a little direct inspiration to get me to my keyboard today.  While sifting through my photos, I found some oddities.

Not a photo-bombing relative or anything like that; rather, I found a neat vintage oddball that I had yet to showcase and/or brag about on "Jenga."

Who doesn't love vintage?  Who doesn't love oddballs?  Together they make a winning combination:

I had never seen anything like this first one until it popped up on Ebay:

This bit of trivia was brought to you by Gad Fun Cards.

This multi-sport set was released in 1963 by an illustrator known as, you guessed it, Gad.  It appears to have been a regional release, originating from Minnesota.

The fronts all featured an illustration with a bit of trivia or an impressive statistic on the front.  Now you know that Chicago Colt/Cub catcher Pop Schriver thought 60ft, 6in was for pansies.

The backs either contained rules for an accompanying card game or something like this:

This baseball card is a mental exercise, both informing and teasing your brain!

How could I pass up this little rarity for $2, shipping included?

It now resides in my CATRC as the representative for Mr. Schriver, who's only other release comes from the Old Judge days.

As Wayne Campbell might say, "They will be mine. Oh yes.  They will be mine. (In my dreams)

One thing about this card though is that it shows cartoon Pop wearing a modern catcher's mitt.  

I'm sure the minute bits of historical accuracy weren't of great concern to Gad, but Pop (a Colt/Cub from 1890-94) played during the rough-and-tumble bare-handed days of baseball.  Mitts were for pansies.

No doubt, this left many a fielder with mangled hands - catchers especially, which I'm sure you can fathom why.

As a matter of fact, Schriver's hands were exceptionally repulsive.

In 1895, the New York Daily Herald's OP Caylor had the hands of several members of the New York Giants photographed.  Schriver - then a Giant - “takes first prize in a display of distorted joints His right hand... has lost much of its resemblance to the natural member.”

Well, if you're going to have mangled hands, you might as well have the most mangled.

The hand of Pop Schriver

Speaking of mangling things, let me take a minute to discuss part of the reason my posting schedule has been mangled recently:  rock and roll!

Last Thursday, courtesy of WKQX in Chicago, I won a couple of tickets to catch J. Roddy Walston & the Business at the Metro - just down the street from Wrigley.  

I'd only heard two songs by the group going into it, but it was a free show in Wrigleyville, so I wasn't about to turn that down.

Although their sound system was pretty crappy (at many points, it was more buzz and over-modulation than music), it was still a decent set.  I'd describe them as a more raw version of Kings of Leon - as if "Use Somebody" never happened.

Speaking of Kings of Leon, the opener on their current tour has been Kongos. This past Saturday, they broke away temporarily to headline their own show, also at the Metro.

I have raved about Kongos previously and they put on a lively, frenetic show.  After experiencing their blend of garage/hard rock with folk, reggae, rap and even electronic influences at Firefly Music Fest, I couldn't help but be drawn back for a second taste.

Anyone who says the rock is dead should attend one of their shows - they are so much more than their radio-smash "Come With Me Now," which I love as well.

So, in summation, rock and roll distracted me from posting and a super awesome vintage oddball made me come back.

While I might miss a day or two or six and my posting schedule may get mangled worse than Pop Schriver's hands, Wrigley Roster Jenga will never die - much like the rock and roll that served as my distraction.

I think I tied that all together pretty nicely there, if I do say so myself.