The Windy City Flyer

Today, a Chicago sports legend has taken to Twitter to officially announced his retirement from the game of football:

CURTAINS ✌🏾 Appreciate all of the love for all these years!!! Y’all made the ride incredible!!! pic.twitter.com/jkcVrRLcNI

— Devin  Hester (@D_Hest23) December 12, 2017

Although he hadn't suited up at all during the 2017 season and hadn't inked a contract since splitting the previous campaign between the Baltimore Ravens and Seattle Seahawks organizations, the door had at least been left cracked open.  No more.  After 156 games over the course of 11 seasons, Devin Hester has decided to close the book on one of the most distinguished and unique careers in professional football history.

Hester was drafted by the Chicago Bears in 2006 out of the University of Miami to serves as a cornerback and was later switched to wide receiver.  However, it was as a punt/kick returner that Devin made his household name in the Windy City.  During his eight years in Chicago, Hester returned 19 kicks and punts for touchdowns, including the opening kickoff in Super Bowl XLI - one of the most iconic moments in the history of the franchise.  Adding one more during his brief stint in Atlanta, Hester brought his career total returns for TD's up to an eye-popping 20, which was and is an NFL record.

Specialists have typically had an incredibly steep, uphill climb to make it to Canton; however, I truly believe that Hester deserves enshrinement in the Hall of Fame for his career as a returner.  The m,an turned one of the most boring plays in sports into absolutely must-see TV.  You just never knew when "The Windy City Flyer" was going to take one all the way.

I must admit, I wasn't always a Bears fan.  In fact, through most of my childhood and into early adolescence, I didn't even understand how football was played; I was all about baseball and NASCAR racing.  It wasn't until Devin Hester burst through special teams coverages onto the national scene in 2006 that I truly started to pay attention.  As a track athlete, his incredible speed on the gridiron drew my fascination and by the team he racked up a single season record of six returns in his rookie season, I was hooked.  When he returned that Super Bowl kickoff into the endzone, I recall jumping up and down in my living room so violently that I thought I might break through the hardwood floors and end up in the basement!

In short, much like the 2003 Cubs pulled me back into baseball after several years in the wilderness, Devin Hester and the 2006 Bears finally inspired me to learn the ins and outs of football.  Maybe I should actually be mad at him though; if he hadn't drawn me in 11 years ago, I wouldn't have to suffer through the never-ending dumpster fires that have been the John Fox/Marc Trestman eras!

To this day, the only Bears jersey that I've ever purchased has been in honor of good ol' number 23 (a number with an astonishingly rich history in Chicago sports), seen above during my annual high school, cross country alumni Turkey Bowl)... I don't think that's going to change anytime soon either.  
"The Flyer" signed off his announcement by saying, “hopefully the next time I see y’all it’ll be in Canton.”  Whether or not Hester ultimately gets his bust in Canton is going to an interesting matter of great debate.  He absolutely revolutionized and under-appreciated position on the field and quickly became the all-time best in his craft.  Will that alone be enough to earn enshrinement in a Hall of Fame which has only admitted two full-time placekickers and one punter in it's long history?  After all, his career elsewhere on the field was mediocre, at best.

In my extremely biased opinion, I give an emphatic yes.  What say you?  Please feel free to make your thoughts known in the comments section below.

Ironically, even though he is - by far - my favorite football player to ever suit up in the NFL, I don't have much in the way of Hester cardboard.  In all honesty, the three cards which appear in this post are the only pasteboards I have which feature his likeness.  Clearly I am slacking.  That being said, as modest as my PC is, I felt like I still had to show it off today.


In the end, it's sad to see another player from my teen years hang up their cleats.  I guess this is why the sports-consuming public loves ageless wonders like George Blanda, Bartolo Colon, and Jaromir Jagr - they serve as a last, fleeting connection to our youth.

Anyway, good luck to you, Mr. Hester, in whatever and wherever your life takes you next.  Thank you for making kick-offs the most exciting part of any Chicago Bears game and for introducing me to the game of football.  He may have revolutionized the kick return specialist; but, he also cemented my "Monsters of the Midway" fandom (for better or worse).

Here's hoping that "the Windy City Flyer" lands in Canton sometime soon.

Pierre Today, Gone Tomorrow

I'm several days late on this, I know, but it seems like that's kinda my thing.

Juan Pierre recently announced his retirement from the game, calling it a career ranked 18th all-time in stolen bases with 614 and a .295 career batting average through 14 seasons and 6 different teams; not to mention a World Series Championship.  One of those teams was the Cubs, though it was only for one year in 2006.

On the left, we have Juan's 2006 Topps Flagship issue and on the right is his photoshopped card from the Factory Set

After a terribly slow start in Chi-Town, Juan ended up leading the NL with 204 hits and stealing 58 bases.  He was a spark plug at the top of the Cubs lineup and did a much better job than Corey Patterson had the previous couple of seasons. Unfortunately, the offense behind him was lackluster after Derrek Lee was lost for the season in May and nothing was done to replace him.  A month late trade for an over-the-hill Phil Nevin was the best you could do Jim Hendry?!

Compounding the issue, his other stats were pretty pedestrian, he didn't hit his stride until the season was already lost and his extraordinarily weak throwing arm cost the club several runs throughout the year.  Thus, the Cubs let him walk that winter.

While Topps went the Photoshop route, Fleer went the lazy route

(I honestly don't know which way I actually prefer)

The Cubs played a pretty high price to acquire him from Florida as well.  Ricky Nolasco was the centerpiece and has gone on to have a pretty good MLB career; he'd have looked really nice in the rotation of the 2007-08 one-and-done playoff teams - maybe they wouldn't have had to give up Josh Donaldson to get Rich Harden... but I digress.

To make matters even worse, Sergio Mitre had a few more good seasons as an innings eater and Renyel Pinto became a key cog in the Marlins bullpen for the next several seasons.  Oopsy daisy.

Another strike against him in Cubdom was his role as a key contributor to the Marlins incredible comeback against the Cubs in the 2003 NL Championship series.  All he did was bat .303 in 36 ABs and mashed the double off of Mark Prior in the 8th inning of game 6 that begat the ensuing historic rally.  No doubt it was his performance in that heart-breaker of a set that put him on the Cubs radar.

Juan Pierre as a Marlin only helped to break Cubs fans' hearts

Now after all that, why would I have such a soft spot for this guy?

Well, as a runner, I always appreciate players who wreak havoc on the basepaths.  It was always exciting to watch him as he took his lead off from first, twitching with anticipation.  Juan was a genuine pest for the opposing pitcher and the Cubs have lacked that sort of game changing speed for many years before and since.

Not to mention, he always played the game with class and grace, despite the vitriol he received from the LA press for not living up to the large 5 year, $44 million contract he signed with the Dodgers after leaving the Windy City.

Initial lack of production, a hefty contract and the acquisition of Manny Ramirez fueled the fire in LA

He also had a little tradition that I thought was really cool before the NL told him to quit it in 2006:  he always wore a camouflage shirt matching the color of his team underneath his jersey.  For whatever reason, I latched onto it myself and immediately ran out to the local army surplus store and bought my own.

Scraggly, teenage me at the Wrigley garage sale in 2006; can I take a picture or what?

In addition, at the time the Cubs acquired him, I remember that he told the press that as soon as he heard the news, he went into his closet and pulled out an Andre Dawson jersey just to see what he would look like in Cubbie blue.  I thought that was just the coolest thing; he was both enthusiastic to be a Cub and aware/respectful of the franchise history.

But, it wasn't just me; though he was a bit bit of a baseball nomad, he seemed to be pretty well-liked everywhere that he went.  Even the Dodger press grew to like him after a little while.  Juan was known for his work ethic and for his durability (5 years in a row of playing 162 games and only twice playing less than 130).  Thus, Rockies, Marlins, Cubs, Dodgers, White Sox, Phillies and Marlins fans again enjoyed having him around.

Juan originally came up with the Rockies back in 2000

Plus, he really showed off his aforementioned class through his Twitter account on the day he announced his retirement.  He tweeted out though-out and genuine "thank you" messages to each of the organizations and fan-bases that he played for.  He also expressed his one regret in what turned out to be a very successful MLB career:

He's got jokes too!

I'll close out this post with my favorite card of Mr. Pierre, even though it doesn't depict him in blue pinstripes.  It features him in the jersey of the franchise that he will likely be most identified with, the Marlins, during his second go-round and sunset season:

This 2013 blue sparkle parallel really gels with the oranges and yellows of the Miami uniforms quite well.  I might typically find the recent phenomena of parallel madness rather annoying and silly, but I must admit that sometimes it produces some pretty spectacular pieces of cardboard.

So, here's to you Juan Pierre!  You may have only lasted for one season on the north side of Chicago, but you and your speed sure did leave a mark on the Great American Pastime!

Always Look on the Whiteside of Life

Today's post will be another brief one - I'm most of the way through re-posting all the pictures that were lost on this blog, but I've still got some work to do.

But, I saw this morning that a member of last year's Cubs team has called it a career.  Since I just recently acquired his card for my CATRC, this seemed like as good as time as any to feature it:

Ah, the chrome text strikes again!  You'll have to trust me when I say that Eli's last name is Whiteside.

Anyway, Eli first came up to the big leagues in 2005 with the Orioles, but his tenure only lasted a scant 9 games.

He didn't reemerge from the minors until 2009, when he earned the regular back-up catching gig with the Giants.  He wasn't much with the bat (.214 career BA in SF), but came with a good reputation for defense and game-calling.  As proof, he was behind the dish for Jonathan Sanchez's no-hitter against the Padres.

Eli was briefly re-united with his battery-mate in Cubs camp last spring

The role was his until the 2012 season, when he lost it to Hector Sanchez and ended up appearing in only 12 games.  That offseason, he played the waiver-wire shuffle before spending 2013 in the minors with the Blue Jays.

The Cubs signed him to a minor league deal for 2014 to serve as just-in-case depth and it turned out that depth was needed after Welington Castillo went on the DL in July with a rib-cage injury.

In Chicago, he appeared in his last 8 MLB games of his career, batting a woeful .120 in 26 plate appearances before being designated for assignment.  Although, he did somehow manage to steal a base, so there's that.

Welly's injury allowed Eli one last hurrah in the Majors

Despite getting some offers from big league clubs this off-season, Mr. Whiteside has decided to move on to the next stage of his professional career:  coaching.  He just accepted the role as bullpen catcher on the team for which he helped get to two World Series: the San Francisco Giants.

As for his spot in my CATRC, it will be held by the 2012 Topps flagship card you see at the top of this post for the time being.  As a role player, he has few cards on the market (I had to break a Giants team-set just to track down this one) and none of them depict his brief stop in the Windy City.  However, he did make the Iowa Cubs team set and that is the closest I can get to a "Cubs card."

If anyone is willing to break up a set, I'd love to take this off your hands!

Image courtesy of GoSportsCards

So there you have it.  His individual stats might not be very eye-catching; however, I'm sure his two World Series rings are very much so.  Plus, he called a no-hitter and he joined Bobby Bonds, Dave Kingman, and Brian Dallimore as the only Giants to hit a grand slam for their first home run.  

I'd definitely take that career.  Good luck to you in the next phase of your baseball life Eli!

Oh! and just in case you didn't already get this stuck in your head due to the post title....