Showdown at the K-Mart

"Strange things are afoot in the Circle-K..."

Name that movie!

In the meantime, while strange things might have been afoot at that particular retail storefront, there was a full-fledged Showdown going on at my local K-Mart.

An MLB Showdown that is.

During my first trip to a K-Mart in maybe 10 years on a quest to find Sodastream accessories, I couldn't help but stop and peruse their card selection.  After all, the last time I was in K-Mart, Sammy Sosa was still the most beloved Cub of all-time.

How appropriate it was then that I should find a surprisingly robust selection of clearance cardboard from that era.

There were several "starter sets" of the Wizards of the Coast-produced MLB Showdown sitting on the bottom shelf, sitting there forgotten for more than a decade.

Several of these cards have filtered through my collection in recent years, but I have no recollection of it's existence at the time.  I was probably too focused on my Pokemon card collection at that time; another Wizard of the Coast card game at that.

So, a never before seen box of oddball product + a $1.99 price tag = leaving the store with two of these puppies.

Two of these puppies and some Sodastream Redbull knockoff.  However, that's none of your concern.

Like I said, I had never heard of this product when it was released.  I know that new series of cards ran from 2000 - 2005 and that the cards were used to play a sort of baseball-Pokemon hybrid card game.  But, that's the extent of my knowledge.

Each starter set came with what you see above:  a game mat, a rule book and card, a 20-sided die, a pack of strategy cards and most importantly, a set of 9 cards for both the AL and NL to get you going.

How does one play MLB Showdown?  Let's ask Wikipedia:
 

"MLB Showdown simulates baseball through a card game, with heavy randomness. It involves a 20-sided die and cards made specifically for the game. These cards were available in booster packs, a staple of collectible card games, as well as starter games and draft packs. There are two types of cards: player cards (current and former Major League players) and strategy cards (actions that can add to or subtract from die rolls, change results, draw extra cards, etc.)

The outcome of an at-bat largely depends on the player cards. The player whose pitcher is pitching that turn rolls a die to determine whether the batting player rolls on the pitcher's chart or the batter's chart. Each of the two charts has a list of possible results from the at-bat."

Now, maybe someday I'll actually learn to play this, in fact, there is supposed to be some heavy rain over the next few days that'll likely keep me indoors and bored.  However, seeing as I'll never have anyone to play it with, I'm really only interested in the cards.

That said, I'm hanging on to this stuff, just in case.

But, let's take a look at what players I was given to start off with.

It says right on the back of the boxes that each starter kit comes with a special shiny Greg Maddux and David Cone.

 A shiny new Mad Dog might get me to drop $1.99 by itself.  As for the "Conehead,"  it's readily available for trade if anyone would like it.

Let's see what else came out of these boxes for addition to my Cubs player collections:

First up, a couple of key complimentary pieces for the 2003 NL Central Division champs.  Y'know, the team that broke our Chicago hearts by collapsing 6 outs away from the World Series...

Goodwin hit .287 off the bench that season and had a key 2 RBI double against the Braves in the Division series while Remlinger was a key piece of the bullpen.

That season provided many good memories and really sealed my allegiance to the Cubs.  So, I look back at names like Goodwin and Remlinger with fondness, even though they stayed in Chicago past their expiration dates.

Next up, we have a couple of guys who transitioned to the booth after their respective careers.

Coomer spent one lone season in Chicago as a stop-gap replacement for Mark Grace in 2001.  That club nearly made the playoffs, before a very Cub-like collapse in the second half.  Coomer, for his part, hit .261 with 8 HR in 111 games before ceding to "Crime Dog" McGriff after the trade deadline.

Plesac spent two seasons coming out of the Cub bullpen in 1993-94.  A 3x Allstar in Milwaukee, Dan disappointingly posted mediocre-at-best numbers (4.68 ERA in 117.1 IP) and was allowed to walk after the '94 season.

Now you can find Coomer on WGN (well, WBBM starting next season) radio calling Cubs games with Pat Hughes.  Plesac covered the pre and post-game shows for Comcast Sports Net here in Chicago from 2005-08 before moving on to the MLB Network.

Here are a couple of Athletics with Cubbie ties.

Traded by Oakland to Chicago for a failed prospect, Matt Stairs was Ron Coomer's teammate with the 2001 Cubs.  He split time at first with Coomer and saw some time in the outfield.  The journeyman posted a .250 BA with 17 HRs over 128 games that season before packing his suitcase and heading for Milwaukee.

All told, he played for 13 teams in 19 seasons.  The man was a tumbleweed!

Grieve, the 2002 AL ROY, came to the Cubs as an extra outfielder for the ill-fated pennant race of 2004.  His star had fallen by that point and he was purely a bench player; but he did sear himself in my memory.

While chasing a fly ball in rightfield, he crashed into the ivy-covered brick wall - likely very unfamiliar with his new homefield.  The impact shattered his sunglasses, resulting in:

Ouch.  I'm a touch squeamish, so I probably will never forget this incident.

Meanwhile, happy thoughts, here are a couple of Cubs from different playoff squads.

Jose manned third base for the Cubs after uber-prospect Kevin Orie busted during the 1998 Wild Card/Sammy Sosa season.  He previously had been their utility infielder since 1994.

He later came back for a second tour of duty in 2003 to play third base, but he was quickly flipped to Pittsburgh in the Aramis Ramirez deal.

Henry Blanco, or "Hank White" as he was affectionately dubbed by Bob Brenly was signed by the Cubs going into the 2005 season.  As the backup backstop (say that 5x fast) he stuck around through 2008 and was part of back-to-back Central Division titles in 2007-08.

He must have liked Chicago because his batting average here (.255) was over 30 points better than for his career (.223).

The last Cub to fall out of the boxes was this guy.

Franco was the first in a series of supposed successors to Mark Grace's throne.  Thought to be a hitter of the same mold (good average, lots of hits, low power), he debuted in 1995 for the Cubs.

In 16 games, he performed decently, hitting .294 in 17 at-bats, though with only 1 XBH.  Concerned, the Cubs traded him to the Mets in the offseason for no one of significance.  He played fairly regularly for New York over the next few seasons before wrapping up his career on the Atlanta bench.  In fact, his last MLB swings came against the Cubs in the '02 NLDS.

However, the most interesting tidbit about Franco has nothing to do with his baseball career and everything to do with his bloodline.  See, his uncle is former minor leaguer and B-movie god Kurt Russell.

 Kurt played 2nd base in the minors and Snake Plissken in post-apocalyptic New York

Thus concludes my PC additions.  Not too bad for a last-minute purchase of some thoroughly dated product at little used store for less than I'd spend on a sandwich.

MLB Showdown proves one thing to me:  people never really care about card games associated with baseball cards.  It seems inevitable that they are soon treated as standard baseball cards and their games are easily forgotten.

Classic, MLB Showdown, various playing card decks and even the old Milton Bradley releases.

I guess we just want our baseball cards.  If we want a game, we'll play/watch the National Pastime instead.

Am I wrong?

Short Stay Sunday - Raul Gonzalez

Everyone loves a good underdog story.

One of the most timeless tales in baseball is that of the career minor-leaguer who finally ascends to the top of the latter.

Everyone loves to see perseverance and hard work pay off in the end, to see someone achieve their lifelong dream.  I think we can all relate in some form.

One such story involves a forgotten Cub of the previous decade - one Raul Gonzalez:

Fleer basically plagiarized 1954 Topps to honor Raul and his ascent in their Tradition Series Update from 2000.  When he made his MLB debut that season, he had already been struggling for 10 years.

Drafted in the 17th round of the 1990 draft by the Kansas City Royals out of Puerto Rico, Raul spent 7 years in their organization producing solid (but unspectacular) offensive numbers with a respectable glove.

After a short stay in the Red Sox system, Raul was signed by the Cubs going into the 2000 season for organizational depth.  He picked the right team.

The 2000 Cubs were a terrible squad.  Their  65-97 record placed them in the cellar of the National League and their outfield of castoffs + Sammy Sosa was part of the problem.  Slammy could only do so much.

"Oh Henry" Rodriguez and Rondell White spent most of the season on the DL and with names like Damon Buford, Gary Matthews Jr., Brant Brown, an over-the-hill Glenallen Hill, etc. getting significant playing time, it's no wonder they weren't getting the job done.

 Oh Henry, why couldn't you and Rondell stay healthy?

Therefore, the Cubs started throwing crap at the wall, hoping something would stick; Raul got his chance that May.

Unfortunately, he did not seize the moment.  Although he only got 2 at-bats, he went 0-2 with 2 Ks.  In left field, he saw action in 3 innings over 3 games; however, he never had a ball hit to him.

The Cubs had much less patience with the minor-league lifer than they would a traditional prospect and demoted him back to AAA after about a month.  Then came Ross Gload, the undeveloped Corey Patterson and the dated Dave Martinez... things didn't get better.

 Ross Gload & Dave Martinez - AKA "crap on the wall"

Also, note the similar batting stances

Gonzo wasn't done in the Bigs though.  After finishing out the season in Iowa, Raul saw MLB time each season through 2004 with the Reds, Mets and Indians, including 107 games as a de-facto starter for the '03 New Yorkers.

After continuing to bounce around in the minors and independents through 2007, Raul saw his name in the big league press yet again in 2010; except this time, it wasn't for his on-field exploits.

Following the Februrary 2010 DUI arrest of Miguel Cabrera, the Tigers brought Raul into the fold as a "companion" in order to keep the young superstar in check.  He reportedly spent the entire year making sure that Miggy laid off the sauce and focused his talents.

Miggy owes a little thanks to Raul Gonzalez

It looks like it's worked out in the long-run for Cabrera.

As for Raul Gonzalez, all things considered, not too bad of a career for a 17th rounder who took 10 years to finally reach the top rung.

We should all be so lucky as to have such an interesting adventure through professional baseball.

 The intricacies of an underdog tale like Raul's is always compelling.

Re-Pack Wars

Impulses are jerks.

I just can't help but walk throw a re-pack in my cart as I walk through the local drug store.  Well, the other day I had to make two trips.

So, I of course ended up with 2 re-packs.  They were far too tempting:

That hit ratio is how the one on the right ended up in my possession.  Of course, my luck with hits is best exemplified by a Cody Ransom auto being my primo pull.

But, if I'm lucky, I'll be able to add some new cards to my Cubs player collections.  My Cubs PCs extend to everyone who's ever played for them.

As for the one on the left, Hanley parallels are of no interest to me (who wants it?) it was the backside that drew me in (that sounded pretty perverse, didn't it?)

That had to be a good omen, right?  Either that or good marketing on the Fairfield folks' part.

Yea, definitely the latter.

So, since I got them on the same day, it was only natural for me to stack them against each other.  In a no holds barred cage match, which repack offered the better bounty?  The tidy box or the plastic cage of frustration?

The plastic finger shredder is off to an early lead with two of my all-time favorites.  While I already have the '88 Donruss Maddux, that crazy looking Derrek Lee will fit nicely in my PC.

Cards on the right are from the box, cards on the left are from the hanger:

Both offered me a Mad Dog; clearly they're pandering to me.

Though he might be a brave on that fantastic '96 Ultra insert, the grip chart gives it a clear advantage.  As I mentioned earlier, I already had the '88 Donruss in my collection anyway.

Box -1  Hanger - 0

A couple of super short-term Cubs.

I don't have many cards of either guys; in fact, it's my third Jackson and only my second Cunnane.  Damian got a brief audition with the *shudders* infamous 2004 Cubs but was shipped off before the season came to a painful close.  Cunnane was stashed in the bullpen for 16 games in 2002.  Obviously, neither player was very significant to the club.

Cunnane gets the nod here though, mostly because it depicts him making his ML debut at Wrigley Field. 

Box -1  Hanger - 1

Next up, we have a HOFer and a player who put up some HOF numbers.

I don't need to describe the career arcs of either of these players; you certainly know all you need to know.

This Sandberg is new to my collection and Ryno was the first Cub that I declared to be my favorite.  that said, I have to give the edge to Sosa just for the novelty of seeing him in a White Sox uniform.

Plus, I have no love for the purple borders that Score utilized that year.

Box - 1  Hanger - 2

 Both re-packs offered something wonderfully garish as well.

The bright pink border on this '90 classic Alomar screams 90's. Sandy was on the coaching staff at  the beginning of the previous decade, so into the coaches binder it goes.

Bosley is sporting the so-ugly-they're-actually-awesome V-neck pullovers they wore in the late 70's.  It's too bad that the shorts that were briefly paired with them didn't last until 1980.  If they had, maybe Bosley would have been able to take down Sandy.

While, I don't care much for purple Score, I apparently get some enjoyment from Pink Classic.  I'm an enigma.

Box - 2  Hanger -2

Moving on, we have two pitchers who completely bombed on the North Side of Chicago.

Goose wasn't fooling many batters during his lone season in Cubbie Blue.  In 1988, he posted a 4.33 ERA as their closer in 46 games, with only 13 saves.

But, he has a Hall of Fame career to fall back on.  Plus, '85 Topps is one of my favorite sets of all-time (irrationally so, I know) and, like Bosley before, we get to see a awesomely ugly uniform.

Jose Guzman was one of the pitchers that GM Jim Frey signed with the money that should have been allocated to Greg Maddux.  Needless to say, he was no replacement.  He was out of baseball just 2 seasons later.

Goose gets the W here.

Box - 3  Hanger - 2

 These two were traded for each other straight-up in a change of scenery deal in January of 2012.

Though he was a major Crazy Train that finally went off the tracks at the end, he was still a part of 3 division championship teams, tossed the first Cubs no-hitter in 30+ years and was a steady workhorse for 10 seasons.

Volstad was the worst pitcher not named Edwin Jackson that I had ever seen.  In 21 starts, he posted a 6.31 ERA over 111 innings.  I don't think I really need to elaborate any more beyond that.

Thus, even though Big Z got ripped at some point, he still beats out Volstad.

Box - 4  Hanger - 2

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There we have it - the victor is the box!

Cue the balloons, music, cake and clowns!

What? That wasn't in my budget?  Ah well, maybe if I'd gotten that 1-in-4 box with a "hit" in it, I'd have been able to pay for all that celebratory stuff.

But, that was about it for useful cards in the re-packs.  Although it wasn't very much and certainly nothing significant, it was still pretty fun to rip through them.

It always is.

Run with the Pack

I don't buy packs of cards very often.

After all, with my collection goal being what it is, the chances of me finding any cards that I need out of a solitary pack of modern product are slim to none.

I might find a card or two for my Cubs player collections, but I'd eat my hat if I found one for my CATRC - and I'm a pretty picky eater.

That said, I still enjoy opening packs and relish the wonder that takes over as you eagerly sift through the contents.  It's similar to scratching off a lottery ticket.

So, when I wandered into my LCS yesterday, I grabbed a couple packs of 2014 product to lighten my mid-week slump.

First up:

The most recent series to hit the streets.  From what I've seen of the checklist, there are no new names for my CATRC (yet), but I sure wouldn't mind pulling a Kris Bryant anything or a SP Addison Russell.

Sidenote - I can't wait 'til I can add Russell to my CATRC!

Plus, I'm not going to lie, I'd like to add a card of Manny Ramirez in Cubs garb to my collection, even if it's only Iowa.  He was surprisingly helpful to the prospects as a player-coach and seems to have turned his life around.

But, unsurprisingly, I wasn't that lucky.  Not a single Cub for that matter.

I was a huge NASCAR fan when I was in junior high and the first half of high school.  I still enjoy my fair share of auto racing, but my once-encyclopedic knowledge of the sport is no longer there (nor is my fairly large collection of racing cards, unfortunately).

But, I remember that Kannapolis honored their most famous son, Dale Earnhardt, by using his famous moniker as their team name after he purchased a share in their ownership.

I also remember that the very first race I sat and watched all the way through was the 2001 Daytona 500, the race in which Earnhardt died on the final lap.  That sticks with you.

There was also this neat insert of Rays prospect Mikie Mahtook, which documents the 2011 1st rounder's ascent to AAA.

Seems like he had a decent, but not mind blowing year - though apparently he went 5-5 in his debut, for what that's worth.

Plus, seeing that Bull Durham is one of my favorite movies of all-time, pulling a Bull is a welcome experience.

The best scene of a classic movie

The rest of the pack wasn't exciting for me at all.  If anyone wants these cards below (and above for that matter, I'm not really attached), just let me know!

Taillon was the only name I even recognized.  I admittedly don't pay much attention to prospects that aren't supposed to save our Cubbies.

Next up:

As I'm typing this, I'm realizing how hungry I am because a panini sounds absolutely delicious right now.

But, as for the cards, I decided to grab a pack of Golden Age because I adore that they include players from the ancient past of the game in their checklist.  Yea, you've got your Sandbergs and your Banks, but you also get guys like King Kelly.

Plus, the lack of logos doesn't hurt nearly as much with the super old-school uniforms either.

I want the King Kelly from this release because it lists him as a White Stocking/Cub and the Kelly in my collection depicts during his days in Boston.  When it comes to my CATRC, cards that list/depict the players as Cubs trump all.

Also, while I did mention that this set includes mainstay Ernie Banks, it adds an interesting wrinkle by showing him during his days with the Kansas City Monarchs.  

That's how you keep things fresh!

Unfortunately, there was only 1 card in the 6-pack that even caught my eye:

Dr. Pepper is my drink of choice, so it's pretty nifty that I found a card of it's creator nestled amongst the baseball cards.

But, while having a historical figure or athlete from a different sport thrown in here and there is more than ok with me, I'd still like for most of the pack to be baseball related.

Thus, this pack was greatly disappointing:

Four of the six were of the non-baseball variety.  

Also, this might be blasphemy, but I have no love for mini's.  Daresay, I might even just dislike them in general.  But, that's a separate post for another day.

As for the two "actual" baseball cards:

As I mentioned earlier, points to Panini for including oft-forgotten stars.  Unfortunately for me, they are players that hold no interest to me.

Like the Minor League Heritage cards, these are all readily available to anyone that wants them, including Dr. Pemberton.

All I need is an actual bottle of Dr. Pepper, but I guess those won't fit in packs of cards.

But, I did walk out of the shop with one Golden Age player for my collection:

I cheated though; Rabbit didn't come hopping out of the pack.  I threw this single in with my purchase at the last second for some loose change.

Rabbit was a Cub briefly in 1925 and even ascended to player-manager mid-season; however he was claimed on waivers during the offseason by Brooklyn.

All-told, he played an impressive 23 seasons in the bigs and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1954.  It was on the strength of his glove, as his .258 batting average and 28 career HRs illustrate.

Maranville was already enshrined in my CATRC as well with a Conlon card; but, as much as I like that set, the basic design and black & white can get a bit monotonous.  I really like the color and layout of this set, so I swapped it in, seeing as I have so many other players represented by Conlon.

This rabbit was "bounced" out of my binder

And so, I was reminded of why I rarely buy individual packs of baseball cards.  It's simply not productive to my collection or a good deal.

I'll be damned if it ain't fun and a bit of a rush though.

That said, I don't think I'll be "running with the pack" again any time soon.

*P.S. - I caught these guys this summer on their joint tour with Lynyrd Skynyrd with low expectations and I pleasantly surprised, nay, shocked.  Paul Rodgers doesn't sound like he's aged a day since the 70's.

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.