Corey Crawford's appendix attempted a revolution late Saturday morning.
Appendicitis is no joke and can cause some serious damage if not treated immediately. As such, the Blackhawks' All-Star goalie was immediately sent to a local, Philadelphia-area hospital in order to have the offending organ removed with haste. However, this left the mighty Blackhawks with only one net-minder and just two hours before puck drop at the Wells Fargo Center. Time to scramble!
There wasn't enough time to have Rockford's goalie, Lars Johannson, flown in before game time, as the AHL affiliate was playing far away in Grand Rapids, MI. This is where one of the NHL's most bizarre, arcane and, yet, fascinating quirks, found in rule 5.3, came into play.
According to the NHL rule book:
"In regular League and Playoff games, if both listed goalkeepers
are incapacitated, that team shall be entitled to dress and play any
available goalkeeper who is eligible."
...and they do, quite literally, mean "any available." When you're down a goaltender with almost no time to spare, the options are extremely limited. I mean, goalie is quite the specialized position - you can't just throw any skater in there. As such, the Hawks' 47 year old goalie coach, Jimmy Waite, very nearly made his return to the NHL. However, as a former professional, his coaching salary would have counted against the cap and there just wasn't enough space.
Eric Semborski woke up that morning to go to his day job, coaching and helping to host Philly-area youth league hockey contests as a Flyers practice rink employee. Instead, after a quick phone call, he found himself blocking warm up shots from Patrick Kane. The amateur hockey player had most recently played competitively in 2013, with the Temple University club team. But, a goalie he was and someone with the Flyers remembered that fact. There wasn't even enough time to get a jersey made up, so a makeshift nameplate was quickly affixed on a Corey Crawford sweater.
Obviously, Eric was only brought in for an absolute emergency - the amateur looked excusably rusty during warm-ups and second stringer Scott Darling got the starting assignment in the eventual 3-1 loss. However, Coach Quenneville did mention that, had the Flyers scored an empty-netter in the waning seconds of the game (after Darling had been pulled), he was going to put Semborski in. That sure would have been interesting.
In honor of Eric's brief moment in the spotlight, I've created the following custom card:
Using the 2016 edition of Upper Deck's ever-popular Young Guns cards as a template, here's the man of the day, setting up to block a shot from Artem Anisimov during warm ups. It's a pretty good bet that the former Temple Owl won't be appearing in any hockey card products; but, I thought he deserved a little something for his troubles. Plus, I loved this image.
I'm pretty happy with how it turned out - what say you?
Anywho, yesterday, the Blackhawks called Johansson up from Rockford to take the role of backup goalie and Semborski returned to his day job. He didn't make a dime for his adventure, but he did get to keep the jersey and he'll always be able to say that he got to "play" in the NHL. I'm sure it was the experience of a lifetime for the 23 year old.
I'd say he looks pretty thrilled, image courtesy of NHL.com
Thanks to rule 5.3, hockey is pretty much the only sport where you might realistically be able to see someone come out of the stands and onto the roster. It doesn't happen very often, but it sure definitely makes for interesting theater when an average Joe is suddenly thrust onto the biggest stage in the world.
Meanwhile, get better soon "Crow" - here's hoping for a speedy recovery... and not just because the Blackhawks are scrambling for goalies.
Also, my apologies to Eric Semborski's future grandkids, who will inevitably grow tired of hearing this story over and over and over and over again.
Starting a trading card blog is one of the best things that I've done in my life; well, outside of getting married, landing a steady job, purchasing a new car... that kind of adult, "real world" stuff. On a personal level, however, starting Wrigley Roster Jenga has provided me an outlet for my favorite hobby, a venue to keep my writing skills sharp, and introduced me to some particularly great people in this internet community, people that this introvert would have never known existed, otherwise.
This community of cardboard keyboarders is almost like an online family - we discuss, we look out for each other, we send random gifts, etc. Recently, I've had the pleasure of adding a new name to my circle of cardboard kin - Mr. Kin Kinsley, of Bean's Ballcard Blog and I Feel Like a Collector Again fame - and he has already checked all of those boxes.
Just about a month ago, the blogosphere's preeminent Andrew Shaw super-collector and I bonded over my Eric Semborski custom, which I printed and gifted him with. It sure didn't take long for him to return the favor:
Kin might not like the Cubs (at all), but we've got some common ground in Indy Car racing and Blackhawks hockey. A couple of days ago, after a long day at work, I was thrilled to find an unexpected bubble mailer filled with card of the latter, courtesy of my new cardboard "Kin."
Mr. Kinsley noticed that I'd mentioned needing Tyler Motte's rookie card from the recently-released 2016-17 Parkhurst set for my Blackhawks All-Time Roster Collection and immediately gifted me with a copy. Additionally, TVR is another name that I'd been tracking down for said binder and Kin was kind enough to toss his rookie from '14-15 OPC in the mailer, as well.
The BATRC hits didn't stop there, Kin mentioned that he scanned my list of needs and did as much damage as he could, which included these two strikingly blue Starquest inserts from '98-99 UD Choice. Good thing blue is my favorite color!
Neither Peter Bondra nor Sergei Samsonov are strongly associated with the Hawks; however, both spent a quick stint in the Windy City towards the ends of their respective careers, when the previous FO administration made it a game to see how many aging stars they could sign, past their prime. While their time in Chicago might not have been notable, Kin's gesture was just the opposite!
The Adam Creighton was thought to be a new addition to Blackhawks binder too; however, my own sloppy record keeping shows that I had crossed the wrong Creighton off of my list. Silly me. So, if anyone has been sitting on a vintage DAVE Creighton...
Tony Amonte is a guy I have a "few" cards of, but I certainly didn't have this one. It may look like your standard, base card from '00-01 Topps Premier Plus; however, looks can be deceiving. This otherwise unassuming card is actually a pre-production promo and instantly becomes my favorite card of the right winger. Don't worry Kin, I'll give it a good home.
The last two Blackhawks cards to fall out of this mailer were anything but unassuming; in fact, they were quite noticeable and super shiny. They both feature a pair of Hall of Fame goalies, as well.
Both Kin and I agree, those holograms that were put out by Upper Deck in the early 90's were and are the bee's knees. Ed Belfour is a great name to pull too; I wonder how much these babies went for in their heyday? Meanwhile, the NHL Centennial Salute Glenn Hall is significantly newer, hailing from the new Parkurst release, like the previously seen Motte. This chromey insert set pays tribute to players on the '100 Greatest NHL Players' list, a compendium which was assembled in honor of the league's 100th anniversary.
While those two goalies might have signified the end of the hockey stuff, that doesn't mean there weren't more cardboard goodies to be found.
For instance, here we have an awesome oddball of hometown hero Tom Waddle, a Chicago native and member of the god-like 1985 Chicago Bears. This playing card is part of a 52-card deck called "Ditka's Picks," which was released by Bicycle in 1993. The deck supposedly revolved around "Da Coach's" selections for the 52 best players in the NFL. At any rate, I love oddballs of any sort, so this "wild card" was a more than welcome sight.
To wrap up the package, how about a rookie card of a surefire, Canton-bound Hall of Famer in Brian Urlacher. I've never been big on the rookie card bandwagon, but that certainly doesn't mean I'm going to turn them down when they come my way. Not to mention, I have a thing for cards that depict Major Leaguers, NFL'ers, etc. in their minor league or college duds. Therefore, this "Rookie Pairs" single from 2000 Skybox Dominion makes for the perfect exclamation point to close out with.
Thank you, Kin, for the super awesome, super helpful and super unexpected bubble mailer, stuffed with super cool cards.
Like I said, this blogging community is truly like one big family and that's what families do - we look out for each other. That's just what Kin did when he noticed he had some cards that would slide nicely into my collections. In return, I'll be sure to keep an eye out for any rare Andrew Shaws or open wheel racing cards that might catch your interest. Also, if the Hawks ever need another emergency goalie, I'll get a custom whipped up for you in no time.
My family tree is a bit muddled and my nationality is what many might refer to as "mutt;" however, while the title of this post could accurately reflect my ethnic heritage, it is intended to reference my current lack of 2017 Topps Heritage. The latest card product to hit the shelves still has yet to make it's way to the card aisle of my local Targets or Walmarts and I haven't had the time or excuse to slink away to my LCS. So, no burlaps for me. *womp womp*
Poor me, right?
However, during my latest failed mission to big box world, I needed to pick up SOMETHING to scratch my pack-ripping itch. Luckily for me, while the red shirts were slacking on putting out the new baseball product, the same could not be said about their motivation to stock hockey product:
So, that's how I ended up with a jumbo pack of Upper Deck Series Two hockey. There are a few Blackhawks cards contained within the second edition of UD's NHL flagship set that I need for my Blackhawks All-Time Roster Collection, so it seemed like a rational compromise to this frustrated consumer. Still, seriously, Heritage has been out for over a week... come on guys.
Did I land my first Indian head sweater card of Richard Panik or Young Guns of Czech import Michal Kempny or recently traded Mark McNeil (welcome home, Johnny Oduya)? To see one of those cards fall out of this jumbo pack would have definitely assuaged my annoyance. Let's find out:
Well - I pulled myself one Blackhawk base card in Trevor van Riemsdyk. A few weeks ago, this would have been a major pull for me, as I've been chasing a card of the young defenseman for a little while now. However, Kin, of I Feel Like a Collector Again and Bean's Ballcard Blog fame kindly provided his 2015-16 OPC rookie card for me, as part of a larger, supremely generous trade.
You're a day late and a dollar short, jumbo pack. That's okay though, it's always nice to have a backup.
While Trevor was the only Hawks base card that I pulled, I also came across a handful of ex-Chicagoans in Patrick Sharp, Andrew Shaw and Craig Anderson. It's still bizarre to see such former franchise stalwarts as Sharpie and Shawzie in different colors. On the other hand, Anderson's Blackhawks tenure fell in the thick of the team's darkest days, when neither I nor most of Chicago was many any attention to the club named the worst franchise in sports by ESPN.
Therefore, seeing the netminder dressed in Senators garb is far from unsettling. However, it must have been unsettling for him to have to block that puck with his face. At any rate, much like I do with former/future Cubs in my "Cubs of a Different Color" collection, I like to hang on to cards which feature Hawks in other uniforms, as well. So, these three will be filed away for a similar collection.
That did it for base cards in the jumbo. There wasn't anything too special; but, it was far from my worst rip ever. We're shooting straight up the middle of the road here. That's just the base cards though - perhaps I scored a sweet insert or Young Gun to sweeten the pot?
Robbie Russo was just called up by the Detroit Red Wings on Monday to replace injured defender Ryan Sproul. The Notre Dame grad made his NHL debut in in Tuesday's 3-2 loss to the Maple Leafs. Ordinarily a Red Wings card would illicit the same reaction as a Cardinals card would from me (ick), but this one is different. Why's that? Well, allow me to explain.
First, the photograph features a cameo by the Blackhawks in an exhibition match up. Plus, as you might see on the back, Robbie hails from nearby Westmont, Illinois. Furthermore, his aunt is my former seventh grade Language Arts teacher and current co-worker. This woman helped to shape my young mind and even attended my wedding, so it's hard not to root for her skating nephew, despite team allegiances. Plus, this is the closest, personal connection that I have to a professional athlete.
Also, full confession, the card you see above did NOT actually come out of my UD jumbo pack... it's a custom that I created myself, last night. If you recall, when the Blackhawks were forced to sign emergency back-up goalie Eric Semborski off of the street earlier this season, I created a "Young Guns" card to commemorate his extremely brief NHL career (as seen above). With that template still sitting in a folder on my desktop, I couldn't help but dust it off for my co-worker's nephew. A few tweaks was all it took to get Robbie his "first" NHL "card."
In reality, I netted exactly zero Young Guns (or inserts) from my frustration-induced purchase - sad days, indeed. Additionally, while I was lucky enough to find a sampling of cards for my Blackhawks player collections, I wasn't fortunate enough to land any of the Hawks that I was chasing. C'est la vie. At least it provided me the content for a post and an avenue to show off my latest custom card, which really wouldn't have merited a blog entry on it's own.
Has anyone else noticed a slow roll-out of Heritage at the big boxers, or is this just me?...
Those who have been reading Wrigley Roster Jenga for a while might be aware of the fact that I work in IT for a local school district. Though I am not a teacher, I still get a lot of the same treatment and benefits; thus, currently, I'm about halfway into my two-week holiday break. When I was a kid, there was no more exciting time of year (well, except for summer break) - two weeks of no school and countless festivities. As an adult, having this bonus time off has it's advantages, even though it's no longer filled with visits to Toys R Us, sledding down Belly Button Hill, and building snowmen with fellow children on the block. Thus far, I've plowed through my honey-do list, done some side jobs for friends, and the apartment has never been cleaner.
However, being married to a lovely wife who is not lucky enough to be off with me and being without a large house to take care of or children to worry about, I've discovered that the days can get quite long when eight hours aren't being sopped up by work. First world problems, am I right?
As such, I've been reviewing parts of my card collection that I've long neglected, including my miscellaneous over-sized, oddball items. Among the signed photo printouts, Fatheads, newspaper posters, and other items of that ilk, I re-discovered a postcard that I brought home from just the second card show that I ever attended:
That right there is the team photo for one of the greatest baseball teams of all-time, the 1906 Cubs. Beginning a string of three straight pennants, that Frank Chance-led club set the longstanding record for wins in a season. Their mind-boggling 116 triumphs was later equaled by the 2001 Seattle Mariners, but has yet to be bested, 111 years later. However, as dominant as the Cubbies were in the regular season, they were bounced by their crosstown rivals, "the Hitless Wonders" White Sox, in that year's World Series. The Sox earned that moniker for having the AL's worst cumulative team batting average (.230). That's baseball for ya.
Anyway, I remember that this item caught my eye as I was preparing to leave the show and I still had a few singles burning a hole in my pocket. The top-loader that it was displayed in kept me from noticing that it was printed on paper no thicker than your average printer stock and obscured the very obvious "facsimile" notation on the bottom left. Sadly, I did not notice these traits until I got home.
It's not like I thought I was getting a century-plus year old postcard for four bucks; however, I was hoping for a higher quality modern piece or at least a better quality reprint. I felt duped and almost immediately stashed it away in a box, to be forgotten, because I was a tad bitter.
However, there was a very specific reason that I purchased this replica in the first place... a reason beyond the fact that it featured one of the best squads ever fielded by my favorite franchise. Rather, the reason centered around a very specific member of that record-setting team. With a bunch of free time on my hands, it wasn't long before I was hooked back on the mysterious case of an almost transient member of that legendary group.
Behold, Tom Walsh - international man of mystery.
According to the various baseball databases, we know that he was a right-hander who stood 5'11" and weighed 170 lbs. We also know that he was born on February 28th, 1885 in Davenport, IA, died on March 16th, 1963 in Naples, FL, and was buried back in his hometown.
As far as his performance on the diamond, we know that, at 21, Mr. Walsh appeared in two games for the 1906 Chicago Cubs - August 15th and September 26th. The youngster caught three innings (making one putout) and notched one plate appearance (striking out) between the two contests - that is the complete summary of his Major League career. In fact, that is the final word on his entire professional baseball career, altogether. Tom Walsh never appeared in another pro baseball game, Major or minor or independent, prior to his cameo with the Cubs or for the rest of his life afterwards. Not a single one. How bizarre is that?
Information on this incredibly obscure ballplayer is scarce and, if not for this photograph, he might have just been written off as a "ghost player" scoring error. As a matter of fact, after spending a few hours researching the matter (because this is how I chose to spend my downtime), this team photo is the only time that Walsh appears to have been captured on film - heck, even his Baseball Reference photo is just a cropped version of this same snapshot. What is his story? The mystery has long captured my imagination.
The regular catchers for the '06 Cubs - courtesy of Galasso's reprints of the 1911 Turkey Red cabinets
Initially, my theory was that the mid-westerner was a local sandlot or semi-pro player who the Cubs called upon in a pinch. The theoretical move would have been needed after an injury to one of their two primary catchers, Johnny Kling and Pat Moran... not unlike an Eric Semborski-esque, emergency goalie situation in the NHL. After all, those three were the only men to don the tools of ignorance for the West Siders that season; thus, any affliction suffered by the regular duo would have left the club in a pickle. Furthermore, in the rough and tumble, early days of our sport, before farm systems or air travel, this sort of move wasn't all that uncommon - you have to fill that slot somehow. However, I cannot find the contemporary box scores in order to confirm the absence of either one of the two catchers. Furthermore, the fact that his two appearances with the clubs are so far spaced out adds another interesting wrinkle to the case.
Another possibility is that Walsh was a sort of hanger-on with the club who was called upon to suit up and rest the starters, similar to the appearances of batting practice pitcher, Hank Grampp, twenty-one years later. Well on their way to the pennant, the Cubs won each of Tom's appearances by scores of 10-7 and 12-7 respectively and were significantly ahead in the standings in both instances, so it's not as if Chance needed to ride his regulars as part of a tight pennant race.
Or, it could be some other combination of the roles and situations that I've posited above. I'm truly puzzled as to how we know all about his vitals and stats but know nothing about his background or circumstances, especially in a sport as obsessed with record-keeping and history as baseball. The bottom line is that I can't find anything concrete about Tom Walsh anywhere on the internet and I'm completely baffled by this fact.
Funny enough, though facts were few and far between, I was able to find someone else as obsessed with Walsh as I currently am. Of course, this blogging New York Mets fan finds himself wondering whether or not he might be a reincarnated version of the mystery Cub. It's all done very tongue-in-cheek, but his self-examination uncovers a few bizarre coincidences. The post is worth a read if you have a few minutes to kill... and, let's be real, if you're reading my ramblings, you have a few minutes to kill.
Switching back to baseball cards for a moment, remember that my ultimate goal in collecting is to obtain at least one card of every single man to ever don a Chicago Cubs uniform. In the long run, this is a fool's errand - when a franchise's history dates back to the Reconstruction Era, there's going to be some people who slip through the proverbial cracks. But, with that in mind, isn't it amazing that a man we know so precious little about actually rears his head on a baseball card? Or does he?
In the end, I'm now left asking myself (as I did when I originally purchased this facsimile postcard in the winter of 2015), "does this count as a baseball card and should it be considered for inclusion in my CATRC?"
Postcards and reprints are no strangers to my CATRC pages.... far from it.
On the first point, I've long made it known that I consider postcards which feature baseball players to be baseball cards- hell, I even have greeting cards with ball-players on them in my binders. The bottom line is that any kind of card with a baseball theme is a baseball card, in my eyes; I'm a very inclusive fellow. Although, I must admit, the fact that it such a cheap, facsimile/reprint on what barely constitutes card stock and hails from origins unknown continues to give me pause. But, again, it's not like I don't have other reprints residing with my CATRC.
On the latter point, should a team photo be admitted for representation of a singular player? I don't know - it kind of feels like cheating. That said, there are several multi-player cards serving the purpose for individual athletes in my pages, some with as many as four or five different people sharing the spotlight; so, is Walsh's situation really all that different? Plus, this photo even goes to the trouble of individually listing out the members of the team in question. Finally, as I brought up earlier in this post, this photograph appears to be the only time Tom "Big Foot" Walsh was caught on celluloid. So, it's not like I have a ton of options here and I want complete as much of my ultimate goal as is humanly possible. Allowing for this inclusion would bring me that much closer. Still, this would be the first team photo card to make the ranks.
I suppose there is one further option, besides tracking down a better quality reprint or original printing of the same postcard. One that would allow me to focus on Walsh and Walsh alone:
There's a Walsh Strat card in this lot image swiped from Ebay, just casually peeking out between a pair of HOF'ers.
Strat-O-Matic has long been the industry standard for table-top baseball simulation. Admittedly, I do not know how to play the sim, but I do know that it runs through cards... over-sized cards without pictures and that feature specially determined, game-play statistics on the front. They aren't exactly attractive or particularly collectible outside of their value to the game; but, surprisingly, Tom Walsh makes an uber rare appearance in the team set for the 1906 Cubs.
In a Q and A session hosted by noted game authority, Glen Guzzo, a curious user mentioned the inclusion of the two-game wonder in his newly purchased set, wondering how often such a minor player might make it into the Strat ranks. Here's what Guzzo had to say about it:
Very, very few players with fewer than 10 at-bats have earned cards. But in Strat-O-Matic’s early days of 20-player teams, occasionally a team would get only 19 cards because there was no one else with enough at-bats or innings pitched worth carding. The 1905 New York Giants, from the same set as your 1906 Cubs, had only 17 players, although 13-at-bat Offa Neal was not carded. In the computer game, however, Strat-O-Matic has been giving ratings to every player with at least 1 at-bat or 1 inning pitched.
So, I suppose tracking down a Walsh Strat stat card is another option for filling his slot - I mean, I do have APBA (another baseball simulation based around stat cards) in my CATRC. On the flip-side, I *definitely* prefer a photographic card when available and, technically, one is available and a (reprint) copy is already in my possession.
As of yet, no other option has presented itself for Clyde Beck or Footsie Blair - so, game cards it is.
As of this evening, I think I've finally made my decision, after two years of kicking the can down the road. That being acknowledged, I'm still curious to hear your opinions. How do you think I should handle this dilemma? What would you do in my size 11.5 shoes? Please illuminate me in the comments section below.
Furthermore, if you have any further information about the international man of mystery better known as Tom Walsh, please feel free to let me know - I'd love to fill in the massive gaps in my knowledge. I suppose if I REALLY wanted to, I could hop a train downtown and dig through the Chicago Public Library's newspaper archives. I'm awfully curious, but I'm not THAT curious... at least, not yet.
All of this internal struggle, all of this intensive research, all of this second guessing of my collecting methods... all of this because I had a few days of free time and a Christmas break. Maybe I need another hobby just to get away from my main hobby?
