Charlie Puleo

 

No, I haven't started collecting sports cards, and if I were to, I wouldn't buy one in such lousy condition.  I was out riding my bicycle today, and there it was, lying on the street, and clearly the worse for wear.  Anyway, I have an appreciation for players like Charlie Puleo.  He played in parts of nine seasons, had 387 strikeouts, which isn't all that bad.  Also, a so-so 4.25 career ERA, and a 29-39 record.  He played for the Mets, Reds, and Braves.  He was born in 1955, he is still alive, and while he never became a star, he has nothing to regret, either.  Let's hear it for the journeymen. 

Opening Day

 

And no, I don't consider the Seoul Series between the Dodgers and Padres in South Korea to be opening day.  And no, I haven't started collecting baseball cards.  Not enough space, not enough money.  I walked to the store, this afternoon, and there were some baseball cards on the street, and since I grew up fifty miles from downtown Pittsburgh, and I'm a lifetime Pirates fan, I picked this one up.  So, Pittsburgh 6, Miami 5 in 12 innings.  Henry Davis, who plays both outfield and catcher and he caught today, went 1 for 6.  Go Bucs. 

Brook Jacoby, All Star

I became a sports fan because of television.  Growing up, fifty miles from downtown Pittsburgh, I watched the Pirates during the summer, the Steelers, Penn State, Pitt, and West Virginia during the fall, the Penguins, during the winter, and then it all started again with spring training.   Now I live in L.A. and if I want to watch the Dodgers, Angels, Clippers, Lakers, Kings or Ducks, I have to buy cable packages.  I can't afford it, and even with football still available for free on open air TV...well, I just can't get really excited about sports anymore.  Will I watch tomorrow's All Star game on TV?  Probably not, and that's kind of sad.  I used to look forward to the game, now I don't.

Brook Jacoby didn't have a Hall of Fame career.  He started out with the Atlanta Braves, had a couple of brief call-ups and only played in 15 games from 1981-83.  Jacoby was with the Cleveland Indians in 1984, did a very brief stint with Oakland in 1991, and was back with Cleveland  in 1992.  He finished his career with the Chunichi Dragons, in Japan, in 1993.  Now he's the hitting coach with the Toronto Blue Jays.  He was an all star in 1986 and 1990.

Anyway, I'm not really into sports cards, but I found this on the street, and I've been saving it for an All Star Game post.

Opening Day

It's opening day, and time to remember all those players who make it to the bigs, hang on for a few years, and then move on to other things. Dave LaPointe was originally drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers, but started his big league career with the Detroit Tigers, as can be seen on the back of the card, it wasn't a long stop. Still, after kicking around for a bit, he had a fairly good year with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Good enough to be signed as a free agent by the New York Yankees. (I'm a Pirate fan, a far too common story for the Bucs in the free agency era.) This card was issued in 1991, but the uniform is wrong. Dave had moved on to the Philadelphia Phillies by then. He'd have a very brief stay, get released, signed to a minor league contract with the Brewers, get released, and signed to another minor league contract with the Cubs. Neither team called him up. In 1993, there would be an attempt at a comeback with the Minnesota Twins, but again, it would all be in the minors. In 1995, he would try his luck with the Adirondack Lumberjacks, and while no major league team came calling, he would go on to be their pitching coach, and then manager. He would then go on to manage the Bridgeport Bluefish, then the Long Island Ducks. Now, he manages the Rockland Boulders of the Can-Am League in Pomona, New York. It would be a great story if he ended up managing a big league team to a World Series title, but his age works against him.

Opening Day

As I've noted before, I've had a life long tendency to collect things. My first really systematic collections were baseball cards and comic books. Sadly, my mother listened to the child psychologists of the day who believed that a refusal to give up childhood interests was a sign of an arrested development. So every Topps baseball card from 1959 through 1970, organized by team and league went into the fire. Also, my Spiderman, Fantastic Four, X-Men and Avengers numbers 1. Just think, I could have paid all my debts and taken the next couple of years off if I still had them. And no, I'm not going back to baseball card collecting. Not enough space, time or money. This is the only one I own.