I was looking all over the place for a Fleer Star Sticker of
Julio Franco but it was all for naught. I can't find anything lately. Well, that's not exactly correct, I'm finding things I was looking for two months ago while looking for things I desperately need tomorrow. I know exactly where my autograph of Dominique Wilkins is. It's inside an old copy of the NBA Register from the mid 80's. I put it in there for safe keeping when I got it and it's stayed in there ever since. Problem is, I have
no freaking clue where that damn book is. I found an autograph of another Hall of Famer while looking for the book (which is bright red too just to make it aggravating that I can't find it) and a copy of the NBA Guide from the same year but that book still eludes me. So to all the Hawk fans out there ready to tar and feather me if I don't post a 'Nique and the Hawks lose tomorrow, I'm trying. I do have a backup plan at any rate.
This Braves sticker is my Julio backup plan. I know for a fact I have a star sticker or Panini sticker or some kind of Julio sticker somewhere, but I just couldn't find it. I scanned this 1983 Fleer sticker with the hat and team name on it at the last possible minute instead. 1983 was the first year I really collected cards like an insane addict so cards from that year are a little special to me. The Revco next to the Winn Dixie my grandparents went shopping at had a big bin full of Fleer Cello packs that I bought tons of. I pulled one of these stickers from one of those packs and stuck the hat on a notebook or a binder. I always really liked the hats from that period, the thin red line around the A just looked cool to me. I have a hat like that squirreled away, it's one with the crappy mesh in the back and the cloth on the bill is frayed and it looks like a trucker hat from hell and I love it. The Braves swapped from the old style hat with the white panel with the lower case script a right when I really started following the team so this is the hat I grew up with even though it was replaced just a few years later.
The sticker has team stats on the back. The hat cards had away stats and the big logo stickers had the home stats. The Braves were actually better on the road than they were at home. It mostly had to do with the Launching Pad. I'll post the logo card with the home stats next week to compare, but if you check the batting average and ERA, both are on the low side. Not at home though, the ERA jumps to over four and there are almost twice as many home runs hit. Atlanta Fulton County was just a hitter's park, and the pitching staff while talented wasn't really good enough to keep it in the ball park. The real culprit was
Chief Noc-A-Homa's teepee. When the Braves were on fire and leading the division, greedy management types decided to remove the teepee to have more seats to sell. It may have been a subtle change of wind patterns, or a Cherokee curse, or the pitchers got wore out, but they went on a
huge slump after it was taken down and damn near lost the division. They prevailed though and took the National League West crown in 1982, Julio Franco's debut year. There's no more active players from the year I started collecting cards now, and boy do I feel old. Oh well, back to hunting for an autograph and a card of Julio.
This Braves sticker is my Julio backup plan. I know for a fact I have a star sticker or Panini sticker or some kind of Julio sticker somewhere, but I just couldn't find it. I scanned this 1983 Fleer sticker with the hat and team name on it at the last possible minute instead. 1983 was the first year I really collected cards like an insane addict so cards from that year are a little special to me. The Revco next to the Winn Dixie my grandparents went shopping at had a big bin full of Fleer Cello packs that I bought tons of. I pulled one of these stickers from one of those packs and stuck the hat on a notebook or a binder. I always really liked the hats from that period, the thin red line around the A just looked cool to me. I have a hat like that squirreled away, it's one with the crappy mesh in the back and the cloth on the bill is frayed and it looks like a trucker hat from hell and I love it. The Braves swapped from the old style hat with the white panel with the lower case script a right when I really started following the team so this is the hat I grew up with even though it was replaced just a few years later.
The sticker has team stats on the back. The hat cards had away stats and the big logo stickers had the home stats. The Braves were actually better on the road than they were at home. It mostly had to do with the Launching Pad. I'll post the logo card with the home stats next week to compare, but if you check the batting average and ERA, both are on the low side. Not at home though, the ERA jumps to over four and there are almost twice as many home runs hit. Atlanta Fulton County was just a hitter's park, and the pitching staff while talented wasn't really good enough to keep it in the ball park. The real culprit was Chief Noc-A-Homa's teepee. When the Braves were on fire and leading the division, greedy management types decided to remove the teepee to have more seats to sell. It may have been a subtle change of wind patterns, or a Cherokee curse, or the pitchers got wore out, but they went on a huge slump after it was taken down and damn near lost the division. They prevailed though and took the National League West crown in 1982, Julio Franco's debut year. There's no more active players from the year I started collecting cards now, and boy do I feel old. Oh well, back to hunting for an autograph and a card of Julio.
3 comments:
Did Julio play until he was 50 like he wanted to?
I'll miss Julio and the 36 ounce war club he used...
of course he's still playing in the Mexican League... maybe I can find video on the internet....
Julio retired this weekend; short of 50.
Post a Comment