The People's Poet is dead

Punks and skins and rastas will all gather round and hold their hands in sorrow for their fallen leader.



But how can he be dead when we still have his poems?

Deacon Blues

Stan & Earl

Who knew that the worst day this month for the Hall of Fame wouldn't be the shutout ballot vote?

Have a picture of two of my favorite cards of The Man and The Manager.

Also: Obligatory.



I wonder if Alice Sweet ever got that prick stuck in her?

Chris Stufflestreet

I've been trying to write this post for three days but it didn't happen until now.

I knew of Chris due to his Vintage Baseball Cards: 1886-1961 page on Geocities. That page right there is as good of a "Vintage Cards 101" course as you're ever going to see. When I heard Geocities was being shut down, I shot him an e-mail asking if he was going to rehost the pages and if he needed any help. He told me that he was working on it. He also had a Vintage card blog in the works as well. This was great! It was what my blog would look like if I had focus or discipline.

There were other blogs too. A blog celebrating the wonderfully awful 1973 Topps Photography. A couple music blogs. He also wrote for Cardboard Connection. Chris really loved those vintage cards and  was very talented at writing about them.

Last Wednesday he passed away. I never met him in person, although we traded e-mails a few times. He had some 1966 Topps doubles that I never got around to trading for, and I sent him a scan of some ToppsTown codes once. We both had an affinity for those musty old pieces of cardboard though, and the world is worse off not having him in it. We'll miss you Chris, I'm glad you were able to pick up that '72 Carlton Traded card.

Bad news comes in threes

Junior

Mo

MCA

I need to go lie down for a while.

RIP Bert Randolph Sugar

IF I ever get to the point where I'm completely fed up with cards and I throw all of 'em but 100 into a chipper shredder (pun intended) this autograph card of Bert Sugar will make the cut and avoid becoming compost. He's best known for his boxing writing but I'll remember him for his Dover Baseball Card books that first introduced me to pre-war vintage.

RIP Bert. 

Previous posts on Bert.

Gary Carter

Full discosure: Gary played for some of my least favorite teams when I was a kid and was just generally Not A Brave, so I wasn't a fan for a long time. From what I've learned of him after his playing days were over he seems like he was a pretty good guy. Fuck Cancer. Here's Gary with a Chicken.

This image came from The Straw That Stirs the Drink which is already one of my favorite Tumblrs. Check it out if you like that sort of thing.

Overshadowing six, thirty-two and a thousand

Everyone knows about Skip and Pete, but Ernie was every bit as good as the pair of them. Rowland's Office has a great video of Ernie in action.

There was a pretty dang good game tonight as well.

O Captain, My Captain

I have no idea what to say so I'll just post this.



Not many people other than Beefheart could pull off the vocals to that song. As unique people go, he was one of the uniquiest. So long Cap'n.

Rapid Robert

Ron Santo

"To me it is clear and unequivocal that Santo is a Hall of Famer." 

- baseball writer and analyst Bill James

I've had this card since I was about 10. I don't remember where I got it. If you hold it up to the light you can see a "2" indented into the card. That is where I wrote how much the card was worth after I looked it up in an old price guide. I thought I was clever by writing it on the plastic sheet it was in and not on the card like some rube. I probably should have taken the card out of the sheet first. Or at least not pressed down really hard with a ball point pen. It's my very first rookie card of a Hall of Famer so who cares?

RIP Leslie Nielsen

Enrico Palazzo has joined the choir invisible. They'll probably kick him out of the choir once they hear this.

Leslie's death trade to the Cubs for Reggie Jackson hit me pretty hard this morning. Naked Gun is the funniest baseball movie ever and the baseball scenes aren't even a quarter of the film.



I feel like I might cry now. I think I'll watch Spaceship. Then I really will cry. So long, not funny man. You were the unfunniest of them all.

THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT

RIP Bobby...

Wayman Tisdale

Dammit, people aren't supposed to die at 44 from cancer.


It's not supposed to happen to people who are former NBA stars.



It shouldn't happen to people who are accomplished jazz musicians.


It still happens though and that sucks.

So long Wayman, we'll miss you.

Bird

This has been a really awful day for baseball.

Angel

Dammit.


See also:
Wax Heaven
bdj610's Topps Baseball Card Blog
A Cardboard Problem
Traded Sets
The Hamiltonian
I HeArt HAlos
Dinged Corners
White Sox Cards
Night Owl
The Budget Collector
Sports. Cards. Life.
Nachos Grande
Mark's Ephemera
Tastelikedirt
Sports Card Info
Lake Effect Baseball Cards
Card Junkie
Blue Heaven

MLB Trade Rumors
Baseball Musings
interview
Hardball Times
The Beckett Blog
MLB.com

Last night's recap
Box Score

Don't drink and drive folks. Use a DD. Get a cab. Hire a chauffer. Booze it up at home. Learn to teleport. Be careful out there.

RIP Studs Terkel

Chicago author and broadcaster Studs Terkel passed away at his home today at the age of 96. Baseball fans will recognize him as Hugh Fullerton, the reporter in the movie Eight Men Out, and from his many appearances in Ken Burns' Baseball.

So Long, Reg

Paul Newman 1925-2008.

Man, this year has sucked. I gotta watch this tonight now. While eating a big bowl of Newman's Own popcorn.

Skip Caray

The one man who had the skill to make the last couple of months of a losing year entertaining and funny is gone. Skip Caray passed away in his sleep today at age 68. Braves fans are pretty miserable right now, as am I. I always hoped Skip would be able to accept a Ford Frick award in person one day. He never sucked up to the suits enough to get on the national stage though. Of course that's why he was so good. He told it like it was, and was grouchy and caustic and sarcastic and funny as hell the whole time doing it. He had only been doing home radio broadcasts this year and you could tell he was having health problems. I'm going to miss his humor, his knowledge, his grouchyness and that awesome voice.

"That foul ball was caught by a fan from Tucker, Georgia..."

Baseball and Football

So long, Mr. Conductor.