Baseball Cards Come to Life!

Kerry Taylor pitched nine years of professional baseball, including two years in the major leagues with the Padres. Now a Regional Sales Manager at Ziegler Ag Equipment in Minnesota, he kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

" I don’t really have any interesting stories about baseball cards. The card companies kept things under control and laid out their rules very clearly after the 1989 Billy Ripken “Fu#% Face” card was published. We had to behave ourselves since they threatened to not print our cards if we didn’t.
I collected baseball cards in the early ‘80’s when I was growing up but nothing since then. I still have those cards today but haven’t looked at them for years. I remember Pete Rose, Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage, and Dave Conception action cards being some of my favorites growing up though."

Thanks!

Bud Smith pitched eight seasons of professional baseball, including two years in the major leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals. On September 3, 2001 he pitched a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres. Now a scout for the Toronto Blue Jays, he kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

"I was a huge card collector as a kid and still have most of them in boxes. My favorite card was by far the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr card. Still have it in one of the thick glass cases as if it were worth thousands. Not so much but was fun to collect. As far as collecting my own cards I didn't but my family did, kind of cool now because my 7 year old son has them all."
 Thanks!

Infielder Glen Gardner played three seasons in the Braves organization. In 337 games he hit .287 with 24 HR, 183 RBI and 46 SB. Now the Director of Baseball Operations at Rutgers University, he kindly replied to my questions about baseball cards.

"I was a lefty hitter….. on my 1990 Burlington Braves card I posed as a righty….. the photographer did not care."

Thanks!

Got some nice cards in a trade with Scott Crawford. Here are some highlights:

Scott has got a ton of 2005 Donruss cards to trade - let him know if you need any. Here is a nice card of new Yankee Brian Roberts in a throwback Orioles uniform.
 Speaking of uniforms, check out Angel Guzman's non-regulation white sneakers, in a photo apparently taken at the county fair.
 Cliff Lee's photo has something not often seen in a baseball card photo - lens flare. Perhaps the picture was taken by JJ Abrams? The photo itself was at least three years old when the set came out - you can see it in his 2002 Donruss Rookies card.
 What's with the weird photoshopping of the right side of the stadium on Joe Nathan's card?
 This is the card that actually kicked off the trade - a 1978 Yankees SSPC Championship Diary card of the late, great Paul Blair, the last one I needed to finish the set. It's kind of weird to see another Yankee wear #2. The first one I remember is Wayne Tolleson. Now of course it's known for Derek Jeter.

Google Autocomplete results: He is fifth when you type Marvin Ben, between Marvin Benson, an attorney in Vancouver, WA, and Marvin Ben-Aron, an attorney in Staten Island, NY. There do not appear to be any other prominent Marvin Benards.

Coming up next: The next profile will be Alvaro Benavides.

Got a bunch of cool cards from Golden Rainbow Cards in exchange for sending him some Braves. Here are a few highlights:

A rare mustachioed Giambino!
 I really like this picture of Pat Burrell surrounded by disembodied hands. The second from the right looks like you could draw a face on it and it would talk.
 This is my favorite card of the bunch. Great intense picture of Kirk Gibson.

Outfielder Kevin Thompson played twelve seasons of professional baseball, including two years in the major leagues with the Yankees and A's. Now an Investment Specialist at Capital Financial Partners, he kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

"My favorite card is the one in Baltimore of myself. I was in the process of swinging. I no longer collect any cards."

Thanks!

I have 45 cards of Adrian Beltre. This one is from 2000 Topps.

Playing career: Third Baseman Adrian Beltre came up with the Dodgers as a nineteen-year-old in 1998, and was considered one of the best prospects in baseball. In his first decade or so as a major leaguer he was a very steady player, if not really a star, except for his one monster season of 2004, when he hit .334 with 48 HR and 121 RBI for the Dodgers. That was a contract year, and he signed for big money in Seattle, where hitters go to die (sorry, Robby Cano). After five years of solid but unspectacular play in Seattle, he went to Boston where he reestablished himself as a star in 2010.

Where he is now: He signed with Texas before the 2011 season, and has had three of the best seasons of his career, putting up OPS numbers in the 130s each season.

My memories: Five years ago I would never have thought of him as a potential Hall-of-Famers. If his career ended right now I don't think he would be - many good seasons but few great ones. He is only 34 - if he has a few more very good seasons than I think he is a borderline Hall-of-Famer. Of course, what I think of first for Beltre is that he never wants anyone to touch his head, which his teammates of course always try to do.

Google Autocomplete results: He is tenth when you type Adrian, behind Adriano Goldschmied, a jeans designer. There do not appear to be any other prominent Adrian Beltre.

Coming up next: The next profile will be Esteban Beltre.

Google Autocomplete results: He is third when you type Francis Bel, between Francis Belmont, an electrical engineer in Brazil, and Francis Bellamy Salute, the original salute used to accompany the Pledge of Allegiance. Another prominent Francis Beltran is an Operational Risk Manager at Ally Financial.

Coming up next: The next profile will be Rigo Beltran.

I got two 1977 Pepsi Discs in a contest win from Johnny's Trading Spot. Mike Hargrove and Butch Wynegar. I have a couple of other discs already but these are my first that are still attached to the packaging.
 On the back, you can send away for a shirt that says "To my Buddy, "Chris", Best Wishes, Pete Rose." Or Joe Morgan, Rico Carty or Rick Manning. I wonder how much a shirt would be worth today. I couldn't find any online, but here is a picture of a one, along with a Carty shirt, from a Pepsi wall display, from 4192cards.com.
 You could these shirts for "free" if you drank 240 bottles of Pepsi.

Third baseman Tracy Woodson played five seasons in the major leagues for the Dodgers and Cardinals, winning a World Series ring in 1988. Now the Head Baseball Coach at the University of Richmond, he kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

"My 7 year old son and I have cards but I would not say we really collect them. There are times we go out and just get some every so often.
I would not say I have a favorite but am very honored to have cards that represent me being in the big leagues. I believe they all show what hard work can get you.
The one thing I tried to do was sign every autograph request I received for those cards. I still get cards sent to me today."

Thanks!

Here are my winnings from a recent contest by Gavin of Baseball Card Breakdown, probably the most creative blogger out there.

It's cool to get a bat card of a pretty big star. Adam Dunn is more of a Swing-and-a-Miss King, but he is in the top 40 all-time in career home runs.
 I also got three glow in the dark DefGav 1/1s. I see he has upgraded from altering junk wax to altering early-00's Fleer. Yogi Berra, Bill Skowron and Hank Bauer were Yankee teammates from 1954 to 1959.
Thanks Gavin!

Outfielder David Krynzel played ten seasons of professional baseball, including two years in the major leagues with the Brewers. He kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

"I have one card that was taken right after BP, it has a picture of me with a tractor behind it.. not one of my favorites, but any card of mine is special. Especially the one of me at ogden.. I was 18, fresh as could be.. when I look at it, it reminds me of how much was in front of me, how much work i already put into baseball and how much work i had waiting for me to get to the top. Every year, every game every team every uniform every teammate every manager every fan meant so much to me. I breathed baseball, it was my life. Call it love for the game, yes... I had really fun times and really hard times, long hours on bus or plane, much much much more... it was all worth it.. the one play in the big leagues where I robbed a home run made a webgem top ten plays (#2) on a Friday night while playing in Milwaukee.. the play lasted approximately 7-11 seconds.. that play right there was worth every drop of sweat blood and tears it took me to get to the big leagues. Hard work and dedication."

Thanks!

I have one card of Frank Bellino, from 1989 Best.

Playing career: Outfielder Frank Bellino played six seasons in the Orioles and Phillies organizations. His best season was 1989, when he hit .285 with 10 HR and 77 RBI for Reading.

Where he is now: Staff Photographer for the Riverside Press-Enterprise in California.

My memories: Only know him from his card.

Google Autocomplete results: He is second when you type Frank Belli, between Frank Bellina, prop master from TV shows ranging from Mork & Mindy to True Blood, and Frank Bellizzi, a religious blogger. Another prominent Frank Bellino is a racehorse owner.

Coming up next: The next profile will be Rob Belloir.

I have three cards of Clay Bellinger. This one is from 2001 Topps.

Playing career: Utilityman Clay Bellinger played for the Yankees from 1999-2001 and the Angels in 2002. He played for four teams and all four won the pennant, with three of them winning the World Series. He played in two World Series with the Yankees. In 183 regular season games he hit .193 with 12 HR and 35 RBI. A fuller account of his career can be found at The Greatest 21 Days.

My memories: Like most Yankee fans, I remember him fondly mostly because of when he played for them. Looking at his numbers I forgot how bad he actually was.

Where he is now: He is a full-time firefighter for the Gilbert, AZ fire department. Other full-time members of the department are former major leaguer Andy Larkin (engineer) and Ila Borders (medic), one of the few women to play professional baseball. He is also an instructor at the AZ Baseball Boot Camp.

Interesting facts: His son Cody Bellinger signed with the Dodgers in 2013 after being drafted in the fourth round.

Google Autocomplete results: He is sixth when you type Clay Be, between Clay Beige, a Benjamin Moore paint color, and Clay Beads, a craft material. Another prominent Clay Bellinger was arrested for DWI in North Carolina in 2009.

Coming up next: The next profile will be Frank Bellino.