Joey on May 8th 2008
I was sitting at my computer desk working on a project for work when I heard some strange commentary coming from Josh Lewin and Tom Grieve during the Rangers and Mariners broadcast tonight. I looked up to see players all over the mound pushing, shoving and mouthing at each other. Tom Grieve was talking about the gutless actions of Richie Sexson and I am just trying to figure out what happened.
After things calmed down they played the replay of the pitch that caused Sexson to charge the mound. The pitch was over the plate but high and Sexson ducks out of the way like a little leaguer seeing his first curve ball. He immediately charges the mound after Kason Gabbard and throws his batting helmet at him before he tackles him. Gerald Laird pounces on Sexson while the rest of the players and coaches join in. What in the heck was Richie Sexson thinking, the pitch was no where near his head.
Another odd thing about the skirmish was that the Mariners starter Felix Hernandez was extremely angry and trying to go after the Rangers like a possessed man. King Felix had already hit two Rangers why the heck was he so mad? Gabbard didn’t come close to hitting Sexson and why would he want to hit Sexson anyway? Grieve had a funny comment saying that Sexson couldn’t hit water from a boat right now.
Anyway, Sexson was ejected and I would expect he will get more disciplinary action from the league after they review the tape. The Rangers and Mariners have quite a few games left with each other so this could be something that comes up again. The bad news for the Rangers was that Gabbard left the game a couple of batters later with what looked like a hamstring issue. I probably would too after being tackled by the six foot eight Richie Sexson. Gabbard had a one hit shutout going in the fourth when all heck broke loose.
Back to Tom Grieve for a moment. Sometimes I listen to his commentary and I wonder how he has had this job for so long, tonight was one of those nights when I was glad he was in the booth. You can always count on Tom to speak his mind even when it is not politically correct. One of his quotes went along the lines of, this incident was one of the top three gutless acts he has seen on the diamond.
I wonder what Richie is thinking now that he has probably seen the video clip? Maybe it was all part of his plan to light a fire under his teammates. Maybe it was just out of frustration for his poor season so far. Maybe he really thought the ball came at his head, after all the way he his hitting right now he must not be seeing the ball all that well. Oops, I sounded like Tom just then.
I guess I will have to stay up late now and watch the rest of this game to see if anything else happens.
Filed in Baseball News | 2 responses so far
Joey on May 7th 2008
This weeks trip to the chain store was a very quick one. I was in a hurry so I didn’t really pay much attention to what all was on the shelf. I only looked at the pegs where the blister packs are. As I walked up to the shelf there was a woman standing there looking for some 2008 Topps Baseball for her son. She spotted the blisters and grabbed one. She said her son was building the set of Topps so she was always picking up a pack or two for him. Two good things about that brief encounter, one was a parent buying cards for a child and the second was a child building a set. Now that is the way its supposed to be.
Anyway, I selected three packs of 2008 Press Pass Football to open for the Challenge this week. I didn’t look closely but I think they only had these, Topps baseball and Upper Deck baseball on the pegs. I opened one pack of these for last weeks rip so this will make four packs now of Press Pass for me. I can’t remember the last time I opened four whole packs of Press Pass in a year.
Pack One
Another Phillips and Rice this week but at least they are different than last week.
Pack Two
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Desean Jackson
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Keith Rivers
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Davone Bess
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Contest Entry Card
Wow, this pack sucked. I only got three players. They stuck in a contest entry card, boo hiss. Okay Press Pass this is no way to try to win me over.
Pack Three
That makes two Primetime Players in four packs. In this pack you have three classic uniforms with Notre Dame, Alabama and Ohio State and then we have the Oregon Ducks. Just what the heck are the Ducks trying to say with their uniform choices. I had a coach as a kid that always wanted his team to have the best looking uniforms in the league. He felt like part of the game was mental and if you looked great you had a better attitude and your opponent might be intimidated by your mere presence before the game actually started. I can only imagine what he would have to say about those Oregon uniforms.
Well four packs of Press Pass and no Texas Longhorns or anybody else I am really interested in keeping so I will be putting these cards up on Sportlots. I have no sales to report from the past week of cards involved in the Challenge but I do have a couple of deals working. Adding the eleven cards from these packs I now have 654 cards available for sale or trade. The other numbers stay the same with nothing being sold or cards added to my collection.
Mothers Day is coming up so don’t forget to go out and get some wax packs for mom, you know she wants some.
Filed in $10 Pack Challenge | No responses yet
Joey on May 4th 2008
I was planning on getting to bed at a decent hour tonight but the Stars and Sharks had other plans. I am writing this at 11:30 central time during intermission between the first and second overtime periods. The Stars and Sharks are deadlocked at one in Game 6. A Dallas win sends them to the Western Conference Finals against Detroit or a San Jose win sends the series back to San Jose for a Game 7.
I consider myself just a little more than a casual fan of the NHL but during playoff time I pay a lot more attention to the game on ice. Especially if the Stars are still involved. I have never been more stressed watching a sporting event than when I am watching a Stars playoff game in overtime. Unlike any other sport you have to keep your eyes on the ice or you may miss the game winner or an incredible save.
Tonights game has been one of the most exciting overtime games I have watched. The game could have easily been over several times but the goal tenders keep making save after save. I have been on Turco’s case ever since he became the full time goalie in Dallas but tonight he has reminded me of Ed Belfour. He could have easily allowed any number of shots to find the back of the net but he keeps knocking them back.
The game is about to get started again so I have to get back in front of the tube.
*Update
It is now after midnight and I can’t give up on this game even though it is still in overtime. I have to get up in less than five hours but I am going to hang in there for the third overtime.
*Update
I am supposed to get up in four hours but this hockey game is headed to a fourth overtime period. Tomorrow is going to be a very long day.
Its over, the Stars just scored on a power play goal!!! I can go to bed finally. I am glad I stayed up to watch this fantastic battle of stamina, heart and goal tending. Good night everybody.
Filed in Hockey Stuff | 4 responses so far
Joey on May 3rd 2008
Continuing with my look at players that may not be household names or Hall of Famers but have managed to find their place in my collection we come to Tim Burke. Tim was drafted in the second round of the 1980 draft by the Pirates. He made his Major League debut on April 8th 1985 against the Reds. Burke played eight seasons in the bigs before retiring during spring training with the Cincinnati Reds in 1993.
If all you looked at were Tim’s numbers you might be asking me why I saved this average guys cards. In his career he had 49 wins against 33 losses and 102 saves. His career ERA is 2.72 and he pitched in one All Star game in 1989 for the Expos. Solid numbers but not huge. So how did this former three time All Big Eight team member from the University of Nebraska make it into my binder?
In 1987 Burke had a record of seven wins and no losses with 18 saves and a 1.19 ERA. I have always liked closers so he caught my eye and I noticed that I had a bunch of his cards. From that point on I continued to put one of every Tim Burke card I pulled into my binder. Later I learned that he and his wife Christine, had adopted special needs kids from places like Korea and Guatemala. I also learned that he had battled a drinking problem that threatened to ruin his marriage. About three months after marrying Christine (May 5, 1982), the couple attended a Bible study and their lives were forever changed.
In 1994 Tim and Christine released a book called Major League Dad. I bought the book and read it through. Somehow I had missed out on how he came to his decision to retire and I was a little put off because he didn’t come back. By the time I finished the book I understood why he retired when he did and I appreciate the conviction it took to walk away from the game. The easy thing to do would have been to keep playing but he made the tough decision, which was the right decision. If you have not read the book I highly recommend it. I would loan you my copy but I loaned it out a few years ago and I never got it back.
The next time you are going through some late eighties or early nineties cardboard and you come across a relief pitcher named Tim Burke take a second look. Tim was a good ball player that was also a good guy.
Filed in My Favorite Things | 3 responses so far
Joey on Apr 30th 2008
I am running behind getting this week’s Challenge posted but I think most of you know how our real jobs get in the way sometimes. For this week I wanted to get some Upper Deck Spectrum or maybe some Press Pass Football. I happened to be in Walmart picking up a few things so I checked out the blister packs on the pegs. They had a good bit of the same old stuff that has been out for weeks or months. But, they also had some Spectrum and Press Pass. I decided on two packs of Spectrum and one of Press Pass for $10 all together.
2008 Press Pass
I will add the local product Malcolm Kelly to my collection, he played his high school football just down the road. I like the way Ray Rice plays and McFadden will be one of the rookies that collectors will be chasing. I am not a big fan of Press Pass products and these cards don’t really do anything to change that. I don’t hate them but I won’t remember them next year either.
2008 Upper Deck Spectrum Pack One
Second pack in a row where I get to add a card to my personal collection. The Jeter will find its way into a binder. The other three cards are solid as well. I won’t be buying a lot of these cards. The word Spectrum makes me think of something rare and special, combine it with these cards and you get common and just like a ton of other shiny cards.
2008 Upper Deck Spectrum Pack Two
The string is broken with this pack. I won’t be keeping any of these.
Overall the three pack bust this week yields twelve cards of which two will make it into my personal collection. I know I didn’t give the sets glowing comments but I did enjoy opening them. It is kind of like that bumper sticker that says a bad day fishing is better than a great day working everytime.
I sold four cards this past week on Sportlots from the Challenge cards. There were three cards from 2007 Allen and Ginter, Mark Reynolds $0.18, Ryan Braun $0.35 and Alejandro De Aza for $0.18. Also selling was a 2007 Donruss Gridiron Gear EA Sports Madden Chris McAllister for $0.45. That brings the total sales for the Challenge to $58.85 and the total inventory still online at 643. The total cards added to my personal collection expands to 43.
Filed in $10 Pack Challenge | 5 responses so far
