Card of the Moment III

This moment's 1999 Topps Gold Label card is Sammy Sosa in his Cubs heyday. This is a good opportunity to use the old Dictionary (or Dictionary.com) and look up Heyday: "the stage or period of greatest vigor, strength, success, etc.; prime." Hmmm, greatest vigor and strength. Do you think this may apply to Sammy and what he was doing at the time to improve his performance? As the Church Lady used to say, "mmmmm, Could be!"

In any event, I love these cards. They are Bowman's Best before Bowman's Best. This is the Class 1 version of the card. It is from the year after he hit 66 home runs and "endeared himself to America." I remember those heady days when McGwire and Sosa were chasing Maris' record, and they made baseball fun again, before heading into the deep steroid-laced funk that followed. Seeing McGwire bear hug Sosa was very cool.
As for his Hall of Fame credentials, at this point in his career, they are not very impressive considering he was an average outfielder. 273 HR's is pretty good, but 800 RBI's is not great considering how many HR's he did hit. 158 RBI's in one season is way up there, though.

If you ask me, I would say that he is close but not in. He may get in sometime if the steroids era looks softer and rosier at some point in the future, but don't count on it happening any time soon.

Rants and Raves

Congratulations to Dave at Fielder's Choice for his Rays coming through to go to the World Series. I know how he feels (see Indians, Cleveland, 1995-1997) and how he could have felt had they lost the last three games of the series (see Indians, Cleveland, 2007). The Rays are a fun team to watch, and they are sincerely having a good time just playing the game. The Rays remind me of a sandlot team that wins the neighborhood championship, and the Sox are beginning to look like the Yankees: a Big Business with lots of bluster and seriousness, with very little enjoyment from succeeding as if it were just another day at the office. This may not be the most interesting World Series for the rest of America, but for purists who enjoy watching the game played for fun, it will be great.

Congratulations to Mario and Chris on extracting a sweet deal from Upper Deck. I have no problem with either one getting "free" product. They excel at their avocation, and deserve credit and props for giving us honesty, information, controversy and a bit of comedy along the way. Mario, don't give it ALL away. Keep a card or two for all the hard work you've done to get to this point. And Chris, don't be so modest and apologetic about it! (The "Joke" sign is lit.)

Sour apples to Jose Canseco (sorry, Mario) for being a big ol' crybaby. Maybe he did something good, unintentionally, by writing the book "Juiced" and its silly little sequel, but now he is whining that no one will play tiddlywinks with him anymore, so he is apologizing for writing all those nasty little things about everyone. Does he really think that anyone is willing to forgive him for tarnishing reputations, sullying the game and bringing shame on himself and baseball for taking drugs in the name of performance? He may not have been the first, nor will he be the last, to try to game the system, but he is certainly one of the three or four most infamous, and almost certainly one of the original over-juiced neanderthals to ever stick a needle in his posterior. The need to excel, whether self-directed or externally influenced, has permeated our athletics subculture and tacitly authorized anyone to use performance-enhancing drugs in order to be "The Best." Too many kids and young adults are now either dead or damaged from using PEDs, and much of it can be attributed to Mr. Canseco.

Open Letter to Kellen Winslow: SHUT THE F- UP! Us Browns fans are sick of all your crap that you have pulled, and the team has stuck by you through that stupid motorcycle stunt and the broken leg. Maybe they didn't sit by your bedside and pat your hand and say "Everything will be alright, my wittle angel!" but maybe they expect you to be grown up and take responsibility. I say "TRADE HIM" while his value is still moderately high. Heiden is a much better team player, and as the Giants game showed, he is more valuable than Winslow will ever be.

Open Letter to the Cleveland Browns and the Cleveland Clinic: You better find out NOW what is going on that six Browns have contracted staph infections in the past few years. This is not normal, especially not for healthy, athletic people. It appears to be a staph cluster, or maybe the new carpeting in the headquarters is a breeding ground. Fix it. NOW!