Pain in the Astro.

         My glorious lazy Sunday will consist of me (still) in my pajamas, a huge Dagwood sandwich, and the Mets spring training game.  And, oh look, they are playing the Houston Astros this afternoon. I wonder what's been going on with them lately?

Obviously, that is a bit of shade and sarcasm since this off season saw some major shit hit the fan with a scandal over sign stealing and trash can banging and video taping and maybe buzzers?  It is all a bunch of nonsense that if you have listened or watched anything about sports in the last two months you have heard about it ad nauseum.  Now, full disclosure.  I am not an Astros fan.  I have never liked nor will ever like the Astros.  In fact, if I were to do the 30 Teams lineup that is a wonderful tradition of Night Owl, you would no doubt find the Astros in the bottom ten and maybe in the bottom five.  I am still mad and bitter about that 1986 NLCS (more on that later) which explains my historical animosity towards the Houston nine but also just scratches the surface over why I cannot remotely get worked up at all over this latest bit of endless overreaction and pearl clutching by the media and fans. 

Let's start by making sure we have a common ground of understanding, so let's jump into the WABAC and go to the turn of the century when the Patriots started winning Super Bowls.  Remember that? Remember when there was a time when they didn't win anything at all?

Forget ice cold nerves of steel, the only reason Tom Brady won six times is cheating.

A lot of folks will try to tell you that the reason the Pats started winning is that they are a bunch of dirty cheaters.  That they were filming the signals of the Rams on the sidelines during practice.  You know, something every other team in the league did at the time in one way or the other.  And then the commissioner's office told everyone to stop filming the sidelines of opponents practices.  Some teams did and some teams didn't and the Pats, well, they didn't. And somehow millions of fans and hundreds of media idiots decided that this is the reason for the Pats sustained two decades of success.  Not having a brilliant coach, not having a hall of fame quarterback, nope, it's because they cheated (there is also something about deflated balls, but the less said about that, the better).  Do you want to know what everyone harps on the Pats and their cheating?  Because they win, that's why.  Off the top of my head, the Falcons, Colts, Raiders, and Browns also were fined for various infractions of rule breaking but no one ever constantly beats you over the head with that.  Do you know why, because the Falcons, Browns, and Colts never win anything!  Okay, the Colts won a Super Bowl recently, only after their quarterback complained about everyone and everything and had all sorts of rules changed in his favor - including one where the quarterbacks were allowed to handle the game balls before games.  Hmmmm....  Anyway, the point is, everyone looks for an edge, every team pushes the envelope, and yes, your football team cheats.  A lot. 

That brings us back to the Astros.  The Astros sin here is that they were stealing signs.  Okay, I am going to assume that if you are reading a baseball card blog that you follow baseball.  Chances are you even played baseball.  I seem to remember that once we got out of the tee ball and little leagues and into the pony and travel leagues and high school and such, one of the first things the coaches taught us is to look for the other teams signs.  And steal them.  When you were on second base, you better be looking at the catcher and you better be relaying to the batter where he was lining up or if he was calling for a fastball or a curve.  You did this with your own signals, where you put your hands on your knees, etc.  Baseball and signs and sign stealing is an elegant dance.  Heck, there's a reason why there are signs in the first place.  So you don't let on what you are doing.  And it is your job to figure out what the other team is doing.  And if you get caught, you might get a fastball in the ribs.  But that is the (in)famous unwritten rules of baseball.  And it is one of the things that make the game wonderful to play and watch. 

Jose Altuve is one of the few Astros players I have ever liked and rooted for.

I played no higher that division III college (and I was terrible) but once you get to the big leagues, you can not imagine how high the stakes are. You need to find every advantage you possibly can.  I don't blame any team for looking for some corner to cut or some rule to bend.  The Astros used live video to try to gain such an advantage.  So did a lot of other teams and (and this will sound familiar) eventually the commissioners office told teams to knock it off.  Most teams did and some teams didn't.  The Astros didn't.  They had a glorious system in place that included the height of technology (live HD TV feeds in the clubhouse) and the lowest of low tech (banging on freaking garbage cans).  They also won the World Series doing it in 2017.  And that is why everyone lost their minds.  Remember a few years ago when the Cardinals hacked the entire Astros scouting computer system?  You vaguely do, and do you know why?  Because the Cardinals didn't win anything when they did it.  Everyone got fined and folks lost their jobs but it all got quickly forgotten.  Yet here the Astros have become the poster boys for baseball malfeasance and for one reason and one reason alone.  They won the damn series. And every single media member has seemingly tried to outdo themselves with what should happen to them.  Even though they were fined the maximum amount of money ($5 million) and the manager and GM both got suspended and lost their jobs, that's just not good enough for some people.  In the grand tradition of the Patriots and turning a speeding ticket into first degree murder, I have heard everything from the players should be banned for life, the Astros should give back their trophy, they should lose their charter in the league, if Jose Altuve was wearing a buzzer, he should be brought up on fraud charges.  I swear, sports media people fall all over themselves trying to one up the morality chain, completely forgetting that sign stealing in baseball is not just done, it is expected.  It doesn't even fall under "if you ain't cheating, you ain't trying" it is literally part of your job as a player.  That the Astros crossed an imaginary line seems to be besides the point of everyone trying to out opinion everyone else.  Perspective, both historical and current, is completely lost.  So let's try to put some of this into better perspective than we already have. 

Scene: October 3, 1951.  Not only was Mrs. Winfield in labor, great things were afoot at Coogan's Bluff.  The Dodgers and Giants were playing for the NL Pennant and with the Dodgers winning in the bottom of the ninth, up came Bobby Thomson and hit what I am sure you know, is The Shot Heard 'round The World.  The Giants won the pennant (though eventually lost the series).

I hate having to use this page for this shit and not on October 3rd.

What time eventually told us and most of us seem to have completely overlooked is the Giants at the time had an elaborate sign stealing system in place in the Polo Grounds.  They had spotters in centerfield with binoculars who then used buzzers to relay the information in real time to the dugout.  This was 70 freaking years ago.  And there is little to no doubt that Thomson knew exactly what Ralph Branca was throwing and where when he took that mighty hack that won the Giants the pennant.  Why aren't these same people demanding the Giants give back their National League pennant from 1951?  Why aren't they demanding Willie Mays and Leo Durocher and Monte Irvin be removed from the Hall of Fame?  Or maybe such sign stealing has been romanticized over the years as just one of those things teams did to get an edge.  Maybe this kind of scandal and cheating has always happened.  Maybe on the very first pitch in 1869 someone signaled what they were throwing and on the second one, someone was trying to steal that sign. 

I am not one to Judge...

...pun intended, but the most horrible and egregious reaction to all the Astros hullabaloo was by Yankees fans and players.  Somehow, as usual, they felt very offended that some other team won besides them in 2017.  And, lordy lordy, they might have cheated to do it?!?!? How dare they?!?! How dare some other team cheat the great and mighty Yankees out of their birthright, which is winning the World Series every single year.  I cannot think of a group of people with worse perspective or short term memory than Yankees fans.

Somehow, they can't seem to recall, all the way back 11 long years ago, to the last time they won the Series that the major star of the team was this man. 

Gee, I think I want to list the players who have lied about using PEDs and then gotten busted for it twice after that.  But really, that list would be very short because it begins and ends with Alex Rodriguez.  Say anything you want about the use of steroids and their effect on the game but by 2009, there were some very set and strict rules in place about them and Arod eventually ran afoul of them to the tune of losing his entire 2014 season.  If the Astros have to give back the 2017 title, then we should only start with giving back the 2009 title for the Yankees.

Let's also think about giving back those 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000 titles too.  Remember who was the star pitcher on two of those teams?  This guy:

Not only was Roger Clemens on the 1999 and 2000 Yankees teams, but Andy Pettitte was on all five of the most recent Yankees World Series winners and he's one of the few guys who has admitted to using PEDs and apologized for it.  Being contrite, however, does not remove responsibility for your actions. Pettitte at the time might have just been trying to heal or he might have been trying to get an edge. Either way, his guilt is unquestionable and it is only fair that if the Astros need an asterisk, then all five Yankees winners need one too. You can even give it elegant pinstripes if you like.

One other moronic argument I have heard, and you hear this usually when any baseball scandal happens, is What About Pete Rose? Isn't it time to forgive him?  The answer to this, as always, is no.

I get 3-1 odds that Rose defenders will always chime in when you talk baseball scandals.

Say what you want about steroid cheats, or sign stealers, or baseball scuffers (such as Mike Scott of those aforementioned 1986 Astros, who basically cheated his way to the Cy Young and the 6th game of the NLCS, why aren't people demanding he give back his award?!?) or cocaine users, or computer hackers or any other of the myriad of ways there is to cheat in baseball: at least they were trying to improve themselves and help the team win.  Pete Rose bet on baseball, which is the one absolute no-no deal breaker rule baseball has.  Even though he has said that he always bet on the Reds to win, it is also a fact that he didn't bet every day.  That means every day he didn't bet on the Reds to win, he was betting on them to lose.  His betting no doubt affected the way he managed the team both on days he bet as well as on the days he didn't.  He ruined the integrity of the game in the worst way imaginable.  Gambling is the only one of those sins that has a negative outcome to the sport - which is why it is the cardinal sin.  So every time I hear someone bring up Pete Rose during any of these baseball kerfuffles, I roll my eyes and shake my head at the complete lack of understanding.  And say what you will about Roger Clemens (and my tag says it all) but he was a hell of a pitcher when he was juiced up.

Okay, so is there anyone here who does have a beef?  I will sort of reluctantly say the Los Angeles Dodgers.  They lost that game seven of the 2017 series to those Astros although they did it at home, which means the Astros weren't using their magical sign stealing system at the time. And lord knows what the Dodgers were or weren't doing to steal signs.  After all, no one is going to investigate them because they didn't win the series.

Plus, if Clayton Kershaw had started that game, the Dodgers might have won, given his four scoreless innings after Yu Darvish blew up earlier in the game.  The 2017 postseason was the best one he's had (which isn't saying much considering his overall record in the playoffs is, well, not good).  The point here is, as with all things in sports, you can't go back and change what happened, only put it into perspective what did for both the present and the future.  The present is not being very kind to the Astros and I hope future baseball fans will be able to get their heads on straight and understand that they weren't cheating, they were just cheating better than anyone else at the time.  Now that I have spent an hour and a half ranting all this, I am going to finish my beer and watch the rest of this baseball game and hope to never have to bring up this sad, sorry subject again.

Football '15 Week 1: Here We Go Again.

       I was all ready to root for the Steelers to clean the Patriots clocks Thursday evening, because even as an unabashed Brady apologist, I would like to see a little karmic retribution for them.  Then I watch the pregame show and got reminded why I hate the Patriots haters in the first place.  They gave the softball lob to Tony Dungy to talk about all the "new" spygate evidence and he sits there and starts pontificating.  Now, Dungy likes to portray himself as this holy man of god above all reproach, even though his list of sins and failures is long and luxurious.  He's such a "man of god" he allowed his sons to become junkies through his absentee fatherism and one of them killed themselves.  His early-aught Colts teams were constantly out-hustled and out-muscled by the Patriots in ways that had nothing to do with stealing signs or game plans and all the Colts could ever do is whine about it and demand rules changes.  Oh, and one of those rules was for golden boy Peyton Manning to be able to handle and control his footballs before the game, you know, the rule that led to the entire Ballghazi debacle.  Not to mention those Colt teams pumped crowd noise into their moribund stadium all the time and only won their one Super Bowl because of that.  But oh no, Tony Dungy is such a good man and Bill Belichick is such a scumbag. 


Two other teams were charged with major rules violations in the off season but because it was the Browns and the Falcons - two teams that have never won anything ever - no one even cares.  But because the Patriots win, everyone jumps on them and calls them out for every perceived infraction when every team and coach would look just as awful and devious if they were put under the microscope the way the Pats are.  Hell, after the game, the Steelers couldn't stop making fools of themselves, blaming New England for hacking their headphone communications and Big Ben  - another paragon of virtue if there ever was one - decided that a simple defensive shift was cheating.  Seriously, if it weren't for paranoia there would be no emotion for the Pats at all.

       It comes down to the fact that in a business where multiple billions of dollars are at stake, there are no rules except the ones you can get away with breaking.  So once again, fuck everyone and their short-sighted homerism and misguided misunderstanding of how pro football works (and has always worked).  I hope the Pats rip through the league again 16-0.   I hope Brady throws for 6000 yards and 60 touchdowns and every week Giselle brings her supermodel friends in for multiple post-game orgies.  Of course, I'd then like the Saints to beat them in the Super Bowl, but that goes without saying.  What it comes down to is, maybe everyone should look at their own team and wonder what they are or aren't doing to win and leave the damn Pats alone.

The Fourth (Verse).

O Beautiful


for patriot dream


That sees beyond the years


Thine alabaster cities gleam



Undimmed by human tears!


America! America!


God shed His grace on thee


And crown thy good with brotherhood


From sea to shining sea!

Everything But The Verlanders.

This month, I settle all draft folder business.  This week in particular, I am clearing out all the trade posts that I began but for whatever reason, did not finish. 

This one is not so much a trade post as it is a contest winning post, but hey, stuff came in the mail from someone else, so it counts.  This pile of goodness came in June of 2014 from Dennis of Too Many Verlanders (née Too Many Grandersons, who currently patrols right field for my Mets).  Thanks to the magic of randomization, I came in 6th in his spring cleaning sweepstakes and got to choose from an array of prizes.  He was also just flat out giving away stuff and I chose a couple of lots from that booty as well. 

Given that the best cards were gone, I decided to try my luck: behold a 100 card Super Value (re)Pack.  The lots I got were one of Mark McGwire (because why not) and the creative batch of "what's news" football cards: New York, New England, and New Orleans. 

Here are what I thought were the best cards from the first pocket of the repack:

Most of these speak for themselves.  There is a Met, a trade line, a nifty photo, some vague 80s Fleer, The Penguin, a 1970's Expo, and a couple of Tigers, the last no doubt chosen because of the originator of the pack. 

I remember opening this repack vividly because of the second pocket of cards:

Yup, someone down in repack central thought this collation was a good idea.  Dinged corners aside, this means some Big Topps oddballs are coming!

This repack was obviously meant for a Tigers fan because of the mass quantity of bengals there in.  There is also a nice Daniel Murphy in there too. 

 Before there was such a glut of faux-vintage nostalgia cards everywhere, there was Big Topps.  They made the cards in the slightly larger size of 1950s cards and included funny little cartoons on the back.  They were so ahead of their time.  They produced these for three years to a very bemused and uncaring public.  They should bring these back.  Oh wait, they've done Heritage for 15 years now, never mind.

The McGwire lot included some wonderful shiny stuff.

I think we all have a soft spot in our hearts for Big Mac.  I know I do.  I liked those late 80s A's teams against my better judgment and very few will say they hated the 1998 season at the time.  Unless you always hated Mark McGwire, I see very little reason hating him now.  The difference between McGwire and Barry Bonds is I always hated Barry Bonds from moment one; PEDs don't even come into either discussion.

There were some big cards in the package as well, bigger than even the Big Topps.  Dennis took special care to make sure I didn't think that sandwich of cardboard had cards in it and was not a spacer.  How nice. 

Oh yeah, and that 1978 Expo was not just an old card, it was an O-Pee-Chee.  I cannot recall ever getting vintage Canadian goodness in a repack.  Just a great package all around.

Dennis also included a nice little note congratulating me on my win:

Thank you, Dennis!  Your obsessive player collecting is an inspiration to us all.

The Day After.

       I hope you and yours had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving.  I trust you counted your blessings and gorged yourself to the point of explosion.  While obviously I enjoy the holiday's cavalcade of food and family, I find the day after Thanksgiving to be the better day (and it is certainly not because of any sort of sales or the like, I would rather jab rusty forks into both eyes before going to the mall today).  I love this particular Friday because it is one of the very few weekdays during the year it is acceptable and practically expected that you sit around in your pajamas, watch bad TV, and eat leftovers. 

All this brings us to the matter at hand, it was 30 years ago today (kinda) that Doug Flutie went from quirky curiosity to bonafide miracle worker.  Over the years, Flutie fashioned enough miracles to be named pope 100 times over, but you never forget the first.  I will always remember that game as long as I live; my brother and I sat and watched it on the day after Thanksgiving 1984 and became instant Doug Flutie converts.  The man could do no wrong and for 20+ years, he kept proving himself over and over and over when everyone doubted and counted him out. 

Over the years I have built up quite a collection of Flutie cards and I am going to take a moment between my pie for breakfast and my big honkin' sandwich for lunch to share them with you:

Those top two cards perfectly celebrate the Hail Flutie, one the classic shot of him with his fist in the air, the other being embraced by his brother. 


Flutie's first year in San Diego was the only time he was offered the chance to start all 16 games in a season in the NFL.  While not statistically his best season, I find this little tidbit hard to comprehend, given all his success otherwise.  It also didn't help that those Chargers were kinda short on receivers (no pun intended).


Only in retrospect have I grown to appreciate Doug's time in San Diego for what it turned out to be: he mentored Drew Brees in the ways of both quarterbacking and overcoming the NFL's bias against shorter players at the position.  I doubt Drew Brees is nearly the player he is today without being a teammate of Doug Flutie for four years.



The early aughts were quite the dichotomy of vintage and ultra-modern designs.  If something didn't look like it was made in the 1950's, it was covered in shiny baubles and chrome. 


Did I mention that all of Flutie's second career in the NFL took place between the ages of 36 and 42?  During the time I have been trying to figure out how not to get winded walking up the stairs and/or dealing with my arthritic knee, Doug was reinventing himself as the scrappiest scrapper that ever scrapped.


Of all Doug's regular issue cards, that 1999 Ultra card of him running in the snow is probably my favorite.  Then again, my love of snow cards is very well documented.


While Pacific never made the best cards around, I do miss them just for all the quirks of their base set die cuts and garish over-the-top backgrounds.


I never have decided upon a set way to order the base and chrome cards of a chronological player page. I am never ever consistent even within the same player.


Then again, it was probably Upper Deck's sameness that was one of the contributing factors to them falling out of fashion with collectors.  Somewhere in between Pacific and Upper Deck, the truth lies.


I think most of us have forgotten how big a deal it was when Flutie came back from Canada and played so well for Buffalo.  He was a goddamned cultural phenomenon for a little while.


I think it also bears repeating that Buffalo has suffered a great curse because of the foolishness of Wade Phillips and the team higher ups.  For 2 years, Flutie led Buffalo to miracle win after miracle win, then they switched horses mid-stream and started the immortal Rob Johnson in their 1999 playoff game...


...for whatever reason, be it money or stature, Johnson started that playoff game and the Bills got out-miracled and the Bills haven't played a playoff game since going on 15 seasons and counting. No one will ever be able to explain why Flutie didn't start that game but everyone in hindsight, even the coach himself, thinks it was a dumb move.  Yup.


Not one but two cards on this page are see-thru acrylic.  The late 90's were such an interesting time for cards.


Hmmmmmm, a few inserts seem to have leaked onto my player pages here, which are usually reserved for base cards and parallels.


It is hard to tell with the reflection from the page, but that vertical Flair card is slightly miscut, with some white showing on the bottom. 

and I am still trying to figure out what that little "2000" logo is on that Skybox Metal parallel is.  I take it back, the late 90's were frustrating as hell for cards.

I was really confused about that card with Doug in a red Bills jersey because I don't ever recall the Bills wearing red jerseys ever (I'm right) but then it dawned on me that that is a Pro Bowl uniform. 

And look at that Pacific Invincible card in the middle, the scan does no justice to just how brash and bright and gloriously ugly that card is. 


Nothing more exciting to depict on a football card than a press conference.

Sadly, I do not have many of Doug's cards from his days in Canada.  This seems outrageous since in the eight years he played there, he fashioned not only a hall of fame resume but he was named the greatest player in CFL history.  If any of my readers north of the border want to help remedy that, please email me.  Thanks.

Those last five cards are from Doug's first go around in the NFL.  Turns out, winning did not trump Mike Ditka or Raymond Berry's notion that a quarterback should be 6'4".  Both of their coaching resume's (minus a fluky 1985) seem to bear out what that prejudice adds up to.

No player collection would be complete without a look at all the swatchy shiny goodness of the inserts.

Here you see the only game used football card I have in my entire collection plus two more cards that show Doug's days in Boston College including the exact date of the Hail Flutie. 

Playoff liked the idea of Alma Mater Materials so much, they used the subset in two different years and seemed to capture Flutie in practically the same pose for both.


These show some golden numbered parallels and a couple of vertical inserts.

Honestly, I am not sure if Flutie or Kerry Collins ever lead the league in anything, but okay sure.

I am sure they must have made more cards of Doug's second go around in New England but that 'Revolution' parallel is the only thing I have that comes close.

Plus, we all remember the last thing Doug did on a football field, right?


There is an odd sameness about all that shiny and texture and lightning bolts.  Maybe it's because they all have Doug in the home blues?

Here we go, now we are getting a little kooky with die cuts, die cuts everywhere.

I just noticed I scanned that Hard Hats insert upside down.  Who's in charge of the quality control on this blog?!?!

All of these cards are really shiny and none of them really scanned that way.  Pity.


Here you see a pretty odd texture card called Net-Fusions, where the background is a piece of netting.  This effect kind of worked for hockey (and obviously was best used for basketball) and they sort of shoe-horned it into baseball as part of the foul pole but I am at a loss as to how it applies to football, unless they want to include the net that catches the football after kicks.  Maybe there is a good reason Pacific is long gone. 

The last three cards here are his USFL rookie card and a couple more Canadian cards, though I just realized the blue one is a double. 

I am gonna end with a direct window to the Hail Mary play in case you don't click through my links. Even 30 years later, I am not tired of watching it.  I doubt I ever will be.