Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Life Before The Strike #5

Found some more interesting cards on the recent trip to the card shop. Let's take another trip down memory lane...


1980 Topps #53 Ben Oglivie
Ben was a key member of the '82 pennant campaign, retired from MLB in '86 and moved to Japan where he played for the Kintetsu Buffaloes for a couple years. Former teammates Dick Davis and Don Money also called Osaka, Japan home.

1981 Topps #151 Packers Team Leaders
Mike Butler would later play for the Tampa Bay Bandits, a team in the now-defunct USFL. They were much more successful than their crosstown NFL counterparts. In the 3 years of the team's existence, they were coached by a one Steve Spurrier...and co-owner of the team was the "Bandit" himself, Burt Reynolds.
1992 Donruss Triple Play #56 B.J. Surhoff
I grew up watching B.J. behind the plate, and have always loved this series of cards. Not only were they "hot", but they were CHEAP! We could buy more packs of these and so in '92 this is the series I have the most cards in...besides the dirt-cheap '92 Topps that were hideous. Those were best used for alterations.

1980 Topps #27 Cleveland Elam
He was Seth MacFarlane's inspiration for the lovable, exploitationably-named character in Family Guy. Well, probably not but in speaking with my father, any veteran of the US Army during the 1970's served with a guy named either A)Cleveland, B)Detroit, or C)Memphis. I think Forrest Gump served with a guy named Cleveland...but he was from Detroit.
1984 Topps #330 Ron Jaworski
"The Polish Rifle" recieved a medal from fellow Pole Pope John Paul II in 1979...for being Polish. All ESPN regulars know him as "Jaws", but I prefer the more colorful nickname myself.
The back of this card follows the old tradition (and one of my favorites) with a fun fact and illustration.
2007 Upper Deck #103 Ryan Longwell
This long-time member of the Packers is second on my "Packers Favorite Kicker" list only to Chris Jacke...only because he doesn't have the same kick-ass haircut as Jacke. Although it made me upset to see him in a Vikings uniform last year, I guess the Vikes have an option for replacing Tarvaris Jackson for the season opener this year...as Quarterback?

2 comments:

capewood said...

I never knew that about Jaws even though I lived in Philly then.

Dubbs said...

I just learned it today, pretty neat.