Cards from GCRL...Round 2

Back in March I got a package from Jim over at GCRL, and the contents were overwhelming - hundreds and hundreds of Brewers cards, old, not-so-old, and friggin new. Lots of em. Too many for one post. I set aside another posts' worth of cards at that time for a second post - one that would come after I said thanks to a few others for gifts they sent.

We are in the middle of packing up our apartment as we prepare to move 3,000 miles away to sunny Charleston, SC a week from now. Underneath some books and papers was a small stack of cards...the very cards I set aside for the "Thanks GCRL 2 of 2" post. Here they are, folks! And once again, Jim, thanks for the cards.

I have two baseballs from major league baseball games. The first was the one that Paul Molitor threw to me and my father during warmups before a Brewers vs. Twins game in Minneapolis back in '87. I've told the story before as my entry for the Fifth Blog Bat Around...you can read it here. The second one was hit right to me during batting practice, at the same Metrodome in Minneapolis, once again before a Brewers vs. Twins game. Except this time, it came from a slightly more portly player on the Brewers team, Mr. Ron Belliard. I don't know if I still have that one.

I will never complain about an oddball card. There can be nothing wrong with them, because there is no "bar" set. They cannot disappoint. This one is no exception. And the Vuckovich card is from another generation. It's a bit harder to find a leg kick like this anymore...or a mustache like this. I still can't see a picture of him without thinking of nemesis of Rick Vaughn, Yankees slugger "Haywood". On a brief sidenote, it was revealed during the fifth inning of a Brewers/Astros game a few weeks ago that my wife had never seen "Major League". MLB Extra Innings was carrying the Astros broadcast of the game that night, and they had a guest in the booth...Mr. Bob Uecker. I went nuts. He was nothing short of genius, and I was laughing the whole time. I commented on how funny he was in "Major League". I was met by a blank stare on my wife's face. After the game, we watched the movie.

The Jenkins/Burnitz high five was a common site for a few years in Brew Town. This cards scores a couple runs because it's taken from a distance, which gives us two ballplayers frozen in time, with a sea of faceless fans behind them. I love it.

No matter what happened to Matt Childers, he could always brag to his children and grandchildren that he had two of the coolest baseball cards ever. I love these cards. Maybe it's the patriot in me, maybe I just like bright, shiny objects, but they work for me. Matt only made 11 major league appearances earlier in the decade. Last year he pitched for the Phillies AAA club, and this year he's pitching in Japan. Glad he's still in the game.


Add to the list of guys who become sluggers with the Brewers, leave, and then disappear. Maybe it's just him on this list, but for some reason I want to throw in Geoff Jenkins and Carlos Lee - although both of their situations are entirely different. Last season I went to about a dozen Mariners games here in Seattle. It didn't take the fans too long to start booing him last year.

One question, though. Future World Series Hero? What a crappy set. Did they mean that he would soon leave the Brewers for a larger market and hopefully more successful ballclub, or did they mean the Brewers would soon make it to the World Series? Either way, they lost. Dumb, dumb Upper Deck.

Finally, a minor league card. I know nothing about Leon Glenn, Jr, but I do know that he played for the one time A-affiliate Beloit Brewers. By the time I came into my "baseball adulthood", they were already the Beloit Snappers (easier to put a turtle suit on some guy than try to sell the whole "beer" thing to youngsters). The Milwaukee Brewers still own the rights to this logo, though, and as I've said before, I sure hope it'll find it's way onto the Brewers uniforms, at least as a sleeve patch. It shows Wisconsin pride. I like that.