Vintage Backgrounds: Keegan Field

Here's the last of the four 1969 expansion teams in 1970 Topps. When they were awarded the Padres' spring training site, the city of Yuma, Arizona constructed a modern, multi-field baseball complex that was considered one of the finest in the nation when it was built. However, for 1969 the Padres had to train at Keegan field, a local youth baseball field. According to an article by the Yuma County Library District, a community-wide effort got the field ready for 1969 Spring Training. Doc Mattei, the team's traveling secretary, said “The Marines built the lockers.  The electric company took light poles and made a batting cage.  Tanner Construction leveled the field.  We raised $3,000 from a raffle, $3,000 from a barbecue, another $3,000 selling bumper stickers.” Even with these improvements, there were not clubhouse facilities for the visiting team, the home team had to shower at an adjoining swimming pool, and capacity was less than 3,000 fans.

I found this photo striking with the palm trees and red signs. I assume this is Keegan Field, but the black-and-white overhead photo in the Yuma Library article is the only picture I could find of the park, so I could not confirm.

Wallet Card with another BMT/IND sighting

I was in the 6th avenue/34th street subway station and noticed a sign I hadn't seen before. These BMT/Independent signs are pretty rare (the lines have been defunct for about 50 years). I've taken photos of similar signs in another part of this station but this was in a different entrance.

1981 Topps Record Breaker: Willie Wilson

The front: Wilson is wearing a lot of Yankee Stadium dirt on his pants as he begins his swing. Wilson played in one day game in the Bronx in 1980, a 14-3 Royals victory on July 20. Wilson went 4-for-5 with a walk.

The back: Wilson’s record was broken by Jimmy Rollins, who had 716 at-bats in 2007. Others to top 700 in a season are Ichiro Suzuki (704 in 2004) and Juan Samuel (701 in 1984).

Wallet card at a very old Pepsi sign

This is one of those posts that probably I only care about. It's a very faded Pepsi sign from the 1950s or 1960s that still stands on West 35th street. I found it on the fantastic BH_NYC Flickr site. Back then Pepsi signs advertising things like "Heros" were very common on NYC streets; now they are basically extinct.

 You can click on the photo to make it bigger. You can just barely make out the Pepsi logo on top and the word Heros on the bottom.

I took a closer-up shot of the top. You can make out "Say Pepsi Please", the drink's slogan in the 1950s and 1960s. As far as I know there is only one other "Say Pepsi Please" still standing in NYC.

1981 Topps Record Breaker: Ozzie Smith

The front: Glad they used a picture of him fielding for a fielding record. They haven’t always matched the picture up to the record. Once again we are in Shea Stadium. Smith played in four day games at Shea in 1980, recording eight putouts and 18 assists without an error.

The back: This is still the record, and likely still will be for some time as ground ball rates continue to decline.

Cards from A Cracked Bat

I sent Julie from A Cracked Bat some Blackhawks cards I got in that hockey haul. In return I got these really great cards:

I think the bottom three are my favorite. Super-shiny Pinnacle card, an Sportflix card with autographing action, and the Banks/Obama Stadium Club.

Wallet Card at one of the last original Carvels

The first Carvel Ice Cream opened in Hartsdale, NY in 1936. There are now more than 5,000, mostly on the East Coast. According to Roadside Architecture, there are very few left that have the original signage with the cones on top. This one in West Hempstead is one of them. I had meant to take a wallet-card photo of it for a while; the last time I passed by I saw that it was boarded up so I knew I had to take a photo while I got the chance. Hopefully whatever renovations are going on will preserve the original architecture and signage.

1981 Topps Record Breaker: Mike Schmidt

The front: Two straight games from the same team, and in fact, as Schmidt was on-deck on the previous card, it could conceivably be two straight cards from two straight at-bats. Wouldn’t that be cool? In that same three-game weekend Schmidt went 4-for-12, including a home run off of Craig Swan in the Saturday game.

The back: Schmidt’s major-league record was tied by the Dodgers’ Adrian Beltre in 2004 and broken by the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez with 52 in 2007. 48 remained the National League record until 2019, when Eugenio Suarez of the Reds hit 49.