Burgers or gum? Kirk Gibson

Last time the emojis came out in full force, giving a 7-1 win to 🍔. Who will win here?

Two pre-game photos in the batting practice jersey at Tiger Stadium. Only the sleeves give away that these are different days.

Gibson was very consistent throughout the '84 season, hitting .282 with 27 HR, 91 RBI and 29 SB. He followed it up with a fantastic postseason, winning the ALCS MVP, and then hitting a clutch home run off of Goose Gossage in Game 5 of the World Series. 

Gibson was drafted in both baseball and football after college. He chose baseball, and had an excellent career. In 17 seasons, mostly with the Tigers and Dodgers, he hit .268 with 255 HR, 870 RBI and 284 SB. He was a consistent performer who regularly put up good numbers, but rarely great ones; he is considered one of the best players ever who never made an All-Star team. Despite several excellent seasons in Detroit, and that huge home run in the 1984 World Series, he will best be remembered as a Dodger. He came to the Dodgers as a free agent before the 1988 season, and sparked the team to a surprise World Championship. He won the MVP award, as much for his team leadership as for his on-field play. His pinch-hit, game-winning home run in the ninth inning of Game 1 shocked the A's and propelled the Dodgers to an upset series victory, and is one of the most memorable home runs of all time.

Gibson has stayed in baseball as an announcer, coach and manager. He managed the Diamondbacks from 2010 to 2014, going 353-375 and winning the NL West in 2011. He was a Tigers announcer until leaving the booth last year, and remains a special advisor for the team. Gibson was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 2015, and has a foundation that raises awareness and funding for research on the disease.
 

Wood vs. Wood #326

Last time it was a 5-2 win for 1962. Who will win here?

Tom Parsons looks like he has a long neck in this photo. He actually was one of the tallest major leaguers of his time, at 6-7 (lol). Mets announcer Bob Murphy would call him "Long Tom Parsons". Parsons made his debut with the Pirates in 1963, pitching in one game. He ended up with the Mets for four games in 1964 and 35 in 1965. Overall he went 2-13 with one save and a 4.72 ERA. He stayed in pro ball through 1969 but did not pitch again in the minors. Parsons seems to have kept a low profile during his baseball career. He currently lives in Florida and is a regular TTM signer.

Mark Gubicza delivers a pitch in spring training. Gubicza pitched fourteen seasons in the major leagues, thirteen of them with the Royals. A two-time all-star, he won 132 career games, including 20 in 1988, and had a 3.96 ERA. He is now an announcer for the Angels. He shared his favorite cards with this blog in 2018.
 

Cake or gum? 1977 Fred Lynn

Last time it was a 6-0 shutout for gum. Will cake get on the board here?

Looks like two photos taken at the same time. Hostess has a portrait, Topps a swing follow-through.

Fred Lynn had a solid career punctuated by some big highlights. In 1975 he became the first player to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season, hitting .331 with 21 HR and 105 RBI, leading the AL in runs, doubles, slugging and OPS. After a dip in production the next few years due to injuries, he had an even better season in 1979, hitting a league leading .333 with 39 HR and 122 RBI. He fell off again in 1980 and was traded to the Angels. Throughout the 1980s he bounced around for several seasons, putting up solid numbers but never again was an MVP-level player. Overall in 1,969 games he hit .283 with 306 HR and 1,111 RBI. After his playing career he did some announcing, and has been involved in many charitable endeavors, most notably his own organization for emergency pet care, the FACE Foundation.
 

Wallet card at Grand Central Terminal in Grand Central Terminal

I had a little time before my train this evening so I stopped by the NYC Transit Museum's little annex/store there. They always have some kind of exhibit. This time it was a model train set. The back half was a standard Lionelville town, but the front was various NYC locations, including CBGBs, the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square, and the Lenox Lounge in Harlem. 

I thought it would be a fun little wallet card photo to show Grand Central at Grand Central. Just like in real life, the MetLife building rises behind the famous station. In 2018, MetLife moved away from this logo to a less bold design, and replaced the logo that looks like the one you see here.

 

1981 Topps Keith Hernandez

 

The front: I'm pretty sure that's Shea Stadium, that was the color of the outfield wall at the time. In five day games at Shea in 1980 (three won by the Mets), Hernandez went 6-for-23, with two doubles.

The back: Hernandez was a left-handed quarterback at Capuchino High School.

The player: Keith Hernandez had some very good seasons for the Cardinals and Mets, most notably 1979 when he was NL co-MVP, when he hit .344 with 11 HR and 105 RBI. Often considered one of the best defensive first baseman in baseball history, his offensive numbers, while solid, haven't been able to get him to crack the Hall of Fame, even as standards have watered down considerably over the past decade. In 2088 games he hit .296 with 162 HR and 1,071 RBI.

The man: Hernandez has been a lightning rod for controversy during and after his career. The Cardinals got rid of him when they thought his drug use was a bad influence on the team. He gets credit for helping lead the Mets when they won a World Series in 1986, but doesn't seem to get as much blame for the way the team quickly fell apart and underachieved with him as captain in the years since, most notably getting into a fistfight with Darryl Strawberry in spring training 1989. Hernandez, who posed in a Confederate uniform for a magazine profile in 1986, has made some controversial sexist and homophobic remarks in his 20 years as a Mets announcer.

My collection: I have 114 of his cards, from 1975 to 1991. I would be interested in trading for 1977 Hostess #115.

1976 SSPC Dave Heaverlo

 

The card, in brief: The 1970s were full of ballplayers with long hair. Dave Heaverlo was not one of them. In fact, his nickname was "Kojak".

Playing career, in brief: Dave Heaverlo pitched seven years in the majors for the Giants, A's and Mariners. In 356 games, all in relief, he went 26-26 with 26 saves and a 3.41 ERA. I imagine that must be a record for the highest number where a pitcher has the same number for wins, losses and saves for a career.

Post-playing career, in brief: After his playing career Heaverlo was a college baseball coach and college football announcer. He appears to now be retired.

My collection: I have eight of his cards, from 1976 to 1981. I would be interested in trading for  1983 TCMA Tacoma Tigers #21

1986 Renata Galasso Mattingly #8

Get off the court, kid! How old does Mattingly look here? High school senior, junior maybe?

7th grade! Maybe I was just a scrawny kid, and it's certainly been a while, but I don't remember 12-year-olds being that muscular.

 

1988 Domino's Willie Horton

Great shot of Willie Horton, but definitely not from 1968. Facial hair on ballplayers was still a no-no at that point.

Horton was a powerful hitter who had his best season in '68, hitting .285 with 36 HR and 85 RBI. Horton had a big swing and struck out a lot, but had enough power to top 20 HR six times in 15 seasons. Unlike many power hitters he aged poorly, with most of his best seasons coming early in his career. In the mid-to-late '70s he bounced around from team to team, with one more excellent season coming with the Mariners in 1979, hitting .279 with 29 HR and 106 RBI. Overall in 2,028 games he hit .273 with 325 HR and 1,163 RBI. After his playing days he was a coach for the Yankees and White Sox, and since 2003 he has been a Special Assistant for the Tigers.

I have 26 of his cards, from 1965 to 1980. I would be interested in trading for 1964 Topps #512 and  1972 Topps #750. 

Burgers or gum? Barbaro Garbey

Last time Wendy's won a close one, 4-3. This time will it be Barbaro Burgers or Garbey Gum?

Wendy's goes for Garbey looking glum while holding his bat, while Topps has Garbey looking glum with no bat.

Barbaro Garbey defected from Cuba to the US in 1980. Known as a great player in Cuba, he was quickly signed by the Tigers and worked his way through their system. He made the team out of Spring Training in 1984 and got off to a very good start - at the team's 35-5 high-water mark he was hitting .355. However, he tailed off significantly after that, ending the season hitting .287 with 5 HR and 52 RBI in 110 games. He also spent some time with the Tigers in '85 and the Rangers in '88, but made little impact. Since his retirement he had a long career as a minor league coach, and is now a Spanish-language announcer for the Tigers.
 

Wood vs. Wood #325

Last time it was a 7-3 win for 1987. Who will win here?

Luis Aparicio is photographed at the old Yankee Stadium, with the facade, grandstand and bleachers all nicely represented. Luis Aparicio came up with the White Sox as a 22-year-old shortstop, and led the AL in stolen bases. It was the first of nine straight seasons for him to lead the league in steals. Considered the greatest-fielding shortstop of his generation, he also had a great batting eye, walking as often as he struck out. A walk and a steal were considered an "Aparicio double".  He had some of the least impressive "traditional" hitting stats of any Hall of Famer - .262 batting average (only one season above .280); 83 HR (only one season with 10), and 791 RBI (never more than 61 in a season). He did have 2,677 hits, but never more than 182 in a season. After his playing career he returned to his native Venezuela and was a manager and an announcer. He is now retired, and since 2024 is the oldest living Hall of Famer.

Garry Templeton gets a simple spring training shot. Templeton's career started off looking like he could be an equal or better than Aparicio, at least as a hitter. In his first three full seasons for the Cardinals, Templeton led the NL in triples each year, and he led the NL in hits in 1979. Unlike Aparicio, he was a poor defensive shortstop, and was traded straight-up to the Padres for their shortstop, Ozzie Smith. Smith blossomed into an Aparicio-like HOFer in St. Louis, while Templeton devolved into a mediocre shortstop who still managed to hang around for a decade in San Diego. Overall he hit .271 with 2,096 hits, 70 HR, 728 RBI and 242 SB. Numbers that were on the surface quite similar to Aparicio's, but most of those numbers came in his first few years in St. Louis, dragged down by his decade in San Diego, where he managed just 10.1 WAR in 10 seasons. After his playing career Templeton was a minor league coach and manager. He is now retired.