Wood vs. Wood #345

Last time it was an 8-0 shutout for 1987. Will 1962 get on the board here?

Chuck Schilling poses in front of the left field grandstand at Yankee Stadium. The setting is kind of ironic; Schilling grew up on Long Island, in New Hyde Park, as a New York Giants fan who hated the Yankees. After high school two teams were interested in him - the Yankees and the Red Sox, so Schilling chose Boston. He had a good rookie season in 1961, hitting .259 with 5 HR and 62 RBI. However, he broke his hand in 1962 and never regained his rookie form. By '63 he had lost his starting job at second base, and his big league career was over after the 1965 season, at the age of 27. Overall in 541 games he hit .239 with 23 HR and 146 RBI. After his playing career he moved further out east on Long Island, first working in his father's electrical shop in Farmingdale, and then teaching math at Selden Middle School for over 20 years. He died in 2021.

Andre Dawson hits one high and far at a spring training game in West Palm Beach. Andre Dawson was a five-tool player who excelled at every area of baseball. In 2,627 games, mostly with the Expos and Cubs, the Hall-of-Famer hit .279 with 438 HR, 1,591 RBI and 314 stolen bases. Injuries from playing the first decade of his career on the artificial turf in Montreal prevented those numbers from being even higher. He signed with the Cubs in 1987 and was rejuvenated playing on grass, hitting .287 with a league leading 49 HR and 137 RBI as he won the NL MVP award. He now owns the Paradise Memorial Funeral Home in Miami, FL. He runs the business, drives the hearse, picks up bodies from hospitals, and occasionally poses for pictures and signs autographs for surprised mourners. 

Wallet Card at Nassau Garage

This building on Main Street in Freeport, NY has the sign Nassau Garage. This was originally built in the 1920s as a Packard Automobiles dealer. The Packard dealership moved out shortly after, and became a movie theater which went by various names through the 1980s. 

Now it is the site of various businesses including a jeweler and a barber shop. The website Cinema Treasures has a photo of this building when it was still a movie theater in the 1970s. In that photo you can see the sign for a neighboring businesses on the side of the movie theater. That sign is still there and will be the subject of another Wallet Card post.

Cake or gum? 1977 Buddy Bell

Last time it was a 3-0 win for gum. Hopefully this matchup draws more interest.

Two shots of Buddy Bell at the Oakland Coliseum, at the start and end of a practice swing. Lots to see here, including two different uniform patches, an on-deck circle with baseball stitches, and someone with long hair and street clothes at the batting cage.

Buddy Bell played eighteen years in the major leagues for the Indians, Rangers, Reds and Astros. A five time all-star, he was a contact hitter, walking more than he struck out. He had moderate power – twelve seasons of 10-20 home runs, but never more. Once Brooks Robinson retired, he was the best defensive third baseman in the American League, winning six straight Gold Gloves from 1979 to 1984. Stuck on bad teams his whole career, he played in 2,405 regular season games but zero postseason games. After he retired he spent some time in the White Sox front office, then became the the first base coach for the Indians in 1994 and 1995. He then managed nine seasons for the Tigers, Rockies and Royals, never finishing better than 82-80. That was interspersed with a couple of stints as Indians bench coach in the mid-2000s. In 32 years as an on-field player, coach, and manager, he only reached the postseason once (1995 Indians). He then spent some time as a front office executive for the White Sox and Reds, and is now retired.