Can't Have Too Many Cards: Blow Out the Candles February 1

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Blow Out the Candles February 1

Orioles fan favorite Paul Blair is celebrating his 68th birthday today.

1968 Topps #135

Paul appeared in six World Series and was on the winning side four times, twice with the Orioles and twice with the Yankeees. He was an All-Star twice and won eight Gold Gloves.

July 2, 1969

April 8, 1971

Conn Smythe was born on this date in 1895.

Smythe was the principal owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1927 to 1961 and was responsible for the building of the Maple Leaf Gardens. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958.

1972-73 Topps #176
The Conn Smythe Memorial Trophy honors the MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins was last year's winner of the trophy.

S.J. Perelman was born on this date in 1904

Perelman co-wrote the Marx Brothers films, Horsefeathers and Monkey Business.

Perelman also co-wrote the screenplay for the 1956 film, Around the World in Eight Days for which he won an Oscar.

Over the years, Perelman wrote scores of humorous pieces for magazines including The New Yorker which can be found in numorous anthologies.

Here's Perelman's self-description:

"Under a forehead roughly comparable to that of the Javanese or the Piltdown man are visible a pair of tiny pig eyes, lit up alternately by greed and concupiscence. His nose, broken in childhood by a self-inflicted blow with a hockey stick, has a prehensile tip, ever quick to smell out an insult; at the least suspicion of an affront, Perelman, who has the pride of a Spanish grandee, has been known to whip out his sword-cane and hide in the nearest closet."

Don Everly of the Everly Brothers turns 75 today.