The Sharing of the Green

I thought this was a new purchase but I must have just been leafing through a box of cards recently and came up with one that seems appropriate for today.  I'm guessing it's about as St. Patrick's Day  green as any card I have.  "The Glove" had a 17 season Hall of Fame career.

My wife brought this home the other day.  It's actually pretty tasty.  Or should I say "magically delicious!"

What's in a Name?

There seem to be less guys these days who are known by their nicknames.  I saw a few in this year's Heritage (Scooter, Mookie, Coco).  Here are eight of them I pulled from the original 1968 set.

Horace Guy "Dooley" Womack

From Wikipedia:  "Womack, who acquired his nickname "Dooley" as a child from a friend of his family and claimed, 'I prefer it to my real name, which is Horace,' was described as having a "high voice, a serious drawl and a giddy laugh", by Maury Allen in his book Where Have You Gone?".

Minervino Alejandro "Minnie" Rojas Landin

No name story here.  Obviously Minnie is short for Minervino.  Tragic story though.  Minnie lost two young daughters and sustained serious spinal damage in a car accident in 1970.

Richard Joseph "Turk" Farrell

Turk gets his nickname from his father who was known as "Big Turk".  Turk died at just 43 in a car accident while working in England.  SABR has a great bio of Turk.

Wycliffe Nathaniel "Bubba" Morton

According to one source, Morton's parents nicknamed him Bubba after his grandfather.  The same source correctly points out that Bubba is the only player in MLB history with the name Wycliffe.  Morton was the first African-American to be signed by the Detroit Tigers although not the first to make the big league roster.

Charles Andrew "Cap" Peterson

According to Wikipedia Cap is from his initials C. A. P..  In case you're wondering, the immortal Cap Anson got his nickname for being "Captain" of the Chicago White Stockings.  Cap Peterson died young, just 37,  of kidney disease.

Frank Edwin "Tug" McGraw, Jr.

OK, I never knew this.  Raise your hand if you did.  Tug was given his nickname by his mother, Mabel in reference to his "over-aggressive style of breast-feeding as a baby".  Yet another early death, Tug died of a brain tumor at age 59.

John Wesley "Boog" Powell

From Baltimore Sports Then and Now "Though his given name was John Wesley Powell, he earned the nickname “Boog” as a kid due to his mischievous nature. He seemed to always be getting into something and became known as Booger, as in, “What’s that little Booger doing now?” The nickname was eventually shortened to Boog, probably around the time he got big enough to beat the snot out of anyone who would dare call him Booger."

Octavio Víctor "Cookie" Rojas Rivas

Cookie is an anglicized version of a popular Cuban nickname, Cuqui meaning cute, adorable, etc.  Cookie was a 4 time All-Star with the KC Royals and played for 16 seasons overall with 4 teams.  He is in the Phillies and Royals HOFs.

Here Come the Hawks

My love of Upper Deck Hockey is well documented.  It's my favorite card set of the year.  I love the full bleed, the great color and the creative photography.  It doesn't hurt that over the last decade my favorite team has been one of the best in all of sports.  I'm not exactly sure why but I just haven't felt like buying a complete set of cards this year.  Instead I opted for just the Blackhawks.  My Series 1 & 2 cards arrived yesterday.  I won't bore you with commentary.  If you're a hockey fan you know most of these guys.  If you're not you'll enjoy the cards anyway.

 

You Want Managers?

People have noted that 2017 Heritage lacks the manager cards that were included in the original set.  Who knew when I brought these home from the drugstore 49 years ago that they would end up here?  I'm not even sure we had a color TV in my house in 1968.  In fact I'm pretty sure we didn't.  We did get a Betamax when they first came out but I digress.  Old people sometimes do that.  Here are my 1968 Topps managers.  There were some pretty good ones.  And while everyone loves stats on the backs of cards I really like what Topps did here with a nice write up on each.