Dandy Daves and Davids

 My name is David.  Growing up that's all I ever remember being called.  At some point in college that changed and I started going, in greater part, by "Dave".  After that I reverted back and have always gone by the original.  The funny thing is, lots of people, particularly acquaintances and people I see in my job, automatically call me Dave. Though I find it interesting, I really don't mind.  I see it as a friendly nickname. I have no stories like that about all the guys below.  You'd have to ask them. 

Here's 3 NBA Hall of Famers.  All three were picked for both the 50th and 75th NBA Anniversary Teams.  All three were two time NBA Champs.

In 2016, Hall of Famer Dave Keon was voted the greatest Maple Leaf of all time.  He won four Stanley Cups in the 1960's.  Um, they haven't won one since.

If I'm correct there are only two baseball Hall of Famers with my given name, Dave Winfield and Dave Bancroft.  Incidentally, both of their Hall of Fame plaques list them as David.

I do have a story about Dave Winfield that relates to his name.  Click here.

This guy was sure fun to watch.  

While maybe not quite Hall worthy,  David Cone did have an outstanding career.

Sorry for the missing back.

Big Papi.  Hall of Fame?  We'll see.

You can't think about The Big Red Machine without thinking of Dave Concepcion.  You can make a Hall of Fame argument for him.  Some do.

I grew up a Cubs fan but the Orioles were on TV a lot during my childhood.  I have an affinity, particularly for the great American League teams of the era.  Dave, or Davey -- the way I think of him, comes to mind as readily as Brooks, Frank and Boog. 

Dave McNally was part of the Orioles great starting pitching staffs of the sixties and seventies.  From 1968-1973 he went 117-65 with a 2.91 ERA --and he wasn't even the ace of the team.

The Cobra was a fearsome hitter with a great arm.  Should he be in the Hall of Fame?  Talk among yourselves.

Rags had a great career, first as a starter and reliever, then as a pitching coach.

That's a lot of star power!  Who did I miss?

Thanks for reading.

Autographed Cards A-Z -- Killebrew to Kingman

When I got back into collecting five or so years ago one of the things that excited me was the availability of autographed cards.  Perhaps I went a little overboard but I think I picked up some nice cards.  This will be an A-Z series of posts with varying numbers of cards.

One of the all-time greats with one of the best signatures.

 2005 UD Signature Decades #SD-HK 28/99

 2005 UD Signature Decades #SD-HK 4/99

Look at the power!

 1999 Fleer SI

Classic UD Design

 2000 UD Legendary Signatures #S-HK

Sticker auto.  I must have gotten this one for a good price.

 2004 Fleer Greats #GBA-HK

Hall of Famer Kiner led the NL in home runs for 7 straight seasons after WWII.

 2005 UD Signature Decades #SD-RK 71/99

Dave had the most awesome swing I've ever seen.  Even his pop-ups were cool!

2005 UD Origins #DK1

Blow Out the Candles December 21

Negro League great, Hall of Famer Josh Gibson was born in Buena Vista, Georgia on this date in 1911.

1994 UD Baseball The American Epic #44

Josh Gibson sliding into home in the 1944 Negro All-Star Game




Three time All-Star Dave Kingman turns 63 today.
1972 Topps #147

 He was only with the Cubs for three seasons, 1978-80, but they were memorable. He hit a career high 48 home runs in 1979 and was an All-Star twice. I do remember his towering home runs and monstrous swings (mostly swings and misses unfortunately). I also remember him looking like a giraffe trying to catch fly balls in left field. Dave was the first player in baseball history to hit over 400 home runs and not make it to the Hall of Fame.

Dave with the Cubs

Dave in 2008

Hockey Hall of Famer, Frank Patrick was born in Ottawa, Ontario on this date in 1885.

 An innovator in the early days of hockey, Frank introduced the blue line, numbers on sweaters and a playoff system to hockey.

Tennis Hall of Famer, Chris Evert turns 55 today.

1987 Fax-Pax

 Chrissie won 18 Grand Slam singles titles in her career and had the highest winning percentage in singles matches (1,309-146--.900) of any professional player in tennis history.

Young Chrissie

Chris Holding one of her three Wimbledon trophies

One of the All-Time greatest rivalries (and friendships) in sports history.  They made each other better. 

Carl Wilson, one of the founding members of The Beach Boys was born in Hawthorne, California on this date in 1946.

 Carl sang lead vocals on hits such as, God Only Knows and Good Vibrations.