Blow Out the Candles -- November 7

Jim Kaat turns 73 today. Jim won 283 games in his 25 year career and won 16 Gold Gloves.

1967 #300

"I’ll never be considered one of the all-time greats; maybe not even one of the all-time goods. But I’m one of the all-time survivors.

Jim Kaat pitching in the 1965 World Series

Joe Niekro was born on this date in 1944. Joe played for 22 seasons amassing a record of 221-204.

1969 #43

Trivia---Joe Niekro only hit one home run in his career, on May 29, 1976. It was off his older brother Phil.

Albert Camus was born in Monovi, Algeria on this date in 1913. Author of The Stranger, The Myth of Sisyphus, and The Plague he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. He died in a car accident in a small town in France in 1960.


"A man's work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened." 

"For if there is a sin against life, it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life."

Singer/artist Joni Mitchell turns 68 today.

Christopher Knight, aka Peter Brady, turns 54 today.

Big Cards Need Love Too -- #'s 51-55

I guess I'm in the minority but I think these 3-1/2" x 5", 1983 Donruss Action All-Stars are nice.   Here they are in numerical order. (Click to enlarge particularly if you want to read the backs).

If the comments I've been getting on the first half of the set are any indication these cards do have some fans.  Anyone want to comment that doesn't like them?

Joe went 17-12 in 1982 for the 5th place Astros.  I still think the rainbow jerseys are great.

The portrait is good here but what a lousy action shot!

Fernandomania was in full swing in 1983.  I don't think the helmet is particularly flattering.

"Pitch at risk to Richie Zisk."  What a great slogan.  It was in use when Richie was part of "the South Side Hitmen" in 1977 with the White Sox.  I remember him killing the Cubs when he was with the Pirates.

Leon looked like he was going to be a superstar but never quite got there.  He made a key error in the 1984 NLCS loss to the Padres.

Phil and Joe Together

Phil and Joe Niekro are the winningest pair of brothers in MLB history.  Together they won 539 games.

Twice in their careers the brothers Niekro were teammates.

This pair of 1974 Topps cards represent the only time Joe and Phil were together for an entire season.  The Braves acquired Joe off waivers from the Tigers on August 7, 1973  and sold him to the Astros on April 6, 1975.

The two were reunited,  only briefly, in 1985 when the Yankees acquired Joe in a trade from Houston on September 15.  The cards below became a fantasy when Phil was released by the Yanks on  March 28, 1986.

Phil, 71, is currently an advisor on a baseball line for a toy company in Georgia.  Younger brother Joe died of a brain aneurysm in 2006 at age 61.

Card of the Day

Today's Card of the Day is Topps #508 from 1970.

I like good photography and I like baseball cards. One out of two ain't bad.

Blow Out the Candles Nov 7

1967 #300

Jim Kaat turns 71 today. Jim won 283 games in his 25 year career and won 16 Gold Gloves.
"I’ll never be considered one of the all-time greats; maybe not even one of the all-time goods. But I’m one of the all-time survivors.

Jim Kaat pitching in the 1965 World Series

1969 #43

The late Joe Niekro was born on this date in 1944. Joe played for 22 seasons amassing a record of 221-204.

Trivia---Joe Niekro only hit one home run in his career, on May 29, 1976. It was off his brother Phil.

Albert Camus was born in Monovi, Algeria on this date in 1913. Author of The Stranger, The Myth of Sisyphus, and The Plague he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. He died in a car accident in a small town in France in 1960.


"A man's work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened."

"For if there is a sin against life, it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life."

Singer/artist Joni Mitchell turns 69 today.

Christopher Knight, aka Peter Brady, turns 52 today.