Blow Out the Candles January 30

Former player and current Nationals manager Davey Johnson is celebrating his 69th birthday today.

 1968 Topps #273

As this card tells us, Davey got the last hit off Sandy Koufax.  It came in the sixth inning of Game 2 of the 1966 World Series.

Here's a brief video of Davey talking about it with a great line from Sandy:

Davey in Game 3 of the 1970 World Series.

Davey had some pretty nice accomplishments:

4× All-Star selection (1968, 1969, 1970, 1973)
3× World Series champion (1966, 1970, 1986)
3× Gold Glove Award winner (1969, 1970, 1971)
1973 NL Comeback Player of the Year
1997 AL Manager of the Year

In addition to his 4 World Series (2 wins) with the Orioles as a player,  Davey managed the 1986 Mets their second World Series Championship.

That's Davey just to the left of the Mets logo.

 Met's video featuring 1986 Topps cards

Comedian Dick Martin was born on this date in 1922.

Dick is best known for his work on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In which ran on ABC from 1968 to 1973.  For it's first two full seasons it was the #1 rated show in America.

October 11, 1968

Dick went on to a second career as a sitcom director.  He was the primary director on Newhart.

Song for a Sunday Night

This selection falls under the heading "one thing leads to another".  One of my recent "Songs for a Sunday Night"  featured Amanda Palmer who herself was an offshoot of my birthday post of Neil Gaiman (she being his  wife).  Well, I've been following Amanda's blog and in one post she tells about a recent incident where singer P.J. Harvey is in the audience for one of her shows.  Although Polly Jean has had a long and successful career I'll freely admit, though knowing her name, I don't know much about her music.

This is a recent song and video released about a year ago.  About the song.  PJ Harvey.net

"The Words That Maketh Murder"

I've seen and done things I want to forget;
I've seen soldiers fall like lumps of meat,
Blown and shot out beyond belief.
Arms and legs were in the trees.

I've seen and done things I want to forget;
coming from an unearthly place,
Longing to see a woman's face,
Instead of the words that gather pace,
The words that maketh murder.

These, these, these are the words-
The words that maketh murder.
These, these, these are the words-
The words that maketh murder.
These, these, these are the words-
Murder...

These, these, these are the words-
The words that maketh murder.

I've seen and done things I want to forget;
I've seen a corporal whose nerves were shot
Climbing behind the fierce, gone sun,
I've seen flies swarming everyone,
Soldiers fell like lumps of meat.

These are the words, the words are these.
death lingering, stunk,
Flies swarming everyone,
Over the whole summit peak,
Flesh quivering in the heat.
This was something else again.
I fear it cannot be explained.
The words that make, the words that make
Murder.

Blow Out the Candles January 29

Hall of Famer Joe Primeau was born on this date in 1906.

Primeau was a member of Toronto's "Kid Line".  One of his linemates' birthdays was just ten days ago.  Check it out here. 

As a coach, Primeau is the only man to have won the Allan, Memorial and Stanley Cups.

Actress Katherine Ross turns 72 today.

Two of Ross's most memorable performances came early in her career:

In 1967 she played Mrs. Robinson's daughter Elaine opposite Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman in "The Graduate".

In 1969 she played the role of Etta Place opposite Redford and Newman in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid".

Katherine has penned a bunch of childrens books.  Here are a couple of examples:

A $25 Ebay Gift Card Got Me Part 8 -- Batts on TV

Last year my sister-in-law and brother-in-law gave me a $25 Ebay gift card for Christmas.  Here's what I ended up with.  This year they were nice enough to treat me again.

This was my first purchase , second, , third , fourth and fifth, and sixth, and seventh.

Here's my eighth and last purchase.  Cost $1.99, shipped .  Total $25.09.


This card has lots to love:  Matt Batts?  C'mon!, Orioles cap, old time catchers mitt, awesome misty background, on a color TV screen.  And the back ain't bad either.

To sum it up, here's what I ended up with:

4 -- 1888 Kinney Novelties

1 -- 1934 German Foreign Weapons cigarette card

1 -- 1955 Bowman baseball card

1 -- 1959 Topps baseball card

4 -- 1965 Coca-Cola hockey cards

3 Packs (36 cards) -- 1991 Pro Set football cards

5-- 1995 Mr. Turkey baseball cards (set)

12 -- 1995 Babe Ruth stamp cards (boxed set)

4 -- 2001 Fleer Greats of the Game hockey cards

Thanks Sharon and Lachlan.  That was fun.

Blow Out the Candles January 28

Hall of Fame shortstop George Wright was born on this date in 1847.

2009 Obak #94

Wright was a member of the 1869,  57-0,  Cincinnati Red Stockings known to be the first "all-professional" baseball team.

Artist Jackson Pollock was born on this date in 1912.

Pollock at work

Here are a few of my own photos of a Pollock work from the Art Institute of Chicago.

Singer/songwriter Sam Phillips is turning 50 today.

Singer/songwriter Sarah McLachlan celebrates her 44th birthday today.

This is my favorite of her songs.

That Blonde is Unbelievable

Has everyone seen the video of Patrick Kane at the NHL All-Star draft?

He's whispering to former teammate Brian Campbell about a woman he sees in the crowd, "that blonde is unbelievable."

Here's a link to see the video.

Blow Out the Candlers January 27

The controversial Keith Olbermann is celebrating his 53rd birthday today.

Composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on this date in1756.

OK I've got to put in a clip from Amadeus.

Songwriter and screenwriter Harry Ruby was born on this date in 1895.

Harry Ruby along with his partner Bert Kalmar wrote songs for three early Marx Brothers films as well as the screenplay for two.

Here's all four Marx Brothers singing/playing, Everyone Says I Love You from Horse Feathers.

Hello I Must Be Going & Hooray for Captain Spaulding from Animal Crackers.

Actress Donna Reed was born on this date in 1921.

 2011 Topps American Pie #67

My memories of Donna Reed are first from The Donna Reed Show which ran on ABC from 1958 to 1966.

The other memory I have of Donna Reed is, of course, as Mary Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life.

Lastly, composer Jerome Kern was born on this date in 1885.

Kern with Oscar Hammerstein wrote the music for the musical Showboat and over 700 songs including Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, The Way You Look Tonight, and Ol' Man River.

Three versions of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

Funny Mannings

ESPN is running this again.  It's still funny.

Here's another:

A $25 Ebay Gift Card Got Me Part 7 -- 3 Packs of Football Cards

Last year my sister-in-law and brother-in-law gave me a $25 Ebay gift card for Christmas.  Here's what I ended up with.  This year they were nice enough to treat me again.

This was my first purchase , second, , third , fourth and fifth, and sixth.

Here's my seventh purchase.  Cost $.49, shipped .  So far $23.10.


I picked up three packs of 1991 Pro Set Platinum Series 2 football cards for 49 cents.  As is the problem with a lot of cards from this era, they came of of the packs stuck together.  You can see the result on the scans.  That aside, they do feature some nice photography.  In fact, the cards list the photographer for both the front and back pictures.

In general the photos on the back are the best ones.  For a few of the cards I skipped the fronts.  So here are my favorites in no particular order.