Memories of 90’s sluggers. Eck. Joltin’ Joe. Yogi & Satch. Nap & Honus.
Members of the 1990 All-Star team: Cecil Fielder, Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire and Ken Griffey Junior. I don’t really know what to say about this photo so I guess I’ll throw the first thought of each player that comes to my head:
Cecil Fielder: The first Major League Baseball player autograph I ever got was from Fielder at a Baseball card convention in Redding, California. This was fresh off of Fielder’s 51 home run season in 1990. I remember he had a Hawaiian shirt on and seemed really nice. I still have that autographed card to this day.
Jose Canseco: When I was in junior high, my doctor knew I was a huge Baseball fan. Well, it turns out my doctor’s office was in the same building as a company that was working with Jose on designing a potential neon green/yellow Baseball bat (so very 90’s). Well, I got to see the prototype of it and it was fucking ugly as sin. The bat ended up being rejected by Major League Baseball anyways.
Mark McGwire: In 1998, when McGwire “broke” the Maris Home Run record I remember sitting in my living room and watching that ball zip over Left Field fence. I yelled to my Dad who was in the bathroom shaving at the moment and told him that he did it. He didn’t seem too excited, nor was I really for some odd reason. It was almost anti-climatic. I think we both kinda knew something fishy was going on subconsciously. We were Griffey fans anyways so I am guessing we were probably bummed that Junior wasn’t able to stay up with Sosa and McGwire in the Home Run chase that infamous season.
Ken Griffey Jr: In 1993 from July 20 through July 28, 1993 Ken Griffey Junior tied the Major League record for consecutive games with a Home Run (8 games). I was in San Diego the majority of that summer and I spent a lot of my time at my Grandma’s house which meant we watched a lot of Baseball as she’s also a big fan. On the evening of July 28th when Junior tied Don Mattingly for the record I remember watching it it on ESPN in my Grandma’s living room. I still remember the swing and where the ball went out perfectly like it was yesterday. We both hooted and hollered in excitement and I am pretty sure we even gave each other a high five in celebration. My Grandma rules and Ken Griffey Junior rules almost as much.
Two things that I will forever be an unapologetic fan of in regards to Baseball is David Eckstein and throwback jerseys. Both of them together is pretty much the coolest thing in the world to me. These Cardinal uniforms are definitely one of my favorite uniforms from the past. While I am on the subject of Eckstein, why is he still a Free Agent? If he is done playing I am gonna be bummed as I feel like he still has a few good years left. I would assume there is a bench/utility role with some team that has his name all over it. The next few weeks will be interesting for Eck.
No big deal, it’s just a photo of Joe Dimaggio’s first Major League at-bat on May 3rd, 1936 in a game against the St. Louis Browns. He went 3 for 6 that day with a triple, 2 singles, a strikeout and 1 RBI. Not too shabby for a Major League debut I suppose.
July 31, 1971. Yogi Berra and Satchel Paige talk shop at an old timers game at Shea Stadium. You know now days when they mic up players during a game or during workouts on a field? Well, imagine if they mic’d up these characters. Hopefully it wasn’t just a photo op and they actually had an in depth conversation about Baseball or hell, about anything would have been great I’m sure. I would pay GOOD money to hear Yogi and old Satch converse.
A great photo of Nap Lajoie of the Cleveland Naps and Honus Wagner of the Pittsbugh Pirates from 1904. Something that I did not know until recently is that Lajoie was the reason that the Naps were renamed the Indians after the 1914 season. After spending 13 years in Cleveland he was sold to the Philadelphia Athletics as his time in Cleveland had soured due to an on going feud with Manager Joe Birmingham in addition to deteriorating skills at the plate. The team wanted to separate themselves from Lajoie so they had local newspaper writers come up with up with the “Indians.” Kinda cool piece of trivia huh?
ninety feet of perfection. 