August 11, 1991 - Wilson Alvarez pitches no-hitter against Orioles!

This was supposed to have been posted 5 years ago. Not sure what happened, but here you go. On the 19th anniversary of his no-hitter.

Wilson Alvarez pitched a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles on August 11, 1991 in just his second Major League start. Over the next 13 seasons Alvarez would go on to post a career record of 102 - 92 with an ERA of 3.96 and 1,330 strikeouts. He made the All-Star team in 1994.

HOF Class of 2017: Tim "Rock" Raines

Tim Raines was recently elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and will be inducted this summer and so I thought I would organize my Raines collection.

I have 34 different Tim "Rock" Raines cards.

Here is a breakdown by year. In parenthesis are the number of different cards I have from that year.

1981 (1)

1982 (0)

1983 (0)

1984 (0)

1985 (0)

1986 (1)

1987 (1)

1988 (2)

1989 (4)

1990 (6)

1991 (6)

1992 (3)

1993 (1)

1994 (1)

1995 (1)

1996 (2)

1997 (1)

1998 (1)

1999 (0)

2000 (1)

2001 (0)

2002 (2)

Raines played for the Montreal Expos (1979 - 1990), Chicago White Sox (1991 - 1995), New York Yankees (1995 - 1998), Oakland Athletics (1999), Montreal Expos (2001), Baltimore Orioles (2001), and Florida Marlins (2002).

When I look at my Time Raines collection I have a few thoughts.

1) I was surprised to see how few Raines cards I currently have. In addition to no rookie cards, I don't have any game used or autographs. I will try to add some cards to my collection: including a rookie card. I'd like to have 100 different cards.

2) I didn't realize Raines played for the Expos twice during his career and I don't remember his time with the A's, Orioles, or Marlins even though I have cards featuring him on the A's and Marlins.

3) Raines first 12 full seasons were amazing and his last 9 seasons were below average for the most part, partly due to illness and injuries. Raines didn't play in 2000 at all as he was signed by the Yankees but was released during Spring Training. I know I might ruffle some feathers, but I don't think he had a Hall of Fame career. I understand why it took him 10 years to get voted in.

4) I never realized until now that Raines has lupus. He was diagnosed in 1999. My mother has had lupus for many years.

5) I don't have any cards of Tim that feature him on the Orioles. I didn't realize until now that Raines played with his son at the major league level in 2001 with the Orioles. That is pretty cool. There has to be a card or two commemorating that. 

Let's take a quick look at some card backs and see what we can find out about Tim Raines.

And there you have it. A look at my Tim "Rock" Raines collection.

2007 Topps Triple Threads

I picked up a couple of 2007 Topps Triple Threads cards today at the card shop. Not having collected for the past several years and not having seen much of the 2009 Topps Triple Threads cards, I actually thought that these were 2009 cards when I bought them. I picked them up for $25 each. I also bought a box of 2009 Topps Updates & Highlights, so when I told the wife how much I spent she was not very happy. So, these two cards are going to go on ebay shortly to see if I can recover what I paid for them (and maybe put a dent into the Updates box). I will post the results of my Updates & Highlights box soon.


Card #1
Front of the card features the pictures of Dye, Konerko and Pierzynski of the Chicago White Sox as well as Biggio, Berkman and Ensberg of the Houston Astros.


Fold it open and it features a gray jersey piece for Dye and bat pieces for Konerko and Pierzynski on the left and a red jersey piece for Biggio and pinstripe jersey pieces for Berkman and Ensberg on the right. The card commemorates the 2005 World Series and is serial numbered 1/9.


Card #2
The front features David Wright of the New York Mets and Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Open it up and Wright is featured on the left and Howard on the right. Black and white jersey pieces are used for Wright and Phillies pinstripes are used for Howard. It is serial numbered 9/27.

Movie Review: Eight Men Out

I got this movie in the mail this week. I can't remember which crackers it was, but there was a promotion where if you bought a certain number of boxes of crackers then you could send in for a movie. I have 2 young kids and so we go through a lot of crackers. I don't remember if I had seen this movie before or not. If I had it had been a long time. The movie originally came out in 1998 and it stars John Cusak, Charlie Sheen and Christopher Loyd among others. This is a 20th Anniversary Edition.

-

The back of the movie case reads: This "authentic, funny and very touching" (Sneak Previews) film about the infamous 1919 Chicago White Sox scandal scored a home run with audiences accross the globe! This DVD serves up a thrilling grand slam of special features including a behind-the-scences commentary, a documentary and more! John Cusak and Charlie Sheen lead a "superb ensamble of actors" (Newsweek) as young idealistic players on the White Sox, who, despite being pennant winners, are treated with disdain by their penny-pinching owner/manager. Ripe for a money-making scheme, the demoralized team agrees to throw the World Series. But when they're defeated a couple of sports writers smell a fix, and a national scandal explodes, ripping the cover off America's favorite pastime in "the movie baseball fans have been waiting for" (USA Today).

-

As a huge baseball fan, I was already very familiar with the story, but I still loved the movie. I feel bad for Buck Weaver and Shoeless Joe. I'm looking forward to checking out the documentary.