Mmmmm....Doughnuts #3

I love doughnuts! Who doesn't? For some reason I associate doughnuts with Fridays, so I'm going to try to make this a regular blog feature on Fridays. 

Here is a 2003 Topps Terrence Long card. 

What do Lou Gehrig and my blog have in common?

Lou Gehrig was born on June 19, 1903. I started my blog on June 19, 2009.

One of the things I love most about baseball is it's history. Gehrig is a big part of baseball history.

The combo of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig has got to be the best one-two punch, or should I say "three-four" punch in the history of the game. 

Look at Gehrig's signature. It's beautiful. 

Gehrig won 6 World Championships with the New York Yankees in the 1920's and 30's.

Gehrig retired in 1939 and was elected to the Baseball hall of Fame the same year, bypassing the 5 year rule due to his having amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, (ALS) now commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig Disease. 

Gehrig holding multiple bats! Sweet!

Sorry, but Teixeira doesn't compare to Gehrig. 

Cards from Father's Day

My kids got me a hanger box and a rack pack of 2014 Topps Series I for Father's Day. I think they must have bought them a day or two before Series II was released. Oh well.

I didn't get any auto or relic cards. I didn't get any manufactured patches. I didn't even get a numbered card. But, that doesn't mean I didn't get anything good.

Here are the cards, without any commentary.

Tribute to Tony Gwynn

Tony Gwynn passed away today. I was sad when I heard the news. I knew he was in bad shape, but it still came as a shock. Gwynn is the first superstar of my generation to pass away. At just 54 years old, he is gone way too soon.

The Padres have played their Spring Training games in Peoria, AZ since 1993 and so I got to see him play fairly regularly when I was younger, although I never got to meet him, and that saddens me also. 

I don't have any autographed cards of his. I don't even have his rookie card. I have one game-used bat card of his for my 3,000 Hit Club Bat Card Collection. 

I came home from work today and went through my Padres cards and pulled out over 150 Gwynn cards. Here are a few of my favorites. 

This is my oldest Gwynn card. I love the old hat and the sunglasses as well as the fantastic Padres logo.

When you think about the Padres, you can't help but think off Mr. Padre and I think this card does a good job connecting the two. 

I know this is a checklist, but I love it. It's not often you get to see a motorcycle on a baseball card. I'm guessing this was given to him by the Padres at his last game.  

Gwynn was by far the best hitter of his generation and this card says it. 

I love the angles on this card. It's just a great looking card! 

This card didn't scan well, but I didn't want to leave it out because of what it says. "20th century's best" for "average". Gwynn has a career average of .338 over a 20 year period. Amazing!

Gwynn was a pure hitter. He also only stuck out 434 times over a 20 year career. That's what I call having a good eye. To put that into perspective, Mark Reynolds struck out 434 times during a two year period (2009-10).

Not sure why, but I love the old Score cartoon All-Star cards. This Gwynn is a beaut!

Along with the batting average came 3,141 hits. 

Thanks for the great memories Tony!

ebay Pick-Up: 2006 Opening Day Game-Used Base Card

I picked this card up off ebay recently for just over $3 shipped.

It says "Authentic Opening Fay Game-Used Base" on the front of the card. Now does that mean it's from a base used on Opening Day and if so, was it used in the Rockies vs. Diamondbacks game on April 3rd, 2006? Or does it mean that it's a game-used base card from 2006 Opening Day set?

I choose to believe that the piece of base is actually from one of the bases used in the Rockies vs. D-Backs game on Opening Day on April 3, 2006.

Tribute to Bob Welch

Bob Welch passed away earlier this week at the age of 57. I wanted to pay tribute to a former Cy Young Award winner and the last pitcher to win 25+ games in a season.

Welch won 27 games in 1990 and won the AL Cy young Award. 

Welch pitched for the Dodger (1978 -87) and the A's (1988 - 94).

Welch became World Series Champions with both the Dodgers (1981) and the A's (1989) and was the Pitching Coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks when they won the World Series in 2001. 

Flag Day