1976 Hostess Greg Gross: It’s Another Tequila Sunrise…

This card give you a good view of the first version of the infamous Astros uniform of the 1970’s… “Rainbow”, “Tequila Sunrise”, fugly as all get-out, call it what you will.

Some of the “features” which would get eliminated within a year or so were the white circle on the back and the “1970′s Computer-y” uniform numbers on the back and on the right thigh.

I grew up in the 1970’s, I love a lot of the bright colors introduced to baseball in the 70’s… but even I look at this uniform and say “Oh, my God…”

I tend to think of Greg Gross with the Phillies, so it’s odd to see him in orange, especially without the glasses and facial hair. Gross was a starting outfielder for the Astros from 1974 to 1976, and in 1974 he was named to the Topps Rookie All-Star team and was the Sporting News N.L. Rookie Of The Year (Bake McBride was the “official” NL ROY).

Why The “1972 Mini” Cards Might Look Wrong To You

Whenever Topps does something Heritage-y, Archive-y or Lineage-y, my thoughts turn to “How will they re-create these cards for teams which didn’t exist at the time?”

So when I saw that they were going to do 1972 minis, my first thought was –

Well, to be honest, my first thought was “Minis. Why did it have to be minis?”

– But my second thought was “I’ll be curious to see how they handle all the teams that they can’t just copy from the original 1972 cards” (i.e. the Blue Jays, Mariners, Rockies, Marlins, Rays, Diamondbacks and Nationals).

So after pulling this Giancarlo Stanton card from a pack…

…I just shook my head and disapprovingly said “Duuuuuuuuuuuuuude…”

The first thing I noticed was the fact that the “LINS” part of “MARLINS” sort of sags down closer to the border, which looks sloppy.

…but something else about it looked wrong.

After a minute or two, I realized that the big problem is on the perspective. The letters are supposed to look like they’re coming out from behind the photo, all of them originating at some distant vanishing point.

Here, I’ll give you an example… I took a 1972 Frank Robinson card and used pink lines to extend the drop shadow on the letters (This was done virtually; no HOFers were harmed during this exercise):

The letters are meant to look like they’re emerging from some distant point behind Frank’s head.  These lines don’t all converge on exactly the same point, but that’s probably just me not drawing the pink lines right… it’s still close enough to get the idea across.

But look at what happens when I do the same thing to the Stanton card:

See? It’s a freakin’ mess. The person who did this may have the skills, but didn’t “get” what the original artist was doing… or maybe they weren’t given enough time to do it right.

Whatever the reason for this, it fails a critical test: Is it better than I could’ve done?  I’ve got some artistic ability and I like to play around with Paint Shop Pro, but I am not, by anyone’s definition, a Graphic Artist.  I’m not even one of these people who thinks they can call themselves a Graphic Designer because he/she made up a business card saying that they’re a Graphic Designer.

…So when someone who makes a living out of manipulating pixels, someone who ostensibly calls this their career, when that person produces something which makes me feel like I could do better, then that’s a failure.

You know what? I’m not objective on this. We should ask someone who doesn’t have a stake in this… someone like…. Oh, I don’t know… Someone like the 1971 National League ERA Leaders. I just happen to have them here… OK, guys. Look at this mini. What do you think of the job Topps did on this card?

See, it’s not just me. Even Seaver, Roberts and Wilson are unimpressed.

First Custom Of Brad Peacock As An Astro?

…Seems like a pretty good bet to me.

This past Monday the Astros and Athletics made a trade – and I keep having to remind myself that it’s a intra-division trade – that sent Jed Lowrie to Oakland and sent Brad Peacock, one of the players I collect, over to Houston where he’ll at least get a better opportunity to pitch in the majors.

Why Brad Peacock?  I saw him pitch in the minors a couple of years ago, and he impressed me so much that he became one of my “guys”.

You may have seen the story, reported in several places, that Peacock was intending to make a good impression with the Athletics by reporting to camp early, so he started driving from his Florida home to the A’s camp in Arizona.  He was in Mississippi when he got the news that he had been traded, and since the Astros’ training camp is in Florida, he had to turn the car around and head back to Florida.

…and his birthday was this past Saturday!  It’s been an eventful week for Brad.

This is the second trade for Brad Peacock.  He was drafted by the Nationals and  traded to Oakland as part of the deal which brought Gio Gonzalez to D.C.

He went 12-9 for AAA Sacramento last year, but he also had a 6.01 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP.  Let’s concentrate more on the 2-0 record and 0.75 ERA he had during a September callup to Washington in 2011.

For those who haven’t seen this series of customs before, the design is borrowed from the 1960-1962 Bazooka sets, probably my favorite sets among all of those of which I don’t own a single card (but I’m working on it).

Hostess Card Of The Week: 1975 Milt (Lee) May

There were a number of errors in the 1975 Hostess set, but one of the more notable ones was this card:

The card ostensibly pictures catcher Milt May, but instead shows 1st baseman Lee May.

Hey, it’s an honest mistake. Check it out, here’s Milt May:

…and here’s Lee May:

You know, they’re both… Astros.

…Named May.

It’s a wonder their manager could keep them straight.

Lee May probably said “Man, after all those years of being confused with Lee Maye, now I get confused with this guy?”

Interestingly enough, Lee May had his own card in the 1975 Hostess set, but with an airbrushed Orioles cap (he’d been traded over the winter). I don’t own that card yet, otherwise I’d share it with you.

Milt May was a second-generation Major Leaguer; his father, Pinky May, played 3rd for the Phillies from 1939 – 1943. Milt played for the Giants, Pirates, Astros, Tigers and White Sox over his 15-year career.

Lee May was a 3-time All-Star and in 1976 lead the AL with 109 RBI.

1975 Hostess Doug Rader

“The Red Rooster” was a passionate, good-fielding third baseman with decent power.  He won the Gold Glove 5 straight years from 1970 to 1974  (all with the Astros).  He also played for the Padres and Blue Jays, and later managed the Rangers, Angels and (for two games) the White Sox.

This particular card has his last name misspelled;  this was corrected, but I don’t know for sure whether either the error or corrected versions are more rare than the other.

OK, Which One Of You Guys Is “Fiscal Cliff”?

On the TV, on the radio, all I hear is “Fiscal Cliff”, “Fiscal Cliff”.

I wish someone would just tell me who Fiscal Cliff is.

I don’t think it’s Cliff Johnson, but you never know.

Cliff Lee makes a boatload of money, maybe he’s Fiscal Cliff.

Cliff Floyd? Could be… (I feel like I’m doing the opening credits to “Hong Kong Phooey”)

Cliff Pennington was recently part of a three-team trade involving a Marlins salary dump… Is that enough to make him Fiscal Cliff?

Cliff Mapes passed away 16 years ago, so I don’t think he’s Fiscal Cliff… but he was the last person to wear #3 for the Yankees (and you thought that was Babe Ruth, you silly person, you).

1951 Bowman #289 – Cliff Mapes – Courtesy of COMC.com

Pack Animal: Fairfield 100-Card Repack

Last weekend I was jonesing to buy something other than 2012 packs, but the “local” card shop is 25 miles away and the next card show within a 2-hour drive is in… oh, let’s see… April.

I’d read some decent comments about these 100-card repacks, so I figured I’d give it a shot.

I’ve got to say, I was pleased with the surprisingly decent payoff. Don’t get me wrong, this was the biggest “hit” in the repack (and the reason I bought this particular repack):

…but there were a number of cards which I would’ve gladly bought from a dime or quarter box, so I certainly can’t complain.

As you’d expect, there was a fair amount of junk wax, especially late 1980’s Topps and Donruss… but as it worked out, I ended up needing a few of the junk wax cards for sets that I collected at the time, but never quite completed, including The Earl Of Baltimore:

There were also 2-year-old Topps Update cards (also needed)…

…some “premium junk wax”… And I never stop thinking that it was a mistake to put the ‘tail’ underlining the team name in the 1990′s.  I doesn’t register much on the grand scale of uniform mistakes, but it looked wrong then, and it looks wrong now.

I also got a needed “junk insert”.

It sounds stupid, but the inclusion of one sole Topps Total card made me very happy… I’m foolish enough to try to complete the 4-year run of Total (2002 down, 3 more to go), and I don’t run across Total very often in my travels, so it was cool to get a card I wanted, even if it’s just for Juan Castro.

What surprised me most is that I didn’t get many of the “filler sets” that so often clog these repacks, like Upper Deck X or Documentary.

I also got an unopened pack of 1988 Score, another set which I never quite completed. I’ll open this pack in another post.

For the $4 spent, I could’ve bought a pack of Chrowman Bome and gotten absolutely nothing I wanted, or picked up yet another tedious “heroes beating the snot out of other heroes” issue of Marvel’s Avengers. I think I did pretty damn good in terms of entertainment and filling my needs.

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -

At this point, I’d like to wish a happy Thanksgiving to all; I hope that everybody gets to spend a relaxing and enjoyable day with their family and friends.

…And just be thankful for what you got…

The Houston Astros Unveil Their New Uniforms

I tried to think of a catchy subject line, but I couldn’t think of anything involving “Astros” or “Houston” that wasn’t along the lines of “Ruh-roh” or “We Have A Problem”…  And we most definitely do not have a problem .  I like the new uniforms; they’re an improvement over what they’ve had over the past 20 years.  Perhaps what I appreciate the most is that they’ve returned to traditional colors… No more brick red and sand colors, the Astros should use orange and navy blue.  I’m also very happy that they returned to the Block ‘H’ On A Star logo… Classic Astros.

Aside from the home and road uniforms I’ve got pictured here, there’s also an orange alternate jersey and a navy BP jersey. The BP jersey is interesting because the side panels are done up in the style of the 1970’s Rainbow/Tequila Sunrise jerseys.  I couldn’t find a good picture of them, otherwise I would’ve highlighted them here.  I wouldn’t say I like the BP jerseys, but I definitely appreciate them and the efforts to echo Astros history.

While I like the uniforms, I do think they could use a little… something.  I don’t know what.  To me they’re just a shade too generic, as if they’d passed through one focus group too many.  I’m not a huge fan of the font used for the jerseys, I would’ve preferred something a little more like the font used on the “Shooting Star” jersey… or even the “Tequila Sunrise” jersey.  Serifed block letters is a little too “classic”, a little too safe.  I don’t know, maybe that’s what Houston fans prefer.  The Astros history is full of highly-stylized uniforms, perhaps the people of Houston said “Enough with the styling!!!”

For those of you who are wondering, George Springer was a 1st round pick in 2011.  Baseball America rated him as the Astros’ #3 prospect entering 2012, behind Jonathan Singleton and Jarred Cosart. All three came from the Arizona Fall League to serve as models at the unveiling. Carlos Correa, the first-overall draft pick in 2012, was also there.

I still have some nit-picky uni-nerd comments to make, but for those of you who don’t care about the details, I’m going to get all “Fuji” on you and leave you with two questions…

What do you think of the Astros new uniforms?
Which teams do you think should change their uniforms?

…alright, uni-nerds!  Here’s a bit more of my scintillating insight…

These uniforms are very good, but they could’ve been classic.  Last year the Blue Jays did a fantastic job of taking their traditional look and updating it in an appealing and distinctive way.  You can’t expect that out of everybody, but I would’ve liked to have seen something along those lines here.  Rather than updating their classic look, the Astros are almost “backdating” their look… Made it more retro than it ever was.

While I don’t have a problem with the “Headspoon” look – I’m not sure what the real name is for the piping that goes up the jersey, around the neck and back down the jersey – it’s verging on overdone (and I suppose some might say that it’s already overdone).  Off the top of my head, it’s used by the Braves, Nationals, Mets (road/home alt), Reds (home/alt), Giants (road), Rockies (road), Padres, Red Sox (home), Rays, Indians, Tigers, Twins (blue alt), A’s (yellow alt), Mariners and now the Astros.  That’s half the Majors which use it as a design element.

It’s funny… A couple of years ago, I think it may have just been the Giants with orange alternate jerseys, now we have the Giants, Orioles, Marlins and Astros.  Not a complaint, just an observation.

Again, don’t get me wrong, I do like these uniforms… I’m just mildly disappointed because they could’ve been classic but fell a little bit short.  Maybe they’ll introduce some tweaks for next year.

A Few Thoughts On 2013 Heritage

Let me be clear right off the bat that this image here is a custom I made, it’s not a preview image from Topps.

I collect Heritage every year, but I don’t even think about completing the set; I just buy packs and blasters as the mood strikes me, and after the dust settles I pick up Mets, Orioles, favorite players and maybe some other cards.

I’m normally not big on the general variation gimmicks, but I have to admit that I’m really intrigued at the 2013 gimmick of having Colts variations of the Astros cards. I’ll probably see if one or two fall into my hands, and if not, I’m sure that after a year or two I’ll be able to pick up a cheap Fernando Martinez or Jose Altuve.

When I started working on the custom pictured here, I went to try to find a photo with the Colts throwback, and I realized one of the challenges that faces Topps… how many players are there who played in those throwback games and are still on the Astros? Carlos Lee? Gone. Chris Johnson? Gone. J.A. Happ? Gone. Justin Ruggiano?  Travis Buck? Brandon Lyon? David Carpenter? Brett Myers? Brian Bixler? Ben Francisco? Gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone and gone.  Even manager Brad Mills is gone.

Most of the rest of the 2013 Heritage ‘features’ aren’t terribly interesting to me. The super short prints make me really glad I don’t try to collect the Heritage set, and even more glad that I’m not a Yankees or Rangers fan (since the SSP’s are supposed to be the top All-Star vote-getters).

I love the 1964 Topps Giants set, so I should be drooling over the box toppers in this set… but I still haven’t picked up any of the similar box-toppers from last year’s Lineage set, or from the one Upper Deck Vintage set which did the same. I guess we’ll see what happens.

Oh, as far as the minis go, I have a message I’d like to share… this is from me to Topps…

ENOUGH WITH THE FREAKING MINIS!!!!!!

Thank you.

Finally, I hope that Topps isn’t provided with any reasons to replicate this card from 1964 Topps:

1964 Topps #550 – Ken Hubbs/In Memoriam – Courtesy of CheckOutMyCards.com

It’s Another Tequila Sunrise: 1979 Lucas Harrell “Double Throwback” Custom

Last Thursday I created a custom 1979 card to illustrate the Rays’ 1979 “fauxback” uniforms.

Last Friday, the Houston Astros had another Flashback Friday in celebration of the team’s 50th anniversary, and they happened to wear the uniforms that they wore in 1979 (and other years).

So here I am with a newly-created 1979 template, and the fates serve up some “Tequila Sunrise” on a platter.  Who am I to say “no” to the fates?

Lucas Harrell came up through the White Sox farm system and was picked up by the Astros on a waiver claim last July.  He’s currently 6-6, which isn’t too shabby when you consider he has 20% of the team’s wins.  He’s listed as a switch hitter, which I find odd… I don’t doubt that he can switch hit, I just find it doubtful that a  pitcher would hit from the opposite side and have his pitching arm in the line of fire.  Besides, when you’re batting .192 on the season, I don’t know how much strategic advantage there really is in switch-hitting.

If you like this custom, there will be more of these “double throwbacks” (throwback uniforms, throwback card) in the future.