Buck Rodgers Autographed Card

I wrote about one former Montréal Expos manager yesterday, not remembering what (useless) uniform number he wore; well, apart from Felipe Alou, Buck Rodgers is the team's manager I remember most (and most fondly), and I can say for a fact that he wore #37, which makes him fair game for my Expos Numbers Project with card #293 from Topps' 1987 Topps set, the first set I ever pulled a Gary Carter card from:

Of course, the card - signed in black sharpie in the early 1990s - lists him as "Bob" instead of "Buck", but you can't win 'em all. And he hasn't. However, as an Expos boss, he mostly had winning records, with a .510 winning percentage over 7 seasons, including his 1987 title as National League Manager Of The Year.

His best record as manager was with the Milwaukee Brewers, with whom he kept a .549 record, albeit in parts of just three seasons. As a matter of fact, both on the Brewers and on the California Angels, he lived through seasons where he started as manager, was replaced, then came back to finish the season - he replaced George Bamberger (preseason heart attack) with the Brewers, and had a replacement with the Angels himself after the team suffered a bus crash.

To this day, he's still an Angels fan, the only team he played for in his younger days; he was their catcher from their inaugural season until his knees gave out, nine years later.

Mike Fitzgerald: 3 Autographed Cards

As I mentioned a couple of years ago, Mike Fitzgerald was the guy who I most identified as the/my Montréal Expos catcher, not because he was better than Hall Of Famer Gary Carter, but because he was at his best in Montréal, whereas one could argue Carter was nearly as good with the New York Mets as he was in powder blue.

I was lucky enough to stumble upon three other cards I had him sign while he was with the team (more specifically, probably between 1988 and 1991).

First, showing him in the catcher's position wearing the team's classic road uniform, is card #97 from Leaf's 1986 Donruss set:

Then, in what is likely a spring training picture because of the red t-shirt, is card #317 from Fleer's flagship 1987 Fleer collection:

And finally, grounding out or striking out at bat, once more in the classic road uniform, with eye black to reduce the glare from a daytime game, is card #511 from the 1989 Score set by Score, a set I collected while vacationing in Florida with my family at the time:

All three were signed in thick black sharpie, the only ones I could find as a child.

Tim Raines Autographed Card

The annual cash-grab co-hosted by Major League Baseball and the Toronto Blue Jays took place this weekend, with pre-season games taking place at Montréal's Olympic Stadium, this year pitting the Jays against the Boston Red Sox. The BoSox won both games, which is probably the best outcome for me, as a former ball fan.

Friday's game was special, because prior to the game, former Montréal Expos greats Tim Raines, Pedro Martinez, Vladimir Guerrero, and Ellis Valentine, as well as former stars Jose Vidro and Marquis Grissom were honoured - and they received an ovation that was louder than any other noise heard during the actual game. Martinez had kind words for the city, too.

I had four spots reserved for me by the organization trying to put Raines into the Hall Of Fame, something I am greatly in support of; you might recall how disappointed I was when he didn't make the cut last January...

In hockey terms, excluding Raines from the Hall is akin to excluding Joe Sakic: sure, he wasn't the best of all time, nor the best player of his era, but he was the second-best of all-time in some respects, and the best of his Conference/League at his position for most of his career. With two league championships on stacked teams (the Colorado Avalanche for Sakic, the New York Yankees for Raines) to boot.

(Yes, Raines and Sakic were my favourite position players in their respective sports).

Because I was with a delegation of folks who only have one more shot at getting Raines in the Hall, I got to re-live my childhood and have this card signed in blue sharpie, though he was in a hurry:

It's card #56 from Leaf's 1987 Donruss set, showing him wearing the Expos' original (1969-1991) white (home) uniform in a pre-game photo shoot.

Raines was the best lead-off hitter and base stealer in the National League in his era - and second-best of all-time in both categories; he was also the best switch-hitter of his generation, counting both the 1980s and 1990s. (I was a switch hitter because I wanted to be like him).

He overcame a pretty intense drug addiction and proved to be a team player for the longest time, while other stars such as Gary Carter and Andre Dawson left for a bigger payday as soon as they could.

His return to the Expos in 2001 was similar to that of Patrick Roy coming back to the Bell Centre to have his jersey retired in 2008 - the prodigal son had returned, except Raines had never asked to leave.

Tim Raines: 5 Autographed Cards

I usually post personal stuff on my birthday, and this year I'd planned on doing the same as last year: feature Tim Wallach, who shares a birthday with me. Unfortunately, I haven't unpacked those cards yet, but I did find a dozen or so of Tim Raines, my favourite baseball player of all time. I chose to feature the following five cards first because, judging by the pen and signature, they may have been from the same period; I never get more than two signed at a time in person unless I know the person, or know it's totally cool - particularly if I plan on going for, say, three straight days, which may have been the case here in 2001. So here they are:

The Rock may very well have been the second-best lead-off hitter of all time; unfortunately for him, he was a contemporary of Rickey Henderson's, undoubtedly the best of all time, and the only player in Raines' career who could even come close to him in the stolen bases department.

Which hinders him when it comes to Hall Of Fame voters, obviously. There are, however, sites using advanced metrics to make a strong case for him. I'll tell you, 808 stolen bases, and a stealing percentage of 84.5% - second-best of all-time for players with at least 500 attempts - bests even Henderson. 2605 hits, 430 doubles, 170 home runs, 980 RBIs, 1330 walks for 966 strikeouts...

From the very beginning, in the strike-reduced 1981 season, Raines proved he was for real: sure, he was second for the Rookie Of The Year award, but he also garnered some MVP votes on the strength of 71 steals in just 88 games - the National League record was 75, by Benny Kauff, in a full season. His 27 steals in his first 27 attempts remains a record, though. In the American League, he set a record with 37 straight stolen bases in 1995.

The seven-time All-Star Game participant will be remembered for one of them in particular - in 1987 in Oakland - as he went 3-for-3, and produced both of his team's runs in a 2-0 victory with a two-out, 13th-inning triple against Jay Howell.

My own defining Raines moment came in the 1990s, when he must have been nine feet away from first base, in a stealing attempt, and the pitcher pretended four or five times to throw to the first baseman to get him out; not only wouldn't Raines budge, but he stared straight into the pitcher's eyes, not just daring him to, but pretty much defying him to throw the ball, and there probably was a beating going his way of he did. The pitcher eventually threw to home plate, and Raines stole second.

Raines got used to sliding into second head-first from the beginning, because he was a pretty big cocaine addict in 1982 (his stats did slip noticeably that year) and kept his vial in his back pocket, because had he kept in in his locker, he could have gotten caught; sliding feet first gives the runner the advantage of leading with his shoe, which strikes the fear of some pain in the second basement - but Raines had his drugs to protect, and was quick enough that he didn't need the extra intimidation that sliding cleats would have provided.

He also voluntarily checked himself into rehab following the season - after spending upwards of $40,000 on cocaine that summer (those are 1982 numbers, by the way).

Gary Carter was a legend, Pedro Martinez and Vladimir Guerrero were the purest raw talents, but Tim Raines, to me, defined the Montréal Expos. And, like Carter, he eventually came back in his twilight years. The Expos did him a favour by trading him to the Baltimore Orioles at the tail end of 2001 so he could play with his son, Tim Jr.

He won two World Series with the New York Yankees (1996 and 1998), and batted for .299 with them in three seasons of part-time work (a high of .321 in 1997, a high of 109 games in 1998).

He also played with the Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, and 98 meaningless games with the Florida Marlins.

There are many ways I could get into the specifics of the cards - all of them signed in blue sharpie - but I decided to go my usual route and separate them by uniform, starting with the Expos' classic powdered-blue (away) uniform:

The card on the left is from Fleer's 1988 Fleer set (card #193), probably showing him during pre-game warm-ups or between innings; in the middle is card #40 from Score's 1989 Score, showing the ambidextrous hitter in his most common plate position, hitting lefty; on the right is a card from Leaf's 1990 Donruss set (card #BC-7 of the MVP insert sub-set).

Card companies rarely sent photographers to Montréal, probably because they were afraid of summer snow, igloos, and us not having electricity (or Doritos) and only speaking French; that's why when the powdered-blue uniform wasn't chosen on cards, it'd usually be the red t-shirt from Spring Training, which took place in Florida:

The card on the left is from Fleer's 1987 Fleer set (card #328) in an obvious ''pose for the camera, Tim'' shot, while the one on the right is from Leaf's 1988 Donruss (card #345) in another ''official team photo'' type of pose.

By the way, check out the consistency/lack of originality of the Donruss backs, two years apart:

If it wasn't that he gained 15 pounds and had two more career highlights to speak of, it'd be the exact same back; same design, same ''last five seasons'' statistics, same font...

I have never visited the (Baseball) Hall Of Fame in Cooperstown. And I don't plan to, any day soon. That might change if they come to their senses and induct Tim Raines.

Mike Fitzgerald: 2 Autographed Cards

Mike Fitzgerald started his career with a bit of pressure: drafted by the New York Mets, he hit a home run in his very first at-bat, then became the first rookie catcher ever to lead his position in field percentage, in 1984. Following that tremendous rookie campaign, he was traded to the Montréal Expos for future Hall Of Famer (and fan favourite) Gary Carter, which left the starting catcher's job wide open for Fitzgerald to fill.

And he filled in admirably. You could count on his fielding to be impeccable, he helped pitchers to wonderful seasons, he could be counted on for a decent .250 average (and had a career-high of .282 in 1986), was among the National League leaders in stolen bases against, (fewest) errors, double-plays and pretty much all areas of fielding.

He stayed with the Expos until he became a free agent, playing his final season with the California Angels in 1992. He must have signed a dozen cards for me from 1988 to 1991, mostly in ballpoint pen or black sharpie; for some reason, these are the two I'm left with, both signed in blue sharpie. I know why I held onto them, though: they show both of the team's classic uniforms.

First, a rare feat on a brand-name baseball card, sporting the Expos' white (home) uniform, from Leaf's 1987 Donruss set (card #345), showing him between pitches in full catcher regalia:

And from Topps' 1988 Topps set - perhaps my favourite baseball set of all time - here is card #674, showing him in the team's powdered-blue (away) uniform, probably warming up for his next at-bat:

I've seen Carter play before him - and he was amazing; I've seen Nelson Santovenia, Darren Fletcher and Michael Barrett after him; but Fitzgerald will always be my Expos catcher. He'd definitely make my All-Time 40-Man Roster:

C: Gary Carter, Mike Fitzgerald
1B: Andres Gallaraga, Al Oliver
2B: Jose Vidro, Delino DeShields, Ron Hunt
SS: Spike Owen, Wilfredo Cordero, Tom Foley
3B: Tim Wallach, Bob Bailey, Larry Parrish
LF: Tim Raines, Moises Alou, Warren Cromartie
CF: Andre Dawson, Marquis Grissom, Ellis Valentine, Rondell White
RF: Rusty Staub, Larry Walker, Vladimir Guerrero
Rotation: Pedro Martinez, Steve Rogers, Dennis Martinez, Bill Lee, Pascual Perez
Closers: John Wetteland, Tim Burke
Other Pitchers: Mel Rojas, Ugueth Urbina, Jeff Reardon, Jeff Fassero, Ken Hill, Carlos Perez, Dennis 'Oil Can' Boyd, Claude Raymond, Mark Langston, Woodie Fryman