2nd Entry of 2010 Spring Training Trip

This story started during my 2010 Spring Training Junket to Florida and ended 17 days later in Tennessee. Enjoy!

 

The empty mailbox streak of 7 days has ended in a BIG way! Today, the mailbox had a super surprise waiting for me. It was an envelope from Tony Oliva of the Minnesota Twins post marked from Fort Myers, Florida, the spring training home of the team. Enclosed in the envelope were several items including this card for my 1967 Topps Autographed Baseball card set. It is the Twins Team card, number 211 in the 1967 Topps set of 609 cards. It has been signed by Tony Oliva and Rod Carew!

There is a long story behind this autograph card. The story begins during my Spring Training trip three weeks ago to Florida. On March 4, my friend Jim and I visited Fort Myers to see the Twins practice and then saw the Twins and Boston Red Sox play a game that night. Knowing that Tony Oliva was a member of the Twins front office, I had brought his 1967 Topps card, #50 just in case I ran into him. During the day, we waited for the players and coaches to arrive and we noticed that Tony Oliva and Rod Carew had driven to the ballpark together. They drove past the autograph collectors without signing any cards. I guess that was strike one. As the practice progressed, Mr. Oliva was instructing several Twins players in the batting cages along with Rod Carew. After a break in the practice, I asked Tony Oliva if he would be willing to sign my card for my collection.

He refused and said he was working. Strike two. Undeterred, I continued to follow Tony during the practice and at one point he saw me standing alone as he came out of the clubhouse and I asked if he would sign me card. Again, he refused and went back to work. I guess that was a foul ball, no third strike yet. As the practice started to wind down and the players and coaches started the leave the field, Tony was called over by a couple of fans and he started to sign some autographs. As he was signing the autographs, I asked if he would sign my card for my collection. He passed me over a couple of times, but I did not give up. Finally, he took my card and signed it with a blue sharpie that I provided. Persistence paid off.

I thanked Tony Oliva for the autograph, shook his hand and asked if he would take a picture with me and he obliged. That would have been a great story in itself, but it did not end there. After I arrived home, I decided to write Tony a letter apologizing for being so persistent in pursuit of his autograph. Enclosed with the letter, I included two 8x10s of the picture of me and Tony Oliva, two more 1967 Topps cards, the Twins Team card above and the 1966 American League Batting Leaders card, #239, and a gift card to Outback Steakhouse. I asked if he could sign one of the 8x10s and keep the other and asked he if could sign the Batting Leaders card, already signed by Hall of Famer Al Kaline and the Twins Team card. I also asked if he could have Hall of Famer Rod Carew sign the team card as well. I mailed the envelope on March 10, 2010 and received it back 12 days later with both photos signed and both cards signed. Even Rod Carew signed the team card. Thank you very much, Mr Oliva and Mr. Carew!

Tony Oliva's career lasted 15 seasons in major league baseball, all with the Minnesota Twins. He started his career in 1964, winning the American League Rookie of the Year award and named to the American League All-star for the first of eight consecutive seasons. He ended his playing days in 1978 with a career .304 batting average, 220 home runs and 947 runs batted in, 329 doubles and a total of 1917 hits in 1676 games. Tony's eight consecutive All-Star appearances to start his career broke the previous record set by Hall of Famer Joe Dimaggio of the New York Yankees. Tony Oliva won 3 batting titles during his career, 1964, 1965 and 1971 and won a Gold Glove award in 1966. The latter part of his career was hampered by injuries and there has been much debate about his place in baseball history. Considered one of the best players not in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Tony Oliva deserves his place in Cooperstown.

To learn more about Tony Oliva and his career, go to his biography at wikipedia.org.
 

Check out the latest Sports Memorabilia, Apparel and Collectibles from your favorite team and player at http://collectiblesofthegame.com

Pitchers and Catcher Report in less than 2 days!

 

As the snow keeps falling throughout the country, this article by Mark Newman of MLB.com encapsulated the excitement surrounding the annual ritual of the start of the baseball season, the pitchers and catchers report. So many baseball fans have been in hibernation since the last out of the World Series and now we can rejoice that baseball is back again. Questions abound, which rookie is going to impact their team, which free-agent acquisition will change the dynamic of their division, which team is going to surprise the pundits and challenge for first place? The answers, will that take a season to figure out, are why we all watch the games, read the box scores, watch MLB Network and play fantasy baseball. Let the fun begin and enjoy the article. I will be posting entries starting February 27th from Spring Training in Florida. 12 days and counting....

Spring Training is sunshine -- therapeutic, inspiring, been-too-long-without-ya sunshine. . . . The beginning of Spring Training each year has always been a moment of hope, a reassurance that the landscape of snow and gray skies and barren trees will soon pass, and the world will again be green.
Charles Fountain in "Under the March Sun: The Story of Spring Training"

The moment of hope and reassurance arrives again this week, right on time. It is that moment when you know what's past is past, when buds and baseball emerge, when everything is new with a bright future. It is the moment you have waited for all winter.

Pitchers and catchers report.

They are four of the happiest words in our lexicon, right there alongside "Happy Birthday to you." We say these four words all the time until we are blue in the face. "Thirty days till pitchers and catchers report!" "Five days till pitchers and catchers report!" Pitchers and catchers may officially start reporting to their Arizona and Florida camps starting on Wednesday, signaling the beginning of a traditional process that is our way of life, ending with a World Series clincher and a parade through smiling masses. Happy leads to happy.

The defending World Series champions lead the way back into camps as the Yankees, Orioles, Royals, Pirates, Cardinals, Angels and Giants are the first clubs whose pitchers and catchers report Wednesday. First reports happen Thursday for the Red Sox, Rays, Phillies, Mets, Nationals, Tigers, Cubs, Reds, Mariners, Rangers, Rockies and Padres.

First workout dates for pitchers and catchers are Thursday beginning with the Orioles, Royals, Angels, Yankees, Mariners, Cubs, Reds, Rockies, Phillies, Pirates, Cardinals and Giants. Subsequent first workouts are gradual, with the Indians the final club to hold first workouts, on Feb. 23, in Goodyear, Ariz. It will be the first spring that both of Ohio's Major League clubs train in Arizona -- and at the same complex -- now that the Reds have left Florida to join the Indians, making it the first even split for the Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues at 15 teams each.

Full-squad workouts will commence on Feb. 23, starting with the Orioles, Tigers, Royals, Angels, Mariners, Braves, Cubs, Reds, Phillies, Pirates, Cardinals and Giants. Other clubs follow progressively until the Twins and Brewers conduct the final first full-squad workouts on Feb. 27. Then Spring Training is completely under way and routines become established.

That is how the pop of the catcher's mitt and the crack of the bat first become pronounced and part of our consciousness again. But the first exhibitions take it to another level, as we get the first glimpses of mano-a-mano competition, of game situations, of hit-and-run strategy and home runs and strikeouts. Then it all comes back to us again. The Braves are at the Mets at 1:10 p.m. ET in Port St. Lucie, Fla., starting the exhibition season. It is the first actual day that the daily master schedule on MLB.com is populated with games featuring two Major League clubs, and from there through the regular season the schedule is active, devoid of games only on July 14, the day after the All-Star Game in Anaheim. This is how it all starts.

Spring Training is anticipation realized -- like the arrival of the weekend after the long workweek. But Spring Training, too, is anticipation heightened; it is Saturday afternoon and thoughts turned to Saturday night, because for all the sensory pleasures of Spring Training itself, it leads ultimately to the climax of Opening Day.

Opening Day has evolved into Opening Week around Major League Baseball in recent years. It will begin with Yankees at Red Sox on the night of April 4, followed by those traditional Monday openers. It will be a sight to behold as usual, and just imagine how it will feel for Twins fans who will attend Opening Day at their brand-new Target Field outdoor venue on April 12 against the Red Sox. Starting this week, the preparation begins.

Roy Halladay will be in Clearwater, Fla., for his first training camp as a Phillies pitcher -- not far at all from his former Blue Jays camp in Dunedin. Cliff Lee will be at his first Mariners camp in Arizona. Joe Mauer, the 2009 AL MVP, will report this week with Twins catchers to Fort Myers. John Lackey, after so many camps with the Angels, will report Thursday to his new Red Sox camp in Fort Myers, Fla. Stephen Strasburg, the top overall Draft pick last June, will report to the Nationals' camp on Thursday. The names, the places, the excitement -- it is back.

Truthfully, it is nothing like it used to be in the old days. Way back in the day, ballplayers typically would leave the game for the winter, many of them taking any available jobs in their local towns, helping to make a living, falling out of "baseball shape," and then all convene again in the warm weather to work their way back.

One tradition within the tradition of Spring Training is the matter of pitchers and catchers reporting first. The Baseball Hall of Fame Research Library delved into the subject in hopes of determining exactly why it is that pitchers and catchers report first. Jim Gates, library director there in Cooperstown, N.Y., said the best one can offer is this theory:

"Spring Training began, and for many years was primarily for the purpose of getting out-of-shape players back into playing shape by working them hard to shed winter weight. Pitchers were the most out of shape, and it was also felt that they needed more time to get their arms into shape. Catchers were needed to catch the pitchers."

Over the years it became a formal phrase within the National Pastime: Pitchers and catchers report. Although it is official, in truth it is something of a formality. Today's Major Leaguers and aspiring ballplayers stay in shape over the offseason, and position players are often right there around the Spring Training centers along with pitchers and catchers. Indeed, when MLB.com talked to 2009 All-Star Adam Jones of the Orioles during the recent Super Bowl, he said he was looking forward to showing up when pitchers and catchers show up. It was very typical.

You may be surprised to know that "pitchers and catchers report" actually is not the complete phrase, usually omitting other important people who are permitted to report. "Injured players" also are allowed to report with pitchers and catchers. Then comes everyone else. The fans are an important part of the reporting process as well; they come from everywhere, called by a game that refreshes them, so simple and yet so important.

"Spring Training is the essence of baseball's core," said Dr. Charles Steinberg, the Dodgers' VP of marketing, in Fountain's book. "Baseball itself is pristine and divine. Everything you needed to play baseball was in the Garden of Eden. You had the grass. You had the dirt. You had a branch from a tree to make a bat. There had to be a cow somewhere to give you the ball and the glove. I was telling this story once and some wise guy said: 'Yeah, they even had a snake for the media.' But you had everything you need. Out in the sun. You don't need a manufactured court; you don't need a metal-rim basket. You just need a bat and a ball and the good Lord's earth to play on."

Spring Training is the GAME again...

For some, Spring Training means an annual sojourn to warmer climes, to escape and get up-close to their favorite players in ways that is naturally harder come summer. Donna Swikow is a Rays fan in Clearwater, who eagerly awaits the arrival of players back into her environs. She has been psyched for the "pitchers and catchers report" mantra to become reality.

"They are four words that remind you of the greatness to come," Swikow said in an e-mail to MLB.com. "A fresh slate, a new season, another chance. Baseball Spring Training is a multi-sensual experience. The smells: fresh-cut grass and popcorn. The sounds: peanut shell's crunching under your feet, a wooden bat (I loathe aluminum) hitting a ball or the ball smacking into a mitt. The sights: a bright blue, cloudless sky that hurts to look into, the sunburned skin of snowbirds. The touch of your own glove hoping for a foul ball, the sting of that pop up if you forget the glove. It's when the new year begins for a sports fan.

"Things slow down when you watch a ball game. There is a symmetry, a balance that no other sport gives you. Anyone can follow along. Young and old know the rules and can enjoy at their own pace. The sport is the same to me now at 48 as it was when I was 5 watching the Cardinals play at Al Lang in St. Petersburg. I have newspapers from the announcement of St. Petersburg, my hometown, getting a team. I cried every time I thought of it. The stadium was built where I grew up. Great things were to come. The Rays, my team. We were there when Aki [Iwamura] caught the ball and made the out in Game 7 of the 2008 ALCS."

Swikow said she will be there to see Yankees vs. Rays in Tampa this spring. She will be there at Tropicana Field for the last Spring Training exhibition against the Mets. "On Opening Day, I'll take a nap so I don't miss a minute. Can't wait for the season to start. But the next best thing, it's pitchers and catchers reporting. Those four words sound as good to me as 'You won the Lottery' or 'Will you marry me?'. Yeah, I said it."

One day last week, the physical education coach at her daughter's school, who is from Greece, asked Swikow when Spring Training starts. He was trying to learn the sport. "His eyes glazed over when I asked if he meant pitchers and catchers reporting or actual games," Swikow said. "Then I listed the upcoming games and where they would be, I actually told him the exact number of days. I don't know if he'll ask me about baseball again."

Spring Training is millionaire, rock-star Major Leaguers playing catch and eating lunch with $1,500-a-month Minor Leaguers who are hoping to maybe play at Double-A, and who may never get closer to The Show than this. The ballparks are small -- Minor League size -- and the crowds, though swollen tremendously since the 1980s, are still only a fraction of those at a regular season game. This gives a proximity that allows for not only autographs and pictures, but eye contact and conversation as well.

There's little heckling or booing in the stands in Spring Training; fans have a patience with imperfection in March that will be but a memory in July.

That says it well, and it is something that has been said for generations and generations. Spring Training is the moment of hope and reassurance, the time for baseball to take its rightful place again. This is the week that it all starts. This is baseball.

The clock is ticking......get ready....the season is here...Baseball's back! 

Check out the latest Sports Memorabilia, Apparel and Collectibles from your favorite team and player at http://collectiblesofthegame.com

10 years ago, the world lost the Football Coach Tom Landry of the Dallas Cowboys.

Today, February 12, 2010 marks the 10 year anniversary of the death of Tom Landry, head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

Tom Landry led the Cowboys for 29 season and he won 2 Super Bowl titles (VI, XII), 5 NFC titles, 13 Divisional titles, and compiled a 270-178-6 record, the 3rd most wins of all time for an NFL coach. His 20 career playoff victories are the most of any coach in NFL history. He is ranked as one of the greatest and most innovative coaches in NFL history, creating many new formations and methods. He invented the now popular 4-3 defense, and the "flex defense" system. His most impressive professional accomplishment is his record for coaching the Cowboys to 20 consecutive winning seasons (1966–1985), an NFL record that remains unbroken and unchallenged. It remains one of the longest winning streaks in all of professional sports history.

Tom Landry once said "When you want to win a game, you have to teach. When you lose a game, you have to learn." and "I don't believe in team motivation. I believe in getting a team prepared so it knows it will have the necessary confidence when it steps on a field and be prepared to play a good game." These are definitely two quotes that all coaches should live by. Always be willing to learn, to teach, and to be prepared. I guess that could apply to real life as well.

Tom Landry's departure came shortly after the Cowboys were sold to Jerry Jones before the 1989 season. When Landry met with his players two days later, to tell them how much he would miss them, he began to cry. The players responded with a standing ovation. Tom Landry's unceremonious dismissal by Jones was denounced by football fans and media as totally lacking in class and respect. In the years since, while most fans retain their support for the team, there persists significant levels of derision towards Jones over the perceived mistreatment of Landry.

Tom Landry was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990 and has a bronze statue outside of Cowboys Stadium. He died on February 12, 2000 of leukemia. The Cowboys wore a patch on their uniforms during the 2000 season depicting Landry's trademark fedora.

 

Tom Landry had several of his players also make the Pro Football Hall of Fame, including Bob Lilly, Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Rayfield Wright and Randy White. He was very influential as a person and coach and is still missed by the Dallas Cowboys faithful fans. 

Check out the latest Sports Memorabilia, Apparel and Collectibles from your favorite team and player at Collectibles of the Game