My birthday!

 Yesterday was my 15th birthday. It was a pretty good birthday. We went to my favorite restaurant for lunch, I had cake, and of course I got baseball cards. This year I picked them out for myself, and though it's nice not being sure what you're getting, I'm glad about the cards I got.

I've always wanted a Zeenut card because I really like the minor leagues, the Pacific Coast League is my favorite minor league, and the Zeenut cards chronicled the Pacific Coast League from 1911 to 1938. They're rare, though, and usually in bad condition, so I'd never gotten one. This, a 1925 card of Bill James, is my first. 

I'm really happy with it. It's obviously not in mint condition, with a corner missing, but it doesn't have any ugly creases and is just a nice card. Bill James (not be confused with the writer) also was a very interesting player. He won 26 games with a 1.90 ERA for the Miracle Braves in 1914, a forerunner of the Miracle Mets, but hurt his arm the next year and was never the same again. He never had a winning record in pro ball again, but lasted until 1925. He only pitched one inning that year, and allowed two unearned runs. He managed in the semi-pro Sacramento Valley League until the mid-1940s.

I also made a cool purchase on the forum Net54. I bought 15 1947-50 Yankee Picture Pack cards for just $19. Calling them baseball cards is a bit of a stretch, as they're huge and pictures, but they are usually considered cards and are very nice. There aren't many baseball cards from that time, and so for some of these guys it's their only Yankees card. And they were just over a dollar apiece. 

Frank Crosetti started out with the Yankees as a short stop in 1932, and was still with the Yankees as a coach when my great-uncle John tried out with them in 1962. 

My great uncle got to take batting practice right after Roger Maris, and fielded ground balls from Crosetti. When he was getting a bat from the batting rack for batting practice, he heard a voice saying "don't use that bat," looked over, and there were Yogi Berra and Elston Howard. Howard apparently didn't want a kid to use his bat. The Yankees were impressed and offered him a contract, but unfortunately he said that he had an offer from another team with a bonus of $10,000 (he did not), and they told him he wasn't worth that much. This is where he should have said he would take less, but he said thanks and left. He ended up signing with the Pirates for $1,500. He had a good year in rookie ball in 1963, but then got hurt and hit only .256 in 1965. And retired. 

It's cool how Bobby Brown's picture pack card and his 1951 Bowman card have the same picture. It's really nice to have both.

Spud Chandler is one of the great pitchers that almost no one has heard about. He had a 109-43 record, and led the league in ERA twice, including 1947 when at 39 he posted an ERA of 2.46. He won the MVP award in 1943, with a 20-4 record and 1.64 ERA. Unfortunately he was a late-bloomer and had arm problems, but he could have been one of the greats. 

I also got three packs. One from 2021 Topps Series One, one from Series Two, and one from 2020 Topps Update. It was fun opening them, though I didn't get anything amazing. 

Gerrit Cole was my only Yankee card, only two days after I wrote about getting my first Yankee card of him. I was actually wrong about that; I already had his 2020 Topps base card and forgot about it.

I don't care about modern cards that much, sadly, so the rookies are the most exciting part. I'd like to love modern cards, but I just can't. 

I didn't remember Giovanny Gallegos , but anyone who's name is Giovanny gets my support. Justin Turner has been a favorite of mine for a long time because of his beard. I call him "The Dwarf" because the beard reminds me of Tolkien's dwarves. 

Jorge Soler was a timely pull. I was rooting for the Braves, as it seems everyone was doing, but switched to the Astros after they were down 3-1 because I wanted it to go to seven games. I wasn't cheering very vehemently for the Braves in the first place to be honest. 

It was a good birthday. A little quiet, but I enjoyed the cards. I spent most of my day researching Bullet Rogan's time with the 25th Infantry in Hawaii. A refresher on Rogan if you've forgotten (I had before last week): He was a top pitcher and hitter in the Negro Leagues in the 1920s, with a 120-52 record, 2.65 ERA, and a .338 batting average. And before joining the Kansas City Monarchs he was the best player in Hawaii.