It's Monday. The Monday after an extended holiday break. I'm in need of a softball post. How 'bout you?
This is a card that won't get in the way of you figuring out which game is depicted on its front. In fact, you might have more difficulty figuring out the pitcher on the mound, given Topps' two-decade-long foil addiction.
But I'll go easy on you on that one, too. It's Jon Garland, the two-time Dodger pitcher slumming it with the Diamondbacks.
For the specific game information, we go to the broad scoreboard display behind our cardboard hero. It's immediately above the commercial for reblended tap water and the commercial that has ruined your viewing of the NCAA basketball tournament for most of the 2000s.
(Sorry, Black Friday tends to bring out my anti-corporate side).
It's obvious from the scoreboard that Garland is pitching in the middle of Interleague Season. Plus, since this is a card from the 2009 Topps Update set and Garland began pitching for Arizona in 2009, this is definitely a picture of a game from 2009.
Two of the games visible on the scoreboard have gone final. The Braves beat the Blue Jays 10-2. The Royals beat the Cardinals 3-2 in "The Battle of Missouri" (ah, I love it when college football mentality invades baseball).
So, with that bit of knowledge, it's easy look up what day featured those outcomes, and then make the connection that Arizona is facing Oakland in the game pictured here. Garland actually took the loss in this game, going six innings and allowing three runs, all in a fateful sixth. The A's went on to win 6-2 on Sunday, May 24, 2009 in Oakland, California. It was a day game. Ten percent of the 13,792 in attendance ingested nachos, including two people who ate a dropped corn chip off the concourse floor.
Amazing what you can find out from baseball-reference.com, huh?
OK, I made up that part about the nachos.
But still easy, right? Modern cards make it simple.
As for the players behind Garland, I'm not as sure. My guess is that's second baseman Augie Ojeda to the left of Garland. He played second in that game.
Moving on to the guy in the distance. If that's right field, then the guy out there is Gerardo Parra. Apparently, the right corner of Oakland-Alameda County Stadium is where they keep annoying halfwits. Parra and the "Can You Hear Me Now" guy make a perfect couple. Now, where's the mute button?
So, there you are: some simple deducing for the start of the work week. If I accomplish nothing else today, at least I'll have this.
Have a good Monday.
(P.S.: Close your ears, official sponsor of MLB, but water out of the tap, in most cases, is fine -- certainly no worse than what's in bottles).
Comments
Then I moved to Jacksonville, Florida. The tap water there is garbage. I was buying water (for a while, I had one of those 5-gallon dispensers like PATP was talking about) but wasn't drinking out of the tap even if I was dying of thirst.
Now that I've moved elsewhere, I'm back to drinking the tap water, but my 14 years in Jax has led to habits that I'm still trying to get past.
I remember an awesome scoreboard card of Tim Lincecum, and he lost the day of that pic too. That's rather annoying in my opinion. I always like my players to be the heroes of their card, and finding out they weren't so good the say of the pic, just spoils the fun.
Seconding Chris on awful Florida water. If you live in New York or somewhere with good drinking water, Bottled stuff is a waste. In Florida though... dear God that stuff is horrible. Brita won't help either. Filtering through a hundred square feet of pure charcoal made from the remains of old scotch whisky barrels might help a little. You should really just drink the scotch at that point though.
The worst thing about Florida water is that even if you never ever ever drink a drop, you still have to bathe and brush your teeth eventually and you still suffer that horrible Florida flavor. You think orange juice and toothpaste is bad? Try Florida water and toothpaste. BLEARGH
Anyway, short-story long, I pulled Jacob Ellsbury #100, the alternate card (#100B, if you will) that caused quite a stir a few years ago when it came out. The card that was going for multiple-hundreds on ebay.
Of course I never knew any of this in 2007, which pre-dated my return to the hobby (excuse me, The Hobby). But it's been fun reading about it.
I know this has absolutely NOTHING to do with tap water, foil-hatin' or even sick scoreboards. But I don't have a blog of my own so I have to share that here.
Sorry Night Owl.
By the way, the water tangent didn't surprise me. I could see it happening when I was writing it.