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As most of my regular readers know, I don't watch a lot of baseball.  Mostly because my local teams don't allow their channel on streaming services.  And since COVID, I haven't really watched hockey either.  And I've never been a basketball fan.  So I'm a bit behind when it comes to the details of current sports.

Something I noticed when I happened upon some playoff baseball last season: the ad patches on the shoulders - and now even the batting helmets - of the players.  It's been my opinion that team wordmarks on baseball jerseys have been diluted and limited to plain cursive, which is boring.  But the uniform has never been invaded by corporate logos until now.

I mean, there's plenty of advertising in the ballparks as it is...

And the arenas and venues have been corrupted with company names for years.  

From Wikipedia:

Rate Field (formerly named Comiskey Park II, U.S. Cellular Field and Guaranteed Rate Field ... the park opened as Comiskey Park on April 18, 1991, taking its name from the original Comiskey Park, the team's home since 1910.

Originally called Comiskey Park, the stadium was renamed U.S. Cellular Field in 2003, after Chicago-based telecommunications company U.S. Cellular purchased the naming rights at US$68 million for 20 years. U.S. Cellular would later pay $13 million to end the agreement seven years early, saving an estimated $10.8 million.

The stadium's next name, Guaranteed Rate Field, was announced on October 31, 2016, after the Chicago-based private residential mortgage company Guaranteed Rate purchased the naming rights in a 13-year deal. It was later revealed that Guaranteed Rate would pay $20.4 million over ten years for the 13-year agreement. This translates to an average payment of $2.4 million, less than U.S. Cellular's yearly payment of $3.4 million as well as below the average MLB naming rights payment of $3.6 million at the time of the deal's signing.

Coinciding with Guaranteed Rate's rebranding as Rate, the Sox announced the ballpark would henceforth be known as Rate Field on December 17, 2024.

So there are already millions of dollars being spent on just the names of the places.  And some of the sources are rather bizarre.  Why do these high powered finance companies and obscure firms advertise to the general public anyway?  Most of us have to look up who the heck the company is anyway, so how is that advantageous?

The Phoenix Suns' arena became Footprint Center in the summer of 2021. It has previously been known as Talking Stick Resort Arena, U.S. Airways Center and America West Arena. It is now called PHX Arena.

Glad that didn't last long...at least it's sorta relevant to the actual place now.

But all that isn't enough.  Now the ads are infecting uniforms.  

Soccer has been doing this for years.

So has international hockey...

As has international and minor league baseball...

It's creeping into the American pro level sports, like the NBA.

And now baseball is heading down the road from this:

to this:

But is this what the teams really want?  Not only is it hideous and disgusting, but it's blasphemous to the history of the sport.  Is this kind of marketing even effective?  I would be inclined to say that I would hold a much less positive opinion of any company that would participate in the defacing of pro sports like this.

What are your thoughts?  Has it gone too far?  Aren't all the billboards, venue names, redundant ad announcements on TV, and corporate influence on the sports just a bit too much?

Bonus points for anyone who knows the company references in the post title.

Ginter Gap Cards #4

The fourth installment of Ginter Gap cards - custom A&G cards with subjects that Topps didn't include - uses the 2024 design.  

It's unfortunate that this tribute comes at the time of Bob Uecker's passing.  I won't go into his career and biography, since almost everyone that knows baseball knows who he is.  Just check out some of his appearances on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson via YouTube if you want a good laugh.

I took a bit of a liberty and moved the Topps name from between the subject name and the A&G wordmark.  It seemed so crammed in there.  

This picture is somewhat more square, so there's a lot of headroom (and background to fill in when I removed the player that was in the original template image.)

You can see that Kirby is shown from halfway to his beltline, while Uecker's image stops just below the collar.  It didn't take me nearly as long as it typically does to create the framework and then integrate the image in it.  

I actually started with the name.  I moved the "U" on top of the "P" and then copied the "E" into the space that was created.  That gave me "UECKE", so I just had to find an "R".  It came from Gunnar Henderson.  That "R" was out in the middle of a bright background of the same color, so it pasted right in.

Then all that was left was to adjust and fill in the background around him.  And paste over the side "rails" where the image covered them, or extend the blue areas of his jacket to meet the side edges.  And voilà!

Happy Birthday To My #1 PC

Just glanced at the TCDB database home page and saw that today is Priest Holmes' birthday.  The former Ravens & Chiefs running back turns 51.  

I collect anything I can of his, mostly because he won me fantasy football championships in back to back years in the early 2000's when he led the NFL in touchdowns.  

And he's a pretty decent character guy too.

I've got a large binder of his cards, a two row box of jerseys & autographs, and a whole shelf full of McFarlane figures, mini helmets, oversize cards, plus posters, a Fathead, and more.  I probably don't rank real high as a Supercollector (though I'm #1 on the database) since I don't have too many 1/1's. (If I was writing this at home, I'd show you my stuff. I just grabbed these images off the internet, but I have most of the cards.)  If you'd like to see all I have in depth, let me know in the comments. 

The Heart Of Baltimore...

I don't have a lot to say about the passing of Baltimore Orioles legend Brooks Robinson that isn't going to be said in all the tributes. 

As I've mentioned before, this autographed photo was obtained at a signing at a sponsor gas station in my home town.

These are the Brooks cards I have in my star binder.  It's an assortment of HOF'ers and other name players that I don't keep with the sets.  There's really no rhyme or reason on which ones go in there or which ones go in the set binder...

The Marquee and the Triple Threads are ones I had sitting around that didn't have a home otherwise.  Thick cards like that aren't the best in sheets...

Shucks, I meant to straighten these scans out before I posted.  Oh well.  The certificate goes with the Front Row set...

Like I said, I have other Brooks cards in their sets - '59, '64, even '68 (no idea why since the combo is here), '72, '77.  But you'll see those on other blogs, etc. too.

The guy was an amazing player with an incredible range on the field, but his heart was much bigger than that. 

Ginter Gap Cards #2

The half dozen people that responded favorably to my custom A&G cards of Malika Andrews inspired me to create some more.  I'll call them Ginter Gap cards, since they are subjects that Ginter didn't include.

This time, it's the new owner of the Washington Commanders.  He's already brought good fortune on the franchise - they're 2 and 0 on the season so far.  There are also reports that a new stadium is in the works.  Not to mention that he replaced the dark cloud over the team in general.

Guess I could have waited a few days for the new 2023 A&G to come out, but so far I like this base design a whole lot better.

Suite Experience At Camden Yards

While I was on vacation, one of my co-workers (who is always after a deal) arranged for a few of us to see an Orioles game with one of our vendor companies.  But this wasn't going to be just another evening in the stands making runs to the food counter and souvenir shop.  

It was the August 8th matchup with the Houston Astros.  We left work around 4:30 and arrived about an hour before first pitch.  The first bonus was a parking pass that put us really close to the home plate entrance.

It was the first time I had used an app for tickets to an event.  The MLB Ballpark app is pretty much about tickets, even though it talks about following any player, and other things.  It's about the tickets.  Anyway, we went in the door and then in the elevator to the fourth floor.

We stepped off into what felt like a hotel lobby.  It's the Club Level.  There's a reception desk and tons of historical information, artifacts, trophies, and artwork about the history of the Orioles on every wall and in the hallways and lounges all the way around this floor of the building.

This is a stock shot I took off the internet to show some of the other areas.  I snapped the rest of the pics, but stuck to the stuff that interested me.  I haven't asked my friends to send me theirs yet.  I'm sure they shared them on social media.

These jerseys were right behind the main lobby.

This Frank Robinson panel was down one of the walkways to the upper seating sections. 

This side room was all about Cal Ripken.  I don't think these were the original numbers that hung on the side of the warehouse when he was breaking the streak, but I could be wrong.  Seems like they'd be a lot bigger.

This painting was in our actual suite.  There were cafe tables, couch seating, the buffet (quesadillas, hot dogs, salads, sodas, adult beverages, the whole works!), a private rest room, and a glass wall with two sliding doors that lead to the outside seating.  You sat in rolling office-style chairs outside.  Here was our view:

We were up the third base line.  It was a great evening to watch a game.  Not too hot or cold.

 

I snapped pics of the starting lineups.

The O's got off to a rousing start with two home runs from Adley and Mountcastle.  They built a 6 - 3 lead into the 9th inning.  Unfortunately, the closer Bautista, who came into the game with great fanfare ~ flashing lights and dramatic music ~ couldn't get anyone out and they lost in the top of the 9th.  Stupid Astros...

Other than that it was a stellar experience.  One of the hosts knew the Orioles Alumni Director, who came by and brought Larry Bigbie in to meet our group and sign autographs.  (I passed.)  The other company that sponsored the event bought several different hats for everyone.  They were nice.  I got a regular O's hat with the Jackie Robinson 42 patch on it.

Hopefully, we can do that again before the season is over.  

I still haven't watched more than a few games this year.  I should pay more attention since they're going to be in the playoffs.  I'll watch more of them then.

Ginter Gap Cards #1

The half dozen people that responded favorably to my custom A&G cards of Malika Andrews inspired me to create some more.  I'll call them Ginter Gap cards, since they are subjects that Ginter didn't include.

Today's subject is a guy that's on a lot of people's minds.  

So great to hear he's awake, and talking without the breathing tube and looks to be heading toward a full recovery.  A remarkable story.

Well, At Least Dusty Won

In celebration of the World Series Championship, here is my Dusty Baker collection, since he (and maybe Trey Mancini - who I had forgotten was on that team), is the only one I'm happy for.

Pardon my streamlining the scans by leaving them in the pages.  I blacked out the empty slots and a few areas of annoying shine. 

That rookie is one of three I have - one for Dusty, one for Baylor's PC, and one for my '71 set.  Got most of them back when they were $8 or so.  Remember, in my binders, O-Pee-Chees come after Topps base cards until 1981.

My collection is pretty basic for a lot of his playing career.

'81 gets fun with Fleer Sticker, Topps Scratch-off, and Squirt, which has same basice back as Topps flagship.  I also have the full bottle hanger version of the Squirt.  I didn't get either one with the drink initially, but I do really like Squirt soda.

 

Here's the full panel Scratch-Off (with Vida Blue, another PC), the '84 Donruss Action All-Star, and the Squirt hanger.  (Not to scale, of course)

Perma-Graphics 'credit card', and his first and only Kellogg's.

The first of many Tiffany versions in the last slot.

Double shots of Traded and Tiffany here.  The '85 Traded has the bright back like the Tiffany's, but it's not shiny on the front.  I may flip the Topps A's with the OPC above to get three in a row.  Something might push them forward eventually.

Several nice pairings on this page.  The '86 Donruss is an in-person auto that I picked up somewhere cheap.  Always love those Mother's Cookies.  Everyone seems to have more of these than I can ever find.

And now we jump into post-career cards.  These pages are always a bit volatile when I find things from the years in between.  Definitely want the '06 Greats parallels...

This is the only useful place for parallel inserts like this black bordered Rivals from Hometown Heroes, since they're just annoying if you're collecting the regular set.  I don't usually try to cram more than one mini in a slot, but Dusty's are so far between, I don't have enough to quite justify a 15-pocket page...yet.

Although these Golden Age minis may help when I get more sets of all five for the other PC guys, then I'll take 'em out of the oddball binder and put 'em with each player.  The backs are in reverse order.  The Hindus are easier than the Monos, and the Croft's is the tough one.

The last player page.  These are some of my most recent pickups.  The one next to the '78-ish X Super 70's is the Aaron Judge authored set from this year.

The rest of the unusual issues.  All-Star program stamp and three (consecutive?) years of Dodger Police cards.

And now the manager cards.  Those Micros fortunately sit well with their regular-sized counterparts and don't cover up too much, especially oriented like this.  I wouldn't try to put them in a slot by themselves unless it's a 15-pocket mini page.  Oh, and another Mother's...

Subtle parallels in the early 2000's. 

I had the two Ginters together on this page, but had recently rearranged them and just left space for other parallels in between the '04's and '06's.

Heritage is the saving grace for manager cards in this century.  The last '64 design is a black back.

So that's what I have.  

At least the Astros did something right: