Look what I got! - Part Two in a Series

And now for something different:

This, my friends, is the Topps File Card for one Gary George Pettis.  Topps has always done business with individual players, instead of signing a blanket deal with the MLBPA.  Back before the internet (and evidently before Topps bought computers?), Topps kept their records on File Cards like this one so they could keep track of who they had signed, what they paid them (usually cash, but sometimes stuff like stereo systems) and what number their card ended up being.  Considering that I'm keeping a running history of Topps Angels cards here, I'm really happy to have finally added one of these to the collection.  The first image is of the whole card, and the second is of the attachment that's stapled onto the front.

Gary played for the Angels from 1982 through 1987, winning Gold Gloves in 1985 and 1986 (and three more with the Tigers (2) and Rangers).  His best season with the Halos came in 1986, when he hit .258 with 5 homers, 58 RBI, 93 runs scored and 50 stolen bases.  He held the Angels' steals record until Chone Figgins broke it in 2007.  He's currently the first base coach for the Texas Rangers (he still gets cheers when Tejas comes to town), and his #20 jersey can be seen being placed into his locker during the pregame video every night at the Big A.

Now where did I put my broom?

So I'm standing there watching the game in the 7th, and the wife's Uncle turns to me and says, "Oh well, I guess we can clinch it in tomorrow's game."

I looked at him and calmly said, "Game's not over yet."

I had no doubt in my mind that the Angels could come back from a 5-1 deficit on Sunday to beat the hated Red Sox and sweep them out of the playoffs.  Soon after, we made it 5-2.  Then Billy Wagner let two men on in the eighth, and they brought in Papelbon.

I smiled.

It seems like every time Tito Francona sends in Papelbon against us and there are men on base, we end up scoring.  True, we usually only score enough runs against the kid to lose by 1, but we seem to reach him regularly.  And I had a feeling this time would be different.

Top of the eighth.  Two on, two out.  Juan Rivera gets his first-ever hit off of Papelbon, and suddenly it's a 1 run game.  Bottom of the eight,  it becomes 6-4 Red Sox.  Okay, that's just one extra run we need.

Top of the ninth.  Casey Kotchman in at first for the Red Sox (never thought I'd ever type that).  Papelbon gets two quick outs.  I'm so focused on what the Angels are doing, I don't even realize we're one out from playing another game in Boston.

Then Aybar singles.  They let him take second.

Figgins walks.  I start to smile.

CLANG! - Abreu doubles off the wall.  6-5 Red Sox.  Men on 2nd and 3rd.

And then, AND THEN, they intentionally walk Torii to get to Vladdy.  My confident smile becomes a huge grin.  Do these Sox not remember what happened the last time Vladdy came to bat in a do-or-die moment in this stadium with bases loaded?  I sure do.  And sure enough--

--CRACK! - Vladdy singles to knock in two runs, and the Angels take their first lead of the game.  Fuentes comes in and locks down the win.

7-6 Angels.

I hope Donnie Moore can finally rest in peace after this one.

2001 - Not Quite an Odyssey

Once again, a year ends in a 1, and the Angels didn't have a great year.  (I'd start to think that putting up the cards by alternating decades wasn't such a great idea; luckily years that end in 2 have been much nicer to the Halos.)  They went 75-87 and finished in third place, largely due to a ton of injuries and a Seattle Mariners team that won a Major League record 116 games.  But in spite of all this, the Angels drew over 2 million fans to the ballpark (then named Edison Field of Anaheim; man, I want to smack myself for calling it the Big Ed a couple of times).

Most of the cards here are Topps' "Home Team Advantage" variants, with an extra gold stamp.  I believe these were exclusive to hobby shops that year.  That's Bengie Molina's first card as an Angel at the bottom right, and he signed it for me at the Angels Fan Fest in 2004, as did Ramon Ortiz.  Jeff Mathis signed his card for me during Spring Training in 2008.

Man, 2001 was a great year for first-year Angels cards.  In addition to the Bengie, Ortiz and Mathis cards, Scott Spiezio and Mike Scioscia got their first regular Angels cards, and there were certifed auto cards of Scioscia and John Lackey (rookie auto!).

2001 was a great looking set, with the green borders being oddly evocative of the outfield wall at the Big A.

2001 was also the 50th year of Topps baseball cards. As such, the set included a bunch of reprints, including the oft-reprinted 1980 Nolan Ryan.

Topps inserts finally got interesting in 1996, but it wasn't until 2001 that the Angels got their first jersey card with the "King of Kings" Nolan Ryan card.  The "Who Would Have Thought" cards were great this year as well, covering two of the greatest acquisitions in team history, Ryan and Carew.

Although '01 wasn't a great year, the position players got a lot of experience working together, which would come in handy in 2002...

2001 Topps Angels

4 - Garret Anderson

39 - Shigetoshi Hasegawa

80 - Darin Erstad

87 - Scott Spiezio

161 - Benji Gil

175 - Troy Glaus

186 - Seth Etherton

251 - Scott Schoeneweis

271 - Bengie Molina

309 - Matt Walbeck

324 Mike Scioscia MGR

390 - Troy Glaus SH

392 Sammy Sosa/Troy Glaus HR Leaders

397 Todd Helton/Darin Erstad Hit Leaders

419 - Troy Percival

470 - Gary DiSarcina

484 - Tim Belcher

514 - Adam Kennedy

529 - Orlando Palmeiro

546 - Tim Salmon

586 - Kevin Stocker

604 - Jarrod Washburn

621 - Mo Vaughn

636 - Jose Canseco

722 - Ramon Ortiz

728 - Phil Wilson Angels - Jake Peavey (sic) Padres - Darwin Cubillan Rangers

729 - Steve Smyth Cubs - Mike Bynum Padres - Nathan Haynes Angels

731 - Pena - Larry Barnes Angels - Wise

745 - Joe Torres/Ben Diggins

752 - Anaheim Angels Team Card

Golden Anniversary Prospect Autograph

GAAJL - John Lackey

Golden Anniversary Great Autograph

GAARC - Rod Carew

Going for Gold

GA45 - Troy Glaus

GA48 - Mo Vaughn

Through the Years Reprints

39 - 1980 Nolan Ryan

A Tradition Continues

TRC17 - Mo Vaughn

Base Hit Base Card

BH1 - Mike Scioscia MGR

King of Kings Jersey

KKR6 - Nolan Ryan

2001 Topps Traded

T33 - Ismael Valdes

T38 - Pat Rapp

T104 - Reggie Jackson 82

T120 - Wally Joyner 86

T142 - 1995 Sexson, Arias, Sweeney, Schneider Reprint

T151 - Jared Abruzzo RC

T197 - Brian Specht RC

T227 - Alfredo Amezaga RC

T258 - Jeff Mathis RC

Who Would Have Thought?

WT1 - Nolan Ryan

WT12 - Rod Carew

Let the Playoffs Begin!

Yes, I know five playoff games had already begun by the time the Angels' first postseason first game started, but let's face it - the playoffs don't truly begin until the Halos play their first postseason game. And what a game it was!

A game can't start any better than the wife giving Vladdy a beeg kees.

Not the best picture, but this is what we play for every year:

 And every year we play for Mr. Autry--

--and this year we also play for Nick Adenhart and his family.  I almost lost it when the Angels paid tribute to Nick in the pre-game video.

I was especially happy to see that the Angels included a clip of Jon Wilhite (the sole survivor of the accident that took the lives of Nick and his friends Courtney Stewart and Henry Pearson) throwing out the first pitch on August 29.

I will never get tired of seeing an American flag this large stretched across the lawn of my favorite place in the world.

Eventually it was time for the lineups to be introduced--

 --and for John Lackey to throw out the first pitch. It was a strike.

Most of these pics were taken from our seats in the top deck, section 431.  Not very close to the action, which explains why I don't have more in-game pics, but it was a great place to get pics of the celebration after we won the game.

Nine innings of shutout ball.  John Lackey's first postseason victory since he won Game 7 of the 2002 World Series.  The first postseason shutout in Angels history.  Heck, it was the first time I've witnessed a playoff win at the Big A since the 2002 ALDS.  Here's hoping that we keep dealing more of the same.

Look What I Got! - Part One in a Series

Just won an auction on teh eBay today - the 2006 Topps Updates & Highlights Midsummer Covers #MC-VG, Vladimir Guerrero, numbered 9 of 10.  I'm not sure I've ever seen this card on eBay, and if I have, it's been a few years.

Maybe I should call this section "Reasons Why My Wife Wants to Kill Me."

HOW 'BOUT THEM HALOS?

Now THIS should be Ervin Santana's 2010 card.

Congratulations to the Angels on winning their third straight AL West title.  I was bawling like a baby when they all ran out to take a picture in front of Adenhart's picture in center.  Great job, guys.  Now let's finish strong, rest up, and obliterate the Sox when they come to town.

1991 - A Great Year for Cards.

By the time 1991 rolled around, it had been 7 years since I had collected baseball cards.  By now I was living up in Chico, CA, with a bunch of high school friends, and it would be giving me too much credit to say that I wasn't doing very much with my life.  But gosh darn it, I was collecting the Topps set that year.  Not only did the set have a nice design, and the packs were cheap, but there was that all too enticing "40th Anniversary" design that somehow sucked me in.  Of course it didn't hurt that the local supermarket had them placed where I had to pass by them every time I was ready to check out.

 Topps had started releasing a parallel "Tiffany" set a few years earlier, but in '91 they went a step further with the "Desert Shield" set.  From SportsCardArticles.com:

"When news hit the hobby that Topps was planning a special parallel set of it's 1991 Topps baseball set for the U.S. troops serving in Desert Shield/Desert Storm, the set was immediately sought after by regular non-military collectors. The only difference in the regular Topps baseball set and the Topps Desert Shield parallel set is that the Desert Shield baseball cards all have a gold foil stamp on the front, featuring a palm tree inside of a shield, and the words "Operation Desert Shield" beside an American Flag."

Although the regular '91 set was easy to find, the Desert Shield?  Not so much.  Considering that there are supposedly only 6800 of each card in existence, and how often cards get lost/destroyed/never opened, this has turned out to be one of the most rare sets in Topps' existence.  Even the commons typically go for around five bucks a pop on teh eBay.

1991 turned out to be another mediocre year for the Halos, as they went 81-81.  Manager Doug Rader was replaced after being two games under .500 in 124 games by former player Buck Rodgers, who went a whopping 2 games over .500 the rest of the way.  Possibly the brightest spot in the season came on June 24, when a 39-year-old Dave Winfield became the oldest player in the history of the game to hit for the cycle.

This last bunch is actually from the '90 "Major League Debut" set.  Topps used the 1991 design for this set, that's why I include them with the '91s in my collection.  These cards highlighted the big time debuts of guys who made their debut in 1990 (complete with quotes from "The Register") - and for many of these guys, that's all they did.  Pete Coachman (whose given name is Bobby Dean, so I have no idea where the "Pete" comes from) had his only 45 ML at bats come in '90 (which seems weird, as he batted .311 - you'd think he'd have gotten another chance).  Scott Lewis had a 2.20 ERA in '90, but was pretty mediocre after that.  Jeff Richardson got one out to finish a game, and never pitched in the bigs again.  With results like this, it's no wonder that Topps only ran this set for three years.

The only Angels insert this year was a "Wax Box" card of Bert Blyleven, highlighting his reaching #4 on the all-time strikeouts list. I seriously do not understand why this man is not yet in the Hall of Fame. He won 287 games, often pitching for teams with losing records. This makes him the winningest pitcher not already in the Hall. He's currently 5th all-time in strikeouts (3,701) and 9th in shutouts (60). And he went 5-1 in the post-season, winning a World Series ring with the Twins in '87. Heck, he could probably still pitch for the Netherlands in the WBC today.

1991 Topps Angels Checklist

36 - Donnie Hill

57 - Jack Howell

84 - Bob McClure

107 - Luis Polonia

129 - Mark Eichhorn

153 - Bryan Harvey

176 - John Orton

195 - Wally Joyner

210 - Lance Parrish

231 - Doug Rader MG

255 - Brian Downing

273 - Johnny Ray

285 - Jim Abbott

355 - Chili Davis

395 - Chuck Finley AS

426 - Joe Grahe RC

452 - Bill Schroeder

477 - Mike Fetters

505 - Chuck Finley

532 - Kirk McCaskill

564 - Dante Bichette

615 - Bert Blyleven

630 -Dave Winfield

648 - Lee Stevens

667 - Kent Anderson

704 - Devon White

736 - Dick Schofield

755 - Mark Langston

784 - Willie Fraser

Wax Box Cards

A - Bert Blyleven

1991 Topps Traded
40T - Junior Felix

44T - Gary Gaetti

50T - Todd Greene Team USA

89T - Dave Parker

99T - Jeff D. Robinson

112T - Luis Sojo

1990 Topps Debut
32 - Pete Coachman

58 - Joe Grahe

88 - Scott Lewis

131 - Jeff Richardson

149 - Lee Stevens

169 - Cliff Young

regular cards: 41
inserts: 1