Virgil Trucks Celebration Giveaway

With Mr. Trucks's passing, we all acknowledge that the world has lost someone who meant a good deal to a lot of people. 

If you ever wrote to Mr. Trucks you've probably seen one of these cards that celebrate his 2 no-hitters in 1952. If you haven't, here's your chance to own one.

Here's the deal: Mr. Trucks brought a lot of light into the world. Go out, do something, it doesn't have to be huge, that brings joy to someone around you. At some point in the next week leave a comment on this post and I'll random the responses on 4/1. No judging "best," "funniest," or whatever, no need even to say what you did. Just bring a smile to someone's face the way Mr. Trucks did for so many of us.

Check out this giveaway...

over here at Omega Wax for a Dave Righetti ttm. Sounds sweet!

Catching Up: Gomes Winner, and Where I Been

First up, I have a good excuse for slacking the past few days (and I apologize). A friend of mine scored tickets to the Twins game last Tuesday night, and the compa (who is more my partner in crime than voice of reason at times) said that we had to go. So we went. Which meant that I've been playing catch up non-stop since we got back at 3 AM Wednesday morning.

But first, OMG that game was amazing!

Just check out the noise! That stuff never comes through on the tele, and I'm still half-deaf from the screaming. That's the mascot rolling around on an ATV on the field. Mijares (he of the Delmon hpb infamy) eventually took the flag from him (the mascot, not Delmon---don't think they're speaking yet) and led a hand-slapping tour around the outfield. Really, really cool stuff.

One of the strangest things about baseball is that, just because you go to a lot of games and watch a lot of different players in person you don't necessarily see anything special happen. You might see a HOF take the field, and that's awesome, but your memory of a particular game might be of that HOFer making 2 errors and going 0-4. I was really lucky (thanks Jeff and Compa!) that I even had the opportunity just to drive 5 hours, go to the game, then turn around and drive 5 hours home, much less that the game turned out to be so mind-blowingly amazing! The Twins really sent the Metrodome out in style, and it was incredible to be there for game 163 against the Tigers.

So...the moment you've been waiting for...the winner of the Gomes is...after three randomizations...Brian!!! Brian, shoot me an email with your preference for either the Ginter or 206 and I'll get it to you. Thanks to the folks who participated, and spread the good word of Gomes!!!

Have a great one!

TTM from a CCC Fave and the Ensuing Giveaway: Jonny Gomes Rules

So, I called home today and asked the compa the question, like I always do, "Is there any good mail?" That's code for, "Please tell me something other than bills came today."

Today that answer was, "Yes." It's a pick-me-up, and adds to the excitement of going home. At present I only have one ttm from my Ginter Negro League Project out, as well as two book orders, so I figured those were the likely suspects. Pretty cool. So I got home, saw the SASE, and looked at the postmark:

If you follow this blog you know where this is going. Please don't give it away for the others.

So, the week after the awesomeness of this post, I decided to write a letter to the man himself, thanking him for signing the jersey at the Cubs game and including two cards for him to sign.

To recap: Jonny Gomes is one of the greatest players in the history of the Rays. As a player he's got maddening, raw power. His career thus far has been marked by incredible peaks. He was even 3rd in the ROY voting in 2005. Unfortunately, the Rays decided they were better off with a veteran RF and right-handed bat who was more expensive and less productive (not pointing fingers, just saying) and let Jonny walk. He caught on with the Reds, had a torrid spring, but was sent to AAA Louisville to begin the season. After coming up and despite platooning with other Reds OFs, Jonny put together a HELL of a season: .879 OPS, 20 HR, 51 RBI in 281 AB.

He's also an absolute fan favorite, so I sent off the two cards without much hope. If nothing else, I included one of these, with the explanation that it was the best I could do because I couldn't buy Jonny a drink to say "Thanks" for all the memories of him playing for the Durham Bulls and Tampa Bay Rays.

If you remember, Gomes was one of the foremost hellians at the center of a lot of celebrations in the Rays clubhouse last season. And now, today, I received these in return:

Two sweet autos from an awesome player!

Now, in the letter I sent I said I'd give away one of the cards on the blog, which is now what I'm going to do. I like the Ginter, Compa like the 206, so what we'll do is this: follow the blog, leave a comment saying you're in. On Thursday night I'll run 3 randomizations of the list, #1 gets their choice of the two.

Good luck, have a great night!

Virgil Trucks Giveaway: Results are in!!!

The Rays are up, it's a Friday evening, things are right with the world.

I've had a great time running this, and I hope ya'll have enjoyed it. Mr. Trucks is really one of the kindest, most generous players I've come across, and his appreciation for us fans is pretty incredible. If you didn't win, please feel free to drop Mr. Trucks a line. He's an incredible individual, and without his cooperation this wouldn't have been possible. If you are so inclined, order the book as well. I got a note from Mr. Trucks today, and my copy is in the mail! I'm really stoked to get it, and will let you know how it is once I've read it.

Also, Troll is running a cool HOF contest over on his blog, here. Check it out!

Time for the results, the randomizations are below. I have traded with some of you, and some of you I don't know! Please email me your address ASAP and I'll get these in the mail. (After two weeks I'll re-run the giveaway with anything left over, so don't leave me hanging!!!)

Have a great weekend everyone!

1. Mmosley---1954 Bowman (an NC State fan at #1!!! I should have run another randomization!!)

2. Matthew Glidden---1950 Bowman

3. Dean Family---1957 Topps

4. Pack Addict---1959 Topps

5. Wicked Ortega----Diamond Stars (Brown version)

6. Dan---Diamond Stars (Blue Version)

7. Douglas---personal card

8. MattR---business card w/ Fire Truck

9. Don---business card w/ Fire Truck

#1

1. Matthew Glidden
2. Jeff Meloy
3. Captain Canuck
4. White Sox Cards
5. Slangon
6. Dean Family
7. Hackenbush
8. Night Owl
9. Beardy
10. Mark’s Ephemera
11. Mmosley
12. Wickedortega
13. Brian
14. Packaddict
15. MattR
16. Collective troll
17. Dan
18. Maury Wills HOF fan
19. Douglas
20. Core contrarian
21. Dinged Corners
22. MadHandle11
23. Gcrl
24. Zman40
25. Don

Timestamp: 2009-08-22 00:57:22 UTC

#2

1. Don
2. Douglas
3. Night Owl
4. Wickedortega
5. Dinged Corners
6. Gcrl
7. MattR
8. Packaddict
9. Matthew Glidden
10. White Sox Cards
11. Collective troll
12. Core contrarian
13. Slangon
14. Beardy
15. Maury Wills HOF fan
16. Dan
17. Hackenbush
18. Zman40
19. Brian
20. Captain Canuck
21. MadHandle11
22. Jeff Meloy
23. Mmosley
24. Dean Family
25. Mark’s Ephemera

Timestamp: 2009-08-22 00:57:57 UTC

#3

1. Mmosley
2. Matthew Glidden
3. Dean Family
4. Packaddict
5. Wickedortega
6. Dan
7. Douglas
8. MattR
9. Don
10. Jeff Meloy
11. Dinged Corners
12. Brian
13. Captain Canuck
14. Collective troll
15. Zman40
16. Core contrarian
17. White Sox Cards
18. Gcrl
19. MadHandle11
20. Beardy
21. Hackenbush
22. Night Owl
23. Slangon
24. Maury Wills HOF fan
25. Mark’s Ephemera

Timestamp: 2009-08-22 00:58:26 UTC

Virgil Trucks Giveaway: What are the stakes?

OK, the cards have arrived and the giveaway is closed! I'm pretty exhausted from work-related travel during the past four days, but thought I'd put of some scans of what is being given away. I think you'll agree, Mr. Trucks is an awesome individual who cares a lot about baseball fans and the games history. I can't wait to get the book!

So, you already know the 1954 Bowman:

Like I said, I sent Mr. Trucks a few more cards. First, this gem:

Yep, that is some mega-vintage 1950 Bowman Virgil Trucks. If you've never seen these, they are incredible. Whoever lands this beauty will be incredibly stoked. Next up:

1957 Topps. Another nice card, this one of Mr. Trucks playing with the A's. Pretty cool you can see the warm-up suit peaking out from under his uni. Even better, check out the back:

See '44-'45? It actually lists his service in the Navy on the back of the card. Nice. And we have this:

1959 Topps. This card, along with the '54 Bowman, was among those purchased at the cardshop in Devanport, IA, I mentioned here. But that isn't all! Mr. Trucks threw in a few more graphs that he said I could give away.

The awesome things about these diamond signatures cards is that they were printed up specifically for players to give away. This is another version:

He also included this awesome cardboard you have already seen and that I am guessing is of personal vintage:

It is a little large than a "normal" sized card, but this cool card features a pitching tiger on the front and some great info on the back. And like I said, it's kind of Mr. Trucks's "if I designed baseball cards, my baseball card would look like this..." baseball card. I'm sure we all agree that some folks at the card companies could learn a thing or two from Mr. Trucks. And finally, I think you remember the "Fire Trucks" stamp:

He threw in 2 of them!

So, once again, many many thanks to Mr. Trucks! I'll run the randomizations tomorrow and cards will be assigned numbers according to the order in which they appear in this post, 9 in all!

Finally, because I have been out of town I am way behind on posts and emails. I will be catching up tonight, but I wanted to throw out a quick "Thanks" to the folks who sent me cards recently. I will be posting them over the weekend, but in the meantime wanted to say your generosity and thoughtfulness are awesome. And, look soon for a special post by the compa!

Nicknames: "Fire" Trucks, Whammy, Superman, and Briefcase

OK, no mail from Mr. "Fire" Trucks today, but I did get two letters. I'm out of town from Monday to Wednesday, so hopefully something shows up around then!

The coolest thing about having the blog is the kind of people you meet who know a lot more about baseball than you do. It's all relative, but I like learning more about the game and its history, especially from other folks that love and follow the game.

A while back I said I had a "top two" nicknames, which I did. Little did I know of the awesomeness of two others. So, we're up to a top four, in no certain order: "Whammy" Douglas, Virgil "Fire" Trucks, Art "Superman" Pennington, and Herb "Briefcase" Simpson.

Yep, Mr. Pennington signed it with the "Superman." The Ginter insert autos are beyond my financial reach, so as I said earlier I'm trying to contact these gentlemen through the mail. AND, there will be a Pennington giveaway a few weeks after the Trucks giveaway, so keep your eyes peeled. In case you are interested, Mr. Pennington has a website found here. He lost everything in the Cedar Rapids flood last summer, so if you are thinking on throwing down cash on the Ginter certified auto, you might consider sending him a base card and a few bucks instead.

He even answered the question sheet I sent him. Where did "Superman" come from? His mom when he was 10 or 12. I'll save the rest for the giveaway later.

I also heard back from this gentleman, Herb "Briefcase" Simpson (another article here).

How awesome is the nickname "Briefcase"!?! Now, in my utter ignorance, I had no idea Mr. Simpson's nickname was "Briefcase," so I didn't ask him how he became known as "Briefcase." Might have to send a follow up letter and ask. BUT, what was his best moment in baseball? Mr. Simpson hit a homer off Satchell Paige and his parents were in the stadium to see it! Very cool memory to share.

So, as a general question, why haven't the big THEY made a Negro League set loaded up with "hits" or whatever? Any thoughts? Given the popularity of the Negro League Ginter autos, would you bust a product with Negro League hits, cut sigs, and relics? They could even get current prominent Afro-American players involved. What do you think?

P.S. Upper Deck, let me suggest that, having lost your MLB license, this would seem to be one heck of an idea. Plus, you'd be educating the general public and providing extra income for some of these men.

Virgil Trucks Giveaway: Who is "Fire" Trucks? Part 2

Like I've said before, the man put up some pretty impressive stats. Before I begin, however, I'd like to give a shout out to a contest over at Saints of the Cheap Seats. Great he's keeping Cy's dream alive!

Like I said yesterday, in 1952 Virgil "Fire" Trucks threw 2 no-hitters. Baseball Digest did a great interview with Mr. Trucks about the two, found here. The first was against the Senators on May 15. According to this article it was also the 2nd no-no in Tigers history.

For good measure, Mr. Trucks then threw one against the Yankees on August 25. Now, any no-hitter is amazing. A no-hitter against this roster, however, is almost incomprehensible. I mean, if someone on the street told you that a guy had no-hit a Yankees team with Berra, Mantle, etc., on it, you'd probably assume he was joking.

Amazingly, his W-L record in 1952 was 5-19 with a 3.97 ERA, or 95 ERA+. It goes without saying that with a little bit more run support, that season might have been a lot different.

Like I said yesterday, Trucks also threw 4 no-hitters in the minors.

When you dig deeper into the stats, Trucks had some pretty dominant years during a period that had quite a few dominant lineups. 1949 might have been his best, when he led the league in K's, had a 2.81 ERA, 148 ERA+, 6 shutout, 4 saves (!), and a 1.21 WHIP. That was against an AL with guys like Dimaggio and Williams sowing terror wherever they went. I'll let the rest of the seasons speak for themselves, and they say that Mr. Trucks had some monster years.

Over his 17-year career Trucks went 177-135 with a 3.39 ERA, 116 ERA+. He led the league in K's in 1949 with 153 and had 124 CG for his career. I know that was a different era, but that's over 1/3 of the games he started. Almost unthinkable today.

Anyway, don't forget to comment at the original post here to enter the giveaway, and that all you need to do is be a follower of the site. I'm off to brew some beer.

Have a great one!

Virgil "Fire" Trucks Giveaway

OK, tomorrow I am going to do a long post on this man:

The abbreviated version of the story: the nickname "Fire" Trucks is absolutely incredible, so I decided to try my luck and write to Mr. Trucks and send him a letter with two cards to sign. One of the things he sent back was this awesome business card with his own fire truck stamp. Very, very excellent, and one of the coolest things I have ever seen.

He also included a a postcard about his biography, stating that hardcover copies are currently available for $30 (check to Virgil Trucks) at his address found here. I am a big reader and ordered a copy almost immediately.

I also scooped up a few more cards on ebay and sent them to Mr. Trucks asking him to sign them, saying they would be giveaways on my blog. Maybe he signs them, maybe he doesn't, at the very least I can say he has already been very generous with his time.

If nothing else, I'll be giving away free and clear the beautiful hand-signed 1954 Bowman of Mr. Trucks at the bottom of this post. Why? Because his nickname is one of the all-time greats and his generosity is absolutely impressive. His bio deserves all the attention I can give it.

To enter: be a follower of the blog and leave a comment on this post saying you are "in." Nothing else. Fellow bloggers, please post this on your site to get more folks involved. As I will explain tomorrow, "Fire" Trucks was a great player with some really great stats and I am looking forward to getting the bio. Contest closes when I get the bio and/or other cards in the mail, whichever arrives first!

Good luck!