Lots of great info on Mr. Wilson from Wikipedia:

Wilson was best known for his tremendous throwing arm, and led all National League outfielders for assists in 1985 and 1986, throwing out 18 and 20 base-runners from right field, respectively. In 1987, Wilson twice threw out base runners who attempted to reach first base after apparent singles into right field.

Wilson’s nickname was Glennbo, a reference to Rambo. Wilson also appeared in a Phillies promotional ad dressed as Rambo.

This is also the first card that I can recall featuring a glasses strap.

If you’re new to the site, click here to see our previous post about Mr. Hume.

Mr. Hume had 4-5 great seasons as a relief pitcher for the Reds and Phillies.  Along with Rollie Fingers, he was the 1980 co-winner of the Sporting News “Fireman of the Year” award.

Wrong.  The article is amazing, in an absurd, mind-boggling kind of way.  I’ve posted some highlights below:

It’s been an amazing ride for Phillies fans over the last few years, but not for Mike Cybularz. He got off a few stops back when the road was still bumpy and marked with potholes, and the final destination – a championship and a long-overdue parade – was still off in the distance….The 28-year-old East Norriton native grew up backing all the Philly teams, but he was most smitten with the Phils. His dad took him and his two little brothers to games when they were kids. He remembers watching a lot of bad baseball at the Vet, but he was young and confident his favorite team would become a winner, or at least a contender.

At this point the story sounds like it could be about the childhoods of about 20 different fan bases.  But don’t worry, the table is just being set.

In 2004, when he was older and had some money in his pocket, Cybularz and friends bought partial season tickets for the Phils…During the ’04 campaign, as the Phils fought to find their form, Cybularz vowed that if the Fightin’s didn’t make the postseason, he’d be done with the team forever since that would mark a decade of waiting for the club to make the playoffs.

The Phillies finished 86 – 76 in 2004.  No playoffs.  No more Phillies for Mike.  Oh, and guess what?  if my dinner isn’t ready in the next five minutes, I vow to never eat dinner again.

…Cybularz hasn’t supported the Fightin’s since. Not when the Phils went on an improbable run to steal the NL East from the Mets in ’07. Not when they did it again in ’08 and then tore through the National League and the Tampa Bay Rays to secure the city’s first championship in 25 frustrating years. Not when the Fightin’s caravanned down Broad Street and Cybularz’s loved ones left him behind and joined countless other Phillies fans in celebrating the long-awaited title.”I would have loved to go to the parade,” he said, “but I didn’t – to prove a point.”

I love this.  Mr. Gonzales’s only failing in writing this article was his failure to ask the follow-up question, “What, exactly, is that point?”  This story reminds me of a kid I knew in elementary school.  In order to convince his mother to buy him a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt, he promised that he would “like the ninja turtles FOREVER!!!!”  If he had the resolve of Mike Cybularz, he would still be wearing that shirt.  Totally tubular.

…his brother Kevin [asked] Mike to be his best man and organize a bachelor party involving a Phillies game, followed by a trip to Atlantic City for the entire crew…Instead of seeing the Phillies and then heading to A.C., Mike planned a different getaway to an even less-exciting city.

“We’re going to Baltimore,” Mike said, “to watch the Orioles play the Indians. What a terrible game.”

I think this is where we cross over from “personality quirk” to “mental disorder.”

Kudos, Mr. Gonzales, on a job well done.

A member of the 1969 World Series winning Mets, as well as a coach for the 1986 World Series winning Mets.

——–

There was a girl who I went to college with who dressed like a hippie. We’ll call her Sandra. She had dozens of Phish concerts bootlegged, followed jam bands on tour over the summers with her hippie friends, and sold vegetarian stir-fry in the parking lots to make money. She had a nose ring. She used a men’s necktie as a hair-band.

My only glimpse behind the hippie curtain came during junior year, when one of Sandra’s friends from high school was visiting. This friend showed up looking…normal. She was wearing a plain t-shirt and jeans from the GAP. The whole week, the friend wore sneakers or shoes…not sandals.

One evening, toward the end of the week, a group of us were out to dinner. Sandra took a phone call, and left the table for a few minutes. Soon after, the friend said, “You guys know what’s up with Sandra and that hippie crap?”

The next few minutes, before Sandra returned, can be described as mind-blowing at best, and unsettling at worst. The friend informed us that until she left for college, Sandra was pretty much a GAP girl. No Phish. No nose-ring. No veggie stir-fry. This transformation must’ve taken place in the week between when the friend left for college, and when Sandra left for college. Needless to say, Sandra came back, the subject was dropped, and we all pretended that nothing had happened.

At the time, this sort of complete look/personality transformation left me confused. Now it strikes me as kind of sad.

I swear this will all make sense when you see the next couple of pictures. I was so rattled by them that I will give you a few minutes to digest them on your own. Then I’ll be back with some closing thoughts:

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Jayson Werth – 2009 – Cool Dude/Jock/Guy who might be in a hard rock band

Jayson Werth – 1997 – F-ing Nerd/Winner of the late career Greg Maddux combined with Kent Tekulve look-alike contest

Further evidence: Mr. Werth’s 1997 Bowman Rookie Card

Several jarring things here–first being that this 1997 Bowman Jayson Werth card checks in at over a half decade later than the next most recent nerd card. Second, why the extreme makeover from Mr. Werth? Is he a self-hating nerd? Does he secretly read Scientific American on road trips? Does he stand in the outfield dreaming of the Dr. Who marathon he has Tivo’d? Has his old college roommate ever called the Phillies locker room to discuss the new Battlestar Galactica movie, then Mr. Werth had to talk really quietly but forcefully into the phone to tell his friend he doesn’t do that anymore, and then hung up quickly and pretended that it was a wrong number when his teammates started razzing him about the call? Third, was it a gradual transformation, or did he get traded from the Orioles and decide to make a Sandra-the-GAP-girl-turned-hippie style new beginning (No one will know! You can be whoever you claim to be!)?

Mr. Werth, don’t deny your nerd roots. Take out those contact lenses. Shave the goatee. Part the hair. It’ll set you free. I promise.

This is Mr. Knicely’s 1986 Topps card. Anyone want to guess which television drama about cops in South Beach was a top-ten-hit that year?

10 innings = 30 outs on offense for each team. The game can’t end before you run out of these outs…these outs are valuable baseball commodities.

So can someone please explain why Jerry Manuel called for three (3!) sacrifice bunts? None of these occurred in the 8th/9th innings. Two of these occurred after lead-off doubles, so the runner was already in scoring position with no outs. The other occurred with a man on 1st and one out. All occurred with the struggling, soft-throwing Jamie Moyer on the mound (current ERA 6.11, current WHIP 1.49).

Had all three of these bunts worked as planned, the Mets would have conceded a full inning’s worth of outs. While playing against the team that has scored more runs than any other in the major leagues this season. And having Tim Redding as their starting pitcher (he actually threw a good game last night).

Someone please explain. PLEASE. I must be missing something.

Interesting Don Carman facts from Wikipedia:

1) All-Stars Craig Biggio, Ken Griffey Jr., Jeffrey Leonard, Pete Rose, Larry Walker, and Matt Williams went a collective 1-for-40 against Mr. Carman in their careers.
2) Following a game in 1990, Mr. Carman grew tired of the repetitive post-game questions he was forced to answer. After creating a handwritten list of 37 standard responses to these questions, he posted them on his locker, and invited reporters to choose which response they wanted. The list included cliches like “I’d rather be lucky than good” and “We’re going to take the season one game at a time.