This Custom Card Couldn't Stand the Weather

A few years back, I created a custom card featuring Jimi Hendrix wearing a Toronto Blue Jays uniform. In that post, I pondered the idea of Mr. Hendrix walking out onto the Exhibition Stadium field with his trademark Fender Stratocaster and jamming out a brilliant rendition of O Canada! Afterward, as the crowd cheered and the umpire yelled, Play ball!, Hendrix would swap his guitar for a baseball glove and trot out to center field. What a sight.

After all, the man did pour out one of the most amazing renditions of The Star-Spangled Banner of all time, right? It inspired me to a second card of Jimi, "In Action" at Woodstock. And a couple of years later, that card inspired me to create a similar In Action card featuring Eddie Van Halen.

Well, recently I was thinking of other guitarists I could add to the set. And as it turns out, another legend did play the US national anthem at a baseball game.

 

 

 

 

That was Stevie Ray Vaughan, playing the anthem on opening day at the Astrodome in 1985. It was the stadium's 20th anniversary.

 

For those of you who were expecting to be wowed by Mr. Vaughan's performance, well, you might feel a bit underwhelmed. But there's a reason why the rendition seems lacking.

 

He didn't know the melody until his wife Lenora hummed it to him on the way to the game that day.

 

That's right. He hadn't heard it from beginning to end until right before game time.

 

Now, I don't know how a guy from Texas never heard The Star Spangled Banner, but there you go. Considering the situation, Mr. Vaughan didn't do so badly. It makes you wonder how he would have done with a few weeks to study the tune. It sure would have been bluesy and cool. 

 

Exhibit A:

 

But wait. That's not all of the story from the Astrodome. 

 

As Lenora stood and watched her husband twang through the anthem, she turned to the man standing next to her and admitted that Stevie had only heard the song the whole way through for the first time that day.

The man's reply—that it was a hard song, and that nobody could play it well—must have helped ease Lenora's mind.

She asked the man if he knew her husband. He admitted that he'd never heard of Stevie Ray Vaughan. And then he figured he'd formally introduce himself. . .

 

My name is Mickey Mantle.

 

 

That's right. Mickey Mantle was at the Astrodome for opening day. Turns out he was there to throw out the first pitch.

Well, Stevie had finished playing the anthem, and as he saluted the crowd and walked over to the stands, Lenora looked around for something that Mr. Mantle could autograph. Stevie came over, and heard Mantle inform Lenora that many folks brought a bat for him to sign. Vaughan took off his guitar.

 

I’ve got this bat right here. . . Why don’t you sign this?

 

He held out the guitar. And Mantle signed it. Right on the back.

The whole magical story inspired me enough to create a custom card.

 

 

 

The sound of Vaughan's guitar and voice are so distinct, I can hear them just by looking at this card. It's such a shame that the world lost him at the young age of 35 in a helicopter crash. 

 

Vaughan was self-taught, and from what I've read and heard over the years, he seemed like a very kind and humble guy. He'd also managed to overcome a drug and alcohol addiction, and had been sober for a few years leading up to the tragic day. To show how well-respected he was in the music industry, attendees of his funeral included Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, Buddy Guy, ZZ Top, Eddie Van Halen, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and Ringo Starr.

 

I'm happy to have this guitar icon in the custom card stable. 

 

And how about this trio?

 

 

Any Stevie Ray fans out there? Share in the comment section, and thanks for reading!

From the Favorites Box: Carlton Fisk, 1982 Topps #111

A series where I post some thoughts about favorite cards. Previous cards in the series are available here.

 

 

Have a look at these three "in action" cards from the 1982 Topps set.

 

Why did I place the phrase "in action" in quotes? Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not seeing much action captured in those photographs. Might as well delete the space between the two words, and make it "inaction".

Unfortunately, there were a bunch of these static-type cards in the subset. But Topps didn't get it all wrong. Some of the images are very good. 

 

One of them is exceptional.

 

 

 

 

If you were at the ballpark that afternoon, you'd be on the edge of your seat, watching a potential highlight-reel play unfold before your eyes. Just look at everything the photographer captured.

 

The baseball has been popped up in front of home plate, maybe on a poor bunt attempt. It's just out of frame, somewhere near the Topps logo, and Fisk has his eyes right on it. His catcher's mask has been tossed (you can see it just above the name "FISK"). On the very left-hand side of the image, you can even spot the umpire running out from behind home plate to get a clear view of the play. I think Fisk is going to make the grab.

 

You know what else? After some quick scanning of the checklist, this is the only card in the entire 40-card subset that's in a horizontal layout. That means the folks in the Topps design department thought this image was so good that it was worth making an adjustment to the design. Just for this card. Pretty cool when you think about it.

And speaking of so good, let's discuss Mr. Carlton Fisk for a minute.

 

Your knees might hurt just knowing that the guy spent almost all of his 24 MLB seasons crouching behind home plate. (He logged 2,226 games as a catcher. The next highest amount of games he played at any defensive position was 41, as an outfielder.)

I suppose for Fisk, a.k.a. "Pudge", some of that pain was lessened over the years by all the accolades and accomplishments. Rookie of the Year, Gold Glove, 11x All-Star, 3x Silver Slugger, and some records set during his playing days that have since been eclipsed, like total games caught and total home runs by a catcher. (He still holds the A.L. record for home runs by catcher with 351.)

 

A Hall of Fame induction helps, too. 

 

Oh, and some rather famous body English on a World Series home run. 

 

 

The guy was a total workhorse, team leader, and heck of an overall player. 

 

And for showing us that you can capture all of that on a 3.5 x 2.5-inch rectangle, 1982 Topps #111 has a spot in my box of favorite cards.

A Bonus Custom Card, One Week Later

After the lively discussion in the comment section of last week's blog post about David Lee Roth's custom card, Sammy Hagar, and Van Halen, I started thinking about creating another custom card—this time for band mate and guitarist extraordinaire, Eddie Van Halen. 

So, I began looking through some images and thinking about a border design. Nothing was really inspiring me until I came across one particular image. It featured Eddie performing at an outdoor venue in the afternoon, smiling that classic smile, using one of his famously designed guitars—all with a beautiful blue sky in the background.

And it all came together.

 

 

 

I had to use the 1982 Topps "In Action" template. 

 

Why?

 

Back in 2020 I'd used the same template for a card that featured another extraordinary guitar player, Jimi Hendrix, also performing at an outdoor venue in the afternoon.

 

I mean, just look at them side by side on cardboard.

 

 

 

There was no other option for me. Two absolute legends of the guitar. Two guys whose sound and style everyone wanted to imitate. I think a lot of folks would put both of them in their top-5 list of guitarists. Maybe even top 2.

 

And I think they look fantastic together in action. Hope you do, too.

Thoughts? Favorite guitarists? Share in the comment section, and thanks for reading!

A Custom Card Kisses the Sky

Today's custom card was inspired by an underrated baseball player from the 1980s, and features a guitar legend from the 1960s.

First, the original card:

1982 Topps Traded #2T, Jesse Barfield

Any idea who the look-alike is? Here are some hints:

His instrument of choice was almost always a Fender Stratocaster.

He wondered if you were experienced.

Instead of Blue Jays, think Purple Haze.

Got it?

Here's the custom card:

The resemblance is a little more of a stretch than some of the other customs I've made, but there are still a few similarities between the two guys, don't you think? And besides, there was no way I was going to pass up an opportunity to put Jimi Hendrix on a baseball card.

I decided to use Jimi's formal name of James because Topps would have probably done the same thing back then. As for his position, I kept it as is. I figure a guy with such creativity and bravado would take more kindly to running around the outfield than he would being stuck at a corner infield position, for example.

And look a little closer. The Hendrix signature is well known, so I was able to find a good example of it online. Then I removed Jesse's signature and added Jimi's on a slight angle to match.

As for the man himself, what is there to say that hasn't already been said?

There's a lot left to wonder about, of course. Jimi's sound was really evolving as the new decade dawned (1969 into 1970, that is). If you haven't listened to any of his recordings with the Band of Gypsys, I highly recommend it. Makes you wonder what sort of music he would have been creating in 1982.
 
And you know what? If Jimi were still alive in 1982—and for this exercise, a young baseball player—I think Toronto would have been a good fit. 

"New York is so plastic," I can hear him say, "and the West Coast scene has changed". 

In Toronto, maybe he'd find some peace of mind.

Plus, it would give him an opportunity to create a mean rendition of O Canada for the guitar. He'd play it before every home game, and then exchange his Stratocaster for a baseball glove and trot into the outfield as the umpire yelled PLAY BALL!

The crowd would go wild.

And here's some interesting information I discovered while creating the card: Although he played the guitar left-handed, Jimi was somewhat mixed-handed. For instance, he threw with his left hand but wrote with his right hand. Maybe this would have made him a rarity like Rickey Henderson—throws left, bats right. You see many more ballplayers do the opposite—throw right, bat left.

But let's get back to Jesse Barfield for a moment, because he was no slouch either.

Go back and watch game three of the 1985 ALCS between the Blue Jays and Royals. The link should take you to the 40:40 mark of the video, where in the bottom of the fourth inning alone Barfield makes three terrific catches on the wet turf at Kauffman Stadium to retire the side and keep the game close—the most impressive grab around 41:38. Afterward, commentator Tony Kubek mentions how much more confident the young Barfield had become since the Blue Jays stopped platooning him.

In the top of the next inning he'd come up to the plate with a man on first, and what do you think he did? Yep. Around the 45:52 mark he belts a two-run homer to tie the game.

The Royals would take the game 6-5, ended up winning the series 4 games to 3, and would also go on to win the World Championship, of course. But Barfield had himself a great year for the Jays. The most impressive stat? Get this: He put up a rare "triple-double" of 27 home runs, 22 stolen bases, and 22 outfield assists.

He kept rolling into 1986, his best overall season, as he tallied 170 hits, 35 doubles, and 40 home runs (led the AL); put up a .289 average; won the Silver Slugger and Gold Glove Awards; and was named an All-Star. He'd also take home a Gold Glove Award the following year.

In the early '90s I remember he had a couple of good seasons with the Yankees, too. Unfortunately, injuries really slowed him down after that, and he wrapped up his career while still in his early 30s.

Back to Hendrix now, as I often like to create a second custom card. Here it is, based on the 1982 Topps In Action subset. Natural fit, right?

I used the name Jimi for this one, because the card shows him as Jimi Hendrix the musician, not James Hendrix the baseball player.

Now go listen to whatever Hendrix songs you've got in your library, and enjoy the day.

Thanks for reading, as always.