Sunday, January 13, 2013

1980 TCMA Lynn Sailors Baseball #5, Chuck Lindsay

"How should I pose?"

"Pick up a bat, any bat."

"Then what, put it on my shoulder?"

"Hold it up and smirk like you're about to bunt an underhand pitch from a circus clown."

"...OK, you're the guy with the camera."


Lynn's Sailors started as a Seattle AA affiliate and fielded (among others) future Mariner and Red Sox shortstop Spike Owen. They folded after 1983, but pro ball returned to Lynn twice in the 3 decades since. I attended a handful of (independent) North Shore Spirit games during their 2003-07 run and remember Dick "The Monster" Radatz occupying a hefty percentage of their bullpen.

Many Massachusetts residents know Lynn for this bit of doggerel (and variations on it).
"Lynn, Lynn the city of sin
You never come out, the way you came in
You ask for water, but they give you gin
The girls say no, yet they always give in
If you're not bad, they won’t let you in
It’s the damnedest city I’ve ever lived in
Lynn, Lynn the city of sin
You never come out, the way you came in."

This exaggerates what you'll find in Lynn. No one gives away gin for free.


Lindsay didn't break past AA, probably for lack of power (1 minor league homer), and hung up his spikes after 1980.

TCMA printed 23 cards for this set. (A few names look familiar because they went on to play for Seattle in the early 1980s.)
  1. MICHAEL MOORE
  2. LARRY PATTERSON
  3. RODNEY HOBBS
  4. BOBBY FLOYD, MGR
  5. CHUCK LINDSAY
  6. ROB SIMOND
  7. MIKE HART
  8. DON MINNICK
  9. ORLANDO MERCADO
  10. MIGUEL NEGRON
  11. KARL BEST
  12. JEFF CARY
  13. MANNY ESTRADA
  14. GARY PELLANT
  15. MICKEY BOWERS
  16. TOM HUNT
  17. JOE GEORGER
  18. JAMIE ALLEN
  19. R. J. HARRISON
  20. ROY CLARK
  21. SAM WELBORN
  22. LLOYD KERN
  23. RON MUSSELMAN

Value: This #5 cost $2 from MinorLeagueSingles.com. Teams run as low as $6 on eBay, as none of its players developed into MLB stars.

Fakes / reprints: TCMA reprinted several team sets for "collectors kits" later in the 1980s. Those card backs use black ink and originals use blue.

3 comments:

Carl Crawford Cards said...

That photo is awesome! Great pickup.

night owl said...

Great stuff. It has a slight Bad News Bears feel.

Matthew Glidden said...

Agreed and those Lynn scripted caps look especially hometown-y.