"It's a Nice Night for an Evening" -- 2024 Oldtime Baseball in Cambridge, MA

My high school friend Max, a youthful Steven Wright of our Seattle classroom, often said things like, "it's a nice night for an evening" and "'Do I want cherry in my Coke?' That's something a jerk would say."

"Thanks, jerk."

Max's evening aphorism came back to me on Thursday during a beautiful night at my neighborhood's annual Oldtime Baseball, which brings dozens of amateurs and former pros to a public ballfield in Cambridge, MA, for a nine-inning combo of game, fundraising, and community. Headliners included Lou Merloni and Jonathan Papelbon, who each dressed in their Red Sox finest, played an inning, and posed for photos.

This event kicked off 30 years ago during a baseball strike, with added inspiration from a large collection of classic uniforms of all leagues, eras, and teams. Their sale table of fitted hats includes a chunk of what fans saw on the field.

I like big hats and I cannot lie -- since anything smaller than 7 5/8 is right out.

You can get as close to game action as you like and we started along the third base line.

This guy in the Seattle Pilots uniform got guff from left field fans every time he took the field and it's for reasons beyond their one year of existence. (I'll explain why soon.)

Pitchers handled about one inning each and managers cycled through lots of players, with pinch-hitter announcements a regular part of the night, most of them sponsored by a local business. (I suspect raising sufficient money for their charity gets you an at-bat.)

Former Red Sox catcher Lou Merloni started the game, squatted for an inning, and gave way to younger knees like Mr. Flexible in this bullpen. We stuck around to see Papelbon, who entered in the eighth. Sure enough, his second batter was pinch-hitter and sportswriter Jared Carrabis, who started this beef about 12 hours before game time.

As predicted, here's Papelbon firing a pitch into Jared's ribs.

Jared tossed his bat, took a couple "angry" steps toward Jonathan, and they put on a brief show of invective. Papelbon's 6" height advantage made their exchange even funnier and we fans laughed it up. One of many highlights that night.

My S.O. Sunny loves to spend money on a good cause, so bid successfully on this signed celebratory 1967 photo of Jim Lonberg. Will see if can add Yaz in the future! (Carl turned 85 the same day of this game. Concidence???)

I snapped this closer photo of our aforementioned Seattle Pilots outfielder. He caught so much crap from fans because you're looking at Jeff Maier, infamous for his catch of Derek Jeter's playoff homer against Baltimore. (Maier himself played ball at Wesleyan and wore this Pilots uniform in honor of ESPN's Jim Caple, who passed away last October and sported it for Oldtime Baseball back in 2006.) He must inspire quite a range of fan reactions.

Already looking forward to our return to Gooch's Corner next year! And always bring your glove to the park!

Top 5 Tommy Davis Cards (1969 Topps Edition)

Tommy Davis parlayed good contact hitting into an 18 year career, following his LA prime (1960-67) with stops in 9 other cities, including four 1960s expansion clubs (Mets, Pilots, Astros, and Royals). His best "skill," assuming you put stock in it, was his clutchness. Of the 254 players to drive in 1000+ runs, Davis ranks fifth all-time in situational Win Probability Added at 7.5; only Tony Gwynn, Pete Rose, Yogi Berra, and Bill Buckner were better (full results).

Being "clutch" is a pernicious reputation to have when you can't field or run well, the latter thanks to a 1965 broken ankle. A team with long-term planning wants more prospects than spot performers, so Tommy appeared on a lot of transaction sheets after leaving Los Angeles in 1966. So many, in fact, that even though Topps included Davis in five different 1969 sets, all used photos several years old, starting with the base set.

1969 Topps #135 (LA Dodgers jersey)

Oct 15, 1968: The Seattle Pilots pick Tommy during their expansion draft. These days, an autumn transaction would give Topps plenty of time to snap photos at a "uniform debut" press conference or spring training, put it on cardboard, and be ready for opening day.

But Tommy Davis isn't wearing a Pilots uniform. It's not even a Mets or White Sox jersey, the teams he played for between LA (1958-66) and Seattle (1969). So why did Topps recycle a hatless photo already seen on 1967 Topps #370 and 1968 Topps Game #10?

1969 Topps Deckle #15 (airbrushed LA Dodgers)

The MLB Players Association started humbly in the mid-1960s, without much negotiating leverage or legal success challenging baseball's reserve clause. What they could control beyond the field of play was licensing of player images for advertising, products...and trading cards. When the MLBPA instructed players to refuse new card photos in 1968 (pending a license fee increase), Topps dug into their archives to cover active players on new teams. Many late 60s and early 70s sets look bland and static, thanks to dozens of hatless or airbrushed portraits; Topps did a little of both to all these 1969 Tommy Davis cards.

1969 Topps Super #32 ("Angeles" visible on jersey)

Dropping Tommy's hat couldn't mask that we're looking at the same mid-60s Dodgers jersey and warmup jacket in 1969, complete with Los Angeles script. The 1969 Supers test issue re-used the photo from 1968 Topps #265, with cropped-out jersey script.

1969 Topps decals (airbrushed LA Dodgers)

You can make out the obscured "LA" here, but it's otherwise almost identical to Tommy's hatless shots above. In all likelihood, every 1969 photo came from the same mid-60s Dodgers spring training in Vero Beach, Florida.

1969 Topps team poster (airbrushed LA Dodgers)

None of the players on the Seattle team poster wear Pilots hats or jerseys, but their blue and gold colors made Tommy's LA gear an acceptable airbrush option for Topps editors. Hard to tell if they used the same looping signature for both the Super and team poster sets, but they might've had several of those to choose from.

Tommy Davis as a Pilot (for Garvey Cey Russell Lopes)

At last, Tommy Davis as a Pilot! It's not the "real" 1970 card, though, it's a custom creation by GCRL, shared to his blog in 2012. (Seattle traded Davis to Houston before the end of 1969, so Topps put him onto a featureless "Astros" uniform). GCRL also cataloged the full list of Tommy's transactions, according to Topps.

You don't often see five different archive photos for one player in one year, and if anything identifies late-60s Topps baseball for me, this is it. As seen on 1969 OPC #5, Ken Harrelson received near-identical treatment that year. If you've got a favorite "years out-of-date" look from another card, let me know in the comments.

Type Site: Cards That Never Were #5, 1969 Topps Lou Piniella

Hope that you already read the blog Cards That Never Were, but just in case you don't, here's another excellent reason to start: future MLB star (and likely HOF manager) Lou Piniella in a Pilots uniform.

I follow Sweet Lou for several reasons, both sports and card related. The fact that it's Fan Favorite #5 is icing on the cake!

Back in 2010, I marked Lou's retirement with a profile of his 60s cards that showed his multiple pre-rookie appearances and how mixed-up Topps photos got during the expansion era.

This 1970 Topps Super, for example, shows Piniella hatless in a nondescript uniform, despite his winning AL Rookie of the Year for Kansas City at age 26. Lou's young, swarthy face doesn't resemble his 1969 skin tone, though--it looks like an alternate 1963/64 photo with the Washington Senators.

1964 Topps #167, Brumley / Piniella

Best I can figure, Topps thought a "Rookie of the Year" should look fresh-faced, so turned the clock back 7 years. Mission accomplished!

Topps baseball cards and Sweet Lou Piniella

Lou Piniella will step down as Chicago Cubs manager after Sunday's game, August 22, 2010. In honor of his almost 50-year playing and managing career for numerous franchises (including my Seattle Mariners), I wanted to look back at his earliest cards, before Lou became "Sweet."

1964 Topps #167

Topps debuted Piniella as a 20 year-old Washington Senator Rookie Star with Mike Brumley, after they selected Lou in their 1st year draft. (They made a "city swap" with Minnesota that year, so Washington was technically the expansion team.) He appeared in 4 games, had 1 at-bat, and returned to the minors for 4 years.

1968 Topps #16

This second Rookie Stars card was a homecoming of sorts, as Cleveland originally signed 18 year-old Lou in 1962. They reacquired him in a 1966 trade and he played in a half-dozen 1968 games.

1969 Topps #394

The Pilots drafted Lou away from the Indians in late 1968, but shipped him to Kansas City on April 1, 1969, becoming the first of Seattle's many regrettable trades. Here's a clip of what SportsEcyclopedia.com had to say.

"Spring Training 1969: In a sign that the Pilots were doomed for failure Lou Piniella a 26-year-old rookie is traded at the end of spring training. Piniella was sent down a few weeks earlier despite having strong numbers in spring games. The problem was that Pilots manager Joe Schultz did not like Piniella, who was set to make $175, 000. The Pilots did not want to pay him so they got rid of him. Piniella would end up with the American League's other 1969 expansion team the Kansas City Royals, and he would win that year's Rookie of the Year."

It's unusual for players to appear on three different Topps multi-player cards, but not unique. 1960s prospect Bill Davis shared space on a card FIVE TIMES, one per year from 1965 to 1969. Check out more details (and scans) at "Hope Springs Eternal" from the blog 1207 Consecutive Games.

1970 Topps #321

Love those oversized rookie trophies! While Topps gave them to one player for each position, Piniella also took home the real one. (At the time, it was the Comiskey Memorial Award, since renamed to honor its first winner, Jackie Robinson.)

Compare Lou's hairstyle to the 1970 Topps Super set below. These photos came at least a year apart and probably more; "Super" Lou looks a lot younger and much more tan. A spring training shot from Florida, perhaps?

1970 Topps Super #32

Not many gents accomplished what Lou did, as player and (especially) manager. Here's hoping he can relax equally well and hey--happy 67th birthday next weekend!