Tony, the Killer, and Carew

It is probably not a coincidence that my interest in baseball really took off during and after the Twins’ World Series win in 1987. That was the same year that my family moved to the Twin Cities and I discovered Shinders. I had collected baseball cards in bubble gum packs before, but it was Shinders where I discovered that I could buy entire season sets if I saved my money. The first full set I purchased was the 1988 Topps set.

About the same time, I discovered a board game called Big League Baseball, which was basically a poor man’s version of Strat-o-matic. Dice were used to determine outcomes, but the only stats one needed to know in order to play the game was batting average and home runs. According to the game, there were six kinds of hitters: AVG <.250 with <20 HR, AVG <.250 with >20 HR, AVG between .250 and .300 with <20 HR, AVG between .250 and .300 with >20 HR, AVG > .300 with < 20 HR, and AVG > .300 with > 20 HR. Kirby Puckett fit into the last category. Pitchers were irrelevant in the game, though I chose starting pitchers anyways (and made pitching changes when appropriate).

The game came with cardboard racks where you placed the player cards in the order in which they were to bat. I probably made the entire circuit with the Twins, including many seven game series with the Mets (my favorite NL team at the time). Needless to say, my 1988 Topps set is well used, that is to say probably worth very little at this point due to wear and tear on the cards. Still, I’m pretty sure I got my $30 worth out of the set.

I recently did a post on the 1961 & 1962 Cloverleaf Dairy cards (panels), but up until now, the site has had no actual images of the 1961 panels. If you remember, the only way to distinguish between the two sets was by the stats portrayed at the bottom of each panel. The 1961 set would have 1960 stats displayed and the 1962 set has 1961 stats displayed. Thanks to the site’s newest contributor, Mark Halvorson, we now have to full panel examples from the 1961 set with the Lenny Green and Don Mincher. It’s also nice to have an example from each, Clover Leaf and Apple Fresh.

According to Pierzynski’s Wikipedia entry, he was voted by his fellow major leaguers as the player most would like to see get banned from the game. This alone speaks highly to A.J.’s character…if there was any doubt that it was suspect in the first place. Pierzynski has been part of several controversial moments in his career including a pair of moments as a visiting White Sox when he tried to spike Justin Morneau by stepping on the inside part of first base.

Of course, A.J. will be forever linked to the lopsided trade that brought Francisco Liriano, Joe Nathan and Boof Bonser to the Twins from the Giants. He played a year with the Giants before they tired of his crap and sent him to the White Sox, where he has found his niche as one of the true “jerks” in baseball.

I do love this card though. It’s not just Pierzynski’s card, but the entire 2001 Fleer Tradition set. It’s got almost everything a good card needs…an action shot, a head shot, a clear and readable tag with player name, position, team and logo. Loosely based around the 1955 Topps card, these are some of my favorite cards in the Fleer Tradition or Topps Heritage series. The only negative thing I can say about this design is the total lack of innovation and/or thought that went into creating the backs of these cards. Too much unused space and silly cartoonish pictorials that deal with baseball terminology. They could have used that space to give us some player blurbs and/or trivia. Instead, we get an unimaginative back with stats and personal data….yuck!

It’s Friday and time to share a vintage Twins card. Today’s card is a 1965 Topps card depicting the 1964 Home Run leaders (Killebrew, Powell and Mantle). 1964 was a great year for the long-ball in Minnesota as six Twins hit more than 2o HRs…(Killebrew, 49; Allison, 32; Oliva, 32; Hall, 25; Mincher, 23; Versalles, 20). In fact, 1964 marked the most 20+ HR seasons in Twin’s history.

Anytime you can share a card with Boog and the Mick…it’s a plus. When you headline the card above a guy like Mantle, you know you’ve made it the big time. I think Killebrew is one of the most under-rated power hitters of all-time. Look where he ranks on the list of most home runs hit during the 1960’s. That’s right baby…numero uno! The Killer’s 393 round-trippers out-paced Aaron’s 375, Mays’ 350, and Robinson’s 316. For comparisons sake, Mantle ranked 9th with 256 HRs and Powell ranked 18th with 202.

Living overseas and being a Twins fan and a baseball card collector presents a very unique challenge. I’ve been to maybe 5 or 6 games in 16 years and since I’ve got back into collecting I’ve been to exactly zero card shows! I have met a few fans and fewer collectors over the years and I relish the moments when I get to interact with either. Every once in a while, life teases us with coincidences that sometimes make you just shake you head in bewilderment. I’d like to share a story that, on one hand, has nothing to do with being a Twins fan or being a baseball card collector but on the other hand, has everything to do with both.

A few days ago, I went to pick up my kids from their after-school daycare. As I walked in, wearing my all-red, Twins hooded sweatshirt, one of the staff asked if I liked the Twins? I don’t think I need to tell you what my response was, but as I was just about to walk out the door and mark the comment down to polite chit-chat, I just happen to hear her say that her son was once drafted by the Minnesota Twins. Whoa…wait a minute here…”your son was drafted by the Twins? The Minnesota Twins? The Minnesota Twins that play major league baseball?” I guess I shouldn’t be that shocked. After all, the Twins have probably drafted a thousand guys. But what are the chances of me running into the mother of one while living at a small Air Force base in the UK? I know…I know…no big deal. But for me, it was nice to have at least a minor “Twins Moment” in my life away from Twins territory. That could have been the end of it, but here is where the story takes a nice turn and the reason I wanted to share it with you all.

The son who was drafted by the Twins was Jake Jacobs, a 21st round choice (607th overall) in 1996 out of Pine Forest High School in Penacola, Florida. Jake played four minor league seasons before an injury led to his premature exit from baseball. Jake had a promising career with the Twins and was named Gulf Coast League All-Star in 1997 after posing a 0.29 ERA, 10 saves and 55 strikeouts in 23 games (31.1 innings).

None of this information, aside from Jake getting injured, was given to me by his mom. In fact, when I told her I’d look for some information about her son on the internet, she said she would be surprised if there was anything out there…after all, he never made it to the majors. I knew I’d be able to find a few links, but was very surprised (I shouldn’t have been) to find two of Jake’s cards right here on TwinsCards…and according to Beckett, these are the only two cards that exist of Jake! After finding a few more links, I sat down and sent here an email with everything I had found and attached the two images of Jake’s cards.

The reaction I received from Jake’s mom is the reason I’m writing about this encounter. She was ecstatic! She had asked her son for a card once, but before my email had never seen her son on a baseball card. She told me that Jake had taken his injury and subsequent retirement from the game pretty hard and that he never really talked about it much; therefore she didn’t ask about it much. As we spoke, you could tell how excited she was to talk about his brief stint in the minors and it was obvious to anyone within earshot that she was a very proud mother. She was amazed at the amount of information out there and informed me she was going to send it off to her son. I certainly hope that Jake has found the site and hope he enjoys seeing the images from his past. If my site statistics are telling the truth, there have been 15 visits in the past week coming from search engines looking for “Jake Jacobs”. So if you have stopped by looking for more information on Jake Jacobs, we’re glad you found us and see the bottom of this post for more links to Jake Jacobs on the web.

Needless to say, it’s stories like this that make the hours upon hours that are spent on this site entirely worth it. I can’t take credit for putting the two Jake Jacobs cards on the site, but had it not been for the dedication of everyone associated with this site, we would have never been able to treat a very proud mother to a memory that she will cherish forever. Guys like Jake Jacobs are as important to this site as Kirby Puckett, Harmon Killebrew or the 1975 Topps Twins set and we’re glad that we could play our part in helping keep a small memory alive…and a smile on a mom’s face!

UPDATE: Through the kindness of Mr. Twinkie himself, two unautographed, Jake Jacobs cards are heading towards the UK as you read this. When they arrive, I will have the distinct pleasure of handing Jake’s mom the only two cards that picture her son as a professional baseball player…cards that, until just a few days ago, she never even knew existed. I’ll update this post after I deliver the cards and let you know her reaction.

More Jake Jacobs links:

Jake’s Baseball Cube Page

Jake’s Baseball-Reference.com Minor League Page

SABR Minor League Database Page

Topps has named an all-rookie team each year since 1959. Each year, eight position players are chosen (four infielders, three outfielders, one catcher) and 2 pitchers (one left-hander, one right-hander). The Baseball-Reference Bullpen has this to say about how the cards are identified,

The first team featured a special card design that included a trophy symbol of a batter on a top hat and the phrase, “Selected by the youth of America.” For the second set (1961) the cards had a trophy symbol that included the phrase “Topps 1961 All-Star Rookie” on cards that followed the same design as the rest of the regular issue. This practice continued until 1973, when the symbol was changed to a gold cup bearing the words “Topps All-Star Rookie.” Topps left the symbol off the 1974 cards but the gold cups reappeared in 1975 and stayed through 1978. From 1979 to 1986 the symbol was once again left off the cards. In 1987, the gold cup symbol was brought back and it has remained to today.

This will be the very first in a series of posts chronicling the inclusion of Twins’ players in this select group. Twenty-two Twins have been selected to the Topps All-Rookie team, beginning with Bernie Allen being selected in 1962 through Francisco Liriano in 2006. Each post will cover one player and his corresponding Topps All-Star rookie card.

1962: Bernie Allen, 2B - Bernie was probably pretty well-known to Minnesota fans before he was drafted as an amateur free agent in 1961. In 1960, Allen quarterbacked the Purdue Boilmakers past the 1960 National Champion, Minnesota Golden Gophers, in what turned out to be the only regular-season blemish on the Gophers 8-1 record. Allen made a big splash when he debuted for the Twins in 1962, but unfortunately it turned out to be his best season in the majors hitting .269/.338/.403 with 12 Hrs in 159 games. Bernie finished 3rd in the AL ROY voting in 1962 behind Tom Tresh and Buck Rodgers, but his playing steadily decreased the following two years. Early in 1964, a collision with Washington Senator, Don Zimmer, left Allen with torn ligaments and eventually led to the end of his playing time with the Twins. After playing in 74 games in 1964, Allen spent the majority of the 1965 season at AAA Denver and was traded prior to the 1966 season with Camilo Pascual to the Senators in exchange for pitcher Ron Kline.

The card itself is a great example from the 1963 Topps set. I especially like how large the All-Star Rookie trophy is displayed. It extends past one-fourth the length of the card. In later years, the trophy would get much smaller and less prominent on the cards. Like many of the 1960’s era cards, it looks like Bernie is “posing” for the photo instead of capturing him in an actual swing. I really like this card for another reason too. Although not a full frontal view of the 1962 uniform, it does give us a nice view from the waist up and a nice, if not blurry, view of the teams first sleeve patch…the classic handshake across the Mississippi logo.

As much fun as it is to look at the card fronts, I find it much more interesting to investigate the backs of player cards. The 1963 Topps Bernie Allen is a nice example of how the backs of cards should look. There’s not anything distracting about it, it provides year-by-year stats (both major and minor leagues) plus some personal information about Allen. It also includes a great cartoon-type drawing of Bernie as a college quarterback. In fact, I used this very card in last month’s trivia contest.

Although some may think this is Allen’s true rookie card, he did have a few others that were produced prior to the 1963 season. His first card was the 1961 Cloverleaf Dairy…a very rare set that displayed players on the sides of Cloverleaf and Apple Fresh milk cartons. Allen’s true Topps rookie card was the 1962 Topps #596, Rookie Parade where he was featured with fellow Twins infielder Rich Rollins and Yankees Phil Linz and Joe Pepitone.

For a very well written Bernie Allen retrospective, please give Will Young’s article a good read…you won’t be disappointed!

Here is the complete list of Twins that have been named to the Topps All-Rookie team, with links back to each post:

• 1962 - Bernie Allen, 2B
• 1963 - Jimmie Hall, OF
• 1964 - Tony Oliva, OF
• 1967 - Rod Carew, 2B
• 1971 - Steve Braun, 3B
• 1973 - Jerry Terrell, SS
• 1975 - Dan Ford, OF
• 1976 - Butch Wynegar, C
• 1978 - Hosken Powell, OF
• 1979 - John Castino, 3B
• 1980 - Doug Corbett, RHP
• 1982 - Tin Laudner, C
• 1982 - Kent Hrbek, 1B
• 1982 - Tom Brunansky - OF
• 1984 - Kirby Puckett, OF
• 1985 - Mark Salas, OF
• 1991 - Chuck Knoblauch, 2B
• 1995 - Marty Cordova, OF
• 1999 - Corey Koskie, 3B
• 2000 - Mark Redman - LHP
• 2004 - Joe Mauer, C
• 2006 - Francisco Liriano, LHP

Trivia winner and answers will be posted Friday, but nothing new until next week. I’m down with a cold right now on top of several other pressing issues. For your viewing pleasure, here are some of my favorite cards of recently traded and/or departed Twins.