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Damn Yankees

I was genuinely excited to get this card the other day. Do you know how ill it makes me to admit that?

It's Bucky Bleeping Dent! I'm not supposed to like this guy! I don't like this guy. But that's how the Yankees get you. It's another one of their insidious plots to drive everyone who roots against the team crazy. It's sinister, it's evil. It's so, so, Steinbrenner.

This all stems from my childhood growing up in New York state. I've lived in Yankee country all my life. But I knew at an early age that I didn't want to be a Yankee fan. Even as a kid I noticed that the Yankees attracted almost all the mean kids. Bullies were Yankees fans. The loudest, rudest kids seemed to be Yankees fans. There were a lot of nice kids who were Yankees fans, too, but all I could see were the loudmouths.

Surrounded by these Yankees types, I could never hold on to any Yankees cards. This was the late 1970s, a time of Yankees excellence. So, anytime I pulled a Munson or Jackson or Nettles, I traded it immediately for some Dodger cards I wanted.

The demand for Yankees was so high, that when I would split my cards up by team, I'd average maybe 15 or 16 cards for your average team, nearly the whole set for the Dodgers, and like four cards for the Yankees. To this day, for 1977 Topps -- a set I haven't collected a bit since that year ended -- I have three Yankees. That's it. Munson, Randolph and Roy White.

So, because of that, this is what happens: When I do acquire a Yankee card from the late '70s, it's as if I've discovered a rare find. These Yankees cards were virtually snapped out of my hands from the moment I pulled them out of the pack, and I never saw them again. And you know what happens when you get a card years later that you never saw before. It's almost as if you value it more, no matter who the player.

So, that's what it's come to: I'm treating Yankees as valuable finds. Ugh. I think I'm going to throw up.

OK, the feeling's passed. But only because I know the Yankees got thumped in their stadium debut.

Bo of Baseball Cards Come to Life!, who I believe is a Yankee fan, sent me four 1979 Yankees cards that I needed (heck, I need almost all of the '79 Yankees). Bleeping Dent was one of them. Here are the others:

But I think I've spent way too much time on the Yankees. On to a team that really matters.

Here are some '80s Dodgers that I needed. Bo sent these, too.

As well as some '90s Dodgers needs.

And a 2006 Upper Deck Ovation Jeff Kent that is half baseball card, half relief map. Bringing the touchy feely factor into baseball cards is something I can applaud. I like it.

And I like these cards best of all. I can't remember the name of them now. I'm getting old. I know Steve of White Sox Cards told me what they were last time. Hydrox or Oreo or something like that (EDIT: They're Hygrade. Thanks, Bo!) Anyway, I remember seeing them advertised in Baseball Digest or something. You could send away for them. But I never did.

Bo was very astute in his night card selections, sending some great ones. I'll feature two of them here. This Sportsflics card of Buddy Biancalana is both a night card and a daytime card. The photo of him fielding is at night, and the batting shot is during the day. Quite cool.

And here's a night card of a Yankee from 2000 Fleer Tradition, during the most recent period of Yankee domination. But no Yankees fans were after my Yankee cards in 2000. I wasn't collecting then. So there.

Comments

Motherscratcher said…
I don't wanna hear about it anymore
It's a shame I've got to live without you anymore
There's a fire in my heart
A pounding in my brain
It's driving me crazy

We don't need to talk about it anymore
Yesterday's just a memory
Can we close the door
I just made one mistake
I didn't know what to say when you called me baby

Don't say goodnight
Say you're gonna stay forever
Oh oo Oh, all the way

Can you take me high enough
To fly me over (fly me over) yesterday
Can you take me high enough
It's never over
Yesterday's just a memory (yesterday's just a memory and)

I don't want to live without you anymore
Can't you see I'm in misery
And you know for sure
I would live and die for you
And I'd know just what to do when you call me baby

Don't say goodbye
Say you're gonna stay forever
Oh oo Oh, all the way

Can you take me high enough
Can you fly me over (fly me over) yesterday
Can you take me high enough
It's never over
Yesterday's just a memory, I'm running
I was running for the door
The next thing I remember
I was running back for more
Yeah...

Don't say goodbye
Say you're gonna stay forever
Oh oo Oh, all the way (all the way, all the way, yeah)

Can you take me high enough
Can you fly me over (fly me over) yesterday
Can you take me high enough
It's never over
Woh oo oh oo oh oo oh

Can you take me high enough
Won't you fly me over (won't you fly me over) yesterday
Can you take me high enough
It's never over
Woh oo oh oo oh oo oh


Man, that's beatiful. Shakespeare's got nothing on Nugent. I'm telling you.

Wait...what? That's not the Damn Yankees this post was about?

Sorry, that'll teach me to skip to the comments before reading the post.
Motherscratcher said…
OK, now that's I've read the post I know what your talking about. I want to hate the Yankees but I just can't hate CC. I just can't.

And, I've always like Swisher. He's a Buckeye for cryin' out loud. I don't know what to do.

I have no idea how to reconcile this.


Word ver: tatersen

pretty close to tatersalad
zman40 said…
That was awesome Motherscratcher!

Anyway, nice Bianalana card.

As for the rest of the post, I know what you mean about hating a team. I have about four George Brett cards from my early days of collecting. I gave the rest of the cards to my cousin and best friend since they were Royals fans (they weren't loudmouths, though).

As for the All-Time Greats, I have no idea what they are. I swear that I nearly had a whole set of them when I first started collecting. I got them in a starter kit. But, nowadays, I might have eight of them and I'm pretty sure that one is Jackie. I know I had the Duke, but I can't find that one anymore. That would have been a good one to get signed.
night owl said…
Man, I'm never going to get that song out of my head now. Thanks.

Z, funny you should mention Brett. I almost mentioned him in the post. When I was a kid, the Yankees couldn't do anything wrong -- Bucky Dent, Brian Doyle, Reggie Jackson sticking his hip out in the '78 World Series. It wasn't until I saw George Brett hit that HR off of Goose Gossage in the '80 playoffs that I thought, "Wow, everything actually DOESN'T go the Yankees' way."
AdamE said…
Did anyone else enjoy the Yankee's home opener today as much as I did? I think the best part of the whole game is when the croud started chanting "We Want Swisher".
Cuntry Trash said…
This has nothing to do with the post really, but the 1988 Fleer made me think of a day in 1988 when my father bought me the 88 Fleer update Kirk Gibson-- I still have that card. 1988 Fleer is my favorite set and the Dodger blue shows up so well with those borders.
Bo said…
They are Hygrade - I got them in a baseball card collecting starter kit when I was a kid in the mid-80s