Great Rookie Cards (Part 2)

#29 1974 Topps George Gervin

George “The Iceman” Gervin one of the best nicknames for one of the best scorers in NBA history. Gervin throughout his career won 4 scoring titles and scored over 26,000 points. I'm not sure when the term “Silky Smooth” was used to describe a basketball players game but if I took a guess I'd say it started with Gervin.

#28 1996 Skybox Z-force Kobe Bryant

One of the greatest players in the history of the NBA kicked of his career in LA during the 1996-97 season. 17 seasons later Bryant has become one of the most accomplished players ever winning 5 championships, 4 scoring titles and 15 all-star teams. Kobe to this day is still a joy to watch, hope he has a successful recovery from his ACL this coming season.

#27 1987 Donruss Bo Jackson

Bo Jackson was a dominant 2 sport athlete doing so in both the NFL and MLB. In this edition of Donruss 87 he is pictured in those sweet baby blue Royal uniforms ready to take the baseball world by storm. Bo Jackson was a walking video game.

#26 1989 Score Troy Aikman

The Dallas Cowboys franchise hasn't been “Americas Team” since the Aikman days and for good reason. Aikman was a 6 time pro bowler as well as a 3 time super bowl champion. He was just a winner and will forever be remembered by Cowboy fans everywhere.

#25 1963 Topps Deacon Jones

Deacon Jones was a game changer as far as rushing the quarterback goes. He is sited as the person who coined the term “sack” as in when you hit the quarterback. Deacon was an 8 time pro bowler who accumulated 194.5 sacks in his illustrious career. Redskins hall of fame coach George Allen called Deacon Jones “The greatest defensive end of the modern era”.

#24 1983 Topps Tony Gwynn

Whenever you speak about the sweetest swings in major league history you got to start with “Mr.Padre” Tony Gwynn. Gwynn a 15 time all-star and 8 time batting champion was probably the best left handed contact hitter ever. Over the course of his career he had 338 batting average while never hitting lower then 309. It really pains me that he never won a world series.

#23 1988 O-Pee-Cee Brett Hull

Brett Hull was one hell of a player during his career. 1,391 Points is what Hull collected and he played at a high level no matter where he went whether it was Detroit, Dallas or St. Louis Hull performed at a high level. None higher then when he put a gaudy 86 goals during the 1990-91 season.

#22 1996 Upper Deck Allen Iverson

One of my all-time favorite players in NBA history comes in the form in none other then Allen Iverson. AI changed the NBA just by being himself with his tattoos and corn rolls whether that it was for better or for worse is just a matter of opinion. Iverson an 11 time all-star and MVP in 2000-2001 is one of the most exciting players to ever play the game. There will never be another AI.

#21 1986 Topps Barry Bonds

Barry Bonds is a living walking asterisk. He has hit the most home runs in baseball history but it will never get its proper respect because he cheated the game. Although he refused to sign my baseball when I was a kid I still love and respect Barry Bonds as a baseball player.

#20 1984 Star Hakeem Olajuwon

He wasn't always “Hakeem” but he came into the league as “Akeem” Olajuwon. Regardless of the first name Olajuwon remains one of the greatest centers ever. His footwork is undoubtedly the best we have ever seen. The dream shake is still one of the most effective moves I'm surprised more players don't use it.

Hope you enjoyed the 2^nd part of my 4 part series on great rookie cards in sports history. Stay tuned for part 3 coming up in the next few days. 

Ken Griffey Jr: Never Be Another One

Baseball is a great game but the current state of the MLB is far from great. Players in this day and age are under constant scrutiny as the league is trying to clean up its image from all the greats who did the game dirty in the past like Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Roger Clemens. When you look at Major league baseball in this day and age there aren't to many elite all around talents who dominate at the level Ken Griffey Jr did on and off the field. On the field when in his Prime Griffey was talented enough to be an All-star, win MVP, win a gold glove, win a silver slugger award and lead the league in home runs all in the same year. Off the field he served as the guy who elevated the popularity as the spokesman for Nike and Nintendo. The enjoyability of watching him on the field and the marketability of him off the field combined all at the same time make Ken Griffey Jr a once in a life time player. When speaking about the future hall of famer I think the only thing we can say is that there will never be another one.

Lets knock the obvious out of the way, Griffey is a very great and well decorated ballplayer some of his accomplishments listed down below are proof of that. When speaking about his accomplishments this is just scratching the surface with Griffey.

• 13 time all-star
• 1992 all-star game MVP
• 1997 MVP
• 10 gold gloves
• 7 silver slugger awards
• 630 Home runs

It's what he did for baseball in terms of popularity that speaks volumes to his greatness though. Let me ask you this question and I want you to really think about it. Who was the last baseball player who was just as big by himself as the game of baseball? Think about it. Players in Griffeys day like Mark Mcgwire and Barry Bonds were tremendous players and popular in baseball circles but did any of them do anything to transcend baseball popularity and make it appeal to the casual fan? Look at it from this perspective someone who knows nothing about baseball won't know who Mark Mcgwire was (pre steroid era) because his popularity is only within the baseball/sports fan realms. Now lets look at Griffey he had his own sneaker with Nike and a video game with Nintendo. Stuff like that was monumental for the game of baseball's popularity because Griffey is getting exposed to many people who who normally wouldn't watch baseball and then people find out who he is along with baseball which could eventually lead to them becoming a fan of the game. Being someone who grew up in the Nintendo generation I can't tell you how many times I heard kids say “Griffey is the best” or “This guy makes me like baseball, this game is awesome”. Ken Griffey Jr is just the kind of guy who leaves an imprint on your mind but in a positive way.

Beyond all of mass endorsements and commercials Ken Griffey Jr actually lived up to the hype. During my younger days I saw a lot of great players come to Miami to play baseball at Pro Player Stadium like Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and David Ortiz but none put on the effortless hitting display I saw Griffey take. It was every thing you saw at the home run derby hat tilted backwards, smile on his face and last but not least that sweet effortless swing that he used to deposit baseballs into those empty orange seats. I remember everyone in the stadium stopped what they where doing just to watch this guy swing a bat. Yeah it was just batting practice but Griffey was a performer.

I once heard someone say the following about Ken Griffey Jr. “He was the type of person kids can love and adults can respect”. I was lucky enough to actually Meet Griffey face to face, I use to go to Pro Player Stadium 5-6 hours before the Marlins play and wait for them and whoever they were playing and try to get autographs from my baseball heroes. I would get the roster for the opposing teams and my Marlins then gather up whatever baseball cards I had on those players the night before the game. There was one day where the Marlins were playing the Reds in the middle of the season and Ken Griffey Jr was sitting on 599 career home runs so I wanted to see him hit 600.

Before I met Griffey I had gotten Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce to sign some baseball cards but then the bus arrived. I didn't care about any other player not even the ones on the Marlins I just wanted a chance to meet Griffey. I saw him and ran straight up to him with my baseball card and sharpie in hand. Most players are stuck up and would have told me no or just walked away Griffey smiled and happily signed my card. He actually took 2-4 minutes and we talked baseball I picked his brain about playing center field because I played it for my little league team at the time and he gave me some tips and then said bye to me.....WOW!

People always say baseball is a kids game but few players actually take the time to help the kids when they are in the major leagues by just simply signing an autograph or just talking to them. They get caught up in the celebrity of being a ball player in the majors and forget where they came from and don't sign autographs for those little kids and ignore them. Griffey didn't do that and he is even greater because of that to me.

So he had all the stats, he helped grow the game like very few players, he is a humble person and most importantly he is the ONLY player in the 90's who didn't take steroids. Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmerio all these guys took steroids but the only one who did it clean was Griffey. The fact that he is part of that whole era but didn't par take in the actual activity of performance enhancing drugs makes his legacy even greater. He did it the right way and had he not been injured in Cincinnati his legacy would have been untouchable. He would have in all honesty broken the home run record set by Babe Ruth, have more gold gloves and everything statistically would be greater. Baseball right now needs another Ken Griffey Jr type star.

I think in terms of talent, personality, marketability when it comes to Ken Griffey Jr I can honestly say there will never be another one.

Steele City: 2nd half importance for the Pirates

Pittsburgh the Steele city a town of grit, grind and pride. The people of Pittsburgh are blue collar people who love they’re sports teams, from the Steelers to the Penguins to The Pirates this city has seen its fair share of classic teams and players. The Pirates have for 19 seasons had losing seasons and haven’t qualified for the playoffs since Barry Bonds wore the black and yellow. Pnc park Opened in 2001 and is a gem of baseball cathedrals but it has never seen playoff baseball. It has how ever seen many All-stars such as Jason Bay, Aramis Ramirez, Jack Wilson, Nate Mclouth traded to other teams. These days around Pnc park are different though, the Pirates are Playing very exciting baseball lead by young guns Andrew McCutchen,Garret jones,Pedro Alvarez, Neil Walker and Joel Hannarahan. As I sit here and type this the pirates are half a game out of first place and sit in one of the 2 wildcard spots. Now in most city’s its this would be cool and not that big a deal but when you haven’t had a winning season since 92 then this is big being in a wildcard spot after the all-star break. The pirates have given the Steele city faithful a lot of reasons to cheer at Pnc park these days with McCutchen putting up MVP numbers Leading the league in Batting average hitting 371.with 21 homeruns 64 Rbis this guy is the face of the pirates, is an MVP candidate and franchise player. When he comes to the park he gets after it with his combination of speed, power and high baseball iq he electrifies pirate fans with his spectacular play on a daily basis. He is the kid of guy that when kids walk into a gift shop they will want to buy his jersey you can build a team around him and sell tickets he is the type of guy who can be a role model too kids in the city. A.J Burnett and John McDonald have also become a nice 1-2 punch in the pirates rotation combining for a 19-6 record 3.10 era and 188 strikeouts. The stability off the top of the rotation along with timely hitting has the pirates at 49-39.The Pirates returning to the playoffs would mean a whole lot too the city of Pittsburgh but also the MLB.People forget that the pirates are one of the most tradition rich franchises in league history all you need to do is look at the players who have put on the black and yellow back in the day. Roberto Clemente,Willie Stargell, Dave parker, Barry Bonds are all names who hold a place not only in pirates but in baseball lure. This franchise has 5 world championships and this 2012 pirates team has a chance to do something that no team in the big leagues can do and that is reconnect a city with a proud franchise. Pnc park is arguably the best park in baseball it deserves playoffs baseball. Who knows in a few years names like McCutchen,walker, Jones, McDonald and Alvarez might hold a place in Pirate baseball lure. With a great 2nd half of baseball the pirates can make that yellow letter “P” on their new era fitted relevant again. I’m sure the longer they stay in contention the more black and yellow I will see at pirate home games.