The next time you wonder how long the fine sports fans of Baltimore can carry a grudge, consider this: I have a friend who is a fellow card collector. He's been a diehard Orioles fan longer than I've been alive. Although it's been almost 20 years since the ill-fated trade that brought Glenn Davis to Charm City in exchange for three players (Steve Finley, Pete Harnisch, and Curt Schilling) who would go on to play for another 45 combined seasons in the major leagues, this friend throws away and/or destroys any Davis card that comes into his possession. The card you see above is the one and only exception to that rule. He spares this card only because it also features former O's manager and coach Cal Ripken, Sr., who does not deserve the indignity of the scrap heap. I can't argue with his logic, even if I have trouble throwing out any cards myself.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Glenn Davis, 1991 Upper Deck #757
The next time you wonder how long the fine sports fans of Baltimore can carry a grudge, consider this: I have a friend who is a fellow card collector. He's been a diehard Orioles fan longer than I've been alive. Although it's been almost 20 years since the ill-fated trade that brought Glenn Davis to Charm City in exchange for three players (Steve Finley, Pete Harnisch, and Curt Schilling) who would go on to play for another 45 combined seasons in the major leagues, this friend throws away and/or destroys any Davis card that comes into his possession. The card you see above is the one and only exception to that rule. He spares this card only because it also features former O's manager and coach Cal Ripken, Sr., who does not deserve the indignity of the scrap heap. I can't argue with his logic, even if I have trouble throwing out any cards myself.
Gotta respect anyone who can hold a grudge that long.
ReplyDeleteI know this was an awful trade but it wasn't Glenn's fault but more so that of the front office, right?
ReplyDeleteI'm more likely to throw away cards (not that I do) of guys like Ramon Hernandez who dogged it during their time in Baltimore.
i still hold a grudge against the cardinals about 1985 (so you can imagine how i felt in 2006 when they beat the mets outright in the NLCS) i used to pulverize any cardinals card i got into fine confetti. i once serenaded tommy herr in the on deck circle with a shower of his torn cards. oddly, i was not ejected from the stadium even though: a) i was not even remotely in my seat (think upper deck row X back then) and b) the usher watched me do it. i once also threw a tennis ball at herr, but hit the bat boy by accident - it is quite hard to aim from the upper deck...and you wonder where NY fans get their reputation (I was 11-12 at the time). when herr was traded to the mets, i booed him every at bat, no matter what. i booed vince coleman as a met (rightfully so). and the fact that whitey herzog got into the hall of fame this year with his (at best) shaky credentials has me fuming and ready to drive up to cooperstown this summer with a fresh load of card confetti. Grudge? I wear mine like a crown of negativity.
ReplyDeleteKevin,
ReplyDeleteI did a little "what game?" detective work on this one. Assuming that Glenn has hit a Home Run (and not getting congratulated by Sr. for just being on base when another player hit the dinger) then this is most likely the April 19th win over the Rangers. That is the only home game 4-bagger that Davis hit before Labor Day, and I would think that Upper Deck would have to use an early season picture to get into its "1991 Final Edition" set.
I dunno. I can't hold a grudge because 1) he didn't make the trade, the front office did, and 2) at the time he was just one season removed from being a very productive contributor for the Astros and there was reason to believe he could get back in that 'groove', and finally 3) none for those guys, Harnish, Finley or Schilling were worldbeaters at the time. I knew a lot of astro fans (I was here in Houston then) who thought THEY were cheated.
ReplyDeleteRWH - People don't forget.
ReplyDeleteRyan - That's a solid point. I, too, was sick to death of Razor Ramon by the time he rolled out of Baltimore last year. Good riddance.
Max - That is one hell of a story. I never pegged a batboy in the head with a tennis ball, though I did spend the better part of an O's blowout loss cheering for a batboy.
Tim - I'm actually leaning toward it being a Spring Training game, what with the orange jerseys and quick turnaround time.
Bob - Hindsight is indeed 20-20. Schilling nearly threw his career away in the early 90's before (according to him) a pep talk from Nolan Ryan shook him out of it.
I saw Glenn Davis pinch hit a homer in Chicago that went on a line 395 away. He should have been a star. Sure we gave up too much for him but if only his neck had held out.
ReplyDeleteI feel like throwing away my cards. I don't have cards that are mint or near mint, but at least they are not dog-eared or creased.
ReplyDelete