Brady Anderson, 1995 Fleer Flair #1

Okay, I gave Blogger a week off to think about what it did to my pictures, and now that it seems to be behaving I'll post the rest of my photo diary of FanFest.

Naturally, Finn LOVED the special Chris Davis-riffic MTA bus.

 The Bird swapped caps with Finn.

 This was the only picture we got where Finn was actually facing forward.

 I snapped a candid shot of Brady Anderson at one of the autograph stations. I think he drinks stem cell smoothies for breakfast each day. Seriously, he is 54! That's Miguel Castro partially visible on Brady's right, and on the end (not pictured) was Roger McDowell.

 Here we were strolling down the Eutaw Street concourse en route to the clubhouse tour.

 "You, there! Hit a home run!"

 I'm sure Earl Weaver made that same face in the dugout all of the time.

 Love this picture.

 I can't believe how great the field looked in January. I could probably get a good night's sleep on that grass.

 Walking past the warehouse on the way back to the car. See you in March, Birds!

Jamie Moyer, 1995 Fleer Flair #5

Jamie Moyer seems intent on returning for a 24th season in the major leagues in 2010 (which doesn't even count 1992, when he spent all year with the AAA Toledo Mud Hens). It's a remarkable thing to take the mound in four different decades; it takes talent and good health. Jamie's certainly got the former, but the latter is starting to present a real challenge.

It may not surprise you to hear that a 47-year-old athlete is starting to break down, but the sheer volume of the lefthander's medical woes is daunting. In September, he suffered a sports hernia, for which he underwent surgery on October 2. Five days later he returned to the hospital with a blood infection. After making some progress in recovery, he was hospitalized again on November 24 with recurring symptoms and had a second surgery three days later to eliminate a small collection of infected blood. Moyer has said that he is on the mend, but still has a peripherally inserted central catheter (yikes) and is taking medication.

But wait, there's more. In January, the 258-game winner is scheduled to have surgery on his right knee to repair a minor meniscus tear. Believe it or not, he claims that doctors have projected him for an on-time arrival to Spring Training in a month and a half.

The real kicker to this story is that Jamie had never undergone a single surgery in his lengthy career until these troubles began in October. When it rains, it really does pour.

Leo Gomez, 1995 Fleer Flair #3

Last night, I got waylaid with some sort of stomach virus. Since I've barely budged from my couch today, I needed to find a card that spoke for itself. God bless Fleer Flair, with its veritable orgy of etched foil and fancy script initials. I also love this card for the old-school flip-up sunglasses and the white tape with Leo's uniform number written on it.