Thursday, August 2, 2012
no. 79 - wade blasingame
Who is the man: Wade Blasingame was nearing the end of his 10-year major league year, but he had one last decent year in him with the 1971 Astros in which he started 28 games and went 9-11.
Can ya dig it: It looks like there isn't a tree for miles wherever Blasingame is standing.
Right on: I've had this card for two or three years. I thought Blasingame was an infielder until I started researching this post. I'm really not up on a lot of '60s ballplayers.
You see this cat Blasingame is a bad mother: The last time Blasingame was featured on a set tribute blog, several people posted testimonials to Blasingame's character. Sounds like a great guy. I suppose that could make him a bad mother.
Shut your mouth: Blasingame's name lives on in Saturday Night Live lore because of a hilarious Will Ferrell sketch in which he plays a tacky lawyer who sues dogs. "Hi, I'm Wade Blasingame. No, not the ballplayer. The attorney-at-law."
No one understands him but his woman: Blasingame played at about the same time as another Blasingame, Cardinals, Reds and Senators infielder Don Blasingame. But the two weren't related, despite repeated questions about their connection. They're the only Blasingames to play in the majors.
(A word about the back): Topps really goes out of its way to avoid mentioning any major league highlights in the write-up. The guy won 16 games for the Braves in 1965, but let's talk about that American Legion won-loss record.
"It looks like there isn't a tree for miles wherever Blasingame is standing."
ReplyDeleteThis is a phenomenon common to early-to-mid-'70s Astros cards, I believe. Many of them seem to feature flat, parched settings in the background. It looks like they held spring training in Lubbock.
Looks like he was in a remake of the OK Corral.
ReplyDelete