Musical Melee: Sweet Sixteen

48 hours to get your vote in. 

Beatles

Guns N' Roses

U2

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Led Zeppelin

Simon & Garfunkel

Fleetwood Mac

The Eagles

Bob Dylan

Paul McCartney

Billy Joel

Michael Jackson

Elton John

Prince

Bruce Springsteen

Elvis Presley

Ranking 17 Years of Topps Baseball #666

Inspired by Matty K, of Diamond Jesters infamy. 

Looking at 1978 - 1994.  Back when it was a hobby.  

17.  1980 - Tigers Future Stars: M. Chris, Greene, and Robbins

A big whiff on all three of these guys.  But it didn't seem to matter, as they won the World Series a few years later.

16.  1985 - Mike LaCoss 

15.  1989 - Randy St. Claire

14.  1992 - Tom Foley

13.  1991 - Danny Darwin

I like how the Astros matched the stripes to the Topps logo. 

12.  1981 - Tigers Team Card

It's just a bunch of guys whose faces I can't see.

11.  1982 - Tigers 1981 BA and ERA Leaders / Team Checklist

Could have been ranked much better, but the upturned caps ruined it. 

10.  1979 - Rich Dauer

Part of the Orioles team that won the rigged World Series in 1983. 

9.  1978 - Billy Smith

8.  1990 - Brian Fisher

7.  1993 - Glenallen Hill

6.  1986 - Charlie Hough / Rangers 1985 Team Leaders

5.  Mario Soto

4.  1983 - Sparky Anderson

Legend. 

3.  1984 - Tigers 1983 BA and ERA Leaders / Team Checklist

2.  1994 - Steve Buechele

1.  1987 - Phillies Legend Von Hayes

-  Five consecutive Tigers: 1980 - 1984.

-  Back-to-back Orioles 2B: 1978 - 79. 

-  Back-to-back Reds pitchers: 1988 - 89.

-  Two Astros pitchers, but not consecutively.    

Musical Melee: Also Round Two

 

48 hours to get your vote in. 

Bob Dylan

Neil Young

Elton John

Taylor Swift

Elvis Presley

David Bowie

Rod Stewart

Paul McCartney

Billy Joel

Neil Diamond

Bruce Springsteen

Bob Seger

Prince

Tom Petty

Madonna

Michael Jackson

Musical Melee - Round Two

 

48 hours to get your vote in. 

Beatles 

AC / DC

U2

Pink Floyd

Led Zeppelin

The Who

Genesis

Fleetwood Mac

The Doors

Guns N' Roses

The Eagles

Blondie

Simon & Garfunkel

10,000 Maniacs

The Cars

Creedence Clearwater Revival

I did not expect the Stones to get bounced in the first round.  

Time Traveling

 

Another trade with Matty K. 

-  First Royal to hit two home runs in one game.  Later, as a broadcaster, "If we lose this game, I'll walk back to Pittsburgh."  

-  Two All-Star seasons and a Gold Glove, but before joining the Indians.

-  There's an ABBA song about him.

-  Drafted by four teams in three different sports.  Record-setting contract.  Killed a seagull.  Mr. May.  

-  That's Hall of Famer Harold Baines to you.  LOL   

-  Four Gold Gloves, three Silver Sluggers, 6x All-Star, World Series MVP, 70 WAR.  Damn right he's a Hall of Famer. 

Diamond Jesters

Contest Winners

There was a tie between Bo and Poison75, with 4 points.  (9 - 5)

Kind of surprised there wasn't more variance in the number of picks people made.  But it is what it is.  

Anyway, the winners may choose between the following:

Allen & Ginter retired stars:  2014 - 2021, with 2020 the most prolific 

Miscellaneous - a lot of 1990s cards; some from the 2000s and 2010s 

Mascots - 2022 Topps Opening Day  

2024 Topps Update - best for set building or loading up on RCs  

2024 Topps Holiday - same as the update series 

Poison75 got his entry in first, so he gets first choice.

Also, I need confirmation that Bo is on Southard and Poison75 is on Willard.  

Musical Melee - Round One El Fin

 

48 hours to vote on each match-up.

Billy Joel

Diana Ross

Bruce Springsteen

Cher

Prince

Whitney Houston

Madonna

Janet Jackson

Michael Jackson

Tori Amos

John Mellencamp

Neil Diamond

Tom Petty

Tina Turner

Lionel Richie

Bob Seger

Opening Day (sort of)

 

It's that time of year again.  So let's get to it.

U.S. addresses only.

Deadline:  First pitch of the first MLB game on March 27.

Pick the winner of as many March 27 MLB games as you wish.  One point for each win.  Minus one point for each loss.  You must pick at least one game.      

Winner's Prize:  PWE of baseball cards.

 

Musical Melee - Round One Part III

 

48 hours to vote on each match-up.

Bob Dylan

Lana Del Rey

Elton John

Jimi Hendrix

Elvis Presley

Eric Clapton

Rod Stewart

James Brown

Marvin Gaye

Neil Young

David Bowie

Leonard Cohen

Paul McCartney

Phil Collins

Taylor Swift

Beyonce 

Musical Melee - Still Round One

 

48 hours to vote on each match-up.  

The Doors

The Go-Go's  

The Eagles

Chicago

Journey

10,000 Maniacs

Foreigner

Guns N' Roses

Aerosmith

Blondie

Van Halen

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Simon & Garfunkel

Motley Crue

The Cars

The Beach Boys     

Musical Melee - Round One

This will be a 64-team tournament of pop and rock acts.

48 hours to vote on each post's match-ups.  

Let's tip it off.  

The Beatles

The Police

     

 U2

 Duran Duran

        

 The Rolling Stones

 AC / DC

     

 Led Zeppelin

 The Bee Gees

     

 Genesis

 Garbage

     

 The Who

 The Pretenders

     

 Def Leppard

 Pink Floyd

    

 Fleetwood Mac

 Queen   

March 17

 

The Grift Is Working

 

Scored some free cards from Brett, of the Garden State.

-  Pro Bowler in 1956.  AFL All-Star in 1961.

-  2x Pro Bowler.  All-American for Virginia in both football and lacrosse.  

 

-  2x All-Star.  Played every position in MLB except for pitcher and catcher.

-  Military policeman during World War II.  Nine consecutive hits as a pinch hitter. 

Thanks, Brett.

Time Traveling

 

Another trade with Matty K.  Let's look at the spoils.  

-  My first 2025 card.

-  Griffin was an All-Star in 1984 and won a Gold Glove in '85. 

-  Drago gave up Hank Aaron's last home run.

-  Proper food issue cards:  MLB licensing and the food company logo on the front.

They Fell off the Truck

Or maybe Tom, from The Angels in Order, sent them.

-  I roomed with a relative of McHale's for a while in college.

-  Green holds the NBA record for most consecutive regular-season games played.

-  Clayborn was a 3x first-team All-Pro and a 1x second-team All-Pro.  

-  Stephens was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and a Pro Bowler in 1988.  

 The Angels, In Order