Another Subjective Trade

I still have no idea who Kennys Vargas is. After posting my Gypsy Queen box break including an autograph of Mr. Vargas, I noticed a comment by Brian from "Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary" saying Vargas was his favorite Twin and he had the power of two regular guys called Kenny and he wanted to trade for the card. Once I realized he was being serious, a trade was born. Starting with some Gypsy Queen for my set, including two short prints and Wilin Rosario that as far as I can tell is the only card in set featuring catcher gear.

A "Highly Subjective" Trade

Sometimes you never what you are are going to get in trade package, this trade with "Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary" was one of them. Starting with the Canseco above, of a the very few cards showing a position player pitching, and one of the more famous incidents with Jose wrecking his arm throwing knuckleballs.

A Quick Study of Batting Helmet Facemasks

1981 Topps #445 Ellis Valentine

Inspired by yesterdays Charlie Hayes card featuring a football style mask on his batting helmet, further research led to finding a few more cards with a similar theme. The first instance is probably the most famous, but was never captured on cardbaord, Dave Parker in the middle of his 1978 MVP season fractured his jaw and cheekbone in a collision at the plate. That lead him experiment with a Jason Voorhes style goalie mask before switching to mounting a football face-mask onto his helmet. This is already covered at Uni-Watch and Dick Allen Hall of Fame including a sweet custom card.

The first actual cards I have found with batting helmet masks is 1981 Topps with Ellis Valentine and Ron Roenicke using football masks cut in half and bolted on the batting helmet.

Charlie Hayes: One of Every Rockie

Not so much a tribute to Charlie Hayes, but more of an excuse to feature one of my favorite cards from my youth, a 1995 Upper Deck #172 Charlie Hayes. I love the 1995 Upper Deck set, great photography, full bleed photos and a nice simple design allowing the photo to be the star of the card. The unique thing about this card is the mask that Hayes wore in 1994 after being hit with a pitch and breaking his jaw. The Football style model shown on this card is also pictured on his 1995 Pinnacle and 1995 Sportflix cards. The other model he wore is pictured on the back of this Upper Deck card as well as on his 1995 Collector's Choice SE #207 card. He is also pictured with the more conventional cheek guard with the Yankees later in his career.

Hayes came to the Rockies with the 3rd pick of the 1992 Expansion draft and held down the starting 3B job for the teams first two seasons. In 1993 he lead the National League with 45 doubles as well as leading the Rockies with 25 home runs and tying for the club lead with 98 RBI, all career highs. He probably would have been the first Colorado All-Star if it wasn't for Andres Galarraga who would go on to win the batting title with a .370 average. Hayes would leave Colorado as a free agent after the 1994 season, signing with the Phillies. He would end up playing for 7 MLB teams (BR link), including two stops with the Phillies, Giants and Yankees and would win a World Series Title with the 1996 Yankees.