Jim Rice in the Hall

Congrats to Jim Rice on making the hall of fame. This 1978 Topps card was what started me collecting cards. I can remember getting pack after pack in 1978 often at the Dairy Queen rip off ice cream stand (the Dairy Cream)after little league games hoping for Rice only to get Rudy Meoli and Ed Ott instead. I never did get Rice that summer. I traded for that card and eventually got the whole 1978 set for Christmas a few years later. I still have that set and will always remember the summer I spent trying in vain to score that Rice card.

Jeff Twitty and the Royal Relievers

Jeff did not have much of a baseball career but he did find later success as a musician. He became a respected country and western singer with ihs band Jeff Twitty and the Royal Relievers. They would be known for wearing matching powder blue rhinestone studded cowboy suits (Perhaps there was some fringe involved) with matching 10 gallon hats. They would play state fairs througout the midwest often opening for Glen Campbell or Kris Kristofferson. Sometimes he would emcee the butter sculpting contest

The Eichelberger

Before 1981, the name Eichelberger held little meaning. Was it the name of a German general? Was it the new smokey chipolte hamburger from Applebees? But since 1981, the name Eichelberger has been synonymous with giant facial hair. Sure, some civil war generals had tried the bushy mutton chop/fu manchu mustache combo with little success. Sure, they would look intimidating on the battelfield, but they looked silly in normal life. It wasn't until Juan so deftly paired the brown and orange polyester combination that the "Eichelberger" look became complete. Often, Juan would entertain the ladies in the Eichelberger bachelor pad which had zebra patterned bean bag chairs and thick shag carpeting.

The Karaoke King of Seattle

Here we see Tom engaging in one of his favorite past times, Karaoke. as a matter of fact, Tom is known as the Karaoke King of Seattle. He wows the ladies with his perfectly coiffed hair and slim microphone as he belts out inspired karaoke versions of songs by Paul Anka and Johnny Mathis. If he feels saucy, he will cover Wayne Newton as well.

The Sad Tale of Danny Boone

Daniel Boone, frontiersmen, patriot, had grown tired of the coonskin caps and the wild frontier of Kentucky. Looking to settle down, Daniel changed his name to Danny and joined the San Diego Padres as a relief pitcher. No one knew his secret identity until the San Diego Chicken revealed it by donning a coonskin cap and then pretending to shoot the Philadelphia Phanatic with a rifle at a late September game. Danny left the bullpen in tears never to play another game.

Lost at Sea

This comes straight from the back of Bert's card:
Did You know?...
Bert spent the 1980 off season marooned on a desert island in the South Pacific. He existed on a steady diet of crab, lost 40 pounds, and befriended a basketball named Spaulding before constructing a makeshift raft and setting out on the open sea where he was eventually rescued. In his first start since being rescued, he spun a 3 hit complete game shutout against the Minnesota Twins on April 4, 1981.

Mr.1981 Home Run King

Here we see Mike Schmidt the "1981 Home Run King" and boy does he like his awards. So much so, that he rarely is seen without them. While most players would warm up before the game by doing some light throwing or by shagging some fly balls, Mike instead can be seen in the dugout polishing his trophies. He then wanders the field looking for wayward photographers and asking them if they would like to take a picture of him and his trophies. He is inseperable from those trophies. On thanksgiving, he demands they be given their own seat next to him and his relatives must refer to him at all times as the "1981 Home Run King". Mike is crazy but in that loveable way like the crazy Uncle who drinks too much on holidays and talks a little too loud about the trouble he's been having with his colon; Mike just does it with his MVP and Gold Glove awards at his side.