Cubs Manager : Ryne Sandberg or Manager Cards That Never Were

Ok, I wouldn't wish the current crop of Cubbies on any manager, much less Ryne Sandberg. But it really would have been great to see him back at Wrigley Field. I hope they left the door open for Ryno to come back after the organization does a little house cleaning.  Meanwhile he is managing the Phillies' AAA club, the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. They are currently in 1st place with a 46-32 record. No small feat considering all of the high profile trades the Phillies have made in the past few years. Also this is a team that has never finished above .500. This is a card I wish I could have pulled from a pack this year. But as we say in Chicago, "Maybe next year."

Cards That Never Were : 2011 Heritage Ryne Sandberg

In 1984 we all thought it was "next year" but despite having the better record, Major League Baseball gave home field advantage to the Padres because Wrigley Field was still solar-powered. That meant fewer prime time games on TV. Of course, the Cubs lost all 3 away games. Sandberg won the MVP that year. His teammates Rick Sutcliffe and Gary Matthews both finished among the top 5 in MVP voting. 

In 1973 the San Francisco Giants had Rookie of the Year Gary Matthews and All Star Game MVP Bobby Bonds on their roster.

Bonds started the 1978 season on the Chicago White Sox along with Designated Hitter Ron Blomberg.

Ron Blomberg was the 1st Major League Designated Hitter in 1973. His teammate on the New York Yankees, Gene Michael, would go on to manage both the Yankees and the Cubs.

In 1967 Gene Michael played on the L.A. Dodgers with outfielder Jim Hickman.

In 1971 Hickman and teammate Ron Santo guarded the infield corners for the Chicago Cubs.

From Cub Favorite Sandberg to Cub Favorite Santo in 6 Degrees.

Cardinals Manager : Tony LaRussa

Tony LaRussa has been managing the St. Louis Cardinals since 1996 making him the longest tenured manager in the majors. 

LaRussa played sporadically from 1963-1973 for the A's, Braves and Cubs. In  1968 he was teammates on the Oaland A's with Floyd Robinson who was in his final MLB season.

In 1964 Robinson played with another Sox great Minnie Minoso at the end of his career (not including "comebacks" in 1976 and 1980).

In 1958 Minnie earned his second Gold Glove, sharing the Cleveland Indian outfield with another great fielder, Jimmy Piersall. 

In 1963 Piersall donned a Washington Senators uniform (in addition to a Mets and finally an Angels uniform). His teammate Chuck Cottier would later manage the Seattle Mariners.

In 1960 Cottier was playing for the Milwaukee Braves along with pitcher Bob Buhl  who made his only All Star appearance in 1960.

Buhl pitched a total of 2 1/3 innings for the Cubs in 1966 before being part of the trade that brought Fergie Jenkins to Chicago. But those 2 1/3 inning linked him to Ron Santo.

Full Disclosure: Tony La Russa actually played with Ron Santo on the 1973 Cubs.  I didn't link him directly to Santo because there wasn't a 1973 card depicting LaRussa on the Cubs, he only made one appearance as a pinch runner, and it would've been a really short blog.  Fortunately, Paul over at Wrigley Wax made a 1973 LaRussa, so here it is:

So we can link Tony LaRussa directly to Ron Santo, or take the scenic route in 6 degrees.

Brewers Manager : Ron Roenicke

Another first year manager, Ron Roenicke has been a coach with the Angels from 2000-2010 before being hired to manage the 2011 Milwaukee Brewers.

 

(No coach or manager card so the best I could find was the 2011 Brewers Team Card).

Roenicke began his MLB career late in 1981 and appeared on the 1982 Topps Dodger Future Stars card along with teammate and 4th consecutive LA Dodger Rookie of the Year, Steve Sax.

In 1993 Sax played on the division winning Chicago White Sox team along with DH Dan Pasqua.

 

Pasqua played on the 1986 New York Yankees with Ron Roenicke's brother Gary.

Gary Roenicke debuted in 1976 on the Montreal Expos. For his teammate, Nate Colbert, 1976 marked his 9th consecutive season playing on a last place team. 

 In 1973 Colbert played on the San Diego Padres with pitcher Fred Norman. Norman started the '73 season 1-7 with the Padres then went 12-6 after being traded to the Cincinnati Reds.

Still good seats available

Norman was traded to the Chicago Cubs in time for the 1964 season, where he played with Ron Santo.

 

From Ron Roenicke via his brother Gary Roenicke to Ron Santo in 6 degrees.

Cards That Never Were: 1973 Topps

1973 Topps Don Kessinger All Star

The 1973 set didn't have All Star cards so I took a little liberty with this. I needed to include the starters and reserves because the subject of this blog didn't start on the '72 All Star squad. It would have made for some cool cards, but I really don't think the concept of putting the reserves on All Star cards will catch on. If you like this card and want to check out the real stuff go to 1973 Topps Photography or 1973 Topps Baseball Set Builder.

Astros Moving To American League?

Rumors are flying around that the Astros will move to the American League and join the Texas Rangers in the Western Division. I started thinking about players that had played for both Texan teams. The only active player to have played for both teams is Carlos Lee. Lee played with the Rangers in 2006. He was teamed with Ivan Rodriguez on the Houston Astros in 2009.

In 1993 I-Rod caught for hall of famer Nolan Ryan on the Rangers

Native Texan, Ryan is the poster-boy for the Astros-Rangers rivalry, having pitched for both teams during his illustrious career. In 1988 he shared the mound with Danny Darwin on the Astros.

In 1979 Darwin shared the mound with another Hall of Famer, Fergie Jenkins on the Rangers.

While Jenkins never played fort the Astros, he did play for the Chicago Cubs along with Ron Santo.

From Carlos Lee to Ron Santo in 5 degrees Texas-Style.

Here is a list of people who played for both the Houston Astros (or Colt .45's) and the Texas Rangers:

Pedro Astacio

Alan Bannister

Floyd Bannister

Buddy Bell

Doug Brocail

Ken Caminiti

John Cangelosi

Bruce Chen

Terry Clark

Danny Darwin

Jack Daugherty

Alex Diaz

Carl Everett

Billy Hatcher

Mike Henneman

Dwayne Henry

Xavier Hernandez

Richard Hidalgo

Joe Hoerner

Pete Incaviglia

Chuck Jackson

Chris James

Jason Jennings

Cliff Johnson

Jonathan Johnson

Matt Kata

Hal King

Randy Knorr

Mike Lamb

Carlos Lee

Mike Marshall

Marty Martinez

Mark McLemore

Dan Miceli

Phil Nevin

C.J. Nitkowski

Jay Powell

Luis Pujols

Mike Richardt

Dave W. Roberts

Leon Roberts

Ivan Rodriguez

Nolan Ryan

Mike Simms

Rusty Staub

Dickie Thon

Chris Tremie

Denny Walling

Danny Walton

Mitch Williams

Gregg Zaun