Lestermania is runnin' wild!

Lester Hudson continues his stunning run from the Chinese league to the Cleveland Cavaliers as Hudson scored 14 of his team high 25 points in the fourth quarter to blow a one point lead at the end of three periods wide open and give Cleveland a 103-90 win over the Charlotte Bobcats at the Q.
Anthony Parker added 19 more to help the Cavaliers to the win,which saw Cleveland improve to 19-36 on the season.
Cleveland hosts Indiana tonight at the Q in the first of a home and home with the Pacers....

Swashbucklings

1) What more can I say about Lester Hudson?
9 of 18 from the floor,eight boards and six assists off the bench and was the key player on the floor.
Maybe Hudson is the next generation Vinnie Johnson?
I can dream-even if it's more likely he is the next Vinnie Barbarino

2) If Hudson indeed is the real deal and not a streaking comet,the credit goes to GM Chris Grant for finding him through China and the D-League.
If Hudson proves to be a permanent piece,he would be the second in two seasons to be added from the D-League after last year's mining of forward Alonzo Gee...

3) Anthony Parker hit four three pointers to aid in his 19 points on the evening.
Parker had missed some time recently and along with Antawn Jamison often seems to be the difference in these games between bad teams...

4) The credit for the win has to go to the Hudson-led reserve unit.
The backup crew that started the fourth quarter ripped off a 23-4 run that turned a one point game into a rout and give credit to the oft-criticized Omri Casspi on a nice evening.
Casspi finished with 12 points and four boards in 21 minutes of play...

5) It was just the Cavaliers tenth win at home this season and that is somewhat disappointing.
Even bad teams should be closer to.500 at home and the total does not come close to the breakeven number.

Photo Credit:AP Photp

At least the Beach Boys were there....

The Pittsburgh Pirates had scraped together a run off Clayton Kershaw to tie their game against the Dodgers at one and looked to have a chance of pushing things to extra innings.
Jason Grilli (0-1) had other ideas as Grilli put the ball in the one spot that Andre Either could drive the ball out of Dodger Stadium in the bottom of the 8th and Either did just that in a 2-1 Dodger win.
Matt Hague picked up the lone RBI on a seventh inning groundout.
The Pirates will face the Dodgers in each of the next two nights at 10:05 EST.
Erik Bedard tomorrow against Chad Billingsley....

Pirate Hooks

1) I am usually not a fan of John Wehner's analysis because it usually puts me to sleep,but he called the Ethier homer off Jason Grilli as two pitches before the bomb,Wehner commented that Grilli should keep it on the outside so Ethier would have to reach for the pitch and make it tough to pull.
Result? Grilli goes inside but not inside enough.Ballgame.....

2) The Pirates had to be pleased with what they got out of Kevin Correia,who allowed a early inning run over six innings and just four hits as well.
Correia had a fast start last season before stumbling to the finish,so I'll reserve judgement,but anytime you get Kevin Correia to go even up with Clayton Kershaw,one has to be pleased ..

3) I generally don't rap Andrew McCutchen for lacking hustle,but after dropping a tough play in center on a Juan Uribe shallow fly,McCutchen was less than quick getting the ball in and James Loney moved from first to second.
Did not hurt the score any,but it still should have been at least a forceout on Loney...

4) Alex Presley is one of the few off to a good start for the Pirates,but I loved his seventh inning hustle that led to the only Pittsburgh run.
Presley tagged up and moved from second to third on a flyball to left.
Tough to do and loved the hustle...

5) Plus the Beach Boys with the National Anthem?
Hard to beat that,I know I prefer the Giants out west,but the Boys trash any of the guests that the Giants roll out to sing the Anthem..

Looking at::1971 Topps Baseball

Looking back at what might be my favorite card set ever in the 1971 Topps set.

I did not buy baseball cards in 1971, I was yet to turn three years old when the set began to dribble out, but I did begin to buy cards in 1972 and hit the local country store hard in 1973.

However, the set I coveted most was the black-bordered 1971 set.
Filled with players in different uniforms than I was seeing them play in such as Joe Morgan, Dick Allen, Frank Robinson, etc and the sharp design yet aged look made it my card hero immediately.

I had few cards of the set until 1978.
In 1978, there just were no card shows around Hagerstown, so anything other than the current set of Topps or trading with someone that had older stuff was the only opportunity to get anything else (more on this in a future post).

But in the Summer of 1978, an older boy down the road was selling his collection at a yard sale and it was filled with 1971 Topps!

Yard Sales in our rural area were located on a road noted for splattering bicycles, and anything else in its way, but they were a big thing for a kid, especially when someone was selling toys or especially baseball cards and when I found out, I spent about every nickel that I had and begged for as much money as I could scrounge up to buy more.
I did not get them all, only so much money and only so much that I was going to weasel out of my mom, aunt, grandmother, the beat went on...
But I bought what I could and they never went anywhere.
I still have them and they are the beginning foundation of my latest project.
I grabbed as many of the top stars as I could such as Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Juan Marichal, Steve Garvey (rookie), and as many Pirates and Senators as I could.

Remember it was in the winter of 78/79 that I became an Indians fan and I was a Texas Rangers fan at the time, yet there were no Texas Rangers in the set as the 1971 set was the final one with the Washington Senators in the set.
Even though there were no stars of the Senators and my favorite Ranger Toby Harrah would not make his card debut until 1972, there was still the Ted Williams manager card to find and it was still neat to have as many cards of defunct teams as I could.
I used the same philosophy to buy commons from the 1970 set with the Seattle Pilots and the only set to show players in the Pilot uniforms.

1971 was the first Topps set that used the regular player cards with action shots for the first time as well.
Past sets used action shots for "In Action" cards or post-season cards and used the standard poses for the individual cards.
The Chris Short card to the right is a personal favorite as the card was from Connie Mack Stadium (which was no longer used in 1971), Pete Rose leading off second base in the background, and the ALPO dog food ad on the left field wall.

The 1971 set has its pros and cons.
The Black borders are what makes the cards look so sharp, while the black borders are also what makes the cards so hard to find in mint condition.
Adding to the issues with the borders are that many people crop cards to make them look mint or use a black felt tip pen to fill in any border issues.
The cards do look better, but they still are not mint!

 
The popularity of the set also allows the worth and the cost of the set to increase, especially if the cards are the higher numbers from the high number series.
The set was released in seven different series and as always the final two are the ones in the highest demand as there are far fewer of them in existence.

 
The high-number series were usually released in the later part of the season and between the waning end of summer and the beginning of football season so there are far fewer of the cards from those releases than from the earlier series.
The set consists of 752 cards with number 524 (Mickey Stanley of the Tigers) being the first card of the sixth series.

The 1971 set has always been a holy grail of mine for my collection and as much as I doubt that I will ever finish the set or get the higher-priced cards in great condition.
However, an event in my collecting life changed my priorities a bit and I decided to give building the 71 set a go.
After I was able to finish the 1976 Topps set (my second favorite set from my childhood, I began the process of attempting to complete the set.
I am not wagering that I will ever get this finished, but it should be fun to give things a try.

The 1971 Topps set is the bridge of the sets of the old to the new as they featured more of the 1960s uniforms just before the onset of Astroturf, Multi-colored Polyester uniforms and cookie-cutter stadiums as will be seen if you look at the 1972 set inspired by the Peter Max pop art style of the time.
The player's looks change drastically from the 1971 set to the 72 and 73 sets as long hair and mustaches become so much more prevalent in those sets than in the 71 edition.

Wish me luck as I work on the 1971 set and I'll be taking additions to the set as donations!
Ha Ha.

I would like to thank Mike Oravec for his help with the 1971 set with many additions to the set that I never possessed, including the pictured Roberto Clemente card at the top of the page.
Mike's help has made my task easier than it could have been with a large leap towards completion....

Sorry that this took so long to post, but I wanted to wait until a slow day to put this up.

Taking it to the limit..

The Cleveland Cavaliers gave the New Jersey Nets all they wanted and forced overtime on Lester Hudson's long range and well covered three pointer before the deeper Nets pulled away in overtime for a 122-117 victory at the Rock.
Antawn Jamison finished with 34 points and was ably assisted by the aforementioned Lester Hudson with 26 and Alonzo Gee with 22.
Cleveland returns tomorrow against the Charlotte Bobcats.

Swashbucklings

1) Lester Hudson is working on his second and final ten day contract.
Hudson has proven that deserves a deal to finish the season and given a full opportunity to be an off the bench option for next season.
Hudson is not afraid to drive the lane and his jumper looks safe to me.
Hudson brings back memories of bench bombers Vinnie Johnson and Ricky Pierce and he has proven enough to me to be given a chance to be on next years team...

2)  Antawn Jamison had one of his better shooting night of the season with a 12 for 19 game.
I know I rant against Jamison shooting too much and that he has become one dimensional in his game,but still think that he could have helped someone in the playoffs...

3) Alonzo Gee played well with a double double of 22 points and 11 rebounds.
Gee's success after being signed from the D-League is likely the reason (Beside the injury need) that Donald Sloan and Lester Hudson are getting the playing time that they are.

4) Donald Sloan did have a rough night shooting ( 3 of 13) but he did play well running the point as he finished with 14 assists.
Sloan has a chance at being the backup next season to Kyrie Irving,but will have to pick up his shooting prowess as he shoots just over 34 percent from the floor....

5) Tristan Thompson finished with 15 points and 15 boards and 10 of them off the offensive glass.
I am looking forward to seeing Thompson and Anderson Varejao play together as a unit that is going to be tough to keep off the glass....

Photo Credit:AP Photo

Late inning rush drops Phillies 5-4

Andrew McCutchen's ninth inning single smashed over the head of Shane Victorino completed a four run rally over the final two innings to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies and give the Pirates the series win in the only visit to PNC Park this season by the club Pirates fans love to hate.
Pedro Alvarez hit a long homer (1) for the Pirates only run not scored in the eighth or ninth and Joel Hanrahan (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the W.
Pittsburgh is off today as they are on their way West for three games against the Dodgers that starts on Tuesday afternoon..

Pirate Hooks

1) The Pirates are going to have be a team that scrapes for runs.
Looking at the talent tell you that much,but the pitching can hold up,they could be in the hunt for .500.
I still think the power part of the hitting has massive questions,so I would not go as far to say I would say that's a safe bet and many things would have to click,but maybe...

2) The Phillies scored four runs,but only two of them earned.
I thought James McDonald pitched well in his six inning outing and if you consider that other than Hunter Pence (a homer and double off McDonald),he was terrific.

3) I liked Evan Meek's one inning.
I think his injuries cost him a little hop off his heater,but mid 90's still is nothing to sneeze at and I bet he was working in the 92-95 area.
If Meek returns to form,the Pirates might feel better about moving Joel Hanrahan at the deadline..

4) Pedro Alvarez might have struggled in the series for the most part,but his homer sure looked good as it carried deep over the right field wall.
Alvarez does not have to hit .300,I'll take .260 if he does it with 25-30 homers.
This is a pivotal year for Alvarez,I do not think the Pirates are going to hand him a starting job next season with performance levels of 2011...

5) Had to feel good for Matt Hague's first career hit and game tying RBI.
One never knows how many at bats that you will get off the end of the bench before the roster squeeze starts with injuries etc,better to get it and have that one on the mantle.
Ask Stephen Gionta how long it can take to get number one (goal) in the big show.....

Back later with the Cavaliers and Nets,which I am about to watch now...
I still have not forgotten about the Indians preview and the prospect series,they are on the way-I promise!

Photo Credit
Jared Wickersham_Getty Images

From the empire.....

Just a few quick notes after a long day yesterday....

No Devils or Pirates coverage today from either of their wins.
Busy day today and other than the first career goal for Stephen Gionta (good for him!),the Devils game was essentially meaningless.

As for the Pirates?
Well,they won,(Yay!) and for the second game in a row,I found out the result (Boo).
I really have to learn to avoid more things on line....

Enjoyed the Hagerstown Suns-West Virginia Power game with my usual tag team partner, Bill Cover (hey,Bill- we need to come up with a 80's style tag team name!) and my dad,who had me laughing all night with family stuff....
I'll have a signing front next week after the Suns and Keys each hit the road....

Enjoyed meeting Hockey Hall of Famer Rod Langway at the Keys game and working on the mixed bag that was the Salem Red Sox.
Did not see one pitch of the game though,as Rachel wanted to see the Devils against the Senators,so we left quickly and made it safely home for the game.

New Jersey will play Florida in round one of the NHL Playoffs,so I am somewhat happy.
I am leery of hoping to play certain teams in the playoffs,because you think they will be easier to defeat.
Just as often as not,that comes back to haunt you.
As previously noted,I wanted Florida rather than Washington in order to not have to listen to Craig Laughlin for the entire series.

Have to make a quick run to the Muni to finish up the Power and run home to watch the Masters,which ranks very high as my favorite sports event of the year-right there with the NFL Draft.
Phil Mickelson or Fred Couples would do quite nicely as the winner...

Thanks to those of you that enjoyed the Stetson Allie post from yesterday that took the time to write,link (Thanks,Luke) and talk to me about it at either Hagerstown or Frederick.
The Allie post ranked in the top five all time for one day hits and again my thanks to all of you.

Looking at the West Virginia roster,Stetson Allie is no longer listed,another player has his number,although he was at the Muni last night.
Allie has just been added to the SAL transactions page,he is headed back to Florida.....

That will do for a quick scattering from yesterday.
Enjoy the holiday!!!!

A night with Nuke..Err Stetson Allie

I anxiously awaited Friday night's game between the West Virginia Power and the Hagerstown Suns because I was going to finally see the power arm of 2010 second round selection Stetson Allie.

I was very pleased when the Pirates gambled on being able to sign the first round arm of Allie by selecting him in round two and was able to bring Allie into the fold for a bonus of between 1.5 and 2 million dollars.
I even ranked Allie as the systems second rated prospect in last years top 15 (this years coming soon) and despite needing to harness his control,that arms ability to hit triple digits on the radar gun still had me enthralled.
Well,this years rankings are finished (although not posted) and last night's outing will not affect that,although I am sure that his effort will be mentioned in Allie's paragraph.

Stetson Allie had a crazy stat line last season with the State College Spikes with an ERA over six ,walks per nine innings of ten plus and strikeout numbers of over nine plus and that says more than I could write about his arm and lack of command.
I spoke to my friend and Pirate prospect guru Wilbur Miller about Allie before the game and he said that he thought Allie had the best stuff of ALL the Pirates system pitchers,which includes 2011 top overall pick Gerrit Cole and 2010 second overall selection Jameson Taillon.
Wilbur raved about the hard slider that Allie possessed and I was very anxious to see the suburban Cleveland native take the mound.

Sometimes,seeing is not believing as I could not believe what I saw.
As in this line-1/3 inning,2 runs,4 walks 3 wild pitches,a hit batsman and a strikeout which should have never been as the victim was Hagerstown veteran Brett Newsome,who's three strikes were a borderline high strike that looked like a mercy called strike,Newsome swinging and missing a ball a foot outside and missing a slider that narrowly missed hitting him.

Allie's pitches were not close or even the type of wild pitches that elude a catcher in the dirt.
These were not those types,these were far outside pitches and one thing kept occurring to me and my compadre' Bill Cover-this was like watching Nuke LaLoosh from Bull Durham.
When the player that you are comparing a player to is a fictional character from a film-you know that this is a memorable evening.

Finally,after these six batters,Allie was removed from the game and showed his frustration in the dugout for which I can understand his feelings,Allie had thrown just seven strikes and as noted earlier had received help on most of them from either the umpire or the batter.

I did a bit of talking and got a general reading on how hard Allie was throwing,he touched the 98-99 range and was often in the mid 90's.
I do not know whether to laugh or cry after watching on this night,but two things are pretty certain-Stetson Allie has a major league arm and has major issues in finding the strike zone.
I would not want to put Allie aside as a prospect after just one night,but whether Stetson Allie ever makes it to Pittsburgh or not,he will be always a fond memory as the living,breathing embodiment of one Ebby Calvin LaLoosh.....

Photo Credit
Steve Manuel:MiLB.com