40-year-old Versions

ABC’s of Baseball: O is for Ohtani.

What a week?!?! Los Angeles kicks off in Glendale, all of kicks off these week, and 2024 Series One hits stores.

This completes my ABC’s of Baseball. Started last April with A is for Henry Aaron. 26 of them completed and posted. One baseball player to represent each letter of the alphabet. Different styles. Different kinds of stories to tell. Some about the player, some about baseball, some about pop culture, some about me.

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ABC’s of Baseball: T is for Trout, Mike TROUT, Swag TROUT, and a friend’s guitar named TROUT.

Mike Trout is Mike Trout. is - and I don’t have anything else to add to what the name and player mean to baseball alone.

Beyond that, I love when baseball reaches outside just baseball, spanning into other pieces of pop culture. I mean, named his guitar TROUT - and the phrase “Mah-TROUT-geetah” was coined a couple of Fridays ago getting ready for a My Morning Jacket concert. Because, well, just because.

ABC’s of Baseball: R is for Roberto Clemente and MLB’s Roberto Clemente Award (UPDATED)

A standing ovation for this year’s winner, Aaron Judge, founder of ... The Aaron Judge ALL RISE Foundation was founded by to “inspire youth to become responsible citizens and to encourage them to reach unlimited possibilities.” Artwork is updated now to include Aaron Judge receiving the award last night during WS G3.

The artwork features names of all 50+ years of award winners (54 in total now) since Clemente’s tragic death on December 31st, 1972. The artwork is also heavily influenced by the front page of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on January 2nd, 1973 announcing his death to the city of Pittsburgh and the region.

PLEASE HELP ME SHARE!! This artwork is my pride and joy of the year. I graciously appreciate any and all help to break through the algorithms and cold e-mails I’ve sent around this year to get it licensed to produce in a poster format. My full court press has passed, but I still want people to see and think about its meaning.

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ABC’s of Baseball: K is for Kyle Schwarber

In 2016*, Schwarber went 0-for-4 with one walk in five plate appearances. An outfield collision during the second game of the season resulted in a torn ACL and torn LCL, ending what was supposed to be his first full season in the majors…

* in 2016, the added Schwarber to the World Series roster, and he became a key piece of the Cubs’ 2016 World Championship. This was not possible if Kyle sat on a couch for six months and felt sorry for himself.

I couldn’t fit the copy for the t-shirt into fifteen characters per line to place an online custom order, so I slid into the DM’s and asked about it… they submitted (and received) approval and BOOM… an Obvious Shirts product that tips the cap to this legend for his hard work, determination, and persistence, an example that we all could use for some inspiration.

ABC’s of Baseball: K is for Ken. Kens, actually. Ken Sr. and Ken Jr.

in 1990, Ken Sr. and Ken Jr. hit back-to-back homers for the in Anaheim, the first (and only) father and son to accomplish the feat.

Artwork is inspired by Shel Silverstein, a genius on many fronts. In our home, we’re going through another wave of Shel Silverstein with the kids, so I knew I had to include Shel somewhere and somehow in this series. So here it is.

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ABC’s of Baseball: P is for Prime Time, Coach Prime.

Re-sharing from May 2021, one of the first pieces I did… one of the hidden elements back then was the coach’s whistle. Looks like it may be a little more obvious today.

Deion Sanders played for and in the summer… and in the fall he played for and the - and rocked some SI covers and annoyed some people along the way. He entertained the heck out of me then and he’s doing it again.

ABC’s of Baseball: R is for Roberto Clemente and MLB’s Roberto Clemente Award.

The artwork features name’s of all 50 years of award winners (53 in total) since Clemente’s tragic death on December 31st, 1972. The artwork is also heavily influenced by the front page of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on January 2nd, 1973 announcing his death to the city of Pittsburgh and the region.

PLEASE HELP ME SHARE!! This artwork is my pride and joy of the year. Read my comments below to help me share the artwork and the story of it to more people. You can help me break through the algorithms and cold e-mails.

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Cc: .alwaysforward

ABC’s of Baseball: L is for Lee Mazzilli and “a spectacular bar flip, decades ahead of his time” in the 1979 All-Star Game in Seattle.

Tonight’s back in Seattle featured many first-time All-Stars. Mazzilli punctuated his first All-Star Game with a game-tying HR in the Top of the 8th… and the GW RBI via a walk in the Top of the 9th.

Artwork is largely inspired by , Brad Balukjian, author of The Wax Pack book, a must-read for fans of baseball and baseball cards.

Artwork also includes Dave Parker the ‘79 ASG MVP and Gary Carter… Carter was on the receiving end of Parker’s second OF assist, a game-saving laser from RF to end the Bottom of the 8th and preserve a 6-6 tie.

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ABC’s of Baseball: X is for Xander Bogaerts.

is the lone player to hit a homer in 4 separate countries… 2013 at Yankee Stadium, then 2015 in Toronto, and then 2019 in London… and after joining this offseason, this April he hits a HR in Mexico City.

Xander seems to me to be an International Man of Baseball… Born in Aruba… Represents the Netherlands in World Baseball Classic competition… 10 years with including 2 World Series Championships and 5 All-Star Game appearances… speaks English, Spanish, Dutch, and Papiamento.

ABC’s of Baseball inspired by The Letter People, introduced to me in kindergarten back in like 1985 or something.

ABC’s of Baseball: G is for Josh Gibson… and the Homestead Greys… which then represent so much more than just the history of professional baseball…

I may not have won the Project card art tournament back in 2021, but meeting and connecting and working with people – an ancillary benefit to the overall mission of the project, but a personal highlight for me regardless.

So here’s looking at you, members of the Official Baseball Writers Association of America – the objective is unchanged from 2021 and earlier, let’s rename the MLB MVP trophies after Josh Gibson.

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ABC’s of Baseball: Y is for Yogi, Yogi-isms, and one highly-anticipated documentary film release day.

Congrats to and and the entire team involved with the “IT AIN’T OVER” releasing today in select theaters. Early reviews and press for have been outstanding, so chat with me if you make it this weekend, too.

P.S. Yogi was born in 1923. He would be 98 years young today. A baseball legend but a lot more than just a baseball legend.

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ABC’s of Baseball: W is for Kerry Wood, the Cubs “W” flag, and Wrigleyville, too.

in 1998 (25 years ago!?!?), in only his fifth start, .wood34 struck out twenty (20!?!?) Astros in a one-hit CG shutout for the Cubs, leading the to raise the “W” flag in a 2-0 W.

Sorry I can’t be at this morning to meet the man, but a refreshment for them and to spread the word and get my piece in front of Kerry’s eyes.

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