Friday, August 31, 2012

#88 - Bryn Smith


What a card: You've got to love it. Bryn Smith signing a baseball card for a fan.

Smith was about to embark on the most successful season of his 13-year major league career. He would go 18-5 for the Expos in 1985.

My observation on the front: I wish I could tell what kind of card Smith is signing. If I had to guess, I'd say it looks like the back of a 1983 Topps card. Smith was card #447 in that set.

More opinion from me: At last, an Expos player who isn't airbrushed!

Something you might know: Smith was the winning pitcher in the first victory in Colorado Rockies history, an 11-4 win over his former team, the Montreal Expos, on April 9, 1993.

Something you might not know: Smith's mother, Meg, dated former manager Ralph Houk and actor Cary Grant.


My observation on the back: Smith's wife got Bryn into a little bit of trouble when she was quoted in a story in Sports Illustrated about the difference players and their families face living in Montreal. She said they would have to drive an hour across the border to Plattsburgh, N.Y., for "important staples like Doritos." That drew a fair amount of teasing.

The blog wants to speak now: The Pop Culture and Movies categories have been updated. Time for a new No. 1 movie. Title rhymes with "Burt Reynolds flick."

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

ah yes, having grown up in Montreal during the 80s, I remember that story... Bryn did some very fine pitching for the team during that decade and I was sorry to see him leave for redder pastures in 1990

'30-Year Old Cardboard said...

I love cards that feature players signing autographs. If a checklist existed of all cards like this, I would build the set!

Bo said...

These are great stories. Can you share the links where they come from?

night owl said...

Both are from the Sports Illustrated archives. I don't have time to link them now. I'll try to get back to it later.

gcrl said...

i was/am a big bryn smith fan. the city listed as his 'home' is the same place robin ventura is from. jim lonborg and jimy williams, too. pretty sure smith still lives there.