Friday, February 22, 2013

#149 - Dickie Noles


What a card: Dickie Noles was preparing for his first full season as a Texas Ranger at the time of this card's release after being traded from the Cubs to the Rangers in July of 1984.

My observation on the front: "Hey look! The mascot has that baby's head in his mouth!" ... Noles appears to be saying.

More opinion from me: Noles' given first name really is Dickie. That sort of thing puzzles a non-Southerner like me.

Something you might know: Noles first came to national attention and is probably most known for throwing a fastball near George Brett's head during a relief appearance in Game 4 of the 1980 World Series. Noles, who was a rookie at the time, received a lot of grief for that, but the pitch is often credited for swinging the Series in the Phillies' favor.

Something you might not know: Noles, who has given talks about substance abuse for years after his problems with alcoholism during his playing days, often discusses how he once came home to find his house and his twin 4-year-old sons covered in lipstick. "No one ever told them not to use that substance," he says.


My observation on the front: Joe DiMaggio's fun with numbers in the trivia question is all well and good. But I think it's just a ploy to distract collectors from the fact that Noles finished with identical 5.15 ERAs for both the Cubs and the Rangers during the 1984 season.

The blog wants to speak now: Just a quick update to the TV category.

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