What a card: This is Dave Righetti's first card after he was transformed into a relief pitcher. After pitching his first three full years with the Yankees as a starter, the team moved him to the bullpen, citing a surplus of starters. Looking back, Ray Fontenot, Dennis Rasmussen and Joe Cowley is not a surplus. But Righetti saved 31 games.
My observation on the front: Those action shots of players on the mound at old Yankee Stadium always get me. They look like they're standing in the middle of the coliseum. How do they block all that out?
More opinion from me: Righetti was one of those Yankees that I couldn't get worked up over. Sure, I wanted him to lose, but he was so inoffensive. Then he had to attach himself to the other team I hate, the Giants, and there was no forgiving him.
Something you might know: Righetti threw a no-hitter against the Red Sox on the 4th of July in 1983. It was the first -- and probably only -- no-hitter I listened to on the radio.
Something you might not know: Righetti's sister-in-law, serving as a surrogate for Righetti and his wife, gave birth two months early to triplets. All three of the Righetti triplets suffered complications, including cerebral palsy and hearing impairment, but are in their early 20s now and doing well.
My observation on the back: Righetti's father, Leo, attended the pennant-clinching game against the Oakland A's in 1981. During the strike that season, Leo Righetti, who was a minor league player in the 1940s and '50s, set up a pitching schedule for Dave so he'd be ready to go when the season resumed.
The blog wants to speak now: The Pop Culture tab is updated.
If you read Graig Nettles' biography, "Balls," theres a fun chapter about Righetti's no-hitter. Apparently Nettles was the only person who talked to him during it, asking about a car trip they were going to take together during the all-star break.
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