Who's Out There?

« In old New York it was Turkey Mike, Muggsy and the Big Six.
In San Francisco, Baby Bull, Stretch, and the Say Hey Kid.
Then came the Count, the Hackman, Jack the Ripper
and Will the Thrill.
Barry and Jeff Kent, but a dearth of nicknames,
that is, until… The Giants got the Panda. » — Scott McCaughey, “Panda and The Freak“

This year’s Major League Baseball playoffs are about to begin.

In those callow days of youth when I still cared about big league baseball — having lost interest in such matters when Montréal lost its team — the post season was over and done by, say, the 20th of October. Nowadays, with all the extra teams and trimmings, it just seems to go on and on.

I long for the days when only ball players and little kids wore baseball caps, to be honest. Ah, but the sport yet holds some fond memories for me. I recall most fervently the rather outré facets of it, fostered and amplified by the sport’s scads of iconoclasts and loonies*.

And while we’re on the subject, here are some highlights of Leaf/Donruss‘ 1988 card set Baseball’s Greatest Grossouts, illustrated by the busy yet ever-dazzling B. K. Taylor (Sick Magazine, The National Lampoon, The Muppet Show — he designed Dr. Teeth! — Sesame Street, Dynamite, Mulan…).

-RG

*splendidly — and catchily! — eulogised by supergroup The Baseball Project, featuring members of REM, The Young Fresh Fellows and Dream Syndicate. Four albums on, and their latest, Grand Salami Time!, may just be their finest hour. End of commercial, play ball!