MLB Showdown Obsession

 MLB teams love their anniversaries. Growing up, I remember watching all the teams throw out there a special anniversary patch or logo like the Rockies celebrating 10 or 20 years, or the Yankees and their 100 seasons. Heck, the 2003 World Series logo was making a big fuss about it being the 100th fall classic. So everyone loves their special round numbers in baseball, and this year the Toronto Blue Jays are no exception. For 2026, the only team left in Canada marked their 50th season in baseball. So let us today take a look back 50 years to that debut season of the great white north's 2nd MLB franchise. The 1977 season saw more expansion as baseball would return to Seattle, and arrive for the first time in Toronto. Roy Hartsfield was chosen to make his debut as a Major League Manager. The excitement was high for the Blue Jays as they opened the season at home with a strong win over the Chicago White Sox. From there they would tread water but slowly dip more and more under .500 befo...

 There were two perfect games during the official Showdown era, and while David Cone's accomplishment earned him a place of honor in the original starter set, Randy Johnson's wasn't quite as easy to get in the 2005 Showdown collection. Johnson had a typical Johnson season in 2004, leading the majors with 290 Strikeouts and nabbing his 10th all star nomination, but something atypical was on May 18th when he rolled up to Turner Field to face the Atlanta Braves and pitched a perfect game where he struck out 13 men, the 2nd most total at the time for a perfect game and just one short of Sandy Koufax's masterpiece . Typical of the Diamondbacks of that time, they gave him minimal run support in the 2-0 win, but perfection never requires much. At 40 years old, Johnson became the oldest perfect game pitcher in history, displacing the legendary Cy Young from the mark. It was also the 1st no hitter in Diamondbacks history, a great accomplishment for Johnson along with his 1990 n...

Most teams retire numbers and simply display the number somewhere along the upper deck. Other teams make it part of the stadium wall with a decal on the padding. The Cubs fly their retired numbers as flags attached to their foul poles. And while their first couple of World Series titles happened before numbers were a thing in baseball, and their recent title isn't quite in the past enough for those men to qualify for the honor, the 108 years in between have given us a few choices... #10 - Ron Santo At 18, Ron Santo was diagnosed with diabetes and wasn't given that many years to live, something he kept to himself as he began his baseball career. Just making it to the big leagues while dealing with diabetes would be an accomplishment, but Santo didn't stop there and became an all time great. The 3rd Baseman was without peer defensively as he set, broke, and broke again numerous defensive records at the hot corner. The nine time all star won the Gold Glove every year between 1...