MLB Showdown Obsession

 The Hall of Fame began with a fixation on a good size of their class. Voting began in 1936, but the opening of the actual Hall of Fame wasn't until 1939, giving the voters time to elect a nice amount of men to be honored, including at least 10 from the 20th century. Fast forward to 1964 and the Hall eclipsed the 100 member milestone. Just a little bit faster did they hit 200 as we entered the 1988 vote, where Willie Stargell got the call. A similar amount of time would pass to get to 300 in 2013, but we'll get there in time, and as opposed to an all time great, the #300 honor came on with a whimper from the BBWAA...

The Red Sox may operate in 100 year cycles. -They won the 1st World Series in 1903 as the Boston Americans. -In 1904 were denied a chance at another title when a New York team shockingly prevented the opportunity. -They won several more titles leading up to 1918. -They proceed to not win again for a very long time. ... -In 2003 they were denied a chance at another title when a New York team shockingly prevented the opportunity (slightly different circumstances). -They won their first World Series in over 80 years in 2004. -They win several more titles leading up to 2018. -Uh oh... And while the Red Sox had a large gap without any titles, they were certainly not short of elite talent to honor with number retirements. But where some teams will honor just anyone, the Red Sox tended to have a set of rules that need to be met if your number is to be retired. Those rules are as follows: 1-You must be a Hall of Famer 2-You need at least 10 years as a member of the Red Sox 3-You must retire a...

 Congratulations! You've been waiting for what seems like an eternity and finally you got the phone call: you're going to the Hall of Fame! Now comes the whirlwind of interviews, TV spots and well wishes from everyone. Time to make plans for the following summer to hit up the Hall for your induction ceremony. But before you write that speech, or look for where the heck Cooperstown even is on a map, the Hall has one very important question for you: What logo do you want on your plaque? When someone is elected to the Hall of Fame, they get a nifty plaque with their face and list of accomplishments. If that person was a player (or Manager) that image of their face will always include them wearing a baseball hat. For some people, the choice is automatic; either their entire career took place on one team, or the vast majority of their success was in one place. For example, Mariano Rivera only ever pitched for the Yankees, so there was no question that an interlocking NY would be fea...

 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...