Batting Stance Guy: All-Fu Manchu Lineup

You know the drill by now. A few months back, I was tasked with something by my friend Gar (aka "Batting Stance Guy")...to help him come up with as many facial-hair-laden baseball players as we could.

This week took Batting Stance Guy on a whirlwind adventure. Tuesday, he was all over ESPN, Wednesday was the MLB Network and Thursday saw him back on the left coast signing books. All the while, however, Ryness was grounded enough to still bang the internet and treat us with what made him famous...his stances.

Now, firmly entrenched in Mustache May, YouTube wunderkind (and now author...you can check out his book Batting Stance Guy: A Love Letter to Baseball over at Amazon.com) is bringing his love for the lip sweater to you! Monday, he debuted the First Team All-Mustache Lineup, Tuesday it was the All-Beard Lineup. Wednesday it was the the Second Team All-Mustache Lineup.

Naturally...the Fu Manchu was the last on the list.




***This past February, I had the chance to catch up with "Batting Stance Guy" and put his thoughts to paper, er, the internet. Check out the interview HERE.***

Batting Stance Guy: Second Team All-Mustache Lineup

A few months back, I was tasked with something by my friend Gar (aka "Batting Stance Guy")...to help him come up with as many facial-hair-laden baseball players as we could.

And in case you were wondering what era had the best upper lip adornment, this video ends that thought process. Clearly, based on this compilation, it is the early 80s...the Golden Age of baseball mustaches.

Now, firmly entrenched in Mustache May, YouTube wunderkind (and now author...you can check out his book Batting Stance Guy: A Love Letter to Baseball over at Amazon.com) is bringing his love for the lip sweater to you! Monday, he debuted the First Team All-Mustache Lineup, Tuesday it was the All-Beard Lineup. Today...it's the Second Team All-Mustache Lineup.




***This past February, I had the chance to catch up with "Batting Stance Guy" and put his thoughts to paper, er, the internet. Check out the interview HERE.***

Batting Stance Guy: All-Beard Lineup

A few months back, I was tasked with something by my friend Gar (aka "Batting Stance Guy")...to help him come up with as many facial-hair-laden baseball players as we could.

And while beards do seem to be making a slight comeback (see Jason Werth), the iconic stances of the bearded are not are prevalent.

Yet.

Now, firmly entrenched in Mustache May, YouTube wunderkind (and now author...you can check out his book Batting Stance Guy: A Love Letter to Baseball over at Amazon.com) is bringing his love for the lip sweater to you! Yesterday, he debuted the First Team All-Mustache Lineup. Today...he's tackling the beard.



***This past February, I had the chance to catch up with "Batting Stance Guy" and put his thoughts to paper, er, the internet. Check out the interview HERE.***

Batting Stance Guy: First Team All-Mustache Lineup

A few months back, I was tasked with something by my friend Gar (aka "Batting Stance Guy")...to help him come up with as many facial-hair-laden baseball players as we could.

After a few minutes swapping emails and IMs, we had compiled quite a list. Tom Brookens, Rod Beck...the 1982 Milwaukee Brewers!

Now, firmly entrenched in Mustache May, YouTube wunderkind (and now author...you can check out his book Batting Stance Guy: A Love Letter to Baseball over at Amazon.com) Gar Ryness is here to bring you his First Team All-Mustache Lineup.



***This past February, I had the chance to catch up with "Batting Stance Guy" and put his thoughts to paper, er, the internet. Check out the interview HERE.***

2009: The Year That Was

About a week and a half ago, we said “adios” to 2009 and whatever “hello” is to 2010.

Many sites across the interwebs filled the end of the year with their “best of” lists…this is another one of those sites. You see, I’d have been a little more timely, but I was, um…being timely by breaking down the 2010 Hall of Fame ballot.

So, with a big “congrats” to the Baseball Hall of Fame’s newest member Andre Dawson and his supporters and an huge thanks that gave The Hall of Very Good, first, its biggest year to date and second, its biggest day (January 6) to date…here are the Top Ten* stories to hit this site in 2009.

10. On the Eve of 300 (June 4). The night before Randy Johnson notched his 300th career victory, I was able to compile the thoughts of three former Major Leagues that faced off against “The Big Unit”.

9. Talkin’ Baseball with Jeff Cirillo (August 28). The “Talkin’ Baseball” is one of my favorite things to do and they’re pretty popular on the site. I had no idea Jeff played in Mexico.

8. Hall of Fame ballot...2010 style! (December 3). A month before the Hall of Fame announcement was made…The Hall broke down the class of 26. Related, and also popular, was The Hall of Fame Class of 2011 (July 21). It seems people love themselves some Hall of Fame previews and talk of Bert Blyleven (more on that later).

7. Talkin’ Baseball with CJ Wilson (June 22). Talking with CJ and following him on Twitter is what pretty led to me starting “Twitter Tuesday”.

6. Jon Adkins signs Minor League deal with Reds (December 1). When good friend of The Hall Jon Adkins inked his deal with the Reds, I was curious what the Louisville GM had to say. Within minutes he responded and I committed it to the site. Shortly after that, one of my favorite sites, MLBTradeRumors.com, picked up the story.

5. Hall of Fame 2010: Kevin Appier (December 15). Mix together a Hall of Fame profile, a tongue-in-cheek Bert Blyleven reference and the chimps over at Baseball Think Factory and you know what you’ve got? A boatload of hits, gang!

4. Talkin’ Baseball with Seth Swirsky (October 25). Before the season started, I picked up a book by Seth Swirsky at the library. After buying, then reading, his other two…I started exchanging emails with the author and memorabilia collector. On what was the 23rd anniversary of (sorry Red Sox fans) Bill Buckner missing a slow roller up the firstbase line, Seth shared the story of how he came to owning that ball.

3. Twitter Tuesday (every Tuesday). “Infield Chatter”, “The Buzz”, “Follow Friday (Tuesday Style)” and now…“The Wisdom of Tommy Lasorda”, Twitter Tuesday has become a staple over at The Hall.

2. Mustache May (the ENTIRE month of May). Mustache May was conceived years ago when some friends and I decided to celebrate the ‘stache by growing one out. This year, it manifested itself with an endorsement from The American Mustache Institute, interviews with Fergie Jenkins (May 12) and Rollie Fingers (May 29) and, ultimately…an appearance on WGN 720 Radio (May 17).

1. Ten Milestones to Watch for This Season (April 6). The most popular post of the year was one that was initially a slideshow that was conceived to drive traffic (and it did) over at Bleacher Report. One appearance in Hot Clicks and on CBSsportsline.com later…a traffic generator was born.

Honorable Mention: Jim Thome now a Dodger...Hall of Fame next? (September 1). A couple years back, I posted that I didn't think Jim Thome was a first ballot Hall of Fame guy and the Baseball Think Factory chimps lost their collective mind. Almost two years later, I basically say it again...and Rob Neyer links to it.

What story (stories) did you enjoy most? Click on “comments” below and go bananas.

*-“Top Ten”…as defined at The Hall of Very Good’s Facebook page as “a combination of stories I enjoyed combined with the stories that had the most traffic”.

The season that was...May

If you read nothing more, leave now knowing that May brought with it two things…mustaches and Ron Villone.

I can explain.

The third annual Mustache May celebration kicked off on the first day of May (imagine that!) and with it came your “’stache of the Day”, an endorsement from The American Mustache Institute, an appearance on WGN Radio and interviews with Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins and the king of all lip sweaters…Rollie Fingers.

Villone lived up to his moniker “Suitcase” early in the month, when he suited up for the Nationals, his Major League record-tying twelfth team. After the call up from Syracuse, he tied fellow journeyman, pitcher Mike Morgan.

Close on their heels is Matt Stairs.

Stairs is currently enjoying another playoff run with Philadelphia, his eleventh team.

And while not exactly a “milestone”, the Cubs did something pretty cool and pretty monumental on May 3. Before the “North Siders” took the field against the Marlins, they retired number 31 for both Fergie Jenkins and Greg Maddux.

Each hurler won a Cy Young Award and combined for 300 victories while wearing the pinstriped 31. Maddux would have his 31 retired by the Braves in July.

On May 17, future Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez became another in a seemingly long line of players that would circle the bases for the 300th time.

For his career, “Pudge” Rodriguez has hit 298 of his 305 homers as a catcher, good for seventh among backstops on the all-time list.

About a week later, Jason Giambi came out of hibernation to finally hit his 400th career home run.

When The Hall initially previewed American League West milestones, thought was that “the Giambino” would have surpassed 400 sometime in Mid-April. Unfortunately, a terrible slump pushed back the milestone to May 23.

Giambi finished up his season with 409 home runs and found himself with the Rockies. All-time, he is sitting at 43 on the career homers list, having passed up Hall of Famers Al Kaline (399) and Duke Snider (407) in 2009.

After six attempt to achieve the milestone, Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer locked down win Number 250 on May 31 against the Nationals.

Granted, Moyer finished up the year coming out of the bullpen and facing down the first surgery of his long career, could we be looking at a guy who, with 258 wins, could take up residency in Cooperstown?

Consider this, Moyer has fifteen seasons with double-digit wins and all but one was achieved after the age of 30. And of the 40 pitchers with more victories, only Phil Niekro (17) had more double-digit wins seasons after they turned 30.

What about the 10 other lefties with more than 250 wins?

All but four (Tom Glavine, Randy Johnson, Tommy John and Jim Kaat) are in the Hall of Fame. Glavine (with 305 wins) and Johnson (303) will get there and you certainly can make a case for John and Kaat making it in someday courtesy of Veterans Committee.

So let me know…does Moyer have what it takes to get enshrined?

I’m on the fence (hedging toward “no”) when you look at the big picture, but when you consider those he pitched against…you could do much, much worse.

Yesterday...we broke down April. Join me tomorrow when we look at, naturally, June.

Talkin' baseball with Rollie Fingers

So…Mustache May 2009 is coming to a close and admittedly, getting an updated ‘stache of the Day out there every day was a little more ambitious than I thought.

Oops.

That being said, I promised myself two things at the start of the month…a rockin’ ‘stache at the conclusion and an interview to knock the socks off of my regular readers. Pics of the ‘stache will be posted over at my facebook page soon.

The latter begins below.

HOVG: It was about time you put your thoughts in writing, can you tell me how your book Rollie’s Baseball Follies”came about?

ROLLIE: A guy by the name of Chris “Yellowstone” Ritter contacted me a couple of years ago and wanted to write a book. I told him I wasn’t really into writing a book, but he told me that it wasn’t going to be a book about my life, but more a book about baseball. We talked for a while and came up with different stories and (Ritter) wanted to put a bunch of facts and trivia in there…things about different ballplayers. It took a couple of years. We were in contact, it seems, about every other day through phone calls and emails and, finally, came up with a pretty good book. We hope it does well.

HOVG: Everyone knows about the mustache. The story of the three hundred dollar bonus is legendary. But what (former A's owner) Charlie Finley did prior to that is what shaped your career. You were actually groomed in the minors to be a closer, right?

ROLLIE: Actually, I came up as a starter. That was how you got to the big leagues back then was going through the organization as a starter. There was no such thing as grooming yourself in the minors as a relief pitcher. In 1971, I made the starting staff, but I got to the point where I couldn’t get out of the second or third inning. Our manager Dick Williams said “that was it” and told me I was out of the rotation and into the bullpen. I was basically a mop up pitcher. I was pitching in ballgames when we were four or six runs behind just to get us through the game. After back to back games where I got the saves, (Williams) brought me in his office and said “you’re my closer”…and that was fine with me. I was in the right place at the right time.

HOVG: So, Dick Williams kinda defined the role of the modern day closer?

ROLLIE: (Laughs) He changed my career around that’s for sure. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be where I was heading in the big leagues. He started using me in game situations and built up my confidence. And once you’re successful, you’ve already got one strike against the hitters.

HOVG: Closers now come in and pitch an out or two…an inning at the most. Do you think they could go the three, four or five innings that you and Goose (Gossage) did on a nightly basis?

ROLLIE: I had close to a dozen saves where I went four innings. There was one game I went seven innings and didn’t get anything out of it. Now, each guy has his own little job out of the bullpen.

HOVG: You were the first closer to 300 saves. Matter of fact, you were the all-time saves leader from 1980 until 1992…do you think that the numbers that some of the closers are getting now is watered down?

ROLLIE: I think there are more opportunities for closers to get saves nowadays. Starting pitchers aren’t throwing as many complete games. When I was with Oakland, we were completing 45 to 55 ballgames a year. That means 45 to 55 save opportunities are gone and that’s the biggest difference. They’re taking starting pitchers out early now, whereas starting pitchers wanted those complete games back then. That’s how they got paid. Pitchers didn’t want to come out. You had to almost fight Catfish Hunter to get him out of the game. If it’s a 3-1 game, now, the closer comes in. Back then, Catfish would start that inning and if he got in trouble, he wouldn’t come out unless there were two guys on base and two runs already in.

HOVG: I talked with former Royals closer Jeff Montgomery about what the save benchmark should be. He suggests 400…do you agree?

ROLLIE: With the number of saves that guys are getting, definitely. Guys are getting 40 to 45 saves a year now. When I was playing, it was 20 saves a year. The way they’re getting saves now, you almost have to raise the bar. But look at Lee Smith and his 478 saves and he’s not in the Hall of Fame. He was caught in between both stages where you could pitch one inning or you had to pitch more. He was a workhorse. And starting pitching…I don’t know what they’re going to be looking at for the Hall of Fame. Their numbers are going way down. You’ll never see 300 innings pitched and you’ll probably only see a couple more guys with 300 wins. You won’t see guys with 3000 strikeouts because teams carry so many pitchers now. We use to break (spring training) with nine pitchers. Now, teams will have 12 or 13. If starters go five innings, that’s a quality start. In my day, if you went only five innings, you were on your way to the minors.

HOVG: Do you think that with players like Clay Zavada of the Diamondbacks, groups like the American Mustache Institute and celebrations like “Mustache May”…the mustache is making a comeback?

ROLLIE: The more these guys are on television the more they might see themselves and think “I might look good with a mustache…maybe I’ll start growing one”. I’m sure none of it hurts the mustache gang. (Laughs) It all comes back to if you like it or if your girlfriend or wife likes it.

HOVG: After you…who had the best big league mustache?

ROLLIE: Probably Goose Gossage. He had that intimidating fu Manchu. Sparky Lyle had a pretty good mustache as well. You had Jeff Reardon and Bruce Sutter with the beards. Even Dan Quisenberry had a good one.

HOVG: Have any players ever stopped you for mustache advice?

ROLLIE: Not really. I’ve had a lot of people come up to me and tell me that I have a mustache just like Rollie Fingers. They recognize the mustache before they recognize me. They see the handle bar mustache and they associate that with me. I get that every day actually.

HOVG: Let’s talk Cooperstown. When you went in in 1992, there was no talk of steroids or PEDs. What are your feelings going to be when a player who has admitted use or is suspected of using, and it’s bound to happen, gets elected to join you in Cooperstown?


ROLLIE: I don’t think that’s ever going to happen. The sportswriters are pretty sticky about that. It’s pretty obvious with the numbers that Mark McGwire has gotten. If you’re known to use or if they figure you’ve been using, I don’t see that person getting voted in.


HOVG: If someone that is suspected of steroids makes it in, like a Roger Clemens, are you on that stage when they're inducted?

ROLLIE: Yes…simply because the sportswriters voted him in. If they felt as though he warranted going into the Hall of Fame, I am not going to shun him. I would stay on the stage. But like I said before, I don’t think that it’s going to happen. Roger Clemens says he doesn’t care, but I guarantee you…Roger Clemens cares.

HOVG: We can all blame Jose Canseco.

ROLLIE: (Laughs) I tell you what…everyone gets on Jose Canseco, but you don’t see too many people suing him. If he hadn’t have written the book, who knows where we’d be at today with steroids and the number of guys using them. It would probably be out of hand. At least right now, they’re taking care of the problem. The worst thing you can do is to let kids see that it is okay to use this stuff and get by. You have to show kids that this is not the right way to go and clean it up.

HOVG: Do you ever regret not getting the chance to be a member of the Red Sox?

ROLLIE: I was happier than a pig in shit to get traded to the Red Sox. I wanted to get the Hell away from Charlie Finley. He was a pain in the neck. He sold me to the Red Sox for a million dollars. I was in uniform, the Red Sox had just come into Oakland for a three games series. I just picked up all my stuff from out of my locker and went over to the visiting locker and had a locker next to Carl Yastrzemski. I was there for three days and at the end of the three days, (former commissioner) Bowie Kuhn nixed the deal. So I picked up all my stuff and went back to the Oakland A’s clubhouse. Had I got in a ballgame, I don’t think that Bowie Kuhn could have done anything though.

HOVG: Lastly…if you were trotting in from centerfield tonight to close out a 3-2 ballgame, (A) whose win would you want to be securing and (B) what would the music be that is blaring over the PA?

ROLLIE: If I was coming in to save a ballgame, I would want to save a Catfish Hunter ballgame. He carried more games into the eighth and ninth inning than I ever saw. The last thing I ever wanted to do was screw up a Catfish Hunter game. As far as music goes…I couldn’t care less about what music was playing when I walked in. When I played, they didn’t even care. You just walked in from the bullpen. I guess I would be the only player in the big leagues without a song playing.

Rollie Fingers is a native of Steubenville, Ohio…but currently calls Las Vegas his home. He was a seven time All-Star and the winner of the 1981 American League Cy Young and MVP Awards. He spent his career as the closer for the Oakland A’s, San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers.

You can purchase Fingers' book “Rollie’s Baseball Follies” HERE. Better yet...you can win a copy of the book! Here's all you need to do...drop me an email with the number of saves Fingers ended up with in the subject line. I'll pick a name, send it over to Clerisy Press and they'll send you a book.

Mustache May 'stache of the Day: Dick Allen

Thanks to the continued support of the American Mustache Institute, it is with great pleasure that I continue our month long celebration of the 'stache.

Now, with all apologies to those who are figuring out my poor attempt to cash in on Google searches for American Idol Season 8 winner Kris Allen...allow me to introduce today's 'stache of the day.

Dick Allen.

AMI Style: Allen rocked a pseudo-horseshoe for much of his career. It wasn't as long as, say, Robin Yount...but I can't really call it a chevron..

Grade: B+ Allen had a great 'stache and sideburns. Kudos!

Feel free to re-visit The Hall's HOF case for Dick Allen HERE.

A special thanks to checkoutmycards.com for the use of their images.

Mustache May 'stache of the Day: Lee Elia

Thanks to the continued support of the American Mustache Institute, it is with great pleasure that I continue our month long celebration of the 'stache with the most foul-mouthed manager ever to don the lip sweater...Lee Elia.

As a tribute to Nick Digilio of 720 WGN-AM Radio (you can listen to my appearance on his show HERE)...I've gotta go with another Cub.

AMI Style: Looking like 87% of the men in their mid-50s at the time...Elia rocked the chevron

Grade: C Elia was un-mustached throughout most of his career. However, in true Chicago fashion, he grew out his cookie duster and the results...average.

Unless you've been under a rock for most of your baseball lovin' life, you've heard the following 1983 rant by Elia. If you have heard it...hear it again HERE.

MM09...We're past the midway point! Win a free shirt!

We're half way through Mustache May, gang. I hope that those of you that are growin' are proudly showin'. And to the rest of you...thank you for your support of this month long celebration!

TONIGHT (Sunday, May 17)...I'll be representing the cause (and The Hall of Very Good) on WGN 720 Radio sometime after Midnight CST.

If you can tune it in on the old transitor...go nuts. If not, listen live online HERE.

And when you done listening, podcasting, iTuning or what have you...drop The Hall an email. Put "Digilio" in the subject line and you'll be entered to win a t-shirt. Sometime during the week...I'll hit you back and get your details, etc.

Join in on the madness, gang! Hit up the facebook group and chime in on your thoughts. Be part of the trend that is surely going to sweep some portion of the nation. Keep up to date on the time and place for the proposed "Mustache May 'stache Bash Bar Crawl", email The Hall with 'stache of the Day suggestions, photos, contributions, etc.

And lastly, you can still read the interview Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins gave us HERE.

MM09...God 'stache America!

Mustache May 'stache of the Day: Jeffrey Leonard

Thanks to the continued support of the American Mustache Institute, it is with great pleasure that I continue our month long celebration of the 'stache with the "HacMan" himself...Jeffrey Leonard.

Leonard has always been a favorite of mine and, admittedly, it isn't because of his mustache. Something that endeared me to Leonard was when, in 1987, he won the NLCS MVP award. Why is that a big deal? His Giants lost the series.

AMI Style: Part chevron, part walrus...one flap down.

Grade: C+ Leonard's lip sweater was a perfect accessory to his manacing scowl. That being said...it lacked the defining character of, say, a Luis Tiant or "Goose" Gossage.

If you are feeling up to it this weekend, it appears as though I'll be updating the world on the status of Mustache May over at 720 WGN-AM Sunday night at midnight CST.

Listen online HERE!

A special thanks to checkoutmycards.com for the use of their images.

Mustache May 'stache of the Day: Rollie Fingers

Thanks to the continued support of the American Mustache Institute, it is with great pleasure that I continue our month long celebration of the 'stache with the king...Rollie Fingers.

I wasn't going to go with Fingers...too easy. But after missing a day, I figured I owed it to everyone to show them the best 'stache EVER to grace Major League Baseball and, eventually, Cooperstown.

AMI Style: Handlebar. Period.

Grade: A+ Fingers would score higher if he could. His 'stache defined a generation.

If you are feeling up to it this weekend, it appears as though I'll be updating the world on the status of Mustache May over at 720 WGN-AM Sunday night at midnight CST.

Nick Digilio has been kind enough to extend the invitation...and I will do my best not to let you down. Listen online HERE!

A special thanks to checkoutmycards.com for the use of their images.

Mustache May 'stache of the Day: Dennis Leonard

Thanks to the continued support of the American Mustache Institute, it is with great pleasure that I continue our month long celebration of the 'stache with Morgan Spurlock lookalike Dennis Leonard.
I promise to you I am not looking solely at the 1981 Topps collection...but for some reason, they are really jumping out at me.

AMI Style: Leonard wore the best horsehoe in baseball for a long, long time.

Grade: A+ Like I previously stated, Leonard's horseshoe was one of the games best for a long, long time.

Combined with his huge 'burns and that goofy smile and you have a recipe for greatness.

One of the league's most dominating pitchers over his brief career...I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that we might have been looking at a potential 225-250 game winner had Leonard's knees not failed him.


A special thanks to checkoutmycards.com for the use of their images.

Mustache May 'stache of the Day: Fergie Jenkins

Thanks to the continued support of the American Mustache Institute, it is with great pleasure that I continue our month long celebration of the 'stache with Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins.

Recently, Jenkins had his jersey retired by the Cubs, but his well 'stached career made its way through Texas and Boston as well.

AMI Style: Fergie's Canadian passport defies definition. It can either be classified as a thicker pencil or the popular chevron

Grade: A Fergie's lip sweater can be traced back to his post-Globetrotters career. That alone, makes it Grade A.


Check out Fergie's exclusive interview with The Hall HERE.



A special thanks to checkoutmycards.com for the use of their images.

Mustache May 'stache of the Day: Biff Pocoroba

Thanks to the continued support of the American Mustache Institute, it is with great pleasure that I continue our month long celebration of the 'stache with Biff Pocoroba.


Pocoroba is a player, who, basically, was an enigma.


As a rookie in 1975, he gained attention by throwing out 11 straight would-be base stealers. Somehow, he was an All-Star in 1978. Most remarkably...his given name is actually "Biff".


AMI Style: Pocoroba's rocking a pencil. Sadly, I don't think it is on purpose.

Grade: D Pocoroba's pencil is obviously inadvertant. Frankly...I can't imagine why he would intentionally grow out this particular lip curtain.



A special thanks to checkoutmycards.com for the use of their images.

Mustache May 'stache of the Day: Ozzie Smith

Thanks to the continued support of the American Mustache Institute, it is with great pleasure that I continue our month long celebration of the 'stache with a guy who, every time I see him or hear his name...I think not of backflips and dazzling plays at shortstop, I think of the greatest swindle I ever pulled while trading baseball cards.

Ozzie Smith.

The year was 1984. We used to trade cards at recess and I knew what people wanted. One classmate in particular was a HUGE White Sox fan, so, naturally...I used to load up my Sox cards and haul them to school. I traded a 1984 Topps Mike Squires, fresh from the pack for a 1979 Ozzie Smith. At the time, Squires was a common (still is) and the Smith rookie was worth $1.75.

AMI Style: Basically it is a thicker pencil...not quite a painter's brush.

Grade: C/A- Solo...the 'stache itself is nothing to write home about. Combined with those sideburns, we're looking at a Grade A combo.


A special thanks to checkoutmycards.com for the use of their images.

Mustache May 'stache of the Day: Ken Phelps

Thanks to the continued support of the American Mustache Institute, it is with great pleasure that I continue our month long celebration of the 'stache with a guy who would have been long forgotten if it wasn't for an episode of "Seinfeld".

Of course I'm talking about the same guy George Stenbrenner's "baseball people" were talking about when they traded Jay Buhner...Ken Phelps.

AMI Style: I'm a little hesitant...but I'm going to go with the walrus here.

Grade: B+ Phelps kept his lip warmer throughout his career. Even when with the Yankees...he couldn't be persuaded to shave it off.

On April 20, 1990 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth against the Mariners (Phelps was playing for Oakland), Phelps was called out of the dugout to pinch hit against Brian Holman. Holman had retired the first 26 batters in succession and was working on a perfect game when Phelps went deep for the last time in his career.


A special thanks to checkoutmycards.com for the use of their images.

Mustache May 'stache of the Day: Billy Martin

Thanks to the continued support of the American Mustache Institute, it is with great pleasure that I continue our month long celebration of the 'stache and present to you...Billy Martin. The embattled manager is best known as a Yankee, but it was when he left George Steinbrenner's iron rule when he grew out the 'stache.

Twice Martin led the New York Yankees to the promised land and the thanks he got...well, if you look up "second chance" in the dictionary, Billy is pictured next to it.

AMI Style: Beneath those aviators resides an unkempt chevron.

Grade: C Martin's mustache wasn't around the entire length of his career. A little more history with the womb broom...and the grade would have been higher.

For some reason, Marlins owner Wayne Huizenga named his new mascot "Billy the Marlin" when Florida debuted in 1993. What made it an odd choice is Martin's lack of association with the Marlins and the fact he was dead more than three years.

Am I the only one who thinks Martin should be in the Hall of Fame? That gives me an idea.

A special thanks to checkoutmycards.com for the use of their images.

Mustache May 'stache of the Day: Robin Yount

I'm not sure when...not sure where, but somewhere along the way I heard the quote "it's not how you start, it's how you finish". Well, thanks to the continued support of the American Mustache Institute, it is with great pleasure that I continue our month long celebration of the 'stache and present to you...Robin Yount.

The dude started off his career clean shaven (look it up, gang), and ended up with a Hall of Fame career and 'stache.

AMI Style: It's safe to safe that by the end of his career, Yount had the epitome of the horseshoe. All the while, his lip warmer could only be compared to the lemonade that share's it's master's name...100% Rockin'.

Grade: A Yount earns major points for playing a pivotal role on one of baseball's finest mustached specimens...the 1982 Brewers.

On September 9, 1992...Yount became the 17th Major Leaguer to notch 3000 hits and something tells me that one of you here is upset that I mentioned it.

Happy Birthday, E!

A special thanks to checkoutmycards.com for the use of their images.

Mustache May 'stache of the Day: Carney Lansford

Thanks to the continued support of the American Mustache Institute, it is with great pleasure that I continue our month long celebration of the 'stache. It's safe top say that in the late 80s, if you suited up alongside Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco, you had to do something to stand out from the crowd.

Enter Carney Lansford, his glasses, windbreaker and a well groomed performance enhancer all of his own.

AMI Style: I'm gonna call it the baby horseshoe. He's tempting us by by being more than the Chevron...less than the traditional 'shoe.

Grade: B+ With Lansford...you grade the entire package. And the package is top notch.

Here's a fun fact...according to his 1987 Topps baseball card, Lansford is a direct descendant of the British privateer Sir Francis Drake. According to me...that's one spectacularly mustached family!


A special thanks to checkoutmycards.com for the use of their images.