Song of the Week - White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane

Remember when this sort of thing was the height of cool?



I'm guessing that this is not actually a live performance but the band acting out to the record. I think it was on the Smother's Brother's show. Watch Grace Slick. She is quite aware of how ridiculous the lyrics are.

Birthdays this past week - Saves

This week we'll look at Saves leaders for the week. Through most of baseball history, saves have not been highly regarded and you'll see that reflected below. In fact, saves did not become an official Major League baseball stat until 1969. This was due to the changing nature of the game. Today, of course, the closer is an important part of baseball.

January 23
1996 Score #202 Mark WohlersMark was born in 1970 in Holyoke MA. With 199 career saves, he leads all relievers born this week. He was the Braves 8th round pick in 1988. He pitched for 12 years but his best years were 1995-1997 with the Braves when he ad 97 of his saves. He also had 10 saves in the playoffs in those years. The Braves won the World Series in 1995. He also appeared in the All-Star game in 1996. In Game 4 of the 1996 World Series he gave up a 3-run homer which allowed the Yankees to tie the game and later to win the game and the series. Wohler's performance seemed to suffer after that. Although he saved 33 games in 1997, he was erratic. He only got 15 more saves in the next 5 years.

January 24
1992 Ultra #187 Rod DibbleNasty Boy was born in 1964 in Bridgeport CT. He was the Reds #1 draft pick in 1983 and came up to the big leagues in 1988. He played 6 of his 7 years with the Reds. His best years were between 1990 and 1993 when he got 85 of his 89 career saves. The Reds won the World Series in 1990, Dibble pitched in 4.2 innings and won a game. He was an All-Star in 1990 and 1991. Dibble was know during his career as a man with a temper. After his career as a player he has made a new name for himself as a cable TV baseball analyst. He was fired last September from MSNBC after making comments about Stephen Strasborg's elbow injury.

January 25
2000 Fleer Gamers #92 Derrick TurnbowDerrick was born in 1978 in Union City TN. He was the Phillies #5 draft pick in 1997, but his 7-year career was split between the Angels and Brewers. He was a reliever, only starting 1 game in his career. He got all but 2 of his 65 saves with the Brewers in 2005-2006. He was an All-Star in 2006. Before the 2006 season he signed a 3-year $6.5 million contract with the Brewers but suffered from wildness most of the season. He was never an effective pitcher again.

January 26
1933 Tattoo Orbit #6 George BlaeholderGeorge was born in 1904 in Orange CA. He spent most of his 11-year career with the St. Louis Browns. He was mainly a starter with a 104-125 career record. His 12 career saves were gathered in his early years. According to Wikipedia, Blaeholder is mostly know for popularizing the slider.

January 27
1992 Stadium Club #768 Rusty MeachamRusty was born in 1968 in Stuart FL. He played from 1991 to 2001 for a number of teams including 4 years with the Royals. He manages to lead all players born this day with 9 saves. He seems to have been mainly a middle reliever.

January 28
1911 Helmar Stamps #71 Tommy HughesSalida Tom was born in 1884 in Coal Creek CO. He was a graduate of Salida High School in Salida CO, which probably accounts for his nickname. He played 9 years for the Yankees and Boston Braves between 1906 and 1918. If we're reaching back a hundred years to find the saves leader for players born on January 28, we can be sure that this is not a big day for relievers. Tom had 17 saves in his career and a 56-39 record.

January 29
1963 Topps # 106 Bobby Bolan
Bobby was born in 1939 in Hickory Grove NY. He played for 13 years, from 1961 to 1973 with the Giants and the Red Sox. He seems to have been mostly a reliever at the beginning and end of his career but got a lot of starts in his middle years. In addition to 50 saves, he also compiled an 88-75 record. His best season as a reliever was his last year when he had 39 appearances with the Red Sox and got 15 saves.

1997 Topps

I'm currently scanning Astros cards. While working on my 1997 cards, I remembered how much I always liked the 1997 Topps set. it was a relatively small set, only 495 cards. There were not a lot of 'filler cards'. The cards came in two basic colors, green for NL teams and red for AL teams. They had a minimum of foil, just the player name and Topps logo. The card fronts featured a small team logo. The backs featured full player stats and another player photo.

One feature that I particularly liked does not show up on the scan at all. The cards have a white border, as do pretty much all Topps cards. The photo is tinted red or green at the outer edges and along the bottom where the player name is. You can see a green or red rectangle around the player. What is interesting is that inside this border, the card is glossy, while outside it is not. Topps had only started making their regular edition cards glossy a few years before. It is quite common nowadays to have cards with a partial glossy front, but I believe this is the first regular issue set to use this technique.

Here are a representative selection of cards.

#295 Jeff BagwellI will admit that it was only while writing this entry that it occurred to me that the NL teams are green and the AL teams are red.

#400 Cal Ripken, Jr.
I'll call this border color red. You may call it something else.

#102 John MabryOn May 18, 1996, John Mabry hit for baseball's 212th 'cycle'. Although relatively rare, perhaps not such an amazing feat. But Mabry hit for the cycle in order, single, double, triple and home run. Only the second such documented cycle up to that time.

#42 Jackie Robinson1997 was the 25th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's death so there were a lot of Robinson cards that year.

#488 Ben Grieve/Richard Hidalgo/Scott MorganThe Prospect cards featured three players. This is well before MLB forced the card companies to strictly label players as rookies.

#479 Eric Chavez/Adam EatonDraft Pick cards featured 2 players. I think now, that draft picks cannot be part of a regular set like this.

#472 Mike DeCelle/Marcus McCain#251 Ron Hartman/David Hayman1997 was the year before the inaugural year for the D-Backs and the Devil Rays. Both teams signed minor league free agents and had draft picks in 1996. Topps featured a number of them on these cards. Not one of these four guys ever got out of the minor leagues.

Random Phillies cards of the Week

Let's see who comes up this week as we spin the great Phillies wheel.

1970 Topps #270 Chris ShortChris pitched for the Phillies for 14 seasons. He had some good years but 1970 wasn't one of them. He finished the season at 9-16. And no wonder. The Phillies were 73 and 88, 15 games out of first in the NL East, behind the Pirates, just finishing ahead of the 6th place Expos by 1 game.

1981 Fleer #21 George Vukovich
After a 30-year monopoly on baseball cards by Topps, Fleer and Donruss joined the exclusive club. George was in his second year with the Phillies but only played 20 games. He will become a full time player in 1982 and then be part of the blockbuster 5-player trade for Von Hayes after the 1982 season.

1992 Topps #353 Braulio Castillo
A Phorgotten Phillie if ever there was one. He played 28 games for the Phillies in 1991 and 28 games in 1992. And that was his career. He did manage to hit 2 home runs in 1002.

2003 Upper Deck Vintage #141 Jimmy Rollins
Jimmy hit .263 in 2003 in 628 AB. The Phillies were 86-76 in 2003 but only managed to finish in third place in the NL East. The Astros and the Phillies were battling it out for the wild-card spot all summer but the Phillies faltered near the end giving the race to the Astros.

Song of the Week - Golf Girl by Caravan

Here is a UK band that I don't think was ever appreciated much in the US. Maybe there were just too many "progressive" British bands in the late 1960s and early 1970s. I'm not sure how I came to know of them. According to Wikipedia, they are still active today, with Pye Hastings, seen hear singing, still leading the band. They were known for clever album names, among them,

1970's If I'd Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You
1973's For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night, and of course,
1975's Cunning Stunts



Standing on a golf course dressed in PVC
I chanced upon a golf girl selling cups of tea
She asked me did I want one, asked me with a grin
For three pence you can buy one full right to the brim

So of course I had to have one – in fact I ordered three
So I could watch the golf girl, could see she fancied me
And later on the golf course after drinking tea
It started raining golf balls and she protected me

Her name was Pat
And we sat under a tree
She kissed me
We go for walks in fine weather
All together
On the golf course
We talk in morse

Standing on a golf course dressed in PVC
I chanced upon a golf girl selling cups of tea
She asked me did I want one, asked me with a grin
For three pence you can buy one full right to the brim

So of course I had to have one – in fact I ordered three
So I could watch the golf girl, could see she fancied me
And later on the golf course after drinking tea
It started raining golf balls and she protected me

Her name was Pat
And we sat under a tree
She kissed me

Birthdays this past week - Stolen Base Leaders

This week we'll focus on stolen bases. Since I had the notion that stolen bases were a relatively recent important offensive weapon, I had expected to see a lot of modern players. But there are more old timers than last week with some interesting old cards. We also have another Hall of Famer. As much as I wish I did, I don't own any of these old cards. Images are from Beckett.com.

January 16
1911 T205 Gold Border #39 Jimmy CollinsHall of Famer Jimmy Collins was born in 1870 in Buffalo NY. He played 13 of his 14-year career in Boston, either with the Beaneaters or the Americans. He had a career .294 batting average and stole 194 bases. He was elected to the HOF in 1945 by the Old Timers Committee.

January 17
1904 Fan Craze #3 Harry BayHarry was born in 1878, in Pontiac, IL. He played a total of 8 years but most of his playing time was in just 5 of those years. He had 169 stolen bases. He lead the American League in 1903 (45) and 1904 (38) in stolen bases. His nickname, appropriately enough, was Deer Foot.

January 18
1998 Fleer Tradition #191 Brady AndersonBrady was born in 1964 in Silver Spring MD. He played part of his first season with the Red Sox, and his last season with the Indians, but in between he played 14 years for the Orioles. He stole 315 bases, and is well out in front for players born this day. Curt Flood is a distant second with 88. I'm in the process of completing a trade (Orioles for Phillies) with "O" No!!! Another Orioles Blog and this is one of the cards he'll be getting.

January 19
1909-11 T206 #1983 Chick GandilChick (born Arnold) was born in 1988 in St. Paul MN. His 9-year career was about evenly split between the White Sox and the Washington Senators (with a year with the Indians). He only managed to steal 151 bases. He was mainly a 1st baseman. His White Sox won the World Series in 1917 and he was on the infamous "Black Sox" team in 1919.

January 20
1990 Upper Deck #267 Ozzie GuillenOzzie was born in 1964 in Venezuela. He's managing to lead players born this date in stolen bases with only only 169. He played 13 of his 16 seasons with the White Sox and was their manager from 2004-2006. He led the White Sox to a World Series victory in 2005 over my Astros.

January 21
1888 August Beck #40 Mike TiernanMike Tiernan was born in 1867 in Trenton NJ. He played 13 seasons with the New York Giants and stole 428 bases in his career. The next closest player born on this date is Jose Uribe with 78. Interestingly there are only 2 currently active players born on this date and neither of them has stolen a base yet, so Silent Mike is likely to keep this crown.

January 22
2002 Topps Traded Chrome # 196 Chone FigginsChone Figgins was born in 1978 in Leary GA. He was the Royals 4th round draft pick in 1997. He spent the first 8 years of his career with the Angels but signed as a free agent with the Mariners for 2010. He seems to have played every on-field position except catcher. He hits for a good average and steals a lot of bases (322 in his career). He is likely to remain the career leader in stolen bases for players born on January 22 for a long time as the closest active player on the list is Carlos Ruiz with 10.

Random Phillies cards of the Week

1971 Topps #77 Mike ComptonMike was a free agent signing by the Phillies in 1965. He played in the Phillies minor league system until 1973. He was called up to the big club in April 1970 and sent back down in August. In 110 at-bats he hit .164 with 1 home run. BTW, he was a catcher. Most of his playing time happened after the Phillies #1 and #2 catchers (Mike Ryan and Tim McCarver) each broke a hand in the same game. Mike is the inventor of The Ball Hawg.

1986 Fleer #450 Mike Schmidt
1986 was Mike's last big year in the majors. He hit .290, led the league with 37 home runs and 119 rbis. This at the ripe-old-age of 36. He was also an All-Star (his 10th), won his 9th (and last) Gold Glove, won his 6th (and last) Silver Slugger award and, perhaps best of all, was the National League Most Valuable Player. The Phillies were actually pretty good that year, finishing 2nd in the NL East with an 86-75 record.

1993 Upper Deck #505 Tyler Green
Green was the Phillies #1 draft pick (10th pick overall) in 1991. He never really lived up to that promise. 1993 was his debut year. He had 2 starts, amounting to 7.1 innings and an ERA of 7.36. Between 1993 and 1998 he started in 68 games and had an overall record of 18-25. With an 8-9 record in 1995 he was named to the All-Star team for some reason, but did not actually pitch.

2009 ToppsTown #65 Raul Ibanez
Raul was a free agent signing by the Phillies after the 2008 season. He had a pretty good year, hitting .272 with 34 home runs. He was also named to the All-Star team. He hit .304 in the World Series in a losing cause against the Yankees.

Remember Pedro

I often love it when a player goes from the Phillies (my favorite team) to the Astros (my other favorite team) or vice versa. For example, Roy Oswalt has been one of my favorite Astros for years. Now he is one of my favorite Phillies.

I can't say I was a big Pedro Feliz fan when he was with the Phillies. Not a great hitter and not a great fielder. He was a free agent after the 2009 season and inexplicably, the Astros picked him up for $4.5 million. They traded him to the Cardinals in August for cash and a minor league player.

But I'll always have this to remember him by.

2010 Topps #154
2010 Topps Astro Team Set #HOU12

Phorgotten Phillie Phile - Chris Snelling

Usually Phorgotten Phillies that I post are from years ago but today we look at Chris Snelling who appeared in 4 games for the Phillies in 2008.Snelling was a highly-regarded free agent signing by the Mariners in 1999 but injuries really limited his career. He was signed by the Phillies in November 2007 and assigned to their minor league club, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. He was called up in April, 2008, to fill in for the injured Shane Victorino. Although he only had 4 at bats, he made the most of them, getting a home run and a double. His home run was on April 15th. It was a pinch hit HR in the ninth which started a 4-run rally as the Phillies beat the Astros 4-3.

Snelling's other claim to fame was during the 2009 World Baseball classic. Although he was born in the US, he grew up in Australia and played on the 2009 Australian team. He hit 2 home runs powering Australia over Mexico.

Song of the Week - Simple Kind of Life by No Doubt

The 2000 release, Return of Saturn was No Doubt's 4th album which apparently didn't do well in the charts. Their previous album 1995's Tragic Kingdom had been a big hit. But Return of Saturn was my introduction to the band and is a favorite album of mine. "A Simple Kind of Life" is my favorite song on the album. The band hasn't had a new release since 2008 as Gwen Stefani has embarked on a solo career. But they were back in the studio last year working on a new No Doubt album.

Birthdays this past week - Winning Pitchers

Last week I featured home run hitters, this week I'll feature winning pitchers. I think I'll alternate each week between hitting and pitching stats. I was hoping to mostly feature cards I own but this week, 4 of the players are old-timers (some really old). So I'll pull card images from Beckett.com when I have to. It was kind of fun to see some of these old cards anyway.

January 8
1996 Bowman #259 Carl PavanoJanuary 8 was not a good day for pitchers. Of the 51 players born on this date only 20 were pitchers. Pavano leads that group with a 97-89 record and is the only pitcher in this week's list to still be playing. Although he was drafted by the Red Sox, he never actually played for them. He started his career with 4 years with the Expos and currently is with the Twins. He pitched for the 2003 World Series Marlins and was an All-Star in 2004.

January 9
1958 Topps #169 Ralph TerryRalph was born in 1936 in Big Cabin OK. He had a 109-99 record with an ERA of 3.62. In his 12-year career he played for the Yankees for 8 years (in several stints). He also put in time with the KC A's, and the Indians and finished his career with the Mets. In 1962 he was 23-12 with the Yankees which got him in both of the All-Star games played that year. In 1962 the Yankees won the World Series and Ralph was the MVP. It was a good year for him. I don't own this card.

January 10
1989 Donruss #277 Richard DotsonRich Dotson was born in 1959 in Cincinnati, OH. He had a career record of 111-113, the only winning leader this week with a career losing record. He pitched 8 years for the White Sox but finished his career with the Yankees and then the Royals. He was an All-Star in 1984 with a record of 14-15. The year before he was a 20-game winner.

January 11
1989 Edgerton R. Williams Game #15 King Silver/John TenerHere's the first of the real old-timers. One of the guys pictured on this card is King Silver, the winningest pitcher born on January 11. I couldn't tell you which is which. Charles Frederick (aka Silver) King was born in 1868 in St. Louis, MO. He won 203 games against 153 loses. He started his career with the Kansas City Cowboys in 1886. In 1888, while with the St. Louis Browns he won 45 games and lost 20. He started 64 games and pitched 584 innings. Can you imagine a pitcher today coming any thing close to that? The three top pitchers born this day all had colorful names. After King we have General Crowder (with 167) and Schoolboy Rowe (with 158). I don't own this card but I sure wish I did.

January 12
1906 Fan Craze NL WG3 #44 Togie Pittinger
Togie (born Charles) was born in 1972 In Greencastle PA. He played 5 years for the Boston Beaneaters and 3 years with the Phillies. He had a career record of 115-113 with an ERA of 3.10. He had 27 wins in 1902 but followed in 1903 with 22 loses. Another fun thing about these old-timers is the crazy cards and the crazy teams they played for.

January 13
1989 Donruss #118 Bob ForschBob was born in 1950 in Sacramento CA. He spent the first 15 years of his career with the Cardinals but finished his 16-year career with the Astros. He had a record of 168-136 with an ERA of 3.76. He was with the World Series Cardinals in 1982, and when they lost the World Series in 1985 and 1987. He was a 20-game (20-7) with the Cardinals in 1977. He was eligible for the Hall of Fame in 1995 but only got 0.4% of the votes.

January 14
1906 Fan Craze NL WG3 #44 Jack Taylor
Another real old-timer. Jack Taylor was born in 1874 in New Straitsville, OH. He played between 1989-1907, mostly for the Chicago Orphans. Jack's career record as 152-139, with an ERA of 2.65. I don't own this card either.

Movie of the week - The King's Speech

This is a great movie. A movie that lives by story and character alone. Not a car chase, special effect, explosion, or clever plot twist to be seen.Colin Firth (who I confuse with Colin Farrel, simply because they have the same first name) plays Bertie, the future King George VI of England. He's got a problem, you see, he stammers. That's a bad enough problem for anybody, but when you're the Duke of York, and the second heir to the throne, it poses particular problems. Especially in the early 1930s, when a king, as Bertie's father explains, has to perform on the wireless like some actor.

Helen Bonham Carter plays his wife, the future Queen Mother, Elizabeth. My view of Carter has seriously deteriorated over the years because of her recurring Harry Potter role. I'd forgotten what a fine actress she is.

After years of speech therapist charlatans, Bertie has had it and is resigned to his fate. He'll never be king anyway. His father is healthy and his older brother is the direct heir. But Elizabeth convinces him to give it one last try with an unorthodox therapist named Lionel Logue (played with just the right amount of enthusiasm by Geoffrey Rush).

But then old King George V dies and brother David becomes King Edward VIII. You may remember some bother about him abdicating the throne. Bertie becomes King George VI and has to lead his people into war. He has the know how, but not the confidence. And there's that damn stammer.

I highly recommend this movie. I think it's one of the best movies from 2010 that we saw.

Random Phillies cards of the Week

To give credit where credit is due, I got the idea for this post from the Wrigley Wax blog. I don't know his plans but I'm going to try to make this a weekly feature. I'm a bit dismayed that he has more Cubs cards (8,448) than I have Phillies cards (6,752). I'm going to break my year slots down to 1950/1960/1970s. 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.

1975 Topps #527 Mac ScarceMac Scarce was born Guerrant McCurdy Scarce. By 1975 he was an ex-Phillie. He was traded with Del Enser and John Stearns to the Mets for Tug McGraw, Don Hahn, and Dave Schneck. I don't know anything about Hahn and Schneck but Tug McGraw was a bit part of the 1980 World Series Phillies. Mac was 5-18 in 3 years with the Phillies with an ERA of 6.65.

1987 Donruss #630 Charlie HudsonBy 1987, Hudson was also an ex-Phillie. He came up in 1983, a World Series year for the Phillies. In 4 years with the Phillies he had a 32-42 record, with an ERA 3.98. When Charlie was with the Phillies he was Charlie. When he went to the Yankees he became Charles.

1998 Collector's Choice #458 Doug Glanville
Glanville was the #1 draft pick of the Cubs in 1991. He was traded to the Phillies after the 1997 season the Cubs traded him to the Phillies for Mickey Morandini. Doug was a University of Pennsylvania grad with a degree in systems engineering. He seems to be some kind of venture capitalist today.

2002 Donruss #124 Robert Person
This year of Donruss was pretty unattractive, in my opinion. Another ex-Phillie, he was a free agent at the end of the 2002 season. He played for the Phillies for 4 years and was a respectable 38-24 with an ERA of 4.23. He was 15-7 for the Phillies in 2001.

Song of the Week - December will be Magic Again by Kate Bush

I can't take too much credit for finding this gem. I came across it here. Wish I'd seen it before Christmas.I love Kate Bush and this is a wonderful, sexy performance.



December will be magic again.
Take a husky to the ice
While Bing Crosby sings White Christmas. He makes you feel nice.
December will be magic again.
Old Saint Nicholas up the chimney,
Just a-popping up in my memory.

Ooh, dropping down in my parachute,
The white city, she is so beautiful
Upon the black-soot icicled roofs,
Ooh, and see how I fall.
See how I fall
("Fall!") [backwards]
Like the snow.

Come to cover the lovers.
(Cover the lovers,
But don't you wake them up.)
Come to sparkle the dark up.
(Sparkle the dark up,
With just a touch of make-up.)
Come to cover the muck up.
(Cover the muck up,
Ooh, with a little luck.)

December will be magic again.
Light the canDLe-lights
To conjure Mr. Wilde
Into the Silent Night.
Ooh, it's quiet inside,
Here in Oscar's mind.

December will be magic again.
Kiss under mistletoe.
Don't miss the brightest star.

I want to hear you laugh.
Don't let the mystery go now.

Ooh, dropping down in my parachute,
The white city, she is so beautiful
Upon the black-soot icicled roofs,
Ooh, and see how I fall.
See how I fall
("Fall!") [backwards]
Like the snow.

Come to cover the lovers.
(Cover the lovers,
But don't you wake them up.)
Come to sparkle the dark up.
(Sparkle the dark up,
With just a touch of make-up.)
Come to cover the muck up
(Cover the muck up,
Ooh, with a little luck.)

Oh, I'm coming to cover the lovers.
Ooh, and I'm coming to sparkle the dark up.
Ooh, and I'm coming to cover the muck up.

Birthdays this past week - Home Run Hitters

Here's the first installment of what I hope will be a weekly feature at Capewood's Collections. Each Friday I'll pick a different stat and feature a player who had a birthday during the week who lead all other players born that day. I hope to be able to accomplish this with cards I actually own. Let's start the year off with home run hitters.

January 1
2010 Topps National Chicle #206 Hank GreenbergHank Greenberg was born in 1911 and played from 1930 to 1947, all but one of those years for the Tigers. Hammerin' Hank mostly played first base and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1956. He hit 331 home runs.

January 2:
1996 Topps Laser #27 Edgar MartinezEdgar Martinez was born in 1963. He played from 1987 to 2004, all for the Mariners. Papi played 3rd base and hit 309 home runs. He was a 7-time All-Star. 2010 was his first year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame and he appeared 32.6% of the ballots.

January 3:
1994 Ultra Phillies Finest Autograph #2 Darren DaultonDarren Daulton was born in 1962 and played from 1983 to 1997, all but the end of 1997 with the Phillies. Dutch was mainly a catcher but played 1st base and right field late in his career as his knees gave out. He hit 137 home runs in his career. In his first year of eligibility for the HOF (2003) he only appeared on .2% of the ballots so he's likely not a future Hall of Famer.

January 4:
1990 Upper Deck #529 Daryl BostonGeorge Selkirk (1934-1942) actually leads players born this date in home runs with 108 but I don't own any of his cards. Daryl Boston is second on the January 4th list with 83. He played from 1984 to 1994, for the White Sox, Mets, Rockies and Yankees.

January 5:
2009 Tristar Obak #65 Ron KittleRon Kittle was born in 1958 in Gary IN. He played from 1982 to 1991. He played parts of 8 seasons with the White Sox but also played for the Yankees, Orioles, and Indians. Mainly an outfielder, he hit 176 home runs. He was the 1983 AL Rookie of the Year.

January 6:
1961 Topps #78 Lee WallsLee Walls was born in 1933 and played from 1952 to 1964. January 6th was not a big day for home run hitters. Walls leads all players born this day with 66 home runs. Walls played for the Pirates, Cubs, Reds, Phillies and Dodgers. Although he seems to have been mainly a utility player he did go to the All-Star game in 1958 when he batted for a .304 average and hit 24 home runs for the Cubs.

January 7:
2001 Bowman Heritage 1948 Reprints Relics Johnny MizeHall of Famer Johnny Mize was born in 1913 in Damorest GA. He played from 1936 to 1953. His career was about evenly split between the Cardinals, The NY Giants and the Yankees. He hit 359 home runs, leading all other players born this first week of January.

2007 Topps Turkey Red #140 Alfonso Soriano Alfonso Soriano was born in 1976 in San Pedro de Macoris, DR. Although he's second behind Johnny Mize for home runs for players born on January 7th, I included him because he's hit 314, third highest for players born the first week in January. And he's still an active player so his total should go higher. He has played for the Yankees, Rangers, Nationals and has been with the Cubs the last 4 years. He is also a 7-time All-Star.