Results tagged ‘ Jesse Barfield ’
Mailday – September 27
It’s been a few days since my last entry, but I’ve got two more balls to report. These didn’t come today, rather I’ve had them for a little while. But, I haven’t had a chance to photograph them and blog about them until now.
As I wrote here, I recently added Hall of Famer Duke Snider to my collection, bringing my HOF balls up to a total of five. Now, I’m happy to report I’ve added a ball of a sure future Hall of Famer to my collection. Here it is:
Omar Vizquel signed this ball care of the White Sox in a month and a half. The Majors’ oldest position player (43 and still going strong) is a sure future HOFer. In addition to being a three-time All-Star, he’s won 11 Gold Gloves! Talk about underappreciated! With skills like this guy has, you’d think he’d be a perennial All-Star. Regardless, it’s a sure thing that Cooperstown will be happy to add to to its halls before long. Vizquel has one of the more unique signatures in my collection, and I think it looks awesome on the sweet spot of a ball.
And speaking of awesome, I’ve also added one of my favourite all-time Blue Jays on another ball:
Jesse Barfield, who arguably had the best outfield arm in team history, signed this ball for me at a paid signing. Barfield hit 241 career home runs in just 12 seasons, and was an All-Star, a two-time Gold Glover and a Silver Slugger. His best year came in 1986, when he had 170 hits, 40 home runs and 108 RBI. Those 40 home runs led the American League, and I asked him to add that to my ball:
The best Toronto outfield ever
A couple entries ago, I wrote about buying a huge lot of 100 assorted Blue Jays cards on eBay. The same day I won that auction, I won a separate auction for 100 other Jays cards; most of them from the 1980s which was a real trip down memory lane.
Three of the cards I received made me think back to Toronto’s outfield in the mid-late 1980s, which has yet to be surpassed by any other outfield in team history. Sure, the Jays have seen their share of great outfielders — Vernon Wells, Devon White and even Shannon Stewart for a stretch — but no trio can top the awesome connection of George Bell in left, Lloyd Moseby in centre and Jesse Barfield in right.
It’s impressive to look at some of the key years this trio had together. Which do you think was best?
1986:
Bell: .309 / 198 hits / 38 doubles / 31 HR / 108 RBI (Silver Slugger, 4th in AL MVP voting)
Moseby: .253 / 179 hits / 21 HR / 86 RBI / 32 SB (All-Star)
Barfield: .289 / 170 hits / 35 doubles / 40 HR / 108 RBI (All-Star, Silver Slugger, Gold Glove)
1987:
Bell: .308 / 188 hits / 47 HR / 134 RBI / .957 OPS (AL MVP, All-Star, Silver Slugger)
Moseby: .282 / 167 hits / 26 HR / 96 RBI / 39 SB / .831 OPS
Barfield: .263 / 155 hits / 28 HR / 84 RBI (Gold Glove)
Ridiculous, no? It’s important to remember things that aren’t simply summed up by numbers. Moseby and Barfield were exceptional fielders who rarely made errors, and Moseby’s arm was an absolute cannon. Barfield, meanwhile, finished his career with 162 assists from the outfield.
I’d be all for seeing a future Toronto outfield top this one, but while this trio certainly is the best in Jays’ history, a real case can be made for its spot in the all-time American League ranks.
malcolmmacmillan
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