Brent Mayne

Paul Kuhrman / Brent Mayne defaced cards

Do you remember a blog I posted a while back featuring the artwork of Paul Kuhrman? He’s the guy who takes baseball cards, erases portions of them, then adds art to them. He calls it “card defacing.”

Anyway, after stumbling on his site, I shot him an email introducing myself and explaining that I loved his work. He wrote back and said to send a few of my cards so he could create some fun on them.

Here’s the results of the Paul Kuhrman / Brent Mayne card project…..

My very own "defaced cards."

So in case you can’t quite make out whats going on, for the upper left card, Paul erased my body and replaced it with an underground “water mayne pipe.”

For the upper right card, I’m rocking a “lion’s mayne.”

Bottom left, my body is gone and replaced with a scene of “mayne street, USA.”

And for the bottom right card, amidst smoke and fire is a bombed ship. At the bottom is the title “Remember the mayne.”

The detail on these things is amazing, the closer you get to them, the more you see. Apart from being funny and really clever, these cards (to me) are legit works of art.

I’ve received a ton of personal memorabilia and baseball related gifts over the years, but this has got to be one of my favorites. It’s the only baseball related photo of me hanging in my house!

So anyway, thank you very much Paul. For those interested, go to Paul’s website and check out the cards he has for sale. Or send him one of your favorites and see what magic he can come up with.

Las Vegas Coaches Convention

For those of you in Sin City this weekend, drop by the Las Vegas Hilton for the Vegas Baseball Coaches Convention.

I’ll be opening the show, speaking at 10 AM Friday. Afterwards, I’ll be in a booth selling my books and schmoozing for the rest of the day. I’ll speak again on Saturday at 11 AM (not 100% sure on that time).

Come over and check out the show. There’s a bunch of great speakers covering many subjects….I’m sure you’ll pick something up that will enhance your knowledge of the game.

2010 Hall of Fame Nominees

It’s about that time of year again…Hall of Fame voting time.

Here are the nominees on the ballot this year and here is how I would vote if given the chance.

NEW CANDIDATES

1.. Roberto Alomar  -  yep, I’d vote him in.  10 plus gold gloves, hitting, baserunning, incredible instincts, World Series teams, didn’t get injured much, the whole package.

2.  Kevin Appier  - if being strange were one of the criteria for getting in, he’d be a first balloter.  Otherwise, I love you Kev but no dice.

3.  Ellis Burks –  one of the great guys to play, but again nope.

4.  Andres Galarraga  -  great nickname “the big cat” and was dominant for a long while,  but just not enough.

5.  Pat Hentgen  -  a Cy Young award and definitely a battler, but no.

6.  Barry Larkin  -  real tough one for me….I…don’t….think….this…. time.  Fantastic player, a million All-Star appearances. If not for Ozzie Smith, he’d have a million Gold Gloves. A world series ring, a 30-30 year, a great leader, etc.  I just don’t know. I could go either way. A what the hell, I’ll throw him a vote. You’re in Barry.

7.   Edgar Martinez – best right handed hitter I ever played against. Maybe the best hitter period. I think his hitting style has influenced everybody since. Must have been allergic to the leather though. For that reason, it’s a tough call. But because the O was so great, he gets my vote…yes.

8.  Fred McGriff  - nah. A great player, a dominant player for a while . Another candidate for best nickname ever with “crime dog”. I just can’t do it though. Maybe I would have voted for him if he hadn’t been a spokesman for those Tom Emanski ESPN baseball training videos….that big ol hat and all.

9.  Mike Jackson, Ray Lankford, Eric Karros, Shane Reynolds, David Segui, Todd Zeile, and Robin Ventura. No, no, no, no, no, no, and no.

10.  Brent Mayne  -  There must have been some kind of misprint because I’m eligible but didn’t get on the ballot. Like I said, must be a misprint…it’s ok, everybody makes mistakes. Would I vote for him? Hell ya. Decent hitter, no pop, great all around guy, and the best defensive catcher in the history of the game. Period.

Me...one of the few obvious first ballot Hall of Famers.