Happy Yankee Elimination Day and some Player Collection additions

Today celebrates one of my favorite days of the year, Yankee Elimination Day!  It is the day of the year, where either the Yankees get eliminated from the playoffs or are mathematically eliminated from participating in the post-season during the regular season, and it is probably just a tad above the Alabama Criminal Crimson Tide Elimination Day for me as one of my favorite sports days of the year. Here is a custom I made to comemmorate this years YED.

I have made a few other cards after YED in the past, and I might try to start a mini-collection out of it. Topps has produced some in a few sets, notably in the 2003 (Angels in 2002 ALDS), 2004 (Marlins in 2003 World Series), 2005 (Red Sox in 2004 ALCS), and in the 2006 Update set (Tigers in 2006 ALDS).  I have most of those, but I will have to go through my highlights binder to see which ones I need. Here is one I made for the 2017 YED (also the last time the Astros won the World Series.

On another kind of 'being a hater' note, one of Dime Box Nick's latest posts talked about some players who some people used to like, but now, for some reason don't. One of the guys he mentioned was Aubrey Huff. Huff has taken some heat for his strong Christian/intellegent design/creation beliefs and for how he voiced them on Twitter, as well as a Twitter argument he had with former teammate Seth McClung. While yes, I totally agree with Huff on his views on all of those subjects, I don't neccessarily think Twitter is the best place to discuss subjects like that. I think more face-to-face situations where both sides can talk at length are better, especially since places like Twitter don't really allow you to see the emotion or tone of voice with either parties, and things can get misconstrued and misunderstood rather quickly. With that being said, I think that Huff is has and is going to take some undo heat for voicing his opinion, mainly because it goes against what the rest of the world wants to believe. He will get painted out as ignorant and as an aloof crazy person. I don't think he is. I have met him numerous times during his Devil Ray career, and he would always sign autographs and genuinely seemed to care about his fans. I realize that it could totally be a show, but he really seemed like he was a nice, normal guy. I've met former Red Wade Rowdon, who said he was basically blackballed from the Reds for being vocal about his faith. Same thing with Tim Tebow and the NFL. Carl Everett had similar intellegent designs views, and like Huff, got made fun of. He could've been better with how he expressed them, but I have met him before, got his autograph, and he didn't seem aloof like the media and fellow 'graphers told me he would be. My point is how come people like Aubrey Huff, Wade Rowdon, Carl Everett, and Tim Tebow can voice opinions that are pro-God, pro-intellegent design, and they get ridiculed, and then the media paints out guys like Colin Kaepernick, Bruce Maxwell, Michael Sam, and Billy Bean get painted out to be heroes just because thier views line up more with what the current media wants you to believe?  Nothing against Colin, Bruce, Michael or Billy. I have never met any of them, and from what I've seen, Billy is very gracious with his fans and signs ttm for anyone. I respect them standing up for what they believe in,  I just wish the media were fair about covering everyone the same and not painting some people as 'heroes', and some as 'unintelligent fools' just becuase of how they feel about a certian issue. People (and ballplayers) have reasons they believe what they believe, and I'm sure if they would get the chance to tell their story instead of being labeled, it would do a lot of good. For anyone who reads this blog, I hope my views on things don't effect how I treat you, how you feel while reading this blog, or make your views on me any worse than they were when you started reading. I appreciate everyone who takes the time to check me out, and even though we collect different players, like different teams (even Yankee fans), I truly root for you and hope you can have the best life you can no matter what. 

With all that, I think I am going to add Aubrey Huff and Carl Everett to my Favorite Player Collection. I have met them both, and followed them during their career, and I applaud their decision to voice their (unpopular) opinion, so why not? So feel free to dump your unwanted Huff and Everett cards on me. I am also thinking about adding Cecil Fielder to my Favorite Player Collection as well. Cecil was the star on the Detroit Tigers when I first started following baseball, and I have always enjoyed watching him play. I was lucky enough to meet him, get an autograph, and shake his hand in either 2009 or 2010. I'm a little torn about Fielder. It would mean I have to probably add a few Yankee cards to my binders, and I think Cecil will just have a ton of cards. I think I am just going to ask everyone's opinion. I will put up a vote thing on the sidebar and leave it up until November 1st, and just ask a simple question: Should I start collecting Cecil Fielder? 

So have fun with that. I will check in periodically to see how the voting is going. Hopefully we will have a fun World Series. I am rooting for the Nats, just because most of the guys on the Astros won a title just 2 seasons ago. 

Thanks for taking the time to read my latest post,

-Jeremy

*edit* I can't figure out how to add a poll to the layout, so if you have an opinion on collecting Fielder or not, just leave me a comment.