Impressive Autographed Baseball Collection Being Auctioned

We enjoy a feel good story every once in a while. Maybe it's not the usual Typhoid fever induced nonsense you're used to but we're people too. Perhaps, we've been described as "unstable" on more than one occasion. Okay, more than once yesterday. Anyway, 83-year-old baseball fanatic Jane Bell has spent the better part of the last 30 years building an impressive collection of autographed baseballs.

Bell has been a Tigers season ticket holder since 1984 so I assume she took up the autograph hunting as a means to distract her from the pain of being a Tigers fan. But Bell took to the collecting much like my grandpa took to The Price Is Right, with a furious passion. From the Detroit News...

Bell, 83, wasn't just any autograph seeker. She often barnstormed the country to get the job done, and got addicted to the chase and sense of accomplishment generated from the 137 baseballs she had signed by players, managers and announcers since the early 1980s.

*snip*

"People don't understand the hard work that's involved," said Bell, "and the crap you have to deal with."

Bell will auction off 136 of the 137 balls keeping a personalized one from Jack Morris. The proceeds will go to St. Jude Children's Hospital. I'm not exaggerating the impressiveness of the collection either. Here's what you could bid on if you happen to be in Novi (I think that's where Avatar took place) tomorrow night:

Roberto Alomar, Sandy Alomar Jr., Sparky Anderson, Louis Aparicio, Steve Avery.

Jeff Bagwell, Harold Baines, Ernie Banks, Buddy Bell, Johnny Bench, Yogi Berra, Bert Blyleven, Wade Boggs, Ray Boone, Bobby Boone, Lou Boudreau, George Brett, Brett Butler.

Miguel Cabrera, Jose Canseco, Rod Carew, Paul Carey, Joe Carter, Gary Carter, Orlando Cepeda, Will Clark, Roger Clemens, Bobby Cox.

Chili Davis, Eric Davis, Andre Dawson, Bucky Dent, Joe DiMaggio, Bobby Doerr.
Dennis Eckersley, Jim Eisenreich, Dwight Evans, Darrell Evans.

Bob Feller, Rick Ferrell, Cecil Fielder, Rollie Fingers, Carlton Fisk, Curt Flood, Whitey Ford, Travis Fryman.

Joe Garagiola, Cito Gaston, Charlie Gehringer, Bob Gibson, Kirk Gibson, Tom Glavine, Juan Gonzalez, Doc Gooden, Ken Griffey Jr., Ken Griffey Sr., Tony Gwynn.
Ernie Harwell, Rickey Henderson, John Hiller, Jim "Catfish" Hunter.

Reggie Jackson, Ferguson Jenkins, Derek Jeter.

Al Kaline, George Kell, Chuck Knoblauch.

Barry Larkin, Tommy Lasorda, Jim Leyland, Bob Lemon, Mickey Lolich.
Mickey Mantle, Juan Marichal, Dennis Martinez, Don Mattingly, Willie McCovey, Johnny Mize, Paul Molitor, Joe Morgan, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Eddie Murray, Stan Musial.

Hal Newhouser, Phil Niekro, Joe Niekro.

Jim Palmer, Dave Parker, Lance Parrish, Carlos Pena, Troy Percival, Tony Perez, Gaylord Perry, Tony Phillips, Boog Powell, Kirby Puckett.

Tim Raines, Cal Ripken Jr., Phil Rizzuto, Robin Roberts, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Pudge Rodriguez, Alex Rodriguez, Pete Rose, Nolan Ryan.

Tom Seaver, Enos Slaughter, Ozzie Smith, John Smoltz, Duke Snider, Sammy Sosa, Willie Stargell, Dave Stewart, Darryl Strawberry, Rick Sutcliffe, Don Sutton.

Frank Tanana, Mickey Tettleton, Frank Thomas, Joe Torre, Alan Trammell.
Mo Vaughn, Fay Vincent, Frank Viola.

Lou Whitaker, Hoyt Wilhelm, Bernie Williams, Ted Williams, Matt Williams, Billy Williams, Maury Wills, Dave Winfield, Early Wynn.

Carl Yastrzemski, Robin Yount.

If that Chili Davis ball is from his Angels days, I'd be willing to go as high as $2 and the rest of this grape soda.

BBA AL Willie Mays Award Ballot

Baseball's award season is upon us and we finally have a vote that counts for something this year. We're proud members of the Baseball Blogger Alliance and they've been kind enough to give us ballots. The only thing the BBWAA ever gave us was a stick of bubble gum from a pack of 1952 Topps baseball cards. It was stale. Today we'll be unveiling our AL Willie Mays ballot for rookie of the year.

1. Austin Jackson
The 2010 AL rookie class pales in comparison to that of the senior circuit. The Tigers' center fielder gets my top spot even though a ridiculous .396 BABIP inflated his stats. He hit .293/.345/.400 for the season while playing a respectable center field (4.2 UZR) good for 3.6 WAR. The BABIP can't be sustainable so the batting average and on base percentage will certainly take a dip in the future but he looks like an everyday center fielder. Which is a lot more than I can say about the rest of the Tigers' lineup aside from Miggy Carbrera.

2. Brian Matusz
Baltimore's rookie left hander pitched well down the stretch and looks like a future front of the rotation starter. He finished the season with a respectable 4.30/4.05/4.51 line (ERA/FIP/xFIP) considering he pitches in baseball's toughest division and is just 23-years-old. The 175.2 innings he pitched was good enough for a 2.7 WAR and will probably anchor a promising young Orioles rotation. But Baltimore players continue to disappoint me, I'm looking at you Adam Jones.

3. Danny Valencia
I imagine that most ballots will include Rangers' closer Neftali Feliz and his saves record for rookies. Danny Valencia probably played over his head at third base for the Twins but he had a big impact with his 322 plate appearances. Valencia hit .311/.351/.448 with 7 home runs. Hey look, his OBP matched his wOBA at .351! What, I like wOBA. The .345 BABIP is wildly lucky but his numbers will most likely come down a little over a full season. Plus his 2.6 WAR trumps that of a relief pitcher (Feliz's 1.8).