Washington Nationals and Stephen Strasburg, World Champions!

Congratulations to the Washington Nationals for winning the 2019 World Series! It was a very exciting Series, with the road team winning every game. That had never been done before. The Astros were heavily favored, but the Nationals kept coming back in the late innings, then holding Houston back.


It's a bittersweet win for me. 

Happy as hell for the franchise, and I love that they are 2019 World Series Champions...

But it should have been the Montreal Expos...


My 2019 World Champions has a much better ring to it!

Anyways...

All the best to Washington. This was the first World Series I really cared about since rooting hard for the 2015 Kansas City Royals. Other than watching games 4 and 5 in Washington ("LOCK HIM UP!"), I had to work for 5 of the 7 games, but I listened to the games on the radio. Sparing myself a big buncha Joe Buck!

Extra thanks to 2019 World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg for making my 2010 Bowman Chrome Autographed Rookie card just a little bit more valuable!


Funny story about that card... When 2010 Bowman Chrome was released, I decided that I really wanted an autographed Strasburg rookie from that set. It was huge in the hobby at the time, so damat I was going to take a shot at pulling one. Worked some overtime and splurged on two Hobby Boxes from Mike's Sports Cards (1991-2013) in Englewood, Colorado.


Mike's Sports Cards at the Way Cool Shops on South Broadway, back in September, 2003.

I silently committed to keep buying 2010 Bowman Chrome wax until I got the Strasburg. Fortunately, that release was stacked with strong rookie cards, so I figured I'd bulk up after the underwhelming Bowman sets of 2006-2009.

Imagine my shock when I cut the shrinkwrap from the box, laying on top, without opening a single pack, I see this...


Uhhh... Goal achieved?! 

Thanks Topps!

And thanks Nationals for the incredible postseason run!



My guys are World Champions!

(Kinda... Sorta... Not really...)


Oh, and because why not, here's an abandoned building!


Jimbo's Italian American Restaurant in Blaine, MN, was demolished a couple of days ago. An old drive-in that dated back to the 1950's, and stayed as a restaurant until 2018-ish? I'm not going to cover it here, but I have some good pictures for later...

Now bring on the offseason rumors and news!

Comments

Post a Comment

Someone else liked these...

Abandoned Movie - Kitty's South (The Webber Theater) - Denver, CO

Image
When I first started this blog, with the intent of writing stories about abandoned buildings I’d photographed, Kitty’s South was one of the stories I most wanted to write. For whatever reasons, it took me nearly seven years to get around to it. Looking back at my early stuff from 2017 and 2018, I’m glad I let this story marinate for an additional six and half years. Kitty's South - March 22, 2015. Located at 119 S Broadway, Denver, Colorado. I drove past that building hundreds of times in my near 20 years of living around Denver. Any time I drove home from downtown, I had to pass by Kitty's. So it was rather shocking in the summer of 2016, when Kitty's stopped looking like Kitty's.  The Webber Theater - April 29, 2018. After a year and a half of work, inside and out, Kitty's South was brought back to a similar look of its days as The Webber Theater. The interior of the former theater was opened up with some of the space used by the Archetype Distillery. Archetype cl
Read some more »

Our Happy Birfday Fan Zone Fun Time Whatever - St. Cloud MN

Image
At the beginning of last month, Laura and I were trying to figure out a decent, low impact, day trip, just to get away from Crapids for a few hours. This would tie into both of our birthdays, since they are both in March. Maybe see something cool. Maybe eat something different. Hopefully find something to do that doesn't offend either of our mutual interests. How about St. Cloud? It's less than an hour away, we can get Burger Time and look for Justin Morneau cards at Fan Zone? Since that was agreeable to both parties, we made our way northwest, on Saturday March 2, 2024. Fan Zone, St. Cloud MN. But we aren't there yet... Have to leave the general Crapids/Anoka area first.  Leaving this area still remains one of my favorite things to this day! They're building a something, out where the old Anoka Pizza Hut was. The grave of Anoka Perkins next door, remains relatively undisturbed.  But I was saddened to see that another abandoned Burger King has disappeared. This time i
Read some more »

What Happened to Clark's Submarine Sandwich?

Image
Well, they went out of business! Yeah, that's the short answer.  But more importantly, what happened to each individual Clark's Submarine Sandwich store? Once there were 15 of them scattered around the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area, but they were all gone by 1991. Clark's still has a small but loyal following around town, and a reputation built off the bread, thinly sliced onions and most important, the sandwich oil that was it's signature. While the chain is long gone, I want to know just how gone is it?  For example, my hometown had a Clark's Submarine Sandwiches, and that building is still standing. Former Clark's Submarine Sandwich Location: 401 Northdale Blvd. Coon Rapids Back in October 2006, the building had long been sitting empty, but was still in good shape. Shortly after I took the picture of the abandoned Clarks/Cousins building, it was renovated and turned into a Dunn Bros. Coffee. But still standing! Clark&
Read some more »

Dinner Break! - Burger King - St. Cloud, MN

Image
When you want to go nowhere for breakfast... Although, I did go through the drive thru at this St. Cloud for breakfast, once. But I was just a spectator. It was far too early in the day to introduce Burger King to my system, without disastrous consequences. But someone driving needed a Croissanwich... I was sitting in the passenger seat of this white molester van. I wasn't drugged, I was just very tired. That van was owned by one Crazy Carl. Who was running Griffy's Old Town Bar & Grill, in Genola, MN, at the time. We closed the bar and cleaned up the place until 3am, the night before. But we were back at Griffy's to get the bar ready to open, the next day. After pounding a bunch of coffee and cigarettes, we were off on a morning supply run to Sam's Club, in St. Cloud. Wasted Quarter issue #58 - Crime Drama! - March 2006 I'd gone up to Genola a few times during 2004-05. Griffy's Old Town Bar & Grill served as a quick vacation away from Crapids, during th
Read some more »

Abandoned Mall: Villa Italia Mall - Lakewood, CO

Image
Villa Italia Mall in Lakewood, Colorado, opened in March 1967.  It closed for good on July 15th, 2001. I'm not going to get into the biography of the large shopping mall. My experiences there number a grand total of two. Once in June of 2000 (for a baseball card show), and the other in May, 2001, when I took these pictures. Since there was no emotional attachment on my behalf toward the place, I know next to nothing about it. There are a few good sites with real information and more pictures of Villa Italia. Both in it's heyday and in it's depressed run down state. I consulted these for this story. Deadmalls has a basic biography, that is a good starting point.  A link appears at the bottom of the page that takes you to another site with a nice selection of Villa Italia photos. Or you can just click here... So let me add my piece to that total! In May 2001, my mom was in town from Minnesota. She was in Denver visiting my sister (who lived in Lakewood)
Read some more »

Abandoned Retail - Brookdale Mall, Sears & Perkins!

Image
Visiting Minnesota in September 2011, my dad told me that Brookdale Shopping Mall was being demolished, and we should check it out. Brookdale opened in 1962, as one of the "Dales." A series of suburban metro area shopping malls designed to syphon retail dollars away from the traditional downtowns of major cities. In the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area, Brookdale was in Brooklyn Center, Rosedale was in Roseville, Ridgedale in Minnetonka and Southdale in Edina. Back in the day, needed housewares, "important" clothes for school and other reasons, and whatever other supplies the family had to buy, usually came from the mall. Brookdale was a constant. Rosedale as well, but that mall is currently thriving today, and thus far off my radar. Northtown mall was the closest to us, but it was a second tier mall without the top drawing anchors. Northtown has seen a little hint of a resurgence after losing it's long string of anchors and a series of renovati
Read some more »

The Hawley Grain Elevator Fire - Hawley, MN

Image
Late in the evening on Sunday, February 25, 2024, the large grain elevator in Hawley Minnesota, was destroyed by fire. I woke up the following morning to a text from my mom, with a link to some of the local news outlets with recorded video of the fire. I was stunned. Just a few months earlier, Laura and I had driven up here and stayed in a Hawley motel. One of my intended purposes of this trip was to get pictures of that exact grain elevator. Which in my mind was the defining landmark of the town of Hawley. Back in November, I posted a story detailing the roadtrip Laura and I took from Crapids to Fargo, ND. I called it “ My Stupid Vacation ”, because instead of going someplace tropical or exotic, this was where I chose to go. Stopping at as many tourist traps and roadside attractions was we could find. Either way, you should probably read that before you read this. It will provide valuable background to this story. Don’t worry, I’ll wait…  The whole point of that drive was to stop in e
Read some more »

Dinner Break! - Burger Time - Coon Rapids, MN

Image
Burger Time is a small Fargo, ND, based fast food burger chain, that started their first restaurant in 1987. After initial success, they expanded by as many as 15 stores, in Minnesota and South Dakota. (Not sure, but I think there may have been one in Iowa for a time.) For whatever unknown reason, Coon Rapids, MN, was chosen as one of their first expansion sites. They would build a new restaurant on the northeast corner of the Family Center Mall property. Back in the late 1980's, that area garnered a great deal of traffic, as it was the heart of Coon Rapids retail. While the Family Center Mall had seen it's better days, the Target and surrounding businesses across Coon Rapids Blvd. remained very strong. Not to mention the population of the town had blown up with the northern expansion into the Oaks of Shenandoah. BOOOOOOOO!!! Family Center Mall, from the southeast corner of the parking lot. What used to be Burger Time, can be seen on the right side. Only chopping the mall in p
Read some more »

Abandoned Auto - Saxon Motors - Elk River, MN

Image
Hey Saxon...  No... You weren't! Wait, it was Sunday...  Blue laws... My bad... I was in Minnesota for a little over a week in November last year. One of the days I was free, my friend Trav asked what I wanted to do... "Take me to something abandoned!" He suggested a drive out highway 10, west to Elk River, for Saxon Motors. A large automobile dealer, located roughly at the junction of highways 10 and 169. On the way, there were several abandoned gas stations worth stopping and checking out, as we forged our path to Saxon... Once we got on the frontage road leading to Saxon, we found that access was blocked by this impenetrable gate... We would need to find another way onto the property... Driving around to the far corner of the parking lot, past the ironic Saxon Motors sign... Which has some strange sort of optical illusion going on with how the bottom is angled.  I haven't quite figured out what they were going for
Read some more »

Ghosts of Riverdale Past - Coon Rapids, MN

Image
Recently there’s been a lot of chatter amongst the townsfolk about the retail abomination known as Riverdale. Another round of store closures has people talking about what a massive failure this shopping cluster has always been, and why retail is the way it is, and who's to blame and all that kind of stuff. Bottom line being, more stores that people liked shopping at are gone. For whatever reason. Which made me wonder, how many former businesses in Riverdale did I manage to get pictures of over the years? As I started going through the Riverdale picture folder on my external drive, I found far more than I'd expected. This is by no means EVERY former business that didn't survive the ridiculous conditions of shopping in my hometown, but it's an interesting peek into some of what didn't work. I didn't live in Coon Rapids when Riverdale was built. When I moved back in 2003, I was horrified that the western sky now had a brilliant orange glow in the middle of the nig
Read some more »