AN INTERVIEW WITH THE "CHASING DONNIE BASEBALL" GUY

Well, it's here. With the Yankees consistently winning and every night breaking the consecutive home run record I have decided to step away from that world for a moment and talk about that card collecting dude on YouTube. We got the interview!

If you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to first check out:
I LOVE THIS DUDE'S BASEBALL CARD YOUTUBE CHANNEL! 

After that we snagged an interview and here we are. Love this one very much, I think you will too.  Here he is, a very opened conversation with my man Mikey from the YouTube channel, Chasing Donnie Baseball.

BYB: When did you start collecting baseball cards?

Mikey: My earliest memory goes back to 1977. I had an older brother who collected all the 1977 Yankees cards: Thurman Munson, Chris Chambliss, Graig Nettles, Bucky Dent, Rob Guidry, Don Gullett, Ken Clay, etc - he has them all and so did I. 

I can still see those cards as clear as day in my mind. I was only 6 years old.

2. Obviously this is passion of yours. I collect too, but my collection is unique to me. I don't go looking for perfect cards, but rather cards for my own collection. What are some of the more interesting cards you have in your collection?

Mikey: I collect too, but my collection is unique to me. I don't go looking for perfect cards, but rather cards for my own collection. What are some of the more interesting cards you have in your collection? I really love this question because, as you said, many of my favorite and most interesting cards have zero monetary value to me no matter what Beckett's has it listed at. Well, for starters, I am obviously a Don Mattingly card and since I have over 1,500 of his cards I will leave them out of this answer. 

From my older collection cards like my 1956 Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron are both in terrible condition but I don't care. I love pulling them out often and just looking at them. Especially the Robinson card because he is a historical figure. The late 1970s and early to mid-1980's are the bulk of my collection. So my Topps Ron Guidry rookie from 1977 is a prized possession. I love my two 1979 Topps Danny Ainge "error" cards (see pic). Again very little value but they were so cool to own back then. 

I was a huge Dale Murphy and love his 1977 Topps Rookie Card. Whenever I see a Gorman Thomas or Cecil Cooper card from early 80' with the Brewers I have to buy them. Sometimes at a flea market when I asked "how much" the person usually just says, "you can have them for free". Lol. I don't know why, but those two cards just remind me of my childhood years of card collecting. My 1981 Topps Rookie card of Fernando Venezuela is another one that brings back great memories. It was the card EVERYONE wanted in 1981. Fernando-Mania was everywhere. Now they are worth maybe 25-cents but I always buy it when I see it.

3. This idea is brilliant and I love this idea of breaking open packs on YouTube. Why did you come up with this idea?

Mikey: I cannot take any of the credit for the idea. About 8 months ago I happen to click on a video on YouTube from a channel called "Jabs Family". 5 minutes into the video I was hooked. Here was this guy, all you see is his hands and the cards, and you hear him just talking about the cards he was opening on camera. It was a live stream so people were interacting, He was so great. Really easy to listen to and was very interactive. It was fascinating to me and seemed like so much fun. So after that night, I started to do some research on how I could start my own channel and 8 months later, "Chasing Donnie Baseball" was born. There are now many others on YouTube doing the same thing but each with their own spin. But the biggest difference we all bring to our channels is one thing: Ourselves. People will either like to hear you talk as you open packs or they won't. I'm hoping people enjoy listening to me an I share my own memories of card collecting as I open packs. I have a lot to learn but in the meantime, I am having a blast! 

4. Obviously your favorite player is Don Mattingly. With Donnie as your first top player, give me your top 9 after Mattingly.

Mikey: #9 Cody Bellinger
#8 Christian Yelich 
#7 Curtis Granderson 
#6 Freddie Freeman 
#5 Bernie Williams 
#4 Rickey Henderson 

#3 Jim Abbott 
#2 Dale Murphy

5. You mentioned in one of your videos that you had Muscular Dystrophy. Why do you want people to know this about you?

Mikey: Wait! I do?! LOL, kidding :) 

So when you watch my videos after a few minutes you will quickly realize there is something off with the way my hands move; the way I grab the box and cards; very little hand strength. Plus I am much slower than the guys on the other channel and it's not by choice. So I just wanted to be real with my viewers. Look, I never have been one to shy away from my disability. When people meet me they are usually very comfortable asking about my disability because they can see I am very comfortable discussing it. So why not be that open and honest with the viewers on my channel? I tell them I'm not letting them know as some excuse, but to just make them aware as to why I may be struggling or going a bit slower than most. The other reason s I hope maybe someone will see one of my videos and hear me mention my disability and just maybe it motivates him or her. Perhaps someone is feeling sorry for themselves and sees my video and it inspires them to get going, move forward. If you are motivated and enjoy doing something, NOTHING should ever prevent you from pursuing it. 

6. What's the one thing you want people to take away from these card videos?

Mikey: Card collecting should always be about having fun. I am NOT doing this for monetary gain (their isn't any, lol!) - I am doing this because collecting cards brings me joy. Plain and simple Sure I mention the prices of cards and we are always looking for the big "hits, however, in the end, my viewers and I have to be having fun. The day it stops being fun I will turn the lights off on the channel.

7. Side track. Big Yankee fan? What do you think about the Yankees this season?

Mikey: Love the question cause I'm always ready to talk Yankees baseball. The obvious equation for them to hold onto this high level of play is to get their studs back, it's that plain and simple. However. what these young men have done filling the shoes of Judge, Stant, Didi, etc is beyond remarkable. I don't know if it happens like magic when you put on a Yankees uniform but this crops of players EXPECT to win, not just compete and I love that! But, I think unless we get 90%-100% healthy this ride with this group of incredible players may end come October baseball. Just my opinion.

8. Final question, do you ever read BYB? Did you ever hear about us before we did that surprise post for you?

Mikey: I have read BYB for years, and I'm not just saying that because you did a write up on Chasing Donnie Baseball or because you are interviewing me now. In fact, if you watch the quick video I made on my channel after I discovered your article you will hear me explain how surprised, humbled and honored I was to get recognized by such a reputable site. I absolutely love what you stand for, like a family. 




That is exactly what I am hoping attracts subscribers to Chasing Donnie Baseball. BYB is absolutely my go-to site for Yankees news and analysis. want to personally thank you, Robert Casey, for giving Chasing Donnie Baseball such a large platform to share who I am and what we are all about. Maybe we can flip a few piles of some old 1982 Topps I have laying around?

I had a lot of fun with Mikey and this interview.  You can always see Chasing Donnie Baseball on YouTube, here's Mikey's page. Subscribe. It's a really clever concept and I personally love and endorse it.  CHASING DONNIE BASEBALL.

I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did.  Happy Tuesday... stay dry if you're living in the Tri-State.  Hey... go look through your old baseball cards. Maybe you'll find a few gems!

WHY I'M ASHAMED TO BE A BASEBALL FAN TODAY

Well, the BBWAA has done it. They have made their point. These dudes have created such a mess of the Hall of Fame voting that I’m on board with revamping the entire process. What am I talking about? Read on...

For just the eighth time, the baseball writers have failed to give enough votes to anyone on the ballot thus the only three inductees this year come from the Veterans Committee. They are Deacon White, umpire Hank O’Day, and former Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert, read HERE.

That’s all well and good, but here’s my problem. First year ballottees (is that even a word?) and cheaters guilty in the court of public opinion, Barry Bonds & Roger Clemens, received 36% & 37% of the vote respectively. The leading candidate this year was Craig Biggio with 68%, but if I recall. weren’t he and Jeff Bagwell (60%) accused together? (Read HERE.)  Despite all of the posturing, I really thought Biggio & Bagwell were going to make it, as well as Jack Morris, who was in his last year of eligibility.

I was only a kid when Morris was in his prime, but I'll always remember him beating the Yanks. He was never overpowering but dominant when he needed to be.

Now, if I had a vote, without question Clemens & Bonds WOULD have been on my ballot. You read that right. Did they cheat? Technically no. Did they use PEDs? Probably. None of this stuff was illegal at the time. Up until the 1970’s, Amphetamines were a rampant problem and all those guys got in.

The Hall of Fame is supposed to honor the best of their time and leaded or unleaded Clemens and Bonds were the best of their time. Sammy Sosa (12%) & Rafael Palmeiro (9%) were not and the voting reflects that.

Now, here’s the thing, each year the writers are limited to just 10 inductees. If they lift their self-imposed ban on the "Steroid" guys, Clemens and Bonds are in. Let's say they come around and vote Bagwell & Biggio in... unlikely, but that’s 4.  Here are next year’s first ballot nominees who SHOULD get in: Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Frank Thomas, and Mike Mussina. Now we’re up to 8.  I’ve been watching Tom Verducci, Bob Costas, Peter Gammons and all the other writers on MLB Network recently and they’ve all said they "only really vote for 6 guys every year."  So, if that’s true, how are 6 guys going to get 75% of the vote, let alone all 8? You following me?  These guys have really made a circus of this.  And let me state one more nutty point to this... This tweet from CBS Sports.com's Jon Heyman really seems truly ridiculous to me. This came after the results were revealed:

Jon, no offense, you're not a superhero and you're not that important.  We don't need you protecting us fans. We have brains in our heads and we have our own opinions.  All you guys have done is created a boys club and a true mess of this stuff. That's my opinion of course... clearly you have yours... you Tweeted it.

But back to my analysis... Other losers of this precarious position the writers have put us in are:

• Bernie Williams, who failed to get the minimum 5% to remain on the ballot
• Dale Murphy who has always been borderline HOF material, but has reached the end of his 15 years of eligibility 
• Curt Schilling, who as much as it pains me to say, probably deserves to be in for being so good in so many clutch situations. He’ll probably get lost in the middle of future ballots.

The whole thing is nuts and us fans are just as confused as we were before.  Good luck next year boys because this year you really screwed the pooch!

 

--Lem Allen, BYB Contributor

Email me at: bybcurmudgeon@gmail.com

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