Comments on: Tim Foli

By: nunyer

nunyer — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 16:15:04 +0000

All the kids in our collecting circle had a favorite player… it was an unwritten prerequisite for the club. The only rule, also unwritten, was that your favorite player couldn’t be a hometown Detroit Tiger. It was a given that all the kids always had to collect a full set of Tigers… so your favorite player had to an out of towner. Mine was Robin Yount, another kid had Bob Horner… think I recall a Mike Schmidt kid… and then there was “that” kid in the neighborhood. I’m sure every neighborhood had one… The kid with the older parents, the obvious “opps” child whose next oldest sibling was 12 years older, the one who was sort of socially awkward and clearly starved for attention… For whatever reason that kid in our neighborhood was obsessed with Tim fucking Foli.

My grandfather took me to my first card show when I was eight or nine and handed me $5 to blow… It was like being a kid in a candy store of course… But the highlight of my day? Spending $1.25 or whatever on a 1975 Topps Mini with Tim Foli in Expos regalia. Holy shit the ransom I was going to be able to demand for this card!!! I ended up getting 1980 Rickey Henderson straight up… and Tim Foli Fan didn’t even flinch. Probably the first and last time in my life where I felt true power over another human being… and took full advantage.

By: 75reds

75reds — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 14:52:34 +0000

Who would you rather have at shortstop: Frank Taveras or Tim Foli? Foli could have hit .220 for the Pirates and been the difference in ’79. He hit .291 for the Bucs after escaping from the Mets. He was a slick fielder who could also bust a move…is that a new disco dance or was Foli a European folk dancer in his spare time?

By: CMcFood

CMcFood — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 01:02:24 +0000

12. Don't forget Rob Picciolo. Don't EVER forget Rob Picciolo. One year in the late 70's I was sitting in the outfield bleachers of the Oakland coliseum watching a terrible A's team with a couple friends when a couple of younger kids nearby started talking about how badly Rob Picciolo sucked. I turned to them and said "Rob Picciolo is my dad.", after which they changed their tune and started singing his praises. After a while, they asked me if he really was my dad, to whicj I replied "If he was my dad, do you think I'd be sitting out here in the cheap seats?"

By: Josh Wilker

Josh Wilker — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 19:50:07 +0000

11. 7, 9: My favorite facet of late '70s Shea, and of my entire childhood, was the baseball-headed bullpen cart. If I was emperor of the world I'd decree that these be brought back into use. Also, below, in its entirety, is a response to the Tim Foli profile that I just received via email: "Josh, good for you for having rebeled, or at least resisted, building a tool box as directed to by the shop teacher. As stated in the attached article, people don't develop all their potential if they can't make decisions in their communities. ... instructions issued from hierarchical structures 'prevent people's complete development, both individual and collective. If people are prevented from using their minds within the workplace (or school) you have what Marx described as the crippling of body and mind, (people) who are fragmented, degraded, alienated...' dad"

By: Catfish326

Catfish326 — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 19:31:07 +0000

10. Josh, right on. There really was something different about that era. Other shortstops of a similar mold that come to mind include Mario Mendoza (this guy fascinates me with the whole Mendoza-Line thingy), Bobby Wine, Chris Speier (who was once traded for Foli straight up), Dal Maxvill, Frank Taveras (loved he speed though), Mike Tyson, Jim Mason, Fred Chicken Stanley, Frank Duffy, Tom Veryzer, Freddie Patek (again speed helps), Danny Thompson, Mike Miley....you could probably just keep going and going. Back then, I'm surprised that they didn't implement the DH to replace the shortstops!

By: Ennui Willie Keeler

Ennui Willie Keeler — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 19:20:59 +0000

9. 7. I didn't realize that the OF walls were green back then. I have a book on stadiums called Green Catherdrals (SABR membership has its priveliges). Perhaps I should actually read it.

By: Josh Wilker

Josh Wilker — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 19:13:10 +0000

8. 4 Yeah, I also always thought of Bowa as a slight cut above the standard light-hitting shortstop. One thing that stands out about that list is how many shortstops from the "Cardboard God" era are on it: Brinkman, Kessinger, Foli, Griffin, Bowa. And I can think of some other shortstops from that time who can't be too far away from that top ten: Belanger, Metzger, Harrelson. And Burleson and Dent weren't exactly Miguel Tejada, either. What a time to be a good-field, no-hit shortstop!

By: mbtn01

mbtn01 — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 19:08:50 +0000

7. I'm pretty sure that's Shea, before the walls went blue. They have a cutout at the bullpens, which is what we're seeing. George Michael is better at photo recognition than me. My interest are those awful and fascinating 1979 Mets.

By: spudrph

spudrph — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 18:32:03 +0000

6. As always, great stuff.

I especially like:

“This was what life was going to be like from now on. You are going to be asked to do things you don’t want to do and won’t know how to do.”

How true.

Have you seen the ESPN spot where the kid is sorting baseball cards at the table? They look to me to be early 1980s cards, but the only name I could pick out was Gorman Thomas.

The other thing this reminds me of is Angell’s description of Foli and Phil Garner looking like a couple of pugnacious bartender/infielders from the 1890s.

By: Ennui Willie Keeler

Ennui Willie Keeler — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:49:57 +0000

5. mbtn01, I thought the pic was from a spring training game. That doesn't look like SHea to me. PS - it looks like you can take over for George Michael (the Sports Machine guy, not the Arrested Development character or singer). His hobby is IDing baseball photos.