Comments on: Skip Jutze, 1976

By: Josh Wilker

Josh Wilker — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:28:10 +0000

17. 16 : Thank YOU for the story, GB5HOF.

By: GB5HOF

GB5HOF — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:27:53 +0000

16. Seeing this exact Skip Jutze card just shot me back almost 25 years to when I was 10 years old. My parents had recently divorced and they sold the home I'd grew up in. A home in a neighborhood near all of my friends. My Dad moved into a crummy apartment complex and my Mom and I moved into a small condo far away from my friends, but still in the same school district. That summer I spent the majority of my time by myself, sorting my own Cardboard Gods and watching the old ESPN "Baseball's Classic Games" hosted by George Grande on ESPN. I'd watch and rewatch them all day. One day I was bored and decided I was going to bury a "time capsule" in the woods behind the condo. I grabbed a ziplock bag and put all kinds of little trinkets, notes, etc into the bag and buried it out back. This Skip Jutze card was in that bag. I always liked the card because of his name, the Astroturf, the horrible stats, the orange batting helmet, and the wild look of those old Astro uniforms. Anyway...this card just jarred some memories I haven't thought of in many years. That was the lonliest of summers, but it was a time in my life where my baseball cards were of great comfort. Thanks for the great stories Josh. Keep them coming.

By: ramblin pete

ramblin pete — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:29:58 +0000

15. Hmm. “canadiansagainsthockey” is an interesting moniker.

I’m considering changing mine to “americansagainsthockeymoms.”

Long live the ORIGINAL “Carboard Gods!”

By: Josh Wilker

Josh Wilker — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:42:18 +0000

14. 11 : Thanks for checking in from Vancouver, canadiansagainsthockey. My most vivid memory of Eck as an A was him mowing down the Red Sox in the '88 playoffs with absolutely no resistance whatsoever from the hopeless batters. 12 : Ha! 13 : Best of luck, sansho1. Thanks for sharing those thoughts.

By: sansho1

sansho1 — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 05:02:09 +0000

13. I’m about to start my own business. It’s a small thing — a company of one. My work isn’t in a growth industry, and I’m not a natural salesperson, but I’ve made a few contacts and I do my job well — I hope that to be enough to carve out a little something. All of my savings is going towards the start-up, and if I fail I’ll be living in someone’s basement in six months.

So it’s with all that in mind that I read this:

“The worst thing in the world is if you start feeling like you’ve somehow got to a point in your life when you can’t make any more mistakes.”

Those words perfectly encapsulate my anxiety, but there’s an element of challenge in them that helps inspire me to push onward. So thanks, Josh.

By: spudrph

spudrph — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:21:16 +0000

12. If Cardboard Gods is wrong, then I don't want to be right.

By: canadiansagainsthockey

canadiansagainsthockey — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:11:12 +0000

11. Hi there, just got turned onto your blog by a new friend here in Vancouver. Thanks for the Eckersley entry, I spent many a childhood night at the Coliseum, heart pounding as Eck toted his sub 1 ERA onto the mound and continued the myth of the closer. I've since become a Red Sox fan, but the mystery of the game will always be in Oakland for me. Thanks for the reminder of that.

By: Josh Wilker

Josh Wilker — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:23:43 +0000

10. 5 : Something wrong . . . or possibly something very, very right. I go back and forth on that one. Anyway I'm glad those Astros uniforms existed. 6 - 9 : Thanks, gents. That's much appreciated.

By: Brewer Bertram

Brewer Bertram — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:13:37 +0000

9. That’s the Josh Wilker I’ve come to enjoy reading nearly every day for the last couple months. You’re excellent at what you do. My wife, who suffers from bipolar disorder and battles daily with writing and trying (not necessarily in that order) has said one thing to me that is most important in dealing with writing.

You need a voice.

You’ve got one, Josh. No one else on the internet is swinging this stick, and I can tell you from being a bookstore wanderer, I don’t think anyone else outside of the web is either.

As Andrew “Dice” Clay used to say, “You’re the Goods.” Keep swinging, Josh, you’re loved.

By: Joe Romano

Joe Romano — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:54:50 +0000

8. Josh, For as long as you continue writing about the Cardboard Gods, I'll be along for the ride.