Wednesday, March 31, 2010

#157 - Pedro Borbon

Card fact: I just looked up all of Borbon's Topps cards. He is not smiling on any of them. None.

What I thought about this card then: I did not like Pedro Borbon as a kid. He played for the Big Red Machine, which I hated. And he had that damn Grinch look on his face all the time. He seemed most unpleasant. I wished him ill.

What I think about this card now: I'm not as anti-Borbon as I once was, but I'm still wondering why he couldn't muster a smile for a single card.

Other stuff: Pedro Borbon was a reliable relief pitcher for the vaunted Reds teams of the 1970s. He put up some impressive season win totals for a reliever, which is a testament to his offense.

Borbon's son, also named Pedro, pitched nine years in the majors, including a season for the Dodgers in 1999. I wasn't aware he lasted so long in baseball.

Now, when you mention Pedro Borbon, folks will mention two things:

1. The "Airplane" movie line: "Pinch hitting for Pedro Borbon, Manny Mota ... Mota ... Mota."
2. The fact that he tore apart a Mets cap with his teeth during the 1973 NLCS Rose-Harrelson brawl between the Reds and Mets.

Back facts: I should keep track of how often the Dodgers are mentioned in the cartoon. It has to be almost in double figures now. There are also a lot of guns in these cartoons.

Other blog stuff: Shirley Partridge, a.k.a., Shirley Jones, was born on this date in 1934. The Partridge Family actually was off the air by 1975. Fortunately, I have never seen an episode.

6 comments:

Play at the Plate said...

A couple of card-back points.

1. I may be showing my cultural stupidity, but what's up with (Rodriguez) in parenthises?
2. I wonder how many cards in Topps history have the word cog on them? I'll bet it's not many.
3. I hate hurling...I would really hate doing it ever day.

night owl said...

The Spanish tradition is to give a child two last names. Most often the last name is the child's father's name and the name in parantheses is the child's mother's name.

Play at the Plate said...

Thank you sir.

fredbeene said...

this little article on pedro from baseball digest will confirm the 'anger' : )

http://books.google.com/books?id=yDMDAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA6&ots=q2z1jxbz8h&dq=johnny%20bench%20baseball%20digest&pg=PA28#v=onepage&q=johnny%20bench%20baseball%20digest&f=false

page 28

La Reina Borbon Sanchez said...

Hi, this Pedro Borbon's daughter, Gabriela.. to this day.. it sometimes takes alot of work to make him smile in pictures.. ;) But when u get to know him hes all JOKES.. even when he is saying a joke he don't laugh..which makes it funnier..

night owl said...

Thank you for your comment. I think the serious look added to my perception of how competitive he was, which I'm sure batters saw, too.

Sounds like he has a dry sense of humor, which I find very funny, too.