Custom Obscura-John Hairston

John Hairston played 3 games for the Cubs in 1969, one at catcher and two in the outfield.  He was drafted by the Cubs in 1965.  He played in the minors for two years following his three games with the Cubs with the Cleveland and Oakland systems.  He is the son of Sam Hairston, the brother of Jerry Hairston Sr. and the uncle of former Padres Scott and Jerry Hairston. 

Larry Bowa

Fiery and Intense are just a couple of the words used to describe Larry Bowa both as a player and manager. He managed the Padres for a season and a half, 1987 and 1988. He followed Steve Boros and was followed by Jack McKeon. I got the card signed through the mail years ago when he was managing the Phillies.

He was signed by the Phillies in 1965 as an amateur free agent for a $2,000 dollar bonus. He made his major league debut April 7, 1970 and then played for the Phillies until 1982. During that time he went to 5 All Star Games in '74,'75,'76,'78 and 1979, won two Gold Gloves and was part of the Phillies 1980 World Series winning team. In 1982 he was traded with a rookie named Ryne Sandberg to the Cubs for Ivan DeJesus. Bowa was released by the Cubs in 1985 and signed as a free agent with the Mets, playing in 14 games. Two years later he was named manager of the San Diego Padres and managed all of 1987 and part of 1988 before being replaced by Jack McKeon. He then managed the Phillies from 2000-2004, being named Manager of the Year in the National League in 2001. He finished managing with a .490 Winning percentage with a 418-435 record.

R.I.P. Dave Smith

It was announced today that former Astros and Cubs pitchers and Padres pitching coach Dave Smith has passed away. He died of a heart attack at age 53. He was named to the Astros all star Astrodome team and recorded double digit saves every year from 1985-1991, once reaching as high as 33. This is something of a shock as he is only two years older than I am.