Swing Time Philately

GOLF--SOFTBALL (founded 21 January 1991) INFORMATION BULLETIN (30th volume, edition 2020-2)

Correspondence: Members of: Rob van Tuyl N.V.v.P.V. Website: www.swing-time.info Bartokhof 16 Sports Philatelists International (USA) Webmaster: 2402 GE Alphen a/d Rijn Research: Ad van Sinttruijen (NL) The Netherlands Rob van Tuyl (NL) E-mail: [email protected] Tel. 31 172-420453

E-mail: [email protected] Leon Vanverre (B) PayPal: [email protected] Bulletin: Rob van Tuyl (NL) Postage: ING: NL31INGB0001846342 Ad van Sinttruijen (NL) Rob van Tuyl (NL) BIC ING: INGBNL2A Translation: Hendrik-Jan van Telgen (NL) ABN-AMRO: NL57ABNA0545626668 BIC ABN-AMRO: ABNANL2A

Dear Members, An eventful year is drawing to a close and I hope that you have all remained free from the Corona virus which has caused havoc and which has resulted in a disrupted economy in some sectors: closing of bars, restaurants, theatres, no festivals, no audience with sports matches, even no amateur competition sport in, no or hardly any holiday opportunities, etc. We are eagerly looking forward to 2021 as more and more positive reports are coming in about the reliability of vaccines. In this issue all kinds of information, including a number of nice baseball items provided by Ad van Sinttruijen. Also a column about Covid-19, Golf at the top, Long Drives and Swing Time Philately’s 30-years-anniversary in 2021. Our Canadian member David Schulz also sent us an extensive baseball article (thank you David) entitled Taking a Swing at Baseball Philately (which will be sent to each baseball member individually). In December you will all receive the new set of catalogue sheets golf or baseball, as well as the Information bulletin and the Golf and Baseball indexes by email. You will all be asked to transfer the annual contribution (€ 27.50, same as previous years) and the amount due to cover the costs of the catalogue sheets and postage. It would be very nice if all current members will remain a member of the club in 2021. It should be mentioned that there are three members who, for reasons of their own, no longer collect stamps remain a member because they have always enjoyed the club and see it as a small help to keep the club going. This is highly appreciated. Also on behalf of Ad van Sinttruijen and Hendrik-Jan van Telgen, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a healthy and prosperous 2021. Rob van Tuyl

COVID-19 High tension around the world. When will the anti-virus vaccine be permanently and, above all, safely available? It appears to be going into the right direction, but that does not apply to all countries in the world. It goes without saying that it has an enormous impact on the economy. As far as sport is concerned, there are some special deviations and, of course, money plays an - too - important role in relation to health. For instance take the ski areas in France, Switzerland and Austria. The first two countries have closed the slopes for a longer period, but Austria wants to open the slopes asap.

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Empty stadiums, sports halls, but Formula 1 races in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi continue as usual. Although under strict supervision, as the entire F1-circus consists of 1,700(!) staff and Bahrain has a complete lockdown. Why do in the Netherlands men were allowed to play soccer at the highest level (with many infections in the first weeks), but the women were not allowed to play? That measure was reversed after protests and the women's competition is now resumed. Still the question remains why the field hockey for men and women is not resumed, as football has more physical contact than hockey. In The Netherlands, the baseball competition and the Dutch Golf Open have also been cancelled. In America, a limited audience is again allowed for golf and watching a golf game without audience on TV is bearable, unlike empty baseball and football stadiums. Many soccer clubs now provide background audience noise in the empty stadium, which saves one from hearing the mutual screaming of players on the field, because that is really disturbing and less attractive. People eagerly await the ‘back-to-normal’ situation. Let's hope the year 2021 will bring more joy to everyone but let’s put health first.

LA DODGERS WINNER WORLD SERIES This year, the may call themselves the best baseball club in the world. In the sixth game of the World Series, the decisive fourth (3-1) win was reached against the Tampa Bay Rays, securing the first championship since 1988 with a final score of 4-2.

Dutch national team (33) is part of the roster of the champion, but in the deciding game the pitcher didn't play. Before the eighth inning, a very remarkable incident occurred when Justin Turner was taken from the field, because during the game it became known that he had tested positive for the corona virus. Therefore, the third baseman missed the instant revelry at the end of the game, although he did return for a team photo (see below). The game was still undecided when Turner had to leave. Until the sixth inning, Tampa Bay had hopes for a seventh game thanks to a homerun by Randy Arozarena. After starting pitcher Blake Snell was taken off the mound, the Dodgers seized their opportunity. Austin Barnes took advantage of a wild pitch, then Mookie Betts also dove home a few minutes later. In the eighth inning, Betts hit another homerun.

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‘The only thing that could have made it even better was to be in our own Dodger Stadium now,’ said pitcher Clayton Kershaw. The entire series was finished at Globe Life Field, the home of Texas Rangers, because of the corona pandemic. Approximately 11,500 fans were allowed per game. The corona infection of Turner was a blemish on the play-offs for the organization. For nearly two months, not a positive test had been reported in this so-called baseball bubble. ‘I think it has been a great achievement for our players to finish this season,’ MLB commissioner Rob Manfred complimented the clubs. Incident The fact that Turner returned to the field afterwards, caused quite a stir. The player said he ‘felt great’ and, despite his contamination, even took off his face mask amidst his teammates.

Justin Turner on the field celebrating with the team after testing positive for coronavirus

GOLF AT THE TOP In the recent past, we reported exclusively about Joost Luiten who to date has won six tournaments and even gained the 32nd place in the world ranking. Some ugly injuries have thrown him back considerably and now his game knows ups-and-downs, finding him back on place 83. In addition to Joost, several players have tried to secure a permanent place on the European Pro Tour, but until last year those players dropped out in the qualifying school. However, five Dutchmen now play regularly on the European Tour.

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Most notable newcomer is Wil Besseling with some nice scores that put him at the 66th position in the Race to Dubai at the time of writing (after the Joburg Open). At the end of the season, this may entitle him to play the grand final of the European Tour in Dubai. In place 153 we find Darius van Driel who has a very difficult time on the Tour. It is fortunate for him that because of Covid-19 all cards are maintained this season and therefore he can gain experience at the highest level without any adverse effects. At the beginning of this year Lars van Meijel was doing well and made four cuts in five tournaments, collected some points but after the restart he has not yet been able to pick up the pace. For him too, there are no adverse consequences due to the frozen q-cards this season. Finally, we find Daan Huizing back on position 203. The main reason is that he is only sporadically allowed to play on the Tour, but after the corona-stop he hopes to take part more often. The results are lacking, although he has the potential and talent to break through and reach a higher level. If we look at the Dutch golf ladies, it is only limited to one top player, Anne van Dam. She is one of the rising stars on the European Women's Tour and has already won five titles. In 2019 she made the switch to America to play there on the LPGA Tour. She is now becoming known as a long-hitter. In November, CNN's golf program ‘Living Golf’ pays attention to the Dutch golf star, a sign that her status is growing.

DONALD TRUMP In the Netherlands too, we could take in every detail regarding the election battle between Trump and Biden in the United States. Incredible what all took place there. In March 2018, I was a guest marshal at hole 6 at the World Championship Golf played on the Trump Dural Golf Course in Miami, aka the Blue Monster with as final winner Dustin Johnson. There I also happened to meet course owner Donald Trump in the very luxurious clubhouse resp. hotel. Relaxed, shaking hands and a word for everyone; in short completely in his own comfort zone. Everything was big. Not only the gigantic clubhouse, but also a several meters-high statue (not of Trump) at the training centre and what about a small peninsula for the Trump helicopter. In this election campaign, Donald Trump still found time enough to play golf every now and then, including on his own course the Royal(?) Virginia Golf Club, where an 18-hole round only costs $ 30 at the weekend by the way. There was a film of it on TV where you can see him hit. To be fair, it didn't look too great considering a previously published article in which he reported that his handicap used to be 2.3!

LONG HITTING AT GOLF Over the years, golf balls are flying further and further. Drivers are getting better and better, partly due to the application of different and/or new materials, which means that the greens can be approached or even reached in fewer strokes than before. On many top courses, hole lengths have been increased, but not every course is suitable for this.

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Many years ago, John Daly once hit the ball from the tee on the green on a par 4 hole. That was an exception then, but today it is becoming increasingly common. For instance, check Bryson DeChambeau, hard hitter par excellence. On YouTube you can find a video with his 10 longest drives and most of them were hit during the Memorial Tournament of 2020 (Top 10: Bryson DeChambeau's Longest Drives). His longest drive was in Round 1 at Hole 1 with a length of 420 yards = 384 meters! With his height and considerable increase in body weight, he is already called the "hulk". In a slow-motion recording you can see how his body is completely twisted and that can’t be very good to your body in the long run. However, you don't always have to be tall and heavy built. Recently in November in South Africa, the relatively light-built Spaniard Larrazabal hit the ball with a huge swing from the tee box of a par 4, ball bouncing off the flagpole with the ball lying within a few meters before being holed out for birdie. Incidentally, DeChambeau is not very popular with some of his colleagues. Not because he is an unpleasant guy, but because he analyses every golf detail very extensively, which often leads to delay and annoyance. Therefore his other nickname is “The Mad Scientist”. Everything is reasoned and calculated. For example, he dipped his balls in liquid and sprinkled them with salt to see if there was no abnormality visible. On the driving range he had had his balls sprayed with a plant sprayer to simulate a ball with dew on the Trackman. His latest approach is that he extended the length of his driver to 48 inches, which is the maximum length allowed. In baseball, the improvement of equipment, led to the ban on metal bats in the Major League many years ago. There was no occasional homerun anymore, but homeruns became common and the stadiums could not expand. The back walls in the outfield were increased in height, but in the end the wooden bat was reintroduced, whereas here in the Netherlands the metal clubs are still allowed for play.

SWING TIME PHILATELY 30 YEARS In 2021 our club will be celebrating its 30th anniversary and that can certainly be called a milestone. Leon Vanverre and the undersigned started the club at the time with a handful of baseball and golf collectors with the aim whether an illustrated catalogue could be made for both sports. That meant a lot of research and with the already present encyclopaedical baseball knowledge of Leon, an attempt was made. Who would have thought that 30 years later, two extensive catalogues would have been created. Currently, the Baseball Catalogue comprises 6,522 images and an additional 497 Related-to-Baseball images with a total of 528 pages. The golf catalogue comprises ‘only’ 4,539 images plus 442 Related-to-Golf images at 391 pages. A grand total of 919 catalogue pages with 11,480 images. Apart from our club, there is also a catalogue for the table tennis collectors with 3314 images at 291 pages. In addition, a large number of Information Bulletins were published that were initially printed and mailed, among others with the help of Eric Visch. Many years ago the bulletin was published on the website swing-time.info by our webmaster Ad van Sinttruijen who also takes care of the layout of the bulletin. In view of our foreign members, everything also is translated into English and Hendrik-Jan van Telgen is doing a great job with this.

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Then there are the special offer lists for baseball/softball and golf, that are updated once or twice every year and from which your missing numbers can be ordered. For many years also an annual club meeting was organized, often in the clubhouse of the BSC Alphians, the baseball and softball club which I co-founded on June 2, 1976. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons members dropped out every year including unfortunately numerous members that deceased. As a result, the number of attendees became too small to justify the heating of a large clubhouse in the middle of winter and hiring canteen staff and the club meeting was therefore cancelled. The same was true for the annual golf tournament when the minimum number of participants could no longer be achieved. Very unfortunate because both the golf tournament and the club meeting were labelled as a very nice opportunity to meet other members. Incidentally, there still was some golfing now and then, albeit no longer as Swing Time Open but as a one day event, to meet many golfing members again. See whether we can repeat that again in 2021.

NEW MEMBERS After a long time, we can welcome two new members: baseball collector Brett Rudy (Wakefield, USA) and golf collector Mark Miller (Walnut Creek, USA). I already received enthusiastic responses from them regarding the very extensive golf and baseball catalogue

MISSING ITEMS LIST It is not for the first time that I am asking you to send me a missing items list if necessary. I see a lot of interesting worldwide offers but I am reluctant to purchase attractive golf or baseball numbers because I don't want to risk of getting stuck with them. In the current offer lists you sometimes see the remark by order. You can then request me to purchase these numbers. It is too difficult for me to take all new issues into stock. A deficiency list is a therefore a nice solution. Then I know what you are looking for and you have an overview of what you have in your collection. The coming period may be a good time to make an inventory and maybe make such a list. Good luck.

HARRY VARDON 1870 – 1937 150TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY 2020 marks the 150th birth anniversary of world-renowned Jersey golfer, Harry Vardon. One of golf's greatest ever players, Vardon won The Open a record six times from 1896 1o1914, and the US Open in 1900. 2020 also marks the 100 years since fellow Jerseyman and dual Open winner Ted Ray won the US Open in 1920. Six stamps show photographs of Harry Vardon throughout his career.

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A Miniature Sheet shows Harry Vardon and Ted Ray together with their respective Open and US Open victories.

ALEC MILLS THROWS NO-HITTER ' Alec Mills has thrown the second no-hitter of the season in the MLB. His team won the game against Milwaukee Brewers 12-0. It is the sixteenth time that a pitcher of the Cubs has not given up a single base hit. In the history of the MLB (1875-2020) a no-hitter has been thrown 305 times so far. Earlier this season, Lucas Giolito (White Sox) succeeded.

NEW HOMERUN BRINGS PUJOLS CLOSER TO THE TOP

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In the history of American , Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Alex Rodriguez are all illustrious baseball players who have written homerun records to their name. Since September 14, 2020 Albert Pujols is number five on that list. The 40-year old batter of Los Angeles Angels hit his 660th homerun in the game with (5-3 win), equalling Willie Mays in the all-time rankings. Bonds leads the list with 762 home runs, followed by Aaron (755), Ruth (714) and Rodriguez (696).

RECORD SCORE IN MLB: 29-9 Atlanta Braves and have set a record score (29-9) in the highest league of American baseball. Never before in the history of the professional MLB more runs have been recorded than the 38 during this game. Statistics like this have been officially kept since the year 1900 (!). The old record of 33 runs was set on September 2, 1957 by Chicago Cubs against the Milwaukee Braves (10-23) and was matched again fifty years later by Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles (3-30). The record of thirty points for one team was therefore just reached. In the 1950s both Red Sox and White Sox had already scored 29 points on the board before.

The old record of 33 runs dates back to 1957 GETTY

It was striking that two days before, the Braves had lost twice to the Marlins with in total only four runs in both games. After an 8-0 defeat in the last encounter, coach Brian Snitker decided to change his line-up considerably, with success. ‘Amazing’, said Freddie Freeman, who contributed significantly to the score with three hits (yielding six points). He was dumbfounded. ‘Difficult to put this into words when you look up and see 29 runs of your team on the score board.’ Few people can say that they witnessed the baseball party, as because of the corona pandemic the stands had to remain empty.

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INTERNATIONAL BERNADINA RETURNS TO DUTCH BASEBALL LEAGUE

After fourteen seasons, baseball international Roger Bernadina (36) returns to the Dutch big league. The former Major League-player joins the selection of Quick Amersfoort. At the age of 17, Bernadina signed a professional contract with the . He played a total of 548 games in the prestigious MLB for subsequently , , and Los Angeles Dodgers. Bernadina is the second international that Quick Amersfoort has captured in a short time. Two weeks ago, the club already announced the arrival of Ademar Rifaela.

WHITEY FORD (1928 -2020), LEGENDARY YANKEES PITCHER

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Edward Charles (Whitey) Ford died at the age of 91, on October 8, 2020. Whitey was a legendary pitcher for the New York Yankees who helped lead the Yankees to six World Series titles.

Yankees Legend Whitey Ford donned a New York Yankees uniform for his entire 16-year Major League Baseball career. The New York City born Ford holds the best winning percentage of any pitcher in the 20th century, with a record of 236 wins against only 106 losses. He is the winningest pitcher in Yankees history and was an important part of the dynasty that won six World Series titles in the 1950s and early 1960s. Ford still holds World Series records for games and starts, innings pitched, victories and strikeouts. He was a 10-time All-Star, won the Cy Young award in 1961 and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1974. Ford served in the Army during the Korean War. Though opposites in personality, the outgoing Ford and shy Yankees star Mickey Mantle were best friends and were known for their adventures out on the town.

Ford on his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame “It never was anything I imagined was possible or anything I dared dream about when I was a kid growing up on the sidewalks of New York.” “I never really thought I would make it as a kid because I always was too small.” – Ford from his 1987 autobiography ‘Slick,’ co-written with Phil Pepe

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