Top Thirteen Goodness: The Best of FoC in 2010

Well, it's the end of the year and that means one thing: "best of" lists. I was going to do a ten best list but, as Sam of 11 Points says, "Top ten lists are for cowards". Since 11's his thing and besides, "Top Eleven Goodness" can't be abbreviated TTG, I decided on twelve. I was unsure between two posts for the final spot so I expanded it to thirteen. I'll be following this up with a "worst of" list...

13) Brian Johnson and Jeff Pearlman: Personal Heroes

This one was about my admiration of forward-thinking former Padres catcher Brian Johnson and his friend: author, sportswriter and blogger Jeff Pearlman


12) Fried Chicken And A Puddle

It's a story John Kruk once told me about him and Tony Gwynn. I thought about using a different Tony post for this list just because I managed to sneak a Bruce Springsteen video in it but I think this one is ultimately better.
11) 7 Random Facts About Garry Templeton

The day before, I asked readers what card I should write about next. There was a choice between five players and Templeton tied with Steve Finley. The comments were used as a tiebreaker.

10) A 'n' G Lies

This post about an Allen & Ginter of former face of the franchise Adrian Gonzalez combines two of my favorite things: Guns 'n' Rose's G 'n' R Lies album and badmouthing Jake "Cy Young, Dumb and Full Of Cum" Peavy.

9) Everybody Loves Blummer (No Pressure, No Problems)

I really enjoyed writing this one. It was a follow-up to the previous day's Sean Burroughs And My Hatred Of The Word "Potential". It's less about Blum and Burroughs than it is about expectations and how they skew perceptions.

8) This Tuesday's Guest: SDPads1 from RJ's Fro on Wally Joyner

Just what it sounds like. In FoC's second guest spot, SDPads1 of RJ's Fro and .400 In '94 wrote about Wally World's tenures in San Diego as both a player and as a hitting coach.
7) Ten Trivia Gems

Featuring ten pieces of information you may or may not know about Padres history. Pictured are four cards: two Caminitis, a Greg Vaughn and a Sean Burroughs. Since this was a May post, even Burroughs was rocking some beard.

6) This Thursday's Guest: Steve From White Sox Cards on Shawn Abner

As the title states, Steve from the excellent White Sox Cards blog wrote about former Number 1 draft pick Shawn Abner who spent time with both clubs among others. It was FoC's third guest post.

5) The Klesko Facial Hair Chronicles: Volumes 1 (Facehawk), 2 (Chopgoat), 3 & 4 (Circlegoats) and 5 (Chinblock and Soul Triangle)

While this was four posts, I'll count it as one since it was a series spread out over a few days. It was part of The Month Of The Beard festivities.

4) Archi!

This was the first of three guest posts this year. It was written by Friars fan and friend of the site Alex Kasendorf. It's about watching games with his dad when he was a lad.

3) The FoC 100th Post Celebratory Review and Beardstravaganza

This post came near the end of May (a.k.a. Beard Month). It includes fourteen cards featuring various stages of beardedness.


2) My Month In Zanesville (Featuring Token Mentions of Jay Payton & Chris Young)

This is one of the longest FoC posts ever. It mentions when Chris Young nearly threw a no-hitter while I was spending 30 days in Jay Payton's hometown. It includes excerpts from letters I wrote home during that month.

1) Baseball Heals All Wounds (A Tale Of Joey Cora, My Mom & Me)

This is my favorite thing I've ever written. It's a heartwarming (gasp!) story about how baseball brought my mother and I back together. I wrote it on her birthday.