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I cannot refuse to play baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, but I would if I could. I will support those who can, I will stand for the Black Lives Matter and not confuse it with the need to respect all lives. I will always feel a connection with the American Indian and the genocide of that Indian race in our nation. I will sympathize with the racism that affect the Chinese who built our railroads and the Japanese put in prison camps. I grew up in a black neighborhood, I spent time with my relatives on the reservation in Lac Court O'Reilles, WI. To deny racism is to be blind to the world around us. To say that racism exists in only one color of people would be wrong, but the record of treaties broken, of people sold and resold exceeds other stories. I want to trust the police, but they continue to disappoint me. I want to think that we have gone beyond lynching, but it is not acceptable to have white nationalists in uniform using guns instead of ropes. Destruction of property, looting, defacing the cities is not acceptable, but neither is the indignity of those who complain because freeways are blocked, because peaceful people with tears in their eyes deserve our sympathy and understanding. Baseball took half a century to recover from the racism of Cap Anson. It kidded itself that it was the great major league but was it. Who was better? When Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier with Branch Rickey and Larry Doby, it became a flood in the NL and suddenly we had Aaron, Robinson, Mays, Banks, and other great stars giving the NL a period of dominance. It should have been an awakening. The same was true of other sports and the NHL is still in the backwash of history. Sports have always been a measure of our nation and its progress. Despite our racism Jesse Owens in the Berlin Olympics was a great national victory. Louis over Schmeling was a blow to the Nazi claims of superiority. But the Black gloves held skyward in during their medal ceremony in the Olympic Stadium in Mexico City on October 16, 1968, by two African-American athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos offended many – it should not have. It was appropriate and is still meaningful. We have let hate stop the progress towards equality. We have let selfish motives block the rights of people easily identified by skin color as different. We should not be moving towards fascism; we should be moving towards compassion. Our nation should not be worshiping guns, but rather the opportunity of equal rights for all and I mean ALL. I am growing old with the candle of hope flickering in the winds of hate that have been unleashed in our nation. Please - is Peace and Love really a bad slogan to live by?

According to historian Jim Leeke, author of “From the Dugouts to the Trenches: Baseball During the Great War,” approximately 38 percent of active Major League players went on to serve, and eight current or former players were either killed in action or died of illness during the war. - library of Congress blog Teams played short handed, players paid a price for their heroism. The great Christy Mathewson did not get to action on the front - the war ended - but he was exposed to mustard gas in training and it was the cause of his early death. In WWII the leagues were short of players and scrambled for players to fill the rosters regardless of talent. 500 served, two died, and the record book was changed in many ways https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/sports/baseball/remembering-the-major-leaguers-who-died-in-world-war-ii.html Yogi Berra was at Omaha Beach, Wilhelm and Spahn at the Battle of the Bulge, and Bob Feller lost four prime years. Put those years on their resume and they become even more immortal in the baseball world. In Korea Whitey Ford, Willie Mays, and Don Newcombe served and Ted Williams flew 39 combat missions - how many hits and home runs is that worth? Players served in Vietnam War and have been part of every conflict. We do not have a baseball game to attend this year, but lets remember these men along with out relatives and neighbors on memorial day.

Baseball has been shelved thus far in 2020, and while we eagerly await the resumption of America’s greatest game, fans have been clamoring for other outlets. With MLB The Show 20 driving additional PlayStation sales and Topps cornering the card collecting market there’s been some decent alternatives. It wasn’t until Project 2020 though that turned one of those other avenues into an event.Traditionally Topps has released product on a scheduled basis throughout the calendar year. With the season itself being postponed, and production facilities being shuttered, the New York-based card company has had to get creative. Although this initiative was already underway prior to this global pandemic, Project 2020 has turned the noon hour into a mad dash on the internet for weeks. In an effort to blend baseball cards with artistic liberties Topps reached out to 20 different artists in hopes of having them reimagine 20 iconic rookie cards. Each day two new offerings become available until the entirety of the 400-card set is unveiled. They can only be purchased on Topps.com and are available for just 48 hours. Whatever number is bought are the exact number that is printed. Mike Trout’s cards have paved the way thus far, but it is one artist that I specifically have latched onto. Blake Jamieson, who himself resides in New York, did not debut until card number 18. His Nolan Ryan immediately set this thing on fire though. After only the initial Mike Trout and Ken Griffey Jr. cards topped the 2,000 print run plateau, Jamieson’s Ryan became the second-best selling card in the set. It was filled with color and was extremely appealing to the eye. From there his Don Mattingly and Jackie Robinson (appropriately dubbed card 42) have done awesome numbers as well. Instead of just observing from afar, I wanted to get to know Blake and find out a bit more regarding his connection to cards as well as baseball as a whole. He did an awesome interview with Beckett recently, and took the time to answer some questions for me here at Twins Daily. Twins Daily: Start from the ground up. As an artist you obviously draw inspiration from a handful of different sources. What describes your style and what are you hoping to portray in your pieces? Blake Jamieson: I am inspired by all different types of art (and things that are not art). But I think the biggest inspiration on my style is street art and graffiti. I find the magic in what other people might think are mistakes. In graffiti, we see that a lot because people are painting something in a hurry so to not be caught doing something illegal. I don't paint in the streets but try to take those same "imperfections" and apply them to my work on canvas. As for what I hope to portray, I guess I am trying to capture a moment and show a little more emotion or energy than you could get from a photograph. This is great for my work in sports portraits, where I am re-creating an iconic and important moment. Rather than an exact visual replication of that moment, from a certain perspective (photograph), I am trying to capture and show the energy from a ton of perspectives at one time. TD: How did you get connected with Topps, and specifically regarding baseball what drew you to the Project 2020 endeavor. BJ: About 6 months ago, I saw some work by an artist I really admire (Graig Kreindler) working with Topps. I thought that brand specifically (I grew up collecting Topps cards) could be a great partner to take my brand to the next level. Until then, I had done a ton of athlete portraits, but just 1/1 originals for the players themselves. I reached out to a few friends trying to find an introduction to someone at Topps. Those efforts came up completely dry. But later that week, Jeff Heckman (who is leading the Project 2020 efforts) sent me an email, asking if I'd like to chat about an upcoming project we could potentially work together on. That was Project 2020, and the rest is history now. Crazy how the universe works - with Topps reaching out to me the same week I became determined to work with them. Download attachment: Blake-Jamieson-In-Studio-05-HIGHRES.jpg TD: What does your baseball background look like? Who is your team, and what have been some of your best experiences with the sport? BJ: I grew up just north of San Francisco, in Marin County. My dad had season tickets to the Oakland A's, and I grew up idolizing Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco. I could identify players and teams by sight well before I could read. So my dad would take me into card shops when I was SUPER young (2-3 years old) and I was pointing at all the players listing their names, or the teams, and people thought I was some kind of prodigy. Rather, I just grew up with my dad showing me the ropes. We built a solid collection, which includes about 70K cards (every card between 1985-95). Then I kind of fell out of the hobby for a long time. But now with Project 2020, I am back in the game and it feels like I never left! Fortunately, my mom didn't throw away any of our collection, and it's super fun to dig through those old boxes now. It's a trip down memory lane, for sure! One of my favorite stories my dad likes to tell, is about how when I was young and we were at games, I learned very quickly that if I told a player he was my favorite player, he would usually give me a ball. Every time we came home from a regular game or spring training, we would have a whole bag of balls from everyone I talked to. I would also ask the players if they want MY autograph, after receiving theirs. They would always say yes, and I would write out BLAKE on a ball or something to give back to them. Man, if any of those players had a signed ball today still, that would be a trip! (and probably very valuable, haha) TD: Having created a few cards thus far, what has been some of the most difficult challenges in re-imagining iconic cards? What piece(s) are you most proud of and why? BJ: I think the Mariano Rivera card has been my biggest challenge (mentally) so far. Just because of the pose, I guess. I was having a difficult time visualizing what I am going to do with it. Mo was such an epic player, and there are so many great action shots that showcase that. But using the pic from the 1992 Topps card has caused me to think of other ways I can bring some energy to the card. I think I finally came up with a cool way to make that happen, but time will tell! TD: Looking at the Project 2020 offerings as a whole, how do you feel about the set and what do you hope is established between the art community and those interested in the baseball card hobby? BJ: I love everything about the project and the set. Mad respect for all the artists, and props to Topps for coming up with the concept. I think it will be the product of the year because it's bringing new life (and new attention) to a hobby that has not taken a ton of risks in recent history. It's so cool to hear people say things like "Blake, I love your art and have followed you for a long time. I haven't bought a baseball card in decades, but I just got yours... and now I am digging through old cards and taking a trip down memory lane!" And even for people who have never given up the hobby, I feel like as the set progresses, more and more of them are starting to get really excited. It was tough to visualize when only a few cards were out. But now that each artist has multiple releases, and you can start to see what an artist set of 20 could look like, it's gaining steam. I expect PRs to continue to climb, and these first 50 cards are going to be the SP an SSP of the entire set! Download attachment: DonMattingly_1984-Blake-Jamieson-WEB.jpg TD: Is there a particular card you have yet to put out that you're overly excited to work on or one specifically you have some great ideas in mind for? BJ: Trout is going to be epic. I have a few Easter eggs I am working in, that I think fans (who notice) will really appreciate. Also, my Mark McGwire is going to be nuts. The "Easter egg" is far less subtle in that one, but I think card collectors are going to flip out when they see it. TD: How has being quarantined throughout this process impacted your creative mindset? Have you found different outlets to draw inspiration from or is a sense of isolation generally how you work best? BJ: Honestly, I love working in isolation. I do miss occasionally having other artists over to my studio to collaborate, but I have filled that void by joining the card community online. I do live-streams every night from my studio at 10:23pm on YouTube (YouTube.com/blakejamieson). It's been something like 9 days in a row now, and it's what I look forward to most every day. The community there gets to help me choose colors, gives feedback and input on creative decisions, and it's literally like a giant collaboration that turns into art. The people on that stream have impacted the actual cards that Topps ends up printing, and that is just insane to think about. And for that reason, I feel more creatively stimulated than I have in a long time. TD: Finally, what is the greatest takeaway you want baseball fans to have in connecting with your art? BJ: Man, that's the hardest question on the list - to narrow it down to just one thing. I guess the greatest takeaway I could leave anyone with (baseball fan, or otherwise), is that it's never too late to take control of your own life and do what you love. I was 30 years old when I decided to quit a very lucrative corporate job to pursue my passion for art. I never went to art school, and I have no formal training in art. I am 35 now, and I've "worked" longer hours in that time than I ever did before, but as cliché as it sounds, it never feels like work. And in a short five-year span, I've managed to now be working with a company like Topps that I grew up only dreaming about. That's not because I have some God-given talent for making art. It's because I found something I loved doing so much that I was willing to spend long days and late nights teaching myself how to do it better than I could yesterday. Rinse and repeat. As of right now Topps has just surpassed the 50 card in the Project 2020 set. Two cards will continue to drop each day, Monday-Friday, until all 400 have been unveiled. There’s so many different way to collect or enjoy these offerings, and even just tuning in to look at the latest creations is a must. Blake is also giving away signed copies of his Jackie Robinson offerings on Twitter. Head here to enter. You can check out more of his work on his website here. 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I am always interested in the back stories – some of which are not typical baseball anecdotes. Each year now we celebrate #42 – in fact most of you reading this have already identified Jackie Robinson from his number and we can look at his Hall of Fame plaque and celebrate his strength of character as well as his baseball prowess. And there is no doubt his ten-year career is Hall Worthy. He averaged 6.1 WAR with a peak of 9.7 despite the hate and abuse he endured daily. His career average was .311 and he had just under 20 stolen bases per year at a time when his baserunning forced a change in the opposing teams fielding and pitching strategies. He had a career OPS+ of 132. Late summer saw pitcher Dan Bankhead join Jackie on the team. Of course, he was not the first black player in the majors – that would be Moses Fleetwood Walker of the Toledo Blue Stockings, however, because of the racism of the game’s biggest star – Cap Anson – he was forced not to play against the Chicago team and it established a racist code that would not be broken until Robinson over a half century later. Yes, I do resent Anson and I admit that he was not the only racist, but no one else had his leverage or sought to use it like he did. Mid-season of 1947 the American League brought in it’s first black player – Larry Doby with the Cleveland Indians. He had played for the Newark Eagles in the Negro League and like Jackie, served in the war before breaking in to MLB. In his second season with Cleveland he was joined by the already ancient – Satchell Paige – and they won the world series. He accumulated 49.6 WAR in 12 ½ years with a 286 BA and 135 OPS+. He too is in the Hall of Fame. Less recognized was Hank Thompson and Willard Brown who played for the St Louis Browns in 1947. Coming in two days apart they were the third and fourth African American players to integrate the game. Thompson was a third baseman with seven seasons in the Negro Leagues and was known for his strong arm. He played nine years of MLB before being sold to the Minneapolis Millers. He achieved 24.8 WAR in 8 ½ years batting 267 with a 116 OPS+. When Brown joined him it was the first game with two African Americans starting for one team. “Home Run” Brown had played in the Negro Leagues for 13 years before coming to MLB and he opened his career with an inside the park home run, but racism drove him from the game and back to the Negro Leagues. 1948 saw the Dodgers add another Hall of Famer – Roy Campanella and Cleveland add Hall of Famer Satchel Paige. Campanella suffered a terrible car accident and paralysis to end his career. The Catcher had 34.1 WAR for 10 years, batted 276, averaged 24 homeruns and had 123 OPS+. How does his stats match up with Mauer before his concussion? Roy had three MVPs. Entering 1949 only three teams had added black players and only one team – The New York Giants with a very old Monte Irvin would add to the ranks. Irvin had only 7 1/2 years left on his Hall of Fame career, but he made the most of them with 21.3 WAR, 293 BA, and 125 OPS+. The other teams that had black players added to their rosters too. Minnie Minoso joined the Cleveland Indians and should be in the Hall of Fame. He had 50.3 WAR, nine times an all-star, a 298 average and OPS+ of 130. Luke Easter was 33 and played only three full seasons out of six that he appeared in with 9.3 WAR, 274BA and 125 OPS+ . The Dodgers added too – Don Newcombe. Newcombe would go 149 – 90, 3.56 ERA with 38 WAR in 10 years with a two year military service breaking up the consecutive years of playing. Going in to the 1950’s the braves added Sam Jethroe in centerfield. He would achieve 8.7 WAR in three years and was 33 when he debuted. In 1951 the league had its biggest surge in black players. The Braves added Luis Marquez, the Giants Ray Noble and Artie Wilson, and a guy named Willie Mays! I do not need to give Mays stats to remind you of his status. The White Sox joined the list of teams with two signings in 1951 – Sam Hairston and Bob Boyd, while the Indians continued to add with pitcher Sam Jones (102- 101). Entering the 1952 season there were 16 teams and only six had African-American players. In 1953 Philadelphia (Now Oakland) A’’s added Bob Trice and the Cubs hit the jackpot with Ernie Banks! This meant half the teams now had crossed the colored barrier. 1954 saw that jump to ¾ when Curt Roberts signed with the Pirates, Tom Alston with the Cardinals, Nino Escalero and Chuck Harmon joined the Reds and Carlos Paula signed with our predecessors – the Senators. The Yankees finally moved in 1955 with Elston Howard, a terrific catcher, who might have been a HOF except for having to share a position with Yogi Berra. John Kennedy signed with the Phillies in 1957 leaving just two teams without African American representation. Detroit with the largest African American population of any city in the US was next to move and signed Ozzie Virgil, Sr in 1958! It took the team 11 years to get the courage or rather to overcome their biases. And this left Boston. It was 1959 when the last team broke the color barrier and signed Elijah "Pumpsie" Green. Green pinch-ran for Vic Wertz in a 2-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox. Later in 1959 Earl Wilson became the first black pitcher to play for the Boston Red Sox. According to baseball historians the Red Sox held a try out for Jackie Robinson in 1945 but decided not to sign him. They could have been first but ended up last and certainly lost out on a lot more. Jackie led the Dodgers to six pennants and one World Series victory in his 10 seasons in Brooklyn. We know how long it took the Red Sox to get their series title. As bad as that miss was, two years later, the Red Sox had a chance to sign Willie Mays, but passed again. Pumpsie Green retired in 1963 after five seasons in the big leagues, four in Boston and one as a sub for the New York Mets. He hit .246 added 2.9 War, 721 OPS. Think of what this initial class meant to baseball – Hall of Famers: Jackie Robinson, Larry Doby, Satchel Paige, Roy Campanella, Ernie Banks, Monte Irvin, and Willie Mays. Add to that list Hank Aaron who also debuted in the Negro League before signing with the Braves. Plus all-stars – Elston Howard and Minnie Minoso. Considering the time from Fleetwood Walker to Jackie Robinson it is acceptable to look at the baseball records with some question marks.