Tony Gwynn Has a Beer

And it is good. 

There are some things in life I enjoy more than baseball cards, and one of them is definitely beer. Craft beer, specifically. I was delighted to merge a couple of my big interests recently when I spotted this imperial (i.e. souped up) version of a Tony Gwynn beer brought you by San Diego's Alesmith Brewing Company. San Diego is home to a number of excellent breweries (and seems to be ground zero for the war between Craft Beer and Craft Beer Sellouts), so I felt comfortable in my purchase.

Is it any good? Yes, it was pretty good! I am enjoying the remnants of this bottle right now. It starts off both bready and hoppy, with the unmistakable flavor of a West Coast IPA. (To me, the distinction between Imperial Pale Ale and Imperial IPA can be pretty difficult to draw once it comes down to the drinking part.) It's a beer worthy of the Hall of Famer himself, and I would certainly recommend it if you happen across it in a store or on tap somewhere.

Should I do more beer reviews? Find me some more baseball-themed beers!

Up For Grabs: Tony Gwynn

Here's another edition of the Up For Grabs series. Tony Gwynn is very popular among blogger-collectors, so this stash is mostly going to be comprised of stuff that isn't so hard to find or sought after, with maybe an exception or two. As always, the full list of cards available follows at the end of this post.

I was always a Gwynn fan. The Padres were always an interesting, though usually non-threatening west coast team for me to casually follow. Basically, they weren't the hated Dodgers or Giants, but still played games in my time zone. When I was in high school, they went through a uniform redesign and also engaged in some Marlins-esque tactics (spending money and then holding a subsequent fire sale.)

Tony Gwynn stuck around his entire career and never really experienced the late career dropoff that nearly all of his peers would experience. His speed did leave him fairly early on, as it does most offensive-minded players, and his best stat (batting average) was overvalued in his day. Still, it's really hard to find anyone who doesn't like Tony Gwynn.

Community Gum runs an occasional series called "If I Were to Collect". Gwynn is one of those guys I'd probably collect if I were to start collecting baseball players who have no connection to the Cardinals again. That's a dangerous path to follow, though. Dangerous path.

The list:

1990 King B Discs #3
1988 Fleer #585
1987 Topps Glossy All-Star #6
1996 Bazooka #124
1992 Topps #270
1991 Donruss #243 [2 available]
1995 Topps Stadium Club (Extreme Corps Red) #508 [5 available]
1992 Fleer #605
1990 Donruss #86 [2 available]
1990 Donruss MVP #BC-4 [2 available]
1990 Topps (All-Star) #403
1989 Donruss (Diamond King) #6 [8 available]
1988 Donruss MVP #BC-6 [6 available]
1991 Score #500
1989 Topps #570 [2 available]
1989 Score #90
2011 Topps Diamond Giveaway Code #TDG-11
1990 Topps #730
1988 Donruss #164 [3 available]
1988 Score #385 [3 available]
1987 Topps #530
1987 Topps (All-Star) #599
1990 Fleer #157 [2 available]

[updated 2/14/13]