Random Card of the Day

Couple things that should probably be mentioned.

1. Not terribly surprising that the local newspaper put out a card set for the collegiate summer league team. These players usually form a pretty close bond with the town and local residents during the two/three months they are there for baseball. Usually, these are smaller locations so this is as close as a town like Keene (population 20,000) will get to professional baseball players. Additionally, the players stay with host families and typically take an active role in the community (summer camps, "Baseball Buddies", etc.). Nice article here about the connection to the community.

2. The Swamp Bats play in the New England Collegiate Baseball League. You've heard of the Cape Cod League? This is pretty darn close to that level - with a few more teams. The NECBL has a partnership with Major League Baseball, and is actually right behind the Cape Cod as far as competitiveness. These guys are pretty good baseball players. That said, this is a collegiate league, not minor league. These are college players competing for the summer. They have not yet been signed, drafted, or otherwise affiliated with a minor league team.

3. Swamp Bats is a local legend, according to the team's donation page: The Swamp Bat is a mystical creature. According to legend it lives in the shadows of a small pond in Keene, N.H., known as Wilson or Bent Pond. And, the story goes, this winged creature comes out only on nights when the lights of Alumni Field are turned on. I don't know a whole lot about the last line, but I would assume that since the team has been known as the Swamp Bats since their inception in 1997, they aren't going for anything other than another local connection to their community. 

Hope this helps anyone who may be unfamiliar with collegiate summer baseball! 

I wonder if he's the same Steve Blackwood that is on Days Of Our Lives?  His face looks very similar.  Might be a relative if it isn't him.  He started on the soap in 2003, which if he baseball career only lasted as long as this card, the timing could be right.

Crazy thing to me is that this card is over 20 years old.