Look Out Disney We Got Boxed Pin Sets Three

Boxed Pin Sets Are Just For Fun. Playball!

 Some boxed pin sets were not commemorative in their release.  Many were just playfully fun. Take the ones that are sports related.  Many of the Disney characters have been depicted in various sports attire.  My brother has lots of Goofy golfing equipment.  The boxed pin sets focused on the many team sports popular in the United States.
There is no sport bigger than football.  To the World football is what we in the United States call soccer.  While we are making progress in youth soccer and even soccer at college and World Cup Levels, we have very little fan interest in soccer.  To us football is a rough and tumbled game of gaining ground on your opponent.

I like that person in charge of keeping the game played by the rules, referee
Donald Duck, is probably the most volatile tempered character.

My favorite sport is baseball.  It is a game played without a clock.  A game could go on forever.  There is something magical about nine innings and three out per inning.  A team can stay at bat forever if no outs are recorded.  And if there is a tie you play until there is a winner, but everyone gets an equal opportunity to try to break the tie.  What a game.

All baseball umpires are Goofy.

Another major team sport is basketball.  When the Disney characters go out and hit the hardwood, what position do you think they will play.  Who would be the best ball handler?  Who would you put at forward and center? The Disney characters look pretty athletic.  Except maybe Goofy, if you've seen any of his cartoons and even movies, you know he is plagued by unfortunate events. So let's lace them up, take off the sweats, and hit the court.

Check out the bumps on the basketball

It looks like Mickey is a great little point guard.  Look at that ball handling! Donald, let's make him the two guard.  Look at the drive to the hoop and that finger roll.  Goofy, center all the way, he just needs to improve his foot work.  At the strong forward, Daisy Duck, can you she her going up strong for a slam dunk.  That is an ESPN highlight for Sports Center. Coach of the Year drawing out those X's and O's, Minnie Mouse with her leading the team they will be in the finals.
Some of the sports are legendary.  Remember the Mudville Nine?  They had a great slugger, The Mighty Casey.  Every baseball team reaches that moment when you reach your last opportunity to win the game.  That is what make baseball so compelling.  The home team bats last.  The have the chance to win or tie the game.  Teams and fans alike just hope that they can get their best player up at bat in that situation.  This is exactly what occurred to the Mudville Nine in the poem, Casey at the Bat by Ernest Thayer.  The poem has been depicted in movies, on the radio, and on television.  I have even read it to my students.  The Disney Studios made a cartoon of the poem in 1946. It is this version that most of us remember.

The sneer is gone from Casey's lip, his teeth are clenched in hate;

He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.

And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,

And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;

The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,

And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;

But there is no joy in Mudville — mighty Casey has struck out.

Many of us learned the lesson that overconfidence can have tragic results.

We all love sports.  We love playing them and we love watching them.  I have a love, as you probably can tell, for everything Disney.  People often ask me why?  I tell them, "Mickey Mouse is reality and everything else is fantasy.  Seeing my favorite characters involved in sports gives me a connection with them.  Mickey Mouse is always smooth and cool.  Minnie Mouse is intelligent and active many times with her friend Daisy Duck.  Donald gets easily flustered and rages against circumstances beyond his control.  Goofy is adventuresome and does it all.  But he is like most of us he is on the edge of disaster.
Next time we will look at boxed pin sets, we explore sets that deal some of our favorite holidays.  Thank you for sharing your time with me.  If you have pins you would like to see just leave a comment letting me know.  Until then see you at Disneyland.