Random Card of the Day

Hero had two definitions...the one mentioned in multiple comments, but it also refers to someone you admire and aspire to be like. I'm quite sure the latter is the one that applies here.

I agree. I grew up with the Mick as a hero, and my daughter's first baseball hero was Darryl Strawberry, and we all know the demons that took hold of them. At least Jr. has not experienced that. On the other hand, we have heroes like Ted Williams and others who took time off from baseball to enlist in WWII and Korea. Do we have any of those currently? Players who took time off to go to Iraq or Afghanistan, and then came back and made it in the bigs?

To Billy, thank you for clarifying.  Yes there are athletes I admire and believe are role models and heroes in the second definition.  

To JoeBoe, there were a few athletes that went to Korea but the only major athlete that I know of to go into the military since then was Pat Tillman.  He was a football player that enlisted after 9/11 and was killed in action back in 2004.

It's a cool looking card. It reminds me of a description plaque or a placard for a work of art displayed in a gallery.  But "Hero", yes to a young player who aspires to become a great star player.  "American Hero," not so much, he has served for our entertainment not for our freedoms. 

Former NBA player Marshall Plumlee joined the military last year, and former NASCAR driver Lyndon Amick joined and was deployed to Afghanistan. Last I heard he was still on the ground there, but this was now 3 or 4 years ago. 

Former Dallas Mavericks center Bernard James served six years in the Army before joining the NBA in 2012. NASCAR driver Jesse Iwuji served in the military (Marines, I believe) before embarking on his career...he has not gotten any cards but he is still attempting to work his way to the top so there is still time. 

The most famous basketball player who served is of course David Robinson, who served aboard a submarine in the Navy before he was honorably discharged, since, at 7 feet tall, he couldn't easily fit into the sub. The first NASCAR champion, Red Byron, was shot down over the Aleutians in WWII while piloting a bomber. Nelson Stacy drove tanks in WWII. Wendell Scott...one of my personal heroes...drove on the Red Ball Express, prevented from frontline action due to the color of his skin, although he did face German fire on multiple occasions...Bud Moore, who passed away in 2018, took part in the D-Day invasion, storming the beach in Normandy on that famous morning...Glen Wood also took part in the D-Day invasion...Smokey Yunick flew in a bomber over Germany...and always held it against Bill France for not actually fighting...he built PT Boats so it's not like he didn't contribute to the war effort.