There had to be a better way.....

.....to remove this card from the case it was sealed in. I could have used my little eyeglass repair kit screwdriver like I did a few weeks ago to get my Billy Pierce Red Heart card from it's plastic crypt. But since that ended up putting a gouge in the top border of that sweet card I figured this time I'd just leave it to the Postal Service employees. And they came through in high style!

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And here is the result!

Nice, yes?

On Saturday I pulled that envelope out of the mailbox and something seemed amiss. The envelope was scarred and filthy. I have a little blade I use (carefully) for opening envelopes and I always make sure that whatever is inside is safely away from the side I'll slice. But when I gave this one a squeeze I didn't like the result. Whatever it was was obviously in pieces. So, with much trepidation I cut it open and out spilled ...well...this:

That's a Billy Pierce Chicago's Greats card btw. Hell, I don't even know much about the origin of this set other than the Standard Catalog of BBC states that it was issued in conjunction with a card show in the Windy City in 1976. There were 24 unnumbered cards in the set which sold for $2 or in uncut sheet form for $6.

Here is what it looked like in the listing. Why anyone would go to the trouble to get it graded is beyond me but what the heck, I wanted it so I bought it.

Hey, it's a GEM MINT 10!!!! OK, not so much anymore. The card actually came through it's little ordeal without too much damage. At least it didn't get torn or cut. It does have some creases, though. They are not easy to see in my pics but they are there. They run from bottom left to top right. Picture a fairly thin card that you pressed against the side of a large ribbed crushed tomato can, the kind you see at Costco.

It'll be fine in the binder. Hell, I have worse cards in several PCs, including Pierce. So I'll live to collect another day. I can't blame the seller. The card should have been safe in the case I guess. Maybe they could have written 'fragile' or something but I don't think that would have kept that envelope from falling under the wheels of whatever truck did the deed.

Just for fun here are a couple of other pics. In this one showing the back I think the creases are more visible than the others.

And finally the card as scanned and the reverse. Try to spot the creases.

Welcome to my Pierce binder Gem Mint 10 Chicago's Greats Billy Pierce!!

Hot off the wire

Once upon a time I worked at the now defunct Houston Post. I started there in about 1972 while I was still in college and worked off and on, part-time and full-time through about 1991. I got a journalism degree and held other jobs along the way and in the end I totaled about 13 or 14 years of service over that nearly two decade stretch.

There were times that I worked late nights/early mornings when the place was pretty quiet. I liked to visit the sports department when it was deserted. I would sometimes stand mesmerized by the rhythmic sounds of the teletype machine as it pumped out stories, stats, schedules, game recaps and features long into the wee hours. If you don't know what a teletype machine is I have found a few pics. Technically these are 'teletype printers' but they were just called 'the wire' at the Post.

Those two above probably pre-date my time at the Post but ours were pretty much the same thing, just a bit sleeker. One of them I recall was a large stand-up model. I can still hear the sound of them in my head, like a typewriter (look it up, kids) but not as harsh. They pumped out a continuous roll of yellow paper as they clattered away. The paper would build up into a huge pile overnight. The picture below shows exactly what it looked like.

And this one made me grin. The kid is doing just what I did for seemingly hours on end, reading the copy as it poured out of the wire.

The pictures that ran in the paper came in on a different machine that was way in the back of the Editorial Department of the Post. Unlike the sports guys I didn't know many folks over there so I didn't venture into that area much. But sometimes if a sports editor was working I'd go look through the wire photos with him. The Post probably used 10% of the photos that came in on the wire printer. The rest were either filed for future use (or tossed in a box to be discarded. I was always tempted to ask if I could take some but I don't think I ever did. I remember some cool pics of Secretariat and some '83 World Series photos I saw and would have loved to have had.

All that is a roundabout way of getting to the posted item, a wire service photo from 1954 showing White Sox manager Paul Richards, owner Charles Comiskey and pitcher Billy Pierce. They are supposedly discussing Pierce's upcoming start against the Orioles but in a posed shot like this they were probably just shooting the bull while waiting for the United Press photographer to finish.

I picked this one up off eBay just to add it to my Billy Pierce collection as an oddball item. The game referenced in the caption was played on April 23 of '54 in Chicago and the Orioles beat Pierce 3-1 in 10 innings. Catcher Ray Murray drove in the winning run in the top of the tenth with a double. Pitcher Joe Coleman, who had already gone nine for the Orioles, then came up to hit and drove in an insurance run. Hard to imagine a starter getting a chance to hit in the 10th inning in these days of closers and set-up man. That game by the way, was just the eighth game in the history of the modern Orioles franchise. And it was the last time they were at .500 for the year. They lost the next three in Chicago, 8 of their next 9 overall and finished the '54 season at 54-100 in seventh place 57 1/2 games back of the league champ Indians.

And they lost to Billy Pierce 11-0 on the last day of the season.

Autographed Orioles B&W Postcards

While I was digging around for yesterday's post subject, the Dexter Press postcards, I found these and four more just like them in the same binder. Normally with any type of Orioles memorabilia, particularly something I have several of, I'd remember where I picked them up. Or at the very least I'd remember having them at all.

Not so with this lot. If you had asked me on Monday if i had any signed black and white Orioles postcards I'd have said no... and felt pretty confident in saying it.

The Paul Richards card and the George Kell have standard postcard backs with a divider between the block for the address and the greeting along with the stamp block. These early cards are classified as 'Real Photo" postcards and are said to have glossy fronts although my Kell is much less so than the Richards. The borderless ones resemble Exhibit cards.

These next two, Jim Hardin and Dave Leonhard, are black and white versions of the team issued postcards that I collected with a frenzy years ago.

I have the identical cards in their color versions (although that typeface on the Hardin is unique (much smaller) among my Oriole postcards. I don't know if the team gave these B&W cards to the players to send out with autograph requests. If so, why not use the color variety that are so prevalent? The two guys who have compiled checklists of Orioles team issued postcards don't even list black and white ones. Interesting.

Both of these are blank-backed as were all the color versions from that era. Also blank-backed is the Harvey Haddix card below. It's interesting in that it it appears to follow exactly the format of almost all Orioles team-issued cards from my collection. But Haddix' time with the Orioles ended in 1965. I have no Oriole postcards in that style from earlier than 1970. I know the team issued them since 1954 but I have never seen one from the early/mid-60s in this style. Looks like some detective work is in order for me.

UPDATE: The Whitey Herzog postcard below was on eBay and follows the same style as the Haddix. So it looks like the Orioles used that same typeface and style quite a bit during the era of B&W postcards.

Bonus card... digging further in my binder I came across this Moe Drabowsky signed card stuck in the back with some color cards. It's a JD McCarthy card as evidenced by the name block and the 'JMD' logo that all his stuff has. I touched on the history McCarthy postcards a little bit in a previous post.

Gotta love Moe Drabowsky. Rare is the picture that doesn't show him grinning. He's make for a fun PC. Sounds like a plan.

1968 Dexter Press 'Postcards'

I am a huge fan of these Dexter Press postcards which were issued in 1968. I have a dozen different Orioles in my collection. I believe those 12 comprise the complete team set. According to the checklist on the Trading Card Database there were 77 cards issued representing 12 different teams. Some teams, like the Orioles and Giants had 12 different players included. Others have as few as one e.g. Bill Freehan is the only Tiger in the group. Some of the backs of the cards contained less detailed write-ups than those of the Orioles' cards. Many of the cards feature Spring Training photos.

There are cards issued for other years credited to Dexter Press featuring backs in a couple of different formats but most I've seen use the style of this Don Buford back as posted below. EDIT: I just re-read the Buford data. It states that Buford worked in the Sears management training program the previous winter. Hard to envision that happening today.

One thing I like about these is the great views of old Memorial Stadium in the backgrounds. Those old wooden bench seats upstairs? Oh, how I remember those!

The Brooks Robinson card is signed but the autograph stayed in the binder pocket unfortunately. I've had these stored in the old PVC laden pre-Ultra Pro plastic pages for many years and they took some work getting out without damage.

These are in standard postcard size but Dexter Press also did large 5x7 pictures which were seen previously on this blog. The photos from those were apparently pirated for what were called Starline stickers. I have no evidence of whether these Starlines were authorized or not but the lack of any photo credits, etc. make he think they are not. The photos on those larger formatted pictures, at least those of the Orioles, show up on Atlantic gas station contest cards. I posted some of those here.

Out of curiosity I did a little research into the Dexter Press name and came across this interesting thread on a World's Fair nostalgia forum of all places. It seems that Dexter Press did a lot more than baseball products and it also seems the company folded and sold off it's name and files to a company in Missouri that, among other things, published church bulletins.

Panini Golden Age Joe Garagiola

I've always been a fan of Joe Garagiola. I remember reading Baseball is a Funny Game, the book he 'wrote' in 1960. When I was a kid I loved his stories of baseball's weird situations and strange plays. The only times I enjoyed the Today Show was the period when he was a co-host. He did Yankee games in the mid-1960s and did NBC's Game of the Week for many years.

This summer he will be awarded the Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award in Cooperstown at the annual awards presentation on July 26. It's a long deserved honor as far as I'm concerned. Joe has spent his life in the game after being drafted by the Cardinals at the age of 16. He received the Ford Frick Award in 1996 at the Hall for his broadcasting career many years ago. But this Buck O'Neill Award honors his dedication to the game.

This week on his Baseball by the Letters blog Tom Owens had a post concerning Joe which noted that he is no longer fulfilling autograph requests due to his recent health issues. I hated to hear that. I sure hope that Joe will be able to attend the Hall weekend this summer to bask in some baseball glory one more time.

This card really reflects Garagiola pretty well. Great smile and wearing the catching gear he loved to joke about. The set as a whole I can take or leave but some of the cards are pretty sweet and this is one of them.

Billy Pierce Picture Pack Photos--White Sox Edition

Jay Publishing, who put out the Yankees yearbook that I posted a week or so back, was better known for the Picture Packs they sold through the mail, at some retail outlets and especially at ballparks. I know they sold them at Yankee Stadium and I remember them at Manny's Baseball Land across Jerome Avenue under the elevated subway.

I'm guessing most collectors of vintage stuff are familiar with these. They were produced as far as I can tell from about 1956 through the mid-60's. All are 5'x7' and all were black and white. The sets usually contained 12 player pictures but many set had a manager's picture included. All are blank backed as far as I know.

I recall them in manila envelopes because I bought some through the mail but I see them on eBay and in auctions in plastic packaging. I suppose that's how they were sold in ballparks but I can only picture the photos being hung up individually at concession stands, probably as a way to advertise them.

I had some when I was a kid and I still have a couple of Orioles pictures from the sets. But within the last few months I've found a four picture Billy Pierce lot and a couple of single ones. I also bought a White Sox partial team set to get the Pierce.

This one with Pierce posed at Yankee Stadium is my favorite. Brings back memories of seeing him pitch there.

All the others are portraits. Funny thing about these Jay Publishing pictures. The paper stock varies. The type font varies. The caption varies (team, team w/city, no team). It's as if Jay Publishing put the production out for bids and chose a different contractor for each set or year.

These last two are the same photo with slightly different cropping.

I have a few from Pierce's days in San Francisco and I'll post them separately.

Orioles from the Jedi Guy

Jedi Jeff from 2 x 3 Heroes padded his 'Tis the Season' hockey gift with a pile of Orioles cards and I wanted to toss just a couple of them up here. It's been awhile Orioles cards were the focal point of this modest space.

1991 Upper Deck Cal Ripken. Pictures that fit the space, clean design, team logo. Maybe not 'cardboard art' but it's a good card.

 

Brady Anderson, same set. Five years later he hit 50 home runs. Previous high HR total? 21. Previous season's HR total? 16. Highest subsequent season HR total? 24. So 1996 was the year of Brady's homer-onic convergence. Think the ball was juiced post-lockout?

1988 Fleer Ken Dixon. I have a baseball he signed in Arlington for me a year or so before this card was issued. I saw him pitch in Yankee Stadium on one of my visits east. That was the game that Cal Ripken was thrown out at home by Dave Winfield which killed a rally. That's all I remember from that game, Dixon entering in relief and Ripken getting nailed at home. Oh, and the Orioles losing.

Finally, it's an Eddie Murray mini card from 1988.

I love the little cartoon. Hard to believe one family could have five guys play pro ball. Eddie obviously was the most successful.

His four brothers are Rich Murray who played for the Giants and married a woman I knew from my school district. I received an invite but didn't attend. I didn't know at the time that the groom was that Rich Murray and that Eddie was in attendance. I would have gone and brought a hell of a gift had I known.

The other three brothers are Charles who played seven seasons of minor league ball and played as high as the AAA level, Venice who played one season in the minors and later was a baseball scout, and Leon Murray who played only 20 games of pro ball.