From the TriStar show #1

Other plans got in the way of my trip to the TriStar show on Saturday but I was able to get over there on Sunday for a bit and did some damage to my memorabilia budget. Before looking at any cards I'll get this rant out of the way though. The facility, NRG Arena charges $12 to park. And the show charges $12 to get in. So right off the top you're down $24 before you even hit the first table. I see guys bringing a couple of kids and at $8 a pop those dads are out $40 to start.

That just seems like too much money to pay for the right to spend more money. At least when the shows are held downtown at the Convention Center you can score street parking if you don't mind walking a couple of blocks. Next time I think I'll park downtown and ride the Metro rail to NRG for $1. /rant

OK, on to the cards. My primary intent was to fill what I could of my Topps 1960 checklist. I managed to cross off about 25 of those. I managed to find a couple of dealers who had late 50s/early 60s Topps for a buck a pop or less. I got several really nice cards from a fifty cent box. They were so nice that I bought a few that I knew I already had just because the condition was likely to be an upgrade for me.

After and hour of finding those I thought I'd hit the tables of a dealer that had bargain boxes and was selling those at half off. These are all fifty cent purchases.

First up is the signed Jim Fregosi card at the top. It's from one of the Ted Williams sets. It may or may not be really signed by Fregosi but when I pick up something like this my first thought is 'why would someone go to the trouble to forge a Fregosi sig on a Ted Williams set card?'.... And based on that I figure it's probably legit.

fregosi of course was a first rate shortstop for the Angels for about a decade and also played for the Pirates, Rangers and Mets. He made a bunch of All Star teams and won a Gold Glove. here's something I didn't know...he was originally signed by the Red Sox before being taken in the 1960 AL Expansion Draft.

He managed for many years after his playing days. His 1993 Phillies reached the World Series and it was Jim Fregosi that sat in the opposing dugout and had to watch Joe Carter circle the bases after his Series winning Game Six home run. That Series was Fregosi's only postseason experience.

Next is a Al Ferrara 1969 Deckle Edge Topps insert. Here are three things you might not have known about 'The Bull':

• He was a classical pianist who played at Carnegie Hall by 16
• He appeared on episodes of Gilligan’s Island and Batman
• Ferrara graduated from Lafayette High School, the same school that produced Sandy Koufax, John Franco, Ken Aspromonte and Bob Aspromonte.

This Lindy McDaniel jumps right into my collection alongside the autographed card I got TTM from him earlier this year. And yes, the card is just as out-of-focus as it looks in the scan.

It's hard to pass up a fifty cent Sal Maglie card, even if the condition isn't good. 'The Barber' made his name as a pitcher for the New York Giants in the early 50s but he also pitched for the Indians, Dodgers, Cardinals and Yankees as his career wound down. 

He started the 1956 season in Cleveland but was dealt to Brooklyn in mid-May after having pitched only five innings over two appearances for the Tribe. He went on to go 13-5 for the Dodgers with a 2.87 ERA and three shutouts garnering second place in both MVP and Cy Young voting. He went 1-1 in the Series that year which the Dodgers lost to the Yanks.

Maglie was Italian, my grandfather was Portuguese. But they could have been brothers.

I'll save the rest of the little group of cards for another post.