1966 World Series Press Pass

A few weeks back I posted a press pass from the 1960 World Series games at Yankee Stadium. That was fine and dandy and I am glad to have it but for me, there was an item in that same vein that I thought would be even cooler. And as luck would have it I found one just days later:

The 1966 World Series is obviously near and dear to my heart. It was the first championship won by one of  'my' teams. The Colts titles of the late fifties came when I was about 7 or 8 and while I was aware of them I was too young to really appreciate them as a fan.

But the '66 Series was different. For one thing, I was no longer at St. Mary's School where the nuns always had TVs set up to watch the Series every fall. No, I was a high school freshman that year. Luckily for me the first two games, though played on weekday afternoons, were held in Los Angeles. That meant I could sprint home, throw my Newark Evening News paper route and make it back in time to see much of the action at my best friend and route partner's house.

The weekend games I watched with my father who still couldn't get past the fact that the Yankees were two years removed from a Series engagement. Games 3 and 4, by the way, took 1:55 and 1:45(!). Imagine that...a World Series game being completed in a Whitey Ford-ish one hour and forty-five minutes. Amazing!

Like that 1960 pass, I'd like to get this one signed by a player from each team. Or maybe just some Orioles. In a perfect world I'd send it to Sandy Koufax and Brooks Robinson but Sandy doesn't sign through the mail and Brooks is having some health issues and while he signs I feel like I'd be imposing. We'll see.

Meanwhile here are a few items from my collection that feature players who were on the field for the '66 Series. Palmer looks so young! And he's aged pretty well.

Topps Giants Koufax.

The Dexter Press postcard of Davey Johnson.

TCMA something or other of Ron Fairly. As a former first baseman, I'm partial to cards which show those gloves so prominently.

Brooksie! Topps Standup from 1964. What a cool set. I've thought about collecting all 77 of these but I have far too many irons in the fire right now.

1970 Maury Wills. The early 60s 'mystery man' who was the topic of endless speculation among my fell card freaks in St. Mary's schoolyard. We wondered what he had done that was so terrible that Topps wouldn't include him in their sets.

I like this pic. A boatload of talent, no? I saw Frank Robinson and Sandy K. and later noticed that Wade Boggs and Cal Jr. are right there as well. How'd you like to be able to listen to that conversation?

1966 Orioles Tribute Set

I was drilling down through my hobby closet and found this set in a binder. I've had it in there so long that it was in the old 'side-load' type pages. The kind that sparked the "They Will Damage Your Cards!!!" panic of the 1980s.

Like so many oddball sets of that era I can't remember how I originally picked this one up but I'm guessing it was through the classified ads that ran in Baseball Collectors Digest back then.

I don't know much about it other than what I can gleen from the reverse side of the cards. It was put out in 1981 by a company called 'The Franchise' based in Bel Air, Maryland. A bit of googling came up with a few references, the first were this long expired Worthpoint auction listing and a recent eBay sale. The Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards by Bob Lemke lists the set and one other by the same company that focuses on Brooks Robinson.

The first two cards are shown at the top, #1 being a line drawn rendering of the famous (at least to Orioles fans) photo of Brooks Robinson's leap towards Dave McNally and Andy Etchebarren. Card #2 is the team picture.

The remaining 30 cards are individual cards of all the team's players and coaches. The backs list the usual vitals, the player's 1966 stats, lifetime stats and a paragraph or so about the player's contribution to the '66 season or World Series.

The set isn't worth anything monetarily but it has a kind of eclectic mix of posed action shots, portraits, game action shots and a couple of neat old fashioned squatting catcher pics. Many of the pictures used are spring training shots. The cards bring back some good memories for this long time O's fan.

1966 Orioles World Series Charm

This charm is a companion piece to the press pins given to media and VIP's at the World Series every year. I had my eye on the 'pin' version but I decided that my budget would be just as happy with the charm. It doesn't scan as well as the '69 version. Nor was I able to get a good picture with my camera. Trust me, it's pretty sweet.

The 1966 Series, of course, was my introduction to the joys of rooting for a baseball team in the post-season. I was an 8th grader in the fall of 1966, my last year at St. Mary's School. Luckily the Sisters of Charity that ran the place were baseball fans because every year they would roll out the big ass black-and-white TV's on carts and we'd get to watch until it was time to go home.

I remember very well running home from the bus stop in 1960 and getting there in time to see Bill Mazeroski's homer to beat the Yanks. I have vivid memories of watching the '62 and '63 Series on those tv's as well.

Outside of the World Series and the very lame 'educational' shows we viewed from time to time, the only other tv watching I recall  at St. Mary's was the afternoon that JFK was assassinated.

But back to '66. It was pretty darn glorious to be an O's fan. The Robinsons, a young Jim Palmer, Hank Bauer and the rest. My aunt in Baltimore saved all the sport sections from the Sun and sent them to me. Although the Dodgers were my 'second' team and Sandy Koufax was my favorite non-Oriole at the time, I don't recall any reservations about praying for an Oriole win.

Good times!!