Pass The Milk, Please

A few more from my 1962 Post Cereal pickup...

Figured I'd toss up some National Leaguers since my last post (no pun intended) focused on AL guys. NL players got the red trim although a few errors occurred where they had blue grid lines around their stats. I'm very likely to blow those variations off. No need to build a master set when I'm gonna collect these in 'over-excited-nine-year-old-cut-these-out' condition.

The always underappreciated John Roseboro kicks this thing off. The Dodgers are the first team in the checklist for the Senior Circuit. The AL got the first hundred cards, the NL the next hundred in this 200 card set. Which reminds me...I was curious how Post decided the order of the teams in the checklist. They are aligned close to their 1961 finish, but not exactly. Obviously, the Dodgers didn't win the NL pennant in '61. The Reds did that and they are second in the checklist.

I did a bit of digging and played a hunch. Sure enough, the teams were numbered in the order of the major league standing in early- to mid-August, 1961. Between August 7th and 13th, the teams' spots in the standings and checklists matched with the only exception being following the games on the 11th. So that's the week the set must have been planned. Worth noting is that there were 10 AL clubs and 8 NL clubs in 1961. Fans of the newly formed Mets and Colt .45s didn't have player cards to look for on their boxes of Grape-Nuts in 1962. On a positive note, the NL teams got more players per team.

Player success and popularity have a bearing on the cost of these things but scarcity is an even bigger factor. Some players were included on the backs of less popular cereal and so fewer of their cards were snipped from boxes and put into kids' collections. There seem to be plenty of Ed Mathews cards out there.

My Santo is pretty brutal. He appears to be bothered by that fact.

The 'V' or checkmark that appears on my Mossi was on every card I received in my original lot purchase. No issue for me. 

Killer got the V for Victory treatment as well.

Back to NL guys. I think I like the red elements more than the blue of the AL cards.  I've given some thought to 'trimming' some of the cards where there is room to do so. I could 'fix' the Elroy Face card's top with an X-Acto blade, for example. No need to though, I'll never get these things graded.

Ruben Amaro was portraited by his son, Ruben Jr, a player/coach/executive, on a couple of episodes of The Goldbergs. Amaro Jr. went to the same school that's featured in the show and was attended by Adam Goldberg who based it on his life. That's a weird fact.

Card Show Cards

There's nothing quite like cheap vintage boxes at a card show. I visited the local hotel show on Saturday and while it's becoming harder to fill my 1960 needs list there I am always finding fresh inventory in the dollar and fifty cent boxes.

I nabbed about a dozen cards in addition to a pair of 1960 set needs and spent 10 dollars. I can't pass up a Don Mossi card even if it features a handmade 'update' scribbled in ink. I also picked up three Lindy McDaniel cards. The '66 is in pretty nice condition.

Topps used shots of McDaniel and Cardinal teammate Larry Jackson from the same photo shoot to create 'special' cards in consecutive years. The guys were yukking it up for the camera at the Polo Grounds and the shots turned in in the 1961 set......

...and a year later in 1962......

I've mentioned Willard Schmidt in the past. His great-nephew is a Civil War author and blogger and a friend. Willard didn't have many cards (four Topps cards and some regionals) but those that were issued were pretty nice. I really like this 1956.

After picking up a Sal Maglie card at the TriStar show earlier this month I've become more interested in him so I was happy to come across this '54 Bowman the other day in a bargain box. I don't think I'll really take a stab at a Maglie PC but I'll grab them if I find them cheap. There are worse habits to have, right?

I hadn't intended to put only the cards of pitchers into one post but now that it's worked out that way I'll let it ride. I'll put the other cards I dug up into my next entry. That is if this oncoming tropical depression/storm/disturbance doesn't float all of southeast Texas out into the Gulf.

Cards for no reason

I haven't picked up any new cards other than Baltimore Colts cards in quite awhile. And I don't want to over do the football posts. So I'm going to post a few cards that I had scanned to my Picasa account for no other reason than they are (IMHO) awesome!

'57 Gil Hodges.... I'd like to see him elected to the Hall of Fame. But I don't think it's going to happen.

Leaf Luis Aparicio..... love the halo effect that these cards had. Great picture of Looie!

'62 Ralph Houk.... wearing a windbreaker under his jersey! Pretending to shout instructions! With Yogi Berra talking behind him!

T206 Rube Marquard... there is no such thing as a bad T206.

'58 All Star Mickey Mantle. This card is in contention for one of my favorites of all time.

A collection of awesome cards requires at least one Don Mossi card. It's a federal regulation I think.

Getting my Mossi on

A few weeks ago I was posting about cheap classic Don Mossi cards. I mentioned that I was missing the wonderful 1966 Topps Mossi. Well I found this really nice copy on eBay for $1.25 shipped. Can't beat that!

The card is a bit off-centered to the left on the back, but not above the name box/cartoon as my scan would lead you to believe. It's a really sharp card. KC was Don's last major league stop. And I think this is his last card. 

I'm not the only guy happy to own it either. Not sure who this guy* is but he's damn proud of his '66 as well.

                           

*Actually I do know now, it's film critic Glenn Kerry. Don't know what he thinks of any movies but his taste in baseball cards is impeccable.

Even more of Mossi. He's included in the Italian American Baseball Heroes set that I bought but haven't gotten around to unsealing yet. This is the portrait that is on his card. Wonder where the artist found his inspiration?

                                             

And finally Don Mossi salutes my adopted state of Texas!

                                                       

1961 Topps Don Mossi

I pulled this card out of a cheap vintage bin at the last card show I attended. I like the '61 set and I like Don Mossi so it was an easy purchase. Nice to Tiger/Briggs Stadium in the background as well.

No cheap Don Mossi 'appearance' shots from me. They've all been done. Instead a link to a chapter in Mike Shannon's Tales from the Dugout book that I found that gives an insight into the guy. It's worth a look.