Three Yanks and a Buc

OK, that title is sort of weird. But it describes what I'm lacking in my 1961 Topps chase. The cards I need are:


531 Jim Coates- Yankees
541 Rollie Sheldon- Yankees
554 Pirates Team Card
563 Bob Cerv- Yankees


All are high numbers, obviously. The three players are Yankees and then there is the Pirates team card. The Yankee 'tax' is pretty strong. None of those players are stars. There were no formal 'short prints' in the high number series as far as I can tell. At least nobody describes them as such. But the grading services have population reports that show the number of each card submitted for grading and the Sheldon and Cerv seem scarce. The Pirates team card gets a 'defending champs tax' I guess but I'm not sure it should.

Bottom line...these are proving to be difficult to find (in acceptable condition) without busting my budget.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I've reeled in the last All-Star card I needed, Willie Mays.

It's not a terrible card but that is a scuff on his cap and the corners are softer than my Texans' defensive schemes. But the price was right and it certainly fits into my 'acceptable' range for the set.

And it fills the final full page in the binder with a boatload of talent.

If my math is right the page represents: 102 All-Star selections (and I didn't count the twin ASG game years as two selections), 8 MVP trophies, 34 Gold Gloves, 5 Hall of Fame players, 2 Rookie of the Year selections (and a couple of runners-up), 15 World Series rings, 4 batting titles, an ERA title, a Cy Young Award, 412 pitching wins and 3219 homers.

And to get to this point these high numbers came my way in recent weeks. These were from COMC I think.

Bill Tuttle was rarely photographed without that large hunk of chewing tobacco in his cheek. Later in life, he paid a huge price as mouth and throat cancer took his life. He spent a good bit of his last years as an advocate against the use of chewing tobacco and dip.

There is a thread on Net54 about 'centeredness' (probably many threads) and one comment made was 'off-center cards give me the shakes'. 😏 I, on the other hand, have no problem with this Tuttle. It goes back to my feeling that "if it came out of a pack when I was 9-years-old I wouldn't have even paid any mind" attitude. The only thing that gives me pause is when a card shows some of the one next to it.  There's a Jim Coates on eBay cheap right now that has tempted me but the discount isn't big enough to get me to overlook that flaw.

Bob Hale was at the end of his career. He'd began as a first baseman for the Orioles in 1955 but mostly served as a pinch hitter for the Birds, Indians, and Yankees thru the 1961 season.

I really like this Felipe Alou card. He's in Seals Stadium. He really came into his own in 1961 as he hit .289 with 18 homers. The next year he made his first All-Star squad and helped the Giants make the Series.

This is the first official Twins team card. As noted on the front they were formerly the Senators and you can see that name on their unis if you look close. The new edition of the Senators, the expansion version, as well as their counterparts, the L.A. Angels, didn't get a team card in 1961.

1961 Topps Update, also Hank!!

Slowly but steadily I'm creeping up on the 1961 set. And I'm growing fonder of it every day. It's interesting in that it's sort of a 'transition' set in terms of my baseball memories. There are a lot of guys in the '58, '59, and even the '60 set (which I had a lot of as a kid) that were unfamiliar to me when I was acquiring the cards. The '62 set was one where I knew almost everyone on a card. The '61 is kind of in-between.

I'm at the point where knocking off needs is slow going. I'm at a little over 96% (566 of 587) but of the last 21 I need, 20 are high numbers. Those have been difficult. Not because they are hard to find, but because they are hard to find at a reasonable price. Some of them just seem to carry a premium for reasons I can't figure out. But I'll get it done. My goal is to finish before the end of the year.

Here is a look at the high numbers I nabbed off COMC earlier this year. It's just coincidental that all are pitchers. Not much to say about these other than they were all in pretty nice condition. '61s, in general, don't seem to show the wear that other sets from back in the day show.

Frank Baumann is wearing one of my favorite ball caps. I really like the S-O-X logo when it's got that red outline. Baumann, who split his career between the Red Sox and White Sox (with a few games with the Cubs to make it interesting), was the AL ERA leader in 1960.

Larry Jackson was a 5-time NL All-Star who led the league in wins in 1964. He was a politician and lobbyist in his native Idaho after baseball, once running for governor.

Barry Latman, according to Wikipedia, had to stop playing baseball for several years when he turned ten because his parents wanted him studying for his bar mitzvah. Indians had some sweet unis back then.

Don Cardwell was traded from the Phils to the Cubs on May 15, 1960. Two days later he pitched a no-hitter for the Cubs over the Cardinals.

Here's a guy who was new to me. Jim Archer had been an Orioles farm hand for years (I had no idea) before he was traded to the A's near Opening Day in '61. Topps had time to get his pic in KC gear for this last series card. He had a really nice rookie season in '61. He was among the top ten in several categories. He developed arm problems and had a brutal follow-up year in 1962 and was gone from the game soon after that. Like Larry Jackson, he dabbled in politics after he retired.

Bill Fischer was the guy who, as an off-season job, filled my Dad's car at the Flying A station on Flatbush Avenue while us kids sat in the backseat. OK, that's probably not true but I can see him doing that.

In truth, Fischer has a nine-year career with four clubs in the AL. He spent some time as a starter with the nats in the early 60s but did most of his work from the pen.

Saving the best for last....

Henry Aaron was the second to last star card I needed. I'm not counting the high number, Mays and Banks, All-Star cards.

That's Seals Stadium in San Francisco. Baseball unis don't get much better than those classic Braves' duds. Entering the '61 season Henry Aaron was 26 years old, just hitting his prime.  Just in case you were unaware...he's the all-time leader in RBIs and total bases. And in class.

Other than the two All-Stars the last star I need is Juan Marichal. The '61 is his rookie card, so you know how that goes. I have a handful of copies in an auction sniper bid group. Hopefully one of them falls to me.