1956 Harvey Haddix

Here is the 1956 Harvey Haddix I managed to score in a contest run by Napkin Doon a week or so ago. It was called the 'Big Fun' contest and the idea was that the participants were allowed to choose an unseen prize. The following participants in turn could 'steal' a previously revealed prize or chose another unseen one. It was a lot like the Christmas gift exchange idea my sister-in-law railroaded down everyone's throat about ten years ago.

Having drawn the #10 slot I was able to check out nearly the entire 'field' of prizes and when the Haddix card was revealed I zeroed in on it. Then when I took it I had to sweat out one or two other picks by guys who had had their prize 'stolen'. It was big fun. Almost as much fun as seeing most of my extended family pouting about losing a waffle maker to Uncle Ralph in 2007.

The Haddix card is graded and in a case (which is why it's not as 'sharp in the scan as it really is) but I'll be freeing it here before too long. Cardboard needs to breathe, dammit!

BTW, one of the guys who was kicked behind me because of losing his prize was able to pick up a 1962 Frank Robinson All Star card. If that one had been available when I chose I'd have been in a serious quandary. The '62 Robby is quite a cool card. But I love my Haddix. Look at that grin.

Johnny Unitas

Today John Constantine Unitas, the greatest football player to ever take the field, would have been 80. He was my hero. I loved watching him play.

I was fortunate enough to have seen him play in person here in Houston. I'll never forget that day in October of 1970 when his TD pass to Roy Jefferson won the game against the Oilers. Johnny U. threw the pass and turned to jog off the field. He knew how the play would end.

R.I.P. Johnny U

Product of My Obsession

I've mentioned how I have this compulsion to acquire cards of players I have on my fantasy sports team. Sounds innocuous enough except for the fact that it bothers me to wait to acquire them. If I pick up a guy for my woeful fantasy baseball team my next step is COMC or eBay to find a card. It's stupid.

That's why I own a Korean card of Dodger rookie Ryu Hyun-Jin. I took the guy late in the draft because of some blurb I read somewhere and because I tend to draft players from teams I like. (Maybe that's why my teams suck, ya think?)

Anyway, the only remotely affordable card I could find of Ryu was this one. I picked it up for a few dollars +shipping. I no doubt overspent. And I know there will be any number of cards of the guy within a few months. Hell I just checked and there is a Bowman card of him now that sells for $4 for a 20-card lot. LOL

But it's cool to have a Korean card. I don't think the concept of baseball there ever crossed my mind. Shows you how little I know.

The seller tossed in a few extras from the same set including this on of a guy named 'Capellan'. That kind of intrigued me. He must be special, he goes by one name, right? It appears that he is this guy. Jose Capellan went 5-7 in 99 major league games for several teams for the past decade. He also spent the 2002 season at home serving a suspension. Oh, well.

PWE from a Feathered Friend, and questions for the group

A week or two ago I got an envelope from Night Owl, one of the more prolific and enjoyable hobby bloggers out there. (This was before he trashed my main man Dennis Martinez but I'm going to let that little hiccup slide.)

Anyway, back to the envelope. Inside was a nice stack of modern Oriole cards including several 2013 Topps. He also sent along a Heritage or two and a Bowman. All of which I didn't have save one. Now while I don't go out and buy many current cards I do like having some and they are especially welcome when they are 1) Orioles and 2) guys I need for my fantasy baseball team binder.

Everyone has seen all the 2013s they need to see but I will post two cards that I got from NO.

First is a Heritage Jason Hammels.

I still enjoy the idea of Heritage cards, probably because I'm not inundated with them. And the '64 design is still pretty nice. Plus, like the next guy, I had him on my team last year. I also like the throw back Rookie Trophy they used on this Nolan Reimold. I remember seeing 1958 Topps cards, getting a few packs of 59's as a gift, actually buying quite a few 60s but the 1961 set is the first one that I actively tried to complete. So this design brings back memories.

Here is one 2013 that everyone has seen but I'm posting because it may be my favorite in the set (at least among those I've seen). I may not love the Orioles' 'softball' tops but in this picture it really looks great. btw... there is no actual evidence but this Machado strikes me as a 'night' card.

Now to my questions. Does anyone try to collect a complete Topps set these days. And if so, what the hell IS a complete set? I see all kinds of variations in border color and finishes. There are chrome versions, correct? And is Opening Day a part of the same set? Some of them use the same photos, right? How is it even possible to know what cards come in what colors?



Stop reading Night Owl. Thanks a bunch for the cards, I really do appreciate them. But flip back over to Blue Heaven or dodgerbobble or something. Everyone else, scroll down.

El Presidente!!!

OK, Another Futbol post, so sue me.

Deutschland's Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern München will take part in the fourth UEFA Champions League final played between clubs from the same country. That's because Barcelona and Real Madrid just simply were not good enough to derail either of the German sides. Bayern München, in fact, scored the largest aggregate win in the UEFA semi-finals history.

That's Thomas Muller on the card above. He's the only guy whose cards I own other than Figo and various Man U players. He scored the third BM goal in the win over Barca.

That's Muller and his wife Lisa in the two pictures below. She is a sweet, wholesome looking young lady. Beautiful  to be sure. 

And another pic, just for luck. This one goes out to Captain Canuck!

Now do you see why they call it 'The Beautiful Game?' Why the hell did I give it up for baseball? 

Warning: Futbol Post

This is Figo. He is the retired Portuguese  star of international and European soccer. He is arguably the biggest star to come out of Portugal (Rolando might argue that..Ana, what say you?). He is was favorite player and the reason I followed World Cup so closely back when he was active. I have a Portugal/Figo shirt and I love it when someone recognizes the meaning and strikes up a conversation.
He also played for both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona which is like playing for the Yanks and Red Sox multiplied by 1000. Those two clubs were on a collision course in the Champions League but both suffered one-sided losses to the strong German sides and now it appears unlikely that Portugal will have to deal with an title game, fueled by a deep rivalry, that would be..well... interesting. We will know after the semis on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Here is the pertinent data from Figo's Wikipedia page:

Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo, OIH, (born 4 November 1972) is a Portuguese former international footballer. He played as a midfielder for Sporting CP, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and  Internazionale. He retired from football on 31 May 2009. He won 127 caps for the Portuguese national football team, making him the most capped Portuguese player in history. Figo was the 2000 European Footballer of the Year, the 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year, and was named amongst (sic) the FIFA 100.

Here is my favorite line from that page:

When he was born he was a baby and the only son of parents Antonio Caeiro Figo and Maria Joana,

Wikipedia can be a wacky place when you start crossing language barriers.

But as much as I followed Figo and am glad to own a couple of his cards, the real reason to make this entry was to have an excuse to post this picture of Figo's wife, Swedish model Helen Svedin.

You're welcome.

4-n-1 Japanese Bromide

At it's simplest the difference between Bromides and Menkos is that Bromides are photos printed on photo paper while Menkos are cruder, usually hand-drawn cards that are much more colorful. That's a very broad generalization but accurate to a point. The featured card is a '4 in 1' Bromide card which is from the set classified as JBR3 1960 Doyusha Black and White. There is a corresponding Color set. Doyusha appears to be a hobby company which currently markets scale model planes, tanks, science toys, etc. The reverse has playing card elements.

This Bromide features four Japanese players who are, clockwise from upper right:

Kiyoshi Oishi... he started and relieved for nearly two decades for Hiroshima. In 1962 he led all pitchers in losses, walks and homers allowed. Ouch.

Morimichi Iwashita... he played for three teams from the early 50s through the early 60s. Not much on the 'net about him.

Wally Yonamine... a fascinating figure who played in the AAFL for the 49ers as well as Japanese baseball. He was a Japanese American born in Hawaii and became known as the 'Jackie Robinson' of Japanese baseball due to the resistance he received as an American. I have Robert Fitts' acclaimed book queued up in my reading rotation. He's a member of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame having had a sterling career as outfielder and manager until his 1988 retirement. Lots more on this website.

Tatsuro Hirooka... another Hall of Famer he played as a shortstop and managed before becoming GM of the Chiba Lotte Marines and was well known for firing wildly popular manager Bobby Valentine in 1995.

I've scanned the card next to a current Topps card for size comparison purposes.