Post-ing Memories

Back in the days when these Post cards were issued on cereal boxes I had a routine. Most evenings while my Mom was busy in the kitchen I'd wait on our front steps to see my father walking down the block as he made his way home from the bus stop (#32 DeCamp Lines bus out of the Port Authority). He's have a late afternoon edition of one of the New York papers, usually the Daily News. I'd grab it and read as much as I could before supper was served. In those days there was more day baseball and sometimes if the Yanks were at home and had played in the afternoon there would already be a game report in the paper.

While we ate we'd have the radio on (no TV allowed during meals!) and more often than not we would catch the nightly 15 minute sports report done by Stan Lomax on WOR. His is one of the voices of my youth. He'd been a sportswriter who had entered the world of radio very early doing all manner of play-by-play and had one of the longest running daily shows in broadcasting history by the time he retired.

I found (and cherish) one .mp3 sample of his work. It's not typical because it's a drop-in segment from a gig he did with the talk/comedy show duo of Bob and Ray. And it is from late in his career (1976) when clearly his best days were behind him. But it certainly displays his unique cadence and inflection. 

I especially enjoyed his show during baseball season. He would give recaps of day games played or in progress and he's give the batteries for the upcoming night contests. I'd listen intently as Lomax would click off homers and starting pitchers for the Orioles and Phillies (yes, I followed the Phils for a bit back then). 

Lomax also spent a lot of time on boxing and college basketball, two sports I followed as a kid (almost entirely due to him) but which barely register with me now.

Here is the minute and a half audio clip of Stan Lomax which I posted to YouTube:

All of this is a roundabout way of getting to the three 1962 Post cards up top. Frank Malzone just seems to typify baseball of the early 1960s era. Good bat, good glove and a member of the hated (by me) Red Sox. His was a card I didn't seek out but I did appreciate. Much more so that that of Albie Pearson. Whenever I heard his name mentioned the only thing I thought of was how small he was.

Now Art Ditmar...he's a Stan Lomax-type guy in that I associate him with weeknight games at Yankee Stadium. Whitey Ford always seemed to pitch on Sunday but Ditmar was the guy we would catch when we made a game on a Tuesday night. He was also the guy my friends and I mocked for reasons I can't really remember. He was my 'Dooley Womack' before I actually had Dooley Womack to make fun of. I have previously shown off my Art Ditmar collection. 

The '62 Post above and '61 that follows are the latest additions. 

Nostalgia is a Pain in the Butt

Last Saturday after we left the bowl game in Birmingham we headed to a highly recommended ale house kind of place in a trendy tucked away corner of Birmingham (yes, there are trendy areas of B-ham. I was surprised, too). While enjoying a really tasty burger and downing a few glasses of an excellent Alabama beer I kept an eye on the TV above the bar which was showing the Chiefs-Colts game.

As the Colts made their rather ridiculous comeback, and with my football season having ended an hour or so earlier, I was haunted by a twinge of ... oh, I don't know... regret, maybe. I wished the Colts were still in Baltimore and were still my team. It was a silly thought but I still do somewhat carry a torch for those heady days of Johnny Unitas, Ray Berry, Lenny Moore and John Mackey.

Ironically I recently picked up a Mackey card and it was waiting for me when we got back to Houston on Sunday. The 1970 Topps Mackey isn't one I remember having. I don't think I was collecting football cards much back then in what would be college underclassman days. And it's not one of his best cards but I grab cheap football cards when I come across them and this was cheap.

As I typed this I was struck by the irony of all the Baseball Hall of Fame noise being made this week. For many years Mackey was denied entry into the Football Hall because of the resentment felt by the football 'establishment' over his activism while serving as president of the NFLPA.

He finally made it, the Colts are long gone from Charm City and I shouldn't long for the 'good old days'. It's pointless. But those beers were very good.

A Koufax Autograph...... I had to do it

I'm not really an autograph collector. Oh I have some, and many of them mean a lot to me, but if I were to list things I covet memorabilia-wise autographs wouldn't be one of them.

But I do like to have one signature of each of my favorite players. I have many Brooks Robinson autographs, most of them I obtained directly from Brooks one way or another. I have one Johnny Unitas aoutgraph that I won through a charity auction and had framed with a picture.

But one autograph I have wanted for a long time was a Sandy Koufax. They are prohibitively expensive for the most part. And I am dubious of some of the cheaper ones. But I have patience. Recently three of these 1998 Donruss Significant Signature Koufax cards were on eBay. I used an auction snipe program and loaded up all three auctions with lowball bids. I figured I had nothing to lose.

Luckily one of them hit and here it is. Before I bid I did a bit or research into the set. Apparently there are a couple of variations of this card. Some picture Koufax with an LA Dodger cap. These Brooklyn versions were supposedly to be used as replacements or something. Some were sold via auction when the defunct Donruss' inventory was liquidated. I'm not sure about any of this and I don't really care. It's legit, it was reasonable, and it's on-card.

I'm pretty happy.

Three Billy Pierce Vintage cards

1964 Topps Billy Pierce. he's a San Francisco Giant and it just seems odd. Love the card though. Typical Pierce with that grin. Nice team-related colors and the blue sky sets off the uniform well.

The back is a different story. I'm OK with the 'wall of stats'. In fact I enjoyed reading through these numbers on veteran players' cards when I was a kid. What I didn't like (and still don't) is the orange on white format. I have a hard time reading these things. Funny, the cardback takes on a darker hue when the scan shows up on my screen. Holding the actual card next to the image shows quite a contrast. The image onscreen is waaay easier to read.

1963 Topps '62 World Series subset Game #6

That's Pierce out there working in the Candlestick Park wind, mowing down Yankees left and right. In Game Six the Giants were against the wall trailing the Series three games to two and they called on Pierce to even it up. Which he did. He had lost Game Three in Yankee Stadium despite a fine effort through six innings (see this post from last week for details). Back for his second try Pierce didn't disappoint as he scattered three hits in the 5-2 win. Pierce was perfect until Roger Maris touched him for a homer with one out in the fifth. The Yanks collected their second run in the eighth on a Clete Boyer double and Tony Kubek single.

Even with a rested bullpen Alvin Dark kept Pierce in the game and he was rewarded as Pierce retired Bobby Richardson to end the threat and in the ninth he got Tommy Tresh and Mickey Mantle on flyouts and whiffed Maris to send the Series to a Seventh Game.

For about $5 shipped I was glad to add these two cards as I close in on finishing my Billy Pierce collection.

And finally, a late edition to the collection that was waiting for me when I got back home on Sunday night. The 1962 Post Billy Pierce. I nabbed this as part of a small lot that included a couple others that I'm shipping off to someone who may like them. The Post cards from the early 60s bring back some good memories for me. I collected these with a fervor back then. I made sure I went on my mother's grocery trips so I could have 'input' on which boxes we bought. But I'd never have as many as a family down the end of the block that had about five boys and went through cereal boxes like there was no tomorrow. Those kids had Post Cereal cards to burn.

Hello Birmingham!

As this gets published we are in Birmingham, Alabama to watch the Houston-Vanderbilt bowl game, whatever the hell it's called.

This is a Houston Cougar mascot manu-patch or something. I don't collect stuff like this normally but hey, it's different, it's my Cougars' mascot, and it was cheap.

Over the last two years I've gotten to know Houston coach Tony Levine a bit. He's really a class guy and I'm proud as hell to have him leading my school's football program. With a new stadium opening this coming fall, a true freshman QB having that year of experience now and lots of returning lettermen I'm looking forward to both today's game here at Legion Field and especially the 2014 edition of the Cougars.

Alabama Bound

Heading off to Birmingham Alabama this morning to watch the Houston Cougars take on Vanderbilt on Saturday. Hope the Coogs win but we are planning a fun trip no matter what. Have a side trip planned for Vicksburg, Mississippi later today to take in some Civil War sites.

I don't have a card that references Vicksburg but I do have this coin in my State Park quarters collection:

I've never been to Birmingham although I've been through Alabama many times, usually Mobile and Foley. Just for the heck of it I checked Wikipedia for a list of athletes who are natives of Birmingham. I have cards of several of them including Willie Mays whose '59 All Star card is up top.

Others include:

Olympic great (and fellow Houston Alum!) Carl Lewis.

Carl attends many UH events and we were both at a tailgate party earlier this football season. He was very gracious and enjoyed talking football.

Satchel Paige. This is a Bob Lemke custom of Paige done in '1952 Topps style.

NASCAR broadcaster and former crew chief Larry McReynolds:

Bo Jackson. I saw an ESPN show on him a week or so ago. I don't think I appreciated how amazing he was back when he was active.

Hoopster, golfer ;-) and all around fun guy Charles Barkley:

And there are several more just from my '59 Topps set:

There are many more including:

Gene Bartow, former basketball coach and Athletic Director for University of Alabama at Birmingham

Bruce Benedict, born in Birmingham, major league baseball player

Neil Bonnett, Sports Hall of Fame NASCAR Driver

Lyman Bostock, born in Birmingham, major league baseball player

Bobby Bowden, football coach

Jerricho Cotchery, Pittsburgh Steelers WR

Bubba Church, born in Birmingham, major league baseball player

Hubie Green, professional golfer

Jerry Hairston, Sr., born in Birmingham, major league baseball player

Bobby Humphrey, University of Alabama football player, Miami Dolphins, Denver Broncos

Lee May, born in Birmingham, major league baseball player

Picabo Street, downhill skier (Olympic Gold Medalist)

Pat Sullivan, 1971 Heisman Trophy winner

Andre Tippett, NFL Hall of Fame linebacker

Bob Veale, born in Birmingham, major league baseball player

Dixie Walker, baseball player

Al Worthington, born in Birmingham, major league baseball player

I'll be off the grid for a few days. Hold down the fort, will ya?

1960 Topps Managers: Fred Hutchinson and Chuck Dressen

It's been awhile since I posted any of my 1960 Topps managers cards. I had this one in the draft folder and had forgotten that it was never published. It really had never even been started except for the scans. This post features two revered and accomplished managers. Let's start with Fred Hutchinson.

"Hutch" as he was called began his baseball life as a sensational 19 year old pitcher with the PCL Raniers in his hometown of Seattle. He won 25 games that first season and was named as Minor League Player of the Year by the Sporting News. After that his contract was purchased by the Detroit Tigers and Hutch got a pair of brief looks at the majors and he had another fine minor league season in 1941. But the Uncle Sam called and he spent four full years in the U.S. Navy.

Once back in civilian life in 1946  Hutch ran off a string of major league seasons with the Tigers that saw him rank near the top of several pitching categories. He went 87-57 between 1946 and 1951. He faded quickly as an effective pitcher but not as a leader and the Tigers named him manager in mid 1952 and he continued as a playing manager through '53. He managed another season before he was let go and he returned to Seattle to manage the Raniers to a 95 win season.

He was hired to manage the Cardinals and held that spot through 1958. He again managed the Raniers for a season before the Reds hired him to finish out the 1959 season. In 1961 he led the Reds to the national League pennant and a World Series match-up against the Yankees. The Yanks won it in five games. Hutch remained at the helm of the Reds until 1964. It was during that season the he was diagnosed with lung cancer that had spread to his head and neck. He left the club in July, returned for a week or so and then left for good, too ill to work. He died that winter.

The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center was founded by his brother Dr. Bill Hutchinson and is now one of the top facilities of it's kind. You can read more about Hutch on these two pages on the facilities' excellent site..... this page is an excellent bio of the late manager and this page discusses the Hutch Award given each year by MLB..

Chuck Dressen left Decatur, Illinois to play third base for the Reds through the mid-1920s. But those playing days came after his three season career as a back with the Decatur Staleys and Racine Legion in the NFL between 1920 and 1923.

Once he switched to baseball he remained in the game until his death in 1966. Once his playing days were over, at age 39, Dressen was selected to manage the Reds in 1934. He spent 16 of the next 32 years managing five different clubs. His most success came in 1952/'53 when he managed the Brooklyn Dodgers to the World Series. His major league managerial record was 1008-973. Dressen passed away following his last season as manager of the Tigers in 1966. His final two years were hindered by ill health. 

While managing his Dodger clubs Dressen would often tell his team, "Just hold them, boys, until I think of something." He was also credited with bold predictions while managing some talent starved Washington clubs. Lots of good info and stories on his Wikipedia page.

Here is a selection from a September 1952 showing of the TV game show 'What's My Line' featuring Dressen on the eve of the 1952 Series in which he managed the Dodgers versus the Yanks. Interestingly he gets into an exchange with one of the panelists, newspaper columnist Dorothy Kilgallen  over something she had previously written about his managing.