Super Bowl Opening Night

I was gifted with some tickets (Thanks, Texans) to the quasi-official opening event of Excess Super Bowl Week a.k.a. Super Bowl Opening Night. So Monday evening my lovely and patient wife and I traipsed down to Minute Maid Park in downtown Houston to see what used to be known simply as 'Media Day'.  The NFL, in all it's wisdom (read: greed), saw a way to turn an overblown press conference into a money making event. Imagine that.

I really had no clue as to what it would entail until we got into the building.  I saw immediately that one of my stated goals would be impossible to fulfill. No, I didn't want to snuggle with Tom Brady. Rather I've been interested in what the new center field configuration of the park would look like. The old 'Tal's Hill' has been removed for more seating and a concession options. But the large stage and curtain stretched nearly from foul pole to foul pole. No way for me to peek behind the curtain.

I'll mention here that I went there reppin' my BALTIMORE Colts. I tweeted this shot and it was posted on the video board. They showed it about the same time that in-house host Scott Hansen of NFL RedZone fame was ragging on the many Cowboy fans in attendance. 

The set up was pretty ingenious. A big stage with 11 podiums arranged in front of it. Players sat at the podiums and answered (mostly inane) questions. Six of the players were shown on huge video boards flanking the stage. They switched up who was being shown from time to time. Two more video boards were broadcasting the NFL Network feed and Hansen's in-house ramblings with floor interviews by Ladanian Tomlinson.

The Falcons were featured for an hour and then, following a ceremony with the captains and coaches from both teams, there was a concert by a group I've never heard of.

It's not often you get to see the world's worst dressed rich guy wearing a tie. These two shots are from the web. We were no where near close enough to take them.

After the intermission concert they rolled out the Patriots for an hour of interviews. My wife and I had had enough by the time the Pats here herded onstage so we headed for the doors. Another concert and fireworks were scheduled to conclude the evening but we were home by then.

Our tickets were for seats in the mezzanine and had a $30 price listed on them. I'd have been rather unhappy had I paid $60 for what was delivered. Besides the privilege of hearing some dork ask Matt Ryan if he has ever considered changing his nickname from "Matty Ice" to "Matty Ice-cream" (I only wish I was making that up) we each received a drawstring backpack with 'stuff' inside. We got men's grooming samples, a towel, and Snickers bars among the swag.

We were also given this 'radio'. It was pretty ingenious actually. It was to be used to hear your selected interviews. You could slip it over either ear. Each player or coach that was featured on a video board also had their interview broadcast on a numbered channel. You tuned your radio to hear whichever one interested you. The NFL Network and Hansen's chatter had channels as well.

As far as I've been able to figure the radio is useless now that the event is over. I tried it at home for laughs and only heard static. I've since employed skills I've learned breaking graded cards out of slabs and snapped the radio off the cord. I now have a SB51 lanyard.

The goody bag also had packs of Panini NFL cards. I don't think these were retail packs. And I'm pretty sure these were not cards that were sold at retail either but my knowledge of current football cards is nearly nil.

The cards are pretty sweet actually. Each pack had five and they were all shiny and pretty. Each pack had a couple of current players....

...and a legendary player in this design.

Each pack also had a Gridiron Kings card and a Legends of the Shield card. I used to collect Marcus Allen pretty casually so the card I posted at the top of the post was appreciated.

Overall it was an interesting experience. Not one I'd do again though. Especially not for $30 a ticket.

Morning Joe

What you see above is the result of an artistic attempt by someone (me) without even the tiniest bit of artistic/graphic talent who is limited to the use of MSPaint and MSPublisher. 😩 If you don't catch the reference then you (inexplicably) don't read The Shlabotnik Report, one of the more fun card related blogs around. 

'Joe' does terrific customs and includes them as 'prizes' in his equally awesome custom cereal boxes. It's a unique and fun project that I really enjoy. His most recent edition came this past Sunday but there are plenty more which you can find all along his feed. You can see all his custom cards grouped together here and here. Fun stuff, no?

Anyway as I returned to blogging recently I moaned that I had very little new material. I mentioned that I might have to dig through some old boxes to find things long hidden away. I've done that before. But rather than be subjected to my posting about yellowing 1984 All Star ballots and various crappy K-Mart boxed sets Joe sent me a PWE with more interesting cards. And for that I thank him. And I'll show them off here.

First up...a 1979 O-Pee-Chee Doug DeCinces. DeCinces, the one time heir apparent to Brooks Robinson in Baltimore, had a nice career with the Orioles and Angels from 1973 thru 1987. 

I have a straight run of all the main stream Orioles cards from 1954 to 1990 (Topps, Bowman, Fleer, etc). But I love adding this type of 'variation'. I have a few OPCs from back in the day but not this '79 DeCinces. It goes in the back of my Orioles '75-'79 binder.

Next up...three Bowmans. First is a 2016 Chris Davis. Davis is one of those guys who just looks cool on a baseball card. That's weird I know but every Davis card I have is pretty sharp. Even the ones with less than stellar designs. I happen to like this Bowman design more than the '16 Topps.

This Trey Mancini Bowman is also a 2016. Must be from a differnt set though as it has a different design. I have absolutely no insight into the machinations that lie behind modern sets. It's a welcome card anyway. Mancini made a splash at the end of the 2016 season for Baltimore. He got called up in mid-September and hit a homer in his first three starts. He's only the third player in history to do that. I'm not sure he's going to have a spot on the O's opening day roster though.

Chance Sisco, seen here on another '16 Bowman, is the Orioles catcher 'of the future', or so I'm told. If, as has been whispered, Matt Wieters resigns with Baltimore and splits catching/DH duties with Wellington Castillo, then Sisco is sure to end up with another season at AAA or lower.

Joe put a few Donruss in the envelope and these two represent the 'Alpha and Omega' of modern Donruss efforts. That Manny Machado is not nearly as obviously a unlicensed card. The Ripken photo was been altered with thick black lines covering much of the orange of his uni. But it still goes into the Ripken section of my Orioles stars binder. (Manny has a slot, too)

Adam Jones Diamond King. Another card altered to exclude logos and colors but it's actually a pretty cool card overall. Diamond Kings featured artwork (then done by Dick Perez) back in the day and I guess they still do.

2002 Jerry Hairston. Hairston's tenure with the Orioles (1998-2004) fell within my self-imposed exile from baseball. He was still playing as a semi-regular with the Dodgers as late as 2013. Live and learn.

Finally, a card of Rafael de Silva from his Man U time. He's since moved on to play in France. I don't have nearly enough Manchester United cards. Kind of a weird shot. Looks like he's doing the mannequin challenge. Happy to add it to my rather slim soccer binder.

There you have it. Cards from Joe Shlabotnik that prevented, at least for a time, my dragging out some dusty 80's material. Thanks, Joe!!

RIP Alan Rosen aka 'Mr. Mint'

I learned the other day that Alan "Mr. Mint" Rosen died this week at the age of 70. Rosen was probably undeniably the most well known dealer/buyer/investor in the history of the hobby. He made a name for himself with huge ads in all the hobby publications. Pictures of him waving his wads of $100 bills were all over the place. He claimed to be the 'best known face' in the hobby and I have no doubt about that. 

Back in the halcyon days of this hobby you couldn't walk into a major show without seeing Rosen and his huge 'BUYING" signs front and center. His persona and 'shtick' rubbed a lot of folks the wrong way but there is no denying that he would be deserving of a spot on the hobby's Mt. Rushmore. If you have any doubts check out his website, in particular the "major finds" page.

I had one encounter with Rosen. Back in the mid 80's I was sitting on a stash of Cal Ripken rookies I'd picked up for probably a dime each. I used to buy 400 count boxes of Orioles 'commons' when the hobby was exploding with cards and companies. At the time I had no clue what my motivation was (and I still don't). But when Ripken rookie mania struck I was happy that I had done so. I had dozens of his Fleer and Donruss '82 rookies to say noting of the 50 card plastic 'cube' nearly filled with his true Topps rookie and many of the Update set 'rookie'.

About that time I had decided (with a wife, three little kids and a house note) to quit my company which provided services to the airlines and go back to school to get my teaching/coaching certificate. I was looking at three semesters of a reduced income and paying tuition costs. Those Ripkens looked like a way to make my transition back to being a college student again much less harrowing financially.

I took them to a big card show at the AstroArena next to the Dome one Friday and went straight to Rosen's table. He went through the cards and made me an offer. I can't remember what he quoted me but both he and the offer made me dizzy. I told him I'd think it over. I went back the next day and talked to the show promoter who was a dealer I knew well. He sent me to another table and I ended up selling most of the Ripkens to that second dealer. I can't remember exactly what I got in that deal but it was over three grand. I remember calling my wife and she told me to take the money straight to the bank before I lost it. LOL I really think she was afraid I'd spend it on other cards.

I found the following story online some time back and had been saving it for a future post. Now's the time. I've never heard of the movie mentioned but I may have to check to see if it's available on Netflix. The details pretty much sum up Rosen and his outrageous style.

New film has hobby's 'Mr. Mint' steaming mad 

July 09, 2008

Baseball card collecting is one of the dominant themes in the new motion picture, "Diminished Capacity," but not everyone associated with the hobby is thrilled by how card dealers are portrayed in the film.

In the movie, a Chicago journalist suffering from memory loss (played by Matthew Broderick) takes leave from his job and returns to his rural hometown, where he bonds with his Alzheimer's-impaired uncle Rollie (played by Alan Alda) and his old flame (Virginia Madsen). The trio heads to a card show in the city, where Rollie hopes to sell a rare baseball card that has gained the attention of some collectors intent on scheming the old man out of a potential fortune.

The notion of dealers trying to pay as little as possible for valuable cards has been used before in the movies (as in the 1999 film "Blast From The Past"), but in this film, the primary no-good dealer character goes by the name "The Mint-Mint Man," a parody of well-known vintage card dealer Alan "Mr Mint" Rosen. The Mint-Mint Man's show display features a photo of him fanning out a wad of cash, similar to images Rosen has used for years to promote himself at shows.

Director Terry Kinney told the New York Daily News that The Mint-Mint Man's sign and nickname were inspired by a research trip to a card show, where he saw Rosen's "Mr. Mint" booth and his trademark wads-of-dough portrait. Rosen told the Daily News that he wasn't happy with the suggestion that he operates in the same way as the character in the movie.

"They ripped off my persona, my character," Rosen told the paper. "I have a corny act, like a pro wrestling character, that I spent many years and millions of dollars establishing, and they stole it from me." Rosen said he contacted an attorney to see if there was a legal avenue to pursue, but his attorneys told him he didn't have a case. "They portray the character as dishonest and that bothers me," Rosen says. "I am 100 percent honest. I don't take advantage of old men like the guy in the movie. I'm a huckster, but I'm also an honest guy."

EDIT: Here is the IMDB page for Diminished Capacity. Looks to be available thru Amazon Video for those so inclined.

And here's a pic of "the Mint-Mint Man' character played by Bobby Cannevale. It comes from another story I found about the movie on SCD's website.

/EDIT

All you really need to know and Alan Rosen is that he had his own bobblehead and beanie baby!

Dipping (Stubbing?) My Toe In

With a bit of prodding from my better half and a few others I'm going to give this blogging thing a go again. That's not entirely accurate since I've done some posting on my 1958 Topps blog. But as far as this place goes, well, I've been gone a couple of months.

I'd like to tell you I feel different than I did the day I signed off but I'd be lying. I also would like to tell you that I have a ton of new stuff to show off but that wouldn't be true either. I've picked up very little other than 58's and I haven't been to a card show in months. I'll remedy the latter issue when TriStar hits Houston next month. 

By far the best thing I've added recently was this 1952 Star Cal Billy Pierce decal. These babies are just great vintage oddball items. I picked this one up for around $30 I think which is a good price though certainly not a 'steal'. 

This is my second Pierce Star Cal. Almost three years ago I nabbed the Pierce/Nellie Fox version. Those with two players are known as 'small' while the single player decals are referred to as 'large'. When I blogged that Pierce/Fox version I dug up a lot of info on these things so if you are interested you should check that post out. 

Somehow I didn't even have this large Pierce on my checklist so I never really thought to search for it. It just popped up on my general eBay Billy Pierce search one night and I grabbed it. Frankly I'd have paid a good bit more had I needed to. The prices for these are all over the map, by the way. If you are a Yankee fan there is a nice Rizzuto/Coleman without the envelope on eBay right now for under $20. That would be a much better way to spend $20 than on a Chromilated-Refactorized-Diecut Gary Sanchez card. 

My Pierce is in about the same shape you find the majority of these things in. They are kind of fragile and through the years many have yellowed a bit and the envelopes had a tendency to tear. 

Here is mine in the envelope as I received it. Looked to me that it had never been opened and it about killed my soul to remove it but I was careful. The glue barely needed any persuading to allow the flap to open. 

Here is the back of the envelope complete with suggestions on where to apply them. I can just see myself  using the 'Frame on wall with colored tape' idea in our living room. But really I was thinking about how cool this Pierce would have looked on the back window of my Dad's '56 Studebaker Golden Hawk back in the day.

The back of the decal itself:

It actually scanned better than I thought it would.

The envelope without the decal reveals the checklist. The numbering system corresponds to the different teams. 70A thru 70F are Yankees. the 71 sequence decals are Red Sox, etc. The 'small' (two player) versions pick up the numbering. Interestingly there are a few quirks to the checklist vs. the actual decals. There is a Jerry Staley decal listed as 81G on some checklists but it is not on the envelope list. The small Ned Garver (which is two pics of him) is listed in the same numbering sequence as the decals containing Philadelphia Athletics. I don't know the full story on these obviously.

And finally here is my Pierce/Fox version. It's actually the same size as the 'large' Pierce but the scan runs off the column when I use the XL setting. 

So that's it. I'm back, more or less. We'll just have to see how things go. I won't have a lot of stuff to post here until I get to a show probably. BTW...I need only the Mickey Mantle card to complete my '58 Topps set. If you have an extra send it my way will ya?

Goodbye for now, and Thanks

I'm the husband of a woman of color, from a family of immigrants. I'm the father of three great kids, obviously of mixed race. One, my incredible daughter, is gay. She works in Chicago as a social worker and tireless advocate for the elderly. She does great things every day and she's my hero. Right now I'm worried about what their future holds.

As for myself... I've spent most of my adult life teaching and coaching young people at economically disadvantaged schools and trying to be a positive influence on them. I think I've succeeded for the most part. I am worried about these kids, too.

On Tuesday we as a country, a country I love deeply, elected a man without character or compassion, as our next president. It's been difficult for me, over the last few days, to sit here and try to write about sports cards when the only thing I really have on my mind is the kind of country we've become. How the hell did we get to the point where this contemptuous "man" is about to represent us on the world stage? To paraphrase John Oliver...look up, waaay up...see that spot waaaaay up there? That used to be rock bottom.

I swore I'd never write anything political here in what I've always hoped would be a fun diversion for me and maybe a reader or two. Right now I'm struggling to even type this. I certainly can't put effort into a card post. I don't see that changing for awhile.

I've 'met' really good folks and made some friends through this blog and for that I've very very grateful. I may try to update my 1958 and 1960 blogs as time goes by. I may even come back here and kick-start things if I get the urge.

I'll end with this video of the late Leonard Cohen's incredible Hallelujah by the equally incredible kd lang. There are some amazing renditions of this song out on the web. Maybe the most compelling is by Alexandra Burke but kd's means the most to me. Please give it a listen. And thanks so very much for reading.

-Bob

Hoyle'd again

The day after I received Night Owl's envelope I got one from Mark "Friend of Everyone's Blog" Hoyle. It was like a mirror image of NO's in that it had some 2016 late release stuff and some off the wall vintage. 

The border-less (a scanner victim) Hyun-Soo Kim card goes directly into my fantasy baseball binder. I've been needing a 'real' card of him all season. It replaces a World Baseball Classic one I found somewhere. A mainstream card in the player's actual MLB duds trumps a WBC oddball.

The O's picked up Steve Pearce late in the summer (at the deadline? I forget) but he was hurt and never really contributed. Nice card though. I needed it for the same reason as the Kim card.

Next up... a 1989 Fleer Prospects card with an Oriole. I always liked this set. It contains the infamous Billy Ripken bat knob obscenity card. Boy, was that a huge deal for awhile! This one is more routine.

We have Bob Milacki alongside football coach-lookin' Jim Corsi of the A's. Milacki was taken by the Orioles in the June, 1983 draft. that's the same month I got married. He won a couple of games for the Orioles at the end of the 1988 season. That was no mean feat given how the 1988 Orioles were so utterly terrible. And that's being kind.

But he was a 14 game winner for the 1989 "Why Not?" Orioles who finished second in the AL East and were in first place as late as the eve of September. That clunky "EBW" on Milacki's sleeve is the memorial for owner Edward Bennett Williams. I never realized what a great owner he was until Peter Angelos came along. 

These Kraft Home Plate Heroes cards came on Mac'n'Cheese boxes. We went through a lot of this stuff back then as my kids were growing up but I don't think I nabbed the Ripken. Two things I do know...I never kept the two cards intact, especially if an Oriole was involved...he was cut and put in a 9 pocket. And secondly I never cut the panel as neatly as this. My 1980s  food container and box bottom cutting skills didn't improve from when I was slaughtering Post Cereal cards twenty years prior. 

Cal Jr. and Darryl Strawberry are definitely on odd couple to be sharing a panel. Hey, an Oriole and a Met...makes this something that would fit perfectly in Joe Shlabotnik's collection. And I've wondered from time to time about these food and retail issues that are logo-less due to lack of MLB licencing but list the teams' nicknames. What's different now with Panini unable to use either? 

Finally here is a 2016 Topps Update card of my free-swinging pal, Chris Davis. Topps proclaims him as a future 500 Homer Club member. He's at 241 right now, and he's 30. I'm a big Crush fan but I'm thinking that another 259 is a longshot. I hope I'm wrong as the O's have a lot invested in him. 

But either way it's a nice card of him. His swing and reaction to a blast are both distinctive. He's worth the price of a ticket even when he's off his game.  

Thanks again, Mark. I appreciate the cards very much. Those of you with a Twitter account should follow him at https://twitter.com/Markhoyle4  Mark posts a lot of neat stuff there.

Night Owl To The Rescue

I've really let this blog go to hell in a handbasket. I just haven't had much to blog about as I've been concentrating on chasing the 1958 Topps set. October was the best month of the year for card shows in Houston and I missed all of them. And the new stuff I've bought, a couple baseball and football packs, have been very uninspiring...lacking any Orioles or other cards of interest. 

So getting a nice fat manila envelope addressed from Western New York was a welcome sight the other day. Night Owl had filled it with a stack of fancy and not-so-fancy Orioles. Most from 2016 and many from sets I never have any interaction with. I mean I know Topps Chrome exists because I see people post it on their blogs but does it come in packs? Boxed sets? Semi-inquiring minds want to know. 

Up top Adam Jones strikes a serious "I'm a bad dude" pose. Usually he's grinning like a kid. I have a hard time telling this year's A&G cards from any previous year's A&G cards. But that's on me. I'm more than happy to add another Jones card to my current O's binder. 

Chris Davis watching another dinger fly out on a Topps Opening Day card. I actually found a pack of Opening Day last year but other than that I've never seen them outside blogs and the packs on card dealer tables at shows. 

Jones again, from Heritage. I bought some Heritage in packs...no Orioles. So this and the Macho Manny Machado card below are welcome.

And then there are these two Topps chrome cards. Not only are they shiny and a bit warped as all the best chrome cards are..they have pink elements! I love pink cards. 

Shiny Bowmans of Jomar Reyes and Dylan Bundy. Bundy was the 'eternal prospect'. And finally in 2016 he got a season in Baltimore. He didn't tear the league up but I thought he did OK. I don't know anything about Reyes. 

I think this Odrisamer Despaigne card is from an update set. I remember looking for one of him on the O's this summer for my fantasy player collection (yes, I had pitching issues for awhile) and only finding a Padres card. He's one of those guys who pulls his cap over to one side of his head. Seems to me to be a pitchers 'thing'. When I was playing (many) years ago I pulled my cap as low as I could over my eyes. I thought I was cool. 

Henry Urrutia. He's a Cuban guy who attempted to defect twice and was successful the second time. He's been in the O's organization since 2013 and had a couple of runs in the bigs.

I don't hate the '16 Topps design as much as most people. I tend to like cards that feature team color coordinated elements. Sue me.

Here's something you don't see every day...an Aurora card of Brady Anderson. I had no idea what Aurora cards were but at first glance it seemed like something Pacific would have put out and it turns out that I was correct. Here is the card:

And here is part of the 2011 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards entry that popped up in a Google search:

Being from 1998 kind of explains why I had never heard of these things. I was away from baseball in the second half of that decade. The good news is that because of that I missed the Joe Carter Experience in Baltimore.

Finally take a peek at this:

It's just so randomly random. 1990 Star Company Wausau Timbers card of the coaching staff. Back in the day there were several competing companies pumping out minor league sets. Star, Classic, ProCards and Best are the ones that I remember. I think Larry Fritsch published sets as well although I can't recall seeing any of those  outside his catalogs.

So my question is "How does a 1990 Best Wausau Timbers Coaching Staff  card end up in Night Owl's collection?"  Beats me but I'm happy to add it to my small box of Orioles-related minor league cards.

And thanks to Night Owl for getting me out of my blogging doldrums. I actually found another envelope in my mail today which I'm betting contains some Orioles cardboard! Looks like I'll have another post soon.