1963 Bazooka Dazzy Vance

Here's a trivia question for the desperate...What is the only Bazooka set NOT issues as part of the box itself? Your answer is the 1963 Bazooka All-Time Greats. This was a 41 card set that featured only Hall of Famers and came as inserts, five in a box of gum pieces.

I've never owned one of these, or even thought much about them but I had some PayPal money buring a whole in my eWallet so I set out to picking up a few cheap cards that struck my fancy.

I don't recall what ols Dazzy Vance here cost me but it wan't much more than a buck. The crease you see across the card isn't nearly as noticable in hand as it is in the scan.

Here is the checklist. It's obviously an impressive one since it's made up of nothing but greats from the game's early years. Most, but not all of these, can also be found with silver in place of the gold on the plaque.

1 Joe Tinker
2 Harry Heilmann
3 Jack Chesbro
4 Christy Mathewson
5 Herb Pennock
6 Cy Young
7 Ed Walsh
8 Nap Lajoie
9 Eddie Plank
10 Honus Wagner
11 Chief Bender
12 Walter Johnson
13 Three-Finger Brown
14 Rabbit Maranville
15 Lou Gehrig
16 Ban Johnson
17 Babe Ruth
18 Connie Mack
19 Hank Greenberg
20 John McGraw
21 Johnny Evers
22 Al Simmons
23 Jimmy Collins
24 Tris Speaker
25 Frank Chance
26 Fred Clarke
27 Wilbert Robinson
28 Dazzy Vance
29 Pete Alexander
30 Judge Landis
31 Willie Keeler
32 Rogers Hornsby
33 Hugh Duffy
34 Mickey Cochrane
35 Ty Cobb
36 Mel Ott
37 Clark Griffith
38 Ted Lyons
39 Cap Anson
40 Bill Dickey
41 Eddie Collins

As for Dazzy Vance, he was a dominant pitchers in his time for the Dodgers. He led the NL in strikeouts for seven straight seasons. Here, from Vance's Baseball reference Bullpen bio page is a list of his highlights:

Notable Achievements

• NL MVP (1924)
• NL Pitcher's Triple Crown (1924)
• 3-time NL ERA Leader (1924, 1928 & 1930)
• 2-time NL Wins Leader (1924 & 1925)
• 7-time NL Strikeouts Leader (1922-1928)
• 2-time NL Complete Games Leader (1924 & 1927)
• 4-time NL Shutouts Leader (1922, 1925, 1928 & 1930)
• 15 Wins Seasons: 7 (1922-1925, 1927, 1928 & 1930)
• 20 Wins Seasons: 3 (1924, 1925 & 1928)
• 25 Wins Seasons: 1 (1924)
• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 9 (1922-1925 & 1927-1931)
• 300 Innings Pitched Seasons: 1 (1924)
• 200 Strikeouts Seasons: 3 (1924, 1925 & 1928)
• Won a World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1934
• Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1955

One Man's 'Poor'....

....is another man's "Looks perfectly fine to me!".

And such was the case for this latest addition to my Billy Pierce PC.

This 1963 Topps Series Foes is not part of the World Series subset but rather it's a stand-alone special. Bill Stafford and Pierce faced off in Game Three of the '62 Series with the Yankees' righthanded 14 game winner coming out on top.

My guy Pierce pitched well through six innings, not allowing a Yankee runner (they had just three) past second base. But he was done in by three straight singles in the bottom of the 7th and wasn't helped much by back-to-back outfield errors by Wille McCovey and Felipe Alou.

The Yanks behind a strong effort from Stafford won, 3-2. Pierce would return to the mound in Game Six and show his stuff. That game has a card in the Series subset that I'll feature soon.

My entry title refers to the eBay listing of this card as 'poor'. It looked pretty good to me in the pics so I took a chance and picked it up via 'buy it now' for a few dollars shipped. I'm pretty happy with the condition. It's in nicer shape than some of the cards in my '59 set that I thought were good enough not to consider upgrading.

"O" It's "A" Shameless Plug

I'm not sure what possessed me to take on the responsibility of contributing to another blog. Hell, I can barely keep up with my two solo blogs. Add in my fantasy football commish and writing duties and I'm behind almost all the time. But I couldn't resist Jim from Downingtown's invite to add some posts to his 1963 Topps blog, so I bit.

Jim has also added Collective Troll as part of the blog so it should be fun. I'm definately third string on this team but I'll do what I can when called on. My supply of '63s is pretty limited. I've got the Orioles in the set of course, and a few star cards that are buried somewhere in my hobby closet. But I've picked up a few small, really cheap lots on eBay so I have some cards to keep things moving for awhile. If you are looking for NM examples you are going to be disappointed. My cheap lots were cheap for a reason.

The 1963 set is colorful and it is one I clearly recall collecting as a kid. I was a fifth grader at St. Mary's School in Nutley, NJ when the packs first hit the candy counter of Lee's Confectionary that spring. I'd use my milk money to pick up a pack as we waited for the city bus that took us to school and I'd open the pack on the way. I'm guessing that half the time I'd either lose the cards 'flipping' at recess or have them taken away by Sister Theresa during class. 

The Chuck Estrada card up top is a nice one. The pose that has him rubbing up the baseball is just a little different than most pitchers cards. I love the Orioles unis from that era. That cartoon bird on the sleeve just rocks. 

I have a few '63 cards posts up already. I hope you'll take a peek over there from time to time and let us know how we are doing. Thanks.

Meanwhile, here are a few of the more colorful cards from the little stack on my desk.