I took the plunge

I've been neglecting this little space for a bit but that doesn't mean I've been inactive hobby-wise. Quite the contrary.

At the September monthly card show, I saw a binder of 1961 commons my friend Darryl had behind his table that I hadn't noticed before. I poked through it and saw that there were about 240ish cards, a nice starter set. Darryl being Darryl said he'd give me a really good deal on it and soon I was headed home with my latest vintage chase project. One I had considered but hadn't really committed to until that morning.

Soon after that, I found a chunk of 61s on eBay for a 'can't pass this up' price and I grabbed them knowing that I'd end up with some dupes. On the flip side, the eBay cards looked (and indeed turned out to be) in really nice condition and many of the dupes were just fine as upgrades over those in the binder.

I hadn't really touched it until we returned from vacation late in October and then I dug in. It took me a couple of days to pull the cards from the sheets, sort and collate them and make a want list. I also pulled the '61s I had in my PCs. Unlike a lot of collectors, I don't duplicate cards across various collections except for a few special collections like Billy Pierce, Brooks Robinson, and a few others. It took me another day to track down the '61 Orioles cards I already had. That's a long story with interesting results that I'll save for a separate post.

Last Saturday I took my want list and killed off another 100 or so from my list plus some stars from a collection Darryl had recently picked up. I'm really happy with how this thing is coming along. I have some great memories of these cards. There are some sweet ones among the cards I have in the binder so far. Like the great Wally Moon card that I put up top. Here are a few more:

Roger Maris carries a pwemium, especially a '61 Maris. I have to balance cost and quality. This was a reasonable one that had flaws, but flaws I can live with. The scan makes the creases look worse than they do in the binder page. A low number common might be an upgrade candidate if it carried these scars, but not a Maris.

I dug Chuck Estrada back in his days as an Oriole and loved this card. That trophy!!

League Leader cards with mantle...ouch. Mantle and Maris BOTH? Yikes. I hate paying the price but whatcha gonna do? What I do is buy one with a crease through Rocco C.'s ear.

These next three come from PCs. I had already put the MVP subset together long ago. That took care of a bunch of stars. And I had a seperate Jensen so that one transferred over to this binder.

I had three of this Wes Covington card. This baby elevates the '61 set all by itself. One of the best cards Topps has done.

My Johnny Callison collection was somewhere south of complete so using this '61 in the set binder isn't a big deal. It's another great card though. Maybe not 'Covington great', but great. Nice look at Connie Mack Stadium here.

Roy Face in LA's Memorial Coliseum.

 Here's an oversized look at the back of Callison's card. Full stats (or what passed for full stats back then), three cartoons, a blurb on cards of players with not a lot of stats and, of course, the player's 'vitals'. Couldn't ask for more.

 The manager's cards more or less borrowed the color scheme from the 1960 rookie cards.

Another PC card on permanent loan. Mudcat!!

Another top hat trophy rookie. I had three copies of this Tommy Davis. I can't say why. He seems to show up in cheap vintage boxes and I always bite. At least now one will be put to good use. TD's off-centeredness is very typical of 1961s. Doesn't bother me in the slightest. The only time I even consider it is if I am choosing between two cards for a binder slot. If the corners are equal then I'll use the one with better centering.

Last time I checked I was over 80% complete with the set. If you happen to have any 61s in a box under your bed that you can spare check out my want list at this link or over on the right-hand sidebar.

This chase is going to slow waaaay down as I get into the high numbers. Those can be silly expensive. I'll need patience and lots of luck to finish this one out without killing off my entire hobby budget.

Random Vintage Being Random Pt 1

I spent a few hours on Saturday at the monthly hotel show just north of Houston. I shot the breeze with Daryl, the promoter who also mans a table of nice vintage stuff. I usually spend my money with him but on Saturday I checked out another regular dealer's cards. That guy had a nice box of vintage marked fifty cants a card or three for a buck. I think I spent $8. Here is some of what I came home with. 

1952 Bowman Gene Bearden. That old Brownies' gear is pretty sweet.  This copy is just a bit less than a perfect 10 but hey, for 33 cents I'll take it. BTW... Bearden survived the sinking of his ship, the cruiser USS Helena by the Japanese during WWII. 168 of his 900 shipmates didn't.

1969 All Star 'Sudden' Sam McDowell. I got an up-close look at McDowell's impressive arm one day at Yankee Stadium in the summer of 1970 by sitting behind the Indian's dugout with a friend. We knew a friendly usher who always found us unused seats at mid-week games. We were dutifully impressed with how hard McDowell threw.

Here is the first of a couple of 1957's. I enjoyed discovering Harry 'Suitcase' Simpson when I researched his 1959 Topps card. That's when I learned that he didn't get that nickname from his many team-to-team moves through the years.

I grab any cheap '57 Dodger that shows Ebbets Field in the background. Even one like this that was on the receiving end of some creative editing somewhere along the way. Sal Maglie's nickname was 'The Barber', earned for his habit of moving hitters off the plate with high and inside pitches.

Maglie is the only guy to pitch for the Giants, Dodgers and Yankees when they were all New York franchises.

Next up are a pair of Jim 'Mudcat' Grant cards. Three cool nicknames in a row is just a coincidence. Grant was an interesting guy and an underrated pitcher. He was known for his musical chops and Topps frequently referred to them on the back of his cards.

I remember watching Game Six of the 1965 World Series on the TV in my 8th grade classroom in Nutley, NJ. The nuns at St. Mary's always had us watch the Series on the black and white TVs each classroom had on a tall, wheeled cart. In that Game Six Grant pitched brilliantly and homered to boot. The Dodgers were my NL team back them so I was disappointed but most of the kids I knew were AL fans (thanks, Yankees). Grant's SABR bio is well worth the 10 minute read.

Speaking of the Yankees....

I'm sure I had both of these cards back in the day but I don't remember either one. I'm also sure I saw both of these guys pitch multiple times. I really like the '63 Sheldon. Unusual picture makes it a neat card.

Little known facts about the little known Duke Maas....He was once involved in a trade for Suitcase Simpson...his given name was Duane...he was taken by the Angels in the 1960 expansion draft but was traded back to the Yankees and he died at the age of 47 due to complications of arthritis.

Willie 'The Wisp' Galimore of the Bears died along with a teammate in a one car accident during training camp in July of 1964. Nobody ever talks about Galimore and his numbers won't make your eyes pop but his talent sure did.

This 1960 Topps Galimore was the only non-baseball card I bought Saturday. It's the first Galimore I've had since I was a kid. If I was an NFL runningback I'd want as cool a name as 'Willie Galimore'.

Check out this brief NFL Films feature on Willie the Wisp.

A Little Show Diary and some Vintage

Made it out to the card show on Saturday. The result was a mixed bag but it was mostly positive. First things first.....I got my '58 Mantle. It was a bargain but came with a caveat that I'll save for my '58 Topps blog when I get around to posting Mickey.

The show, as are most TriStar events, was pretty well attended. But again, like most TriStar events, most of the folks in attendance were there for the autograph signings. They always have an impressive lineup of guests and this time was no exception. There was even a Phi Slama Jama 'reunion' with nearly all the players from that early 80s era high-flying Houston hoops squad signing. I bumped into my brother and my nephew who came to get a few items signed by Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. Looking at the prices they were getting it made me wish I had thought to get them to sign for me back when I was working in the athletic offices and they were just a couple of guys hanging out.

I griped before I went to the show about the cost of parking and admission. Well, that turned into a bad news/good news proposition. Parking at the NRG complex was $12 which was higher than I expected and I find it outrageous. But as I walked towards the box office to buy my show admission ticket some random guy handed me an extra he had, Saved me $9. Thanks random guy!

I spent more time at this show than I usually do. I found Darrell, my dealer friend who puts on the hotel shows, and hung out at his table. He always has great cheap vintage baseball and football cards in boxes that range from a quarter to a buck or two. The 61's in this post came from his table.

I spent another hour or so wandering the tables looking for other cheap vintage boxes and that's when I found the Mantle. I also got lucky and sniffed out a few dealers with inventory similar to Darrell's and made some purchases that are going out in packages this week. I wanted to get more but I only have a limited amount of  'bend over a box with a wantlist' time in these old bones.

Another dealer I've known for awhile recruited me to help him tear open some blaster boxes of 2017 Topps. I welcomed the chance to just sit, shoot the hobby breeze, and rip open packs. He threw a few goodies my way for my time.

I hit up some tables with mostly football and hockey pins and stopped at one more vintage card dealer's table on my way out. All in all it was a productive but tiring day.

I've just realized that I haven't mentioned the cards I have posted. I'm really on the fence when it comes to the prospect of chasing the 1961 Topps set. It doesn't get much love in the hobby that's for sure. I have a sentimental attachment to it as I can recall going to the Korvette's store near our home in suburban north Jersey with my Dad and him buying me cello packs of it.

I already own the MVP subset and most of the All Star one, plus the Orioles and some assorted star cards. But I don't think I'm quite ready to tackle another set quite yet. And I sure won't crank up another set-specific blog anytime soon.

But in the meantime I'll continue to add cards from it that I enjoy. I've casually collected Vada Pinson and Mudcat Grant cards over the years. And although he was a Yankee I've retained a soft spot for easy-to-like Bobby Richardson. I picked up a few more nice vintage cards but I'm debating whether or not to send them out to someone so I won't post the scans. I like to surprise folks.

For a couple of bucks I nabbed the Lenny Moore card above. I don't care much about relics and such but for $2 a Memorial Stadium seat card of one of my favorite BALTIMORE Colts stars was impossible to pass up.

Here are the pins I picked up. The Colts one says 'Since 1953' on the bottom so I'm including it in my collection. I bought the Super Bowl pin for $5 because I have pins from the previous two Houston SBs.

All in all it was worthwhile day at the show. My only regret is that by buying the Mantle I've blown my hobby budget for the month so this coming Saturday's hotel show will be a 'chat' session rather than a 'buy' session. Oh well.

More Card Show Vintage

When you are digging through a huge plastic tub of old cards trying to fill your hand with $5 worth of 20 centers you end up grabbing stuff for any old reason. I had no sets to fill and no goals to meet so I just grabbed what caught my eye. Here is a portion of the stuff I took home:

1962 Jim 'Mudcat' Grant. I mean, why not? Love this card of Grant which I'm guessing was taken pregame on a sunny Sunday at 'the big ballpark' as Red Barber used to call it. That means there is a fair chance i was there that day. I need more Mudcat Grant cards...hell, everyone does.

Marv Grissom doesn't look all that happy to have had the San Francisco Seals' logo painted onto his cap.

In the 1954 Series Grisson entered Game One in the Polo Grounds with the Giants and Indians tied 2-2 with one out and runners on the corners. You can be assured that the crowd was buzzing as he walking in from that far away Giants bullpen. Not because of Grissom mind you, but because that one out was the result of Willie Mays' storied over-the-shoulder catch that robbed Vic Wertz of an extra base hit.

Grisson retired the side after loading the bases with a walk to pinch hitter Dale Mitchell and then pitched two more innings until  Dusty Rhodes' three run dinger won the game for him and the Giants in the bottom of the tenth. Looking at the play-by-play I noticed that Grissom gave up a double to Wertz to open the tenth. But Leo Durocher had faith and he kept Grissom in the game. I'd have to think that nowadays the manager would have been headed for the mound and tapping his arm before Wertz had even pulled up at second.

Maybe even more remarkable is that Grissom was allowed to lead off the bottom of the ninth in that World Series game! It's not like Durocher was out of pitchers, heck Grissom wasn't even the #1 bullpen option for the '54 Giants. That role was held by Hoyt Wilhelm. The basics of baseball have never changed but the philosophy of it sure has.

Wes Covington may have changed teams but with the Phillies, as with the Braves, he likes being photographed at the bat rack.

Like the Mudcat Grant, this '67 Topps Chuck Hinton holds a memory-invoking background view of Yankee Stadium. He was originally signed by the Orioles, btw.  And he made the 1964 All Star squad as a member of the Senators. Now you have some trivia questions to ask at your next trip to the corner bar.

A .20 cent 1979 Yaz card. He was a ballplayer. And I need more cards of him. That cap though. The red cap with a blue brim they wore back then just looked wrong to me.

1981 Donruss Reggie. I have no idea why I picked this card, either to buy or scan. But here it is. Pop quiz time...Who's bat is Reggie holding?  Answer at the bottom.

1970 Steve Barber. I was a big Steve Barber guy back when he pitched for my Orioles. I wasn't happy when he was traded to the Yankees. Here he is with the Seattle Pilots who took him in the expansion draft and for whom he won 4 games in 1970. By the time this card hit the stores in Topps '70 set he was gone from Seattle as were the Pilots. They were the Brewers and Barber was cut by Opening Day. His days as a front-line starter were behind him but being a lefty he was able to hang on through 1975.

Reggie is apparently holding Fred Stanley's bat. Stanley wore #11. He had 10 career homers, three two homer season. Jackson had 40 two homer games.