Spring Fling #3 and another ST Update!

This is a Pro Star Promotions Al Kaline postcard. The shot was obviously taken in Spring Training, the telltale palm tree can be seen in the background.

I don't know much about these Pro Star things. I have several Orioles and have shown them before. I think the O's I have are part of the American League set issued in 1972. I say that because I don't recall having any of the NL guys in my postcard binders. PSA has a bit more info, but not much:

The Pro Star Promotions baseball set consists of 37 postcards, each one 3-1/2” by 5-1/2”. Printed in Canada, each blank-backed, unnumbered piece features a white-bordered color player photo with the player’s name in the lower white border. A facsimile autograph is also printed across the bottom of the photo. The series can be divided into a trio of 12-card sets representing the Montreal Expos, the National League, and the American League. A checklist card makes up the final piece. Hank Aaron (#13), Johnny Bench (#14), Roberto Clemente (#15), Ferguson Jenkins (#16), Juan Marichal (#17), Willie Mays (#18), Willie McCovey (#19), Frank Robinson (#20), Pete Rose (#21), Tom Seaver (#22), Willie Stargell (#23), Reggie Jackson (#26), Al Kaline (#27), Harmon Killebrew (#28), and Brooks Robinson (#36) anchor the set. 

With Baltimore native Kaline in his home uni I will assume that this photo was taken in Lakeland which has served as the Tigers' spring home seemingly forever. I am scheduled to see the Nats play the Tigers there today. And I just was given a Yankees-Blue Jays ticket for their game in Tampa tonite. Gonna be a busy day!

On Monday we watched the Nats back in Viera taking on the Astros. I took a lot more digital pix at this one because my camera pics have been lacking.

Before stuff gets started there is a lot of standing around and talking.

Nat's Manager Matt Williams was very nice. That's him below.

We found out when we arrived that the Astros were not going to come in for BP and were not scheduled to arrive until noon. I had been hoping to get to see Jose Altuve because I'll never have this kind of access anyplace else. But he scheduled to play in the Astros 'home' game and didn't take the bus down here.

We spent a lot of time on the field watching Nats go through the controlled and rather laid back chaos that is Spring Training gameday. Players were taking BP from a guy throwing from 40 feet, coaches were hitting grounders from either side of the cage while other coaches nearby were fungo-ing flys to the outfielders. Balls are going in every direction yet everyone seems so nonchalant and unconcerned that baseballs are flying just over their heads while they practice double plays.

I've heard baseball being compared to a ballet, well there is no more ballet-like time in the game than morning practice in mid-March.

I'm not a guy who seeks many autographs. But Matt Williams came over and signed a ball for me.

After morning practice we cooled off in the offices until the anthem. The 'halo effect' in this shot comes from me holding the camera an inch from the glass window. No one is ever going to confuse me with Ansel Adams

They have this statue titled Casey at the Bat up there. I meant to ask someone about it but I didn't. 

Good seats again. Note the green caps for the Nats. They celebrated St. Patty's Day early because they are on the road today.

Len Dykstra's kid is trying to make the Nat's roster. Tony Gwynn Jr. is as well but I didn't get a shot of him.

Spalit Squad day meant that the Astros brought along some guys with numbers in the 80s and 90s and no names on their unis.

Jon Singleton whiffed a couple of times. He's young and still a work-in-progress.

here are the baseballs signed by Williams and Tarasco.

Lucky Me... More Orioles Dexter Press

I managed to extract the last of my Orioles Dexter Press postcards from their binder page today. It was a harrowing experience. But I took it slow and the cards came out fine. The glossy finish has reacted with the vinyl pages over the years it seems because the fronts are somewhat sticky and I had a hard time lifting them off the scanner platen. 

The Mark Belanger card is the only one that features an Oriole in a road uniform. This shot resembles those used in the large 5 x 7 Dexter Press cards that I've posted previously. Palm trees=spring training.

Tom Phoebus had his picture taken a bit closer to game time than most of the others. The crowd looks to be filing into the bleachers.

Here is the back of the Davey Johnson card. Here, from the text on the back, is a trivia question that'll win you a beer next time you're in a bar: Dave Johnson is the last player to get a hit off Sandy Koufax. He singled off Koufax in the sixth inning of Game Two of the 1966 World Series. That was last inning Koufax pitched before he retired.

Johnson has always been one of my favorite baseball people. His firing by by Peter Angelos in 1997 was the final straw leading to my break from baseball. Davey began his association with the game by serving as the Washington Senators' batboy during spring training in 1953. It's kind of neat that he wrapped up his career as manager of the Washington Nationals last year.

More Dave Johnson facts: He received a math degree from Trinity University in San Antonio, was at the forefront of the game's computer revolution, he can speak Japanese, has a pilot's and real estate license and taught scuba diving. He won the Manager of the Year award in each league and 14 of 17 teams he managed with the Mets, Reds, Orioles, Dodgers and Nationals finished either first or second. I think he belongs in the Hall of Fame as a manager but it'll be tough sledding. 

The next four-pocket sheet in the binder contained these postcard sized photocards. These unauthorized 1972 issues were distributed in Canada, or at least were manufactured there by Pro Star Promotions. They have a matte finish and they slid out of the binder page without a problem. Further proof that the gloss on the Dexters is behind the problems I had.

Random 80's Crap from my Hobby Closet, Pt.2

Recently I pulled a random box out of my 'hobby closet' and opened it just for the hell of it. I have about a dozen of these boxes, most are the document storage-type things and I haven't looked at them in years. Inside the one I chose I found all sorts of junk I had picked up in the 80's. There is no logic to any of it. I bought whatever struck my fancy back in those days and I saved everything. 
I found small boxed sets that I had pulled the Orioles out of, commercially produced and team issued postcards, odd ball TCMA trash, unlicensed photo cards, pocket schedules, ticket stubs and much more. While I'm off visiting the Big Apple I thought I'd put up a few posts showing the 'stuff' I once valued so highly. 

The Denis Menke 'postcard' above and the Tom Burmeier below are two of the J.D. McCarthy cards I found in the box. These were produced by the Detroit based photographer of the same name who provided them to players for the purpose of sending them out to fill autograph requests. I've known of some instances where a player added one of these to a response in addition to the card/photo sent by the fan.

McCarthy produced these for players in at least the four major sports and who knows who else. They were produced over the course of at least four decades. Most sources list the cards as being from the 1950s through the 70s but Menke coached the Blue Jays in 1980/81.The style of the name block varies as does the back. Most I have are blank backed but the Burgmeier has a back (shown below) that features a 'Produced by...' line down the center which gives it a more traditional postcard 'look'. That one, btw, shows the pitcher in a uni that has the 1969 Baseball Anniversary patch.

While the cards had various fonts and name plate styles the one identifying mark that is always present in the stylized JDM logo found on every one, at least every one I've seen.

Here is the logo from the Menke card:

Back of the J.D. McCarthy Burgmeier card:

Another group of cards I found in the box were from a 'set' put out by a firm called Pro Star Promotions of Canada. These postcard-sized cards were issued in 1972 and are unlicensed with all team logos airbrushed out.

I also have the 'checklist' and listed are the AL and NL postcards as well as the 'set' that was comprised exclusively of Montreal Expos. As you can see on the checklist the company had also issued a set of posters in addition to the postcards. And in addition I see eBay listing for Expos posters that are not on the checklist, Ron Swoboda for example. I've seen listings for Montreal Canadiens cards as well. I posted an eBay image of one, Henri "The Pocket Rocket" Richard, at the bottom.
The cards as well as the checklist are blank on the reverse.