Closeted Stuff

My wife is off performing 'nursing' duties for my father-in-law who is having some health issues. I'm home watching movies and listing to music and doing a consolidation of boxes and a culling of 'stuff'. Here are some random items I've come across in the last few days. Just because.

Signed 3x7 Tadder photo of Elliott Maddox, a Oriole in 1977 between stints with the two New York teams.

Sandy Koufax oversized card from TCMA circa 1982. Oh, those windbreaker-under-the-jersey days!

1979 Topps Larry Hisle comic. I think these came with gum, not inserted into cards.  Why I have this I can't really say. But I'm going to put it in the back of my '79 binder.

I love this next card, even though I shouldn't. First year Donruss Reggie.  I like this set and I don't care who knows it.

Philly Gum King Hill. One of the best football names ever. He's holding 'The Duke'. We would have sold our grandmothers to the cannibals to own one of those back then.

I've been on a St. Louis Browns kick since our trip up there this past July. Here is Satchel Paige from a 1977 TCMA/Renata Gallaso set.

 

I have a bunch of Pokemon cards in a box for no reason. They came from my sons and from kids at my school who defied my rules about keeping 'toys' in their backpacks. Next time I'm out at my school I'm going to drop these off if i find out they are still a thing. I'll check the next time I'm at Target. They have all sorts of crappy stuff next to their sports cards. Maybe Pokemon is part of that.

Hey.. he's called 'Kadabra'...I get it now. If you pair him with 'Abra' you get 12 zillion Power Ups.

Upper Deck Football Legends set is awesome. I have the base set and some extras like this signed card on one of my favorite players, Tommy McDonald.
 

1990s Bagwell from something called Impact. This I'm sure came from the boxes of stuff my boys left behind.

This card of The Dream needs to go into my University of Houston binder. I also need to blog my 'buying fried chicken for Hakeem' story one of these days.

Lastly, and perhaps most randomly... a Gardner's 1984 Robin Yount. The back is the same as the '84 Topps, I think. From a very brief Google look it seems Gardner's sold out to Bimbo some time back and is now gone as a brand name. truth is I can't imagine where this came from.

That's it for now. You simply wouldn't believe the amount of odds and ends i have stashed around here. Time to clean it all up!

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?

Satchel Paige '52 "Topps style"

I figured I wouldn't go out and buy a vintage Paige card anytime soon. But Bob Lemke did a nice job on this one so it'll fill a hole for me for the time being. And fill it nicely indeed.

Thanks again, Bob.