2011 Pierce Redemption card

If I'd have thought about it a bit more I probably wouldn't have pulled the trigger on this. Even as a Pierce collector I figure some things are overpriced, and this was one of them.

But I completed a sale of some extra '59 and '60 Topps cards to a guy I met at the Tristar show so I had some money in my PayPal account. Why let it sit there, right? I blew it on a couple of signed items, the first of which is this 2011 Topps Black Diamond card.

I had it on my wantlist but I wasn't really looking for it. I hadn't even seen one and didn't really know what it was until I found one on eBay a few months back. This one was more reasonable so I went ahead and nabbed it.

It's actually better in hand that in the scan but even so it's just a signed reprint that's been all gussied up. The other signed item I picked up was cheaper and probably a cooler piece but I'll hold that one for another post.

I bought it..... and I'm glad

If you've read more than one of my posts you know how unlikely I am to buy a high end card from a current set. Not that I don't like them, I do. Some of them are awesome and truth be told shiny, chromey cards can be pretty cool. But I really don't keep track of all these sets and don't know one from another.

And I can't remember what I was looking for when I came across this Bob Gibson Topps Tribute card. I found a bunch of these Gibby Tribute cards from 2013 and 2014 actually and sorted them out by cost and went for the cheapest one.

I've told my story of seeing Gibson pitch in relief in the Astrodome in the last month or so of his career over on my other blog when I posted his '59 rookie card, but I guess now's as good a time as any to repeat it:

I was fortunate enough to see Gibson pitch and believe me, he was a real badass on the mound. My favorite memory comes, ironically, from 1975, his last season and the final time I saw him perform. I attended this game in mid-August with a friend of mine who happens to be a lifelong Cardinal fan. As Gibby's career came to an end he struggled through a year that saw him saddled with a 3-10 record and an ERA over five. But on this day Gibson came into the game after the Cards had taken a one run lead in the top of the eleventh. I distinctly recall watching from seats behind the Cardinal dugout as he stalked out to the mound with that look that few pitchers had. My friend and I both saw it and said to one another 'Game over." And it was. Gibby blew away three Astros (looking!!) to wrap up the game. Awesome.

Funny thing, I was just talking about that game the other night with a different college friend while we sat in just about the same location behind the visitors dugout at Minute Maid Park. Gibson's name came up because the Astros starter seemed to be killing more time on the mound that a soccer player lying on the pitch with a one goal lead. And in turn the Mariners hitters were asking for time, adjusting batting gloves and making the game last forever.

I have a small but growing Gibson collection. Since I already have his '59 I may just finish out the run of his career era cards. So all in all I'm happy to have spent my $ on this one. It's more than I normally spend on a card but I'm glad to have it.

Compare and Contrast.... Frank Robinson

Here we have two Frank Robinson cards....one new and one old, one pristine and one battered, one shiny and one, well, not so shiny.

First the 2012 Topps Tribute Robinson. It's got that 3D look, all kinds of chromey and reflective. Nice, elegant design with a classic picture of Frank in an action pose. 

The back is OK. A couple of facts, period appropriate cartoon bird logo, not too cluttered. I never like when the pic on the back is just a cropped version of the one on the front but it's not a big deal. All in all a very sweet card I'd say. It's nice to have it in my collection.

Now, here on the other hand, is my one of my original, survived-my-card purges, 1970 Topps Frank Robinson cards. Yes, that's a pin hole, those are creases and scratches. The corners are all dinged to one extent or another.

But I think it's beautiful. I mean, that is Frank Robinson, the Frank Robinson I remember as an Oriole. He just looks like a winner, doesn't he? That's Frank in Yankee Stadium remembering his terrific catch in 1966 that won a game I was at with my father. The catch that got Ralph Houk ejected while exchanging line-up cards for the second game that day. The same Frank Robinson who came out of the Yankee Stadium dugout one summer afternoon carrying MY banner that carried his (now signed) #20 in orange paint. The banner the O's bat-boy had taken to the clubhouse for me which I figured I'd never see again. Yes, that Frank Robinson.

The 1970 set may not be very dynamic. Gray borders and boring fonts don't do much for many collectors but it represents the '70 Orioles for me and that was a very very good year.

The back of this Robby card is just a wall of numbers but those numbers (and the others yet accumulated) got Robby into the Hall of Fame. And the cardboard has yellowed with age.

All-in-all the 1970 Robinson is something you could upgrade out of a $1 box at a card show but it's really special to me. I'll take it over shiny any day.