Five Cool Commons

Twitter friend Mark Del Franco tossed up a tweet the other evening asking to see collector's favorite commons. I tossed up my '61 Wes Covington as it's one of my favorite cards, common or otherwise. And I thought that idea would make a good post. I know I really need some motivation to post and I appreciate neat commons from vintage sets, so here we are.

I'm sure I've posted each of these five cards in one form or fashion before, either on this blog or one of my set build blogs. These five are here for different reasons but all are among my favorites.

This '57 Charlie Neal card challenges the '61 Covington for artistic appeal. I just love the Ebbets Field background with the Schaefer Beer ad atop the scoreboard, the fencing above the Gem Blades ad, etc. And don't forget that "Schaefer is the one beer to have when you're having more than one."

Don Rudolph's 1959 Topps card looks very ordinary, yes?

But here's the cartoon on the back...

You really do want to read about Don Rudolph's 'dancer' wife. Trust me on this. She's the reason this common is so high on my list.


And Wes Covington appears...

That, my friends, is art. The pose, the bat rack, the uniform (those stirrups!!). The perfect baseball card? It has to be in the running.

I was always a fan of the late Elrod Hendricks. He played and lived with joy and a smile on his face. He never turned down an autograph request and loved talking to fans, especially after his playing days when he was on the Orioles' staff.

This card from the 1975 SSPC set captures him perfectly. Seeing his smile makes me smile. I have a signed copy of this card in my Hendricks binder pages but I like the unsigned one just as much. Hard to beat Ellie's zest for baseball.

The best day I've ever spent in a ballpark came in late June 1970. The Yankees-Indians mid-week, afternoon doubleheader was more fun than one could ever hope for. Tony Horton crawling back to the dugout after whiffing on a Steve Hamilton 'Folly Floater', four dingers by Bobby Murcer, a firecracker tossed from the upper deck that landed at home plate and probably shaved a few years off Ray Fosse's life. And the best baseball brawl I've ever witnessed in person. I did a blog post a few years ago centered on this remarkable day which you can see here.

This card of Vada Pinson from Topps' wonderful 1971 set uses a photo taken during the first game of that doubleheader (with a cameo by Thurman Munson). Every time I see this card I'm reminded of the day my best friend and I spent at Yankee Stadium just weeks before my family made our second, and permanent, move to Houston.

So there they are, five commons I love. I'm sure there are many more I could include in a list of commons I treasure but it would take something remarkable to bounce one of these off my list.

I'd love to see other bloggers' lists.

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.

Another Round of Vintage

Here's another handful of the vintage cards that I snatched up at my monthly card show.  

Cookie Rojas split his big league time almost evenly between the Phils and Royals (He put in some time with the Reds and Cards as well but those stints didn't account for much). And when I say split I mean split. For example...Rojas played 880 games with the Phils, 880 games with the Royals. He had 3354 plate appearances with Philadelphia, 3369 with Kansas City. He hit .268 with the Royals, .262 with the Phils. And so on. I find that interesting, even if you don't.

Wally Bunker won 19 games for the Orioles in 1964 at the age of 19. He had some success after that including a shutout win in Game Three of the 1966 World Series but he never again reached the level of his rookie season. I found this quote from Bunker in his SABR bio:

“One day you’re skipping school to watch the Giants play in the ’62 Series against the Yankees. … (Two years later), you’re pitching against Mickey Mantle.”

My Rawlings Wally Bunker glove was the first major purchase I made with my Newark Evening News route earnings in 1965. 51 years later I still own it. I pull it out about once a year for a game of catch with one of my boys, just because it's fun. I didn't use it much when it was new as I wasn't out in the field much but I played intramural and city league softball for decades and it got a ton of use.

Bunker was picked by the Royals in the expansion draft and here he is on his 1970 Topps cards. He still looks like a kid on it.

Here is Bunker chatting with the Orioles broadcast team a couple of years ago.

He's an interesting guy. He and his wife recently collaborated on an illustrated childrens book. They owned a company that manufactured and sold artistic refrigerator magnets and he had a home remodeling company.

This Stan Bahnsen card is a nice companion to the Vada Pinson of the same set. I've told my story of my greatest day at a ballpark at least once on this blog. A fight between those two guys was just one of the highlights of that really fun doubleheader. You can read more about it, including Tony Horton's dugout crawl, the fireworks that blasted Ray Fosse and Bobby Murcer's four dingers by clicking back to this post.

In the 60's and 70's the Astrodome had a restaurant they called the Domeskeller (sp?). It ran along the outfield wall under the bleachers. They had picnic style tables tables and wire windows you could watch the action through. Before games fans (mostly kids) would congregate there during batting practice as pitchers did their running on the warning track. They would sometimes sign through the opening in the wire. 

Anyway, one Sunday afternoon in 1968 my younger brothers asked Ray Washburn of the Cardinals to sign their program. He clearly and loudly told them (and me) to 'go to hell'. We told my folks when we got back to our seats. My mom was pretty upset as I recall but I think my father was more amused than angry. Either way Washburn's career slid off the rails after that season. Karma.

I found this pic of the Domeskeller online.

It was just as charmless as this shot makes it seem. BTW....my one and only experience as a card show table holder was here many years later. But that's a story for a different post.

I can't end this on a negative note so here is the Wes Covington/Johnny Callison special from the 1966 Topps set. I'm pretty sure I already had this one someplace but I collect both guys so now I have a copy for both players sections of my 'Other Dudes I Like' binder.

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.

Best Binder Page

Last week Junior Junkie posted his "Best Binder Page" which consisted of the nine 'best' cards in his collection. He selected cards he's take with him to a desert island. His cards, not surprisingly, were all Ken Griffey Jr cards...and some beauties are on that page for sure. He issued a challenge to fellow bloggers to do the same and several have done so. I liked the idea and figured 'why not?' Seemed easy. Take my nine favorite cards and scan them as they sat in a nine pocket sheet.

Well, not so fast. As I started pulling out binders I found that choosing nine cards was next to impossible. I had a stack of about 25 I thought would belong on my list of 'favorite' cards and I hadn't even gotten to my box of slabbed cards. At first I thought I'd follow JJ's lead and select nine Brooks Robinson cards, or Billy Pierce cards, maybe nine John Unitas cards. But in the end I decided that I had to have my best binder page reflect my wider interests. And I realized that I had to make my own guidelines. So I did.

My Best Binder page would contain:
1) Non-slabbed cards. I decided to take the 'binder page' term literally. I know JJ didn't stick to that but I just wanted to scan a page in one piece. That left out a couple of worthy cards which I'll mention later.
2) Only 'Big 4' sports cards. I collect all kinds of off-the-wall stuff but most folks are not interested in my actresses, Japanese menko or George Jones/Merle Haggard cards so I left them out. I decided that the page would reflect a cross-section of my mainstream interests.

As it turned out I scanned my 'Best Binder Page' about a dozen times. I kept looking at it and thinking that there was a card that I had excluded that needed to be in it. I finally said 'enough!'. And the result is the page at the top.

I'll add a few words about each card below.

Brooks Robinson's rookie card from 1957 was the first 'big ticket' card I ever bought. And it's my favorite player's rookie card. It's the first card that went into the page.

The 1978 Murray rookie may be my favorite card of all time. It's certainly my favorite card of the 'modern' card era.

T206 Christy Mathewson speaks for itself. It's the coolest card I own. If I was only allowed to keep one card I think this would be it.

I was a huge fan of John Mackey. I've written previously: "[He] redefined his position and was a pioneer in the rights of the oft forgotten former players in his job as NFLPA president. Sadly his work kept him from induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame due to politics. On top of that he was a wonderful guy, great to fans. I got to see him interact with the public at a memorabilia show many years ago and he was personable and gracious." And this card comes from the terrific 1964 Philly Gum set. Special player, special card.

I couldn't leave out Billy Pierce. It was hard figuring out which card to include but this one comes from the very first card set I held in my hands, the '58 Topps. Truth be told my favorite Pierce items are not regular cards but rather some of the oddballs and specials I have, his Dormand postcard for example.

But I like the '58 Topps set more than most do. Nostalgia plays a part I'm sure. It's colorful...and this Pierce has the great 'flying sox' logo going for it. I'd have put the yellow letter variation here for added spice but I couldn't lay my hands on it immediately.

This is the only card that survived from my childhood collection, at least the only baseball card. '59 Gibson, as battered as it may be, is the centerpiece of my 1959 Topps set. Hey, it's Bob Gibson....on a pink card!

Love this 1961 Fleer Lenny Moore card. Probably my favorite football card. The Memorial Stadium scoreboard, the crowd, Moore's pose and the Colts' logo add up to something much greater than the sum of it's parts.

This Mantle from the '58 All Star subset was on my want list for years and years. I finally found one I could afford in decent shape and grabbed it. That got me to chasing the rest of that group of '58s and really got me going after more vintage subsets. It's been a lot of fun.

The 1961 Topps Wes Covington may be a common on the checklist but there is nothing 'common' about it. You can find this all over the card selling sites for a buck and change. That shows you how few folks appreciate art at it's finest.

And that's my Best Binder Page. I'll have to do a follow-up post on the cards sitting on my desk at the moment that I considered and left out. Any of them could have very easily nabbed a slot.

This nine pocket might be more significant for what I didn't include than for what I did. No Jim Palmer? I named one of my son's Jim Palmer so how could I leave him out. I dunno. I also left off my Johnny Unitas rookie card. It's in a slab and I have never gotten around to freeing it.

There were a bunch of other cards that could have easily made the page like Cal Ripken's rookie or maybe his minor league Rochester Red Wings card. It was hard to leave out one of my Jim Brown cards and I had a couple of Gordie Howe cards in the stack of 'semi-finalists but my best Howe card is slabbed. Same for my pretty Gale Sayers card. I'm looking at several Eddie Giacomin cards as I type and wondering how I can leave out my beloved Eddie! Again, I dunno.

And so it goes. Like most of the other bloggers who took on this challenge said or implied...."Ask me tomorrow and you might get a different group of nine cards".

Card Show Cards Pt. 2

Here are the rest of my cheap vintage grabs at Saturday's show. I may have this Jackie Jensen card already but I figured that I could pick it up just in case. Jensen was a great but troubled talent. You can find the abridged version of his backstory on my '59 Topps blog.

Sometimes one great card of a player can inspire me to make it the cornerstone of a PC. That was the case with the 1961 Topps Wes Covington. This '62 is nice but it doesn't compare to the '61.

Early 60s specials were very cool. I don't think I appreciated them back in the day. And I don't remember this '63 Stengel-Woodling card. I saw one Met game at the Polo Grounds. I seem to recall it being against the Phillies but I'm never sure about that.

Anyway I couldn't pass up a Stengel.

Orlando Cepeda was a terrific hitter, and a darn good defensive player as well. But someone will have to convince me that he's a Hall of Fame player. I'm always willing to admit I'm wrong but even the best efforts of my Giants' buddies haven't ever swayed me.

That didn't stop me from picking up this Cepeda. You never know who may need it.

I always thought Rusty Staub, otoh, was under-appreciated. That may be because i got to see some of his best days in Houston. The top hat trophy sure adds a nice touch to a card. Rusty was very young when he started in the bigs and he looks like a high school player on this '64. I have an under-the-radar Staub collection. I don't even look for his cards but when they appear I buy them. It's like collecting by osmosis.

I bought this '61 Bob Lillis for no other reason than I like the combo of colors and the palm tree background.

So that's the lot of the card show goodies. I was able to hit up someone's want list and those went out in the mail on Monday. Today was spent waiting for the 'rain-ageddon'. That never came. And quickly led to a few choice memes.