Both Beautiful, In Their Own Way

From one end of the spectrum of cards to the other. My T206 Rube Marquard really has nice bright colors after all these years. Really neat painting of a early baseball ace lefthander. I only have a dozen or so of these but they're pretty special to me. I'll so more as I go along.

The Colavito card shows off the best of what cards companies can do with their modern technology. This is as gorgeous as any card I own. The colors just jump out of it. I posted my Eddie Murray 2005 Upper Deck Past Time Pennants the other day. This Rocky Colavito is just as sweet or even better. 

Wearing 'enemy' gear.

I've always loved this cap. I finally got one and wore it the other day. My Astro fan son was disgusted/bemused claiming he'd never wear a cap that wasn't from one of  'his teams' (Stros and Orioles). I told him when he got to be my age he'd quit worrying about little stuff. He's not convinced. Especially when I showed him my other really cool 'enemy' cap. It's one I've been wanting for ages. Lots of other ChiSox vintage caps were available but I never could find the red bordered logo cap. I finally did and it's sweet.

He really hates the White Sox. He's never gotten over the 2005 Series. And now that I think about it I can't see myself ever wearing a Mets cap. Maybe he has a point.

Another Nice Murray

I'm not a fan of color jerseys, the so-called 'softball tops', but I liked the O's orange ones. Add to that the fact that this is a Murray and that I'm still new enough to current cards that silver foil impresses me and you have a card I really like.

This is a 2005 Upper Deck Past Time Pennants Murray. My scan is pretty lousy. I've seen better examples on the web but I use my scans whenever possible.




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1932 Sanella Babe Ruth

Yup, it's German. Yes, it shows it's origin as a 'card' that was at some was mounted in the set's album. And, yes, it's the cheapest contemporary Ruth card you'll ever find. But I'm happy to have it in my collection.

Sanella was (is?) a German margarine company that sponsored a set of 112 'cards' depicting athletes. They are printed on paper stock and were intended to be placed in an album which has a space for each. Only two cards were of baseball subjects, the Ruth and one of an unidentified Japanese Olympic player. I have that one as well, in better condition than the Ruth. Better condition in the sense that the back shows no signs of being glued down.

These cards were at one time thought to be pretty rare and had a price tag in the $1000s, at least according to some vintage card sites I've browsed. Then one particular collector brought quite a haul of them out of Germany and the price dropped like a rock. They are readily available on eBay these days. I believe I paid about $75 for the pair. Both were graded but I hate slabbed cards so, for better or worse, I set them 'free'.

At one time in my collecting life I had a goal of collecting a card of every Hall of Famer. I was going to buy 'originals' to my best ability and fill it out with reprints of those Fleer Hall of Fame cards.

Anyway I never thought I'd actually own a Ruth card issued during his career. Well, this is it. I think it's a beautiful card. The painting is based on a well known shot of Ruth at the Polo Grounds dating from 1921ish.

There is more info on these two cards here and here.

The other thing like about these Sanellas is that the Japanese player fits into my growing Japanese card collection.

Night Owl Flew In...

...and deposited a few Oriole cards on my window sill. Among them was a sparkly golden Brian Matusz Topps from this year and a Topps 2012 Nick Markakis from the Opening Day set (subset?). The cards are not crooked, but my scanner is.

Stuff I didn't know:
Matusz played for the University of San Diego Toreos. A Toreo is a bullfighter.
Markakis played for Young Harris College which is in Georgia. He played for the Greek Olympic team.

Stuff I did know:
Night Owl is a pretty neat guy, a Dodger fan, and the author of a blog I read every day.

BTW... he also sent along a few cards (a Jeff Ballard! I loved that guy!) from what became my 'transitional period' when I got away from collecting every issued Orioles card and became more of a publications geek. When Upper Deck issued the 1990 Ben McDonald error card right at the peak of both the McDonald and error card hype I let go of the card hobby. The McDonald error, which I always thought was intentional, turned me off. The price was too high for it and, since I decided that I wouldn't be able to complete the '90 Upper Deck Orioles, I might as well not bother with the others. Thus the 1989 team sets are the last complete ones in my orange binders.

Thanks again to Night Owl for thinking of me. After back-to-back poundings at the hands of the Texas Rangers I needed a bit of Oriole karma.

Every Murray card is a great Murray card

I'm probably one of six guys on the planet who liked the 1983 set. I thought the gray border worked very nicely to show off the team logos and player photos. Better picture quality and selection as well. More of the pics filled the frame.

I kind of wish I hadn't gotten rid of the 83's I had.

Full disclosure. I'm on the road and don't have a pic of my '83 so this one is pilferage. 

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Johnny Unitas 1957 Topps Rookie card

Johnny Unitas was born on this day in 1933. In my humble opinion he is the greatest football player to ever play in the NFL. At least among those in my lifetime. I feel honored to have seen him.

As a kid I would spend Sunday morning in church praying for the Baltimore Colts and John Unitas. As much as I love the Orioles and Rangers, the Colts were all important in my life.

Johnny Unitas died in 2002. Outside of the assassination of John Kennedy his was the only public person's death to have affected me. RIP, John Unitas