T51 Murad Cigarette GWU Rowing

Cards this beaten up are kind of like 'cave paintings'. They are not nearly as nice as they were when they were created but you can still appreciate them today. This is from the circa-1910 series of Murad cards issues as premiums with cigarette purchases. I find them unique in that they cover such a wide range of both schools and sports. I mean how many college rowing cards from a century ago are there? These smaller cards, cataloged as T51, have a larger sibling which carries the T6 designation. 

But I bought this one in particular because my Dad was a loyal George Washington University alum, Class of 1951. He attended on the G.I. bill, joined Delta Tau Delta fraternity and was called 'Pops' by his fraternity brothers because he was four years older than most of them since he had been in the service. 

After I bought the card I was looking over the checklist (this card is part of the third series, 51-75) I saw that one of the schools listed on the back is Juniata College in Pennsylvania. My mother grew up just a few miles from the campus. Just a bonus that added to the card's appeal for me.

I doubt I'll collect others from this set although there are some pretty nice ones available. The bigger name schools' cards are costlier than I'd be willing to pay. But as a cool card representing my father's school, I sure like this one.

Bill Bradley pin and cards

I don't like the nastiness of politics but I am fascinated by politicians, particularly those that run for President. That's what's behind my collection of campaign pins and Presidential biographies. The Bill Bradley pin is part of a big haul I pulled in recently. 

Bradley ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in 2000. He served as U.S. Senator from New Jersey for three terms. He's an author, Air Force Reserve veteran, Rhodes scholar, radio host, Starbucks board member and investment bank partner. Busy guy. 

But this post ties into sports directly because Bill Bradley is also a former Princeton hoops star, NBA player with the NY Knicks, Basketball Hall of Famer, and timely because he was an Olympic basketball Gold Medal winner at the 1964 Summer Games in Tokyo.

I have maybe a dozen Bradley basketball cards total. Here are two. The first one is a 1973 Topps. 

This one is from the 1983 Greatest Olympians set. Bradley looks very much like a young Johnny Carson in this one. 

1960 Topps Mike Cuellar

I know that sometimes this seems like the "Mike Cuellar Blog" but it's just that I have a lot of his memorabilia on hand. I've mentioned several times how much of a favorite he was.

Cuellar was on my mind again just just this past Friday because one of my favorite bloggers, William from Foul Bunt, featured an Cuellar autographed ball he picked up at the National.

I've also mentioned how much I enjoy the 1960 Topps set so the Cuellar card would naturally be one I'd cherish. Ignoring for a moment the fact that Topps used the same picture twice on the front of the card, check out the cartoon. They show a pitcher wearing a Castro-like beard and refer to Cuellar being discovered while pitching for the Cuban Army team. I guess they were trying to be timely as Fidel Castro had taken over Cuba on New Year's day of 1959.

And it looks like Topps had one, and only one, Cuellar photo in their files. The '60 card repeats the same picture  (twice) that first appeared on the '59 Cuellar 'Rookie'.

Over on my Topps '59 blog I related a story of how i came to be sitting next to Mike Cuellar at a game in the Astrodome. And somewhere in my boxes of 'stuff' is a ball he tossed to my brothers and I in the old Arlington Stadium. We were seated in the first row of the outfield stands and Cuellar was doing some warning track laps during batting practice. My two younger brothers would shout "Mike, throw me a ball!!" every time he passed under us. Eventually he did.

Oh no!! Don't look at this, Night Owl!!

I was so damn excited. I scored a Sandy Koufax bobblehead off eBay and it came to my door in just a couple of days. Unfortunately, just like my Frank Robinson bobble, Sandy showed up broken. Dammit.

I've contacted the seller. Now I'll wait and see. The seller has a 'doesn't accept returns' notation on his listing but what about broken items? How have you/would you handle something like this?

Anyway, here is poor hand-less Sandy. No matter how this comes out I've learned my lesson. No more bobbleheads through the mail.

UPDATE... tonite I was contacted by the seller and he's sending a replacement on Monday. I hope he packs that one better. 

Here Comes Football

I'm sure I'll lose a few people right here. Now that NFL camps are active and the preseason games are rolling it becomes tougher for me to keep the posting momentum going, particularly on the '59 Topps blog.

Last fall my posts over there died out because I was, as usual, wrapped up with running my fantasy league, the Texans games and the NFL in general. My goal right now is to not let that happen this year. I'd like to continue to post three to four cards a week over there. Some posts may be short but I know that if I stop posting with the intention to just let a few days pass I'll fall behind.

Meanwhile over here I'll continue to throw stuff against the wall and hope something sticks.

Here is one of my rare shiny football cards. This recent eBay claim is a meaningful one for me. I took a chance and drafted Kurt Warner with the last pick of the '99 draft. Took a lot of crap for it, too.

Warner got me two of my league titles. Thanks, Kurt.

"Young Cy" Young

Here is an eBay pick-up from a week ago. 1906 Fan Craze Irving Young. He pitched from 1905-1911, mostly for Boston of the N.L. He holds the post 1900 record for the most wins in a season by a pitcher with a below .550 record. He went 20-21 in 1905. 


According to his SABR page he was known as "Young Cy" or "Cy the Second" Those are references, of course, to Cy Young who was raking up a bazillion wins for the Red Stockings in those days. 


It's in super condition, looks even better than my scan. I almost always break cards out of cases but I may leave this one as is, at least for awhile.

Here's a little about the 1904/1906 Fan Craze cards from an auction catalog:

The Fan Craze playing card sets feature what many collectors consider the finest portrait poses of turn-of-the-century ballplayers ever produced on baseball cards. Fan Craze were issued in 1904 (the American League set with backs printed in blue) and in 1906 (the National League set with backs printed in red) by the Fan Craze Company of Cincinnati. These playing cards were designed to be used to play an exciting indoor baseball game. Fan Craze have a special significance to collectors. They are one of the few sets issued in the earliest years of the twentieth century, and the set includes many players who appear in no other card sets. Because of its year(s) of issue, it is also one of the few sets which include a blend of 1910-era stars along with players who made their mark in the nineteenth century, such as Joe Kelley and Jake Beckley, who in 1906 were just winding down their playing careers. Fan Craze are one of the few and one of the most important issues of the era, and in the opinion of many these cards also represent one of the best values of all cards issued in the early 1900s.

I have never owned one of these before. It was hard to pass up a 106 year old card in this kind of shape for the price.

Cheap Tobacco T205 Art Fletcher

                                                  

Here is my latest eBay pickup. These 1911 'Gold Borders' are a favorite of mine. There are some obvious flaws but only one encroaches on the card past the border. I'm far from being 'condition conscious'  so I'll pick these up all day long and twice on Sunday. At $16 shipped I couldn't pass it up.

Art Fletcher was just establishing himself with the NY Giants when this card was issued. He went on to be the Giants' starting shortstop for a decade, finished with the Phils and then became their manager.


Here is Baseball Library's write-up of Art Fletcher.

Fletcher was John McGraw's shortstop for over a decade, providing the Giants with brilliant fielding, dependable hitting, and on-field leadership. A caustic, belligerent copy of McGraw during the game, off the field he was a non-profane, churchgoing family man. As the frustrated manager of four second-division Phillies teams, Fletcher's final gesture was the drawing of a caricature of umpire Bill Klem as a catfish, a comparison the jowly, heavy-lidded Klem loathed. Fletcher became Miller Huggins's assistant in 1927, and remained a Yankee coach until 1945. When Huggins died in 1929, Fletcher took over as interim manager, but refused all other offers to manage again.

Here are a couple more Fletcher images from around the web:


1921 D350-3 Standard Biscuit

An image from 1911 at the Polo Grounds

                

and finally Art Fletcher shares a spot on on a 1912 Hassan Triple Folder T202 Baseball Card with Christy Mathewson. The front and back of the Fletcher portion is identical except for the border.