Vintage wonders

Wax Pack Wonders and I pulled off another vintage trade recently. I sent him 150+ cards he needed for his '73 setbuild. In return he sent me a delightfully varied package.

Some cards from the '50s. You don't get a '55 Topps card in the mail every day.

That George Bamberger deserves special attention, and not just because it is a high number. Note the stat line on the back of this 1959 card.

Bamberger was a minor league veteran who hadn't pitched in the major leagues for seven years. He got into three games for the Orioles in 1959, and that was it. He went on to great success as the Orioles' pitching coach in the 1970s, and managed the Mets and Brewers.

1960 and 1961 cards.

6 from '63. It's nice to be making some real progress on this set. Best card for me of course is the Tom Tresh WS card. I recognized the inset photo on Smoky Burgess's card - it's the same one as on his '64.

Mid-60s. The '65 World Series cards are bittersweet for a Yankee fan but undeniably cool. As is any vintage Yankees team card.

One each from four late-60s/mid-70s sets. Hardin and Fisher are both high numbers. The best '73 card I gave Jeff, star-wise, was Joe Morgan. Appropriately enough, that was true for his return package as well.

Also vintage are these awesome Funky Facts cards. I had a lot already, but all just many copies of the same couple of cards. It was fun to get this variety. They are copyright 1976, Funky Sales Corp.

Borderline to call these vintage, but they are fantastic. It is a 1978 TCMA Columbus Clippers team set. At this time they weren't a Yankees franchise, they were property of the Pirates. Notable names include (middle row) Whitson, Scurry, Easler, (bottom row) Holland, Dale Berra.

Moving to the 80's with some oversize cards, including my first 1980 Topps Super. A couple of standard-sized Conlon cards for perspective.

A couple more fantastic 80's oddballs, including a Yankee Clipper from 1986 and my first ever King B disc. The Million Card Giveaway is much more recent.

Finally, the two biggest names on the present Yankees. Stanton is hurt as usual, after a fast start. Hopefully Aaron Judge stays healthy; he is on a pace to challenge Roger Maris's team record for home runs.