Baseball Card Stories from Brett Caradonna

Outfielder Brett Caradonna played six seasons in the White Sox organization. In 622 games he hit .251 with 26 HR, 237 RBI and 59 SB. Now the Athletics Director and PE Teacher at Saint John Bosco Catholic School in Phoenix, he kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

"My best baseball card story is shortly after I signed to play for the White Sox. After my first season, I went to Reno, Nevada to visit my brother who had just moved there. He has always been a big sports collectibles junkie. We stopped by a local card shop close to his new home. We purchased a few packs of 1997 Bowman Chrome. Inside the first pack was my rookie card. What made it special is that I had no idea that I was even in this series of cards. We will always cherish this moment!

My favorite card is a 92 Donruss Elite Ken Griffey Jr. I pulled it from a pack many years ago and it is still a beautiful card.

I collected cards as a kid, but not anymore. My kids love Pokemon cards and basketball cards. My brother is huge into collecting baseball and basketball."

Thanks!

Too Many Great Cards

Recently Dennis of Too Many Verlanders acquired a huge collection including a whole lot of trimmed 1960s cards. I asked him to take a look at my wantlists to see what he might have that I could use. I figured there might be one or two, but he found fifteen that I needed!

Here are ten. Mostly from the 1966 set but a couple from 1965. The klipped Klippstein has already been upgraded - I happened to get another in the mail the same day! I'll be able to pass the trimmed one to an OBCer working on a worst 1965 set.

Here are the big pickups from what he sent - five 1966 high-numbers! This is one of, maybe the toughest sets for getting high numbers, so to get five at once is amazing! One of them is the very famous Claude Raymond "open fly" card, so that makes it even better.

Dennis generously threw in some modern cards too, like ten Sportflics needs!

Some other randoms too, including a great Topps Magazine card and a baseball card of a chess player.

Dennis didn't ask for anything in return but this was so nice that I'm finding some cards to send back his way.

Skip Nelloms on baseball cards

Skip Nelloms played in the Yankees organization from 1988 to 1990. In 274 games he hit .238 with 9 HR, 114 RBI and 30 SB. After his career he became a teacher and later administrator. He recently retired from school administration and in October opened the Something Special Bar & Lounge in Conyers, GA. He kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

"I have 3 personal baseball cards and hundreds of baseball cards that I own."

Thanks! He had one card for each of his three seasons. This one is 1990 Star.

1976 SSPC Joe Niekro

 

The card, in brief: Not a whole lot to say about the front, except I really like the ones where you can see the lampposts from the Shea Stadium parking lot.

The player, in brief: Knuckleballer Joe Niekro pitched for 22 years for seven teams. His best seasons were with the Astros, with 20-win seasons in 1979 and 1980. Overall he was 221-204 with 1,747 strikeouts in 702 games.

Post-playing career, in brief: After his playing career he coached for the Twins and Rockies. He died of a brain aneurysm in 2006.

My collection: I have 48 of his cards, from 1968 to 1988. I would be interested in trading for 1967 Topps #536.

1970 Topps Booklets: The Mike Epstein Story

Like many other booklet covers, this is based off the photo that would be used for his '71 Topps Coin.

Epstein was born in the Bronx, but moved to Westchester County when he was three, and went to high school in California. Bit of a stretch to say he grew up in the shadow of the Stadium.

The boxing gloves in the batters box is a cool idea.

That's flower power, man!

1960 Topps lot

Got a pretty cheap lot of 1960 semi-high-numbers. I needed over half, mostly the great coach cards. Too bad Topps only did that for one season. So cool seeing 1930s-era players like Charlie Root, who gave up Babe Ruth's called shot. Ruth would have been 65 if he was still alive, Lou Gehrig 58. Imagine if they were still alive and still coaching. Now I have all the coach cards except for the Cardinals.

Trade bait, heavy on the coach cards. Got a Luke Appling sighting on the Tigers. Most have a small X on the back but are otherwise in good shape.

Magazine cards and Dover reprints

I stumbled across a fun lot that went cheap on eBay. Mostly uncut sheets from the old Baseball Card Magazine. I like the unlicensed cards from this era, and was surprised that I needed almost all of them.

I will cut all the magazine cards out so they fit with the rest in my collection. Anything that's a dupe I'll cut extra wide so my trading partner can trim to their own specifications.

1991 - with the 1966 design. Part I. I needed all of these!

1991 - part II. Available for trade are Franco, Mattingly ('66 design), Finley, Eckersley.

1992 - with the 1970 design. Part I. Terry Pendleton is avialable.

Part II. BCM changed up how they printed these. Needed them all!

1992 part three. George Bell is avialable.

1992 Part four. Nevin and Wallace are available.

One sheet from 1993, with the 1968 design. Sierra and Tartabull are available. Remember when they were traded for each other in '95?

I've never seen these before. Oversize cards from Tuff Stuff. Six cards of baseball players.

Six from other sports. Sanders will go into my football collection. David Robinson and Wayne Gretzky are available. Leaving them intact.

Two sheets of Dover reprint cards. These are cool but I don't consider them "real" cards so they don't fit into my collection. Up for trade. Leaving them intact unless someone requests an individual card.

Cake or gum? 1976 Darrell Porter

Last time gum routed cake, 8-1. Will it be closer this time?

The blue color looks very different on these two cards, probably a result of something in the developing or printing process. However, these photos seem very likely to have been taken at the same time. Darrell Porter was a catcher for the Brewers, Royals, Cardinals and Rangers from 1971 to 1987. A four-time all-star, he led the AL in walks in 1979. In 1,782 games, he hit .247 with 188 HR and 826 RBI.  He helped the Cardinals win the 1982 World Series by winning the MVP in both the NLCS (.556 BA!) and the World Series. Porter, who had a well-publicized history of drug use, died of a cocaine overdose at the age of 50 in 2002.

Wood vs. Wood #246

Last time it was an 8-4 win for 1962. Who will win here?

Art Ditmar in the classic glove-over-the-head pose. I doubt he's got a ball in there. Ditmar came up to the majors in the A's last season in Philadelphia in 1954. He moved with the team to Kansas City in 1955, and in 1956 led the AL with 22 losses. After that season the A's and Yankees engineered a massive trade with 13 players changing teams, including Ditmar. The Yankees used Ditmar as a long reliever and spot starter in '57 and '58, and moved him to the rotation full-time in '59. He pitched well in '59 and '60, but was terrible in the 1960 World Series. He struggled to start the '61 season and was traded back to the A's, but he went 0-7 in his brief return to the A's, ending his career in 1962. After his playing career he was the Director of Parks and Recreation for Brook Park, OH. He died in 2021.

Jim Dwyer plays catch before a game in Baltimore. The pinch-hitting specialist played 18 seasons in the major leagues and never topped more than 260 at-bats in a season. His 103 pinch hits are 17th all time, and his 9 pinch home runs as an Oriole are a team record. His best season was 1983, when he helped the Orioles win a World Series, leading the team in BA, OBP and SLG in July, and hitting .375 with a home run in the World Series. After his playing career he was a coach in the Twins organization for 25 years. He is now retired.

Blogger/OBC roundup

Some fun cards that came in recently, starting with a trade with The Angels, In Order. The bulk of it was cards from the 1988 Classic Red set. Lots of fun photos but the most fun part are the three Phil Niekro cards.

A few more from Tom. Love those Fleer Star Stickers!

I won some cards in a World Series contest from View from the Third Floor. The cards on the bottom were all needs for me, highlighted by those great '93 Score Dream Team cards.

From OBC, Greg Henthorn sent some more great vintage.

Bob D'Angelo sent this great 1955 Bowman card. On the back, they call the pitcher Hector "Skinny" Brown. Which is a lot more fun than the "Hal Brown" he's known as on every other card.

 

1974 Topps Deckle Dating: George Scott

Extreme close up.

Back image is from a graded copy that sold for $420 at auction. Same day as Manny Sanguillen's card.

It was a big day for the Brewers, winning both games of an unusual doubleheader - a morning game in Scottsdale against the Giants, and an afternoon game against the A's in Sun City. Top hitting prospect Gorman Thomas homered in both games.

1981 Topps Tom Hutton

The front: Scratching the neck doesn't make for a very compelling card, though it's a bit unusual.

The back: Two cards after Jay Johnstone, who also had a long career at this point. Hutton and Johnstone were teammates with the Phillies. In the late 80s Hutton was a Yankees radio color commentator, who was fired in '88 and replaced by Johnstone.

The player: Usually known as Tommy, Hutton carved out a long career as a part-time first-baseman/pinch hitter. He played 12 seasons in the majors and only topped 250 at-bats once. A fine defender who had some big pinch hits for the Phillies in '77, his best season (.309), his career numbers were .248 with 22 HR and 186 RBI.

The man: In addition to his Yankees stint, he also was an announcer for the Expos and Blue Jays. He has been a Marlins announcer for most of the last 27 years. He is also involved in many youth coaching and charitable endeavors.

My collection: I have 16 of his cards, from 1967 to 1981. I would be interested in trading for 1978 Hostess #103.

JJ Hoover on baseball cards

JJ Hoover pitched seven seasons in the major leagues for the Reds, Diamondbacks and Brewers. His best season was 2015 when he went 8-2 with a 2.94 ERA for the Reds. Overall in 290 major league games, all in relief, he went 19-21 with a 4.17 ERA. A lifelong fan of baseball and Pokemon cards, he now has is own online card shop, Hoov's Hangout, and is active on YouTube and Discord. He kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

    "I do not have any big stories that come to mind but I do wish I was shown the modern card market when I was playing.  I have a few cards of myself and all were gifts from clients that I have coached and helped train. I did not understand or know about numbered cards and all the different parallels.  I did come across some guys during my time playing in the MLB that asked me to sign some cards and in the moment I did not understand it.  Looking back on it I get it now and now I am in the business of selling cards, doing live streams, and deep in the hobby now which is a fun way to stay connected to fans and players! 

My favorite cards that I own are vainly of myself but like I mentioned above these were gifts.  I have a few Beckett 9.5 cards. I am hoping to one day get a 10 or even better a coveted Black Label graded card of myself.  If it could be a rare variant or auto card that would make it way cooler but that is a goal of mine.  

My collection consists of players I am a fan of or teammates.  I am not too deep into that side of it yet but I have some cards from 1989 Donruss and up.  I still have some of my old Junk Card era cards from when I was a kid.  I love looking back at those cards and remembering baseball then.  I loved that era and I miss it.  

 

I love what I am doing now in the card industry from Baseball cards to Pokemon to all the other sports and even Disney.  I love connecting with both sides of the aisle from Sports to TCG.  I am actually also proud to be in on the ground floor of the new Bo Jackson Battle Arena which is the perfect pairing of TCG and Sports! The community I have been working to grow online is amazing.  We have a generous and well connected group and I hope to foster that and continue to enjoy the hobby with many more people in the future."

Thanks!

1976 SSPC Doug Konieczny

 

The card, in brief: Pitcher with a bat!

Playing career, in brief: Doug Konieczny appeared in 44 games for the Astros between 1973 and 1977, 32 of them in 1975 when he went 6-13 with a 4.47 ERA.

Post playing career, in brief: After his playing career he had a long career in procurement in the chemicals industry for DuPont and Invista. He is now retired.

My collection: I have three of his cards - this one, and his 1975 and 1976 Topps cards. I would be interested in trading for 1975 Houston Astros Photos #NNO.

1970 Topps Booklets: The Orlando Cepeda Story

One player per team, this was the Braves representative. Cepeda had a fine season, but Hank Aaron was far better. Maybe being a new acquisition made him more interesting.

Some great cartoons here, with the mom and dad and the bull with the bat.

The giant coach with the tiny Cepeda is really strange.

Giant bat pictures are always fun.

Cake or gum? 1976 Frank Duffy

RIP Al Fitzmorris, who shared his thoughts on baseball cards with this blog in July.

Last time cake and gum tied at 4-4. Will there be a winner here?

Frank Duffy take a practice swing at Oakland Coliseum wearing a blue jersey on his Hostess card. Meanwhile Topps goes with a batting cage candid in a red jersey. Duffy was a typical 1970s defense-first shortstop. He twice led the AL in fielding percentage and for a while had the team record (since broken by Omar Vizquel). He was not a great hitter, though. Over nine season for four teams, mostly the Indians, he hit .232 with 26 HR and 240 RBI. After his playing career he owned a real estate business in Arizona. He is now retired.

Wallet Card with a 7up sign

Vintage or retro? A few months ago I took a wallet card photo of the inside of this pizzeria in Hell's Kitchen. I passed by again this week and now they have a 7up sign on the front. I don't know if it's a real old sign or just a reproduction. Either way it's a nice look. "Fresh Up 7up"

 

Wood vs. Wood #239

Last time 1962 cruised to an 8-1 victory. Who will win here?

Cecil Butler poses at spring training with the batting cage in the background. Butler came up with the Braves in 1962 and got off to a fast start. In nine games (two starts) he went 2-0 with a 2.61 ERA. However, he hurt his elbow in May and never fully recovered. He made just two more major league appearances, with the Braves in 1964, with an 8.31 ERA over 4.1 innings. Good reminder that pitching injuries are nothing new. After his playing career he worked as a painting contractor for 40 years. He died in 2019 at the age of 82.

Nice action-packed photo of Juan Espino dropping the bat (maybe after a bunt?) and running out of the batters box, in a spring game against the Expos in West Palm Beach. Espino played in 49 games for the Yankees from 1982 to 1986, hitting .219 with 1 HR and 8 RBI. After his playing career he returned to his native Dominican Republic, where he still resides.
 

1974 Topps Deckle Dating: Chris Speier

The awkward shape of the card leaves the bill of Speier's hat cropped out.

March 20, 1973. 

The Giant's hosted the A's that day, but I couldn't find a score. The big news of the day was the special election of Roberto Clemente to the Hall of Fame. In other news, the US Attorney General ordered the Director of the FBI not to cooperate with the Watergate investigation, and a border skirmish between Iraq and Kuwait killed two.

Vintage star card roundup

Latest Greg Morris winnings include the fantastic '53 Bowman Gil Hodges. One of the greatest vintage cards ever. I'm all about the photo for a card like this so I don't mind the trimming which doesn't take anything away from the card. Keeping on the '58 theme from the last post with a big Tigers star.

A few cheap singles over the past couple of weeks including another big name Tiger from the '58 set. Vintage Billy Martin's can be more expensive than many vintage Hall of Famers. Makes sense because he was more famous than most of them, anyway.

Finishing off my '59 Baseball Thrills subset. Always fantastic to get a Hank Aaron card, though I don't love that he's homering against the Yankees here. Yogi Berra sighting too.

Speaking of which, I was certainly happy to finally land this '63 Berra, complete with the C-Coach position.

Speaking of great catchers, I picked up these three heavily trimmed superstars for my '53 set. These came out to $5 each. These were cut down to roughly the size of '75 minis, but they were the only way to get these cards so cheaply. I passed on a Whitey Ford in similar condition; for a great Yankee I want to be a little more discerning. But for Dodgers and Braves I'm OK with it.