More from last night

Responding to a couple of comments, plus something I noticed when I watched highlights of the game.

Fuji - I didn't notice a first pitch. Being completely enclosed in a loud atmosphere, I didn't even notice if there was a first pitch. I would have been disappointed if I hadn't noticed Murakami, but it turns out that was the day before.

Johnny - this club is expensive, but not that expensive! $200-300 a head, and it's only about 30 people. This isn't an exclusive suite, more like a big restaurant with several large groups and even some couples. Probably 200-300 people in there.

Speaking of the club, it was in left field behind the foul pole. Any long fly ball, like Volpe's ninth-inning HR, we could not see where it landed, could only judge by the crowd reaction. But looking at the video of the game, you can quite clearly see the club!

My coworkers and I are probably somewhere just to the foul side of the foul pole. Too blurry to say for sure, but it's certainly the closest I've come to being visible in a game broadcast. 
 

Wallet card at Yankee Stadium

 

Don’t try to find the wallet card, it’s in my pocket. Third week into the new job, and just in time for the office summer outing to a Yankee game! We were in a large suite with a big window, no outside air which was weird but appreciated on a 90 degree night. Seats with tables and a buffet dinner. Unlike my last job, lots of hardy co-workers who stayed until the end of the 11 inning game.

And what a game! Yankees were losing 1-0 in the eighth, and ended up winning 5-4 in the 11th, with lots of back and forth drama in the late innings. Home runs by Grisham and Volpe, a blown save from Williams, one of the worst base running blunders I’ve ever seen from Wells, a great catch by Dominguez, and finally a walk off hit by McMahon. Posting now from Penn Station as I wait for the train home. A late night but worth it!

1947 Sacramento Solons

Here's another little oddball lot I picked up on eBay. Guess I got the vintage minor league bug. Not the worst bug to get for sure. These 1947 Sacramento Solons cards are small and thin, but a nice little glimpse of 1940s baseball.

The backs are all the same - Sunbeam, the bread that broadcasts baseball! 

I like the vintage advertising as a little bonus.
 

Wallet Card with a possible Woolworth's ghost sign

I saw this interesting old sign today. It's on the back of 330 Hudson Street in NYC's Hudson Square. 330 Hudson was built in 1910 and had various industrial tenants, including Waterman Pen as one of the original inhabitants. Behind the building is an alley named "Old Jan's Alley", so named because it was the site of one of the original 1630s New Amsterdam plantations. I was in the alley today and noticed this sign on the back of 330 Hudson.

It does appear to be original to the building, probably shortly after it was built. I'm surprised none of the various NYC sign-related blogs have mentioned it. "Wholesale Warehouse" is easy to make out. The name on top is obscured by wear and the light fixture attached, but it appears to say "F.W. Woolworth". I could find no reference to a Woolworth store or warehouse at 330 Hudson or on Vandam Street, where this entrance would have faced, so I can't confirm, but I'd like to think that is the case.
 

Wood vs. Wood #292

Last time was an 8-1 victory for 1987. Will this be closer?

We get a close-up headshot of Jerry Kindall wearing a red pinstriped jersey. He had been traded from the Cubs to the Indians after the '61 season. Both teams wore blue pinstriped jerseys, so I assume this was a minor league jersey. A college star at Minnesota, Kindall was one of the prime examples of a "bonus baby" who failed to achieve major league success. In 742 games over nine seasons for the Cubs, Indians and Twins, he hit .213 with 44 HR and 198 RBI. He returned to the University of Minnesota in 1966 as a coach, and moved to the University of Arizona in 1972. There Kindall became one of the most successful head coaches in college baseball history, winning a school record 860 games and coaching numerous future major league stars. He retired in 1996 but spent another 20 years as a broadcaster for the team. He died of a stroke in 2017.

Franklin Stubbs also gets a headshot, but at least he gets to keep his cap one. Like Kindall, Stubbs was a college star (Virginia Tech). He didn't have a lot of MLB success either, though he did lead NL first basemen in fielding in 1987 and won a World Series ring in 1988, hitting .280 in his only postseason. Overall in 945 games over 10 seasons for the Dodgers, Astros, Brewers and Tigers, he hit .232 with 104 HR and 348 RBI. After his career he was a coach in the Braves, Dodgers and Diamondbacks organizations, though he appears to now be retired.
 

1974 Topps Deckle Dating: Fergie Jenkins

Real Rangers hat, or airbrushed Cubs hat?

Topps says it's March 12, 1974. 

Jenkins was traded to the Rangers in October of 1973. Other players involved in off-season moves were airbrushed 1973 photos, with Topps claiming them to be 1974. I believe this is the same. Cubs hats on other cards had that distinctive stitching that is seen here. I don't think this is really March 12, 1974 (a day marked by a Soviet space probe crashing on Mars, and presidential transitions in Guatemala and Venezuela).

I'm guessing this photo was taken at the same time as the hatless image Topps used for this '74 base card.

Also, every photo on Jenkins as a Ranger that I could find online has him with a mustache.
 

1981 Topps NL Championship Series

  

This was famously one of the most thrilling LCS of its era. This photo captures some of the excitement of that series, but it doesn't come from that series. All of the postseason games in Philadelphia in 1980 were at night. Mike Schmidt's beard indicates that this is 1980. It looks like Greg Luzinski just hit a home run. He hit 19 in 1980, 15 at home. Only two of those were in day games, May 3 and May 4 against the Dodgers. On Saturday the third the Phillies rolled to a 7-3 victory. On May 4 Philly came back from 9-0 down to tie the game, but Dickie Noles imploded in the top of the 9th, and LA escaped with a 12-10 win.

Quick vintage roundup

Had a couple of good recent vintage trades on TCDB.

These odds and ends came from glennbiss.  Fun mix of decades.

Misfits138 sent 10 from 1955. Bright and colorful!

Another cheap oddball lot from eBay. These are 1962 Topps stamps, all of which I needed, though there are dupes available (Mike Fornieles and Bob Shaw). My favorite of these is the KC A's logo stamp.

 

Free cards . . .

. . . maybe this clickbait title will catch the attention of RJ Sahl and View from 3rd Floor so they can remember to send me their mailing addresses so they can send me the cards they claimed? Everyone else who claimed their cards, I'll be mailing them in a few days.

Cards from OBC members are almost always free. For me at least, I rarely do planned trades. Members send out random acts of kindness and I try to do the same. Basically a loose collection of blind trades across a large grou. Here are a couple of recent OBC RAKs.

Rick Lyons sent neuf OPC cards. 

James Moleta sent four cards that cover three decades.

 

 

 

1935 Diamond Stars Earl Averill

 

Picked this up for about $15 on eBay. This is one of those cards that I had a Dover reprint of when I was a kid. Any time I can get a real version of one for cheap I go for it. Other than the corners this is in good shape.

1948 Signal Oil Oakland Oaks

Now that I got my new job I've fallen off the eBay wagon. I do have the willpower to cut off the Greg Morris Auctions but I'm still looking for vintage deals. Not finding much for stars or high numbers from base Topps sets but I'm finding an oddball here or there that's interesting.

These six cards make up a quarter of the 1948 Signal Oil Oakland Oaks set. Got the lot for about $2/card. These cards are a little rough but the photos come through well enough. Beautiful full-color set of cards, has to be one of the earlier color photo sets of baseball cards. No big names here (the set includes Lombardi, Stengel and Billy Martin) but fun pickups that show what baseball looked like in the 1940s. 

Here's an example of the back. Signal Gasoline and KLX 910. Announcer Bud Foster has a card in the set.

 

1976 SSPC Steve Garvey

  

The card, in brief: That's an impressive amount of greenery for a shot in a big league ballpark. The twin light poles give it away that it's still Shea Stadium like every other card in this set.

Playing card, in brief:  Garvey is one of the best players from his era not in the Hall of Fame. A ten-time All-Star, he was a potent bat in the heart of the lineup for the great Dodgers teams of the 1970s and early 1980s, and later helped the Padres win their first pennant. He had six 200-hit seasons, twice leading the NL, and five seasons of 100-or-more RBI. An excellent fielder, he won four Gold Gloves. Overall in 19 seasons he hit .294 with 440 2B, 272 HR and 1,308 RBI. He continued his excellent hitting in October. In 55 postseason games, he hit .338 with 11 HR and 31 RBI, including a .319 average in five World Series.

Post-playing career, in brief:  After his playing career Garvey's sordid personal life became a source of scandal, hurting business interests and a potential political career. In the decades that have ensued, Garvey has restored his reputation, being involved in a variety of business and charitable endeavors and avoiding personal scandal. In 2024 he decided to return to the political arena and was the surprise winner of the Republican primary election for a California Senate seat, though he lost the general election in November.

My collection: I have 73 of his cards, from 1970 to 1988. I would be interested in trading for 1972 Topps #686. 

1989 Topps Big Deep Dive: Storm Davis

I believe this is Cleveland, and Davis did pitch in a day game there on Sunday, May 1, 1988. He didn't pitch great - 4 runs (3 earned) in 5.2 innings. He was bailed out by the Bash Brothers, who keyed a 6-run rally in the top of the ninth off the usually reliable Doug Jones to escape with an 8-4 Oakland win.

The cartoonist had fun with this one.

Lots of great baseball players named George who prefer to be called something else. Davis had a nice career (113-96 lifetime) but he's not in the same orbit as Ruth, Griffey or Seaver. The "Dr. Storm" story is well documented, but nobody says what book she was reading. Davis's mother, Cheryl, was a radio announcer in Jacksonville. Cheryl and her husband adopted future major leaguer Glenn Davis (no relation) when he was a teenager; Glenn and Storm grew up together. 

The Storm name story went full circle when Storm Davis pitched for the Detroit Tigers at the end of his career in the mid-1990s. At one game, an expecting couple, the Nortons, saw the pitcher named Storm and decided that would be a great name for their own child. Storm Norton grew up to be a pro athlete in his own right, currently an offensive tackle for the Atlanta Falcons. 

Cake or gum? 1977 Mike Hargrove

Last time Topps rolled to an 11-0 victory. Will this one be close?

I'm not positive, but it seems likely both photos were taken in the same session. Hostess has a basic head shot. The outfield looks tilted, indicating Hargrove was probably posing at an angle. Topps has him with the bat.

 Mike Hargrove is one of the few men to play over 1500 major league games and then manage over 1500 major league games. He won two pennants as a manager and is in the top 75 all time in on-base percentage. He is currently an advisor to the Cleveland Guardians, and shared his thoughts on baseball cards with this blog in 2009.

 

 

Cards from Gunny

I joined OBC about two years ago, and my count I've already done a dozen trades with one of their members, Gunny Musgrove. (You can find him on TCDB). Our latest trade saw lots of old cardboard flying each way!

Starting off with some 1960s cards, including a Hall of Famer*! 

On to the late 1950s. Some classic posed batting shots.

When the Topps cards start getting bigger, you know you are getting into rarer territory. Highlighted by a '55 Ted Kluszewski, coming off a 49 HR season!

The Topps cards are great, but the Bowmans are possibly even better, especially 1953 Bowman Color, one of my all-time favorite sets. All three of those photos are fantastic, but my favorite is Sam Jethroe and his big smile at the Polo Grounds.

 

*That's Ron Santo on Don Landrum's card.
 

Wood vs. Wood #291

Giveaway update - still lots of cards available! Laurens, OhioTim, RJ Sahl, please email me your addresses! (Anyone else I've sent cards to in the past, I'll assume the address is the same as last time!

Last Wood v Wood was a 5-3 victory for 1962. Who will win here? 

Hal Stowe has a serious look as he poses in front of the trees. Hal Stowe's one-inning major league career was already over at this point. In his one major league inning, the eighth inning of September 30, 1960, Stowe came into the game with the Yankees down 4-2. Stowe walked his first batter, Vic Wertz, who came around to score via a balk, a groundout, and a sac fly. Stowe then got a popout to end the inning. Duke Maas took over for Stowe in the top of the ninth, and got the win when the Yankees rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth. Over the next four seasons Stowe was dominant in AA ball but struggled at AAA, and he never returned to the majors. After his baseball career he owned his family's restaurant Stowe's Fish Camps, in Gastonia, NC, from 1976 through the late 2000s/early 2010s. He is now retired.

Mitch Williams is standing at attention in Detroit, as is the crowd behind him. If not for his cap I'd think they were standing for the National Anthem. Mitch Williams was one of the top relievers in baseball in the late 1980s and early 1990s, saving over 15 games in a season six years in a row, including four seasons of 29+. His 192 career saves rank in the top 60 all time. He is now a motivational speaker and a Partner at Rehmann Transportation in Texas. He shared some baseball card stories with this blog in 2016.

1974 Topps Deckle Dating: Dave May

 Dave May.

Dave may have had his photo taken on June 10, 1973. 

Dave did go 2-for-5 with two runs scored, including the eventual winning run in the 7th inning, of an 8-6 Brewers win.

In other news, the Explorer 49 moon probe was launched, all NYC-area cemeteries were shut down by a gravediggers strike, and at RFK Stadium in DC, the Grateful Dead played the longest set of their career, which was released as a live album (RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C. 6/10/73) in 2023.

Topps used a more dynamic photo from this shooting for May's base card.

The photo for Dave's '74 Topps Stamp may have been taken at this time as well. 

1981 Topps: ALCS

The Yankees didn't do a whole lot against KC in this series. Only twice did they take the lead, and in both cases they immediately gave it back the next half inning.

The back of the card just has linescores. Here's the front.

Great photo, just not from this series. Game 2 was the only night game in KC. I watched the video, and Rick Cerone was wearing just a white batting glove under his mitt. No blue sleeve like in this photo. There was only one night game in KC in the World Series, and Phillies catcher Bob Boone wasn't wearing anything on his mitt hand. I went back to the 1978 World Series - in Game 1 Thurman Munson was wearing long sleeves. The Yankees' navy blue usually show up a lot darker than this. That game footage is online, and the fans in the stands don't match the photo. I suppose it could be 1976 game 2 or 1977 game 3, neither game is online. Most likely that's a photo from a regular season game, though.
 

1976 SSPC Ivan DeJesus

 Thanks to everyone who has claimed cards in the giveaway! If you haven't yet, go check it out. And if I haven't sent you cards before, email me your address (like you, OhioTim!).

 

The card, in brief: I don't usually think of DeJesus as a Dodger (this is his only MLB card with the team), but he did play briefly for them at the beginning of his MLB career. His son also started out as a Dodger before going elsewhere, though with much less success.)

Playing career, in brief: DeJesus was a slick-fielding shortstop with a pretty good bat for the Cubs and Phillies in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Dodgers traded him to the Cubs for Bill Buckner in 1977, and the next year he led the AL in runs scored. He ended his career with brief stops with the 1985 Cardinals, 1986 Yankees, 1987 Giants and 1988 Tigers.

Post-playing career, in brief:  DeJesus was a minor league coach for many years but now appears to be retired.

My collection: I have 30 of his cards, from 1976 to 1989. I would be interested in trading for 1978 SSPC #256.

Let's celebrate with a giveaway

Celebrate what? Well, I finally got a new job, that's what. I was only out of work for a few weeks, but knew about my layoff since February and put the brakes on card buying at that time even though I was still employed for a few more months. My only card purchase was the two big boxes from the thrift store recently.

As you may know, it's a tough job market right now (maybe a little better than the spring). In my case I work in an extremely niche area, so applying to job postings aren't an option for me, it's all networking. It was easy to feel down in those first few frustrating months, so surprise envelopes with cards were a big lift to my spirits. This week I mailed out cards to almost everyone who sent me something over the past few months, either bloggers or OBCers, as a way to say thank you and return that nice feeling of surprise cards.

And to continue that spirit, here is a giveaway! Everything here comes from those thrift store boxes. Most cards are in good shape but some might have minor flaws; I didn't include anything that was in bad shape. There's some vintage mixed in, but most cards are from the 80s and 90s, a few newer.

Please claim up to nine cards, and do feel free to go up to nine! It's first-come-first-served, but read the descriptions for each group, sometimes there are multiples of a card available. Only US addresses please, unless you are an OBC member or we have traded before. To claim cards, leave a comment with the group number and position in the photo; for example, if you want the Kershaw in that first group, claim it as 1-5.

GROUP 1 (Multiple claims welcome on the Daulton, I have several) [UPDATE: 3, 5, 6, 9 claimed]

GROUP 2 (let me know if you want other '97 Donruss Elite cards; I have a lot more than these) [UPDATE: 2, 4, 5, 7, 9 claimed]

GROUP 3 (multiples of some of these available, and many more from this set, 1997 Flair Showcase Row 1; if you are interested in other cards from the set let me know, no big stars though) [UPDATE: 1 claimed]

GROUP 4 [UPDATE: 2, 8, 9 claimed]

GROUP 5 [UPDATE: 1, 3, 6, 8, 9 claimed]

GROUP 6 (multiple claims welcome on the Phillies team issue Gallagher, I have several) [UPDATE: 1, 7, 8, 9 claimed]

GROUP 7 [UPDATE: 4, 5, 6 claimed]

GROUP 8 (2 copies of the East vs West and several copies of the Aura available) [UPDATE: 2, 4, 5, 6 claimed]

GROUP 9 [UPDATE: 3, 4, 7, 8, 9 claimed]

GROUP 10 [UPDATE: 1, 3, 8, 9 claimed]

GROUP 11 (yes, that's half a 1967 Topps card, great if you love Bill Robinson but hate Joe Verbanic) [UPDATE: 1, 7, 8 claimed]

GROUP 12: (several copies each available for the Palmer, Fingers and Yount; I have several other big stars from that set available. Also several copies available for Thomas and Tudor) [UPDATE: 8, 9 claimed]

GROUP 13 [UPDATE: 1, 2, 3, 7, 8 claimed]

GROUP 14 (multiple copies available for the cards in the top row. Other cards in that subset available) [UPDATE: 5, 9 claimed]

GROUP 15 [UPDATE: 1 claimed]

GROUP 16: (Several copies available of the oversize Larry Brown Steelers team issue. Also several other oversized Eagles team issue cards available. Will pack them in the PWE as best I can.) [UPDATE: 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 claimed]

GROUP 17  [UPDATE: 3, 4, 8, 9 claimed]

GROUP 18 [UPDATE: 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8 claimed]

GROUP 19 (Several Empire Strikes Back cards in similarly rough shape available. The two 1948 Bowmans are reprints from 1978. Also several more cards available from that 1982 Byrnes Fire Department set.) [UPDATE: 1, 5 claimed]