Free cards on free cards

I got a package yesterday from Cards on Cards with the results of two of his generous giveaways. (And speaking of his giveaways, he kicked off his college football giveaway today!)

Every once in a while he gives away "damaged cards". I can't find anything remotely wrong with these!

I also won the last-place prize in the college basketball tournament. I've finished second in the football tournaments but never a last-place prize before. He used to warn us to beware of those! For the record, I don't try to lose, but I know nothing about college sports so I usually just pick the favorites except for a few school I pick because they are local (a rarity in these parts) or I know someone who went there. Usually that puts me squarely in the middle of the packs.

Here are my winnings! Two needs for my 1983 Fleer Star Stickers set, and three unopened packs. I already have the complete sets for 1986 League Leaders and 1988 Big Baseball, so I'll pass those along to the first person who comments requesting them (US only). 

I've never had any 1989 Topps coins before, so out of curiosity I opened the pack. I don't consider these "cards" but figured it would be nice to have three for the collection. 

Well, two I guess. Funny thing is TCDB has the coins in their database but not the card. I've got an idea for a certain former blogger who can use the Witt and the advertising card. There was more gum but it was shattered into many pieces that were stuck to the wrapper so I tossed those.
 

1974 Topps Deckle Dating: Johnny Bench

 Card 71 out of 72.

March 1, 1973.

The same date as teammate Tony Perez. As noted in that post, spring games hadn't started yet, and it was a bad day for Britain with a fatal IRA bombing in London and a Royal Navy ship sabotaged in Beirut.

The full-color photo was used for his 1974 Topps Puzzle.

 

1981 Topps John Pacella

 

The front: What a unique and unusual card! Did his hat fall off a lot when he pitched?

The back: Yes it did.

The player: John Pacella was a very hard thrower, so hard he would often lose his cap while he pitched. That live arm kept giving him chances in the big leagues, but he never developed the command that would make that live arm successful. He pitched for five teams in parts of six major league seasons - Mets, Yankees, Twins, Orioles and Tigers. In 74 games (21 starts) he went 4-10 with 3 saves and a 5.73 ERA.

The man: Pacella, who is originally from Long Island, married a girl from Westerville, OH. So did fellow major leaguer, a native Californian. They both settled in that town after their playing careers, and their Big League Baseball School has operated successfully there since 1994.

My collection: I have eight of his cards, from 1979 to 1987. I would be interested in trading for 1982 TCMA Columbus Clippers #1.
 

1976 SSPC Jim Wynn

 

The card, in brief: Wynn has some great hair, but he's upstaged by that fan in the first row.

Playing career, in brief: Wynn was known as the "Toy Cannon" because he was a smaller guy with a lot of power. His stats look like a 2020's player: low batting average but high HR, BB and K totals. He did have surprising speed for a guy known as a slugger. Overall in 15 years for the Astros, Dodgers, Braves, Yankees and Brewers, Wynn hit .250 with 291 HR, 964 RBI and 225 SB. He walked 1,224 times (leading the NL twice) and struck out 1,427 times (leading the NL once).

Post-playing career, in brief:  After his career he was an Astros announcer. He died in 2020.

My collection: I have 28 of his cards, from 1964 to 1977. I would be interested in trading for 1977 Burger King Yankees #20. 

Interview with Mike Laga

First baseman Mike Laga played nine years in the major leagues for the Tigers, Cardinals and Giants. In 188 major league games he hit .199 with 16 HR and 55 RBI. Now a mortgage loan originator with Freedom Credit Union in Enfield, MA, he kindly spoke with me about his baseball card experiences.

Do you have any stories about cards of yourself or of other players?
I get lots of cards in the mail every day. There are some error cards that are interesting or cool. Topps airbrushed one of mine when I was in a Tigers uniform and I got traded to the Cardinals. Looks like a pink hat and pink uniform. At the beginning I was like "what?" Now it's a talking point.

There's also one I don't see that much, a reverse negative Smokey Bear card with the Cardinals, where it looks like I'm playing third base.

 
- Do you have a favorite card of yourself, or of another player?
I don't really pay attention to others. I like the Cardinal one where I have a nice dark red top. 

 

Also I like the 84 Donruss with the Tigers. 

 

I also like the ones from when I played in Japan, they had nice quality.

 
- Do you collect baseball cards?
I don't collect myself. Most of them I just gave to my kids and grandkids. I had a stack I'd give out when I coached little league or my grandson's baseball games. I do have some baseballs and bats in my basement. I don't even remember whose I had. I didn't really collect as a kid, they just went into my bike spokes!

Thanks! 

Street trade under lights

Al used to leave the NY area in the winter, but now he sets up all year long. This time of year is good for him with all the tourists jamming up the streets. He usually packs up at dark but stays to meet me when I have cards for him, and we trade under the lights in Herald Square. For some reason even the dullest chrome cards shine brightly under streetlights.

He's had a different box for me every time. Here's what I pulled out of a box this time.

Some real refractor type cards up top, but also some Chromes and a Cy Young card that looked more refractory in the streetlights than they really were. Still all cards I needed except for the two regular '80s, and the two '72s which were both numbered in the 500s where I still have a few needs so I took 'em just in case (didn't feel like taking out my phone to check for sure). 

Al is definitely the go-to for silver pack cards. Picked up these random cards, also nice and

More shiny! Al must have bought a lot of packs in 2014. Love all these shiny red parallels. A few non-shiny colors also.

 

Wallet card with Mr. Zip

Here's a wallet card photo I'm really excited about. Mr. Zip! A brief history lesson:

Before World War II there was no uniformity around addressing an envelope. Veteran postal workers were experts in their areas and were able to figure out where each letter should go. Due to wartime shortages of postal workers, a 2-digit postal zone system was created for the 124 largest cities in the U.S., to help inexperienced workers determine where letters should go. After the war, as volumes increased, a better system was needed, so in 1963, two-digit state abbreviations were introduced, and every address in America got the code for their Zone Improvement Plan - ZIP Code!

Two publicize this new innovation, which like every such innovation was resisted by most, the US Postal Service introduced Mr. Zip to help publicize the new codes. Mr. Zip signs were everywhere in US post offices throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, but as ZIP code use normalized, there was no more need for Mr. Zip and he was phased out. Mr. Zip remnants still remain here and there, and I've seen them online from bloggers or people on social media who find Mr. Zip on, for example, an apartment building mail slot.

I'd never seen one in a place that was generally accessible, but quite accidentally ran across one yesterday, one that I had probably passed before but never noticed, in the Farley Post Office above Penn Station, a national landmark and one of the biggest post offices in the US. It's convenient location makes it an easy spot to mail off card packages before going to work. I was passing by an unused counter and a green platform caught my eye. It was attached to the counter so has probably always been there, but I hadn't noticed it before. Guess what was stuck to the platform!

The ZIP code in this case would be 10001. If you notice on top there is a date, but missing the last digit. I thought it might be tough to find it but it's right there on Mr. Zip's Wikipedia page - May 1963! Over the past 62 years there have clearly been some attempts to remove the sticker, but that jet-age adhesive is still going strong! If there are "white whales" in my Wallet Card quests, this was certainly one of them. Finding it yesterday certainly made my day!
 

Cary Hiles on baseball cards

Cary Hiles pitched in the Phillies organization from 1998 to 2004. His best season was 2000, when he went 8-3 with 20 saves and a 3.16 ERA for Clearwater. Overall in 255 minor league games, he went 23-22 with 75 saves and a 3.80 ERA. Now AVP, Environmental & Hazmat Safety for the Genesee & Wyoming Railroad, he kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

"I wouldn’t necessarily call them “stories,” but you might notice that my 2002 and 2003 cards use the same photo. I broke camp with the Triple-A team both seasons, but I tore my shoulder early in 2003. Since the card company didn’t have any new shots of me after the injury, they reused the previous year’s picture. I did make a brief return in 2004 before re-injuring my shoulder post-surgery, and no card was produced for that year.

  

 

My favorite card, strictly for the look, is my 1999 Piedmont Boll Weevils card. It definitely has a “summer ball” vibe, but I’ve always liked the design. 

 

A close second is my 2002 Scranton Red Barons card—it shows how flexible I used to be.

I don’t collect baseball cards anymore, but a few years back I got into European soccer cards for a bit before eventually stepping away from that."

Thanks!

1986 Renata Galasso Mattingly #2

It's always hard to tell with baby photos. Does this look like Don Mattingly?

This makes it easier to tell:

That's him all right!

Speaking of baby Mattingly, Cardboredom recently linked to a great ESPN article about the birthdate controversy triggered my Mattingly's 1987 Topps card.