Cards from bloggers

Got a couple of nice packages of cards from a couple of great bloggers in the past week . . . 

The Collector Chris was soliciting some TCDB trades and I was glad to find some cards for him. A lot of the cards going both ways were from recent Topps Update sets, but there were others.

I'm sure Chris was happy to get these Yankees and a Giant out of his house.

S.R. '75 Stuart had some extra 2001 Upper Deck Legends of New York cards he generously sent my way. These are the cards with the fuzzy team logos. Starting off with some Brooklyn Dodgers, including two Jackie Robinsons.

On to the New York Giants. Bobby Thomson is on there a couple of times. I noticed on the back of his card, his career numbers were a lot better than I thought. If he hadn't broken his ankle in '54 he could have been a legit Hall of Famer.

On to the Mets. I don't care for the Mets but these individual players I bear no ill will towards. 

The highlight, of course, is the Yankees. I had a lot of Yankees from this set already but was missing most of the cards of the "Mount Rushmore" of Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio and Mantle. These get me a lot closer to a complete set!

 

1981 Topps Stickers

Before I collected baseball cards I had the 1986 Topps sticker book, which was how I first learned most of the players as a nine-year-old. I started collecting cards but kept up with the stickers for a couple more years. Eventually my card collection grew and grew and the sticker books were forgotten and lost. I did end up accumulating stickers over the years, and a few years ago bought a lot of all of the empty Topps books from the 80s to put my stickers in. (I still should get the Panini books.)

A couple weeks ago on eBay I saw a complete set of '81 stickers with a very low starting bid. I decided to go for it and end up winning the lot at about a nickel a sticker. I do not consider these part of my baseball card collection. But at that price it seemed relevant enough to be fun.

The photos are fun but not too different from the baseball card photos. Some interesting facial expressions, and for some reason a lot of airbrushed Cardinals.

Some good action shots too, mostly at Yankee Stadium. The Willie Wilson sticker is a reminder of the old "no pepper games" signs, something that is rarely seen on cards.

Some more fun photos I picked out. The cropping of the Tanana reminds me of the Fleer cards of the era, which generally had a little more personality and variety than Topps. (Also - you rarely see Rod Carew with a mustache!)

Putting in the stickers ended up being somewhat difficult. Some stickers came off their backing easily. On other, neither fingernail nor thin blade could fully pry them apart and I had to tape them in with some or all of the backing still in there. Putting ~200 stickers at once is probably less fun than a few at a time, but it's nice to have a complete album and to have done it myself. Here's a sample page with the pitching leaders, including two shots of Steve Carlton in throwing motion, as well as one portrait.

I actually had all the Yankees already, but good excuse to show them again along with the complete A's page.

The All Stars are a shiny fol section in the center of the book.

I already had a fair amount of stickers, so I have plenty to trade to those looking to fill their own album or incorporate them into their card collection!

 

1981 Topps Rance Mulliniks

 

The front: Mulliniks is captured pregame in Milwaukee.

The back: On July 4, 1977, Dave Chalk and Rance Mulliniks hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning off of Rick Langford to give California a 4-1 lead in a game they would win, 4-2.

The player: Mulliniks started his career with the Angels and Royals, playing parts of five seasons and struggling to make an impact. He was traded to Toronto before the 1982 season and there he developed into one of the best utility players in the majors. From 1982 to 1988 he played in 110-130 games a year, hitting around .300 with 10-12 HR most years. He was a solid defender with a good batting eye, and was good for 2-3 WAR per season, nice numbers for someone who was not a regular. Toward the end of his career injuries cut his playing time dramatically. In his final season, 1992, he was out for most of the year, returning at the end of the season for three games. He was on the World Series roster but did not play. Overall in 1,325 games he hit .272 with 73 HR and 435 RBI.

The man: After his playing career Mulliniks had a long stint as a Blue Jays announcer, and was also a realtor for Century 21. He is now a motivational speaker.

My collection: I have 56 of his cards, from 1978 to 1992. I would be interested in trading for 1978 SSPC #216.
 

1976 SSPC Glenn Adams

 

The card, in brief: This looks like it was a little earlier in the evening than some of the other Giants cards in the set. Adams looks quite happy to show off his bunting form.

Playing career, in brief: After brief appearances as an outfielder for the Giants in 1975 and 1976, Glenn Adams moved to the American League in 1977 with the Twins as a part-time DH and outfielder. He ended his career with a cup of coffee in Toronto in 1982.  In eight major league seasons, he hit .280 with 34 HR and 225 RBI in 661 games.

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

My collection: I have 13 of his cards, from 1976 to 1983. I would be interested in trading for 1982 TCMA Syracuse Chiefs #19.

1986 Renata Galasso Mattingly #21

Nice photo at spring training, interesting to see the batting cage behind the outfield.

Nice to see he helps out around the house.

1988 Domino's Joe Sparma

 

Great action photo here!

Joe Sparma was the quarterback for the Ohio State Buckeyes, leading them to a Big Ten Championship in 1961. He quit the team after the 1962 season due to conflicts with coach Woody Hayes and decided to focus on baseball. He signed with the Tigers and got off to a fast start with the team, going 13-8 with a 3.18 ERA in his first full season in 1965. However, he was not able to sustain that early success and by 1968 Sparma was again having conflicts with leadership, this time Tigers manager Mayo Smith, who pulled Sparma from the rotation mid-season and barely used him after that. He was traded to the Expos after the 1969 season but pitched poorly for them, ending his major league career at the age of 28. In 183 games he went 52-52 with a 3.94 ERA. After his baseball career he worked for Buckeye Steel in Worthington, OH. He died from complications of a heart attack in 1986 at the age of 44.

I have six of his cards, from 1965 to 1970. I would be interested in trading for 1964 Topps #512.  

Bowman baseball - you'll love it

Al texted me the other day to entice me with something to trade for more Braves - "I have a new stack of Bowman baseball you'll love it". Well I did tell him I didn't need any more Topps base or late 80s cards. Bowman's not necessarily my favorite, but they're OK in small doses, and a card I don't have is a card I need. I picked them up today. His Braves guy didn't show up so we'll see if he ends up needing any more.

Turns out it was a stack of a few dozen cards from 2019 Bowman, mostly the base set but a few BPs and BCPs. I brought the whole stack home, along with a few other randoms he'd found. Here's the Bowman keepers. The big deal is that he had a Judge he let me take. Jazz Chisholm's in there too, I didn't know he started off as a Diamondback.

The pile had heavy duplication, though it was mostly stars which is nice. I'll bring most of these back in a couple of weeks when I'm in the city next, but hopefully there's some cards that may fit some readers collections. In particular check out all those Mike Trouts! Is he no longer such a big deal?

In the other little stack of cards I found some keepers, including a few from '18 Topps Update. Some really nice horizontal cards here.

And some more I didn't need, but maybe a reader does. Mostly Topps Update but there's also a nice silver pack Ozzie Smith.

 

Burgers or gum? Lou Whitaker

Last time gum cruised to a 6-2 win. Will it win again here?

Wendy's has Whitaker chatting with someone while posing for a photo, while Topps has him turning a double play over a Red Sox player in what must be a spring training game.

Whitaker had a good season in 1984, though not as good as '83 when he had a career year hitting .320. Whitaker hit .289 with 13 HR and 56 RBI, and after a poor ALCS showing rebounded to have a good World Series, reaching base 9 times and scoring 6 runs. Lou Whitaker was one of the better second baseman in the American League in the 1980s. The 1978 AL Rookie of the year and a five-time All-Star, Whitaker played in 2,390 games and hit .276 with 244 HR and 1,084 RBI. He was an excellent fielder and walked more than he struck out. His hitting numbers were not spectacular but he was an above-average hitter for a long time. After his playing days, Whitaker was an instructor for the Tigers for many years but is now retired.
 

Wood vs. Wood #344

Last time it was a 5-2 win for 1962. Who will win here?

Ed Bauta looks off to the distance on his rookie card. His last card would be the following year - and it used the same photo. The Cuba-born Bauta pitched for the Cardinals and Mets from 1960 to 1963. In 97 games, all in relief, he went 6-6 with 11 saves and a 4.35 ERA. After his retirement he worked in the moving business in New York and New Jersey. He died in 2022.

Joe Niekro delivers a pitch at Yankee Stadium. 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. After his playing career he coached for the Twins and Rockies. He died of a brain aneurysm in 2006.
 

Cake or gum? 1977 Rick Burleson

Last time it was a 5-0 shutout for gum. Will cake get on the board here?

Tough call here - do you prefer Burleson looking slightly to the left, or looking slightly to the right?

Rick Burleson was a scrappy second baseman with doubles power, especially effective at Fenway Park, who was a key member of the great Red Sox teams of the late 1970s. After the 1980 season the Angels traded Carney Lansford to Boston to get Burleson. Burleson had his best season by WAR (4.5) in the strike shortened 1981 season. Unfortunately, Burleson hurt his arm the next season, effectively ending his career, though he hung on for brief stints over the next several seasons. Overall in 1,346 games, he hit .273 with 256 2B, 50 HR and 449 RBI. After his playing career he had a long career as a scout, minor league manager and minor league coach. He is now retired.
 

1981 Topps Len Barker

 

The front: An awkward-looking delivery at Yankee Stadium. This must be June 29, 1980, same as Gary Alexander, Bo Diaz and Jorge Orta. Barker struggled that day, allowing 6 earned runs in 6.1 innings as Cleveland fell, 7-2. Barker allowed home runs to Bronx Bombers Jim Spencer, Joe Lefebvre and Brian Doyle.

The back: Barker won two games that week in 1979, beating the Red Sox 3-0 and the Rangers 6-2.

The player: Len Barker pitched eleven years in the major leagues. His best seasons were in Cleveland, leading the American League in strikeouts in 1980 and 1981. He pitched a perfect game for the Indians in 1981. He was traded to the Braves during the 1983 season, but injuries limited his effectiveness for Atlanta. Overall in 248 games he went 74-76 with a 4.34 ERA.

The man: According to a Sports Illustrated article after Barker’s perfect game, he improved when he went to Cleveland because they got him to lay off beer, which helped him lose ten pounds and improve his concentration from 50% to 80%. Said Indians President Gabe Paul, “When I see Barker watching a plane going overhead when he's on the mound, I know he's through.” He is now head baseball coach at Notre Dame College. He also participates in fantasy camps. In the 1990s, he met a fantasy camper named Mike Ferrante. They ended up going into the construction business together for a while, and Barker married Ferrante’s daughter.

My collection: I have 29 of his cards, from 1977 to 1986. I would be interested in trading for 1978 SSPC #91.
 

 

These are bad, even for me

I won a nicely priced lot of 1950s Topps cards off of eBay this week. That's very hard to do, so as you can imagine there must have been a catch. And that there was - the cards were trimmed. As condition-insensitive as I am, I am more bothered by trimming than things like writing and creasing, as it means part of the card is missing. Plus it's weird when flipping through my cards to have some cards being noticeably smaller. In general though, as long it's no more than the border I'm generally OK with trimming. This lot really pushes it though.

These are the most intact cards in the lot. Most of these I had already, but a few were new to me. Most notably several 1952s! And some of the 1953s are high numbers. '53 high numbers are very hard to get, and I had very few before this. In fact now I have a dupe of Mike Sandlock. 

These cards are a little more heavily trimmed. The '57s actually look pretty good borderless, reminiscient of '53 Bowman. And more '52s! Highlighted by Ralph Houk from his days as a Yankee catcher.

Here's where things get really ugly. These cards are heavily trimmed! They are all the size of late 80s Topps Mini Leaders card (one on the top left for scale). There are '58s where the player's name has been cut off! I actually needed four '58s and four '59s from this photo, though I am giving some thought to trying to upgrade them, something I virtually never do. The '59 Cuellar rookie might not be worth it, but the others should be cheap purchases or easy TCDB trades. But there's more '53 high numbers here, those will have to do. And you might not be able to tell here, but the rightmost card in the middle and bottom rows are '52s. Name and right edge cut off. Probably not worth the trouble of upgrading, though.

So I added lots of cards I needed, but have lots left over. Unless any readers here are interested in '50s cards that are trimmed, some heavily, I can probably find homes for these at OBC.
 

An even Braver street trade

Yesterday I gave Al another 200-count box of Braves, plus some more of the usual guys he always needs. He had brought with him a 3,200 count of mixed cards. I didn't want to take the entire box back and forth, and as a lot of it was runs on 1989 Upper Deck, 1990 Topps, 1994 Collectors Choice, etc, that I didn't need, I instead just pulled out about 1,000+ cards that seemed promising, albeit with a lot of junk mixed in. Like usual, I'm keeping what I need, and returning what I don't. 

I was able to pull out a few hundred cards I didn't have. Mostly baseball but also a little football. Nothing terribly interesting or exciting but I'll enjoy adding all of them to my collection. 

To figure out what I needed, I first separated out the sets that I knew I'd completed, largely junk wax or Topps base cards. These are the other sets, these will go back to Al unless someone sees something they're interested in. There are a few inserts, but mostly base cards as you can see. If you see a set or type of card you think you have needs from, let me know, or if there's a team or player to look for, I can check for that too.

Same with this pile, the "junx wax" pile. Some early 80s Topps, Donruss and Fleer, and lots of stars too. (Less stars in the pile above.) Same here - happy to look for anything people want before I return the cards next week.

 

1967 Philadelphia lot

 I picked up a lot of 1967 Philadelphia football for cheap on eBay. Not something I was looking for, but came across it and I like the look of the old Philly sets, so I put in a minimum bid and won.

Frank Tarkenton is the biggest name here, but there's also rookie cards of Hall of Famers Dave Robinson and Dave Wilcox. 

Some from the middle of the set, including a nice shot of Giants star Spider Lockhart at Yankee Stadium.

Finishing off with these fine cards, including Ron Bull's card which definitely looks burned.

The backs have trivia questions with no visible answer. Good space for doing math problems, and also gives me an idea for a new blog series, hopefully humorous but maybe kind of dumb.

 

There were three dupes for me in this lot, available for trade: #47 John Wooten (Browns); #51 Cornell Green (Cowboys), #136 Timmy Brown (Eagles) 

1976 SSPC Gary Thomasson

 

The card, in brief: What's so interesting in the upper deck?

Playing career, in brief: Thomasson was a part-time outfielder for the Giants in the 1970s. In 1977 at the age of 25, he had what looked like a breakout season, hitting .256 with 17 HR and 71 RBI.  The Giants sold high, packaging him to Oakland as part of the deal that brought Vida Blue to San Francisco. Thomasson struggled with the A's, and was traded to the Yankees midseason, where he was a little-used bench player. He ended his US career with the Dodgers, and signed a big contract to play for the Yomiuri Giants. He struggled mightily in Japan, nearly setting the league strikeout record before being benched. 

Meanwhile, the Japanese artist Genpei Akasegawa developed a fascination with objects that were no longer in use but were still maintained, originally inspired by a staircase with no entranceway on the top, but was still regularly repaired. He published a popular book of photos of this "hyperart" - objects not intended to be art but still maintaining an artistic quality. The books showed images of objects that were "maintained in good condition, but with no purpose, to the point of becoming a work of art." A baseball fan, Akasegawa named these after the expensive but useless artifact languishing on the Yomiuri Giants bench - "Hyperart Thomasson". The concept was popular in the 1980s and regained popularity in the 2010s. According to one art blog, Messy Nessy, "On Instagram, there are over 3,000 posts alone under the Japanese “Tomasson” hashtag: トマソン".

Post playing career, in brief: Thomasson has kept a low profile since his baseball career. Anyone know what he is doing now?

My collection: I have 13 of his cards, from 1974 to 1981. I would be interested in trading for  1980 Los Angeles Dodgers Police SGA #NNO.

1986 Renata Galasso Mattingly #20

We're getting to the section of the set with the modern photos of Mattingly. 

 Yankee fan and famous drummer Jack Scarangella was so popular with the team that there was an informal Yankee Stadium Drum Room. The site Not So Modern Drummer has photos of Scarangella drumming with Mattingly, Ron Guidry, Willie Randolph and Paul O'Neill.

 

1988 Domino's Jim Price

 

This is a nice photo, not very different from the type of photo Topps would use at the time, though I don't think they usually shot from below.

Jim Price spent five seasons as a backup catcher for the Tigers. In 261 games he hit .214 with 18 HR and 71 RBI. He hit just .174 in '68 and was 0-for-2 in the World Series. After his playing career he had a long career as a Tigers announcer, from 1993 to July of 2023. He died in August of 2023.

I have seven of his cards, from 1967 to 1971. I would be interested in trading for 1971 Dell Today's Team Stamps #NNO.

Burgers or gum? Alan Trammell

 Last time it was 3-1, burgers. Will gum win here?

Coca-Cola/Wendy's has Trammell pose in front of a chain link fence at spring training. Topps has Trammell at bat on a sunny day in Yankee Stadium. Trammell played in five games at Yankee Stadium in 1984, but all were night games, meaning this photo was taken in 1983 or earlier.

Alan Trammell was the best shortstop in the American League in the 1980s. He was a big part of the Tigers' early season run, hitting .340 over the first 40 games. He tailed off over the rest of the season but still had a very good .314 average. He had a terrific postseason, hitting .419 (.450 in the World Series) with 3 HR and 9 RBI. In his 20-year career with the Tigers, Trammell hit .285 with 185 HR and 1,003 RBI. He was a good defender, with four Gold Glove awards early in his career. He was voted to the Hall of Fame in 2017. Trammell, who had brief managerial stints with the Diamondbacks and Tigers, is currently a Special Assistant to the General Manager of the Tigers.
 

Wood vs. Wood #342

Last time 1962 won, 3-1. Will there be more votes this time?

Ed Rakow leads off this battle of righty relievers in a traditional windup pose at Yankee Stadium. Rakow came up with the Dodgers at the end of the 1960 season, then was traded to the KC A's where he mostly pitched in relief. In 1962 he moved into the starting rotation and had a tough season, leading the American League with 17 losses and 111 earned runs allowed. In 1964 he was traded to the Tigers where he returned to the bullpen. He ended his career with a brief stint with the Braves. Overall in 195 games (90 starts) he went 36-47 with a 4.33 ERA. During and after his baseball career, he worked as a truck driver. He died in 2000.

Bob James where a White Sox pullover in a spring training shot. James came up with the Expos and also had a stint with the Tigers before being traded to the White Sox before the 1985 season. He had an out-of-nowhere star season with the White Sox in '85, going 8-7 with 32 saves and a 2.13 ERA. He was not nearly as good the following two seasons. Arm injuries ended his career at age 28 in 1987. Overall in 279 games he went 24-26 with 73 saves and a 3.80 ERA. After his playing career, he had a long tenure as baseball coach at Vasquez High School in Acton, CA.
 

Roundup, not roundball

I couldn't care less about basketball, so while everyone around me is losing their minds about the Knicks, I'll just post the great baseball cards that I've gotten from generous bloggers and traders over the past two months.

 Nice mixture of real vintage, fake vintage, and fun shiny from yobshabob, TCDB.

Two minis, two Canadians, and a generous throw-in of two Posts, from threegreatgirls, TCDB.

May time travel winnings from Diamond Jesters. Those Canadian oddballs are great, as is my first '81 Fleer "finger" card. The "finger" is so hard to see and kind of looks like another body part.

Four fun oddballs, including my first '84 Nestle, from srose007, TCDB.

SirNailhead, my favorite new blogger, sent this dazzling shiny mizture. My favorite is the bottom middle card of Hilltop Park, home of the New York Highlanders.

Batting Out of Order, TCDB/blogger. This is our 11th TCDB trade, a personal record for both of us (on that platform, at least). My favorite is the oddball among oddballs, a Joey Meyer magazine card. It is not sitting on top of another card, that is the design.

A small lot from eBay, plus a '57 single that came in at the same time. A couple of dupes in here, but most I needed.

One card but a good one, a '72 high number of Dirty Al Gallagher, from pcantara, TCDB.

It's hard to find affordable Topps stars on eBay anymore, but this '57 Banks slipped through, probably because of the insignificant paper loss on the front.

A couple of '30s matchbooks from eBay. I believe Walter "Jumbo" Brown, who I believe is my first Yankee matchbook. I looked him up and it turns out he lived on Long Island, only a couple of miles from where I live now. Very cool!

Another affordable pre-WWII card from eBay.

It's been so long that I rounded up that we're onto the second TTT from Diamond Jesters.

Three affordable '52 Topps cards, from eBay. Really got lucky with these. I did already have the Mitchell.

Got some Posts in the post, from Mark Camps, OBC.

Two shiny birds from philliesphan, TCDB.

Love those '80s oddballs! And Yankee cards of course. MDog23, TCDB.

When I added my '84 Topps Traded needs to TCDB, mattheinz23 pounced!

ILLRIMESAYA does some damage to my '98 Metal needs list. TCDB

Finally, two trimmed cards printed a decade apart, from eBay.