1981 Topps Mike Heath

 

The front: Heath is back at Yankee Stadium, playing against the team he debuted for.

The back: On June 19, 1979, Heath made his A's debut, pinch hitting for Jeff Newman in the second inning against the Royals. I'm not sure what happened to Newman, but in the top of the second George Scott scored on a sac fly, so maybe there was a collision at home plate. Heath flew out in that at bat. However, in the bottom of the fourth, Heath followed Wayne Gross and Dave Revering with back-to-back-to-back HRs off of Dennis Leonard to tie the game at 3. In the 8th inning, with the score now tied at 5, Heath homered off of Al Hrabosky in what proved to be the game winner. Heath played in 73 more games that season but hit just one more HR.

The player: Heath played 14 seasons in the majors for 5 teams, mostly the A's and Tigers. Overall in 1,325 games he hit .252 with 86 HR and 469 RBI.

The man: After his playing career, Heath has done some youth coaching, and is a fantasy camp regular.

My collection: I have 62 of his cards, from 1979 to 1992. I would be interested in trading for 1985 Mother's Cookies Oakland Athletics #4.
 

1976 SSPC Horace Speed

 

The card, in brief: It looks like Speed spent a lot of time working on his facial hair.

Playing career, in brief: Speed played parts of three seasons for the Giants and Indians. In 113 games he hit .207 with 0 HR and 6 RBI. Speed's speed wasn't much of a factor - he was thrown out on 5 of 9 base stealing attempts.

Post playing career, in brief: Speed kept a low profile after his playing career, though his son played minor league ball in the late 1990s.

My collection: I have two of his cards - this one, and 1979 Topps. I would be interested in trading for  1980 TCMA Richmond Braves #14.

1988 Domino's Don Wert

 

Nice vintage action shot! 

When Wert got called up to the big leagues in 1963 he quickly nailed down the Tigers' starting 3B job, and held it for the rest of the decade. Best known for his glove, Wert had an OK bat until getting beaned in 1968; he never hit close as well as he did before the beaning. However, he did make his only All Star Game that year and had some stretch run highlights, including the winning hit in the pennant clincher, and driving in the Tigers' last run in the World Series. Overall in nine seasons (eight with Detroit) he hit .242 with 77 HR and 365 RBI. After his playing career he mostly worked outside of sports in fields like farming and advertising, but was the head baseball coach at Franklin & Marshall College from 1976 to 1981. He died in 2024.

I have 11 of his cards, from 1962 to 1972. I would be interested in trading for 1971 Dell Today's Team Stamps #NNO.

Wood vs Wood #348

Last time it was a 4-4 tie. Will there be a winner here?

Larry Burright in a fielding pose with his batting helmet on, very unusual. The LA on the helmet looks airbrushed on, and even the background looks a little questionable. Burright came up with the Dodgers in 1962 and was the backup second baseman. In 276 games he hit .205 with 4 HR and 30 RBI, and in the tie-breaking playoff against the Giants, he made an error that allowed for a run which helped the Giants seal the Dodgers' fate. Los Angeles then exiled Burright to the lowly Mets, for whom he made brief appearances in '63 and '64. Overall in 159 games he hit .205 with 4 HR and 33 RBI. After his playing career he worked as a carpenter. He died in 2025.

Carmelo Martinez waits in the on-deck circle at Jack Murphy Stadium. Martinez was a powerful outfielder who played for six teams over nine seasons, mostly the Padres. He did not hit for average, but reached double digits in home runs six times. Overall in 1,003 major league games, he hit .245 with 108 HR and 424 RBI. After his playing career he has been a minor league coach and a manager in Latin America, most recently in the Mexican League in 2025.
 

Back to Johnny's album

It's been too long since I posted from the ~1930 album Johnny sent me. Last time I had shown two pages with envelopes pasted in. I had not been looking forward to trying to open them, but it turns out they had been slit to make taking the contents out very easy.

October 5, 1930 was a banner day for Donna Jean's family. 

Back in those days these were the kinds of greeting cards you'd send your friends.

The rest of the envelopes were Christmas Cards. Not all of them are interesting, but I liked this one from the sunny South.

Nothing says best wishes like three unhappy cats.

A rustic scene from what was probably not all that long ago.

The next two pages were all poems, seemingly of a moralistic nature. I wasn't interested in reading them but here they are in case some reader might enjoy them.

Page two.

 

Wallet card at a building not seen for 100 years

Revisiting one of my earliest wallet card photos with a big update:

You may be familiar with the famous Macy's building on 34th Street, which until a few years ago was the largest store in the world (and is still the largest in the US). Interestingly, the huge red shopping bag that says "Macy's" is on the one part of the block that Macy's does not actually own. Around 1901, R.H. Macy decided to move his store to 34th street, he quietly started buying up all of the property on the block so that he could build his superstore. However, one of his rivals found out and bought the property on the corner, with the idea that he would sell it to Macy and purchase their prior location. However, Macy decided to just build around the property instead of giving in to the guy who bought the corner property. In the 1920s, that building changed hands, and Macy's began renting the top floors of the building for advertising purposes, but never bought that last parcel on 34th street, currently home to Sunglass Hut.

The big update:

The owner of the building now is planning to lease that space to another retailer, and recently got permission from the city to replace the Macy's signage with new digital billboards.

Before we get to the new photos, a brief retrospective: 

1906: The brand new Macy's building dominates the corner holdout.

 

1940: The building is largely covered by ads.

 

1964: Color postcard

 

2015: My wallet card photo. By this time Macy's had settled into the "red shopping bag" design.

 

2026: Today! 34th street side. These top three stories had been blocked for public view since the 1920s. They were unoccupied for the past century as there was no means for dual exit with the windows blocked.

Broadway side: It's such a spooky feeling seeing these newly revealed unused floors. Kind of like digging up a grave site. 

 

 

 

1986 Renata Galasso Mattingly Puzzle #4

 

What a great, dynamic photo! Looks like the photographer went into the batting cage, and Mattingly looks like he's about to rip into a pitch. I can't tell who is behind the batting cage - kind of looks like a road uniform. And I don't know who is the catcher either. You sometimes hear about the team's batting practice pitcher, but never the batting practice catcher. I'm guessing it's the bullpen catcher? That would be Dom Scala, who served in that role for a decade, and later was the head baseball coach at Adelphi University for 20 years.

Cake or gum? 1977 Dennis Leonard

Last time it was a 6-1 win for Topps. Who will win here?

The photos are not the same, but they are very similar. The Hostess photo is also set at an angle.

An alumnus of Oceanside High School (NY) and Iona College, Leonard was one of the best pitchers in Royals history. From 1975 to 1981 he was one of the best pitchers in the American League, winning 20 games three times. A knee injury wiped out most of two seasons for Leonard, though he did come back for one more season in 1986. Overall in 312 games, he went 144-106 with a 3.70 ERA. Leonard stayed in Kansas City after his retirement has remained with the team in various instructional and promotional endeavors.

1981 Topps Gary Lucas

 

The front: Lucas shows a funky delivery as he delivers a pitch at Shea Stadium.

The back: The game referenced on the back may well be the game pictured on the front. Lucas did pitch a 2-1 victory in a day game on May 3, taking a shutout into the ninth before giving up a one-out solo HR to Joel Youngblood. Lucas was then relieved by Rollie Fingers who got the last two outs to save the win. However, this could also be August 26, though I think most game photos came from earlier in the year. In that game, Lucas came on in relief, pitching perfect 7th and 8th innings to preserve a 6-5 lead. In the ninth, however, Lucas gave up a leadoff single to Steve Henderson, and this time Fingers failed to save the game, allowing a game-tying double to Youngblood. The game stayed tied until the 18th inning, when Willie Montaney and Jerry Mumphrey drove in runs to give the Padres an 8-6 lead, which they held on to.

The player: The move to the bullpen was a permanent one for Lucas, who never started a game after his rookie season of 1980. In 1981 he led the NL in appearances (57 in the strike shortened season), and had three straight seasons of double-digit saves. In eight seasons for the Padres, Expos and Angels, Lucas went 29-44 with 63 saves and a 3.01 ERA.

The man: After his playing career he had a long career as a minor league pitching coach. He is now retired.

My collection: I have  31 of his cards, from 1981 to 1988. I would be interested in trading for 1984 Stuart Montreal Expos #12.
 

1976 SSPC Bobby Murcer

 

The card, in brief: An interesting change of pace, with Murcer's photo in what is presumably the Shea Stadium dugout.

Playing career, in brief: Bobby Murcer was the best player on the Yankees in the early 1970s. A five-time All Star, he was a high-average, good-power outfielder. He was traded to the Giants before the 1975 season, and over the next few years was not as good in the National League as he was with the Yankees. He returned to the Yankees in 1979, just missing their two championship years, and was a reliable bat off the bench until his retirement in 1983. Perhaps his most famous moment was driving in all six runs in a walk-off, come-from-behind victory the day after the funeral of his good friend Thurman Munson, 47 years ago this week. Overall in 1,908 games he hit .277 with 252 HR and 1,043 RBI.

Post playing career, in brief: One of the most popular Yankees of his era, Murcer was a beloved member of the announcing team for the Yankees for over 20 years, with a folksy, humble manner. He died of cancer at the age of 62 in 2008.

My collection: I have 35 of his cards, from 1966 to 1983. I would be interested in trading for 1969 MLB Photostamps #NNO.

Post playing career, in brief:  

1988 Domino's Jon Warden

 

Not a great photo of Warden, whose only major league experience came in 1968. In 28 games he went 4-1 with a 3.62 ERA. He never had a playing-days card with the Tigers, but he was drafted in the expansion draft by the Royals and got a card in the '69 Topps set. However, he got hurt in spring training and never pitched in the majors again.

After his playing career he was a high school teacher and coach, and is a long-standing participant in Tigers and Royals fantasy camps, as well as speaking appearances and baseball alumni events, where he is noted to be a very funny guy. In 1989, he started taking a Baseball Encyclopedia wherever he went, getting autographs along the way. As of 2010 he had over 1,200 autographs in the book.

Batting Out of Order giveaway

Batting Out of Order had a nice giveaway with lots of great cards to choose from.

I picked three Yankees I needed, an interesting Padres coaches team-issue oddball, some oddball football game card, a vintage football need, and three starting lineup talking baseball cards, one of the more obscure issues from the junk wax era.
 

Big and small

I came across a random lot of late 90s - early 00s cards on eBay. I wasn't looking for a lot like this but happened to stumble across it. I still need so many cards from this era, that it was a fun get for the minimum bid. Kind of what I used to sometimes find at garage sales, back when you could find cards at garage sales.

Some cards that stuck out to me. Interesting shiny insert card that's a video game ad. Two '86 Angels rookies from a 2005 set. I was annoyed that they didn't color match, until I realized the orange is actually a parallel numbered to /399. It's perfect for an Angels card. I already had the two UD cards on the bottom but wanted to highlight how we still would get interesting photos 20 years ago.

While there weren't many star cards, there were a few A-Rods. Some more obscure modern cards of older players as well. 

Earlier today, I traded Al another box of Braves cards. He didn't have much in return today, just some sheets of junk wax and slightly older Topps. I did take one sheet home, as I noticed the yellow OPC logo. There was even an extra OPC on the back. I only needed the top two cards; the others are all available.

 

Wallet Card with a phone number that has been defunct for over 100 years

This is a really cool one.

This coal chute cover on East 9th Street was crafted by Empire City Iron Works, who included their phone number, CIRCLE 1500. According to research by the signage expert Walter Grutchfield, Empire City Iron Works was founded in 1907, and from 1915 to 1919 was located on Manhattan's 8th Avenue. In late 1919 or early 1920 the business moved to Long Island City, Queens, where it got a new number. Over 100 years later, the business remains at that Queens location. Pretty cool that there is still a remnant from a phone number that hasn't worked in over a century, and even cooler that the business still exists today.
 

Wood vs. Wood #347

Last time it was a 7-0 win for 1962. Will 1987 get on the board here?

Chuck Hinton poses with his bat at Yankee Stadium, with the big flag in centerfield (in the field of play!) dominating the background. Hinton was a solid outfielder for some bad Senators and Indians teams from 1961 to 1971. An All-Star in 1964, Hinton played in 1,353 major league games, hitting .264 with 113 HR and 443 RBI. After his playing career he was the long-time head baseball coach at Howard University (1972-2000) and founded the non-profit Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association. He died in 2013.

Mickey Brantley is shown in a candid shot in the Tiger Stadium dugout.  While a minor-leaguer at home in the off-season in Catskill, NY he worked in the local Boys Club with a high-school boxer named Mike Tyson. Tyson often ate at the Brantley’s home and according to Brantley, "Mike wanted to date my younger sister -- that was not going to happen.” Brantley invited 49 friends to his first game at Yankee Stadium in August of 1986, among them Tyson, who three months later would become the youngest ever world heavyweight champion. Brantley played for the Mariners from 1986 to 1989. In 302 games he hit .259 with 32 HR and 125 RBI. He is now a youth baseball coach.
 

Salvaged from the curb

A house in my neighborhood had a yard sale yesterday, and I noticed afterward that they had put lots of full boxes out for garbage. An old lady was there picking, and once I saw what was in the boxes I joined her. We had different interests and were looking out for things for each other. When I told my wife about it, she said it's like little kids becoming best friends for 20 minutes on the playground. (And don't worry, we left everything very neat when we were done!)

I was able to fill a big box with a variety of interesting old things, mostly publications of some sort. The kind of eclectic random stuff that fits nicely into my random collection of old stuff. All of this stuff I enjoy, but very little needs to stay with me permanently, so if you see anything of interest, let me know!

This was the only thing baseball card related. It's less interesting than it looks, just a rundown of the top 120 stars and rookies and what their '87 cards might be worth. 

Here's an example of the inside.

This was probably the oldest thing I kept, a 1933 Eddie Cantor Picture Book from NBC Radio (really more of a foldout poster with articles).

A 1973 German music magazine, Musik Expess. If any of the publications in this post are interesting to readers, I'd be happy to do individual posts on them. I know there are a lot of music lovers on the blogs.

The magazine had some sort of cards inside.

I looked for the Rod Stewart on TCDB but I didn't see it.

11 years of the Rolling Stones, alongside a German Clearasil ad.

 Here's another baseball-related item. A reprint of a Willie Mays drawing, distributed by Equitable Life. I see TCDB does consider this a card, (c. 1967-1973), so I guess I can consider it a card for my collection!

Some 1960s spinner-rack refugees! Get Smart is my favorite TV show. I used to have all of these novels, nice to get this one back. They're not much like the show but still kind of a fun read. I've never read a Doc Savage novel but I'll give it a try.

These are much more recent than the other publications. Two fancy-looking comic books from 2008. I've never heard of Aquablue but I'll give it a try.

New York World's Fair! I definitely should have more items from this in my collection. This will be a fun little read, bascially a small promotional newspaper.

Another European music magazine. Circus Magazine from 1983.

Judas Priest is one of my favorite bands, so this is a fun one for me. Though personally I find reading about music not nearly as fun as listening to it.

An assortment of old post cards and stamps. A lot of items from the various World's Fairs of the 1960s to the 1980s in the US or Canada.

 New old stock! This box is taped up, the Kard Kaddie presumably still inside. As you can see from the bottom this predates the use of zip codes in the mid-1960s.

A TV Guide from Christmas, 1976. Not a lot of content inside other than the TV listings, but still fun to have.

This is unusual, and I'm not too sure what it is. They are glossy printed photos, all with the same instructions on the back. PM Magazine was a syndicated news show in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Doing a little bit of research, I figured out that this mystery autograph was Wesley Walker, #85 on the Jets.

A whole lot of 1969 and 1970 issues of Collector's Weekly newspaper, starting with the first issue. It will be interesting to see if there is anything baseball card related in these. They look like they have been folder for decades (each is about ten newspapers folded into each other), so I imagine the process of opening up each one and reading them may be difficult. I can't find out much about this publication online. There is a website with this name but it appears to be unrelated.

Finally, some more fun New Old Stock. These are not in the best shape, but still pretty cool. There's Dick Clark (who is still in plastic but has detached from the cardboard) and Ricky Nelson. Looks like sealed packages are not that hard to find - eBay and other sources seem to date these to c. 1958-1960.