Brewer Hicklen on baseball cards

Outfielder Brewer Hicklen made his major league debut with the Royals in 2022, and has had stints with Milwaukee and Detroit. He was recently called up by the Atlanta Braves and is having success with them - in 12 games he is hitting .294 with 4 doubles, 3 RBI and 7 runs scored. He is also a youth baseball coach and has a website where he sells game-used merchandise to support non-profits in Northern Alabama. He kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

 

- Do you have any stories about cards of yourself or of other players?

- I have a good friend that owns a card shop in MIN and he always keeps me in the loop and will occasionally run across my 1 of 1's. He has bought a few for me.  

 

- Do you have a favorite card of yourself or of another player?

- I don't really collect other than what my friends have given me.  

 

- Do you collect baseball cards?

- not really, but i have 4 of my 1/1 cards. 

Thanks!

 

Silver street trade

There wasn't much I needed from Al's boxes today, but these silver pack cards are always reliable.

 

2023 cards in the 1988 design. I like retro designs best when the cards look like they could have been from the year of the design, like that Cubs card.

Wallet Card at the Beer Shed?

One building being torn down can lead to the ghost of another building being revealed. Such was the case on Main Street in Hempstead, NY. There has not been a delicatessen in this spot in a long time, certainly within the past 20 years. There's also the word "Beer" and the word "Shed" next to each other, but I am thinking they may be from two different signs. (I think it's beer? Open to other interpretations.)

 

Lindy and the Ladies

 Let's do another page from the scrapbook.

 

 Lots of fun frivolities on this page. On the top right, girls at an Augusta High School get a yo-yo lesson from none other than Pedro Flores (kneeling), the inventor of the modern yo-yo. The caption calls them both "whirling doorknobs" and "the new-fangled tops". The top right is a four paragraph column describing the birthday party of a six-year-old boy. On the bottom we have beauties from near (524 Olivia Place) and far (the Estonian Republic).

 

Meanwhile, the right side is dedicated to Charles Lindbergh and his son's kidnapping, the major news story of 1932. (The next few pages don't seem to always be in chronological order, skipping around the early '30s).

1986 Renata Galasso Mattingly Puzzle #6

Looks like Mattingly's thumb is taped up. Hopefully he's not throwing too hard with an injured hand.

 

1981 Topps John Montefusco

The front: Looks like someone said something funny in the dugout.

The back: "The Count Montefusco" is a play on "The Count of Monte Cristo". It is believed to have originated with Giants announcer Al Michaels.

The player: John Montefusco won the NL Cy Young Award in 1975, going 15-9 with a 2.88 ERA. The following year he went 16-14 with a 2.84 ERA, leading the NL with 6.9 WAR. However, injuries hampered his effectiveness and he didn't live up to those first couple of outstanding seasons. In 298 games for four teams, he went 90-83 with a 3.54 ERA.

The man: In the late 1990s he spent two years in jail awaiting trial on domestic violence charges, of which he was acquitted on almost all counts. He spent a few years as a minor league pitching coach but appears to now be retired.

My collection: I have 32 of his cards, from 1976 to 1986. I would be interested in trading for 1976 Hostess #41. 
 

Barry Lyons on baseball cards

Catcher Barry Lyons played parts of seven seasons in the major leagues, five of them with the Mets, with whom he won a World Series in 1986. In 253 major league games, he hit .239 with 15 HR and 89 RBI. Now a community ambassador for the Biloxi Shuckers, he kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

"Unfortunately, I never collected nor do I deal with cards very much.

I have many of my own cards and I continue to get fan mail and sign and return cards constantly and sign occasionally at card shows."

Thanks!

 

1976 SSPC Wes Westrum

 

The card in brief: Westrum looks like a manager who knows he's going to get fired at the end of the season, which the back of the card notes is exactly what happened, but they made a card for him anyway.

Playing career, in brief: Wes Westrum played 11 years in the major leagues as a catcher for the New York Giants, from 1947 to 1957. In 919 games he hit .217 with 96 HR and 315 RBI.

Post playing career, in brief: When the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958, Westrum retired from playing and became a coach. He managed parts of five seasons for the Mets and Giants, but never had a winning record. After the Giants fired him as manager he had a long career as a scout for the Braves. He died in 2002.

My collection: I have three cards of Westrum as a player, from 1955 to 1957. I would be interested in trading for 1952 Topps #75 and 1954 Topps #180.

Roundup!

It's been over a month since I did one of these . . . 

The always generous OBCer Greg Henthorn sent two cards from 1954 Topps and two from 1956 Topps, including Jim Brady. I had never heard of Brady and was intrigued by the back of the card which said he had no experience in organized baseball. Brady was a bonus baby who missed all of '55 with an injury, pitched sparingly and not well in '56, ending his career. Many years later he was the President of Jacksonville University. 

Combining two different eBay wins that arrived on the same day, four 1970 Topps Scratch Offs and two 1977 Renata Galassos. I already had the Tony Perez, so he's trade bait.

A short time later I won another cheap scratchy hall of famer.

Time Travel Trade! I had some 1940s baseball stamps to send Diamond Jesters to flip into early 50s Bowman cards. Got an OPC Tom Seaver and the "other" Billy Martin too.

Finally, an OBC trade with Brianscards. Three hits to my 1990 Topps sticker backs, plus some cool modern cards. I like that they made a card just about how Bob Gibson dominated the Mets. I think the photo might be from an All Star Game.

 

The 1930 album: Tragedy and Romance

There's a lot happening on this page of the album from Johnny, even ignoring the poetry on the top of the pages.

As a reminder, the album was owned a Miss Ruth Martin who married a Mr. Kelly Greeson. The first page has newspaper clippings detailing a death in the family: Kelly Greeson Sr., aged 52, died of a heart attack in his car. One clipping kept referring to the automobile as "the machine" - cars had been around for a generation by that point, but only one. A couple of cards too, including a graduate nurse with the phone number 5-7583-M. Another one of those new fangled machines.

There's a decidedly lighter tone on the other side, consisting mostly of calling cards. Ruth has four of her own, and four more presumably belonging to her friends. But that orange one in the middle is by far the most interesting. "K.U. Greeson - Dealer in Love, Kisses, and Up To Date Hugs". He manages to fit seven flirtatious lines onto one business card - my favorite is "Special Attention Paid to Other Fellows' Girls". According to National Geographic, "escort cards" like these were popular in the late 1800s, and I guess were still effective into the 1930s, as that Victorian-era rizz certainly had an effect on Ruth May Martin.