Box Set Profile: 1991 Baseball Aces

By popular demand (two bloggers with similar requests), another new series, looking at box sets and food issues. 

The way I store cards, I store them in boxes by set and then by year. That goes back to my early days in collecting, largely because I had a Beckett Almanac for checklist purposes, so I sorted that way. Maybe if there was TCDB back then I would have sorted by year. However, for sets where I have less than ten cards, they go in a binder, more or less randomly.

For this series, I am just going to go through my boxes. I will cover food issues, meaning food products or food stores. I do have some other sets which still have the little box, so I'll include those too. These will not be long posts with a deep dive into the set, but I'll try for a little twist for each one.

The first qualifying set alphabetically, the way I've sorted them anyway, is 1991 Baseball Aces. I think this is often technically title "US Playing Cards" but when I first got them this is where I put them alphabetically. I think I might have other years in the U's. Maybe at some point I'll move them.

As you can see I have the box. I don't remember where I got this, the complete set, probably part of a large lot from Craigslist or a garage sale. It's a rather nice looking box, kind of looks like every baseball book that came out around this time. 

The cards themselves are pretty generic, a basic action photo on a basic playing card design. The Jeff Reardon photo is by far the most interesting. It's funny that the two Jokers were the two big free agents at the end of the 1991 season, I don't know if that was on purpose. Of course, both players signed with a New York team and were much more Joker than Ace for them.

Now I needed some kind of twist, and I thought of one. I'm going to take a slogan from each brand and tie one card from the set to it. U.S. Playing Cards manufacturers many of the most famous card brands. It has operated since 1867, and the main slogan is "First in Fun", which is kind of boring. A better one is the slogan used at the turn of the last century for the Bicycle brand: "When you play with Bicycle, You Hold Good Cards". With apologies to Lee Smith and Felix Jose, the third Card was the best Card to hold - Ozzie Smith, the King of Spades.

 

 

UD Yankee Stadium Legacy: June 30, 1923

When I put out a call for new series ideas, the ever-creative Stuart came up with a good one - replace the random player that UD assigned for the photo, who was only picked for the era, and replace him with the player who actually had the best game. I like that idea, but am only going to do it for cards I have.

Starting off with card #32, June 30, 1923.

On this date, Hall of Famer Herb Pennock and the Yankees shut down the Philadelphia A's, 6-1. Down 1-0 in the bottom of the third, the Yankees took the lead on a two-run rally, with cleanup batter Pipp driving in Joe Dugan for what would be the game-winning run. The Yankees blew the game open with a four run eighth, the kind of "five o'clock lightning" the 1927 team would be famous for. Pipp made the last out of that inning. 

As one of four Yankees with two hits, and driving in the game-winning run, Pipp is actually a good choice for the card. However, you could argue that Pipp wasn't much lineup protection for Babe Ruth, who in addition to going 2-for-2, walked three times. Five times on base in five plate appearances is pretty good, though Ruth did not score once and only had one RBI. Still, five times on base is pretty impressive, so:

Got to say, ChatGPT made a nice looking card.

Elsewhere, a Belgian troop train was bombed in the occupied Ruhr region of Germany, killing ten; the divorce trial of a New York bank vice president made national news, and Pirates pitcher Babe Adams defeated the Reds on a day where he was honored in a pregame ceremony and gifted a new car.
 

Cake or gum? 1977 Bucky Dent

Last time was another easy win for gum, 7-1. Will this be closer?

A photo shoot at the brand new Yankee Stadium, soon to be Dent's baseball home. The all-black uniforms look a lot like pajamas on Dent and the Sox in the background in both shots. I notice Dent's uniform is untucked on this card - apparently the uniforms were supposed to be worn this way.

Dent was an up-and-coming young shortstop who was traded to the Yankees due to salary demands stated by Dent's agent, NFL Hall of Famer Nick Buoniconti. With the Yankees he became a big star due to clutch moments against the Red Sox and Dodgers that transcended his .247 lifetime average. His big home run in the 1978 one-game playoff is probably the most famous moment in the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. In post-season play he appeared in three ALCS against KC and two World Series against LA. While KC held him to a .200 average, Dent attacked Dodger pitching for a .349 average, including .417 in 1978, where he was the series MVP. After his playing career he was a long time major league coach, briefly managed the Yankees, and owned a well-known baseball school. He now has a podcast called "Deep to Left", referencing Bill White's famous call of Dent's Fenway Park blast.
 

'66 Philadelphia follies

This is a little series I'd thought about starting a while ago. The backs of 1966 Philadelphia football cards feature a question on the back, supposed to be revealed by scratching the back of the card. However they appear to have been hard to scratch, leaving them with just an unanswered question. I thought it might be fun to answer a few. 

Q. 

 

 A.

 

Fun with AI here. Joking aside, the Giants actually bounced back to 7-7, good for second place.

 Q.

A.

Get it? Because he's short(er). Actually I couldn't find any info about any other sports he played.

One more.

Q.
 

A.

How many readers will get this reference?. I'm not sure what Hauss did in off-seasons during his career, but after retirement he became a banker. Until then I am reminded of Len Hauss once saying about signing autographs for kids "Any football player who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."

Bad day street trade

I went over to Al's table today for our usual street trade. Al was pretty upset - earlier today some kids came up to his table and swiped a box of Prizm (soccer, I think) and ran off. He had spent $60 on the box. This is the first time in the 20 or so years he's been selling cards on the street that he'd gotten robbed. I know there have been a few high profile card robberies lately, but this one hits closer to home. Al was understandably unhappy. It was the end of the work day and I stayed after the trade to keep an extra eye out while he packed his table up.

On the bright side, we had a nice trade, some Mets and Yankees for Al to sell in exchange for these cards. At this point I'm going through boxes I'm sure I've gone through before, but I'm still finding stuff. Out of these the only ones I had already were the Ford and the Justice, which I'll take back to Al unless someone here needs them. Also of note are four cards from a Yankees team set and a really nice double play card of the Scooter. 

 

Generous bloggers

I got a couple of very nice surprise PWEs from a couple of generous bloggers this week.

Night Owl sent an awesome envelope with a variety of newer and vintage. Starting with the newer, including a pair of Cam Schlittler parallels.

Also some great vintage! 1973 is by far my favorite Kelloggs set, as I don't really care for the primitive lenticular designs of the others. The four 1977s are cloth stickers. It's tough to tell in the photo, but in person the texture actually reflects a bit of light, making a cool effect.

The Best Bubble, meanwhile, struck with a surprise PWE filled with retired Yankees greats. I wonder how Night Owl feels about seeing Babe Ruth in a Dodgers uniform?

This card below was my favorite. I can't find anything about it online, so I assume it's an unlicensed modern card. Mickey Mantle owned a Holiday Inn in his hometown of Joplin, MO in the 1960s. Even advertising for this hotel is overinflated by Mantle-mania; matchbooks from the hotel go for $20 and up on eBay, easily 20x what they should be worth. Postcards and other ephemera are even more. This card uses designs from 1960s advertising. As it is the size of a typical baseball card and seems to be UV-coated, I'm assuming this is some kind of modern unlicensed reprint. I really do like it.

Here's the back. Great piece!

 

Wallet Card in Toronto: Maple Leaf Gardens

I was in Toronto for work this week and had some down time in the evenings which I used to take a lot of wallet card photos. I had time to prepare and map out some places to take photos, but perhaps the coolest one is something I discovered completely by accident.

I was flying out early Friday morning and knew I might not have time for breakfast in the airport, so as I was walking the blocks by my hotel on Thursday evening I decided to stop inside a Loblaws (big Canadian supermarket chain) for a little snack I could eat in the morning. I went up the escalator and saw a huge art installation made out of stadium chairs which certainly caught my eye. I quickly got out my phone and quickly realized that this supermarket was in no ordinary location - this was the former Maple Leaf Gardens, home of the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs from 1931 to 1999. From the outside, especially at night, you would never know it was a former NHL stadium, it just looks like another city building.

Here is the sculpture that grabbed my attention. There are also remnants from where the seats used to be. I didn't realize until much later when I was looking at the photos again that the seats are arranged in the shape of a maple leaf.

Naturally once I realized where I was I immediately looked up Maple Leaf Gardens to see what else might be worth photographing. Most of the old arena is now being used by the local college, TMU, for their sports, but the supermarket takes up a fair amount of the building. For the most part, other than a lot of photographs from the old Gardens, there are no other remnants to indicate this used to be an NHL arena. However, in Aisle 25 they have a Maple Leafs logo on the floor, and the white circle in the middle represents where center ice was located.

Other than those representations of the old arena, little remains in the supermarket. I did see something peeking out behind some tiles, though. I couldn't find any references to whatever this sign might be, and it's entirely possible it's just some of the supermarket signage, they do use big block letters to designate departments.

For the record, I bought a "No Name" cheese-and-crackers pack for $1 CAD ($0.73 USD). The crackers weren't great and I didn't try the cheese. And my flight was delayed due to weather so I had plenty of time for breakfast at the airport.
 

Wood vs. Wood #359

Last time it was a 6-2 win for '62. Who will win here?

Locke is shown here in Cleveland pinstripes, though he is listed as a Cub. After three solid years in the Cleveland bullpen, the Indians traded him to the Cubs after the 1961 season. However, right before the 1962 season, on April 7, the Cubs traded him to the Cardinals, making this a "zero-year card". Locke pitched in only one game for the Cubs before being traded for the second time in three weeks, this time to the Phillies. Locke went on to brief stints with the Phillies in '63 and '64, as well as with Cincinnati and the Angels later in the decade. Overall in 165 games, he went 16-15 with 10 saves and a 4.02 ERA. After his playing days he worked for the USPS and Frito-Lay. He died in 2020.

Doug Corbett poses against a mountainous backdrop at Spring Training in Arizona. Corbett was a lights-out reliever for the Twins in 1980 and 1981. He struggled to begin the 1982 season, so in May he and Rob Wilfong were traded to the Angels for a young outfield prospect named Tom Brunansky, a steal of a trade for the Twins. Corbett had a great 1984 but was otherwise mediocre in five seasons with the Angels. Overall in 313 games he went 24-30 with 66 saves and a 3.32 ERA. Corbett is now an autism and special needs instructor and private pitching coach in Yulee, FL. 
 

1981 Topps Garth Iorg

The front: Pregame shot at Tiger Stadium.

The back: In a battle of two teams who were 20 games under .500, the score was tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth. The White Sox brought in Ed Farmer, who with one out walked Roy Howell, and then allowed the walk-off triple to Garth Iorg.

The player: Infielder Garth Iorg played nine seasons for the Toronto Blue Jays. The brother of major leaguer Dale Iorg, and father of three pro baseball players, he payed in 931 games, hitting .258 with 20 HR and 238 RBI.

The man: After his playing career he was a longtime coach in the Blue Jays and Brewers organizations, and is now retired. He shared his thoughts on baseball cards with this blog in 2020.

My collection: I have 31 of his cards, from 1978 to 1988. I would be interested in trading for 1983 Fleer Star Stickers #110.
 

1976 SSPC Dan Spillner

 

The card, in brief: An interestingly framed card, a tighter close-up than usual for this kind of pose. An unidentified Padre throws a ball in the background.

Playing career, in brief: Spillner came up with the Padres as a starter, and moved to the bullpen in 1976. He was traded to the Indians in 1978. Cleveland moved him back to the starting rotation in 1980 and he went 16-11, but he moved back to the bullpen the following season. His last season was 1985 with the White Sox. He was an effective reliever for them (4-3, 3.44 ERA) but due to collusion he was unable to sign with a team for 1986. He was later awarded over $400,000 as a victim of collusion.

Post-playing career, in brief: Since his retirement Spillner has worked in construction and been a youth baseball coach.

My collection: I have 26 of his cards, from 1975 to 1986. I would be interested in trading for 1983 Wheaties Cleveland Indians SGA #NNO.