1988 Domino's Ray Oyler

 

An interesting, unique shot. Nice close-up of Oyler and his glove.

Ray Oyler was the ultimate good field, no hit shortstop. He was a defensive whiz with great range, short hands, and was excellent at turning a double play. However, he was arguably the worst hitter in major league history. He played in 111 games for the Tigers in their championship year, hitting .135 with 1 HR and 12 RBI, the lowest ever average for a player who appeared in 100 games in a season. He was benched at the end of the season in favor of Mickey Stanley, who had no prior shortstop experience. (Oyler did appear in 4 games as a defensive replacement.) Overall, in six seasons for the Tigers, Pilots and Angels, he hit .175 with 15 HR and 86 RBI in 1,265 AB, the lowest ever average for a player with 1,000 career at bats. The skinny shortstop was always swinging for the fences despite his lack of ability, accounting for his low batting average but very occasional power. He became a fan favorite with the Seattle Pilots in 1969, with an ironic "Ray Oyler Fan Club" that turned genuine as the season went on. Oyler stayed in Seattle after his playing career, and worked for Boeing and Safeway. He died in 1981.

I have nine of his cards, from 1965 to 1970. I would be interested in trading for 1969 Milton Bradley #NNO. 

 

Big vintage trade

Had another big vintage trade with Kurt Albert of TCDB. This is the second time we've sent large packages of old cards each way.

Starting off with football. Lots of star cards from 1980s Topps sets, most notably LT! 

Some '60s and '70s football too. Some great photos here.

Two different wooden TV sets represented in this trade, with '66 Topps football and '55 Bowman baseball.

That Lou Burnette card takes us from football to baseball. Yes, that spelling was intentional. Someone left this card to close to a space heater back in 1955!

Lots of fun vintage oddballs with some big time names.

I'm starting to come around on Nu Card Scoops, especially as I recently learned they were made on Long Island, not too far from where I live and even closer to where I grew up. 

Filling holes in '50s and '60s Topps sets is always a priority.

Finishing off with some nice high numbers from 1972 Topps. Not only are the high numbers rarer in the early 70s sets, but they often seemed to have clearer photos too.

 

Wallet card with a 25 year old Coca-Cola can

This is not one of my oldest discoveries but it is one of my more fun ones. This weekend I was playing with my son in his elementary school playground, and he showed me where an old fence got taken down where a building had been torn down on the other side. This exposed a layer of garbage wedged between the remaining chain link fence and some construction rubble. Some of the items looked like they might be old, it was hard to tell. We both had fun exploring. This was the most promising item we found.

Bleached from the sun but still showing some red, and interestingly some green.  

I had no idea if it was from last week or last century, but decided it was worth taking a wallet card photo. My son had fun holding the card for the photo.

A few years ago this would have been an extremely difficult puzzle to solve, maybe looking up hundreds of coke cans to hopefully get a match. It is 2026, however, so I uploaded the top photo to ChatGPT, went back and forth with prompts a few times, and found the design in question!

According to Packaging Pedia, this is the design Coca-Cola used from 1999-2003. If you go back to the top photo, you can see part of the word "enjoy", and it turns out the green is from the design showing the old soda bottle. There are a few cans for sale on eBay which also peg this design from that time period. While not terribly old or rare, it's a lot older than my son and we both had a lot of fun exploring some old stuff and then looking it up later. (And yes, we threw out the can so no kids would get hurt on the sharp edges.)

And if you think about it, this can of soda was enjoyed when Jesse Orosco, Jamie Moyer and Julio Franco were active major leaguers, and only got thrown out this week.
 

 

Burgers or gum? Dan Petry

Only four votes last time, all for the Topps base card. Will this matchup generate more interest?

Wendy's has Dan Petry in front of a chain link fence at spring training, while Topps has an action shot, also at what looks to be spring.

Dan Petry was one of the Tigers’ best pitchers in the early 1980s, twice finishing in the top 10 in Cy Young voting. 1984 was one of his best seasons, riding the Tigers' fast start to a 7-1 record early on, tailing off in midseason but finishing strong to end up at 18-8. In 1986 Petry got hurt, underwent surgery on his elbow, and was never the same. Overall in 13 seasons he went 125-104 with a 3.95 ERA. Petry is now an announcer for the Tigers. His son Jeff plays in the NHL for the Minnesota Wild.

 

Wood vs. Wood #340

Last time there was a 3-3 tie. Will this matchup, maybe the best pitching matchup in the series, have a winner? Both pitchers would end up winning the Cy Young the year this card was produced.

The background is blurry on Don Drysdale's card, but I believe the photo was taken at Wrigley Field.  The Hall-of-Famer was an eight-time All Star, the last active Brooklyn Dodger, and helped the Dodgers win three World Series during his fourteen year career. He led the NL in strikeouts three times and in WAR twice. His most famous accomplishment was a 58-inning scoreless streak in 1968. Overall in 518 games, he went 209-166 with 2,486 strikeouts and a 2.95 ERA. After his career he was an announcer. He died in 1993.

Roger Clemens gets a spring training shot. Clemens was a 10-time All Star and a 7-time Cy Young winner who starred for four teams, most notably the Red Sox, for whom he had the most personal success, and the Yankees, with whom he won two World Series. He led the league in wins three times, strikeouts four times, and WAR seven times. Overall in 709 games, he went 354-184 with 4,672 strikeouts and a 3.12 ERA. He was famously accused of steroid use in the Mitchell Report, a steroid investigation led by a Red Sox minority owner that predominantly targeted Yankees and Mets. His denials to Congress resulted in six counts of perjury, all of which he was found not guilty. He has never failed a drug test. Today he is active in his foundation, which helps underprivileged children, and still occasionally makes semi-pro pitching appearances, most recently in 2024 at the age of 61 with the Savannah Banans.

Cake or gum? 1977 Ken Brett

Last time it was a 6-2 win for gum. Will it win again here?

Here's another instance where the coloring of the Hostess photo makes the cap and uniform look airbrushed even when it's not. In this case Ken Brett is posing at Anaheim Stadium.

The older brother of Royals’ star George Brett, Ken Brett was a decent pitcher best known for pitching for ten teams in his fourteen-year MLB career, a record at the time. His best season was 1974, when he was an All-Star for the Pirates, going 13-9 with a 3.30 ERA. Overall he was 83-85 with a 3.93 ERA. After his playing career, he was involved in a number of sports business ventures, both on his own and with his brothers. He died of cancer in 2003.

1981 Topps Mick Kelleher

 

The front: Who's that in a red jacket behind him? That's not a Cubs jacket. An opposing team at spring training - Angels maybe?

The back: Killer?? The Johngy's Beat blog explains how he earned the nickname winning a fight against the much larger Dave Kingman.

The player: Kelleher was more scrappy then good. In parts of 11 seasons for five teams, predominantly the Cubs, he hit .213 with 0 HR and 65 RBI in 1,202 at bats. He is still the last non-pitcher with over 1,000 major league at bats to not hit a home run.

The man: Kelleher had a long coaching career, most prominently with the Yankees, winning a World Series for the last Yankees championship team in 2009. He retired from coaching in 2015.

My collection: I have 11 of his cards, from 1976 to 1983. I would be interested in trading for 1978 SSPC #269.
 

1976 SSPC Steve Ontiveros

 

The card, in brief: A lighter sky than some of the other Giants in the set, with a blurry Shea Stadium scoreboard with Schaefer Beer ad in the background.

Playing career, in brief: Third baseman Steve Ontiveros played eight seasons in the major leagues for the Giants and Cubs. In 732 games he hit .274 with 24 HR and 224 RBI. He then played six seasons in Japan for the Seibu Lions, helping them win three Japan Series. In 1982 he was the series MVP.

Post-playing career, in brief: After his playing career ended Ontiveros remained in Japan, working in management for the Lions. He later returned to the US and worked for an advertising firm. He appears to now be retired.

My collection: I have four of his cards, from 1974 to 1980. I would be interested in trading for 1978 SSPC #250. 

Blog bat around: Red Sox and Mets

For obvious reasons I'm not a big fan of the current bataround topic, but it's late and it's a good way to knock out a quick post.

The famous rivalry is reason enough to dislike the Red Sox as a Yankee fan, and certainly in the 2000s (and 1970s) it was really intense. Other times they met in the playoffs, like in 1999 or the currently Aaron Boone era, they've felt a bit more anticlimactic. 

I was reminded of this card the other day when Diamond Jesters posted it. It's a great, unique photo with lots going on, both in the photo and in the greater historical context. Williams was a legend, and a great competitor who played the game the right way, and better than almost anyone in his time. 

Red Sox fans are always thinking about the Yankees. Outside of Connecticut, most Yankee fans don't think much about the Red Sox if they're not playing them or in a pennant race. The Mets, on the other hand, are always in our face, with Mets fans all around and the Mets on the radio and TV. 

I had to think a little more on this one, but this card which I've had since I was just starting to collect cards as a 10-year-old is pretty great. Great action and a lot going on. When I was a kid Carter's enthusiasm came off as obnoxious, but as an adult learning more about the kind of person Carter was, I've changed my feelings about him, and think very highly of him.

 

 

Wallet Card in Nashville: Third National Bank

Not my best photo, but here you can see a building with Third National Bank in big letters above the second floor.

This 12-story building was Nashville's first skyscraper when it opened in 1904 as the First National Bank Building. It went through a variety of main tenants until the Third National Bank moved in during the 1930s. Over the years, Third National grew into one of the area's largest banks. In the 1980s it was acquired by SunTrust, and the Third National brand was phased out in the 1990s, at which time this became a hotel, which it still is today.