1976 SSPC Derrel Thomas

 

The card, in brief: Not a whole lot to say about this card, but it's interesting that the photographer lined up the shot so the camera flash reflected off the bridge of Thomas's aviator glasses.

Playing career, in brief: A true utilityman, Thomas played in 1,630 games over 15 major league seasons, including over 300 games each at 2B, CF and SS. He played for six different teams, primarily the Dodgers, Padres and Giants, hitting .249 with 43 HR, 370 RBI and 140 SB.

Post playing career, in brief: Thomas had a lot of personal problems before and after his career, including cocaine-related arrests in 1989 and 1997. He seems to have turned his life around, and his Derrel Thomas Foundation provides mentorship programs to challenged youth. 

My collection: I have 29 of his cards, from 1972 to 1986. I would be interested in trading for 1984 Stuart Expos #28.

1986 Renata Galasso Mattingly #19

Too bad we don't get to see who's sitting next to Mattingly here. Winfield? Randolph? Henderson? Who knows.

Nice job fitting three cliches into an answer of less than 40 words.

Braving a big street trade

Al texted me a few days ago saying he had a guy who wanted all of the Braves cards he could get. I organize my dupes by set, so to fill a box quickly I went through sets that are sorted by team, like 80s Fleer and 90s Upper Deck. I filled up a 200-count box and grabbed a big pile of cards from one of his boxes (we didn't have a lot of time). It was another one of those deals where I'd take what I needed and return what I didn't. I evaded junk wax and Topps base sets while still snagging a sizable pile of cards.

Starting off with this rather gray collection of '01 UD MVP and '00 Bowman. I wasn't sure how much of these sets I would need, but it turned out I needed plenty. 

Some 2014 Topps Traded, I've built most of this set from Al over the years. Plus one '88 OPC snuck in there.

Some shiny silver pack cards! Also there was what appeared to be the contents of a single opened pack of '25 Topps, with a parallel and an insert (a Brave, no less) that I needed.

Like last time, I'm offering up the dupes for trade before I give them back to Al. Starting off with some '00 Bowmans (some of them got cut off and I'm not taking the photo again. If you know you have common needs from this set, or an '88 Alvin Davis Fleer Star Sticker, let me know).

Some '14 Topps Traded, plus on '08 Traded and a Chance Sisco silver pack.

Ending with a few '00 UD MVP and the base cards of that '25 pack.

 

Trouttrader: Vintagetrader

Lots of fun vintage in a recent trade with TCDB's Trouttrader. Starting off with some 1963 Fleer. They really put out a nice set the one chance they got back then.

On to Topps, starting with some solid '50s portraits.

Six cards from 1958 with some real character.

Finally, some particularly interesting 1961s. The Joe Cunningham is a nice card but ordinary enough. The Dropo card is very interesting. As you can see it is very misshapen, looking like it was cut with kid's scissors, while still having a border at least as large, if not slightly larger, than the normal card next to it. It is also a little thinner stock, almost reminiscent of a magazine cover, though the back is still the regular standard back, even down to the regular texture. I almost wonder if it was some kind of promo card of some time, though it's probably just a miscut. I didn't see anything online about thinner stock 1961s.

 

 

 

Posterized

Two PWEs in two days, with vintage posters given away by generous bloggers. 

Crocodile was giving away this 1971 Topps poster. It's my first in the set. I don't usually think pink when I think of the Steelers, but this is a delightfully early-70s design. 

This '67 Topps baseball poster was given away by Too Many Verlanders. Far from my first from this set, I'm actually close to completing it. This great photo of the Capitol Punisher leaves me needing just four more '67 posters - Roberto Clemente, Bobby Knoop, Matty Alou and Willie McCovey.

 

1988 Domino's Darryl Patterson

 

A very simple photo of Patterson.

Daryl Patterson came up with the Tigers in '68 and was a very good reliever for the team. In 38 games he went 2-3 with 7 saves and a 2.12 ERA. He also pitched three scoreless innings in two World Series games. He was never nearly that good again, bouncing around with the Tigers and three other teams. The most notable event for the rest of his career was in 1974, his last major league season, when as a member of the Pirates he was bitten by the Reds' Pedro Borbon in a brawl, requiring Patterson to get a tetanus shot. Overall in 142 games, Patterson went 11-9 with 11 saves and a 4.09 ERA. After his playing career he was an inspector for Pacific Gas & Electric. He died in 2025.

I have five of his cards, from 1968 to 1971. I would be interested in trading for 1971 Dell Today's Team Stamps #NNO

Burgers or gum? Bill Scherrer

Only a few cards left in the set, hopefully people still like this series! Only two votes last time, a 1-1 tie.

The roles are reversed compared to a lot of other matchups - here Wendy's has the action shot, and Topps has the portrait.

After a nice rookie season in 1983, Reds reliever Bill Scherrer struggled in the 1984 season, and was eventually demoted to the minors. The Tigers, needing another lefty in their bullpen, acquired Scherrer in a deadline deal. Pitching coach Roger Craig worked his magic on Scherrer, who had a 1.89 ERA in 18 games. He had three more appearances in the World Series, with an ERA of 3.00, highlighted by picking off future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. Scherrer struggled in '85 and '86, had brief stints with the Reds, Orioles and Phillies, but never regained the form he showed in 1984. Overall in 228 games, he went 8-10 with 11 saves and a 4.08 ERA. He won a second World Series ring in 1997 as a scout for the Marlins, and a third in 2005 as a special assistant to the White Sox GM. He continues to do some youth baseball instruction.
 

Wood vs. Wood #341

Last time Clemens beat Drysdale 6-1. Gotta admit I never saw that coming. Anyway, who will win this battle of outfielders named Mike?

I've written about Hershberger's card before - it's spring training in Sarasota, with the Sarasota Terrace Inn on the right. As I look at this card again, I wonder if it's possibly a black-and-white photo that's been colorized. The person behind him does look rather monochromatic. Hershberger played parts of 11 seasons for the White Sox, A's and Brewers. A rather nondescript player on some nondescript teams, his biggest highlight was leading the AL with 7 sacrifice flies in 1966. Overall in 1,150 games he hit .252 with 26 HR and 344 RBI. After his playing career he worked in sporting goods and was a youth baseball coach. He died in 2012.

Mike Brown squares up at the plate in a game at Shea Stadium. In three day games at Shea in '86, (lost by the Pirates by scores of 4-1, 5-1 and 6-1), Brown went 1-for-8 with a sacrifice fly. Brown played parts of 5 seasons for the Angels and Pirates. In 315 games he hit .265 with 23 HR and 113 RBI. Brown seems to have kept a very low profile since his playing days. Anyone know where he is now?
 

Cake or gum? 1977 Roy Smalley

Last time it was a 5-1 win for gum. Will it win again here?

Before and after swing at Anaheim Stadium. I couldn't resist lining up the cards to follow the curve of the stadium.

Shortstop Roy Smalley played sixteen seasons in the major leagues, mostly for the Twins and Yankees. He was an All-Star in 1979, hitting .271 with 24 HR and 95 RBI. Overall in 1,653 games he hit .257 with 163 HR and 694 RBI, good power numbers for a shortstop Smalley’s father, also named Roy Smalley, played eleven seasons in the major leagues. His uncle was long-time manager Gene Mauch. While playing for the Yankees Smalley’s neighbor was a banking executive (later the CEO of EF Hutton) who convinced Smalley to go into banking after his career. He is currently a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley in Minneapolis. 

Street trades are still hanging on

It's been getting harder and harder to fill Al's player needs, and he's been running out of boxes. Still, we've both got a long way to go before we run out of cards. We both agreed today that it's getting harder and harder to buy collections. I know this year there seem to be very few yard sales except for the usual suspects. I guess maybe the real estate market is slow these days, not too many people moving.

The box he brought for me today was full of just 1986 Topps and 1990 Fleer. Still, mixed in with the 1990 Fleer were a couple of World Series inserts I needed:

I then went through one of the boxes Al always keeps, with cards from some of the more popular out-of-town teams - Red Sox, Dodgers, Tigers. I managed to find a few promising cards.

Luck was with me - only the mini Pedro I had already. That card is available for trade.

As I was flipping through, I noticed the gray back of a 1981 Topps card. It was an OPC! A good one too, Alan Trammell. I flipped through the rest of the cards backwards, and found two '84 Topps Tradeds, but I had both of them so they're available, I'm sure they won't last long! And in the light the gold hologram on the back of this 1992 UD Mo Vaughn card caught my eye. I've got a few copies of this card already and hardly need more, but I figure the gold hologram will appeal to the magnifying-glass set over at TCDB.