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.

1986 Renata Galasso Mattingly Puzzle #9

What a cool card. Very much a product of it's time, though.

So ends the last of the series from the sets that Stuart sent several months ago. I need some new themes for series as I still like to post something every day. I don't have the time that I used to so I will be aiming for shorter posts. I mentioned one idea a while back, that I will start soon. Fuji made another suggestion in a comment recently. I have a couple of other ideas I'm noodling on as well. Any other suggestions welcome!
 

Wallet Card at Crawdaddy

 Crawdaddy was a New Orleans-themed restaurant that opened in 1975 at NYC's Roosevelt Hotel on East 45th Street, enjoyed some years of popularity, and closed some time in the late 1980s. A portion of the restaurant's sidewalk sign can still be seen when not covered up by a mat.

I was taking out my wallet card to get ready for this photo when a group of what I assume to be tourists stopped by, saw the sign, and excitedly took photos of it. Judging by their accents I assume they were Southern, but I wouldn't know how to pinpoint further. One got very excited telling her companion - "first I saw Craw, then I saw Daddy!" It would be cool if these random tourists were deep into suriving remnants of obscure 1970s NYC restaurants, but I assume that the word Crawdaddy just had some particular meaning for them. First time I've ever had to wait for someone else to take a photo to take one of my wallet card shots.
 

Cake or gum? 1977 Ron Cey

Last time it was a 6-0 win for gum. What will happen here?

Hostess has Cey being photographed at Candlestick Park. It looks like we can see the photographer's shadow. Topps meanwhile has Cey taking a big swing at Shea Stadium. The angle of the photo makes it looks like Cey is kneeling on the ground while swinging. Cey played in two day games at Shea in 1976, going 2-for-7 with a double. 

One of the premier NL third basemen of the late 1970s, Ron Cey was an All Star for six straight seasons, 1974-1979. After the 1982 season the Dodgers traded him to the Cubs for Vance Lovelace, and two seasons later Cey helped them win a pennant. Overall, in 2,073 games for the Dodgers, Cubs and A's, Cey hit .261 with 316 HR and 1,139 RBI. Cey kept up his slugging ways in the postseason, with 7 HR in 45 playoff and World Series games. Today Cey is Vice President, Business Development & Relationship Manager for Professional Baseball at BFF Financial in Glendale, CA.
 

Wood vs Wood #357

Last time it was a 3-1 win for 1987. What will happen here?

Jerry Walker is photographed against a bright blue sky, or just some background. Walker pitched eight seasons in the majors for Baltimore, Kansas City and Cleveland. In 190 games (90 starts) he went 37-44 with 13 saves and a 4.36 ERA. He went on to have a 40-year career as a scout, coach, and front office executive for several teams, mostly the Yankees, Tigers and Reds. He died in 2024.

Steve Fireovid also has a simple headshot, but at least there is a little more going on in the background. Fireovid pitched sixteen years of professional baseball, including parts of six seasons in the major leagues, where he went 3-1 with a 3.39 ERA in 31 games for five different teams. He is currently a Financial Advisor at Trilogy Wealth Advisors in Bryan, OH. He shared some baseball card stories with this blog in 2011.
 

1981 Topps Jim Beattie

 

The front: Beattie is pictured wearing his windbreaker in the dugout. Rain delay?

The back: Looking at the back of the card I realize that there is an error - "Sycracuse". I'll report it to TCDB after I post this.

The player: Beattie came up with the Yankees in 1978, and despite some initial struggles which angered owner George Steinbrenner, he won some big games down the stretch, most notably eight shutout innings in the second game of the famous Boston Massacre in Fenway Park. He also won the fifth game of the 1978 World Series, pitching a complete game 12-2 victory over the Dodgers. After two years for the Yankees he was traded to Seattle for Ruppert Jones, and had several solid seasons for some pretty bad Mariners teams. 

The man: He became a front office executive after his playing career, including stints as General Manager of the Expos and Orioles. He was then a Blue Jays scout for many years, retiring after the 2018 season. He shared a baseball card story with this blog in 2010.

My collection: I have 23 of his cards, from 1979 to 1987. I would be interested in trading for 1985 Mother's Cookies Seattle Mariners SGA #15.