1993 Studio Dante Bichette

Hobby is foosball: Bichette competed in the Tornado Table Soccer Tour during the 1994 baseball strike.

Favorite sports announcer is Chris Berman: Berman called him Dante “Inferno” Bichette.

Favorite players as a kid were Jerry Roster and Reggie Jackson: Royster was Bichette’s coach at the time with the Rockies.

Might have been a coach if he hadn’t been an athlete: Bichette was the Rockies hitting coach in 2012 and 2013.

Pet peeves are ties and stirrups: Bichette found stirrups uncomfortable when they would ride up over his knees.

Where he is now: Was a youth baseball coach for a while; unclear if he is still doing that.

Wallet Card at the Schwarzenbach Silk Clock (First ever wallet card video!)

Schwarzenbach Looms was a silk importer located at 470 Park Avenue from 1912 to 1932. In 1926 the company installed a large clock outside the building with three moving mechanical figures. The clock was designed by the architects McKim, Mead & White and sculpted by William Zorach. According to the New York Times account of the clocks unveiling, this is what is happening on the clock: "A figure of Zoroaster, 'the mastermind and doer of all things,' is perched atop the clock. At his feet is a cocoon, and beyond sits a slave representing the 'primitive forces and instincts of man.' Every hour Zoroaster waves a wand, and the slave, rising at the will of his master, swings a hammer against the cocoon. Promptly the 'Queen of Silk' emerges from the cocoon, a tulip in her hand, and not until the hour has ceased striking does she disappear."

1993 Studio Roberto Kelly

Well, one person was still interested in seeing these (Thanks, Gavin!). I'm enjoying this so I am going to keep it up. Hopefully you are interested too. I have decided to stop doing the Player Profiles of every player I have a card from. It was just too much, and too many players I wasn't familiar with. I will think of something new to replace that when I finish going through the '93 Studio set.

Hobbies are listing to salsa music and going to movies: One of the rare players that does not list a sport in his hobbies.

 

Favorite player as a kid was Rod Carew: Both Kelly and Carew are from Panama, which has not produced a lot of major leaguers.

 

Most prized possession is life: Well yes, that is true for everybody, but not really what the question is aiming for.

 

Pet peeve is smoking: Makes sense, Kelly was known to care a lot about physical fitness.

 

Where he is now: Kelly was fired as Giants 3B coach after the 2016 season and does not appear to have caught on with another club.

Brent Honeywell on baseball cards

Brent Honeywell pitched in the Pirates organization from 1988 to 1990. In 75 games he went 16-10 with 6 saves and a 3.70 ERA. His son, Brett Honeywell Jr., pitches in the Rays organization and is ranked the 22nd-best prospect in the minor leagues. Now a youth baseball coach in Georgia, he kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

"I only had one card made. I collected cards as a kid but as most kids do they used to put them in your spokes of your bicycle and who knows how much money was spinning around the small town of Brooklyn, MI. I started collecting again while in pro ball and Ken Griffey Jr was my favorite. Now I collect all the different cards of my son and waiting on my youngest son to hit stardom. He will be pitching at Walters State where his brother pitched."

Thanks!

Wallet Card at Yankee Stadium

Wallet Card once again brought the Yankees some luck. The Mariners made five errors in the first inning - the first time any major league team made five errors in an inning in 40 years - as the Yankees scored six runs in the first en route to a 10-1 victory. Among the highlights, in addition to the Mariners kicking the ball around, were Masahiro Tanaka's strong outing (7 IP, 1 ER) and a 4-for-4 day for Starling Castro.

If Marty McFly was Canadian . . .

These are the cards he would have been collecting before getting in the DeLorean. Johnny's Trading Spot had a bunch of 1985 O-Pee-Chee he was looking to trade, so I knocked off a bunch of his needs and got about 150 of these OPCs in return.

The first thing people think about with O-Pee-Chee is the transaction text on the front, like "Announced his Retirement".

 Here's another good one. "Now Vice President, Player Development and Scouting". I've always wondered who that guy is in the background. Looks a bit like Bob Uecker.

 The cards don't need the extra type to be great, though. This is a great photo, that was just featured on Night Owl's 1985 Topps blog.

 RIP Don Baylor, a great Yankee.

60's from the street

Had a larger and really fun trade with street vendor Al. I gave him some 70s and early 80s Yankee cards I had acquired in recent trades, as well as some DefGav customs. (Gavin had commented on my blog a while back that it would be awesome to have his customs sold on the street in New York - for obvious reasons Al didn't want to sell them, but he did want the Mattinglys and Tino card for his own collection. He thought the Simpsons ones in particular were interesting).


I started pulling cards out of the usual box I go through . .

 . . . but then I asked about a box I remembered seeing with some '70s cards in it. I ended up finding some '60s cards which was even better. Here is what I pulled:

Three 1969s, including Davey Johnson.

 Two 1968s, including Jim Fregosi.

 Five 1966's, including John Roseboro.

 Three 1963s, including Milwaukee Brave Roy McMillan.

 And a 1962 Bill Mazeroski. As a Yankee fan I don't like him much, but no way I'm passing up a 55-year-old card of a Hall-of-Famer.

Trade with Crazie Joe

Got some nice cards in a trade with Crazie Joe's Card Corner. He reached out to me to knock off some of my needs for the 1991 O-Pee-Chee Premier set. I now need just one card - #96 Kirby Puckett.

 He also threw in some other cool cards as well!

Tasty treats from Canada

Got some fun Canadian cards from Not Another Baseball Card Blog. Always fun to get some oddballs from Canada. Some O-Pee-Chee and Leaf, of course. Very happy to get this card of one of my all-time favorite Yankees.

 But there were some awesome Canadian food oddballs too. For example, a bunch of cards from the 1994 McDonald's Expos 25th anniversary set. I had never heard of Mack Jones - he was one of the first Expos stars.

 Also, my first Canadian Post card, with Kevin Maas of the New York Yankees de New York.

 There were a few American oddballs too, like this Baseball Card Magazine cutout of two goofy Yankees rookies.

Flat earth baseball cards

I've been doing some more trades with Al the street vendor. These cards I actually got from him last week, in exchange for some Jeters. I also did a big trade with him yesterday that will get it's own post. But given the eclipse mania yesterday I thought I would mention that Al, a true New York character (not many of those left) believe the earth is flat. He has shown me pictures on his phone "proving" it. Yesterday he tried to explain to me how if the earth was really round a lot more people would have seen the eclipse. I don't think I believe him but it beats the same old small talk most people give.

Mid-70s from MiJohn

Recently did another trade with MiJohn. He got some extra '74 Traded and '76 cards in a garage sale and offered them to me in a trade. In return I sent him a bunch of '81s and some other cards he needed. I don't "actively" collect pre-1978 cards for reasons of fiscal sanity, but I really enjoy it when some vintage cards do find their way to me.


Most of what he sent to me was from 1974 Topps Traded. His career began in 1955. He sure looks happy to be a Royal.

 On the other hand, Fernando Gonzalez, also traded to the Royals, looks very glum about going to KC.

 He also sent a few more of the 1974 checklist cards.

 And a few 1976's as well, like this great orange-rainbow Astros card.

A bit of a baseball batch from Bubba

Got some interesting cards in a recent trade with Bubba's Bangin' Batch of Baseball Bits. Some highlights:
My first 2017 Allen & Ginter. Do they all have shiny backgrounds or is this some kind of parallel? Either way it looks great.

 Speaking of A&G, what does it mean when there are variations with flowery borders? I've seen that in many different years' sets.

 Bowman Platinum is an underrated shiny set.

 The Studio credit card baseball cards are well known, but Skybox did a frequent flyer subset a few years later.

 The backs even feature a fake strip with which to swipe your card.

Matt Clement on baseball cards

Matt Clement pitched nine seasons in the major leagues for the Padres, Marlins, Cubs and Red Sox, going 87-86 with a 4.47 ERA. His best season was 2005, when he made the All-Star team going 13-6 for Boston. Now the head basketball coach at Butler High School in Butler, PA, he kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

"My youngest son and I are working on the Heritage and Allen and Ginter sets for this year right now. I like my black border Bowman rookie card the best. I collected cards with my dad as a kid."

Thanks!

Rich Butler on baseball cards

Outfielder Rich Butler played for the Blue Jays and Devil Rays from 1997 to 1999. In 86 games he hit .223 with 7 HR and 22 RBI. Now the owner of the Butler Baseball Academy in Ajax, ON, he kindly answered my questions about baseball cards.

"Growing up I had a dream about playing Major League Baseball and to have my very own baseball card. So when I received my first one in Myrtle Beach in 1992, I was over the moon and just stared at it for days. It's one of my favourite trophies in my life."

Thanks! The image above was provided by Butler. I don't have that card, but here is one from my collection.

Trade with minibbcards

minibbcards is a collector on tradingcarddb, where you can find his wantlists and tradelists. As his name suggests he collects minis, mostly those from Allen & Ginter, Gypsy Queen, etc. I traded him a few extras that I had and he sent me a few full-sized cards in return. Here are some highlights:


He sent me the last three cards I needed, including this beautiful Wizard of Oz, to complete the 1994 Leaf set.

 This is an error card - Nigel Wilson's name and photo on the front . . .

 . . . Darrell Whitmore's name and photo on the back. There is another card in the set which has the opposite.

 Here's a photo I liked. Hinckley is from Oklahoma, and that is probably where the picture was taken - just drafted, taken on the local ballfield, not even issued a real uniform yet, just a T-shirt with the team name on it.

Trade with Zeprock

Zeprock is not a blog but a trader and seller with an extensive wantlist and tradelist. Got a bunch of cool cards from him in a trade. Here are some highlights:


Lots of oddballs in the package. I love the Coca-Cola logo on those early 80's Topps cards - looks like an old time privilege sign storefront. Even better with the addition of the Brigham's logo - a Boston-area ice cream chain that is still around.

 This is a 1989 Phoenix magnet of Kirk Gibson. Not sure whether to consider this a card - it is an actual magnet, shaped a little smaller than a baseball card. Would you consider this a card?

 Lots of great photos too, like Juan Gonzalez at the doorway to the Green Monster.

 And some set needs too. I'm now down to needing just one card from 1992 Studio, and it's a common card - #100 Todd Zeile. Anyone have one to trade? And there hasn't been much in the way of comments on my 1993 Studio posts - are people interested in more of them?

Mariano & Mariano = Marcus & Manny

Traded a couple of more Mariano Rivera cards to Al. In return I got a couple more of those 2017 "National Packtime" cards (what he calls them, they actually are "Baseball Hobby Continuity Program". The two I picked are Long Islander Marcus Stroman, and a green parallel of Manny Margot.

Trade with A Cracked Bat

Got some great cards in a trade with A Cracked Bat. She knew I'm a Yankee and Cardinal fan so most of the trade was cards from those teams. Some highlights:


Lots of shiny cards in this package which I love.

 This makes two trade packages this month to feature a Sportflics set I've never gotten a card from before. This is the "Decade Greats" set from 1986. I remember reading about it when the set came out when I was a kid, but never before had I gotten a card from it before, so I was really excited about this one. The player on this card is Giants Hall-of-Famer Carl Hubbell.

 I love getting surprise vintage in these trade packages. Here is the Cards Rookie Stars from 1971.

 Topps Total had an insert set called Total Topps, but the design of the card looks like it is Topps Total: Topps Total.

 Finally, she included a full 12-card 2001 Sunoco Dream Team set. These are beautiful cards featuring two stars each from a dozen teams. Unfortunately I already had the set so this one is up for trade if anyone wants it.

Trade with Night Owl

Got some great cards in a trade with Night Owl. Here are some highlights:

This was the last card I needed to complete the 2011 Toppstown set.

 He sent me a whole bunch of cards from 2015 Topps, whittling down my wantlist to just seven cards: 112, 458, 463, 470, 580, 616, 687

 Yankee fans still cringe in memory of the Rally Monkey. Which is probably why Night Owl sent it to a Yankee fan.

 This looks better in person - a shiny foil Jackie Robinson card.

 At first I thought this was an oversize glove, like Mickey Hatcher used to wear as a gimmick on some cards. It's actually just a neat use of perspective to create a unique image.

 He sent a few vintage Yankees as well. I just featured the Ellis on this blog as I picked it up in a street trade, so now I have an extra up for trade. The Rob Gardner is new for me though, as is the 1974 checklist, featured signatures of the 12 best players on that team, only 4 of which would still be there when they won the pennant two years later.