1986 Spokane Indians at the Mall - Craig Cooper

  

It was hard to tell for many businesses what store the photo was taken at for their card. Not so for Pizzabella - whether it was luck or foresight, their name was written on a piece of paper on the back of the cash register (or drink machine)? I really like the Pepsi menu board too. It's been fun seeing the classic logo come back lately.

First baseman Craig Cooper played seven seasons in the Padres, Brewers and Indians organizations, reaching as high as AAA. In 599 games he hit .271 with 51 HR and 348 RBI. He is now an instructor at the West Florida Baseball Academy.

1981 Topps Mike Davis

 

The front: Davis is wearing aviator glasses on his rookie card.

The back: Davis played his high school ball at Herbert Hoover High in San Diego.

The player: Mike Davis had several solid seasons as the starting right fielder for the A's in the early- and mid-1980s. He had five straight seasons of double-digit steals and three straight seasons of double-digit home runs. He was not a particularly patient hitter, with over twice as many strikeouts as walks. However, by far his biggest plate appearance, in 1988 with his new team the Dodgers, against his old Oakland friends, was a base on balls. In Game 1 of the World Series, with two outs and the Dodgers down by a run, Davis worked a pinch-hit walk against Dennis Eckersley to set up Kirk Gibson's famous game-winning home run. Overall in 963 games he hit .259 with 91 HR, 371 RBI and 134 SB.

The man: Since his playing days ended he has done some youth and professional baseball coaching, and has been involved in a variety of business ventures.

My collection: I have 46 of his cards, from 1981 to 1991. I would be interested in trading for 1988 Sportflics #206.

1976 SSPC Tony Perez

 

The card, in brief: A hall of fame slugger, in a bunting pose! Back when superstars were all-around hitters, not mindless hackers.

The player, in brief: Tony Perez was one of the most important pieces of the Big Red Machine. Between 1967 and 1977 the consistent Perez hit between 19 and 40 HR, and drove in between 90 and 129 RBI each year. In a 23-year career, mostly with Cincinnati but also Boston, Montreal and Philadelphia, he hit .279 with 379 HR and 1,652 RBI.

Post-playing career, in brief: Perez was a longtime coach and team executive, and had managerial stints with the Reds and Marlins. He is now retired.

My collection: I have 43 of his cards, from 1966 to 1987. I would be interested in trading for 1965 Topps #581, 1967 Topps #476, and 1971 Topps #580.

1970 Topps Booklets: The Al Ferrara Story

 One player per team, Ferrara was the choice for the expansion Padres.

Nine years ago I pulled this card from one of Al's street boxes. To celebrate I took a wallet card photo at Carnegie Hall.

In later years John Franco, Pete Falcone, Benny Distefano and Kevin Baez came out of Lafayette. The school closed by the DOE in 2010 and was broken down into several smaller schools.

 

I'm not sure what hammering has to do with the pennant drive. Driving the nails in?

Cake or gum? 1976 Jerry Grote

 Last time cake beat gum, 6-3. Will gum come out on top this time?

Two very different, but excellent, photos of Mets catcher Jerry Grote. Hostess has him in a hitting pose, with a great look at the fans just starting to get into their seats at Shea Stadium. Topps, meanwhile, has a closeup photo of Grote catching.

In his 11+ years as the Mets' primary catcher, Jerry Grote was considered one of the best defensive catchers in the game, though he never won a Gold Glove. He was also considered an excellent handler of pitchers, and his guidance of the Mets' young staff helped them to their surprise 1969 World Series win. At the plate he was an adequate hitter with doubles power. In 1,421 games for the Colt .45's, Mets, Dodgers and Royals he hit .252 with 160 doubles, 22 HRs and 404 RBI. In his retirement he did a little coaching and a little announcing, and worked in a variety of other industries, including real estate and cattle ranching. He died in April at the age of 81.

Wood vs. Wood #213

Last time 1962 cruised to a 7-3 win. Will it win again here?

Richie Ashburn sticks his tongue out at spring training. The Hall-of-Famer was picked up by the expansion Mets before the 1962 season, in what would be the last of his 15 seasons. He was coming off two years with the Cubs, but the photo that Topps used looks older than that, more like the Phillies pinstripes he wore from 1948 to 1959. Considered the fastest player and best defensive outfielder in the league, Ashburn led the NL in hits three times and walks four times, with over twice as many walks as strikeouts. For his career he hit .308 with 2,578 hits and 1,198 walks. After his retirement as a player he immediately became an announcer for the team. In September of 1997 he died of a heart attack at New York's Grand Hyatt Hotel after a Mets game, weeks before he was planning to retire.

Rookie Randy Myers is also in a spring training shot, perhaps deep in thought, perhaps staring into space. Myers pitched in just five big league games in 1986 and was not on the postseason roster, but by 1988 he was sharing the closer role with Roger McDowell. After the 1989 season the Mets traded him to Cincinnati for John Franco in a rare swap of closers. Both teams did well with the trade, but the Reds had more immediate success, with the team riding the Nasty Boys bullpen anchored by Myers and his 38 saves, all the way to a World Championship. Myers was dominant in the postseason with 8.2 scoreless innings and four saves, earning NLCS MVP honors. Myers would become an itinerant closer throughout the 1990s, with a year in San Diego, three years (and two NL saves titles) with the Cubs, two years (and an AL saves title) with Baltimore, and brief stops in Toronto and San Diego, as shoulder woes brought his career to a premature end. Overall in 728 games he went 44-63 with a 3.19 ERA and 347 saves. He is now President of the T.O.D.A.Y. Foundation in the state of Washington.

Cards from Night Owl

Always fun to get cards from Night Owl.

He found a few Dodgers that fit some Score set needs for me. He had also posted that Boggs card recently, and I had expressed my admiration for the card. I guess he had an extra. I love how it looks like he's on a grass field somewhere with a UFO landing nearby. Actually it's Shea Stadium at night during the 1986 World Series. Fleer used a lot of pregame photos from Shea in that series in their boxed sets in '87.

Some vintage too! Rich Gossage looks a little uncomfortable in that airbrushed Pirates uniform. Craig Swan looks a lot happier. And topping it off is some great Canadian vintage with two OPC cards!

TCDB/OBC roundup

Or, This Week in Vintage Cards . . . 

Larry Leonard of OBC sent these three brightly-colored 1958 Topps cards.

Ten from 1959, from Jim Silva. My favorite is Dick Groat with a great view of the buildings next to the Polo Grounds.

From Brian Betza, a mixture of '75 minis and Return of the Jedi. I guess that's a Mon Mothma rookie card?

14 1980 Topps football from Michael Salinsky. Includes four Giants!

My only recent TCDB trade was also all vintage! These came from RParsons17.

 

1974 Topps Deckle Dating: Tim Foli

 A simple spring training headshot.

March 9, 1973 in Daytona Beach.

That day in Daytona Beach, the Expos beat the Twins, 3-1. Meanwhile, the Expos were the only National League to vote for using the new "designated hitter" in spring games against the AL teams that were experimenting with it.

This is probably when the photo for Foli's regular Topps card was taken.

Elsewhere on March 9, China announced that they would free American John Downey, who had been imprisoned there since 1952; Heinz Wossipiwo set the world ski jump record (554 feet); and in a small bar in Amityville, Long Island called The Daisy, a rock band called KISS performed for the first time in the designs and makeup that they would later make world-famous.

Roundup of vintage star cards (and a little trade bait)

Some fun low-grade vintage star variety in the Greg Morris pickups from two weeks ago. Highlights include another Goudey wide pen (HOFer Frankie Frisch!) and a couple of HOFers from early 1940s Play Ball sets, marred a bit by heavy glue stains. I goofed on the Exhibits Mickey Vernon - that one is available if anyone needs it.

Last week's has more star power. Check out the Bowman Phil Rizzuto, and compare it to the Red Man Rizzuto above. Another glue-stained Play Ball HOFer (Bobby Doerr) and possibly the most star-studded league leaders card ever.

One more card from that group - my first 1955 Topps Doubleheader! I actually have a 1911 Mecca Double Folder, and I have plenty of the 2003 Fleer Doubleheaders, but this is my first '55! It's a beautiful card, with HOFer Hal Newhouser . . .

. . . and KC A's relief ace Charlie Bishop!

I won a couple of other lots recently. This 1957 star lot was $1 a card. The Kluszewski alone is worth the $6. I bid on it the same day I got the Minoso from an OBCer, so now I have one available. I also already had Kell, so the lipsticked HOFer is available as well. I did need the two future managers and the terrific Ebbets Field shot. Wes Covington sure had some nice-looking cards.

I also won a lot of 1950 Bowman which also came out to about a dollar a card. There were 11 cards total. Here are seven of them (Randy Gumpert, Bobby Morgan, Gil Coan, Monte Kennedy, Howie Judson, Mickey Haefner and Dave Philley).

Here are the other four. Top left is my first playing-days card of HOFer Luke Appling! Top right is another HOFer, Cubs manager Frank Frisch. And on the bottom are two cards of White Sox pitcher Bill Wight. The extra Wight (happy to trade the better one) is available.

Only one single-card pickup. Another Willie Mays! I've been on a role with him lately.

 

1983 Topps Return of the Jedi

The very first cards that I collected as a kid were Return of the Jedi cards. As a six-year-old in 1983, I collected the whole set, but I didn't take good care of it. I still have most of the cards, but hadn't sorted them because I didn't want to know how many I lost when I was little.

When I bought the lot a few weeks ago that had a lot of nonsports in it (I still have a lot of low-grade Incredible Hulk and ET cards available!), it had a few ROTJ cards. I decided it would be a good time to sort my existing cards, and see if the new ones filled in any holes.

When I sorted the cards, I found that I was missing a fair amount. But what surprised me was that the checklists were incomplete. When I looked up images of the missing cards, I was surprised how many were unfamiliar to me! Clearly my childhood memory was wrong, I had not quite completed the set.

I haven't put a wantlist on my blog or on TCDB yet, but I did post it to OBC and I got my first "new" ROTJ cards in 41 years. As it stands now, here is my wantlist. If you have any of these, let me know! 2, 4, 5, 11-13, 29, 64, 85, 87, 91, 142, 145, 147, 152, 153, 155, 161, 163, 164, 170, 176, 186, 190, 201, 206, 207, 211, 212, 216

These cards came to me from OBCer Tom Biggs. How appropriate to get Star Wars cards from someone named Biggs! 

Of the nine cards that he sent, these six were familiar to me, I'm sure I had them before.

However these three were definitely brand new to me! Six-year-old me would have loved to have spent time staring at the unfamiliar characters, like the lesser-known Ewoks or the background Rebels. I even remember as a kid being intrigued by "Congratulating Wedge" in the checklist. Long before the internet I didn't have a picture of Wedge anywhere else, he wasn't in my other Star Wars books and didn't have a figure, so that card seemed a little extra-mysterious.

1986 Spokane Indians at the Mall - Jim Navilliat

  

This appears to be the same mysterious store that Brian Wood's photo was taken at. The lighting here is much darker, but this photo has a stuffed bear in a Hawaiian shirt.

Jim Navilliat pitched in the Padres organization in 1986 and 1987. In 59 games he went 8-9 with 3 saves and a 4.80 ERA. He lives in Providence, RI, where is a physical therapist and at age 60 still pitches in the local Men's Senior Baseball League.

The Name Game

I saw a cool post on Diamond Jesters. Apparently it was originally from a blog called Shlabotnik Report. I see Night Owl has done this too. Best player who played for your team for the ten most common American surnames. (Plus Ramirez which started the original blog post.)

Here are my picks for the Yankees. It's been unclear whether you are supposed to base on the player's overall career or just what they did for your team. I tried to do a mixture.

1. Smith

There have been nine Yankees named Smith. Mediocre infielder Charley Smith played 181 games for them in the late 60s, by far the most of any of these. So I'll go with Hall-of-Famer Lee Smith, whom the Yankees brought in to shore up their bullpen toward the end of their surprise division run in 1993. He pitched eight scoreless innings in eight games, with three saves, but the Yankees didn't have quite enough to overtake Toronto. 

2. Johnson

The Yankees have had double the players with the #2 name than they did the #1, with 18 Johnsons. Hall-of-Famer Randy Johnson did not acquit himself well during his Yankees tenure. Cliff Johnson was a key bench piece for two WS teams but got into a bad brawl with Goose Gossage. Instead I'll go with Billy "Bull" Johnson, a regular on four WS winning teams in the late 1940s and early 1950s. 

3. Williams

Of the nine Williams men who played for the Yankees, this one is a no-brainer. One of the best switch-hitters and clutch-hitters in baseball history, Bernie Williams belongs in the Hall of Fame. 

4. Brown

The Yankees have had seven Browns including two named Bobby. Dr. Bobby Brown was a teammate of Bull Johnson in the late 1940s and early 1950s, a key member of four WS champions. 

5. Jones

The Yankees have had eight players named Jones. Andruw is probably the most famous but his Yankee tenure was not very good. Instead I'll go with Sad Sam Jones, who won 21 games, including a no-hitter, for the first Yankee championship team in 1923. 

6. Garcia

The five Garcias who played for the Yankees make for some interesting choices. Damaso probably had the best career, but hit .228 in 29 games for the Yanks before they traded him to Toronto where he blossomed. Karim had a steady but unspectacular career, but did hit .305 with the Yankees in 2003. In the end I went with Freddy, who went 156-108 including 19-14 in two seasons in the Bronx. 

7. Miller

Only five Millers and a pretty easy call to go with Andrew Miller, a dominant set-up man in his two Yankee seasons. 

8. Davis

Eight players named Davis suited up for the Yankees. It's a tough call, but Ron was one of the first star set-up men, giving him a slight edge over Chili's two rings in two years in '98 and '99. 

9. Rodriguez

Nine Rodriguez Yankees, with Alex the runaway winner here, beating out the brief Yankee tenure of the only HOFer in the group, Ivan. 

10. Martinez

Only two for the Yankees, and while Tippy was decent, he can't hold a candle to Tino. 

Bonus. Ramirez

Only three players named Ramirez played for the Yankees, and only Edwar, who won a ring with the 2009 Yankees, had more than a brief Yankee stint.

(I have all of these cards, but was too lazy to dig them out for this post, so I used TCDB scans.)

Wallet card at a midtown Manhattan church bell older than the United States

The oldest Protestant church in the United States is Manhattan's Marble Collegiate Church, founded in 1628. In 1769 the congregation moved into a new impressive location called North Church, on William Street in lower Manhattan. The 200-foot spire was one of the tallest structures in the city, and they used a bell cast in Amsterdam the previous year. In 1854 the church moved to it's current location on Fifth Avenue and 29th Street, an area which was still largely countryside. The 1769 bell is no longer rung but lives on, preserved behind a fence outside the church.

The words NORTH CHURCH BELL can still clearly be seen over 250 years later.

 

Cheap autos

You can't buy a new automobile under $20,000 in the US anymore. But you can still get dime autographs on eBay. That's the "cheap autos" referred to in the title. An eBay seller called Autograph Den has started regular auctions of thousands of penny autograph cards. They are almost all TTM or in-person, but they seem reasonably authentic. Good enough for me, in a world where we can't even get consensus on which are the real bases from Hank Aaron's 715th home run.

I happened to catch this the first time it was going on (or maybe I hadn't caught previous ones). I bid a dime on almost everything and came up with the winning bid on close to 250 of them. From this I learned that eBay only lets you pay for 50 purchases at a time, so it took quite a while to actually pay for everything while I waited for my cart to slowly refill. Then the seller didn't box everything together, but sent most in a box but some in a couple of envelopes. One of the envelopes still hasn't arrived. On top of that, the box was missing about 30 cards that were supposed to be in it (same tracking number). It took a very long time to figure out which cards were missing. After opening 30 tabs to say that I didn't get it, I got 30 messages from eBay saying that my package had arrived and maybe I should ask my neighbors if they stole it. Finally the next day I was able to send the "didn't arrive" messages. To the sellers credit he refunded me right away, but I'd have rather have had the cards. I guess he misplaced 12% of my order.

He's still doing these auctions but very little is slipping though, as I guess more bidders are noticing these auctions. Still, if you like cheap on-card autos, Autograph Den is probably a good eBay seller to check out.

Naturally none of these were stars. The biggest names were Scott Fletcher and Zane Smith. Even though I would never do TTM or ask someone for their autograph in person, I do like the look of autographs on cards. They do feel special, so it was nice to cheaply beef up my small collection.

Lots of these were from minor league team sets. Some that stood out included the very 90s design on top.

I really like seeing junk wax cards with autographs, it breathes new life into them.

Shiny/refractor cards used for autographs, very cool.

It's fun seeing other colors than blue or black. The metallic colors look really good, especially silver.

There was even some duplication, meaning I have some extras available. Two to trade of Wilkin Ramirez (Tigers) and one Peter Bergeron (Expos).

One weird quirk for myself is that if I get an autographed card, and I don't have the non-autographed card, I add it to my wantlist. So I will be adding a whole lot of random cards, mostly minor league or Bowman, to my wantlist and TCDB wantlist soon.