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.