2015 East Coast National: 3 Hall of Famers!

Hey everyone, Drew back here with the second installment of my 2015 East Coast National recap series. Before I begin, I just want to say that with all the stuff I need to catch up on, the Ten for Tuesday posts will start back up in September. I've got various new, great ideas ready to go, and I'm looking forward to sharing them with you all!

The big draws of the day at the Westchester County Center were Cal Ripken Jr. and Steelers greats Franco Harris and Hines Ward. I had already met Cal before, and with his expensive ticket prices, I decided to spend my money elsewhere, while the Steelers prices were far too high for a Jet fan to wish to pay. Instead, I bought tickets for three legendary players of their own rights; Al Kaline, Eddie Murray, and Brooks Robinson.

All three began signing at 12:00, and I immediately hopped on the Kaline line. I have heard some horror stories in the past about Mr. Tiger being moody, but luckily today he was all smiles. It was his first appearance at one of their shows, and I was towards the front of the line. He didn't say much to me, but was friendly, shaking my hand for the photo and thanking me for coming out.

I couldn't have received a better autograph from the man who once accumulated 3,000 hits and made 18 All Star teams. He inscribed his Hall of Fame year for free and gave me precisely what I was looking for. For 80 years old, he looks to be in excellent health, and it was nice to get a chance to meet him considering he seems to rarely make New York signings.

Eddie Murray was up next, and I could not wait to have a signed ball of his to add (along with Kaline's) to my Hall of Fame ball display. I've never heard anything particularly bad about him at signings, although he was once heralded as "bad with the media" during his career. After looking into it more, it just seems like he was a quiet, independent man that really just wasn't looking to be bothered. When I met him, I certainly got that vibe.

I didn't get much out of Murray either, but he was friendly enough to take a quick photo with me. Whenever I think of him, I think back to the days of the Grandpa Roy Column and the list we compiled of what is now 5 players in history who retired with over 3,000 hits and 500 home runs. Alex Rodriguez joined Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Rafael Palmeiro, and Murray when he recorded his 3,000th hit in 2015. It's an extra exclusive club that should warrant a Hall of Fame induction statistically, but most likely will not in the cases of Palmeiro and Rodriguez thanks to their ongoing PED allegations.

Murray really took his time in signing the ball as eloquently as possible. For the price I paid, he better have. It came out really well, and I'm glad I saved up to add him to my collection. This is now my 21st signed Hall of Fame baseball, and I believe that means I'm slowly but surely catching up to William. One day...

Finally, the player I had most been looking forward to shaking hands with. I always say how I forever have a deep love and respect for the third base position, and this man was the epitome of mastering the position. Some consider him the greatest to ever man the hot corner, but everyone calls him the best defensive player there without question. He's also one of William's favorite players, which gave me extra incentive to want to cough up the money to meet Brooks Robinson.

18 All Star Games. 16 Consecutive Gold Gloves. 2 World Series Rings. What didn't Brooks do? Beyond the numbers, the sparkling plays, and all of the trophies he can proudly display, what stands out over anything is the man that Brooks is. I was proudly wearing my Yankees gear, but that didn't keep him from treating me as if I were wearing his jersey and an Orioles cap. He has certainly seen his best years already, but he seemed to really want to make an impact on others as simply and sweetly as he could. The first two experiences were pretty quiet, but Brooks was as kind and polite as could be, and totally won me over for the day.

Props to Dad by the way for getting an awesome picture of Brooks and I.

Since my Dad bought me a signed baseball of his for my birthday a few weeks ago, I had to scramble to find something to have him sign. I mostly paid for his autograph to meet him rather than for the autograph, but I decided to have him sign an 8x10 of his famous World Series diving stop against the Cincinnati Reds in 1970. For his great all around performance (and especially phenomenal defensive plays), he was awarded the World Series MVP that year.

There was a free inscription along with any Brooks autograph, and I chose the 16 Gold Gloves over the Hall of Fame and World Series MVP because it says more about him than either of the other two. Many have been inducted into Cooperstown, and many have been named MVP of the Fall Classic. But no position player has ever won 16 Gold Gloves but Brooks (Greg Maddux and Jim Kaat did as pitchers, but that is besides the point).

Brooks was everything my Dad and I had hoped he would be, and then some. I'm going to proudly place my signed photo in my nice signed photo book to show off in the future.

See Ya!

Revealing the Rest of the Mysterious Binder...

Hey guys, Drew back here. I figured, with the rest of the day with nothing to do, why not finish off this binder series with a bang? I scanned the rest of the bigger cards, and while I would've scanned them all, I figured you would all prefer to see some of the other ones I didn't get to show yet.

Well, why not start with the Babe? Sure, it's 27 years after his retirement, but still, it's my oldest Ruth card in my collection. It's part of the Babe Ruth Special that Topps threw into the 1962 set, honoring him. This card shows him and Hall of Fame manager Miller Huggins, which is perhaps my first card of his. Pretty sweet for sure.  

From my 1961 Topps set I'm trying to build, here are 3 of the cards in the "Baseball Thrills" subset. I already posted the card highlighting Mantle's 565 foot home run, which is also part of the subset, but these are awesome too. My favorite of these 3 is the card that dedicates Rogers Hornsby's .424 batting average in the 1924 season! Just thinking of how impossible it sounds to hit for that good of an average in the major leagues makes me think even better of Hornsby and the card. 

Next were some of the base I needed in the 1961 set, from left to right: (top) Bobby Richardson, Tony Kubek, Batter Bafflers (Cardwell/Hobbie), Bobby Shantz MVP, (bottom) Eddie Yost, Billy Martin, Brother Battery (Norm/Larry Sherry), & Dodger Southpaws (Koufax/Podres). Most of the cards are in awesome shape, and I love the player selection. Glad to have these ones knocked off the set list. 

Also from 1961, I got 5 of the 8 World Series highlights cards. It's cool, because even though the Yankees wound up losing the series, I got a chance to watch the game that Mazeroski hit the winning home run on an MLB Network special, and it was really fun to watch. I have a lot of the Pirates autos from TTM's, and I'd say it's safe to say they are my new favorite National League team, as tough to watch as they normally are. The Game 1 "Virdon Saves Game" card isn't in great shape, but it will still join me in the pursuit of the set.

The final card from 1961 to show is this NL Home Run Leaders card, featuring Ernie Banks; Hank Aaron; Eddie Mathews; and Ken Boyer, all pictured on the front. Banks led with 41, while Aaron trailed by 1 and Mathews trailed by 2. Sounded like a close race to the Home Run crown for sure!

Next are some cards that probably should have deserved their own post, and I forgot to give him that post. None other than "The Chairman of the Board", Mr. Whitey Ford! In the binder, I found his 1959 Topps, 1961 Topps, 1962 Topps Postseason Highlight, and his 1965 Topps! All 4 are absolutely beautiful cards of perhaps the greatest Yankee to ever take the mound. 

Here are some of the other Yankees I found too, ranging from 1959 Topps to 1967 Topps. One set I could try to build following 1961 Topps is 1967 Topps, because there were plenty of them in the binder. A thing I picked up on recently that I love about vintage is the colors and just the way players stick out on the cards. The cards have a 'pop' to them that most modern day cards don't seem to carry.

Here's a scan of all Orioles, for William and all my other Orioles fans out there! I've always had a soft spot for the Orioles, as they probably would be my second favorite team in the AL East. They've had some great history and great players come through, such as the Robinsons, Brooks and Frank! Both of them were unbelievably talented, Brooks more with the glove and Frank with the bat. But you all know that. These are some great looking cards for sure!

Well, here are some more of the best cards I found in the binder. Many Hall of Famers and 1 should be Hall of Famer (Hodges) are on this scan, my favorite being the 1959 Topps Ernie Banks, but I also love the 1962 Topps Al Kaline! I would love to try the 1959 set one day, because I think it's one of the greatest sets of all time, without question. That Banks card really pops in person, and it's probably one of my favorite vintage cards. Also, did I mention I like the Pirates uniforms? And Willie Stargell? Well, now I did.

I guess this card is a good way to finish off the series. Nothing like a 1958 Topps "Sluggers Supreme" card of Ted Kluszewski and Ted Williams! I make a few exceptions to Red Sox players in terms of likeability. I like Ted Williams, David Ortiz (what a fantasy helper), and Jon Lester (since he's a warrior and beat cancer, I respect him a lot). This is my first vintage Williams card, of hopefully a few more to come. As for Kluszewski, he seemed like a pretty cool player, cutting off his sleeves to show off his muscles to the fans every game. 

I think if I had to pick one word to describe this binder, it was just simply unbelievable. It was full of firsts for me, including giving me my first vintage cards of Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, and many, many more. Other than their dollar value, these cards are certainly special, and they tell a story better than many manufactured patch or any gimmick short print card can do today. The hobby has really changed in the past 40-50 years, for the worse? Maybe. Topps will never be able to create a nostalgic feel to their sets like they did back in the 1950's and 1960's. That's for sure. 

I hope all of you guys can some day find an opportunity this amazing to add these cards to your own collection. I think in every lifelong collector's journey through the baseball card world, they'll have at least one big moment like this that they'll never forget. Unless I find a 52 Mantle rookie laying on the streets one day, I doubt dad and I could ever do this well again! I'm happy to share this collection with you, and I feel bad for the poor people we took the cards off of for a whopping $20, but I'm gonna hang on to these for the rest of my life.

Thanks again Dad for your magic touch! See Ya!

Vintage Cards From Pop Popps

Hey guys, Drew back here. Somehow, Pop Popps still is feeding me more and more cards to add to my collection, which is incredibly awesome! He recently gave me a stack for my last quarter of school, and getting through freshman year (I think everyone deserves a crown and a throne for that accomplishment). Check out what he had in store for me the last time I visited him!

In this one, there were a lot of nice cards, but my favorite of the bunch was certainly the 1971 Topps Al Kaline card. It looks like one of his nicer all around cards! I also scanned the Sal Bando 1971 card because whether you love them or hate them, the A's certainly had some unique uniforms back in the day. Also of note, Willie Horton had an amazing moustache, and the rest of the cards feature Hall of Famers on them. The checklist from the top left corner, featuring Bob Gibson, was from 1969 Topps.

Thanks so much Pop Popps as always! See Ya!

TTM #67- Tigers Legend!

Hey guys, Drew back here. Today was a nice mailday for me, receiving 2 new TTM successes! For time's sake, I'll post them one at a time. Starting off with the first one I opened, here is the newest addition to my Hall of Fame series!

None other than Detroit Tigers legend Al Kaline signed a card for me in about 9 days! It took me a while to actually get this custom out in the mail for some reason, as it was sitting on my desk for months. But a little over a week ago I realized that it was about time I try and get his autograph! I included $10 in the envelope and sent it off, hoping and I praying that it would come back. Sure enough, it did, and it looks great! For Kaline, it may have been a little sloppy, but every letter is still readable and I think it looks awesome.

To say that Kaline was worth the $10 is a definite understatement. The former 18 time All Star outfielder, known as "Mr. Tiger" to the fans in Detroit, was one of the best all around hitters in baseball history. He collected 3,007 total hits in his 22 year career, along with 399 home runs, and a lifetime batting average of .297! In the field, he was incredible, winning 10 Gold Gloves in his career patrolling Right Field in Tiger Stadium. In fact, Cooperstown decided he was so great that he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1980 after his first appearance on the ballot.  

I surely am glad I was able to add this awesome piece to the Hall of Fame set today, but it hopefully won't be the last. So far in my set I have autographs of the following: Bobby Doerr, Bob Feller, Monte Irvin, Duke Snider, Lee MacPhail, Joe Morgan, Jim Bunning, Brooks Robinson, Ralph Kiner, and now the aforementioned Al Kaline. If anyone has any suggestions of guys to go after next please comment and let me know! Thanks guys!

See Ya!