Revealing the Mysterious Binder... A Little at a Time... Yogi Edition!

Hey guys, Drew back here. As I promised, you guys will get an occasional glance into the binder of brilliance, which is by far now the greatest piece of my entire collection! It may take months, years, or even millenniums to get this binder done and showed off, but I want to tribute all of the fantastic players that took part in building the holy grail of my collection. First, we showed Stan the Man, and now, it's on to one of my all time favorite players, Yogi Berra!

The binder contained 2 cards of Yogi from his playing days, becoming the 1st 2 vintage cards I ever owned of his. The first card is from 1961 Topps, an SP for that matter, that dedicates his MVP awards in 1951, 1954, and 1955, and on the back it mentions that he held the record for most home runs by a catcher. He since has been surpassed by Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, and Mike Piazza in that category. It also states that he is a great clutch hitter. In his 14 World Series he's played in, he hit 12 home runs, including 3 in the 1956 Fall Classic.

The second card is card number 340 in the 1963 Topps set, a set that I don't a whole lot of. 1963 was Yogi's final season as a Yankee. He was 38 years old that year, and only played in 64 games, but I think the card does a great job in honoring one of arguably the greatest catcher to ever step behind the plate. It also says that he was a coach that year, and he took over as Yankees manager the next season. In 1964, he led the Yankees all the way to the 7th game of the World Series until the Cardinals beat them in the final game, which led to Yogi's firing.

Yogi is by far the most revered Yankee alive to this day, and god bless him. Eighty five years old, falling on his butt, but still managing to get by.

"It ain't over til' it's over" - Yogi Berra

See Ya!

Revealing the Mysterious Binder... A Little at a Time... Stan the Man Edition

Hey guys, Drew back here! Remember that binder? Yeah, a few posts ago I showed off some of the highlights of an enormous tub full of cards given to me by a very nice lady whose father recently passed away. Well, there was 1 binder in the tub that stood above it all. It was so impressive that we actually have to start a new series to show off all of the good stuff and give them the respect they deserve! Let's kick off this series with these 2 cards:

Today we dedicate the 1st post of the series to Cardinals legend Stan Musial, as well as an appearance by Giants great Willie Mays! On the left is an actual 1961 Topps Stan Musial card, and on the right is a 1963 Topps "Pride of N.L." Willie Mays and Stan Musial card. Without actually explaining the book value of these cards, let's just let stats do the talking as always.

Stan Musial, as I recently explained when I was able to pick up an autographed baseball of his a week or so ago, was a heck of a player. The guy was voted into 24 All Star Games! You might not think of him along the lines of Ruth, Gehrig, Mays, and Aaron, but honestly, you should. With his amount of All Star appearances, he is tied with Willie Mays and Hank Aaron for the most All Star appearances EVER. Granted, for about a four year stretch in the late 1950's-early 1960's, 2 All Star games were played a year, and all 3 of them did get some bonus appearances due to that. But that is a very special number in my mind.

He also not only won 1, not even 2, but 3 National League MVP's! To top it off, he even missed a year in the service. It truly shows how legendary of a player he was when you see him with another American Icon Willie Mays on the same card. Those two men hit 1,135 home runs between them. Oh yeah, these cards are THAT good. And the condition you ask? A little wear but they look amazing!

Trust me, there's more of what that came from! Stay tuned for the next installment, so you can see what other treats we found in this binder!

See Ya!