Very Delayed Christmas Gifts from Dad!

Hey everyone, Drew back here! It's been just about the toughest week I've had in a long time, and it isn't even over yet. While I finished my midterms today, I have to prepare for the SAT tomorrow. Fortunately, there isn't an enormous amount of pressure considering this is my first crack at it, of the three opportunities you're given. I'm not too worried about it, but the last thing I need right now is another four or five hours of sitting at a desk in complete silence. Anyway, I am ridiculously behind on here. It's January 25th, and I have to show you stuff from exactly one month ago, which is pretty lame on my part. School comes first though, and while I've certainly upgraded my collection tremendously in the past month, I didn't find the time to show it off on here. Well, without any further delay, here's a look at what Dad bought for me this Christmas:

First off was this nice 2005 Donruss Champions Frank Robinson relic! I'm not quite sure what it is, but there is something very appealing about this card. It has a nice, glossy finish on it, and the black relic looks pretty cool. I know a few people who would love this in their collection, however I think I might hang on to it for now.

Dad occasionally has mentioned how he really enjoyed watching Dave Kingman, among others, when he was younger. I don't really know a whole lot about him, but I do know he was a great power hitter, and he stopped briefly during his career in New York. From doing a little research, I learned he is one of only a few players in history to play for 4 different teams in 1 season, which he did in 1977. He finished the season with the Yankees, but didn't get to play in October for the soon to be World Series team because he was added to the team past the deadline.

I'm pretty sure I've got two or three of this card now, however, I really do like the 2003 Yankees Signature Series set Upper Deck released. I've considered going for the set, even though there are a few huge roadblocks in the way (Brian Cashman's autograph sells for 3 figures, easily). If anybody wants this one, let me know. It'd be really cool if I could get a different player in the set for it, if anyone is up for that sort of trade!

 I've been a fan of Sparky Lyle's ever since I read his book, "The Bronx Zoo", a few years ago. I loved how open he was about some of the pranks he pulled! This won't be the last time Sparky is mentioned on this blog in the upcoming weeks (hint, hint)! He's got a real nice autograph, and even though I had a few certified autographs of his already, I didn't have this one yet!

Tommy John was a very good pitcher during his career, maybe not Hall of Fame worthy, but who even knows what that means anymore. I met Mr. John a few years back, and while he was friendly, it still kind of disappointed me how little attention he gave my friend Mike & I. He was signing 8x10s for the company in the midst of his autograph session, maybe because he had to leave early or something. I'm not upset about it, it just kind of lingers with me whenever I think about him. 

Those were all real nice, but this one took home the gold medal...

Out of 2005 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Classic, a Yogi Berra autograph! This card scanned terribly, but believe me it looks a heck of a lot better in person. Regardless, this is a beautiful card! Yogi, aside from Jeter, is my favorite living Yankee, so I'm always more than open to welcoming a new autograph of his to my collection! This is my 3rd Berra autograph in my collection, but hopefully I'll be able to add to that one day. It would mean the world if I got a chance to meet him, but that opportunity is looking real slim. The other day when he was honored at the B.A.T. dinner, Yogi didn't sound so good, basically repeating how much he loved baseball in a quiet, raspy voice, until his son Dale took over during the speech. Whether or not I'll ever get to shake his hand is one thing, but all I know for now is that it's smart to get some of his autographs, in case anything happens, because we all know ten years from now his autographs won't be as affordable.

Thank you so much Dad for all of the incredible cards! They'll fit in nicely to my ever growing collection! See Ya!

August 20th White Plains Card Show Review Part 2

Hey guys, Drew back here. So, last night, I went to the Yankee game, and it sure was a nailbiter. I don't know if I've ever been to a closer game, as the Yankees wound up losing 6-5. I'll have more on that including some pictures sometime soon. For now, let me reminisce of dad and I's vintage pickups at the White Plains show this past weekend.

PART 2:

VINTAGE PICKUPS

Yeah. I just went there. I started off a "vintage" post with a 1984 Donruss Don Mattingly rookie card. I know what you're saying. "THIS ISN'T VINTAGE?!?!" Well, it isn't necessarily vintage, but it had to go here. So, deal with it. Anyways, I got this card for $12, since it was in great shape but was the only one of the major rookies Mattingly has that I didn't have yet. Always nice to mark one off the list. Oh, and this one's my favorite of the 3!

Next was a very off centered, but cheap, 1979 Topps Ozzie Smith rookie card! I'll have more on Ozzie before this series ends, but for now I'll just write about this one. His rookie was one that I've wanted to add to the Hall of Fame rookie collection for a while now, no matter what the condition was. 

Now onto the picture I took rather than taking each card out of their holders and scanning them and putting them away. Boy was I lazy the day I scanned these. Anyways, oh yeah, the cards. Dad got me these, and I needed most of them, and even if I had them, definitely happy to add seconds of them! I've really taken interest in 60's and 70's cards, recently buying a huge box just to hold them in. My favorite of these is probably either the 1979 Willie Stargell (Pirates!) or the Bob Allison card, from 1961, that I'm pretty sure is not a Topps card. Interesting...

Also included in dad's little vintage bunch were these 2 1967 Topps League Leaders cards, both featuring Frank Robinson on them. It's funny because Robinson also was the first one on the Home Run Leaders card. Oh thats right, he won the Triple Crown that year! I should probably add the home run card sometime just to finish off the trio of Robinson-leading cards. 

HOLY 1961 TOPPS! Yeah, Dad wasn't done with the vintage shopping, to say the least! Between the two of us, we combined for just under 90 new cards to add to our set. I picked up a lot of 20 cards for $5, while I only had 2 of them already. Dad got all the ones in toploaders, and I can't wait to add all these into my box of 1961 cards!

Those were just some of the bigger cards of the bunch. Most of the cards were just commons, but a few cards stood out, such as the Dick Williams card, the Whitey Ford postseason highlight, Johnny Podres, Elston Howard, and a MVP card of Jim Konstanty, my ex-little league teammate's grandfather. The condition of most of these are decent, some could be better, but for now they'll fit for sure!

.... we're not done with 1961's. Here we have the Yogi Berra base card, as well as the Rizzuto MVP card. I bought the Rizzuto and Dad got the Berra as well as the following two cards. Yogi's card from that year is one of my favorite cards he has, I'm not sure why though. It just really pops though. 

Dad also got me the Ron Santo Rookie Card, featuring the famous Topps All Star Rookie trophy. Santo surely was an All Star throughout his career, and possibly should've been considered a lot more for Cooperstown. A career .277 hitter with 342 home runs, as well as 9 All Star selections and 5 Gold Gloves makes me wonder why he's not in when guys like Orlando Cepeda, Jim Rice, and Bill Mazeroski are in. The card is in great shape and is definitely one of the best looking cards in the entire set. 

 But wait, there's MORE! The final 1961 card I obtained at the card show was the rookie card of Hall of Fame pitcher, perhaps the best pitcher throughout the 1960's, the Dominican Dandy, Juan Marichal! Marichal, as well as Santo and Billy Williams, was the last top rookie card to acquire for the set! Marichal was a 10 time All Star with a career record of 243 wins and 142 losses, and an ERA of 2.89. He won the most games throughout the 1960's, using his intimidating leg kick to put a scare in some of the best hitters in baseball. This card is a little off center but otherwise the corners are sharp and it's perfect! No need for a replacement with this one!

So, well, Dad and I really did some damage with that set we're building. If any of you have any 1961 Topps cards laying around, please check out my have list and let me know what you have that I may need. Thanks so much once again to Dad, I wouldn't be nearly as close if it wasn't for him!

See Ya!

White Plains Card Show Recap 3/27/11! Part 3!

Hey guys, Drew back here with part 3 of the March card show series! In every card show so far, I've went out of my way to at LEAST buy 1 vintage card. However, after the addition of the mysterious binder, (which you still will have to wait to find out what hides inside of it), I decided to take a shot at the 1961 Topps set. Dad and I decided to do a little chipping away at the 587 card challenge awaiting my collection!

What a better way to start working on an enormous set by getting the first card! Dick Groat got the honors of first in the set, and he sure did deserve it! The season before, in 1960, Groat won the National League MVP and won the World Series! Talk about a season! Groat's got every reason to be smiling here, and in 1961 he hit .275 with 6 homers and 55 RBI.

I went on to pick up some cards of some former stars, in Bob Turley, Jim Kaat, Don Larsen, and Richie Ashburn. Turley won the Cy Young only a few years prior in 1958, but he struggled in 1961, going 3-5 with a 5.75 ERA. Jim Kaat was only in his third season, with a very mediocre Twins team, and he went 9-17 that year with a 3.90 ERA. Don Larsen went 8-2 with a 4.13 ERA with the Kansas City Athletics, and Richie Ashburn, in one of his final seasons, only batted .257 in 109 games. So, basically, for a lot of these old veterans, 1961 was an off year.

Next were a few League Leaders cards, all for the National League. While the two bottom cards have Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax on them, the top card stands out by a lot. Dick Groat tops the group, but the 3rd and 4th place guys, maybe you've heard of them? Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente? I think I know those guys!

Next we have the former keystone combination from the Chicago White Sox, Hall of Famers Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio. I never really knew much about these guys (I didn't even know that Fox was in the HOF), but I did some research on them and I can see why they're in. Fox, famous for his tobacco chewing, was the 1959 AL MVP, and he made 15 all star teams. Wow, can't believe I never knew much about him! Luis was also a 13 time All Star and 9 time gold glover, and he retired with great statistics.

Also, we got some Hall of Fame pitchers to go along with the rest of the cards. Don Drysdale was an outstanding pitcher for the Dodgers, with a 209-166 record and a 2.95 ERA. He was often overshadowed by Sandy Koufax but he ended up winning the Cy Young the year after this card came out in 1962. Robin Roberts also was a very successful pitcher at the time, even though in 1961 his career was slowly on the decline. He made 7 All Star teams and ended up pitching with the Orioles, Cubs, and Astros before his retirement in 1966. He recently passed away early last year at the age of 83.

To go along with the other Hall of Famers, we picked up cards of two of the most dangerous hitters in the game at the time! Willie McCovey just started his career in 1959, so here in his 3rd year, he was warming up to eventually become a Hall of Fame slugger. Five hundred twenty one home runs later and the man has a plaque resting in Cooperstown. Frank Robinson was even better though, as he was an all around legend. Here right in the beginning of his prime, Frank is shown poised to continue his incredible success. When he joined the Orioles in 1966, he made an immediate impact, winning the Triple Crown! Not many players have that opportunity anymore, only done by Carl Yastrzemski after Robinson accomplished the feat. He retired with 586 home runs, 2,943 hits and a lifetime batting average of .294.

The final card we bought is definitely one of the/if not the best rookie card in the entire set. The set consists of rookie cards of Juan Marichal, Ron Santo, Carl Yastrzemski (although his real RC is in 1960 Topps), and a few other not as notable players, except for this guy. It's the 1961 Topps rookie card of Billy Williams! Billy, who was inducted into Cooperstown in 1987, was a great hitter. His career stats show off a .290 lifetime average, 420 home runs, and 2,711 hits, but the one part that is coolest about this card is that it shows a young Williams who was eager to succeed. And boy he did. In his first full season he hit .278 with 25 home runs and 86 RBI's, good enough to win him the 1961 National League Rookie of the Year!

I'm very happy to be able to add this big card to the set, and I can't wait to begin the chase! I'll have more details in a future post, but for now..

See Ya!

Complete Autograph Set? Yes Sir!

Hey guys, Drew back here. A few nights ago, I was talking to my buddy William about my new autographs from my dad, the Jim Palmer and Duke Snider ones. He said I should consider doing the set, so I checked eBay to see who else was in the set. I had a few already, and oddly enough, those 2 plus the 2 I just got were the only cards to be found! And after checking Beckett, Check Out My Cards, it seems that I have completed the 1994 Nabisco Legends Autograph Set!

So, in this set, there are 4 cards, all autographed by Hall of Famers. They include mini seperate certificates of authenticity and are one of the first autographed sets produced. 1993 was the 1st year Nabisco did these, and I have the Catfish Hunter autograph from that set. As far as these players go, you can't get a whole lot better than them! Bob Gibson was one of the most feared pitchers of the 60's, and his 1.12 ERA in 1968 is a Major League record! Jim Palmer won 268 games for the Orioles, and was one of the top 70's pitchers. Frank Robinson hit 586 home runs over 21 seasons for the Reds, Orioles, Dodgers, Angels, and Indians, coming close to 3,000 hits. And Duke Snider was one of the greatest center fielders of all time! Combined between the 4 players are 37 All Star appearances and 9 World Series championships! Wow!

Dad got me all 4 cards at some points, from the same sellers, and boy is that a nice set to have or what? Next up is 1993 Nabisco, let's do it!

See Ya!