R.I.P. Moose Skowron, 1930-2012

Hey guys, Drew back here. We lost a real good one today in baseball, in Yankee great Bill "Moose" Skowron. The Polish-American athlete; nicknamed "Moose" after a haircut that looked like Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini's, was one of the better players to put on the pinstripes during his tenure in New York between 1954 and 1962. He was a clutch hitter, and big games always brought the best out of his ability; as he batted .293 with 8 home runs in 39 World Series games, including 3 of those home runs in the 7th game of the series' he played in! He walked off the field as a winner, taking home 5 World Series rings, 4 with the Yankees, and 1 in 1963 with the LA Dodgers after he was traded from NY the season prior. He retired with 8 All Star appearances to his credit, and a lifetime batting average of .282 with 211 home runs. 

Today, Moose passed on at the age of 81 after a long battle with lung cancer. Of course, I wasn't alive at the time of his career, but I'll always remember him for being an integral part of that 1961 Yankees team, the team that wanted revenge after Bill Mazeroski beat them the season before. Maris and Mantle went off as you all know, but Skowron also hit 28 home runs, which added up to 143 home runs between the three of them ALONE that season! 

Not only was he a great baseball player in his 81 years, but he was also a great man. He always signed items for fans through the mail, and was a common guest at the Yankees Old Timer's Game festivities. Yogi Berra said of him: "There weren't many better guys than Moose, he was a dear friend and a great team man. A darn good ballplayer, too." He signed a card for me via a through the mail success a little over a year ago, and I appreciated every bit of it. He was a class act in every way, and I'm fortunate I got the opportunity to get his autograph. 

Moose, you will forever be remembered and missed. Rest In Peace.

White Plains Card Show 1/22/12 Recap, Part Six!

Hey guys, Drew back here. I'm sure, most of you are sick of me blabbing on and on about how special this show was, and how lucky I am, etc etc. But, I promise you guys that besides a few small posts I have planned, I'm just about done and ready to move on with other stuff. Trust me though, this post right here is definitely worth the read, and I could use some help! So, without any further gibberish, here is Part 6, dedicated to my awesome door prize win!

PART 6: Door Prize Success... Again?

As most of you guys who have read my blog in the past know, the White Plains shows happen to give away door prizes every couple of hours, which requires just filling out a simple card and hoping to get your name pulled. Dad, Mike, and I have had a very good strategy with them over the years, and we've been able to win some things here and there! Today was no different. I took home this beauty, as a result of somehow getting my name pulled from the box again!

This photo is truly a thing of beauty! It's a 16x20 photo of Mickey Mantle, that is signed by 29 former Yankees players! There isn't any specific time span as to the players who signed the photo, but a majority of the players on here played on the Yankees pre-1980. Not all of them played with Mantle, for example Jesse Barfield and Chris Chambliss, but all of them had been pretty solid players over the years. I was so pumped up when they announced my name, and I'm pretty sure most of you can see why. 

As far as authentication goes, the photo came along with a letter of authenticity from JSA, explaining all of the exact details of the photo and guaranteeing its authenticity. It didn't name all of the players on the photo, but it says some of the key players on there are Moose Skowron, Ralph Houk, Gene Michael, Bill Virdon, Sparky Lyle, Johnny Kucks, Horace Clarke, Ron Blomberg, and Chris Chambliss! I identified pretty much all of those without having to look at the letter, but I can't seem to find Bill Virdon anywhere on this photo. I got him through the mail a while back, so I know what his autograph looks like, and I don't see it anywhere on here.

Now here's where I need your help. I've been able to identify a majority of the autographs on the picture already, but there are still some that I can't figure out yet. Besides the Virdon (mistake possibly?), can any of you name the autographs I don't know in the comments below? I numbered each autograph, and you can just tell me, for example: Auto 2 is Moose Skowron or something. I would greatly appreciate it, because some of these autos have me stumped.

1: Phil Linz (Played 1962-1965 for NYY)

2: Moose Skowron (Played 1954-1962 for NYY)

3: Art Ditmar (Played 1957-1961 for NYY)

4: Lee Mazzilli (Played in 1982 for NYY)

5: Ralph Houk (Played 1947-1954 for NYY, Managed 1961-63, 66-73)

6: Bobby Shantz (Played 1957-1960)

7: Ralph Branca (Played in 1954 for NYY)

8: Paul Blair (Played 1977-1979 for NYY)

9: Gene Michael (Played 1968-1974 for NYY, Managed 1981-82)

10: Cecil Fielder (Played 1996-1997 for NYY)

11: Jim Beattie (Played 1977-1978 for NYY)

12: Tippy Martinez (Played 1974-1976 for NYY)

13: Don Gullett (Played 1977-1978 for NYY)

14: Chris Chambliss (Played 1974-1979, 1988 for NYY)

15: Jesse Barfield (Played 1989-1992 for NYY)

16: Ron Davis (Played 1978-1981 for NYY)

17: Dennis Sherrill (Played 1978-1980 for NYY)

18: George Zeber (Played 1977-1978 for NYY)

19: Sparky Lyle (Played 1972-1978 for NYY)

20: Dan Pasqua (Played 1985-1987 for NYY)

21: Dennis Rasmussen (Played 1984-1987 for NYY)

22: Tom Carroll (Played 1955-1956 for NYY)

23: Lee Thomas (Played in 1961 for NYY)

24: Eli Grba (Played 1959-1960 for NYY)
25: Johnny Kucks (Played 1955-1959 for NYY)
26: Horace Clarke (Played 1965-1974 for NYY)
27: John Montefusco (Played 1983-1986 for NYY)

28: Ron Blomberg (Played 1969, 1971-1976 for NYY)

29: Rafael Santana (Played in 1988 for NYY)

I was able to name 21 of the 29 autographs, but again any help with the remaining 8 would be greatly appreciated. Also, I know a lot of you guys have experimented with these large photos signed by multiple players, and I wanted to know what your take is on whether I should start to add more players to it and fill it up more, or if I should leave it as is, frame it, and call it a day. If I do decide to continue the quest for autographs, I don't think I would include current players, because they simply wouldn't really fit in. I think that majority of the players on here were born before Mantle retired, so maybe that could be a good way to arrange it by. 

This will definitely go down as one of the best card shows, if not THE best one yet! I wasn't the only one to win, however, as my friend Mike came home with something too. I'll save that for a later post! We are so lucky, and I'm really fortunate that my Dad was able to take me to the show. It means a lot. 

See Ya!

**UPDATE: Got them all, thank you to everyone for the huge amount of help! Couldn't have done it without you all!**

TTM's #43 and 44! Two More Awesome Successes!

Hey guys, Drew back here. My TTM adventure has officially taken off and I'm afraid this is the most addicting hobby this world has ever known. Seriously, aside from the work it takes to get all of these ready, I've never had so much fun going to the mailbox every day to check for new autographs. I got 2 more nice successes back recently, and I guess I'll have to let you check them out:

First off, we have 1 autograph from Yankees great Bill "Moose" Skowron! Nicknamed "Moose" after getting a haircut similar to that of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini as a young kid, the name stuck throughout the slugger's career. Moose played for 14 years total, but spent 9 of those seasons in pinstripes. In those 9 years he compiled 1,103 hits, 165 home runs, 672 RBI, and an average of .294. In 1961, Skowron had the greatest season of his career so far, with 28 home runs, and 89 RBI. That same year, he was just a little overshadowed by 2 other Yankees, you know, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, and the 3 of them combined with 143 total home runs that season! Achievements wise, Moose was an 8 time All Star, and has enough rings to fill up an entire hand of his! While he wasn't the best known and most popular Yankee at that time, he was a very underrated player!

This return took about 10 days. Man, these older men tend to return letters really fast! The 80 year old Skowron is about as consistent as they get, however I did need to toss a $5 bill in there to make Bill happy. Now on to success number 2...

None other than former Pirates reliever Elroy (Roy for short) Face! Face pitched 17 years in the bigs, and was considered a pioneer of the new "relief pitcher" job. According to several sites, he was the first pitcher in history to save 20 games more than once, and until his retirement, only Cy Young and Hoyt Wilhelm had appeared in more games than him. In 1959, he won 17 consecutive games, leading to his astounding .947 winning percentage in that season. He retired with a record of 104-95, an ERA of 3.48, and 193 saves. Not bad for one of the first of the new generation of pitching! He made 6 All Star teams and was again part of the 1960 World Series team that beat the Yankees after a series winning home run by Bill Mazeroski.

Face signed these 2 cards in about 5 days, which is again, incredible! The first is a custom, and it came out sharp, but my favorite was the 2004 Topps All Time Fan Favorites, which came out sweet in blue sharpie!

Well, another 2 great successes in the books, what do you think of them?

See Ya!

1960 World Series Customs!

Hey guys, Drew back here. I recently got into watching the MLB Network broadcast of the 1960 World Series Game 7 that they dug up from Bing Crosby's; a former singer and actor and part owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates; estate. They had a special live airing of the show in which Yankees second baseman Bobby Richardson, Pirates outfielder Bill Virdon, and Pirates shortstop Dick Groat were on stage with Bob Costas being interviewed as the game progressed. Also in the crowd stood former Pirates champions from that team, and the widow of Roberto Clemente. It was a really good show, and so I decided to make some customs of the Pirates and Yankees from those teams. Check them out!

I'm not done yet, as I still need to do Hall of Fame cards for Mazeroski, as well as a few other players from the teams, but let me know what you think of them!

See Ya!