Holy Beckett Sports Card Monthly! I'M IN!

Hey guys, Drew back here! So, while I would've been writing about the incredible Yankees game I was at last night, I decided this was something extremely important I wanted to show off first and foremost. Around 2 weeks ago, I got very bored online one day, and I saw Beckett's "Reader's Rock" monthly article program, and I thought "wouldn't it be cool if I made it in there?" So, I wrote something up on the best part of my collecting experience, the mysterious binder. I spent a good bit of time working on it, and sent it over to Beckett. I sort of forgot about it, even when yesterday I came home from school to find the newest Sports Card Monthly issue waiting for me in the mailbox.

I saved it for the car ride to Yankee Stadium, and pulled it out of my bag just minutes before dad got on an important work call. Just as he got on the call I turned to this page:

(click to zoom)

As coverboy Charlie Sheen would say, WINNING! My article took up half of page 33 in the October 2011 issue of Beckett Sports Card Monthly! I had to double take when I first saw this, and when I realized that I'm the only Drew that looks like that with an amazing binder and a great card seeking dad, I began to flip out! Mike saw it too and together we were going nuts in the back seat. Dad didn't realize what was going on, and he told us to be quiet since he was on the call, but when he got off, we all celebrated it, and dad was extremely happy for me!

I've done a lot of things I never could imagine myself doing in this hobby over the years, but this one may rank above all other things. Being in the biggest sports card magazine in the world is an honor and a privilege and I'm going to make sure I buy a few copies of this one.

Also, without the inspiration everyone has given me over the years to continue in my passion and stay in the hobby, I may not have ever had this story to tell. Thank you all for your enormous amount of support for me and my collection, it really means a lot.

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!

Revealing the Mysterious Binder... A Little at a Time... Awesome Rookie Cards!

Hey guys, Drew back here! So, I believe the binder series is almost complete, with this and maybe one more following it! I don't think I could ever be any more lucky in my life than I was with this thing. While you probably already are jealous enough, I'm sure you will be even more jealous after you see these:

This post is dedicated to the rookie cards I found in the binder. These 4 1967 Topps rookie cards were fairly nice, as the main rookies out of them were Rick Monday, Mark Belanger, and Joe Niekro. I really like the 1967 Topps set, its fairly colorful and has a lot of nice photos in it. I bet I could even build it one day with the amount of cards from it that I found in the binder. 

The first big rookie was also from the 1967 Topps set, of Minnesota Twins legend Rod Carew! Before I get into Carew more, Hank Allen, the other player on the card, was a decent utility player, who could play anywhere. He wasn't as great as his brother, Richard "Dick" Allen, but he was an average player in his 7 year career. As for Mr. Carew, well, what can't you say about the guy! In a 19 year career, Carew spent 12 years as a Twin, and 7 for the California Angels. His lifetime batting average speaks for itself, an incredible .328! In that 19 year career, he was named to 18 All Star teams, and was named the AL Rookie of the Year following his rookie season. In 1977, he won the AL MVP by posting a remarkable .388 batting average for Minnesota. He's also a member of the 3,000 Hit Club, and obviously, the Hall of Fame!

This card normally sells for quite a bit of money, typically from between $75 and $300, depending on the condition, with a possibility of it being worth even more graded. So its safe to say it would've been a major pain to land this card without having to shell out quite a bit of money! It's a beautiful card, in very nice shape, and I definitely am happy to add it to my Hall of Fame rookie card collection. 

But that's not all! On the final page of the binder, I found this 1965 Topps Houston Colt .45's rookie card of Joe Morgan and Sonny Jackson! I got this same card from my Pop Popps a while back, and already wrote a bit on Morgan and the card in general when I first posted it. I'm definitely happy to find a second copy of the card, but I'd be very interested in trading this straight up for either the 1961 Topps Juan Marichal rookie or the 1961 Topps Ron Santo rookie, that way I can help my set rather than have 2 of the same card. Let me know if you have either of those, or any other nice Hall of Fame rookie that you would trade for it. 

Well, that's it for this part of the series dedicating my pot of gold! Hope you enjoyed it! 

See Ya!

Revealing the Mysterious Binder... A Little at a Time... Oddball Cards!

Hey guys, Drew back here. So, this has been an ongoing, never ending series of sorts. It sure has been enjoyable, looking back at how lucky I got with this binder, with hundreds of incredible cards just laying there for me to take. I've highlighted the likes of Stan Musial, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax, Roger Maris, Yogi Berra, and Mickey Mantle already, who had arguably the most cards of anyone in the binder. But now it's time to focus on the other stuff, because this binder was filled with really neat stuff. For instance, the oddball cards featured in the binder were pretty cool. Check them out:

First are of some of the highlights out of the 1961, 1962, and 1963 Post sets! As you may remember, I did get the Hank Aaron card (2 actually), but since you've seen it I left it out. A couple Hall of Famers were in here, Jim Bunning and Robin Roberts, and then just a few guys that had solid stats but not Hall of Fame material. He cut some of the cards out very badly, which kinda sucks, but he cut the Hall of Famers out perfectly.

Next were some 1966 Bazooka cards, of Dick Groat, Tommy Davis, Warren Spahn, and Bob Friend. Again, I did find the Mickey Mantle card as well, but you've already seen it. These cards are about the size of the Allen & Ginter minis, and they're made of a really cheap stock. They're nothing spectacular but I do like the players I found from it. 

From 1963 Bazooka baseball, I found minis of "All Time Greats" Johnny Evers, Walter Johnson, Ban Johnson, Harry Heilman, and Wilbert Robinson. These are probably my favorites of the oddball sets, just because of the gold look and nice design. And everyone loves floating heads! 

Next, I found 2 cards from the 1965 Topps Embossed series, of Pirates Hall of Famer second baseman Bill Mazeroski and Athletics shortstop Wayne Causey. Apparently this set is 72 cards, and were placed in packs almost like inserts in the 1965 series. The players faces were all embossed onto the gold foil/cardboard background, and there are 36 representatives from each league in the set. These are really beat up, but they're very unique and I kinda like them!

Lastly, these may not be considered oddballs, but at the time, Fleer was just beginning! These 4 cards, all of Hall of Famers, are from 1960 Fleer. Lou Boudreau, Lefty Grove, Mel Ott, and Jimmy Collins are 4 of the 79 former greats featured in the set. The color variation makes the design more pleasing as a whole, but the photos do it for me, rather than the design.

What do you all think about some of these sets? This may be the least valuable post of the 'binder' series, but I wanted you guys to see just how cool this really was to look through!

See Ya!

Revealing the Mysterious Binder... A Little at a Time... Is This a Dream?

Hey everyone, Drew back here! I've been waiting a long time to post this, because I had originally planned for this to be the last post of the series. However, things got in the way, and I haven't had much of a chance to add to the series, and it's been months since I first got the binder. Since then, dad has picked up more tubs off of them and I haven't even gotten into the hidden treasures in them! So, without further ado... just enjoy, perhaps the greatest part of my entire collection!

Yes, this post, is dedicated to the one and only baseball icon, one of my all time favorite players, Mickey Mantle! The moment I opened up the mysterious binder, peeking beneath the first page, was a card of his, one that you'll see in a moment. First off however, are the least valuable of this group. 

The top card, from the 1961 Topps set, a set I've taken on the challenge of attempting to complete, reflects when Mantle hit a 565 foot home run, known as the "Tape Measure Shot"! An arrow points from home plate to beyond the outfield bleachers, outside of Griffith Stadium! The bottom card, from 1965 Topps, has to do with his clutch home run to win Game 3 of the 1964 World Series against the Cardinals. Both cards don't have the aura to them, like his regular cards, but they capture some of the greatest moments in one of the greatest baseball player's career!

The next two cards are the same, but its certainly not a bad card to get 2 of! From 1968 Topps, this is a "Super Stars" card with Mantle, joining legends Willie Mays, and recently deceased Harmon Killebrew! This is truly an unreal card, between these three players are 7,784 lifetime hits, and 1,769 home runs! I absolutely love the card, but with finding two of them, I was wondering if any of you would be interested in making me an offer for one of the two cards. What I ask for in exchange is a Mickey Mantle card that you own, that is NOT also in this post. I don't know if I'll get any offers, but I would love to make more of a variety in my small Mantle collection. 

Next, from 1963 Bazooka, a very mini sized card of Mantle. This is a neat little card, which I've never seen before, but I like it. It may not also carry the value of these next three, but any Mantle card is a Mantle card!

This was the first Mantle card I caught my eyes on, and it is by far my favorite of any of these cards. The 1968 Topps Mantle card may be his second to final issued Topps card, but it may just be one of his finest. Mantle, portrayed in his lefty stance, shows his injuries finally wearing him down. Also, just to point it out, other than a slight centering issue, the card is in very nice shape! 

Turning back the clock a year brings us my next Mantle card, this being his 1967 Topps card. It seemed as if Topps tried their hardest to make Mantle's card the greatest looking year in and year out, and they seemed to succeed. This isn't Mantle's coolest card by any means, but it's very valuable and nice all around!

The last, but not least (hopefully) card of Mantle was this one, from 1961 Topps! This was the main reason I decided that I could attempt this set, because I was able to knock off perhaps the most valuable card in the set for free. It's not in good shape surfacing wise, but it looks better in person than it does on the scan. Sometimes wear can be a nice thing for vintage cards, just to assure you it's not a reprint, and it can have interesting stories behind them, of the times where people bought baseball cards for the sake of having baseball cards, and not to have eBay in their back pocket, ready to let loose of their valuable items.

I wanted to finish this post by saying that it's hard for me to make this out to seem like a regular, nonchalant kind of deal. These are cards that I never thought I could even DREAM of owning, and now, not only do I have one, not 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, but 8 cards of Mickey Mantle from his playing days is absolutely unbelievable! I'm not one of those collectors that spends money, looks at the card once, and never again. I look at, cherish, and hold memories with a lot of the cards I own, and these will certainly be some of them.

This won't be the final binder post yet, as I want to highlight the rookies and other stars I found in there. But nothing can top "The Mick", especially in baseball card lure.

See Ya!

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

Hey everyone, Drew back here with the next post in the series of revealing my mysterious binder. Just to tell you all know first, I have a heck of a lot to show you guys in the future, stuff I've been waiting to show for months now, and I just managed to send a good 8 TTM requests out in the mail. So, hopefully, once finals and regents get overwith, I can be back at it all the way! Anyways, this edition as you see already belongs to the one and only TRUE single season home run king, Mr. Roger Maris! I never thought I would be able to add so many more cool cards of him, but in every collector's lifetime they will receive a lucky opportunity to reach some goals, and I certainly did! Take a look:

First off are two big cards in the 1961 Topps set of Maris'. When most baseball fans think of the 1961 season, hands down 99% of them will think of the show that Roger put on for them that season. Not to mention he also had won the MVP the prior season, after hitting 39 home runs and driving in 112 RBI! But, one of the greatest baseball moments occurred back on October 1st, 1961, when Maris hit his record breaking 61st home run of the season, a record only being beaten by 3 performance enhancing drug users: Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in 1998, and Barry Bonds in 2001. In my mind, I still call Maris the single season home run leader, but after the start by Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista, I'm a little scared of Maris hanging onto the throne this season. 

The cards aren't in mint condition by any means, but they are certainly presentable enough that I won't need to buy a better looking card for the set. The card on the left is the only short printed card I currently own from the set, his Sporting News All Star card. All of the Sporting News cards are short prints in the set, and feature some great hitters, which means a heavy price tag. Glad to get Maris out of the way. As for the right card, also from 1961, it's his MVP card for the 1960 season. In 1961, Topps went back and gave MVP cards to players that won throughout the 50's. Maris has 4 cards in the 1961 set, and to own half of them is a pretty good start for not having to even pay! 

Next, were 2 Postseason highlight cards. The first on the left, is a card that Dad already had gotten for me before, a 1963 Topps "Maris Sparks Yankees Rally" card from Game 3 of the 1962 World Series. This is probably his cheapest vintage card, as many can be found for $5 or less. The second card is from 1962 Topps, highlighting a walk off home run hit by Maris in Game 3, giving the Yankees a 2-1 series lead. After Maris' record breaking year, he steadily declined, batting .259 after that season. He played through many injuries through this time, missing most of 1963 and 1965. 

Speaking of 1965, the Topps card from that season is the first of the final 3 Maris cards I found in the mysterious binder! The 1965 Topps set may be my favorite Topps set of all time, and once I finish 1961, I'm hopefully going to try and do 1965 as well. This may be my favorite Maris card I've ever seen, because for some reason the pink just seemed to work for the Yankees in that year. Following that is his 1966 Topps card, which has a good size crease going across his face. Sure, it takes away from the overall appearance of the card, but it's still a pretty nice card nonetheless. Maris ended up leaving the Yankees after a brutal 1966 season, heading to the Cardinals for the final two seasons of his career. It was a last resort for Maris, and he struggled both years with St. Louis. The final card is from 1968, showing an older version of Roger, which is kind of sad and disappointing. However, Maris will always be regarded as one of the greatest Yankees of all time, even though he somehow does not have a plaque in Cooperstown.

"Roger Maris was as a good of a man and as good of a ballplayer as there ever was" - Mickey Mantle

Overall I'm extremely happy with this binder, and the awesome new additions to my Yankees collection! 

See Ya!

Revealing the Mysterious Binder... A Little At a Time... Hammerin Hank!

Hey everyone, Drew back here. I've gone through the thickest jungle, sailed the highest waves in the ocean, and climbed the biggest mountain in the world to return to you guys. Over the past week, I've taken a load of tests and quizzes, played a ton of baseball, and have battled a pulled muscle in my back along with a very bad cold. However, while I'm still sick, and I still have to take tests, still playing baseball, I've got a little time to spare to write for you guys.

The newest installment of the series highlighting my unbelievable binder belongs to the true All Time Home Run King, Mr. Hank Aaron! Check out what I was able to pick up of his!

First were 2 cards from 1962 Post. Yes, the cereal brand. In the early 60's and scattered all around the later decades in the 20th century, Post was one of many oddball brand name companies to release cards. Obviously, cards used to come with gum, or even cigarettes or tobacco back in the early 1900's. These Post cards are hard to keep in good condition because it appears that they had to be cut out from a box of cereal for them to be free. While they don't have the value of early Topps cards from that time, the nostalgia is certainly there and I think they're pretty cool.

 

Next is one of the critical cards that I needed for my 1961 Topps set, Hank's base card! Of all the legends in the set, Hank Aaron is one of the top selling players, of course following Mantle, Maris, and even Clemente. It's a really nice card, based off of  a season in which he hit 40 home runs, which was just an average year for one of the best players in baseball history!

Finally, perhaps my favorite of the bunch is this 1959 Topps "Fence Busters" card of Aaron and fellow Hall of Fame slugger Eddie Mathews! Even in gem mint condition this card isn't worth as much as the 1961 card, but it is a gem to me. The photo isn't anything spectacular, but plain and simple, it is a card of 2 hitters who slugged a combined total of 1267 home runs, and 2 of the games greatest players.

I wish I could add an autograph of Hank to go along with these one day, and I know he'll be towards the top of my list. Stay tuned for the next segment of "Revealing the Mysterious Binder", and for now, I'm your host, Drew. See Ya!

Revealing the Mysterious Binder... A Little At A Time... Say Hey Willie Edition!

Hey guys, Drew back here! I'm back to continue the mini-series I recently started, having to do with an incredible binder of cards that my dad got from a lady on Craigslist. She couldn't have found a more responsible and caring collector to pass her deceased father's collection down to than me, and I really appreciate all that she did for my collection! This time, we honor one of the/if not the greatest player to EVER play baseball, Mr. Willie Mays!

Mays played 22 seasons in his MLB career, spanning from 1951 to 1973, with a brief break in 1952 and all of 1953 when the Army drafted him for the Korean War. He spent over 20 seasons of his career with the New York/San Francisco Giants, and played the remainder of his games for the Mets. Of course, his 660 career home runs ranks him 4th of all time, behind Barry Bonds(*), Hank Aaron, and Babe Ruth, and his 3,283 hits ranks him 11th all time. He made 24 All Star teams, won 12 Gold Glove awards, 2 MVP Awards, a World Series Championship in 1954, and made some of the greatest plays of all time! To say that the "Say Hey Kid" is the greatest all around player baseball has ever seen can easily be backed up and agreed with!

We begin with Willie's 1961 Topps card! First off, this is a very good card for me to have, as it fills one of the biggest holes in my huge 1961 Topps set wantlist, but second, its a great card. Maybe had Mays been wearing a hat or looked a little more awake this card could have been nicer, but its still a card of Willie Mays! The card isn't in mint condition but it looks presentable, so that's fine with me. As long as it's not absolutely destroyed, I'm more than happy to add any vintage card.

Next are 2 cards that feature the exact same photo, Mays' 1968 and 1965 Topps cards. What a dumb move by Topps to use the same photo, especially one that he's not even looking in. It does make it easier to compare designs, and in this case, 1965 Topps obviously is my favorite of the 2. The scan cut off part of the right hand side of the 65 card, and both of the cards are in nice shape.

Lastly, here are 2 amazing cards from the 1967 Topps set. On the left is a beautiful base card of Mays, by far my favorite of the Mays cards I own. Everything is done perfectly on the card and its in great condition. On the right is a "Fence Busters" card featuring Mays and his slugging partner Willie McCovey! McCovey may not have been as legendary as Mays, but he also hit 521 homers in his career, and to say the two players are "Fence Busters" when they combined for 1,181 home runs in their careers makes 100% perfect sense!

"I was very blessed with a good body. Never got hurt. Never was in the hospital. The only time I was in the hospital was when I would get exhausted a little bit, and go in for a check-up or something." - Willie Mays

I actually recently watched an interview with Mays on the MLB Network. The "bitter and mean" person that many collectors make him out to be disappeared for a nice interview with Bob Costas, and it was really great to watch. God bless Willie Mays, now at 79 years young, The "Say Hey Kid" will always be remembered!

See Ya!

Revealing the Mysterious Binder... A Little at a Time... Sandy Koufax & The LA Dodgers Edition

Hey guys, Drew back here. So, as I've been doing lately, I've been showing off a few cards at a time from my holy grail of collecting, the binder of brilliance! This time I'm paying tribute to Sandy Koufax and some of his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates! Let's see what the binder of brilliance has to share of this pitching legend:

First, we have two cards from the 1964 set, from the 1963 World Series Highlights subset! They show Koufax and his famous powerful windup, with the headline above proclaiming his 15 strikeouts in Game 1 of that series against the Yankees. This is an unfortunate card for Yankees fans, because following this game they managed to get swept by the Dodgers. Oh well, you can't win them all, and it's always nice to see different teams win outside of the Red Sox.

These final two cards of Sandy Koufax feature some of his great pitching teammates, Don Drysdale and Johnny Padres. The card to the left is a 1965 Topps NL ERA leaders, and I find the card to be really cool. Two teammates on the same leader card really shows the dominance of their pitching staff at the time. Koufax won the Cy Young award in 1965 after going 26-8 with a 2.04 ERA and 382 strikeouts. Nobody can even come close to those numbers nowadays, because they are completely unheard of! On the right card, Koufax and former pitching great Johnny Padres are displayed as "Dodger Southpaws". This card is really knicked up, but I still really like it, because anything with Sandy on it is a great one.

Sandy Koufax won only 165 games in his career, mainly due to the fact that he only played 12 seasons because of an arthritis condition that ended his career. His career ERA is 2.76, and he struck out 2396 batters. He made 7 All Star teams, won 3 Cy Youngs, 4 World Series championships, and 3 pitching Triple Crowns. Wow. Had he pitched longer, you can make more of a case that he is the greatest pitcher to ever take the mound.

These cards from this binder so far have been unreal. You could only imagine the look on my face when I uncovered this from the ruins of 1989 Topps and 1990 Donruss! Thanks so much again to the nice lady who gave me the cards! And for the rest of you, stay tuned for the next installment of the series!

"There are two times in my life the hair on my arms has stood up: The first time I saw the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the first time I saw Sandy Koufax throw a fastball."- Dodgers Scout Al Campanis

See Ya!

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!