ONE HAS TO WONDER

     

                   As I write this blog piece I am currently watching the bottom of the 15th inning of Game 3 of the World Series. After watching the last out in the inning I have to wonder what it might have been like had I been in attendance back on April 18th & 19th only to conclude on June 23rd in 1981. The 2 teams were the Pawtucket Paw Sox taking on the Rochester Red Wings. Yes it was a minor league game but when the game concluded the Majors were on a labor strike so of course it made news for being the longest game in history of organized baseball.  The game lasted 8 Hours 25 minutes can you imagine telling your significant other saying your going to the game & you sit through all 33 innings how would you explain where you were when asked where the hell have ya been & they don't believe that you were at a ball game that long. Also as you can see from the picture featured on the top of the post it featured 2 Future Hall of Famers Wade Boggs for the Paw Sox & Cal Ripken Jr. for the Red Wings.  

Imagine doing this scorecard.

Cal Went 2 for 13 in the game Wade well he did a little bit better he went 4 for 12. Again I pose the question for you with the 1981 design Heritage year only 5 years away will Topps discuss this game or will they only offer it in the Minor League version. Well as I type this line Freddie Freeman just hit his Game Winner ending the game in 18 inning again I have to think of all those times I would go to a ballgame if the game was something memorable what type of a piece of history would I want to own from that game. What I am refering about say I attended a perfect game would I want a foul ball from the team that was being held to no hits or one that was hit by the team doing the Perfecto. This thought is always on my mind when I go to a game due to the fact that I remember that in 1974 when Hank Aaron passed Babe Ruth for career home runs the ball he hit was caught in the bullpen by relief pitcher Tom House who ran all the way from the bullpen to home plate to present the ball to Hank. That leaves me with a lot of unsolved mystery type questions about certain balls here's a list of balls that somehow no one knows who actually has that ball in no particular order & keep in mind as I type this another unknown person made the list.

1. 2025 Game 3 World Series walk off Winner Home Run hit by Freddie Freeman.
2. 2024 Game 1 walk off Grand Slam winner hit by Freddie Freeman. 
3. September 27 1999 The Grand Slam that marked the last home run at Tiger Stadium hit by Robert Fick that hit the roof.
4. July 13 1971 The Home Run was hit by Reggie Jackson during the All-Star Game that hit the light tower at Tiger Stadium.
5. October 3rd 1951 The Shot Heard Around the World hit by Bobby Thomson off Ralph Branca giving the Giants the National League Pennant over the Dodgers. 

Many claim they have it but no one knows for sure 

6. September 28 1960 The last time The Spendid Splinter (Ted Williams) hit a ball in his final at bat at Fenway Park for the Red Sox.
7. October 18 1988 The only at bat during Game 1 of the World Series Kirk Gibson Home Run off Dennis Eckersley.



These are 7 Home Runs that are not countable that have some very valuable so I leave it to my readers tell me what Home Run do you wish you could catch from my list or let me know what ones I am missing that could be added to the list. Until then I am reminded of Rogers Hornsby talking about signing autographs for kids "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."

VERY VERY VERY BUSY

               Its been a long time since I been able to do a posting on my blog due to the fact I have been very very very busy with my 2 jobs. 

Me hard at work at Dollar General

                 Last week Friday I had a rare day off from both places so it was also my parents 55th Wedding Anniversary so I went to celebrate it with them by joining them for lunch/dinner then went to a card shop to see what nice treasures I could mark off my lists of stuff since the weekend before I wasn't able to go to back to back shows in opposite directions from one another & each would have had some great stuff.  I was able to knock out some great finds as well create some new things to look for. 1 of the items I found was the 1986 Topps Super set for $10 it was a set that pretty much I didn't list on my site cause its one of those odd-things that I keep to myself when looking at things I bought on chance it was the last one of the run I had previous sets on. If it was 1 that I already had well.....then it would have been up for grabs if anyone was interested in it on my next giveaway contest as a prize unfortunately I was dead on in getting the last one. The same dealer also had a very unique odd-ball set from 1982 ASA The Mickey Mantle Story, at $30 I was a bit hesitant to get it cause the price & well doing my usual research on things by using the TCDB site for guidence I had a tough choice to either pass on it then see someone else snatch it up & wonder did I pass up on a great deal or maybe it was better to see someone else enjoy it. Needless to say I bought it all 72 cards were there it was blue backed compared to the one shown on the TCDB site then came the observer in me my card #1 is a lot different then the #1 featured on here mine doesn't have the block lettering like this one shown here does so I left a messages with friends to see if they knew why mine was different then the one shown. They were like me baffled so eventually I will try to get to the bottom of this mystery.

I figured for me to get this 72 card set just for the odd-ball that it is.

             As you read this post I might be in the middle of another long Saturday at the store working 10 straight hours with a possible 1 hour lunch if I am lucky to get one anyways I just thought I say hi to you all since I have a reputation to keep appearing when ya least expect. Until then I am reminded by Rogers Hornsby talking about autographs for little kids "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for a little kid ain't an American, He's a Communist."

CHECKING ON FRIENDS

                     Last week Tuesday I had a rarity I was lucky to only have my school job once I dropped off a coworker I made my way back to a shop that I only had limited time for on the previous Friday. On that Friday I picked up a nice little gem of a card that completed my `72/`73 Topps Hockey set it was sold to me for a great price of $.05 so my readers did I overpay for my Tony 'O' let me know in the comments section.

Not back for a nickel eh!!!

So I went back to find some more great singles which I found a couple more of my 2023 Topps Pro Debut thinking I would have to have someone that only dabbled in minor league cards since I got a nice starter a while back so I wanted to get closer in completing my set so for a $.25 per card I got a few including the Albuquerque Dukes 1967 design insert of Paul Konerko card giving me 6 of the 19 Minor League Legends cards. 

               As I was on my way back from the shop I reached out to a couple friends on my phone especially to a good Canadian guy who I sometime will cross the Windsor bridge come to Michigan for a visit take back with him some great cards from me & 3 cases of RC Cola as long he brings me 2 cases of Labatt Blue or some Yukon Jack to indulge in Mr Mike Matson. He was telling me how he was looking forward to when Toronto would play in the playoffs as well some concerts down the road as well telling me to wait for him to tell me that the CANADIAN POSTAL SERVICE was back in running before I send him another batch of Blue Jays stuff to him. 
                      After I checked in with him I reached out to my friend former GM of the Padres & a great guy to discuss trades he made & other things he did while working for them Joe McIlvaine who was currently in Florida at the moment looking at some prospects  

His RC hopefully he will sit down do a post with me about life as a GM.

We were discussing the Guardian & Tigers series briefly as well what sets he was trying to complete since trading cards has been on hold at the moment cause everytime Joe tries to help on others lists they want stuff he doesn't have but he was extremely happy about my find in the 1967 Set when I was in Chicago for the NSCC. We didn't talk long cause he usually busy during the post season talking to other GMs about things & advice he may have if a GM might want to pull a blockbuster of a deal during the Winter Meetings or such.

                       Then later in the week I got a couple of blasters of the 2025 Heritage at BJ Wholesalers mainly for the SPs cards from 401 through 500 got a couple of them as well some inserts for others I trade with that might want them as well my friends that collect certain teams one of them was an autograph of an Angels player that I am not familiar with so with that I sought out another friend by checking his site ya might know him Angels Tom. Unbeknownst to me Tom took down his blog along with his list of needs that I had tried to help out in finding for him so I shot Tom an email he responded since its been 17 years & he was getting tired of trying to come up with content but hasn't given up on collecting so I asked if he would be interested in my dupes of the heritage he replied sure so I then mentioned I have an autograph then I get crickets from him on that so I sent another email asking what about the autograph he replied I am not worthy of a trader when it comes to finding others needs & he'll continue to help in my search as a thank you for the autograph card. 

One of the few highlights was pulling this card but its already en route to its new home soon.

What more can I say I don't mind helping my friends in the collecting world with their needs in hopes they can help me with mine. As well when I don't hear from you in sometime don't be surprised if someone like me checks on you cause after all I haven't stopped looking for you if you don't stop looking for me with that I am reminded of the great Rogers Hornsby once said "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist." 

IT'S NOT A FAKE

        Back in 1988 a young pitcher called up from the minors to help out a weak pitching staff for a last place team. This pitcher was traded as a prospect the year before at the trade deadline for a veteran of a pitcher who was undefeated going a 9-0 (14-10 Overall) to help that team reach the post season. This same pitcher later came back home to a card show that was hosted by a rival during his High School years. The first card you see is how he signed back in 1988 the weirdness I can & maybe Bo would agree that the picture might have been taken on his Major League Debut game. That's right I am calling ya out Bo see if I am right or not please comment if I have a steak dinner riding on my thoughts. The second autograph as you can see is on his 1989 Upper Deck card I got it signed at this again in his Hometown at a different venue back in 1991 a year after going to his 1st trip to the World Series. More like where he honed his craft of a pitcher when he was attending a Catholic school which also in back to back years he brought his teammates to join him for this venue the first was a former #1 Draft Pick 3rd overall from 1988 then a year later a teammate who was identified as this pitcher I wasn't able to obtain those 2 times to get his teammates autographs cause I was busy helping a fellow dealer by running his table for him while he needed an extra set of hands to watch over his 2 cases of `80/`81 Topps Basketball & `86/`97 Fleer Basketball that he acquired in 1988. Now most people say that the autograph from 1988 is fake well sorry to burst your bubble its real & if you ask him he will clearly say yes that's how I used to sign now its more like the 1989 Upper Deck card. So I like to hear what you think have ya gotten an autograph from a player more than 1 time on different occasions & it looked different from the previous one or not & speaking of autographs I am reminded of the great Rogers Hornsby once saying "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."

CLAYTON KERSHAW CLASS ACT

 

          A couple of weeks ago I did a segment on my blog what's in my PC 5000ct box. One of the comments I got was I sure got a lot of good things & I mentioned that I got a 2008 Upper Deck Timeline Autograph of 1 Clayton Kershaw well, after seeing my phone blow up of messages on Thursday after hearing that Clayton was announcing his retirement from the Dodgers to take place as soon as the Dodgers season which might last a long time in the post season. I thought I would share with you photos of the card I got of this class act of a pitcher. Its numbered 07/95 I remember the day I pulled it from a blaster box. I was first shocked then amazed that a blaster box released 6 years prior when I pulled it in 2014 & it came a few days after Clayton threw his only No-Hitter on June 21(Clayton's No Hitter was on the 18th) plus the blaster was a priced at $4.99 it was buried with lot of other discontinued blasters that I purchased at a Meijer. 

          I guess the reason I put it within the screwdown like I did is Clayton was an 11 time All-Star Pitcher,an MVP winner,a 3 time Cy Young Award winner, plus I saw Clayton pitched when he was in the minors when he was with at the time the Great Lakes Loons when they took on my Lansing Lugnuts sadly Clayton lost to them in his only appearance against them. Plus I remembered hearing when playing Little League ball his catcher growing up as a kid a few doors down from his house was none other then Matthew Stafford current Los Angeles Rams Quarterback that once played for my team the Detroit Lions. 

I remember seeing the banners they hung around the stadium where the Loons play at the Kershaw banner was at antique store the asking price $700K cause it was signed by him.

                 I wanted to show this card with the likes of Mr Owl whom I know who has an very elaborate collection of Kershaws through the years mainly he focuses on the Topps Gold versions he has from 2008 to the present. Then I also wanted to show GCRL as well this card since those 2 are competitive Dodger collectors makes me wonder if other than the 3 cards featured in the Mega Card set devoted to Babe Ruth how competitive they would both be if they made a Babe Ruth card of him as a Dodger would be I hope they both chime in with comments on who would want that card more lol.

 

                  Clayton has come a long way when he was a youngster in the 2008 Topps Traded set to the present day card of him in 2025 he certainly will be 1 Dodger will have his number retired & 5 years from now will see up in Cooperstown I only wish he was able to get that mark of 300 Career wins but injuries caught up with him so I can now only hope that Justin Verlander still can make it but time is against him as well hopefully someone will get to that milestone again before he gets impossible to get. I know Max Scherzer is also a candidate for 300 career wins but his slow start this year with the Blue Jays is hurting his chances as well.

Until then I hope to hear from many others on what they think of my Kershaw Autographed that I was nice to share with just remember what Rogers Hornsby once said about signing autographs "Any Ballplayer who refuses to sign autographs for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."

I FOUND IT.....I FOUND IT!!!!!!

 

              This last weekend I was staying at my parents house cause I had to watch over my mom's cat formally my cat before I moved out BlackJack. Lately when my dad or I come over BlackJack likes to hide from us cause he is afraid of us.  So in efforts to see him from his hiding place in my parents room I was attacked on my right hand after telling him to calm down he still didn't want to be near me he eventually calmed down and later apologized for his attack against me. Anyways prior to his attack I found this Baseball Digest issue from December 2003 while rereading in the private office room (Sorry I do most of my reading of others blogs while in here as well & any other books I might be reading its either read or play games on my phone.) So as I was reading it they usually at the beginning of they feature letters to the editor. I remember reading the October issue of 2003 & I had to make a comment or I would say my Cha-Ching action of knowing more than most people know about baseball so I had found it my issue that featured my letter I knew I had a letter published by the magazine but I couldn't remember what issue but here it is the issue I had found it YAHOO!!!!!!! I have enclosed my letter for all to read. 

I can't help but know a lot about baseball.


                  After rereading my letter I immediately said I need to do a post on this. Now I pose this question to my avid readers did you know about this factoid or not be honest with me. I have a bet going on with my coworker that he says about 2 of you knew & I disagree I told him I bet they knew about the Clemens event but didn't know about the Ryan event if someone did know about the 2 events I know they are lying. 

Blackjack when I owned him liked my bed back in January 2010.

Hello I am prisoner # 9livesFeline I didn't do it 

This was after the attack & I had cleaned up my hand only to have it continue to bleed. It still hurts when I flex my fingers on the keyboard while typing this post up. Don't worry Ill live to tell more interesting things for my blog. Until then I am reminded of the words of Rogers Hornsby when talking about autographs for kids "Any ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."

24 YEARS HARD TO BELIEVE

 

                              Most of us remember that 24 years ago we woke up to hearing the news of the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York as well the Pentagon & of course the field in Pennsylvania. As I reflected last year I was supposed to be on one of those flights (read my past post on the 23rd Anniversary of the date).  Next year will mark the 25th Anniversary MLB already planned to have an interleague game between the Yankees & the Mets to be played on that date. I hope around 8:46 AM EST that you took the time to reflect on your lives as well your love ones on this day.

The route of the planes that crashed on 9/11/01 

Even though I am the last child in my family my mother is thankful that I wasn't on the flight especially this year. I am not sure how my parents would have been on this day this year had I been on flight 175. I again would normally leave you with my quote from Rogers Hornsby instead Ill leave you with words of Todd Beemer "Are you guys ready? Let's Roll."