THE SHIRT SAYS IT ALL

           Well sorry for not posting since the 26th of October I have been extremely busy with my 2 jobs with usually my nights spending time relaxing compressing the day I endured.  My shirt says it all "......I am not dead yet!!!!!" Yes its a quote from Monty Python & the Holy Grail as well the musical Spamalot. I can hear some of you saying why am I griping about working 2 jobs well my first job during the day is working at an elementary school dealing with kids from Kindergarden through the 3rd Grade as an Instructional Assistant (Fancy name for being a tutor to kids) I have been working with the district since 1998 what can be stressful working with them well......just when we get them settled down and ready for recess a co-worker will play music that gets them jumping up and down a lot like its a mini Mosh Pit. I try to clear tables & its not easy with them not paying attention to where they're dancing at. Then after I deal with school kids I go directly to my other job which is working at Dollar General. 

             On rare days off from school I like to sleep in until I have to go to DG. Now on my days off from DG I like to just either try to go to the local shop or leave on a trip to a shop outside of my area to see if I can find things I might need from my lists or find things others are looking for. Then there's times where I spend time with my girlfriend & we try to find things we both can enjoy case in point last week Friday after I got back from cashing my paychecks we went to the west end of the state to a mall to do some shopping then enjoy a nice dinner at a TGIFridays. Then after dinner my girlfriend asked me if I wanted to go to a local shop that I like going to since they moved to a bigger location & I mentioned how I like to see the changes since I saw a YouTube video of the shop starring Mojo & how he enjoyed going to it. 

          Needless to say I found a few singles I needed but the biggest find I did was thanks to the video & after talking to Greg (The Collective Mind blogger if you haven't read his stuff I suggest you do) I mentioned I found him a set he was missing in his Allen & Ginter run that was the 2017 Set. I paid $40 for it & he was extremely excited that I found it & I have to agree with him that $40 was a hell of a deal considering that the Aaron Judge RC is in it with average prices from $25 to $40 raw plus all the SPs were in it so he didn't have to hunt any of them down.

          So don't think that I have given up on working on my blog I just been busy at my jobs & trying to come up with more exciting things to discuss on here. In fact I am looking forward to the next show that Ill be at on the 10th of this month cause my friend Pat said she has some nice 2024 Update Inserts for me as well 2 of my 2024 Heritage Box Toppers those I can't wait to get plus Greg sent out a package for me of stuff so I can't wait for that mail day arrival hoping that he included the long awaiting set finisher in my `97/`98 Fleer Basketball set of Allen Iverson that I needed to complete so I no longer have to look for that card & then I can enjoy looking at that set.

           Before I wrap up this latest posting sometime this month I am hoping to drop a challenge & I hope I can get a great challenger(s) in the fight. I also hope that I can win it as well. I know that time will tell me if it was worth trying to do or not pending on my opponent(s) is & if they are ready to take on POISON *evil laugh* or will I be the one that gets crushed. Until then I am reminded of the Great Rajah Hornsby quote of signing autographs for kids " Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."

JUMPING ROOKIES CARDS

 

                       Rookie Cards are somewhat the majority of collectors collecting these days. What made me talk about this subject about jumping Rookie Cards was hearing about the passing of this guy shown here underneath. 

                           You see back in 1981 the Baseball world was captured before the strike in Fernandomania. Prior to Topps going full-speed with a Year end Traded set (Yes I know they dabbled a little bit on the Traded sets in 1972,1974, & 1976) kids were opening packs of Topps and Fleer cards & to their amazement was a Fernando or in Fleers case Fernand. Rookie cards of a player who was making it big. Back in 1951 Bowman was first to do that with a pair phenoms of Mickey Mantle & Willie Mays neither had yet played a single game in the majors yet there were their Rookie Cards.

             1975 Topps issued Fred Lynn who later in the 1975 season won the Rookie of the Year & MVP awards. 

                         Fast forward there was a player toiling in the minors trying to make the Detroit Tigers as the photographer for Topps was taking photos passed on a phenom who later made a name with the Los Angeles Dodgers cause he didn't sign a Topps Contract. Fleer again jumped the gun to create the 1963 Fleer RC of Maury Wills later Topps added Wills in 1967 as his first card (Yes I am also familiar with the 1960 Topps World Series card in which Wills is shown but uncredited on it)  

                  Well we now jump to 1983 Fleer again jumps the gun in getting the South-Side Slugger yet was cold-hearted on many Beckett Magazine early issues after his 1983 season I am talking about the 1 & only Ron Kittle (Again Topps was late in getting him but included him with the Traded set). Kittle is 1 card that I believe should be the sportsman for hot 1 year & then turn Anartician Frigid the next most flippers in the trade must take homage to Kittle in my opinon cause everyone talks about the hottest rookie must have etc then if the player becomes like well what Ron endured these so-called collectors don't want anything to associate with owning a card like that. Now case in point Wander Franco is the newest version of the Ron Kittle saga all everyone wanted in 2021 Franco this........Franco that.......anyone got any of his cards comes the voices of the hobby. Then he falls from the scene cause of the Young Child case I understand its a crime but c'mon this is why I am against Grading cards of as soon as they are released as well collectors jumping too soon on these phenom players I still stand in wishing all the graded companies would just wait until 2 years of a release so you can see if the player is a stud or a dud before grading it. I know I'll hear alot of your comments on saying Grading shouldn't matter well.....it does. 

                       Anyways now in 1985 Topps jumped the RCs with these next 3 players pictured Belcher didn't get noticed until 1988 another 3 years after this card was made. Shawn Abner I can still remember watching NBC's Game of The Week Pregame show when they announced the New York Mets with the 1st overall pick selected Shawn Abner.  We didn't see Abner again until 1988 (Fleer,Donruss,Score, & YES!!! even Sportflics made a card of Shawn that year)  like Belcher however Abner was featured with the San Diego Padres. If you think about it opening a pack of 1985 Topps your a Mets fan wonder who is this guy & Topps didn't create another Abner card until 1990. Now we come to the 1985 Topps Subset that starts at #389 & runs to #404 & who's the RC that is featured in it well 2 years later we all would hear the name of Mark McGwire (Yes I know theres others like Cory Snyder,Oddibe McDowell that were in the same area of having their RCs in the set but Mark was the poster child of the 1984 Olympic Team).

Now its 1986 Donruss as well Fleer were jumping the guns with Canseco RCs making them the hottest RCs before the Update sets were released. Are you convinced yet if not keep reading.

                    1 year later we see Donruss jump the gun with Greg Maddux  (Again Topps & Fleer included him in their Traded/Update set respectively) 1988 Fleer,Score,Donruss did a Gregg Jefferies jump much after seeing him hit .500 in his short time in the 1987 season (He played 6 games).

                   By 1989 everyone included this phenom in their sets with Topps waiting until the update to feature him. By the turn of 2001 Ichiro was issued by then we all learned that Jumping the RCs were a normal. So anyways I leave my readers to see if I have forgotten anyone if so let me know in the comments below. Until then I remind you of the quote of the Rogers Hornsby talking about signing autographs for little kids. "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American, he's a Communist."

WORLD SERIES TIME AGAIN

 

         For the 12th time in the World Series we get to watch the New York Yankees play against the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers. Am I excited to see who wins the crown this year not really if the Dodgers win it Ohtani will get his first ring the same goes to Judge. Some of you are saying wouldn't Soto get his first you all forget he was a member of the 2019 Washington Nationals team.

                       My phone was blowing up with my insiders group last night midway of the 4th inning between the Mets & Dodgers game on Sunday night wondering the question I am now asking my readers to answer afterall your input is neither right nor wrong but I just like to tell you the group is split on the tribute that you'll be part of in the question that was brought up.

The group was wondering since 1995 (Yes I know there was someone prior to this in 1964 for the San Fransisco Giants but most collectors focus on the 1995 season mainly). Since Hideo Nomo made his debut for the Dodgers then in 2001 you had Ichiro appear 2003 Hideki Irabu debut then in 2004 Hideki Matsui then in 2018 we had Ohtani 2024 brought in Yoshinobu. Do we let Matsui decked in his #55 jersey again Ichiro in his road Grey #31 & Nomo his white Dodgers #16 come out just to toss a first pitch for Game 4? 

If I were to answer that here's the top 10 People I would say to toss out a first pitch.  5 players for each team. 

For the Yankees I would say Graig Nettles,Reggie Jackson,Ron Guidry, Derek Jeter (yes I know he wasn't involved in any of the previous 11 match ups), Joe Torre (same answer as Jeter but he did manage both clubs).

For the Dodgers Sandy Koufax,Steve Garvey,Fernando Valenzula(Yes even though he was rookie & didn't factor much in 1981 he was a member of the last time these 2 teams fought for the title)Dusty Baker,Night Owl would be surprised if his main man Ron Cey did it so I am giving him a call to throw it out. Plus Cey & Baker were co-MVPs in the 1981 series.

There's been a lot of historical facts that I could go on a lot about that you would say Damn Poison please you are cha-chinging too much with all these Highlights do you not have a life other than talking baseball factoids. So I won't do that to my readers so your quite welcome.

Instead I will propose this next question to you that the group is wondering as well. That question is this which of the 11 previous times that these 2 teams played which year would you like to own a piece of memroabilia from it can be ball or a jersey or a bat from 1 player thats all nothing else.

                        Now if you ask me what cards featured in this post do I own real simple the I only own the 1989 Talking card featured on the top of the post and basically the 2004 Fall Classic Covers & the Podres Autograph shown as well so what ones do you own. 

If I have to pick a winner of the series its simple I'll take the team that Willie Randolph was an All-Star with & it will be 7 games.

So with that all said I am reminded the quote from Rogers Hornsby talking about signing autographs for little kids. "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."

DON"T GET ME WRONG.....

                         

                  Don't get me wrong this guy featured on my blog was to me yes the enemy meaning he's a Wolverine. As a Buckeyes Fan I don't like many players from the school that is my arch-rival but you see Glen to me was an underrated All-Star player when he was in the NBA. He played a total of exactly 1000 games in his career he was an NBA Champion when he played for at the time in the 1999-2000 season with the Los Angeles Lakers. The reason I am calling out Glen is simply it seems he is if I don't count all the major superstars of the NBA like Michael Jordan,LeBron James,Kobe Bryant. Glen is the 1 player on my basketball lists that usually alludes to me in my set building process. 

             I just don't understand why he is the 1 player that I never seem to locate when I am making my sets & when I go to shows or shops & they have those individual piles devoted to the stars I never seem to find his cards that I need. It's really flustering to me or I go through a monster box of singles that are organized by sets that I can't locate him. My friend Greg has the similar problem within trying to find Derek Jeter. 

             Don't get me wrong I just wonder if any of my readers have someone that they usually can't be able to locate if so let me know in the comments below. Here is my list of the players whom I seem can't be able to get. 

Baseball-Ken Griffey Jr.

Basketball-Glen Rice as you read

Football-Barry Sanders

Hockey-Any Red Wings Game Used or the Top RC for the Hockey year I am working on.

            As usual I am reminded the quote of Rogers Hornsby about signing autographs for kids "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs ain't An American, hes a Communist."

LAST CARD STANDING RESULTS

                    Here's the last card standing sorry I have been busy with previous posts that I wrote prior to the contest as well with my 2 jobs as well taking my girlfriend to the hospital cause she was having a Colonosopy done on Monday The winner of second prize & his choice of either of the 1991 Pacific Senior League Set w/Stickers or the 1994 Upper Deck All-Time Heroes set was Fuji. As for the hidden message since no one was able to decode it I gave my full name my first name was under Dick Stuart(Pirates) my middle name Micah Bowie (Braves) my last name which would either one would have given you the answer Harold Reynolds (Mariners) Or Allie "Chief" Reynolds (Yankees) the other hidden message was Jack Billingham (Reds) on the 1975 card the team whom won the series back in 1975. Since Bo was the first to put my first & last name together he wins the 1990 Topps Major League Debut 1989 set. I have Bo's Address already I just need Fuji to send me a trade offer on Sportscardforum.com & let me know what set you want. Thanks to all that tried to decode the code will try it again sometime in November so stay tuned to that contest.

                            Until then I am reminded of the quote of Rogers Hornsby about signing autographs for kids "Any Ballplayer whom doesn't sign for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."  

40 YEARS AGO aka SPARTAN REUNION PART II

 

                    In my last post I talked about a reunion between the Dr. Mike Marshall,Steve Garvey, & Herb Washington all 3 were alumni from Michigan State University & were all 3 involved in a pick off play in Game 2 of the 1974 World Series. I also mentioned how this wasn't the only the reunion for Garvey dealing with Michigan State the second time occurred 40 years ago today even though they had played 4 games prior to this World Series Clinching game for the Detroit Tigers in Game 5 where Kirk Gibson of the Tigers beat Garvey's San Diego Padres by hitting 2 blasts giving them a 8-4 Victory.  You can read some of the interesting things from the picture at the beginning of this post. Here's some more interesting facts about this photo that not many people know about as well more about Gibson & Garvey.

              The photo was taken prior to Game 4 in Detroit after both players watched their Spartans take on Indiana University at Spartan Stadium on October 13, 1984. Both players were MVPs while playing for the Dodgers Garvey was in 1974, Gibson 1988. Both players were their respective League Championships MVPs in the 1984 Post Season Garvey was with the Padres Gibson as mentioned before by the Tigers. Gibson has his #23 Retired by Michigan State football team & is honored in the Ring of Honor showing his number while Garvey has his #6 retired by the Padres.  Both when playing for the Dodgers also were Managed at one time by Tommy LaSorda. 

As always I am reminded of a quote from Rogers Hornsby about signing autographs for kids "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for kids ain't American, He's a Communist."

50 YEARS AGO TODAY SPARTAN REUNION PART I

 

                                    It was 50 years ago today that 3 ex-Michigan State University alumni were involved in a play that you can watch on this link. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vWb80Qz75bk&pp=ygUbMTk3NCBXYXNoaW5ndG9uIHBpY2tlZCBvZmYg

                   The 3 Spartans that were involved in this pick off player were the following.

The pitcher:      

                                        Dr. Mike Marshall I chose this card cause it looks like when Walter Alston came to the mound he discuss the game plan to Marshall.

The First Baseman: 

 Steve Garvey who would later after the season would be named the National League MVP I chose this card cause Afterall Steve was an All-Star First Baseman & was elected to the game as a write in candidate then he was named the MVP of the game.

The Runner (Pinch Runner actually):

 Herb Washington he came into play after a hit by Joe Rudi to do what he was signed for steal bases but alas he was picked off as you can tell from the play. I chose this card cause well......its 1 of 4 Herb has in his career that are listed on the tradingcarddb.com site. 

            This isn't the only time in World Series play for Steve Garvey also to be involved with a Spartan reunion. Stay tuned to my next post about the story behind the card as well some more interesting facts about this Alumni story as well the other time.