2001 UPPER DECK DECADE 1970’S BAT PIECES PART XXX

 

                                        "Now Batting #30 Ken Griffey....." George Kenneth Griffey Sr was a member of the Big Red Machine during the 1970's. He first started with the Reds from 1973 to 1981 before joining the New York Yankees in 1982 as he was traded for Fred Toliver.

Imagine how Fred would tell his kids & grandkids he once was traded for Ken Griffey Sr. 

There he went to the Atlanta Braves in 1986

  
          My question for Johnny on Johnny's Trading Spot is how many of the Braves players have you asked if they have signed any of these cards like Ken Griffey Sr. shown here.

 Before returning to Cincinnati in 1988 then 1 last stop to play 1.5 years in Seattle where he played the game with his son becoming the 1st father & son actively playing teammates.

 During Ken's career he was a 3 time All-Star winning the 1980 MVP Award. He was a 2 time World Series Champion 1975 & 1976. Runner up to Bill Madlock (He was featured in the set earlier in the blog) in the 1976 Batting Average.

                    I know I had this poster as a kid how many collectors did, let me know in the comments below. My mom would hate me cause I would always play "I Spy...." with it an example of a thing I would say I Spy with me lil eye something yellow & edible can you find what I am looking for.

                  Now if ya ask me does Ken Sr. make the a case for the line up in this set. Yes he does cause of being a provided spark in the outfield for The Big Red Machine plus he wasn't flashy like his kid but then again his kid in the Hall of Fame & he's only in the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame. So let me know does Ken make it or not in the comments below as well Ill do a random surprise to anyone that can spot with the location of the thing "I Spyed" must be included in your comments to be eligible if no one can find it well you just don't have keen eyes like me until the next installment which will cover Keith Hernandez until then I am reminded of what Red Smith sports writer once said "Baseball is dull only to dull minds."

DOES ANYONE COUNT THEM

                            Am I odd that I count how many cards I have in my collection when I am looking at the galleries of cards of a recently deceased player. The other day I found myself having basically 27/70 of the cards listed for former pitcher Larry Christensen according to the TCDB site. I mention this cause I have great memory skills on things with cards I guess its cause I quiz myself every time I go through 1 of my many set binders no matter what sport it is I can find something interesting a little tibit if you will indulge me on. Case in point when I was counting the cards of Larry that I had I recalled the amount I paid for on my 1984 Nestle Set at a show plus I remember watching Larry pitch in the 1980 World Series game 4 plus at 1 time while looking for cheap 1981 Fleer double of Mike Schmidt for the binder spine to identify my 1981 Fleer binder I had Larry sit in the spot keeping warm for Mike. Plus if I am ever needing a player for my Immaculate Grid 1 team player for the Phillies he's my go to guy. So I ask any of my loyal readers if do you do this or not let me know in the comments below. 

                 This last Saturday I attended the local show they hold at end of every month at the mall & I had my phone opened in 8 different tabs the first 4 that I never close are devoted to the TCDB sets by years area of each sport just in case I find a good portion of a starter of a potential set build of a set I don't have & I get curious how many are in the set as well what inserts I might want to add to it if they have inserts as well hidden surprises case in point earlier this month I picked up the 2026 Topps Flagship football set & I was looking over the list of inserts a no doubter was adding the 1991 35th Anniversary ones then I was debating should I add the Greatest Hits Insert or the Big Ticket Players or just stay with 1991s. Needless to say I stuck with the 1991s cause the Big Ticket Players yeah theres only like 25 of them but those inserts really didn't say if ya see me get all 25 of them to me, & then the Greatest Hits sure there's 25 them as well again didn't lure me in adding them to the set. The Topps Profiles had 25 but they looked to boring to add plus again the reason for the 1991s cause it was unlike in the baseball versions they did 50 regular veteran players & 50 Rookies making it 2 different subsets while in baseball the combined the 2 sets into one. 
                            Sorry for that long version about the first 4 tabs but the other 4 were devoted to my wantlists so all I had to do is just click on the sport I found then scroll up or down to see if I needed that particular card. So I am going through this 3200ct box found a great portion of the `19/`20 Hoops Premium Stock now they aren't in order which is typical plus prior to finding the portion I found bits a pieces of other sets needs from all over my lists some football to 1 card off my 2022 Stadium Chrome baseball set so I have a small stack in my hand going through the Hoops when this guy reaches in the row I'm currently going through messing up where I already went through as well what to look forward to seeing I had to speak up on it after all its the 2nd time I've gone through a box & someone just intervenes thinking that it is fine to go through things that I'm currently going through. The guy says how am I supposed to know where ya when you were looking at your phone of course I was looking at my phone cause my list was on there & so sorry I don't know everything on my lists by heart plus I have scroll up or down on my lists but if ya ask me how can anybody be so rude to do that sorta thing. 

                       I'll end this post by saying that next season will be hard to not see or hear that famliar #35(Which I see the Astros retiring soon as he gets into the Hall of Fame as well in Detroit) getting ready for a long season whether he was with my hometown Detroit Tigers to the Houston Astros to the New York Mets then back to the Astros & then San Francisco Giants before returning this last winter to where it all began in Detroit Justin Verlander I await for his call to Cooperstown 5 years from now but for now Ill just enjoy my 1 auto I have in my PC his 2006 UD Artifacts. Jeff Passen tweet says it all So Thank you Justin for the 21 year ride in watching you pitch someday when your daughter gets older & you can show her the video of her throwing out the first pitch to you on the eve of your last ever start & this old veteran of card collecting will let you walk into the sunset instead of him leaving his quote he usually ends so again Thank you Justin. 

 

2001 UPPER DECK DECADE 1970s GAME USED BAT PART XXVIIII

 

                           "Now batting #25 Jose Cruz Sr......." The Left-handed outfielder made his debut with the St Louis Cardinals in 1970 to which he played until 1974 when he was dealt to the Houston Astros where he would be the catalyst of a player for them until 1987 before switching leagues to join the New York Yankees for the 1988 season. He only played 38 games for the Yankees that year before being released on July 22nd & if you play the Immaculate Grid game I am sure Jose would be great score for you to use for former Cardinals/Yankee players as well Astros/Yankees players. 

                                As I mentioned Jose made a name for himself when he was with the Astros to me he is the equivalent to another Astros player named Jose Altuve but taller. Jose was a 2 time All-Star & 2 Time Silver Slugger but again he's more of a Fan Favorite type hence why the Astros retired his jersey #25 in 1992 does he make my 1970s line-up not really cause of the forementioned of being a Fan Favorite type of a player so tell me what you think until then next in our line up is Ken Griffey Sr. until then I am reminded of Rogers Hornsby once said "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't American, He's a Communist."

SAGE WORKING WITH DAD ON THE BLOG

 

                      Well the secret is out I guess this is my collecting partner in crime & my blog writer. For those who read my blog you are familiar with Sage. I just stepped away briefly from my Chromebook while working on an upcoming piece on my 2001 Upper Deck Decade 1970s Bat series & whom do I catch typing away on the blog a new post about her. She wanted to share this post to her cat collecting friends that she sees when I am reading blogs. 

Sage & I during THE GAME in college football with our game faces on.

           Sage is very protective when it comes to certain binders cause she usually lends a hand in working on "HER SETS" I say it like that cause when I try to take it she'll give me a look like uh why do you need that particular binder its my set I am building unless you got a package of singles that I need for my set. If you like to know what sets she has claimed,hers they are as follows.

Baseball sets shes building
2024 Topps Heritage
2025 Topps Heritage
2026 Topps Heritage

Basketball sets 
`99/`00 Skybox Impact
`99/`00 Victory
`00/'01 Victory
`00/`01 Topps 
`19/`20 Hoops Premium Stock

Football sets
1992 Wild Card WLAF
1996 Pinnacle Summitt
1998 Score 
2000 Skybox Impact
2024 Score-a-Treat both Orange Pumpkins & Green Bats

Hockey sets
`69/`70 Topps
`21/`22 Upper Deck 

                      Anytime I am in my Man Cave I have a shadow watching me seeing if she can help me out especially when it comes to her sets being completed.

                          Like any collector she works hard trying to go through all the 5000ct boxes I have of singles to help her collecting friends. Anyways Sage would like to hear from my readers on what you think of a cat collecting cards. Well that's her post she liked to remind you of what Rogers Hornsby once said about signing autographs "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."

2001 UPPER DECK DECADE 1970s GAME USED BAT PART XXVIII

 

                              "Now batting #8 Joe Morgan......" Back in 1970 when the Cincinnati Reds appeared in their first world series in 9 years they had failed to beat the Baltimore Orioles they lost 4-1 the second baseman at the time was a guy by the name of Tommy Helms who previously was the winner of the 1966 National League Rookie of the Year Award winner later Tommy Manage the Reds in 1989 on an Interm basics he remains the answer of a trivia question who was manager of the Reds after Pete Rose stepped down in 1989.  However we're not here to discuss Tommy Helms instead were here to talk about whom the Reds traded when Helms went to Houston Astros on November 29,1971 Joe Morgan. Joe started his career in 1963 with the Houston Colt .45s (Later renamed the Astros in 1965 when they moved into the Astrodome) until after the 1971 season then came the blockbuster trade where Joe went to Cincinnati besides the formentioned Tommy Helms the Astros also acquired Lee May,Jimmy Stewart (Not the actor) meanwhile going to Cincinnati was Jack Billingham,Cesat Geromino, Denis Menke, & Ed Armbrister. 

                    Joe's first season in 1972 with the Reds turned out to be his first post season as well. Unfortunately he only batted .125 going 3 for 24. The following year in 1973 the Reds lost to the Mets in the NLCS 3-2 where Joe batted .100 2 for 20. Joe was a 10x All-Star player & he was voted MVP for the 1972 All-Star Game.  1975 however Joe came into his own that year he won the MVP by a huge margin he would steal 67 bases that year after reaching on base by either a hit or a walk 295 times. He even drove in the winning run in the 1975 World Series of Game 7.  In 1976 Joe became the 2nd player in the National League to win back-to-back MVP awards (The first was Ernie Banks 1958 &1959 respectively).  Joe played until the 1979 season with the Reds before going back to Houston as a free agent for a second go around with them however this time it was only for a year before he signed a 2-year contract with the San Francisco Giants then he moved on to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1983 being reunited with former Reds teammates Tony Perez & Pete Rose. Joe would have in my opinion won the World Series MVP award had the Phillies beaten the Baltimore Orioles in the 1983 World Series instead the Orioles won the series 4-1. By 1984 Joe played 1 more year for the Oakland A's then he retired after the season.

                           After retiring from the game Joe became broadcaster of the game many of todays fans would remember his time when he was calling games along with Jon Miller on ESPN. Joe was inducted to Cooperstown in 1990 along with Jim Palmer he as well Palmer were 1st ballot members.  In an interview in 2000 someone asked his former manager of the Reds & newly elected Hall of Famer since he was inducted in 2000 Sparky Anderson on his thoughts of Joe Morgan, he replied by saying ".....Joe is best defined as the missing cog of the wheel to help the Reds become the Big Red Machine of the 1970's." So if you want my call if Joe deserves to be in the line-up without a doubt he does so what your take on this classy of a second baseman does he make the line-up or not let me know in the comments below until our next installment where we discuss Jose Cruz Sr. until then as usual I was reminded of another second baseman once saying about signing autographs "If a ballplayer doesn't sign autographs for little kids he is not an American, He's a Communist." 
 

AM I THE ONLY ONE THAT HAS THIS DILEMMA EXPERIENCE PART II

 

                                  In my last post I had a dilemma involving if I should do a set that I think I could finish within a short span if I should do it with a start of 13 cards out of 300. After much consideration I thought about it & well......I decided to go ahead & try it. What can I say everywhere I look as I mentioned whether its at a shop or show I find them. especially if you look from the pictures I have seen what I needed at first to what I am starting now. Other than one says Premium Stock on the front when I look at backs sometimes in boxes at shops or shows cause of how they are placed in them I would say its the one I need then I flip it over find out its the other so I am hoping after I clean up all the Premium Stocks up maybe the others will show up.  

This is what I needed for my `21/`22 Hoops Set.

This is what I just started on the `19/`20 Hoops Premium Stock. 


                              Anyways so I am starting another new set I just need 152 more of the `19/20 Hoops Premium Stock then its complete my goal is to get it down to single digits or complete it by Thanksgiving. I currently have a bet going on with someone that I will accomplish it the loser well just say its something that neither one of us wants to do me I have to go 3 days without having doing CAT-stetics while they have to give more snuggles to me whom am I am I talking about my little collecting buddy Ms. Sage.

She doesn't want to do her Cat-stetics so I am hoping that I can get the snuggles.

                            I'll keep you all posted on how the progress goes until then as always Rogers Hornsby once said "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."

AM I THE ONLY ONE THAT HAS THIS DILEMMA EXPERIENCE

 

                            13 Cards thats right just 13 cards is causing me to experience this dilemma that I am having. I guess I should explain well last week I was rummaging through 18 5000ct boxes of basketball that I have. I came across 13 cards out of 300 cards from a complete set that whenever I am at a show or shop I just happen to come across these cards from this set & not a set I am working on cause they are a different year making me wonder maybe I should just try to do that set since I am always coming across them & not the one I am needing. I know its not even a dent but something tells me to try it & then there's something telling me to finish off at least a couple more of the basketball sets before starting something new.

                               I have been at this crossroad once before & just say the choice I made then didn't turn out to be great cause I thought I could completed it only to have to try to find the missing singles which I eventually did but it was very costly for me to get. That was the 1994 Cuban Serie Selectia set cause not many people have these cards. I was skeptical when I bought the boxes cause I bought them at a National Sports Card Convention in Baltimore back in 2012. The dealer said I could get 2 complete sets in 3 boxes since theres only 132 cards in the whole set. I figured those odds yeah I might as well try it after all its not everyday ya come across Cuban Cards plus the dealer said if I didn't complete the set to email him & he send me what was missing. So I took his business card just in case. Well I ended up missing about 30 cards to complete it so I reached out to the dealer via email well......turns out he never got my email nor anyone I knew didn't have any & I was stuck with trying to find them a year passed I walked by another  dealer at the 2013 National who happened to have some vintage 1940s Cuban cards so I struck up a conversation with the dealer asking if he might had any of the 1994s he said he might but send him SASE(Self Addressed Stamp Envelope) with a list with contact information should he have any questions he could contact me about them.  After the National I reached out to him to see if he remembered having a chat with a collector doing an enquiry about these cards I even sent him a triplicate of a card to show what I was looking for about 2 weeks after mailing out my letter I get a call it was dealer saying he got my letter & he remembered me & that he could send me all that I needed. I was excited about 4 weeks later there was a small package in the mail that was my missing singles. Whenever I look at the set now I remember the risk I took in making the set. 

These are pre-Rookie Cards of Livan Hernandez & his Half-Brother Orlando "El Duque' Hernandez that are in my Cuban Set from 1994. 

                                      Now I know some of you readers aren't set builders like me your either a 1 team collector or have certain players. So I pose this question for you if ya happened to come across a small batch of cards like I mentioned above would & ya happened to see a bunch of cards of that particular player or team pending on however ya collect at shows or shops & those that ya found would ya try & do it or would just wait it out cause its just a fluke ya of you finding that small stack let me know in the comments below & let me know am I the only one thats experience this problem or not if I am the only one please explain what you did. Until next time again I normally do my Rogers Hornsby quote but I think Ill end this post by quoting author David Halberstam who wrote a book about the 1949 season called "The Summer of '49" he once said "By & large its the sport that a foreigner is least likely to take to. You have to grow up playing it, you have to accept the lore of the bubble-gum card, & believe that if the answer to the Mays-Snider-Mantle question is found,then the universe will be a simpler & more ordered place."