MY SUMMER OF 2007 LOOKING BACK PART III

 

                            Well here's the Final Installment of the summer of 2007 looking back. If you been not following along I suggest you read the previous posts to catch up on the matters, for those who have followed along I thank you for reading my misadventure to England & Back to the USA in the summer of 2007. 

                          Now here I am at a Holiday Inn Express in Columbus, Ohio watching The Bronx is Burning while cracking opening some packs of the 2007 Upper Deck Holiday Inn that I asked for the lot since no one was claiming them during their stays at this Holiday Inn Express. Waiting for me back home in Michigan is an unopened box of the 2002 Upper Deck 40-Man along with an email of a list of cards that a mysterious bidder whom I out bidded on eBay wanting my dupes. 

                     It was 4:00 AM & I get a phone call from the front desk saying my shuttle to the Columbus Airport was here to take me to the airport to catch my 6:00 AM flight to Cincinnati then a 1 hr layover to catch a flight back to my hometowm in Michigan. Everything went according to plan, arrived at Columbus Airport plenty of time to check in & then get a board to Cincinnati. The flight lasted 30 mins after all it was a short flight all I had on my mind was sleeping in my own bed after eating a meal that I long craved say what you will but there's a nice restaurant in my hometown that I like to eat a nice king 6lb size cheeseburger plain w/pickles on the side to have the following sides of onion rings & Chilli-Cheese French Fries Crinkled Cut only to wash it all down with an ice cold 2 liter of Pepsi (Just think about this as I type this is making my mouth watery for this meal).

                 I get into the Cincinnati Airport I felt the adrenaline drained right out of me cause I looked up to see the delayed posting for my connecting flight. So I did an inquiry on the status at the ticket counter I was told that it be a 2 hour delay not a problemo I can arrive no later than noon so I thought. The 2 hour delay turned to a 3 ½ hour delay In between the waiting period I called my parents keeping them posted on the delays & asked about stopping for the meal I mentioned above.

              So eventually I hear the boarding call for the flight to my hometown. I get a board just got comfortable in my seat when the pilot announces that since were already running late would anyone object if we going faster then most flights to make up for lost time. I was shocked & amazed sure warp speed Mr. Pilot just get me home I am exhausted.  After arriving in my hometown less than 45 mins due to the fast speed I was the 2nd person off the flight & made a beeline towards my mother who was there to pick me up & take me home after we get my luggage. So we make our way down to the luggage carousal watching all the suitcases come out others gather around grab their luggage & go on their merry ways I continue to wait......15 minutes later after being the first to arrive for luggage there was no luggage for me to claim.

              I then make my way to the ticket counter to file a claim about my missing luggage turns out that was put on a different flight to Cincinnati via LaGuardia & that they would drop it off sometime the next day. Heading home I told my mother about my trip as well what all I did while I was there & asked if she sent out the payment for the 2002 Upper Deck 40-Man box. She said its waiting for me to crack open at home. So after eating the meal I took what I thought was a short cat nap turns out I was very tired I had slept until the next day, the only other time I did something like that was earlier this year when I drove right after getting done with work & drove straight to Maryland to see my buddy Greg from The Collective Mind Blog. I didn't sleep until 3:00 AM after driving 9 hours non stop & staying awake telling him what plans I would have in making a blog to as well cracking open our case of the 2024 Topps Heritage (For more information on how the break went I suggest you check out his blog since it was his idea to break down our case).

              So after waking up I went to my neighbors house to talk to them about my trip since they wanted to hear about it, while I was there I saw shuttle bus from the local airport stop at the front of my house & quickly I ran to see that my luggage had arrived. I was so excited that I opened it ready to distribute the gifts I brought back from my trip. Upon opening it I noticed that a couple of things were missing from my suitcase the 1st was my Harry Potter 7th Book on CD  "NO NO NO!!!!!!!! NOT FAIR!!!!!!!!!" I Groaned. The 2nd thing was

 

         2 Polo Shirts for my father & I from the local brewery there in Blackburn similar to the one featured in the picture again. I was upset cause it was going to be my new go to shirt when I would go bowling that up coming year. I got it after going on a tour of the Thwaites Brewery best way I can describe the taste of the brew similar to the taste of Strohs beer. I then quickly wondered if the would be thieves might had taken the 1 thing I won 1 night when my girlfriend & I went bowling that being a 1975 bottle of Dom Perignon unfortunately they didn't touch it. The story behind the bottle is this after talking to a radio personality who was going up & down the lanes doing what is here in the USA we have like DJ Trivia Night but he was doing Trivia or Dare. Considering I would've failed if I were to be asked a trivia question that I couldn't answer so I chose the dare & I told him that I came all the way from Michigan in the USA  he added more pressure saying if I got 3 strikes in a row that I would win the bottle. Now I am not a good bowler by no means I am lucky to break 130 when I was on a bowling league but after watching how I was shooting I figured I would give it a chance. The crowd cheered me on as well my girlfriend then came the moment of doing it. The 1st strike was right in the pocket my heart was racing. The 2nd strike was right there on a nose then I had to do 1 more time the crowd went silent with the exception my girlfriend who did her English accent her best Waterboy moment "You Can do it Sweetie Louie."   

          I was so embarrassed and ever nervous more I felt like I was I threw my bowling ball down towards those pins & lo & behold *crack of Thunder* all 10 of those pins fell down at once VICTORY!!!!! I won the bottle to be saved for a later date (Later drank it in 2010 on my birthday). 

I quickly called my girlfriend told her I made it home & was wondering if she could resend me the missing items she still was upset with me but since I asked her nicely she do her best to resending the shirts which she resend to me later that year. 

 

                   Now I bet your wondering what I got in my box well I got an Ichiro Game Used card my first of the great Mariners Outfielder & I reached out to the guy who sent me his list via email remember I gave him instructions in how he was suppose to send me an email & what to do after he sent to it me the I told him to put in all caps 2002 UPPER DECK 40-MAN TRADE WANTLIST DON'T DELETE!!!!! then I told the guy to keep watching for my reply the same way but I had it as RE:2002 UPPER DECK 40-MAN TRADE WANTLIST DON'T DELETE!!!!! so then he had to check his junk folder to keep it from spam.

I responded to the email after pulling all that I had from his list that I have in dupes (In case your wondering I still have a good amount of dupes available if anyone is interested just lmk send me your lists & lmk what you have from mine that I can get back thanks!!!!). I even I asked where can I mail them to as well to where he could locate my lists as well an updated version of his list so he could keep looking for them. Well.....a month passes by I am going to shows checking with others online I trade with ever so waiting for a reply from the unknown bidder on what to do with his 40-Man. Now 2 months have passed not a single peep from the unknown guy I get upset continue to make trades ignoring on top of my computer the stack. That winter I had joined the Sportscardforum & posted that I have a bunch of 2002 40 man anyone interested in completing their set I get a few nibbles on my line I fill as many requests I had bumping my post up then out of no where this guy chimes in with the strangest way of spelling of Lotus ask if I could help him out I give him my terms on where & how to find my lists etc.......He provides me with his lists I go through the 3200ct box not a single hit off it but noticed that this guy wanted some Lumber Yard Inserts. Do I dare to look on top of my computer to see what I have the team bags I had set to the side from a guy I didn't trade with back in the summer. Sure enough I open the first team bag of 5 *ding ding* a hit followed by another & another & another etc.......all the 5 team bags I filled up were all hits that this guy needed. I was excited to tell him at first I didn't luck out but then I told him about the potential trade & *dynamite explosion* it fell into pieces so he came back well wow that guys lost was his gain he chuckles in a message to me back along with a huge list of things I been looking for since perhaps when I first started on that certain set.  

                         I was going to make a deal for sure this time on them but I had to ask where he was from when he said Maryland I was blown away more. I asked if he dabbled on eBay once in a while then I asked did he try to win a box back in the summer time he said he did but, was snipped in the closing minutes of one. He sent a guy an email saying if he wanted to trade for the Lumber Yards to let him know he also went on to say this guy gave him specific instructions cause he wasn't at his home & he was on vacation in England at the time. SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!!!!!!! I asked him about these instructions he said the guy had a simple email address then it sorta like my instructions about the list. I was screaming in front of my computer THAT WAS ME THAT WAS ME!!!!!!!! I knew right away I had to make this deal.

                   We exchanged information made the deal I even sent him more then he expected cause I found more than that he sent me to help with other things he was looking for at the time. He receives his package lets me know he was surprised in all I sent we struck up about communicating away from the forum as well the cyber trading world just to talk about cards life in general. I later found out the name wasn't a strange way of spelling Lotus in fact in was a name from STAR TREK & the name was LoQtus. He was a Trekkie needless to say he asked why there was no 'A' in my nickname of BSEBALLCOMMISH75 I told him the reason is there wasn't enough space to make the name I wanted plus POISON75 & S.R. `75 couldn't be used. 

It's remarkable that in the summer of 2007 I lose my girlfriend in England temporarily we got back together again in September of 2007 saw each other 3 more times her revisiting the USA that holiday season & during the summer of 2010 & me going back to England during the holiday season of 2010 1 last time before we completely went out separate ways. As for that guy from Maryland I stay in touch with him on a regular basis we've met a couple of times in person without his great friendship & trading methods I wouldn't have this blog. For those of you scoring at home that mystery bidder I yanked the 2002 Upper Deck 40-Man box from off eBay was my good friend Greg & as the great radio personality Paul Harvey would say "......& Now you know the rest of the story of how BSEBALLCOMMISH75 met LOQTUS g'day." Speaking of great quotes I am familiar with 1 that the great Rogers Hornsby once said about signing autographs for kids "Any ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American. He's a Commuinst." with that said I leave the comments open now for you to tell me what you think of the conclusion of this 3 part saga.

MY SUMMER OF 2007 LOOKING BACK PART II

 

                  Before I begin my tale on my way back from England to my home in Michigan. I know that I promised to have the next installment the next day after posting well.....I have been extremely busy working at my 2 jobs this last week.  My school job started on Wednesday & I have been working non-stop at my 2nd job when I originally was scheduled for Tuesday,Wednesday & Thursday night then come in a little later then normal after going to check the local monthly show at the shopping mall on Saturday. I got the bad news Friday as I was leaving for school that a co-worker asked if I could cover his shift for him Friday night canceling my dinner plans with my girlfriend I took it thinking Saturday I start late so I can swing by the show pick a couple of things then go to work *buzzer sound* Thanks for playing we need you earlier then posted on Saturday. Saturday I got off to a late start & drove quickly to the mall & saw my friend who I hadn't seen since my trip to Maryland back in June so I wanted to show him pictures from my trip. I only had like 20 mins to look through the show saw a couple of cards I wish I had time to pick up but I had to hurry back to the job. I worked the 9 hour shift that night without getting my lunch break cause we had a truck delivery so we had to work the truck as well the registers to keep the customers happy despite having bare shelves with 2 of us working its hard to stock shelves as well run the registers to keep everyone happy.

                   Sorry for that long recap on why I didn't post when I said I would.  Now lets recap from Part I. I flew out to England in the summer of 2007 to visit my girlfriend at the time to see her home & take in a nice vacation in Blackburn, England. I arrived a day later than expected & got detained by customs in trying to enter England then released to her then enjoying my time despite taking in the sights & sounds of England she told me that she wouldn't want to be with someone that is obsessed with sports memorabilia I argued back it's not an obsession its more like a hobby. During my time I was lucky to get the latest book on CD of Harry Potter it was the last book of the series when it was released

This is the British cover.

The USA Cover.

 I like the British cover over the USA version what's your choice let me know in the comments below thanks.

 but the news media wasn't wanting a Muggle from America buying the first book on CD they wanted a kid who had the actual hard bound book that was the only time I was at the right place but wrong time for a book release. 

               So my girlfriend at the time sent me back but a week before that I had won on eBay a box of the 2002 Upper Deck 40-Man after sniping it in the last waning minutes from a Unknown Bidder at the time who sent me a message saying if I would be interested in sending them some singles if I had any extras of them along with the insert called Lumber Yard & they in return would help me with my want lists. So I gave clear instructions after explaining I was in England at the time & when I got back I would go through the box as well the other dupes I have to see if I can help them with their set. I gave my email & within 2 hours there was an email from them saying they were the guy who sent me the message from eBay here's their want list.

 I can't recall whom I pulled from my box but this unknown person needed whom I sent them. I am not sure if I want to try to find these or not.

                     So there I was back in the Manchester Airport waiting to board on my trip back to the USA thinking about the box I won was waiting for me to crack open & I was looking forward to listening to my Harry Potter CDs since I got all 7 of them during my stay & had the 7th book secured in my suitcase since I already mailed out the other 6 before I left. 

                  My flight was supposed to go starting in Manchester to New York City to Cincinnati to my Hometown *buzzer sound*  Thanks again for flying maybe next time you might be better walking back. What happened was this I took off from Manchester only to arrive in New York's LaGuardia Airport after going through customs no hassle this time I them looked up to see about my connecting flight to Cincinnati it was canceled so I ran to the nearest ticket counter asking them Ill take any flight that will get me back in Michigan I didn't care my family would find a way to get to that airport whether it was Detroit Metro to Gerald R. Ford in Grand Rapids to even my hometown just get me the HELL!!!!! to Michigan I demanded. So I got placed on the old StandBy List for any flight to Michigan first come first available. I didn't have to wait overnight since there was a flight that would go from LaGuardia to Columbus, Ohio with a small 1 hour delay to Cincinnati to my hometown I took it paid for my exchange got aboard the flight only to be told it will be a 2 hour delay to get to Columbus due to George W. Bush had to be cleared first to take off on Air Force One to get back to DC. Well.....2 hours later still on the runway waiting to take off turned out to be a 3 hours during the wait we refueled 2 times while waiting.

                 When will I get home I wondered. When we finally arrived in Columbus after taking a breath taking airview of the HorseShoe Stadium on the campus THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY!!!!!!! A few of us were to get a connecting flight to Cincinnati once we landed in Columbus we land only to be rushed on 5 golf carts to get from one end of the airport to the other to make our flight they were going to hold that flight since it was the last one of the night for us. After getting on that connection we arrived in Cincinnati only to be told no more flights were going out that night so again I asked about a hotel room we will be glad sir to put you in a nice room for the evening at 10pm & give you a courtesy van ride to & from the airport at 6am for your 6:30am flight back to your hometown. *Hallelujah Chorus playing* I am almost home but that's too early so I wont be able to sleep still I been up now for the last 56 Hours from my flight taking off from Manchester to Cincinnati cause if I slept I feared I wouldn't hear my wake up call from the front desk. I get to the hotel room finding out that the bar and grill in the hotel would be closing in 40 mins I was starving so I quickly got my order which the airline said they pick up any food tabs as well anything else I wanted. The put me in at a Holiday Inn which turned out to be a good thing with my carry on bag I was able to convince the desk clerk if I could get all their packs that they were giving away.

 

 They gave me all they had available cause none of the Priority Club Members wanted anything with this perk they rather had upgraded room or points for future stays so I was excited to have something to crack open while waiting for my shuttle to the airport & while watching the ESPN documentary The Bronx is Burning Series. Which I sorta liked viewing even though I didn't see any of the previous episodes cause I came in on episode 6 of 8. The 2 people who in my opinion were great in their roles were the actors that portrayed Billy Martin (John Turturro, if they ever make a bio of Billy have him recast as him he was almost made me wonder if Billy actually died in 1989), Thurman Munson (Erik Jensen, again have him play Munson if they do his story).

Well......I am out of time on this installment of my I will conclude this look back on my next post hopefully it will be sooner then I did with this one. I leave you with my quote from Rogers Hornsby about signing autographs for kids, "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign any autographs for little kids ain't an American. He's a Communist." Stay tuned for Part III thanks for reading & let me know what you think of my trip home so far as well the other questions I posted in the pictures. 

MY SUMMER OF 2007 LOOKING BACK PART I

                 What does this box shown in this post have to do with the summer of 2007 real simple but first I'll explain.    

         I write this post as I'm on my break from 1 of multiple jobs I currently am employed at. I go back to my school job on Monday morning even though the students don't start until Wednesday having a back to school meeting before the year is usually a good thing. Catching up with colleagues on what they did during the summer is fun. I remember the year I went to England for a trip to visit my girlfriend at the time.

           It was in 2007 my girlfriend lived in Blackburn, England & going to visit her was a trip I'll never forget. I took off from Michigan about 4 hrs late due weather is what we were told only to find out later the pilot wanted another round to enjoy. We arrived in Atlanta just giving me about 1hr to get from my plane to catch my connection to Manchester, England. Now this was my first time going international flying I only have flown in the U.S.A. but it was short flights. After arriving I asked where to go after getting on the trolley to take me to where I needed to be at about 7 of us were informed that the flight was canceled until the next day.

              Well....I will just ask for another airline to take me instead I saw that a flight leaving for Manchester was leaving in 2 hrs survey says.......*buzzer sound* thanks for playing switching planes game that sir is for Manchester, New Hampshire. As I was already not happy being late getting to Atlanta then be told that's not my destination I screamed my head angryly saying "Put a Floopy Fleer Theo Fleury N.H. by the city name cause it's misleading when I think Manchester I think England not Bloody New Hampshire(no offense if anyone is from there but I had a point.)" 

          "Sir were terrible sorry we can't do anything like that." Says the guy behind the the counter. "Fine when is Manchester, England available" "7am tomorrow" "Fine book me that flight & give me a hotel room for my troubles" "Sorry all the hotels are booked but please have a complementary voucher for $5 for anything you might like to buy at the gift shop."

        Everything at the gift shop was more than $10 then I looked closely at the voucher only good for flights in the USA not for international flights. Can this trip get any worse before you answer keep reading. So the next day after calling my girlfriend to tell her I'd see her in 2 days later than I was supposed to she wasn't happy about going back to airport again but I told her it wasn't my fault.

          I finally after 14hrs & 1 day late arrived in Manchester I was excited to see my girlfriend again it been over a year since I last saw her in person cause she came to the USA the year before. So I was the 2nd person off the plane went through customs answering everything they asked then they said do I know the person whom I am staying with phone number my mind went blank. A little traveling advice don't air dial like you would making a phone call I did it & the customs agent wondered what I was doing then after explaining the situation he understood. They said sit back as they tried to reach my girlfriend. Unbeknownst to me she was at the airport waiting patiently for me watching others from the flight come through & no sign of me also she had her phone off afterall I didn't need to call her after I arrived so the customs agent told me that she didn't answer. 

               Great I'm stuck in customs & couldn't call her cause at the time didn't have a cell phone at the time & the agent said that they try again in 5 minutes well the last of passengers were off the plane through the gate except yours truly. My girlfriend was going to call my parents to be sure I wasn't lying saying I come to England but didn't. So she turned her phone back on notice a strange number called & was about to call it & enquire who was calling her when the same number popped up again ringing she answered it "Yes I'm expecting an American visitor from Michigan he's where oh alright thank you" I then was released to her. Needless to say I had a great time visiting England seeing things I only heard about & seen in books,television,etc.....  the weirdest thing was watching the All-Star Game where Ichiro was voted MVP after hitting the first inside the park home run in All-Star Game history at 2am Blackburn time.  Now coming home from England I'll save that for another day believe me I guarantee you will saying I'm good at leaving cliff hangers on my posts.

          Now the only other good thing coming from that trip was winning on ebay a box of the 2002 Upper Deck 40-Man after staying up as late as 4am Blackburn time to snag this little box from an unknown competitor.  So stay tuned until my next installment. Until then I leave you a quote from Rogers Hornsby who talks about signing Autographs for kids. "Any ballplayer who doesn't sign Autographs for little kids isn't An American. He's a Communist."

WHAT IF.......PART I

                 

               A couple of years ago I was sitting with a group of baseball enthusiasts who like yours truly are very intelligent about the game itself. The topic came up with some "What If......" situations, for example I recall from the colleague from the Washington D.C. area brought up the case back in 1973 this little tibit. What if Ray Kroc didn't become owner of the San Diego Padres & were to move to Washington D.C. what the 1974 Season be like.

             A little back story before we play the 1974 Season on the new team in "Washington Nat'l Lea." 2 years before the last team left the Washington area for the Dallas/Fort Worth area to become the Texas Rangers so with the RFK Stadium vacant during the summer time only being used during the fall when the Washington Commanders (Redskins at the time to me they will always be that name.), had use of the stadium. So Kroc never owns the Padres the new team is in Washington D.C. 

            Topps presses went to make cards before the choice of ownership was finalized leaving 15 cards with the move noticed they later fixed them keeping the Padres in San Diego even though most collectors still hunt down the early print ones.  Unfortunately the Dave Winfield RC wasn't 1 of them though I have seen lot of Customized card creators make one that could almost make you wonder why Topps didn't get Winfield after all they did get future Hall of Famer Willie McCovey in one.

           You can almost wonder what the National League Divisions would have been what team would've been like which team would have gone from the National League East to move west would it have been the Cardinals but then they would lose their rivalry in the Chicago Cubs. So what team would have joined the Padres to the East rumors had Atlanta or Cincinnati speculated that it might been the Braves. 

         Fast forward to 1984 did the Padres make the playoffs or were they still like they were near the bottom of the 2nd division. Does Tony Gwynn Sr. end up playing in the D.C. area. Does the San Diego Chicken ever exist? Do we ever have other mascots if the move took place? Do other teams move to the locations they were thinking of moving like the San Francisco Giants they has 2 choices Toronto before the Blue Jays were an expansion team in 1977 or do they move on down to St. Petersburg, Florida long before the Rays arrived in 1998 & who would forget that Oakland A's were thinking after the 1977 season in moving to Denver long before the Rockies debut in 1993.

         This debate makes 1 wonder "What If......."so I like to hear from my readers what is your take on this remember Ray Kroc isn't the new owner of the Padres keeping them in the San Diego area instead you are 1 of those owners moving to the D.C. area what do you call the team do you keep the Padres name or give them a new nickname. As for my opinion I am glad that Ray Kroc kept the team intact in the San Diego sure the Padres haven't had much success going 0-2 in World Series play but I look at this way at least they have made it to the dance compared to the Seattle Mariners who are the only Major League team yet to make it to the World Series & I am sorry but if we didn't have the San Diego Chicken watching The Baseball Bunch in the early 80's I wouldn't have watched the program. I look forward to your comments on this subject & should I continue on with more of our round table discussions that we had in the group on the topics of "What If......" So with that said I am reminded of the Rogers Hornsby famous quote about signing autographs for kids "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American. He's a Communist."      

BACK TO SCHOOL READING LIST II

                       In my last post I talked about the Little League/Major League Library books. Well as promised here's part II of the back to school reading list. Thanks to someone told me that blogger & fellow person from my state of Michigan Wrigley Wax was a former teacher as wel. I am sure he & I have crossed paths but never knew about the other at shows or something hard to say, anyways here's the before shot of the bookshelf if you remember.

 Kinda plain with the wave of my magic Louisvlle slugger wand.

*pooof* Where did those books come from. Now what to put on my bottom shelf.

                         Now here's the next reading list & just like in my previous post I'll have the titles of the subject of these mini Biographical books at the end of the post. These books at total of 40 in all are mini Biographical books about the player in the title.. I guess I started collecting these books during the pandemic cause I kept seeing them at used book stores & antique shops. Plus my girlfriend suggested I find another book series that I could try to finish since I finished my Time/Life True Crime Series back in 2015 (Stay Tuned on a future post about my Time/Life Reading Series.) So I mentioned these Blue Biographical books I only glanced to read at couple of places to her. She then said "Do your research & go from there." So I started my research on them found out that the Chelsea House Publishing Company made these books geared for kids in the 4th through 9th grade level (Simple for any kid to due a book report of a player.) 

                        These books came out in the early 1990's. Each book has the same introduction by Hall of Fame Sportswriter Jim Murray. The great Hall of Fame Class of 1996,Manager of the 1970 World Champion Baltimore Orioles, Earl Weaver was the Senior Consultant for this book series. Makes me wonder if they came up to Earl & asked him to give his opinion on all 40 of these players & if kids would be interested in reading about this particular legend of the game. Each book is 64 pages filled with black & white photographs well as career stats & if the player was enshrined already in Cooperstown they would showcase his Hall of Fame Plaque.

           Here's the list of the books in Alphabetical order by the players name.

                                   Hank Aaron By James Tackach
                                   Grover Cleveland Alexander By Jack Kavanaugh
                                   Ernie Banks By Peter C. Bjarkman
                                   Johnny Bench By Mike Shannon (Not the former player)
                                   Yogi Berra By Marty Appel
                                   Roy Campanella By James Tackach
                                   Roberto Clemente By Peter C. Bjarkman
                                   Ty Cobb By Norman L. Macht
                                   Dizzy Dean By Jack Kavanaugh
                                   Joe DiMaggio By Marty Appel
                                   Bob Feller By Morris Eckhouse
                                   Jimmie Foxx By Norman L. Macht
                                   Bob Gibson By Bill Deane
                                   Lou Gehrig By Norman L. Macht
                                   Rogers Hornsby By Jack Kavanaugh
                                   Reggie Jackson By Norman L. Macht
                                   Shoeless Joe Jackson By Jack Kavanaugh
                                   Walter Johnson By Jack Kavanaugh
                                   Sandy Koufax By John Grabowski
                                   Mickey Mantle By Mark & Neil Gallagher
                                   Christy Matthewson By Norman L. Macht
                                   Willie Mays By John Grabowski
                                   Stan Musial By John Grabowski
                                   Satchel Paige By Norman L. Macht
                                   Brooks Robinson By Rick Wolff
                                   Frank Robinson By Norman L. Macht
                                   Jackie Robinson By John Grabowski
                                   Pete Rose By Thomas W. Gilbert
                                   Babe Ruth By Norman L. Macht
                                   Nolan Ryan By Lois P. Nicholson
                                   Mike Schmidt By Rick Westcott
                                   Tom Seaver By Norman L. Macht
                                   Duke Snider By Peter J. Bjarkman
                                   Warren Spahn By Peter J. Bjarkman
                                   Willie Stargell By Mike Shannon
                                   Casey Stengel By Lois P. Nicholson
                                   Honus Wagner By Jack Kavanaugh
                                   Ted Williams By Rick Wolff
                                   Carl Yastrzemski By Shepard Long
                                   Cy Young By Norman L. Macht

                I consider these Biographical books of the players like a Reader's Digest Biographical book for kids & maybe adults to enjoy reading. As a person who reads a lot of Biographical books about baseball when its likes of "Ball Four" by Jim Bouton or something more complex "The Big Fella: Babe Ruth & the World He Created' by Jane Leavy & even if its about Teams like "The Boys of Summer" by Roger Kahn. I like to see if there's any similarities in some books like did the author of this book talk about this or that of the player for example in the Ty Cobb book there's no mention of the feud Cobb had with the fans in Cleveland where he bolted into the stands & beaten a fan who had no hands. I Guess they didn't want to tell about it in a book geared toward children to promote violence. If anyone is interested in owning a complete set of these 40 books I have a second set available just let me know in the comments below & Ill try to reach out to you about the details.

             I hope you enjoyed this 2nd part of my back to school reading list. As you can see the Art work on the front is remarkable as you can see showcasing Rogers Hornsby (Unfortunately my favorite saying isn't talked about in his book & each player has a nice piece of them on their covers as well.) who once was quoted about signing autographs for kids. "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American. He's a Communist."

BACK TO SCHOOL READING LIST PART I

 

        Like some of my other Blogger community writers mainly The Chronicles of Fuji, The Collective Mind, Nachos Grande,etc...... If I've forgotten someone in the list sorry so many of us are bloggers/collectors & I can't recall everyone so I can include you for Part 2 in the comments below thanks.  I work for 1 of the local school  districts well as Dollar General at the time this blog post was written. With school just starting up & after moving into a new house going on 5 years, as well picking up a nice bookshelf last weekend during the US127 Garage Sale that went through 5 states along US127. I finally got unpacked a box of books that I collected from 2016 finishing up in 2020. 

 Amazes me how 24 books look so far in this bookshelf.

What you're seeing is a complete set of 24 books in part of a Little League/ Major League Library. These books were published by Random House Publishing Company. They came out in 1965 & concluded in 1974. I have enclosed the list of them further down this post so if you want some good reading to do & plus its quite interesting reading some of these books reading history of baseball. From some of the titles like book #12 in who they figure the great catchers of the game these 10 players, & my comments on if I would agree with their choice

1.Yogi Berra-Yankee Dynasty Duh!!!!
2. Roy Campanella- 3x MVP award winner plus his courageous spirit after his accident.
3. Mickey Cochrane- Even though his real name was Gordon another ballplayer was named Mickey.
4. Bill Dickey- Yogi's Mentor 
5. Bill Freehan- Unsung Catcher of 1960's should be a HoF member but numbers against his case.
6. Gabby Hartnett- Hit the Homer in the Gloamin' to help the Cubs with the Pennant otherwise quiet star with the Cubs.
7. Elston Howard- Took over the reigns after Berra in 1960's.
8. Ernie Lombardi- The man could hold 8 balls in his hand but, his Schnozz of a nose is more famous plus he played in the 40's so they needed someone from that era to talk about.
9. Tim McCarver- The book was published in 1970 so I guess they didn't have many popular stars in the catching ranks to talk about.
10. Joe Torre-He started off as a catcher then moved to 1st & 3rd respectively & again this was 1 year prior to him winning his lone MVP award.

Now if they were to do a newer version to include stars up to the 1979 season I am sure Johnny Bench,Carlton Fisk as Thurman Munson would have been included the list. Now if you could added stars from the `80s,`90s through today like Gary Carter,Lance Parrish (after all McCarver was listed why not Parrish.) Ivan Rodriguez,Mike Piazza,Yadier Molina,Salvador Perez.

As I mentioned before Random House published these books they also did the same with the NFL under the heading of the books Punt,Pass & Kick also a 24 books series the funny thing Greg has a complete set of them in which I helped him complete the same time I completed the baseball versions. His last book was Book #23 was about O.J. Simpson & the last book I needed to complete the baseball was #22 the Subject was Pete Rose. I am sure we all know the irony of those 2 names & how they gave their respective sports a black mark after they were major stars. Now I also know Random House made & NBA version of these books or now many are within that series also they did some in the NHL as well I am on currently on the fence in finding them I guess I might need to be motivated to look for them. As I promised here's the list of the Books in chronological order a long with the authors name.  

Little League/ Major League Library List

1. Greatest World Series Thrillers by Ray Robinson 

2. Secrets of Big League Play by Robert Smith 

3. Great Baseball Pitchers by Jim Brosnan

4. Strange But True Baseball Stories by Furman Bisher

5. Baseball's  Most Valuable Players by George Vecsey

6. Great Rookies of the Major Leagues by Jim Brosnan

7. Great Pennant Races of the Major Leagues by Frank Graham Jr.

8. Heroes of the Major Leagues by Alexander Peters 

9. Great No-Hit Games of the Major Leagues by Frank Graham Jr.

10. Little League to Big League by Jim Brosnan 

11. Great Hitters of the Major Leagues by Frank Graham Jr.

12. Great Catchers of the Major Leagues by Jack Zanger

13. Amazing Baseball Teams by Dave Wolf 

14. Star Pitchers of the Major Leagues by Bill Libby

15. Baseball's Zaniest Stars by Howard Liss

16. More Strange But True Baseball Stories by Howard Liss

17. Great Infielders of the Major Leagues by Dave Klein 

18. World Series Classics by Bill Gutman

19. Baseball's Greatest Sluggers by Bill Libby

20. Record-Breakers of the Major Leagues by Lou Sabin

21. Stars of the Major Leagues by Dave Klein 

22. Pete Rose by Bob Rubin

23. Baseball's Great Moments by Herb Gluck 

24. Unsung Heroes of the Major Leagues by Art Berke 

                     I have a Part II of books that even like these are more geared to younger readers but reading some of these books as an adult you might like to read them & form your own opinion on them. I like to hear from my readers have you read any of these or did I spark an interest for you to try to locate them on eBay at your local used Bookstore. Stay Tuned for the Part II books I will be writing that part this weekend coming up in between my 2 jobs. Until then I am reminded of Rogers Hornsby quote about signing autographs for kids. "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American. He's a Communist." 

INTERNATIONAL FLAIR FOR THE GAME

             

           Just the other day I was looking at my 1996 Pinnacle baseball set remembering when I put this set together back in September 13th 1997.  The reason I remember that date is cause I just finished working the Michigan State University football game they played Memphis University beating them 51-21, & I asked my mother if she wouldn't mind taking my new friend from Austria to show him 1 of my favorite stores to get some cards. Your wondering how I became friends with a guy in Austria & what does it have to deal with cards simple earlier that year just as spring training was wrapping up I was online in a baseball chatroom when I was doing my yearly predictions for the upcoming season when a question popped up on my screen saying, "I think Tino Martinez should be MVP do you agree?" I had to chuckle myself what does this guy think Tino Martinez is not MVP material maybe if the Yankees were to make the playoffs again he could if he has a good series maybe MVP of the ALCS or the World Series should they get that far. So I gave my explanation to this Yankees fan little did I know that my argument was being read by some baseball fan in Austria. We struck up a conversation next thing I know he was wondering if anyone in the chatroom would be a host for his vacation in September for he wanted to see USA more than just New York where he had family at. So I proposed that he should spend a week in Michigan with my family he wondered if we could go to Chicago cause how close it was to Michigan cause he read about exploits of Alphonse Capone & his Bootlegging during Prohibition.

            Well I told him that we might not be able to but I knew of a cottage near my folks cottage where Capone had one his hideouts so he made plans to spend the week with me & my family. My parents were said he was welcomed to visit & we try to find the cottage little did I know it was about a 5 minute drive from my folks cottage. Stefan arrived on September 12th my mother & I made the trip down to Detroit to pick him up from the airport then drive back to my grandmothers house where he was staying during his stay. Stefan was surprised how many baseball cards I had & how crazy of a baseball fan I was also he was hoping to catch a Tigers game but they were in the midst of a road trip so he couldn't see them at Tigers Stadium & my local minor League team was all done with their season so we instead told him we take him to his 1st & only American Football game even if it was a college game. So after the game we went to the card shop where I purchased both series 1 & 2 of the Pinnacle & in 1 of my Series I packs I was lucky to pull the card show on top of this post (More about my detective work later about that card). We eventually got to my folks cottage as well located where Capone stayed & learned that he had a swimming pool that you could see underwater with his 2 way mirrors so he could watch the ladies swim without them knowing he was watching them especially if they were in their birthday suits. 

       

        Stefan had a great time with my family during his time by going to the mall buying a lot of blue jeans to take back to Austria as well a Varsity Jacket like of Ohio State that I was so jealous he bought just make me envy him. He even told us more about Austria, all I knew prior to meeting him was that Arnold Schwarzenegger was from there as well Vienna was the capital city & finally that it once was part of Germany before WWII. I later found out he was a hockey fan as well he's a devoted Boston Bruins fan. Plus he share with me that his visit wasn't the first time he came to the USA. He arrived 1 year earlier became a Yankees fan after going to his first game at Yankee Stadium unfortunately his first time was a memory he can't forget. He entered the stadium wearing of all things a Boston Red Sox cap. He thought about being a Red Sox fan at first cause Afterall like I mentioned before he likes the Bruins but it all changed after hearing how bad at the time Boston was cause of the "Curse of the Bambino".

This is Stefan now waiting for his American friend to visit his country.

Upon returning to Austria after making stops in Louisana as well Cleveland (Yes he visited the Rock n Roll HoF as well took in an Indians game.) Stefan & I stayed in touch to talk baseball as well hockey 

 The Team logo for his local team in Villach, Austria.

                 Fast forward to this year I recently reach out to him to ask if it was alright to talk about his journey to Michigan & other places he went on his vacation back in 1997. I asked him out of all the people whom he met how many are still in contact with the crazy Yankees fan from Austria. His answer might be surprising to some but he plainly said "Just that crazy Ohio State fan who is lost in the state of Michigan & his family." Friends like him why start WWIII right. 

         Now I suppose you are curious what type of detective thing I was referring about earlier. Simple if you look closely at the back of the card where Cal is thanking the fans during the game in which he broke the consecutive game streak held by Lou Gehrig on September 6,1996. I being from Michigan noticed the car he was riding in had a Michigan Licence plate I quickly have been talking to a some private investigators who might be able to help me track down a rare piece of Cal Ripken Jr. Memorabilia. You see I would love to find that actual licence plate for the following reasons. #1. Its a Game Used piece cause Cal Rode in it the day of the game. #2. How many others noticed this back in 1996. #3. It would be the ultimate find from that game besides the baseball he hit for a Home Run in that game. It's something to think about.  Well thanks for reading about the international flair for the game of baseball it just goes to show ya the next time the WBC comes around just know there's a guy in Austria watching the games with ya until then I am reminded by the quote Roger Hornsby once said about signing autographs for little kids. "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for a little kid ain't an American, He's a Communist." 

TRAVELING FOR DEALS

          Back in June I adventured to visit my friend in Maryland Greg. Yes I hear you please not another Greg story but, I promise it's not going to Monopolize the entire post. Instead  I'm going to be talking about how I like going outside of Michigan or my area to find some great deals. 

            Every place will have hometown prices for the closest teams. When I go to my local shop the store owner has 16 5000ct boxes filled with the Detroit teams 4 for each of teams. I can only imagine how many boxes if he was located in New York or Los Angeles. He usually charges a quarter for them except the major stars as well the major stars Rookies if it was someone like Riley Green he be in the owners eyes $.50 more now to me I like this setup cause when I need someone from the local team I just head to those boxes in hopes to find them.

          Yes I am 1 of those who loves going through boxes like that usually I find someone on my lists or find something that I might be interested in starting or completing & thanks to having the internet on my phone I don't have to lug around my binder that holds my master list & I even can check with the tcdb.com site if it's a set worthy of building or needing a name of a player that I don't have listed on my list. Plus I usually have other people's list as well & 9 out 10 times that's usually what I find is for them & not myself. I prefer stuff to be either sorted either by year by company as well by sport if not sorted that at least by sport cause then I  don't have to go back & forth from 1 list to another. My biggest problem is that not many people whom I trade with feel like it's a chore going through my lists or don't want the hassle to going through boxes to find me anything. 

           As I mentioned before in my blog about stopping at a flea market in Ohio during 2020 I found the 1959 Topps Billy Loes card for Greg. I like going out of state to find some great deals just recently I stumbled on a 1991 Swell All-Time Greats set at a garage sale the seller was asking $15 & I asked if he was willing to take $5 he said since I was tall enough for a project he needed done he accept $3 for it so I did the task where my height paid off & I got the set for $2 instead cause his wife wanted any cards out unfortunately that was the only thing in cards I guess she considered sporting equipment cards as well. That same day I found a couple of boxes of the`93/`94 O Pee Chee hockey boxes for $3 for both series 1 & 2.  I forgot to mention I was in Indiana at the time but for $3 sold for 2 reasons 1 I didn't have the set 2 the price. 

         So am I crazy about going outside my area to find deals or find new card shops,antique stores flea markets,garage sales,etc....to looking for things let me know in the comments below & with that said I am reminded of a quote from Rogers Hornsby about signing Autographs for kids "Any ballplayer who doesn't sign Autographs for little kids ain't an American, he's a Communist."