SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT CONTEST

                        This post is 2 days late then expected, for you see I was suppose to do this posting the day prior to All-Star Game so you could have something to think about. I suppose you still can but,keep in mind by the end of this piece you'll be saying ya know maybe he's right. The funny thing about All-Star Games if you think about it if you you look at every venue that has hosted the mid summer classic within 25 years either way you look at somehow that team reached some kind of post season after hosting the game.

                     There has been 2 ties in All-Star game history as of this writing the 1st was in 1961 at Fenway Park in Boston during the 2nd All-Star game that year. The first in 1961 was at Candlestick Park in San Francisco where Stu Miller was blown off the mound (CHA-CHING!!!) the reason the 2nd game ended in the tie was due to a rain storm it makes you think how nature caused 1 man to be blown away while the other can on the parade of the majors finest coming together for a 2nd interleague game of the season.  The 2nd tie occurred during the 2002 in Milwaukee which ended after 11 innings when both rosters were depleted of players but if you wanted my opinion Bud Selig was just afraid to admit that running out a players expanding rosters wasn't a great idea until the following year when they offered fans a last player pick selection to the game. 

                  Back in 1933 the very 1st All-Star game at Comiskey Park in Chicago the 1st home run was hit by Babe Ruth for the American League. Fast forward 50 years later the same venue the 1st Grand Slam was hit by Chicago native Fred Lynn also for the American League. Still fast forward to 2007 Ichiro Suzuki hits the 1st Inside the park again for the American League but this time the venue wasn't in Chicago it was in San Francisco at AT&T Park off Chris Young. Each of those 3 times the American League won those games again something to think about.

Now I bet your wondering what the contest is I am offering for a prize for the 1st person who can clearly tell me without the aide of Google who can tell me why the young man on your right of Cornelius McGillicuddy (Connie Mack's real name again CHA-CHING!!!!!!) in the front row wearing a Cleveland Indians uniform instead of his usual Tiger striped Socks & Old English D on his chest. You need to identify the young man 1st then why he was wearing the uniform. Which brings me to why doesn't Major League Baseball acknowledge this is the first All-Star game before the 1933 Classic again something to think about. The winner of the contest will win a Complete Set of the 1990 Topps Major League Debut 1989. Should the winner pass on the prize I'll hold it until I hold my next contest. Stay tuned to my blog for winner of the contest & what steps are needed for me to award the winner. Until then remember what Hall of Fame Rogers Hornsby said about giving autographs "Any ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American, he's a communist." 

DOES IT EXISTS OR NOT

 

             I have often wondered if anyone is like me that does a card exists or not. Case in point I have often wondered if the `90/`91 Hoops card #249 Terry Porter that shows no NBA Symbol on the back of the card exists or not. As you can see in the photo from the TCDB.com site someone was able to scan a pic of the card to show that somehow it exists but, everytime I have looked at any `90/`91 Hoops card of #249 its usually the corrected version of the card.

 

This has always baffled me as well a bunch of others that I assume also trying to make a master set with every variation that's listed on the TCDB site. 

Here's another card does it exists or not again the TCDB.com says yes it does here's photographical evidence that its real but have I seen 1 nope not yet!!!!

  

Have you seen 1 in the wild if so were you able to purchase it. 

I have 2 more cards that are M.I.A. where the TCDB.com doesn't have pictures of these cards & I have tried to see if COMC.com or even Ebay has any of them & both times nothing has appeared if anyone has any of the 2 I am about to mention please lmk if I could possibly make a deal for them. The first one is a 2003 Milwaukee Brewers Diamond Celebration I just like to find the Ernie Harwell card for my PC I went to even ask a friend who lives in Wisconsin & is my residential expert when it comes to knowing a lot about the Brew Crew and is trying to get a complete run not counting parallels or inserts just your plain Jane regular issued Topps Brewers cards that includes the traded sets from any of years that a Brewers player might me involved from 1974 Topps, 1981 Topps to the present day & he wasn't familiar with any set of that. Another set that even I asked someone who was in the set if hes see it or not & they say they havent see it even if they're a subject within it is the `95/`96 Missouri Tigers Mens Basketball set.

The reasoning behind this post is maybe casting on my line I might get a nibble on some of these Wishful Whales as well to remind anyone that is a box breaker on YouTube that if your cracking open any 1990 Topps you will never get George Bush USA card or the NNOF Frank Thomas RC out of a pack cause the George Bush USA was only given to the President back in 1990 as for the NNOF Frank Thomas hard to say if you'll ever find that card. So let me know what cards do you think you have trouble locating even if the TCDB may or may not have photos to back up your claim. Until then remember what Rogers Hornsby once said "Any ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American, he's a communist."

I'M NOT A SAVAGE!!!!!!!! AT LEAST I DON'T THINK I AM..........

                    Someone the other day asked if I was a savaged person when it came to collecting my cards. I am not a savage of any sorts except when it comes to completing my sets. I have been to where if I am at a show or a shop & I find the last card to complete a set or find the right vein in a box of singles have been known to drop words that sounds like I have a bad case of Tourette Syndrome. In some cases I usually bite my tongue when there's young individuals under the age of 13 around me during those times or I sometimes reserve myself in saying it in American Sign Language, so I don't get parents looking at my direction wondering did they hear me say what they thought I said.  

This 1985 Garbage Pail Kid card was given to me back in the day so I guess it does seem fitting in how I attack card finding. Best part of this card my name is spelled correctly on the front of it. I have had people think I spell my name S-T-E-W-A-R-T & I usually go off on them & tell them its correct spelling & tell them I am just like the "LITTLE" mouse but I am not that little anymore.

Just yesterday I was able to go to West side of Michigan to check out an antique store that my girlfriend & I like to visit whenever we're in the area I was lucky to find a few cards to get me closer to completing a couple sets then we moved on to a shop that my girlfriend & my friend Greg found when Greg visited me this last year that I have yet to visit. I noticed they didn't have much of the old school cards I mainly was looking for but I dug in finding a card that completed a set with young individuals nearby I did my sign language excited that I completed 1 set at least. I then moved on to another couple boxes having 3 boxes to rummage through I came across the last card happened to be a RC of the individual I almost let loose the words but again held back so tight it also came in the last box I was going to go through for the night. Oh yeah the price of the 2 cards I found to complete the 2 sets $.50 total a $.25 per card can't fight those prices.

So I guess I'll leave it to my readers do you think I am a savage or not I look forward to hearing what you think also sometime next week keep reading my blog & tell others about it as well. I will be giving away some cards to anyone who wants to pick through what I have available there will be a limit of 5 cards per person unless I don't have enough people then Ill run a contest to see who gets them all so keep reading until then I am reminded by what Rogers Hornsby once said......"Any ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American, he's a communist."

A WISHFUL WHALE TALE

              As I mentioned a while back I am in the midst of completing my 1967 Topps set. All I need is 3 cards This Ed Spiezio card #128, Bill Denehy/Tom Seaver aka Mets Rookies #581 Brooks Robinson #600. I just wish everytime I go through the common boxes or vintage binders of `67's I can find that Spiezio or even find it in a box of unknown cards at a garage sale or Flea Market or an antique store or even at The National Sports Card Convention. But those are just wishful whale thoughts. 

       
 I recall during 2020 I was in a Flea Market outside of the Toledo, Ohio area & I stumbled upon this card for my friend Greg of The Collective Mind blog.

I recalled that Greg needed this card from his wantlists but I skipped passed it rather quickly after realizing that it wasn't a 1991 Fleer,1990 Topps & 1988 Donruss card in the batch of junk wax commons. I went through the pile again just to get a closer look at Mr. Loes card cause I wanted to make sure it was 1 he needed after seeing it was Billy Loes I kept talking to myself why does this Billy Loes sound familiar its the right year cause at the time Greg was building a 1959 set so I quickly put Billy to the side brought out my phone brought up Greg's list after what seemed a long time cause Greg lists his needs in reverse chronological order compared to me doing it in chronological order. I read he needed #336A Billy Loes No trade line well......not knowing what to look for I went to TCDB.com site click on 1959 Topps Errors/Variations scrolled through until I saw Billy's name looked closely at the picture looked at the card I had on hand do they match yes they match now how much does it say these cards in this box say they are $0.05 per card. Quickly I kept it to the side continued looking through the box rummaging to see if perhaps I could find this bad boy for him. 

 

After all I did find Billy maybe He'll luck out & get the final 2 off his list. Well......he didn't luck out so I continued to look at other stuff that I might find at this flea market. I found 2 books that I needed at the time for my Time/Life series Mysteries of the Unknown. So I paid for my purchases the books were $4 a piece & then I handed the clerk Billy told the lady which booth it was from she then asked was this in the box that was $0.05 per card I told her it was my total was $8 cause she why charge you for a card so I gave the money walked out to my waiting girlfriend was in the car ready to head to our next destination I told her I needed to call Greg tell him the good news about Billy. 

Greg finally picked up the phone & I did my best Jack Buck impression Saying "......I don't believe what I just saw & tell me on your phone is this your card....." with that I sent him a text picture of Billy he was was shocked he was like "Yes that's one I needed its a wishful whale to find & you were able to find it eh!!!! How much was Billy." when I told him the cost he was stunned I even told him I tried to find Ralphie Boy in my best Ed Norton voice (I eventually found Ralphie Boy for him but that's for another post.) But finding whale's for others is sometimes what I do when I am not able find anything on my lists.

I can only sit in my man cave looking through my 1967 Topps set & wonder if I ever will find that Wishful Whale as well find a descent cost for the other 2 missing in action. So my question is for my readers have you ever located another persons Wishful Whale or has anyone sent you a Wishful Whale that you thought you never would get & were overwhelmed from their thoughtfulness to you let me hear what you have to say in the comments. Believe me if anyone should find me the Spiezio I definitely would honor them in my blog.  Until then I am reminded that quote from Rogers Hornsby "Any ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."   

CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY!!!!!

               I really don't understand why certain people have to do what they consider right. What I am referring about is what took place over this last weekend at a show outside of the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. These crooks stealing high-priced graded cards from a dealer as the show was winding down. First off to the crooks who did this act why did you do it did this dealer not want to purchase your comp cry me a river if that's the answer. Understand your holding onto 2.5" x 3.5"Rogers Horne cardboard that someone thought it might deserve a certain grade in their opinion. 

               If you think you will be able to resell these cards you gotta be even more stupid than seeing the Navy adding screen doors to the submarines or watching a clown making balloon animals with lead balloons. Lately I have seen way too many people at one of my jobs make this claim  "......I steal products cause I'm entitled to it cause I've had a rough life."  Give me a Flumpy Break. I hope that they can capture these worthless people. 

           The latest theft reminds me of when I was walking around soaking the excitement of a National Sports Card Convention in Chicago in 2005 I over heard a customer bragged how he duped a dealer in selling a custom made autographed baseball supposedly signed by Chick Gandil on the sweet spot that was supposedly found in this persons Grandparents house & given to them upon their passing. Those wondering who is Chick Gandil well........ he was 1 of 8 that played 1st base of infamous Chicago White Sox of the 1919 team known Black Sox that gambled on the series that year against Cincinnati. The guy even bragged how he learned how to doctor a cheap $3 baseball you can find at any sporting goods store by another guy & thankfully they took the videos down on YouTube how to make counterfeit vintage cards out of reprints as well to making a baseball older than it should be. Yes I reported this guy to local authority figures to put this schuzz-bucket behind bars. Needless to say if I saw happen again I would report it all over again. So I leave you with this thought before I sign off what kind of punishment would you hand down if you were the judge on this case. Until then remember Rogers Hornsby once said "Any ballplayer who doesn't sign for little kids ain't an American, he's a communist."

INDEPEDENCE DAY CHA-CHING PART I

             It was on this date in 1939 during baseballs Centennial season that Lou Gehrig had his number 4 retired by the New York Yankees. It was due to the fact that Lou was diagnosed in having ALS later due to popularity of Lou it was renamed in his honor.  We have all known the clip of the speech see the entire speech forementioned below. 

       "Fans for the past 2 weeks you been reading about the bad bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth. I have been in ballparks for 17 years & have never received anything but kindness & encouragement from you fans.
       Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn't you consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day? Sure, I'm lucky. Who wouldn't consider it an honor just to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball's greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To have spent 6 years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next 9 years with outstanding leader,that smart student of psychology,the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy? Sure I'm lucky.
       When the New York Giants , a team you give your right arm to beat, & vice versa,sends you a gift-That's something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers & those boys in white coats remember you with trophies-that's something. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter-that's something. When you have a father & a mother who work all their lives so you can have an education & build your body- it's a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength & shown more courage than you dreamed existed-that's the finest I know.
        So I close in saying that I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for."

       With Lou's words please keep in mind ALS still remains a disease that has no cure. Scientists as well researchers I hope can find cures like this 1 as well cancer. As writer of this blog I hope you join me in countless others in honoring Lou Gehrig with this special tribute to him.

NEVER WILL I EVER...... Part I

           Never will I ever try to attempt making a set that's nearly impossible to make with cards. A colleague of mine asked me once has there ever been a set request that seem so outrageously stupid to do. I told him there's been countless of sets through the years that would seem impossible to do or make due to the restrictions I have as a set builder. 

           I started making sets back in 1990 when set building was easy to make or try to make if it was a set prior to 1979. I would make sets with the intentions of accomplishments to show my father who well.....kinda didn't understand why was his middle son so into collecting these things called baseball cards while his elder brother was into comic book collecting. Growing up with 2 brothers & being the only sports crazed child who could rattle off stats like a human baseball encyclopedia my father kinda wondered how I could remember that in 1964 was the last time that Mickey Mantle appeared in the fall classic but at the same time couldn't get decent grades in 9th grade English. 

         The very first set I ever made was the 1983 Fleer set I always liked the simple design plus the b&w photo of the player featured on the back. My mother said I should also try to really get my set building a challenge is to make a set of cards that she located once back in 1985 in Royal Oak,Michigan at a Comic/Sports show in a trash can. Yes!!!! you read that correctly someone tossed out a bunch of cards into a trash bin. Not the best shape but pretty much salvageable to a novice collector as myself would say now about myself. The cards I found that day were over abundance of the 1967 Topps set mainly some of the local team the Detroit Tigers names that both my parents heard during those years when they courting each other guys like Bill Freehan, Denny McClain, Mickey Lolich, as well others unfortunately there wasn't a 1967 Topps Al Kaline in the trash but there was a 1957 card of him again not best shape but you could still identify Mr. Tiger really well wearing that famous #6 on his back.

            I finished the 1983 Fleer set that fall after saving my allowance of $5 each week for 2 months to purchase the card that I would show my father card collecting was about that being card #507 Ryne Sandberg. As for the 1967 Topps set well......I still am on the hunt to completing that set I still need 3 cards to complete it they are as follows according to the tcdb.com checklist.

1967 Topps wantlist

128a-Ed Speizio where his named is rubbed out almost

581-New York Mets Rookies Bill Denehy/T.Seaver 

600-Brooks Robinson

        I like to find these 3 cards raw, ungraded, all at a reasonable prices. Every year since 1990 my mother calls it her set & wonders how the process goes in completing it. I keep her updated everytime I go to a show on the process my goal is to have it completed before I say goodbye to her. 

Anyways that's just the beginning of this series. I'll talk more about the process of the NEVER WILL I EVER.........as a set builder for future dates so I hope you stay tuned for them plus any updates on the progress of the 1967 set. Until then remember the famous Rogers Hornsby quote "Any ballplayer who doesn't sign an autograph for little kids ain't an American, he's Communist."