Cracking Perfection

Aloha, everybody, 

Yesterday I took a trip to the Frank and Sons card show to continue my work on The Perfect Game Project. 

As I've mentioned in the past, Frank and Sons, which was once the go-to weekly card show for anyone chasing baseball cardboard, is but a shell of the resource it once was. 

The industrial-sized building is still packed with vendors and collectors, but 95% of them are hawking and seeking comics, figurines, dolls, international video games, and nothing at all interesting to me. 

There are a few dealers with sports cards, but they specialize in ripping boxes of the latest product, only interested in pulling and immediately selling the hottest cards of the moment. Once again, a yawner for me. 

The baseball-centric card collector, looking to complete sets, or seeking any vintage that is not ridiculously priced and locked away under glass cases, is left with only two tables to choose from. All of that said, I was able to chip away and find a few ultimate cards (from the year of the perfect game) for my collection. 

Jim Bunning and Gus Triandos, 1964 Topps...

These 64's are in beautiful condition. The only flaw on the Bunning card was being slightly off-center, and a small amount of yellowing on the back. It's got sharp corners and good gloss on the surface. 

According to the dealer, the Triandos card is a short-print. 

Triandos is pictured in a Tigers uni, and checking the card back, he was traded to the Phillies the previous winter. 

I checked Bunning's card back and found he had also been traded from the Tigers. It seems they were packaged together and sent to Philadelphia, where they then combined for their perfect game. 

The same dealer filled out another battery for me. 1968 Topps, Jim (Catfish) Hunter and Jim Pagliaroni. 

Interestingly enough, Pagliaroni also caught a perfect game in his first season on a new team. Pagliaroni came out to Kansas City from Pittsburgh (as evidenced by the uni on his card)...

Catfish got his perfecto in his fourth year in the majors...

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to dig up any other perfect pitching duos, as nobody in the show had any cards from the 80's, 90's or 00's. At least, no cards that weren't high-priced autos. 

There's a big card show coming to the Long Beach Convention Center next month, so that will be my next best bet. I suppose I could find all of the others with a 20 minute search on the net, but call me an old-school collector, I just don't roll that way. For me, nothing beats flipping through those boxes and binders, cardboard in hand. 

Tune in next time to check out the other cards I grabbed from the show. 

Aloha! 

One Man's Dime Box Cards Are My Treasure

Hey everybody,

Spring Training is well underway and Opening Day is right around the corner.  What a great time of year!

Something else that's great is making trades with fellow bloggers and ATBATT's readers.  Today I'm covering a trade with one of the top bloggers in the game today, Good 'ol Nick, from the venerable Dime Boxes blog. 

This time Nick included a note expressing regret that he was low on Dodgers and how he hoped the inclusion of some other HOFers would make up for that.  Are you kidding, Nick?  Your trade packages are ALWAYS chock full of fantastic cardboard, and this time was no exception.

As usual, Nick sent so many cool cards I had a difficult time just to separate out nine cards to fit on my scanner for this post. That said, let's check the top nine I chose:

One can never go wrong sending Dodger vintage to me. 3-Dog was one of my earliest favorite Dodgers.  I was just a kid, but I quickly latched onto Davis because he was a southpaw just like me!

 I dig this psychadelic 70's card of Maury Wills and his well-used mitt.  It's said that the groundskeepers for the evil Giants over at Candlestick Park used to saturate the area around first base with water in the hopes of slowing down the speedy Wills. Ha! Good luck with that.

Now for one of today's Boys in Blue...

 RYYYYYYUUUUUUU !!  Now that Zack Grienke is not going on that ridiculous opening weekend trip to Australia, Manager Mattingly has declared Ryu will take the mound for Game Two of the season. 

 I love Ryu's game face when he pitches. Intense, baby! Come git some....

 How about this crazy card of Roger the Dodger?  Just what the heck is going on here?  I'm guessing this photo was snapped during the laid back days of Spring Training. I wouldn't be surprised if the camera were pointing backward, thus unintentionally creating the first selfie ever.

Nick also sent over some cool cardboard from other teams...

 The Catfish!  I'm presuming someone may have sent this card to Nick because of his "Grips" collection. If so, thanks for parting with this awesome card, Nick.

Another great card of a great pitcher.  Although pictured here with his first team, the Indians, I'll always remember him as an Oakland A.  Hey Ecks, can you hear it?  "High fly ball into right field....SHE IS GOOOOOOOOONE !!!!!"

These Cooperstown Collection cards are beautiful.  I only have a handful, and now I can add the Georgia Peach to that group.

Finally, this little foldout whose origins I don't know, but I am now proud to own.  I've mentioned before that I may not be a Yankees fan, but I can appreciate those Yankee greats from yesteryear.  Yogi Berra is certainly one of those Yankee players whom I admire and collect.

Yogi lost his wife of 65 years - 65 YEARS! - this past week.  What an epic love.  My deepest condolences, Yogi. 

And Nick, my THANKS for a great trade.  I'm already gathering a fistful of cards to send out to you  for our next trade.

Thanks for reading, everyone. 

Dimes? This Box Of Traded Cards Is Worth A Million To Me

Hey everybody,

A while back, Nick, over at the most excellent blog, Dime Boxes, decided he would begin collecting Matt Kemp cardboard.  So I sent over a few Kemps to help him kickstart his new quest.

As most of you blogonauts out there already know, Nick is a proficient and prolific writer.  However, what some of you may not know is what kind of a generous and cool trader he is.  Nick sent over a fantastic batch of cards that fit perfectly in my collection.  They span across teams, players, decades and card company releases.  He included so many cool cards, it was difficult to settle on just which ones to show.  However, settle I did, and here's a sampling of the cardboard goodness Nick sent my way...

Starting off with a beauty, 2001 Upper Deck Legends, Johnny Bench.  What a sweet card this is.  Black and white imagery for that classic feel, surrounded by an understated but dignified frame...

Is it me - or is that Yogi Berra in the dugout?  Here's Berra, a former great catcher studying the new generation's backstop in action. 

Good ol' Ralph Kiner is a local boy.  He grew up in the next city over from me - Alhambra, CA.

 Above is a  slice of HOFer goodness on a miscut that you almost won't  notice unless it's pointed out.  This card kinda looks like Niekro is trying to remember if he turned off the faucet at home.

From vintage sweetness to modern beauty below...

All rise to World Series Hero, Maz.

It's new to me!  2000 Upper Deck Hitters Club, featuring Cap Anson looking rather dapper. 

Below is what Rickey Henderson probably sees when he looks in the mirror..

How about this sweet cut-out Carew !!

Of course Nick tossed in some Dodger goodness for me...

Fantastic card! The greatest L.A. Dodger third baseman ever.

Speaking of fantastic, below is a great card of Satchel Paige, pictured during his time with the Indians...

Cubbie great Santo looks like he's wearing a WBC championship belt.

Blogger Fuji might appreciate these very cool A's cards almost as much as me.  Did somebody just give Reggie a hot foot? 

Finally, a Dodger's pitcher batting. No - bunting.  No - risking his fingers bunting...

I wish anger management- challenged hitting "coach" Mark McGwire would take Hyun-Jin Ryu aside and teach him to quit trying to bunt with his fingers completely wrapped around the bat.  I cringe every time I see Ryu trying to bunt.

But then again, I cringe even further when I think about all the great work McGwire has done with the Dodger hitters up to this point.

There's no cringing, however, when I reflect upon this awesome trade with Nick.  THANKs for the great cards, bud!

THANKS for reading, everyone !

Binder Page Heroes Rookie Cards (Mostly)

Hello everybody,

It's certainly not a secret who my favorite team is.  For a not-too-subtle hint, check the header again.  Although I'm a Dodger fan first and foremost, being a fan of the game of baseball runs a close second. So that means my love of baseball makes me a collector of cardboard from across the board.  Well, the Great Ones anyway, from any and all teams.

When I first dove into baseball cards as a serious hobby, I had additional notions that I would build a great collection and even make a buck or two along the way.  How to do that?  By acquiring Rookie cards, son. 

Actually, the real 'investment' is not in buying RC's from Mantle or Campanella.   Nope, the real trick is to guess which prospect playing out in the sticks (or the desert wastelands) will strike lightning and actually become a hit in the major leagues.   That was the trick back in the 90's and it's no different today (see Brian Harper).   Then, you're supposed to sell off those cards when the former prospect wins ROY, and buy a boat for the weekends with your baseball card reaping.  HA!

That game's not for me, but the lesson I did take from that slice of card collecting culture is that Rookie cards from the great ones, hall of famers and the legends of the field are still pretty cool to have.  So Rookie cards are part of my collection.  Sometimes the players RC is too darn expensive, or elusive, so I make do with a second or even a third-year card, until I can get the real mccoy. 

Of course, it's impossible to complete this chase, with so many high-caliber historical players, so I only collect personal favorites.  Those whom I believe made or changed the game into what it is today, or somehow shaped my baseball experience as a fan.

Here's the first installment of Binder Page Heroes, Rookie Cards...

Speaking of third-year cards, here's an example now.  .  I haven't even seen a Rookie or second year card of his, so I've had to settle for this one.   That said,  his RC is one of those shared cards, where he's one of 4 players pictured on the front.  That's not so aesthetically interesting to me, so I'm pretty happy to have this groovy third year issue, showing Hunter in the glory of his youth, with his signature proudly sporting the nickname 'Catfish', that he will eventually make into baseball royalty.

I don't have his topps RC yet, but below is the fleer version for the Dodger's skipper...

Speaking of Fleer RC's for Dodgers that started with other teams....one of the greatest Dodgers ever (that's right, i said 'ever')...

Next post: Part 2

THANKS for reading!