Social Distancing Diary - With Baseball Cards

Aloha, everybody,

Here's the next installment of my favorite cards binders. Today it's the first two pages of my vintage MLB/Hall of Famers binder. 

Enjoy and aloha! 

A Penny Sleeve Can't Hold Back This Cardboard's Coolness

Aloha, everybody, 

I recently received a package from Jon, my friend and the man behind A Penny Sleeve for Your Thoughts. 

I love reading Jon's blog posts. Everyone in our community has a different writing style, and I just happen to connect with how Jon writes. The bonus is our occasional blind trades. Nothing set up formally, just a fistful of cards flying from one collector to another. That's simple cardboard goodness, and this batch did not disappoint. 

First up is an interesting specimen that has me scratching my head.
Take a look and see if you notice anything different about this card... 

The card itself is of a highly diggable nature. What's not to love? Steve Garvey, rare fielding photo, and a jersey patch. All cherished checkmarks. 

But...did you notice the swatch? It's black. The Dodgers don't have any black in their uniforms, so why is the swatch black? The back of the card doesn't give me any hints, but closer inspection of the photo gives me a very big clue. 

Garvey is wearing a black tribute patch to number 19, Brooklyn Dodgers great, Jim Gilliam. The texture of the swatch itself feels a bit rough, like a patch might. Is this a swatch from Garvey's sleeve patch ?!?!?!?!? Dare I believe so???? What do you guys think? Any ideas from GCRL or Sir Night Owl?  

Moving on. Some of you may know Al Downing as the guy who gave up home run 715 to Hank Aaron. In fact, that's what the Memorable Moment for this card is...

Jon dropped a few 2017 Topps Archives on me. Cool! 

Here's a nice surprise. Jon knocked a solid base hit with this Larry Doby inclusion...

How many times have I said it? Gimme all your Piazzas. Please. 
High tops alert...

I don't know how many times I've had this card and traded it away or sold it. It's returned to me once again. Must be fate. I think I'll keep this one. 

Don't you love when trade partners remember who you collect, or check your wish lists to ensure they include some stuff right in your collecting wheelhouse? Jon does this...

I collect defunct teams, and one of my favorites is the Washington Senators. This Gil Coan card is a beauty. A bit flawed because of the fold crease, but otherwise, a beauty. What a photo! Plenty of the classic checkmarks found in 50's cardboard. 

Flip it over and there's even more goodness. It seems Coan had such a terrible 1952 campaign (the Topps writers called it a "slump year") that they totally ignored '52 and reminded us 1950 and '51 were much better for ol' Gil. 

Finally, Jon dropped in a couple of sweet items for my Raiders collection. Biletnikoff!!

Shiny Archives and below, numbered 1090 of 1099. The next best to the first ten numbers, is within the last ten. Cool! 

THANKS for the great cards, Jon. Your pile is almost ready to send out from here. 

Aloaha! 

I Just Hadda Go Back (to the Card Show!)

Aloha, everybody, 

You might recall I dashed out to the the ol' card show a couple of weeks ago, where I attacked some specific PC wishlists. They run that show twice a week, every week - so it's been calling me back ever since. Despite the fact there's really only one dealer's table worth my time, I heeded the cardboard call, and here's some of the loot I picked up.

I love the vintage World Series highlight subsets. These are courtesy The Sporting News and 1970 Topps... 

This little set features The Amazin' Mets vs the Orioles. I was able to grab Games 1, 3 and 5. 

Tommie Agee made two great catches in Game 3. Much like Sandy Amoros' 1955 WS catch for the Dodgers, Agee's catches will stand forever in Mets WS history. 

Agee later went on to play for the Dodgers. 

Now I just need Games 2 and 4, plus the Champion Mets card. How about some more World Series cards...

These WS sets are great (and inexpensive) ways to catch vintage Hall of Famers doing what made them HOFers.  Here comes Johnny Bench trotting home another run...

I picked up some defunct Washington Senators cardboard...

After deciding to collect cardboard from defunct teams, I quickly decided that I can't just collect every card from every player. That's not exactly where I want to spend my limited collecting budget. I'll have to be discriminating in my choices. 

I chose the above Cox card because of the great action shot (unknown stadium). Below is a triple play of Senators...

Manager Cookie Lavagetto was a hero in the 1947 WS for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Sievers and Lemon were mashers who combined to be the biggest home run hitting combo in Senators' history. 


Believe it or not, this is my first 1967 Topps Dodger...

Dock Ellis In Action. The alternative facts version of "high" heat... 

Defunct team and logo? Check
Great name and posed action shot? Check
Dirt cheap vintage? Checkeroni! 
Get inside my binder! 

Finally, a Pirates great dressed as a banana. I just couldn't walk away from this one. 

I get the feeling it won't be too long before I'm back to the show for more. 

Aloha! 

A JBF Tradeathon Leads to a Vintage-palooza

Aloha, everybody, 

Did you participate in JBF's recent Holiday Tradeathon? The creator of the Supertraders, the man who you never (but you really kinda do) wanna have a cardboard war with, is constantly finding new ways to spread his generosity around the blogosphere. 

This time it was a tradeathon. Wes offered up cards from different sports, autographs and well-loved vintage. The cards were offered to the first to call dibs, so one had to be vigilant to claim cards that were popular. 

I missed a couple of cards that I would have loved to claim, but there were plenty of others that caught my eye, and claim them, I did. 

Wes offered up a good amount of vintage and HOFers, both of which fit very well into my collecting wheelhouse, and here are the cards that I chose. 

A couple of posts ago, I decided to make a real go at collecting cards from defunct teams. Here's Frank Howard repping the Washington Senators from 1966 Topps...

 Howard, who broke into the bigs with the Dodgers, wasn't quite a HOFer, but he put up impressive enough stats: 
Rookie of the Year, 2-time AL home run leader, 4-time All Star, AL RBI leader, and a World Series champ. 
He'll slide into my collection just fine. 

Did I mention there was an offer of well-loved vintage? Who can resist 1954 Topps?
Bonus: Defunct team. 

Shantz was no slouch either: 3-time AS, AL MVP, 8 Gold Gloves, AL Wins leader, ML ERA leader, and WS champ! 
Bonus: Southpaw
Yeh, Mr. Shantz deserves a slot in my binder. 


In the three-hole, HOFer, Harmon Killebrew. I have a very modest PC of the Killer, and this card fit right in. 

This Killer card is an absolute beauty! Mirrory and refractory, it dazzles as it catches the light. 2014 Panini HOF Red Framed 08/50 

When I started collecting in the early 90's, Mickey Mantle cards were the bee's knees. I never lost my eye for Mantles. This one is an Upper Deck calling card commemorating the Mick's 500th homer. 
Bonus: Defunct Yankee Stadium 

The last of the cards I chose brings us back to 1966 Topps and another HOFer. This time it's one of the just 24 men to have pitched a perfect game... 

Bunning also pitched a no-hitter, was an 9-time AS, 3-time SO leader, and had his number retired by the Phillies, and he was a Dodger. Yup, I'll claim a Jim Bunning card. 

If those awesome picks weren't enough, good ol' Wes dropped in a bonus pack of 1995 Fleer. I pulled an abomination...

 And a second ex-Dodger, this time as a Met (I know, he's an ex-Giant, but we don't speak of such things in these parts), 

This card was the highlight of the pack. Gimme World Series Heroes every day of the week! 

Carter's WS heroic home run is forever implanted in my mind, so this was a great pull. 

Awesome cards from an awesome dude. THANKS, Wes! 

Aloha! 

Binder Page Heroes - Strictly Vintage

Aloha, everybody, 

Welcome to another installment of Binder Page Heroes, the ATBATT series where I pull a random page from the binders to share with you. Today it's a Vintage Edition. 

Leading off is 1954 Bowman...

I chose "The Barber" to lead off in honor of Arpsmith. I just sent a PWE to his California address, but it turns out he's moved to Kansas. 

I'm hoping he'll see this Giants card, click on my post, and read this note: Keep an eye out for a forwarded PWE, and send me your new address! What am I gonna do with all my unwanted Giants cards? 

Back to The Barber. Maglie earned his nickname from his brush back pitches which were close enough to give you a  shave. He's the only pitcher to have played for all three of the golden age New York clubs (Yankees, Giants and Dodgers). 

As a Dodger he pitched a no-hitter at Ebbits Field and was the Dodgers' pitcher when Don Larsen pitched his perfect game in the World Series. 

Bonus: Maglie has a stadium in Niagara Falls, NY named after him! 

Enough with the Giants. Moving on to 1952 Bowman...

Great art and the cardboard's in great shape. Yes, I still love you when you're 64. (There's a Beatles reference for Defgav.) 


Here's a '62 Topps that shows those Angels have been claiming LA for a long, long time...

I keep this '65 Topps card around because of the large Senators pennant. Gotta have at least one of these in my collection. I just wish I had one from a better Senators player. 

How about a Cub who went on to be a World Series Hero for the Dodgers, and then returned to the Cubs...

Johnson, an ex-Kansas City Monarch, hit two home runs in Game 7 of the 1965 World Series to clinch the championship for the Dodgers over the Twins. Topps gave him his own card for this feat, which is also in my collection. 

Sweet Lou is still around and frequently participates in pre-game ceremonies at Dodger Stadium with former players. I saw him once in the stands and he signed a baseball for me. He even signed "Sweet Lou Johnson". 

1957 Topps...

7x All-Star and 2x AL Batting champ, but he's a Red Sox.

Here's another Washington Senator, this time on 1959 Topps...

Since Fidel's been in the news lately, it's worth a mention that Pedro hailed from Cuba. 

Here's card #1 from 1960 Topps...

One of the great AL pitchers in the 50's, Wynn is another ex-Senator. 

Last up is a card from the Milwaukee Braves. 

From the back of the card: Red won the 1950 All-Star game with a home run in the 14th inning. 

It seems collecting cards from defunct teams is another facet of my collecting that I never properly realized until this post. I've happily just added hundreds more cards to my collecting goals. 

Aloha!