Blow Out the Candles August 17

Baltimore fan favorite Boog Powell is celebrating his 71st birthday today.

1969 Topps #15

In addition to being part of two World Series Championship teams, Boog was the 1970 AL MVP, and was a four time All-Star.

2000 Fleer GOTG

Brooks Robinson, Mark Belanger, Davey Johnson, Boog Powell

Boog is now a popular restaurateur:

Long time Blackhawks right winger Chico Maki is celebrating his 73rd birthday today.

Chico's in the back row to Stan Mikita's right.

Chico is in the top row, fourth from the left between HOFers Pierre Pilote and Stan Mikita.

Bobby Hull, Stan Mikta, Phil Esposito and Chico Maki hat shopping in 1965-66.

Player, coach and announcer Johnny "Red" Kerr was born in Chicago, Illinois on this date in 1932.

A Chicago HS Public league champ and standout at Illinois, Johnny was a three time all-star in the NBA and went on to become the Bulls very first coach in 1966.  Kerr would later become a Bulls announcer, a job he joyfully held for some 33 years including all of the Jordan era.  He died on February 26, 2009.  In a sad coincidence, Bulls great and fellow broadcaster Norm Van Lier died the same day.

Do It Yourself COMC Packs #10/35 Ted Williams Co.

I recently had 8 months worth of Check Out My Cards purchases shipped.  I divided the 153 cards into 35 groups.  I like to think of these as hand picked "packs".   I'm posting them in random order.  "Pack" #10, four cards, was $1.31 including shipping.

These four cards are from the two sets put out by the Ted Williams Co. in 1993-94.

Don was the shortstop on the Cubs teams of my youth.   He could really make the acrobatic throw from the hole.  He's one of the core group of 1969 Cubs that you don't see too often anymore.

Boog is one of my favorites from the great Orioles teams of the 1960's-70's.

Can't have too many cards of old timers.  Johnny is of course famous for his consecutive no-hitters in 1938.

 Maris still holds a fascination for most of us.  This is a cool rare photo of Roger from his days with the Keokuk Kernels in 1954.  A bit of trivia: Roger spelled his name Maras back then. He changed it after the 1954 season.

A $25 Ebay Gift Card Got Me Part 6 -- Turkey Cards

Last year my sister-in-law and brother-in-law gave me a $25 Ebay gift card for Christmas.  Here's what I ended up with.  This year they were nice enough to treat me again.

This was my first purchase , second, , third , fourth and fifth.

Here's my sixth purchase.  Cost $1.50, shipped .  So far $22.61.


I can't tell you much about these.  They are listed in The Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards.  I'm guessing they were a send away item since they came sealed.  The copy-write date is 1994 but they were released in 1995.  Wikipedia shows Mr. Turkey as part of Sara Lee but that's about all I could find on the company.  Anyone have anything to add?

Timeless Teams Bat Cards -- Mets vs. Orioles

Here's one more of my favorite relic sets, Upper Deck's, 2001 Vintage Timeless Teams. This set includes a good number of cards of players that you don't see in great numbers as well as your usual superstars. The design doesn't blow me away but it is clean and the bat pieces are good sized.

#NYM-EK

#BA-BP

#NYM-RS

#BA-MB