2001 Upper Deck Hall of Famers Royals to Twins

I really miss sets like this 2001 UD Hall of Famers.  I picked this one up for $8.00 shipped.  Lets look at them all.

Nice shot of George banging out one of his 3,154 hits

Not your protopical slugging 3rd baseman.  George is 6th all time in doubles.

Johnson has one of the all-time great nicknames, The Big Train.  He was scary good.

More than a quarter of his wins, 110, were shutouts.

The Big Train and Now Cool Papa.  He looks pretty young here.

Cool Papa was so fast it was said he could turn out the light switch and be in bed before the room got dark.

This is an outstanding group today.  Here's the second of Cooperstown's First Five.  

The numbers speak for themselves.

The greatness continues with two of the game's true gentlemen.

The Eye of the Tiger -- Mr. Tiger

Again, consistency is the mark of excellence.

I love shots of young Harmon with the Senators.  I don't know if I've ever seen this one.  His career total of sacrifice bunts?  Zero.

Harmon was a true slugger.  .256 BA, 573 HR.

Blow Out the Candles May 15

Hall of Fame third baseman George Brett is celebrating his 59th birthday today.

"Brett's 3,154 career hits are the most by any third baseman in major league history, and 15th all-time."

"Brett is one of four players in MLB history to accumulate 3,000 hits, 300 home runs, and a career .300 batting average with the others being Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Stan Musial."

Hall of Fame Maple Leafs Goaltender Walter "Turk" Broda was born in Brandon, Manitoba on this date in 1914.

 Vezina Trophy winner 1947-48

 With Syl Apps in 1948

Turk and a friend

Artist Jasper Johns is celebrating his 82nd birthday today.

Some of his work:

Three Flags 1958

The Critic Sees 1961

Gray Numbers 1958

0 Through 9 1961

We saw this exhibition when it came to the Art Institute of Chicago

Photographer Richard Avedon was born in New York City on this date in 1923.

Some of his work:

Bridgette Bardot 1959

The Kennedys 1961

 Beatles

Dylan

Marliyn Monroe 1957

The Dalai Lama

Alfred Hitchcock 1956

Big Cards Need Love Too -- #'s 41-45

I guess I'm in the minority but I think these 3-1/2" x 5", 1983 Donruss Action All-Stars are nice.   Here they are in numerical order. (Click to enlarge particularly if you want to read the backs).

If the comments I've been getting on the first half of the set are any indication these cards do have some fans.  Anyone want to comment that doesn't like them?

Tonight's group features 4 hall of fame members and a near miss (or at least a fan favorite).

 Before Brian Wilson, there was Bruce Sutter.  Don't fear the beard with Bruce, fear the split-finger fastball!

George was the first player in baseball history to accumulate 3,000 hits, 300 home runs, 600 doubles, 100 triples, 1,500 RBIs and 200 stolen bases.  Not too shabby.   The stats are from the Hall of Fame.  They say first.  Has there been another?

 Pudge wore White Sox for more years but I'll always think of him wearing Red.

Wow, speaking of all-time great Red Sox, here's Yaz.  How high is he on the Red Sox National heroes list?

Dale won 2 MVP's and hit 398 home runs.  His number 3 was retired by the Braves.  This is the best looking card out of this group.

Topps All-Time Fan Favorites Favorites A-B

Topps put out 150 card sets of retired players in 2003-2004-2005. Players are pictured on card designs from their playing days but with different photos than were in the originals. Here are my favorites, alphabetically.

2004 #50

Nice Hank Aaron in a classic Milwaukee Braves uniform. This looks like it may be a "colorized" black & white shot. The cap, instead of being blue with a red brim, is all blue. Correct me if I'm wrong.

2004 #21

An intense Luis Aparicio. I'm partial to the later cartoon Oriole but I like this earlier one that's on the right sleeve too.

2005 #47

This card rivals the original 1954 Banks. How about the inset picture of Ernie sliding into home!

2005 #60

Not sure what's going on here. Are these fans asking Johnny to sign all that stuff? What's the little yellow box? Still, I like the '75 design. The yellow and red border seems to work well with all the red in the picture.

2004 #137

Sy Berger, the "Father of Modern Baseball Cards". An Allen & Ginter-ish beauty.

2003 #80

Who doesn't like Yogi? He sponsored Yoo-hoo! "It's a fine product."

2003 #58

I don't have any real 1971's in this condition. The Swingin' A's of the 70's are one of my favorite teams. In 1971 Vida Blue won 24 games and both the Cy Young and MVP.

2003 #146

An early shot of the outspoken Dutchman. He should be in the Hall of Fame.

2003 #20

This is an alternate version of Brett's rookie card. I think I like this one better. The background is livelier and George is sort of smiling.

2005 #22

Another 1965 design. A relaxed former Cub happy he's a "former" Cub.

2004 #48

Brett Butler flashing his Hollywood smile. Dodgers often look like this.