2001 Sunoco Dream Team

I picked up this oddball set on Ebay for 25 cents plus shipping.  According to "The Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards" these cards were sold in three-card packs for 49 cents with a gasoline or Coke purchase.  Other than being on thin card stock they're pretty nice.  I love the titles on the back.  They remind me of the 1960's combo cards.

Blow Out the Candles December 22

Philadelphia A's owner and manager, Hall of Famer , Cornelius McGillicuddy, Connie Mack, was born in East Brookfield, Massachusetts on this date in 1862.

1994 UD Baseball The American Epic #43

 Mack managed the Pittsburgh Pirates for 3 seasons and the Philadelphia Athletics for an astounding 50 years. His overall wins total of 3731 will likely never be broken.  The recently retired Tony LaRussa,  at age 67, was still over 1000 wins behind Connie.

April 11, 1927

Connie Mack presenting Lefty Grove with the 1931 MVP award, August 1932

Hall of Fame pitcher Steve Carlton is celebrating his 67th birthday today.

1971 Topps #55

 Lefty's accomplishments are many.  Among them Steve was a 10 time All-Star, 4 time Cy Young winner, and won 2 World Series championships. His 329 wins are 2nd among left-handers behind Warren Spahn and 11th overall and his 4,136 strikeouts are 4th all-time.

"When Steve (Carlton) and I die, we are going to be buried in the same cemetery, sixty feet, six inches apart." - Tim McCarver

"Hitting him is like trying to drink coffee with a fork."
Willie Stargell

"Lefty was a craftsman, an artist. He was a perfectionist. He painted a ballgame. Stroke, stroke, stroke, and when he got through (pitching a game) it was a masterpiece." - Richie Ashburn

If you were around in the 60's and 70's you'll recognize the face above. Game show host Gene Rayburn was born on this date in 1917. During the time that game shows were king Rayburn was one of the princes. He'll be remembered mostly for his long run on various versions of The Match Game.

Twins Robin and Maurice Gibb of The Bee Gees were born on this date in 1949. Robin turns 62 today. Sadly, his brother Maurice passed away on January 12, 2003.

Big Cards Need Love Too -- #'s 21-25

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).

 A couple of nice shots of "the Penguin".

 Not a good head shot here but the action shot works.  Ricky was coming off his record setting stolen base season (130) in 1982.  I still prefer the brighter colors of the old school A's caps.  I have one of the Cooperstown Collection versions.

 Ditto on the pictures here.  I like the way the full names stand out on these cards.  1982 marked the 8th time in 11 years that Ryan led the league in base on balls.  On the other hand he went 16-12 for an Astros team that finished eight games under .500.

 In 1982, at age 37 Lefty had another great year going 23-11 and leading the NL in wins, shutouts, complete games, inning pitched and strikeouts.

 The oft injured Stearns came down with elbow tendinitis in August of 1982.  He only played in 12 games in 1983-84 before hanging them up.  Factoid:  John was drafted ahead of Hall of Famer Dave Winfield in both baseball and football.  The backward helmet seems fitting.