Check Out My COMC Cards #6 -- Double Whammy

About half of my first group of cards from COMC were of the vintage variety.    I came across these two cards in a book of Topps cards of the 1950's.  In preparing for this post I've found that others are also fond of them. Check out this article on MiLB to for more information on Whammy.

1959 Topps #431

paid $0.86

1958 Topps #306

paid $0.48

Card of the Day -- 1911 Hassan

The year is 1911.

The President is William Howard Taft. Last year he became the first President to throw out a ceremonial first pitch at a major league baseball game.

This year's newborns include, Ronald Reagan, Lucille Ball, Ginger Rogers, Roy Rogers, Vincent Price, Jean Harlow, Hank Greenberg, Buck O'Neil and Josh Gibson, Joe Medwick and Walter Alston.

On December 14 Roald Amundsen and his team reach the South Pole.



Marie Curie receives the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

In baseball:

Ty Cobb .420 and Joe Jackson .408 lead the majors in batting average.


Grover Cleveland Alexander wins 28 games as a rookie with the Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Athletics win the World Series 4 games to 2 over Christy Mathewson's New York Giants.

Somewhere, someone walks into a store and buys a pack of Hassan cigarettes. Inside he finds the card below. Somehow the card survives for the next 99 years until it arrives in Chicago where it is now a treasured part of my collection.

Check Out My COMC Cards # 5 -- Derrek Lee and Alfonso Soriano

Two more current Cubbies from my first COMC shipment:

Derrek Lee is having a bad first half. In games where the Cubs lose he's hitting .174. This season's just a mystery. Still Derrek is one of the good ones and here are a couple of cards from my COMC basket:

2008 UD Masterpieces #CC-DL
paid $2.35

2008 Allen & Ginter #289 mini Ginter back
paid $.25

2000 Bowman #AS
paid $10.00

I think I did ok on this one price-wise for an early on card auto. I often question Soriano's production and instincts but his attitude is always great. What a team!

Check Out My COMC Cards #4 -- Aramis Ramirez

Here are a half dozen Aramis Ramirez cards from my first COMC purchase.

1999 Just Minors
paid $3.99

Prices on his auto's have come down but I bought this before the season started. At $3.99 I think I overpaid. Maybe he'll have a big comeback next year. As of today he's out of the lineup with a sore thumb.

2007 Topps #129
paid $.09

2007 Sp Authentic #AP6
paid $.10

2006 Bowman Heritage Chrome #161
paid $.17

2007 UD #603
paid $.10

2007 UD Aramis Ramirez Cubs CL
paid $.10

Total $4.55. My thumb hurts from typing.

Happy 4th!

Hope everyone is having a great 4th of July weekend!

Santo Saturdays

I guess the best place to start my new feature, Santo Saturdays, is with Ronnie's first Topps card, 1961 #35:


I can't find anything not to like about this card. The pose captures the power of the young slugger standing to the left of third base (his position) at a clearly recognizable Wrigley Field. The rookie cup fits in well here especially with the red and yellow color scheme.

The autograph is one of my few TTM's. I got it way back in 1975 right after Ron retired.

In the past decade Topps has reprinted this card in various sets. Here are the four I'm aware of:

Three versions were issued in 2001:

The first was a giveaway at Wrigley Field on June 27. It's serial numbered on a gold strip on the back. Mine is 04643/30000.

The second issue is from the 2001 Archives set. This card has a glossier front side than the giveaway and they changed the size of the font on Santo's name on the back.

The third reprint is the Certified Autograph Issue from the Archives set. The front of the card is still glossy but the card stock is a little smoother and on the autograph issue the back is also glossy and is very yellow. Ron's signature is always great although on this one (and on a second copy I have) he seems to have condensed the "on" of Ron so it looks like "RSanto". Still, nice and bold and legible.



One thing about all three of the reprints from 2001 is that whoever worked on it decided that the area just to the left of Ron's face over the left field wall should be colored green as if it were trees. On the original card from 1961 it's clear that it's a bank of purplish clouds. Artistic license I guess.

The last card is from the 2005 Topps Rookie Cup set and is #2 of 150 rookie cup reprint inserts. In terms of the photography it's the most faithful to the original but the card stock front and back are a smooth semi-gloss.

Bud Collins

This being finals weekend at The All England Club in Wimbledon what better cards to post than Bud Collins. To me, who grew up in the 1970's, Bud will always be the voice of tennis.

Here's Bud back in1968 with Muhammad Ali

Check Out My COMC Cards #3 -- Fukudome & Fontenot

The Cubs have a team of likable guys who right now are playing like crap. Here are a couple of likable guys. I picked up two cards of each of them. Total cost was 58 cents.

2007 Topps 52 #29

paid $.10

Mike reminded me of SNL's Darrell Hammond on this card

2008 Topps Year in Review #YR86
paid $.08

Mike had a great start this year but only hit .138 in June. No 7-7.

2008 UD Timeline #232
paid $.20

Like Fontenot, Fukudome got off to a good start this season but had an awful June.

2009 SPx #21
$.20

This card looks better in person. The scanner doesn't pick up the shininess of the background.

Who's Next, Bump Wills?

Another Cub's second baseman is trying to sell me cable service.

Who's next:

Manny Trillo?



Glenn Beckert?


I know, Bump Wills!

Card of the Day

1990 Skybox #311

Am I wrong or does it look like former Pacers head coach Dick Versace is wearing a shower cap?

A bit of Versace trivia, a la Michael Nesmith's mother invented Liguid Paper--- Dick Versace's mother, Tere Rios, wrote the book that the the 60's TV series, The Flying Nun, was based on.