Blow Out the Candles February 4

"Savoir Faire', Denis Savard is celebrating his 51st birthday today.

2006-07 UD Ultimate Signatures #US-DS

Famed aviator, Charles Lindbergh was born in Detroit, Michigan on this date in 1902.

1930

Do It Yourself COMC Packs #19/35 A Proverb

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" #19 was $1.13 including shipping.

A one card pack?  What a ripoff!  Wait.  It's a cool one card pack.

 1959 Topps #108

Full name: Proverb Gabriel Jacobs Jr.
Proverb played in the NFL-AFL for 6 seasons.  After football he went back to school earning a masters then a doctorate degree.  He's been a coach and instructor at Laney College in Oakland, California since 1968.  Here are a few links to more about Proverb, link, link, link.

Autographed Cards A-Z Irvin to Jenkins

When I got back into collecting five or so years ago one of the things that excited me was the availability of autographed cards.  Perhaps I went a little overboard but I think I picked up some nice cards.  This will be an A-Z series of posts with varying numbers of cards.

Hall of Famer Monte Irvin on my favorite set.  Monte was the fourth player to break the color barrier when he debuted for the New York Giants on July 8, 1949.

 2005 UD Signature Decades #SDS-MI

I collect autographs from the 1964-1968 era Cardinals.  Julian hit .360 in the 1967 World Series.

 2004 UD Timeless Teams #19

Here are a handful of Fergie cards.  He was of course a beloved member of the 1969 Cubs.  The Hall of Famer won 20 or more games in 7 of 8 years between 1967 and 1974, including six in a row for the Cubs.

 2005 UD Signature Decades #SD-FJ 19/50

2000 Fleer Greats of the Game

 2002 Topps Archives Reserves Reprint #TRA-FJ

2006 UD SP Legendary Cuts #PH-FJ

It's Groundhog Day!

FYI (Today's birthdays are in the previous post)

Don't Drive Angry

Ned Ryerson!  

Ned: Phil? Hey, Phil? Phil! Phil Connors? Phil Connors, I thought that was you! 

Phil: Hi, how you doing? Thanks for watching. 

[Starts to walk away] 

Ned: Hey, hey! Now, don't you tell me you don't remember me because I sure as heckfire remember you. 

Phil: Not a chance. 

Ned: Ned... Ryerson. "Needlenose Ned"? "Ned the Head"? C'mon, buddy. Case Western High. Ned Ryerson: I did the whistling belly-button trick at the high school talent show? Bing! Ned Ryerson: got the shingles real bad senior year, almost didn't graduate? Bing, again. Ned Ryerson: I dated your sister Mary Pat a couple times until you told me not to anymore? Well? 

Phil: Ned Ryerson? 

Ned: Bing! 

Phil: Bing.

Hackenbush's dream breakfast

I'm a sucker for a happy ending!

Can't Read Too Many Books -- January 2012

There seems to be a trend developing among card bloggers to share what books they've been reading.  I'm all for this.  I read four books in January.  (Click the covers for links to Amazon.)

This book was a Christmas gift.  Part history of the baseball, part ball-hawking primer it was a quick fun read.

My rating (1-5):

I found this in the biography section of my local library.  I've been a fan since the 70's .  I still have my vinyl album copies of Class Clown and Occupation Foole .   Published after his death (thus the title) it seems a very honest account of Carlin's personal struggles and successes.

My rating (1-5):

This was another library find.  Though it's been there for a couple of years I think I'm the first to borrow it.   I was interested in Chagall both for his Jewish and Chicago connections.  Here's a link to a post of mine that shows his America stained glass windows at the Art Institute of Chicago.  The book was over 600 pages long and though I found Chagall's life interesting I wasn't that impressed with the the author's writing.  As can be a problem with books about art, there was a lot of description of works without accompanying pictures.

My rating (1-5):

I was pleasantly surprised to find this in the new arrivals section at the library.  I really enjoyed Barnes' last book, the part memoir, part philosophy, Nothing to be Frightened Of.  This one was not a disappointment.

Here are a couple of blurbs from reviews:

“An elegantly composed, quietly devastating tale about memory, aging, time and remorse. . . . Offers somber insights into life’s losses, mistakes and disappointments in a piercing, thought provoking narrative. Bleak as this may sound, the key word here—the note of encouragement—is ‘insights.’ And this beautiful book is full of them.” —NPR

“Dense with philosophical ideas . . . it manages to create genuine suspense as a sort of psychological detective story . . . Unpeeling the onion layers of the hero’s life while showing how [he] has sliced and diced his past in order to create a self he can live with. —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

My rating (1-5):

(You go to the head of the class if you recognize this man.)

Blow Out the Candles February 1

Orioles fan favorite Paul Blair is celebrating his 68th birthday today.

1968 Topps #135

Paul appeared in six World Series and was on the winning side four times, twice with the Orioles and twice with the Yankeees.  He was an All-Star twice and won eight Gold Gloves.

July 2, 1969

April 8, 1971

Conn Smythe was born on this date in 1895.

Smythe was the  principal owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1927 to 1961 and was responsible for the building of the Maple Leaf Gardens.  He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame  in 1958.

1972-73 Topps #176
The Conn Smythe Memorial Trophy honors the MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins was last year's winner of the trophy.

S.J. Perelman was born on this date in 1904

Perelman co-wrote the Marx Brothers films, Horsefeathers and Monkey Business.

Perelman also co-wrote the screenplay for the 1956 film, Around the World in Eight Days for which he won an Oscar.

Over the years, Perelman wrote scores of humorous pieces for magazines including The New Yorker which can be found in numorous anthologies. 

Here's Perelman's self-description:

"Under a forehead roughly comparable to that of the Javanese or the Piltdown man are visible a pair of tiny pig eyes, lit up alternately by greed and concupiscence. His nose, broken in childhood by a self-inflicted blow with a hockey stick, has a prehensile tip, ever quick to smell out an insult; at the least suspicion of an affront, Perelman, who has the pride of a Spanish grandee, has been known to whip out his sword-cane and hide in the nearest closet."

Don Everly of the Everly Brothers turns 75 today.

Comedian Garrett Morris celebrates his 75th birthday today.

Garrett as ballplayer Chico Escuela

Garrett "helping" Chevy Chase deliver the news.