Vintage Pickup from Ebay

Here's a fun item I picked up on Ebay last week. It's a 1969 Topps Chicago Cubs stamp album. The inside has a table of contents listing the ten players. The actual stamp pages show photos of two players each with a stats box next to the picture. I'm afraid to open mine to scan but I found an example on the web:


The back has facsimile autographs of the ten players.

The '69 Cubs are Glenn Beckert, Billy Williams, Don Kessinger, Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Adolfo Phillips, Randy Hundley, Phil Regan, Bill Hands and Fergie Jenkins.

My album came with two stamps, Ernie Banks and Phil Regan. I think I have a Ron Santo stamp in my collection.

Checking Ebay I see that these albums are fairly plentiful and not too pricey. Got 200 bucks to spend? Here's someone offering a complete set with stamps.

A Self Indulgent Post -- Cat Lovers Only

I made my first ever YouTube post the other day. It's of me and our cat Kooshie waiting for my wife to come home from work. If you like cats you might like it, if not, I'm sure there's something more interesting going on at A Cardboard Problem or one of the other great sites listed on the right.

2008-09 UD Ovation Tin

I found this tin last summer at Kmart selling for $5.00 and couldn't pass it up.

The tin is about 9" x 5" and features Senators left winger Nick Foligno.

Inside was a pack of 50 random cards and one over sized card.

Here's a sampling of the cards front and back. Not bad looking. The player as well as all of the diagonal lines and the foil are embossed. The backs have a little of everything. I'd like to see a different photo on the back rather than a cropped version of the front but that's being picky.




The over sized card, which came sandwiched in plastic, is about 3-1/2" x 5".

Card of the Day -- Caption Wanted

This Craig Biggio card needs a caption. Don't you think?

2007 #332

A Post Ron Santo Post

Here are all three of the Ron Santo cards issued by Post Cereal from 1961-1963.

1961

1962

1963

Card of the Day

1985 Topps #349

I came across this card today of Domingo Ramos. The thing that stands out is the way he's choking up on the bat. It was once a common practice, particularly among light hitting middle infielders. Is there anyone left in the game who still does it?

What Did Topps Have Against Jim Britton?

What did Topps have against poor Jim Britton?




OK, he's not a Hall of Fame candidate. He had a short career due to arm trouble, appearing in just 76 games over 4 seasons. He won 13 games and lost 16 with an overall ERA of 4.02. I guess his biggest claim to fame would be that he gave up Johnny Bench's first home run. On the other hand he struck out Wes Parker of the Dodgers 6 times in just 10 At Bats.



But back to my question. Why do I ask it? Jim Britton (and his many fans?) had the misfortune of his card appearing in Topps series that came out late in the season in back to back years. His 1970 card is #646 and his 1971 card is #699. How did Topps choose the seeding of the cards? Anyone know?

Happy Valentines Day!

Minnie--Mickey

Mini Mickey

Peek-a-Boo!

Here's a card in honor of the opening of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

I think the card is "cool".

Joe Torre Superstar

In 1971 Joe Torre, the current Dodgers manager, led the National League in RBI's with 137, 12 more than Pops and 19 more than Hammerin'Hank. But While Stargell and Aaron were atop the Home Run leader board, Joe was nowhere to be found.




In fact, he was 13th in the league with just 24 round trippers, half the number of the two sluggers. How did he do this? He led the league in hitting -- 230 knocks for a blistering .363 average.


But that's not the whole story. The Cardinals as a team led the league with a .275 average and the two batters ahead of him, Lou Brock and Matty Alou, hit .313 and .315 respectively. On top of that Brock led the league with 64 stolen bases while Alou's 19 was good for 12th. Despite the Cards finishing 7 games back of the eventual World Series champion Pirates, Torre ran away with the NL MVP, garnering 21 of 24 first place votes. Joe was truly a Superstar in 1971.