It is has been somewhat quiet for me hobby-wise. I skipped both the January 5 mini-show in Edmond and the larger January 19 OKC show. I have sold off all my Heritage cards, although I haven't spent a fraction of the proceeds. I am loath to spend any of the money I received from the auction until I know the items have been received in acceptable condition. All, save one, have now made it to their destination.
The one remaining open shipment was to a fellow in Wichita, a mere three hour drive north of here. But it seems to be taking the scenic route. I dropped it off at the post office on the 22nd. It first appeared in Dallas on the 24th. It is a little odd to go to Dallas, which is as far south of here as Wichita is north, but it is not unheard of, particularly if the OKC sort facility was having issues. But, that is where things got really weird. After leaving Dallas on the 24th, it next came up for air in San Francisco on the 26th. Leaving the Bay Area the 27th, it passed through Los Angeles later that same day. Four days later, it is not been heard from again. So, it is getting close to time to refund the buyer.
That said, with all the other shipments safely at their destination, I have started to wake up on the buy side. I managed to find more dirt cheap 1974/75 Loblaws hockey stickers. But my main activity has been to chip away at my 1971 Topps set. I had been sitting at 36 cards left to go for while, but a visit to COMC and I'm now down to 20 remaining to finish it up.
Le Grande Orange!
Something is wrong with this card. Okay.. two things are wrong with this card. First, Sparky doesn't have his trademark moustache. Second, he is in the wrong uniform.
From here, I'll probably keep chipping away at 1971. There is a mini-show this coming Saturday that I may go to. My goal will be to find that one big '71 I still need, the Dusty Baker and Don Baylor rookie card. Of course, any of the remaining 71s I need will be more than an acceptable find, but since they are all high numbers, I won't hold my breath on finding any. So, I suppose the real question is will I be, if I don't find any of my 1971 needs, can I abstain from picking up some other flashy vintage card. I'd like to pocket my money and save it for the March OKC show, but who knows if my recent willpower will last.
I don't remember the reason Alston stepped down exactly, as I was kinda young, but I do remember a lot of us felt he had already stuck around one season too many.
ReplyDeleteThe general consensus was, and maybe he felt it too, that it was time to move on, as pretty much everyone felt Tommy chomping at the bit to get his hands on the team.
One other factor, this was in the days that the Dodgers grew their own teams down on the farm. Those Dodgers were all reared under Tommy, and were geared to respond to his firebrand nature; as opposed to Alston's "quiet man" style, which got even quieter as he got older.