1961 Fleer Autograph Project - Part 12 (mildly NSFW)

So, it's 10 PM on a Friday. I'm normally asleep after a long week in the mines.  But, for whatever reason, I am sitting in my home office with a glass (or more) of Jameson's Black Barrel, listening to my classic rock playlist on iTunes, watching political Twitter meltdown over a potential government shutdown, and trying to figure out how to move this shit forward.

Most men my age are having existential crises that, for some reason, involve sports cars. Me? Not so much. A Ford Fusion is plenty sporty enough for me. My midlife crisis involves an autographed sports card collection. I've mostly exhausted by 1963 Fleer project and have moved on to a similar effort regarding the 1960 and 1961 Fleer sets. I've struggled with this project on a couple fronts.  First, how to approach the project. Second, how to blog about it.

With regard to the first issue, there are a total of 233 cards in the aggregate of the 1960 and 1961 Fleer Baseball Greats sets.  It is my estimation that, of those 233 cards, there is a maximum of 135 cards that could be autographed by the cards subject.  I am pondering whether I just move forward as I have to date, with no clear plan other than serendipity? Or do I focus in on one year in particular? How do I apportion my limited hobby resources between this project and my vintage Topps set building efforts? Heck, do I even want to continue given that a Jimmie Foxx autograph would set me back four figures? I have no answers other than I hope I hit the Lotto before I have to face those big decisions.

With regards to the second question, who the heck knows. I'm just gonna wing it.

The only decision I can make, at this point, is whether that a third glass of whiskey will  make tomorrow's hangover that much worse.

The text on the back of this card reads as follows

Haas's brief minor league career earned him a trial with Pittsburgh in 1925, but he was sent to Atlanta for two seasons, and then sold to the Athletics. He starred for the famous Connie Mack pennant clubs in 1929, '30 and '31. He played from 1933 to 1937 with the White Sox, 1938 back with Mr. Mack, and then launched into a managing career in the Texas League. He returned as White Sox coach for ten years.

Let's be clear about something. Haas doesn't qualify as a baseball great.  He was,  though, a notable major leaguer.

The referenced 1925 trial with Pittsburgh consisted of 3 plate appearances in 4 games that resulted in exactly zero hits in three plate appearances and one run scored.  He did manage to to tally 12.4 WAR over a 12 year career. One win over replacement (on average) per year ain't that great. But, he did manage a 12 year career that saw him post a .292/.359/.402 regular season slash line and three World Series appearances (including two Series wins.) He did a couple tours through my adopted home of Oklahoma City, both as a player in 1924 and as a manager in 1939. There isn't much information that my drunk ass can suss out regarding the historic Texas League statistics/game logs, so I am just going to publish this post and hope for better on the next.

Random observation:   Fleer doesn't believe in the Oxford comma.

Non-Random observation: I'm gettin gcloser to Part 14, which is a doozy.

What I am Listening to: Slipping Away by Dave Edmunds