December Card Show - Splurging

Having met my goals for the show, and having the pleasant surprise of making some progress on a couple other sets, I still had most of my funds left.  I could have left a happy man, but as you have probably surmised by now, I didn't. I mean I did leave happy, but not right away.  Thus, this third post.

I decided to take a look at another discount box and for a Jackson took a chance on a couple of autographed cards. 

This card looks better in person than it does in the scan.  At some point in the next few years (probably 2014), I'll start on the 1972 set. I figured why not have at least one autographed card in it.

This is a 1992 Sporting News Conlon collection card presumably signed by Marty Marion. I have to admit some reservations about this card now.  The signature doesn't look like other Marty Marion autographs you can see on the internet. This one is far less intricate and Marion normally dotted the "i" in his last name with a small circle rather than a dot. I have a hard time thinking someone would take the effort to fake the signagture of a minor star from the 1940s and it may be that the paint pen used to sign this card was too wide for him to sign his normal signature.  But, I have to admit that my concerns are enough to steal away a bit of the joy I initially felt at finding this card.

Moving on, I stopped by Bill Spillman's table to see what he might have had. He had just sold a 1975 Topps starter set of a little less than 200 cards to someone for $20.  I would have been all over that, given the chance. He had someone thinking over the purchase of a 1958 Ted Williams for $150.   He offered me the back-up position if the other person decided to pass.But, it was more money than I had left to spend, so I turned him down. But, good golly, it was in EX/EX+ shape and awfully tempting.

I did manage to get a couple of smoking deals from Bill, though.

A 1959 Stan Musial!  I am a little torn about one thing though.  Not the card itself.  As you probably know, Stan Musial is still alive.  He has a place where you can send in items for autographs. I am sorely tempted to send this card in, but at $125 for an auto it would put me on a collecting hiatus for about a month. I am struggling with what to do.  Can I go a month without scratching the collecting itch in exchange for an autographed playing-days card of one of the games legends?

I also got this from Bill:

1954 Topps Jackie Robinson. This may very well be one of my favorite pickups of the year.  As you can see there are some color issues with this, but is otherwise in stellar condition for a card that is nearly 60 years old.

It is cards like that affirm my decision to forgo collecting modern sets.  Spending several C notes a year on flagship and Heritage just doesn't compare to holding history like this in your hands. You can keep your Bryce Harpers (or whomever is the current Flavor of the Month.)  This is what I really enjoy about the hobby.

And that brings the card show posts to an end. We will now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Minding Your Ps and Qs

I wasn't planning on posting today. Indeed, I probably wasn't going to post all week. You see, I am ungodly tired.  I was up way past my normal bedtime last night watching the NBA finals (Thunder Up!!!).  So, I was dragging my wagon through the work day today.  When I got home I found a bubble mailer from Greg over at Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle.  But, I didn't have time to open it. I had to run out and buy a load of hay to put up for winter.

Because I am always looking to pinch a penny or two, I buy the hay out of the field instead of the barn.  Buying out of the field involves my wife driving the truck and trailer along a long line of bales laying on the ground and I load and stack them by hand. Over 100 bales weighing 55-65 pounds each.  That is like eleventy tons for those of you who are innumerate. Tomorrow those same bales have to be moved to the barn loft so I can go back and Wednesday and get another load (which will be moved to the barn on Thursday).  With NBA finals games on Tuesday and Thursday it is a sure bet that I am going to be the walking dead until the weekend. So, I figure to leave blogging until then.

But I cannot let this post wait. I will just have to gut my way through it.  The premise of this post is this: baseball card bloggers are brain damaged.

Greg is no exception.  I know he is a college student, but it has to be a clown college, because he has a serious reading comprehension problem.  This all started a while back when I posted that I pulled a Carlos Santana Auto card (numbered 3 of 5) from a box of 2010 Tristar Obak.  Greg was interested in trading for it, but it took us a while to find some cards I needed that he had access to.  That is where the problem came in.  After a little back and forth, I gave him some options as to things I'd like in return.  I clearly listed them as A or B or C(1).   Problem is Greg does not understand that "or" generally signifies a list of mutually exclusive options.  I wrote "or" but he interpreted it as "and."  So rather than picking one of the options, he got me everything.  Specifically, a couple cards for my Johnny Antonelli player collection and three high number cards for my 1971 set.

1955 Bowman.  Antonelli was coming off a year where he pitched to a 21-7 record with a 2.30 ERA and finished 3rd in the NL MVP voting.  Get this: he had 18 complete games, including 6 shutouts, and 2 saves in 2 relief appearances.  And while he only batted .163, he did manage to hit two taters.  For you Sabermatic fans, he pitched to a 7.2 WAR in 1954.

1959 Topps. This is the last Topps Antonelli card I needed for the PC.

As you can see, these are super clean and sharp cards.  And all high numbers. I am really embarrassed getting such nice cards back for the Santana.

Anyways, thanks Greg.  I appreciate the generosity and will do my best to repay it in our next trade.

Now, off to bed. 

(1) At least I hope I said "or."  No way in hell I am going back to look at our emails. I'd rather live with the comfortable illusion that Greg don't read no good no how than to discover I did say "and."  I'd feel like a real putz.

Added it Edit:  In 1954, Antonelli was stellar in the post season also.  He appeared in two games for the Giants in the World Series against the Cleveland Indians. He threw a complete game victory in Game 1, allowing 8 hits and 1 run, while striking out 9.  Then he saved game 4 (the Series winner) by pitching 1.2 innings in relief, allowing no hits or runs and striking out 3 of the 6 batters he faced.

August 6 Mini-Show

So, yeah, still no review on the 2004 UD Yankees Classics set. I had planned on finishing it this weekend. But, I decided to run up to a little mini-show that is held at a LCS the first Saturday of every month. When I say mini, I mean mini. It is a small shop to begin with and they have tables set up for about 6 to 7 vendors. See what I mean? Mini. But, I was getting antsy for the bigger show next weekend, and with the heat (daily highs so far in August have been around 110F) I wasn't going to be getting any chores done anyways. So, after asking permission from She Who Must Be Obeyed, off I went.

I probably only spent about $30, but managed to win a raffle for $10 of free spend. All in all, I consider it a successful trip. Here is what I got:

62 more cards towards completing my 1977 set:


"Did the photograph capture the magnificence of my hair?"


Say "what" again. Say "what" again. I dare you. I double-dare you, motherf***er. Say "what" one more goddamn time.


Paul: Reckon it is time to harvest the crops?

Rick: I reckon


Welcome to the first of hopefully many Woolly Caterpillar Conventions!


The Mad Hungarian. 'Nuff said.


Pull my finger.


Tire el dedo.

I also hit some of the vintage boxes, including picking up a 1959 Enos Slaughter:



Sure, he is a Hall of Famer. But, what I really like about this card is the back. His Major League stats start in 1938. Slaughter was playing major league ball when my father was only 2 years old. How wild is that?

Added later: When this picture was taken, Slaughter was 42 or 43 years old. That is 2-3 years younger than I am right now. But, good googly moogly, he looks at least 60 years old. Is it just me, or did the guys from that era age quicker than we do?

I picked up 5 cards from 1960, just because they struck my fancy. No significant rhyme or reason.


But bad trades are part of baseball. Who can forget Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas, for god's sake!


The youngest person ever to play in a major league game at the tender age of 15. Apparently, he started off reasonably well, but became completely unglued when he saw Stan Musial in the on-deck circle.


I grew up in Rochester, NY and, at the time, Johnny Antonelli owned a chain of tire stores there.


Another Hall of Famer.


Vic Power, a/k/a Victor Felipe Pellot Pove.

1972 Thurman Munson In Action....


......for sufficiently inactive values of action.

I also got a Topps Triple Threads Bob Gibson (0387/1350) and one 2011 Topps Heritage short print, but didn't scan them.