Despite primarily being a vintage collector, I do have several modern sets that I dearly love. 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game is one. The Tristar Obak sets, issued between 2009 and 2011, are three more. Tristar played the variation game in these sets, including cards with different geometric shapes around the card number. But, I don't play that game, so I mainly collected the base set and the T212 mini parallels to a subset of the base cards. I managed to complete both the 2010 and 2011 sets. But the high number short prints in the 2009 set were elusive. They were rarely available and unreasonably expensive when they were. Progress ground to a halt and, eventually, I forgot about the set. I can't even remember the last time I added one of these cards. It could have been as long as 10 years ago, but I really don't know.
Recently, as I have had to curtail my hobby spending due to necessary adult obligations I decided to see if I could cheaply complete off a few side projects that captured my attention for a while, then fell of the radar. I didn't complete 2009 Obak, but I did find three reasonably priced short prints of the seven I need.
Yeah, I'm being lazy by scanning all three at once and not editing to show them individually. But, it is a beautiful day and I've got yardwork to do.
Of these three players, only Tony Sanchez made it to the majors, appearing in 52 games over the course of 4 seasons. Donavan Tate made it as far as A+ and Matt Hobgood to AA.
What I am listening to: I am a Man by Spencer Davis Group
Today is the last day of 2023 and I suppose it is time for reflection on the year and to make some promises to myself for 2024. Logically, there is nothing magical about January 1 with regards to self-assessment and new resolutions. But, I live a fairly busy life and having a lot of down time at the end of December does give the opportunity to look back...and then forward. I won't bother you with the personal, though it was generally a better year for me after two lousy years in '21 and '22. I will stick to the hobby stuff that you are here for:
Overall, 2023 was a good year hobby wise if a bit scattered. I managed to complete two sets during the year:
1955 - I started building this set in earnest in 2013, so this was 10 years in the making. As I reported earlier, the last card I needed was a common, Gale Wade. The second to last card was Jackie Robinson.
1969 - I wasn't planning to finish this set in 2023, but I discovered that my bank has rewards program for debit card use and I was able to convert over a years worth of points into a nice pre-paid VISA card. The last card was Al Downing.
So, the other highlights of 2023 were:
Fleer Autograph project - I started the year with 15 signed cards from 1960 and 62 from 1961. I will close out the year with 16 and 70.
Started both 1966 and 1967 Topps baseball - I haven't mentioned it here, but I bought a large stack of 1966 and 1967 baseball commons in low to mid-grade for about $0.02 a card. I am planning on working on 1966, but after I sorted through the stack and separated out the cards in G condition or better, I found that I had about 20% of the 1966 set and 35% of 1967. know I said I would probably never build 1967 as the design doesn't interest me, but 35% is pretty far along. So, I may need to hold my nose and build the set. Hopefully, the high numbers are affordable in G to VG condition.
Added a few cards to my Paul Blair and Johnny Antonelli collections. The only one I was actually excited about was a 1960 Topps Venezuelan card of Antonelli that I got dirt cheap.
What does 2024 portend? I have 5 sets I would like to complete:
1958 Baseball - with only 25 cards to go, I am going to prioritize getting this one done. Having started in 2012 when I bought the Mantle, 12 years is long enough.
1972-73 Basketball - I started this set in 2018 and have 33 cards to completion.
1973 Football - I started this set in January of 2020 and have 24 to go towards completion.
1974 Topps Baseball - Wait, what? I've said that I've completed the entire Topps run between 1968 and 1979, so what gives? What gives is that I need one card (599 - San Diego Small Print) to finish the master set. I rarely see that card for less than $30-$40, which seems excessive for what is essentially a common. But, I am close enough to completing the master set that I just need to hold my nose and get one.
2009 Tristar Obak - I started the three Obak sets in 2011. I finished 2010 and 2011 long ago and only need 7 short prints short of finishing 2009. They don't come available all that often and when they do, the prices are generally unreasonable. So, I probably should just be happy to make progress.
Beyond that, I will just let the hobby tide carry me and look back in a year to see what else happened. Though, I would like to post more of my signed 1961 Fleer cards. The last I posted was 39 and I have 70, so 31 to go. I won't get through all of them, but one a month seems doable.
Happy New Year to you. May your 2024 be your best year yet.
What I am listening to: Auld Lang Syne by The Choral Scholars of University College Dublin
The godfather of baseball card blogging, Night Owl, threw down a challenge earlier this week: to name 10 albums that were significant to you and tie it to baseball cards. This is my effort. I've gone a little further and added videos of songs from the albums (with one exception) and tied the cards to the song. So, here we go:
1. Styx - Cornerstone
Why this album: This album changed my musical tastes. Prior to buying Cornerstone, I listened to the worst of 1970s pop music, like The Village People and KC and the Sunshine Band. The song Babe was what drew me in, but it was the rock power anthems on the record that converted me over to rock music.
Why this card: Well, I am nothing if unoriginal. Babe is the song that introduced me to Styx. And what other baseball player to show? Sure, there were many ballplayers with the nickname babe. 32, according to Baseball Reference. But, none are greater than Babe Ruth
2. AC/DC - Back in Black
Why this album: This album, bought at the KMart in Chili Center, NY really led me into the hard rock world and away from the (sometimes forced) theatrics of Styx. A lot of Styx music sounds dated now. Back in Black, at 37 years old, still fits into the modern music landscape. Plus, I remember driving to Buffalo in a blizzard to see AC/DC as a college freshman.
Why this card: What Do You Do For Money, Honey? Don Money? Like I said, I don't pretend to orginality.
3. Sammy Hagar - Standing Hampton
Why this album: The first concert I ever attended was Sammy Hagar (with Aldo Nova opening) at the Rochester Auditorium Theater in my junior year in high school.
Why this card: Well, standing hampton is a NSFW slang. Look it up and you'll understand.
4. Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood
Why this album: I remember hearing a cut from this album, SRV's debut, on the radio during my senior year in high school and being completely blown away by it. The cassette tape was pretty much on loop for me the summer between high school and college.
Why this card: Well it is Curt *Flood* and he was born in Houston, Texas.
5. R.E.M. - Reckoning
Why this album: I first heard this playing on the store sound system as I wandered about The Record Archive in Rochester during college. It blew me away and I bought it immediately. It was my entrée into alternative rock. The video is a bit of a stretch. I really spent some time thinking about this and never got anywhere. I finally googled "R.E.M. " and "baseball" and found out two members of the band formed a group called The Baseball Project and released two baseball themed albums. So, I went in that direction instead of beating my head on a wall trying to tie Harborcoat to baseball.
Why this card: Well, the song is called Harvey Haddix.
6. Metallica-S&M
Why this album: This brought me back to heavy metal after a long time away. I don't have an extensive metal library, but I do appreciate watching people that are really good at what they do. And Metallica is that.
Why this card: I defy anyone to come up with a different player. Enter Sandman played whenever Mariano Rivera came in from the bullpen at Yankee Stadium and Metallica played at his final game.
7. Pine Valley Cosmonauts - The Majesty of Bob Wills
Why this album: I came across this album in the music section of the late, lamented Borders Bookstore. They had headphones along the rows of CDs that would allow you to listen to selected albums. This album was one such selection. It introduced me to Western Swing music, an amalgam of country and jazz most popular in the 1930s and 1940s. It is still around, most notably by the Austin band Asleep at the Wheel. Bob Wills is in both the Rock and Roll and Country Music Halls of Fame.
Why this card: Well the song above is about the Alamo, which is in San Antonio. Cliff Johnson, a player on the Yankees teams of my youth is from San Antonio.
8. Social Distortion - Social Distortion
Why this album: I really like the SoCal punk sound here. And, when I found out that there was a fair amount of crossover between the SoCal punk scene and the classic country and Bakersfield sounds (typified most recently by Dwight Yoakam), I was hooked.
Why this card: Well, Casey Stengel wrote a book titled "Casey at the Bat: The Story of My Life in Baseball."
9. Slaid Cleaves - Broke Down
Why this album: I don't rightly recall if this was my introduction to Americana music, since that is a fairly broad label that encompasses a number of other genres, like folk and alt-country. I will say that, after hearing this song on a locally produced radio show, I did go right out and get the CD and it did contribute to a new direction in my music listening.
Why this card: Well, what else is the baseball equivalent of one good year other than the one year wonder. And Joe Charboneau falls into that category
10. Metamodern Sounds in Country Music by Sturgill Simpson
Why this album: Sturgill Simpson is the man. Along with Chris Stapleton and Jason Isbell, he is saving country music. Much to the chagrin of Nashville's Music Row. But screw them. They are peddling crappy pop and bro country. If you haven't seen his performance on Saturday Night Live recently, you should. Go here and here. While I expect that Beyonce's "Lemonade" will win, I'd love Simpson's "A Sailor's Guide to Earth" to win the Record of the Year Grammy.
Why this card: Okay, this is a stretch. I admit it. But, I do need to show some faint glimmer of originality. Turtles all the way down is a colloquial expression of the infinite regress problem in cosmology. It is also considered an example of the Anavastha concept in Indian philosophy. So, here is a card of two Indian natives who joined the Pirates minor league organization in 2009 as part of the reality show, Million Dollar Arm. Dinesh Patel only hung on for two years, both in Rookie ball. Rinku Singh made it 4 years, getting as high as A ball. He resigned with the Pirates in November 2015 and managed to pitch one scoreless inning in rookie ball during the 2016 season.
Like many of you, I had a COMC purchase arrive this week. Unlike many of you, I didn't do the Black Friday thing. I wanted to make some progress on some of the various sets I am working, but wasn't planning on spending more than $25, including shipping. So it didn't seem worth it to me. I was able to finish one set, get a whisker away from another, and get within striking distance of a third. Let's look, shall we?
Last two cards I needed to finish the 1992 Conlon Collection set. I'm going to work on the entire 5 year run of Conlon sets (1991 to 1995.)So, really, this is one down, four to go!
These are from the Forever insert set that was part of the 204 Fleer Greats of the Game. I am slowly closing in on completion of that set. There was a 145 card base set, with 4 insert sets totalling another 84 cards. With these cards above, I am a mere 5 cards away from finishing. I have to note that this does not consider the blue border parallels of the base cards or the auto/relic cards. As I have said before, I may work on those if, and only if, I can find cheap lots of them. But, I wil consider it done after I get these last 5 cards.
This is one of the short prints from 2009 Obak that are proving to be a problem for me. Alas, this isn't even one of the base set SPs, like I was looking for. It is actually one of the green print parallels, numbered to 75. I must have been asleep at the wheel when I pulled the trigger on this one as I was just expecting to get the base card. Not sure if I am going to try and replace it with a legitimate, unserialized base card or not. I realize that sounds odd, but the green print just doesn't look right in the binder.
I also picked up about 8 of the 2009 Obak T212 minis, leaving me 5 cards away from finishing that part of the set.
I picked up 3 more cards towards my 2011 Tristar Obak set (of which the Elston Howard card above was one), leaving me one measly, solitary, single card away from completion. I see the card I need out on Sportlots, but in a strange turn of events it is too cheap to get. What, you say? How could anyone complain about a card being too cheap? Simple. I cannot, in good conscience, buy a single 18 cent card from an online seller. I looked and looked, but couldn't find anything else in that seller's inventory that I needed. So, I guess I will wait until the card shows up at COMC or someone from my vast readership finds it in their dupes box. The card, if you must know, is #56 - Roger Connor.
So, there it is. I think I did pretty well considering how little I spent. Up next is one of the two day card shows in OKC. What with the holidays, I don't have much to spend, but I did save my birthday money over from November. Hopefully, that will be enough to make some progress on the 1973 Topps and/or 1959 through 1961 Fleer sets I am working on.
Added in Edit: I found that Roger Connor Obak card on EBay for $3.71 delivered. More than I really should spend on a non-SP base card, but it is the last one I need to complete the set. Screw it, I'm pulling the trigger.
What I am listening to: Near Wild Heaven by R.E.M.
The title of this post is something of a double entendre. I have mostly completed a trade with Tom over at Waiting 'til Next Year. I say mostly because I got his half of the trade in the mail today, but won't actually ship off my half until this weekend. In short, I helped him out with a couple of his player collections and in return I got some huge help with my 2009 Tristar Obak set.
He sent one base card, the short print J-Hey and Dale Murphy card above. He also sent 12 of the T212 minis. 2009 Obak overdid the minis, with 60 total (not counting variations). With this trade, Tom basically cut my want list on the T212 in half.
I haven't made any progress on this Obak set in many, many months, so this trade was most welcome. Your cards will go out tomorrow, Tom.
So, getting back to my opening, why does "Waiting until next year" have two meanings? Well, I am going on hobby hiatus for pretty much the rest of this year.
See, last year we were in the midst of a drought and a friend of ours lost her horse boarding business to a wild fire. Since we were one of the few people who had appropriate fencing, we took in three of the horses she boarded: two Clydesdale mares, and a Drum Horse stallion. They were here about 6 months and, one day in January, the stallion managed to get out of his pen and, to make a long story short, appears to have bred one of our mares. With a due date in December, I need to upgrade about 1000 feet of fence to be foal safe. Then we need to deal with the vet bills associated with the delivery. So, money is going to be tight for a while. I have a little bit of money set aside for the October OKC show, but that is probably about it until January/February.
As I stated in yesterday's card show post, I also received a trade package in the mail.
A while back, I decided to try and put together the 1974/75 Loblaws hockey stamp collection I worked on as a kid. I've purchased several large lots of the stickers and had/have a fair amount of duplicates. Justin, over at Off-Centred expressed interest and we worked out a trade where I got four of the T212 mini short prints I needed for my 2009 Obak set.
Joe Bauman holds the minor league single season home record, with 72 taters for the Roswell Rockets in 1954 (He also hit an even .400 that season.) Bauman, a native Oklahoman, never made the majors.
Jose can you seeeee........
Bo knows Chicks. Memphis Chicks to be exact.
Bing Crosby never played pro ball, but was part owner of the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League for a time.
Making progress on Obak is always cool. Not many people collected Obak, so there isn't a lot of ready made trade partners out there. So, it was pretty thrilling to find out Justin was able to help me tackle my want list. But, he wasn't done. No sir, he was not.
He set a couple of these Upper Deck Champs cards. I haven't followed hockey in a number of years, but have considered getting back into it. I suppose it seems odd that I would be collecting vintage hockey stickers when I don't follow the sport. But, I have to admit, collecting the Loblaws hockey stickers had more to do with reconnecting with a pleasant part of my childhood rather than the sport itself. I don't know how to express it, but when I sort through those stickers and paste them in the album, there is a very visceral and emotional connection to my youth. It is almost as if I am there again. It is hard to explain, but I expect that most of the card blogging community, who are approximately the same age as I am, understand. But, I digress.
I do want to get back into following hockey, butwith the Oklahoma City Thunder being one of the best NBA teams, I have also considered getting back into following basketball. The problem is that I don't get basketball like I do baseball or, to a lesser extent, hockey. I mean, I understand the broad rules and play of basketball, but that knowledge really hasn't advanced any since I was a child. So, I may just have to keep basketball in my peripherals and zero back in on hockey.
If I do, it would be fun to put together the two sets that the two cards above are from. They are pretty sharp cards. I particularly like the bottom card, from the 2008-2009 set.
Finally, Justin sent along, with an apology, the following relic card:
While it is no secret that AJ Burnett never really panned out as a Yankee, I do not share most Yankee fans loathing of the man. He was always a solid teammate, always took the ball when it was his turn, and never blamed his woes on anyone but himself. I think he mainly struggled with the hyper media market in New York and let it affect his confidence. When he was pitching well, he was unhittable. But, when things went bad he had a hard time pulling himself back out of the rut. I really think a loss of confidence coupled with bearing down way too hard was the main issue.
I was very pleased to see the solid season he had last year with Pittsburgh. It started out as a typical AJ season. He threw 7 innings of 3 hit, shutout ball in his first start of the season, and then gave up 6 hits and 2 earned runs in a 6 inning loss in his second start. His third start was a clanker though. He gave up 12 (twelve!) earned runs in 2.2 innings. I was afraid his season was going down the tubes already. But, he got back on track right quick and was the legitimate ace of the Buc's staff the rest of the season. With Russell Martin now joining Burnett on the Pirates, I think I am going to adopt them as my NL team this season.
So, this card will take a place of honor in a binder on the same sheet as my Robinson Cano and CC Sabathia A&G relics. No need to apologize, Justin, I love this card! A most excellent trade. Thank you!
What I am listening to: Green Onions by Booker T and the MGs.
With my goals satisfied quickly, I decided to see what else was out there that might catch my fancy.
A couple weeks ago, with the completion of the 1969 Deckle Edge insert set within sight, I picked up a few of the 1968 game card inserts. Yesterday, with the Deckle set complete, I picked up around a dozen more of the '68 game cards for around 50 cents each.
This puts me at about half done with this small set. Of course, I have all the big names to go (Aaron, Mays, Clemente, Mantle.) So, I'll probably make finishing one of my 2013 goals. I also spent some time pawing through a few discount boxes.
And managed to actually find one Obak card from my want list in a dollar box. This is the T212 mini of Ryne Sandberg (as an Oklahoma City 89er!) from the 2009 set.
Can you believe this? A 1962 card of a Hall of Famer for a dollar? It isn't in super shape, but it is in far better shape than I would expect for a dollar box find.
Finally, the first new addition to one of my two player collections in quite a while. A 1947-1966 Exhibit card of Johnny Antonelli that set me back about $5. There are actually two Antonelli Exhibit cards. This one, where he is with the Braves and another with him as a member of the Giants.
So, I had managed to hit my three show goals and managed to make a little progress on a couple of other sets that weren't on my radar for the day. Best of all, I still had some green left in my pocket.
45 T212 Emmet Ashford Umpire
27 Chris Tillman Norfolk
30 Josh Vitters Peoria
50 Arnold John "Jigger"Statz Los Angeles
Who is the number 4 all-time hits leader in organized baseball? "Jigger" Statz, that is who. With 3356 hits in the PCL on top of 737 as a MLB player, he comes in just behind Hank Aaron (who's combined total was 4095.)
Get this. Dinesh Patel, above, won a baseball reality show that was on Indian TV called "The $1,000,000 Arm" and signed a pro contract with Pittsburgh. He made 15 appearances over two seasons with the GCL Pirates and his career was done. Co-winnder Rinkhu Singh is still kicking around in the lower reaches of the Pittsburgh chain and also plays in Australia.
Pack 18
26 T212 Duke Snider Fort Worth
6 Brett Lawrie Wisconsin
15 Neftali Feliz OKC
Having seen a decent number of minor league games over the last few years, Feliz is still the biggest I-saw-him-before-he-hit-it big player I saw before he hit it big. He was a starting pitcher when I saw him with the OKC Redhawks and he was a starting pitcher again this year before getting taken down by Tommy John surgery. That Tommy John guy is a menace. He needs to be banned from baseball.
29 Angel Villalona San Jose
43 Walter Carlisle Vernon
Walter Carlisle's claim to fame is being the only known outfielder to complete an unassisted triple play. Borrowing from Baseball Reference "Carlisle made a diving catch off the bat of Roy Akin just behind second base with runners on first and second, but the
runners had taken off with the hit, so he touched second, and then ran
by himself all the way back to first to complete the triple play."
48 Robert Forrest "Spook" Jacobs Asheville
Pack 19
12 T 212 Austin Jackson Scranton Wilkes Barre
7 Fu-Te Ni Toledo
Bring me a shrubbery!
Okay bad joke. Fu-Te Ni spend 4 years in the Tigers organization, spending some significant time up top in 2009 and 2010. He was released in August of this year. My admittedly cursory research didn't turn up what, if any, future plans he has. Although, I would expect that he will land in a foreign league somewhere.
18 Austin Jackson Scranton Wilkes Barre
I have been starting to wonder about the value of the Curtis Granderson for Austin Jackson trade this year as Grandy has turned into a latter day Dave Kingman with a lot of power, but a low batting average and way too many strikeouts. I didn't feel any better when I saw that Jackson has a significantly high OBP. For my money, the Yankees should let Granderson go and focus on keeping Nick Swisher. Move Brett Gardner to centerfield and signup Ichiro for another year to back fill Gardner in left. But, I would bet Brian Cashman is more likely to let Swisher walk and keep Granderson.
That really wasn't about Austin Jackson, was it? Ah well, that is what I get when I don't actually plan posts out.
19 Andrew McCutchen Indianapolis
25 Justin Smoak Frisco
66 Jim Rice Pawtucket
Pack 20
11 T212 Jason Heyward Mrytle Beach
17 Jason Heyward Mrytle Beach
72 Russell "Lena" Blackburne Rubbing Mud
87 Abner Charles Powell New Orleans
97 John Heisman Atlanta
Yes, that Heisman. Apparently he was also, at one time, president of the Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association. Heckuva nickname, though it's exact origin is unknown.
A34 Anthony Slama New Britain Auto (2/5)
And my final auto from the box. Anthony Slama, who has jsut concluded his 4th year at AAA Rochester, with only a couple cups of coffee in 2010 and 2011. Frankly, I don't get why Minnesota doesn't like this kid. His minor league stats are solid. The rumor is that Ron Gardenhire doesn't like that many of his strikeouts (of which he accumulates A LOT) are looking rather than swinging. I suppose that the thinking is that it won't translate at the majors because of better hitters, but you would still think a team as pathetic as the Twins would at least give him a good look.
So, that is the end of my second box of 2009 Tristar Obak. I have a box of 2011 Obak to share, as well as a few cards I picked up at yesterday's mini-show. I'll try to knock them out as quick as I can. There is the bigger bi-monthly OKC show in two weeks and I'd like to have the decks cleared by then. I think I am going to take a different approach to the 2011 Obak to try and make the posts more interesting and informative. If anyone out there is still reading, stay tuned!
What I am listening to: "The Walls of Laemnil" by Fairyland
