While I am mainly a vintage collector, occasionally a modern set will cach my fancy. 2000 through 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game fall into that category. As does the 2009 through 2011 Tristar Obak sets that were issued to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the original T212 Obak tobacco cards. Back in December, I happened across an uncut sheet of the 2011 Obak cards on eBay for a less than $50 delivered. So, I got it and took it in to be framed. I got it back today.
It is not the complete base set, just the regular print run cards. The 2011 base set consisted of 120 cards, the last 10 of which were short prints. This sheet is the other 110 cards.
The Obak sets were mainly normal sized trading cards, but each included a subset of T212 minis, which were essentially duplicates of some of the main set cards, but in the size of the 1909-1911 tobacco card originals. For some reason, I had it in my mind that the sheet was the minis, though I have no earthly idea why I thought that. Since this the full size base set, it is huge. I am going to have to think about how/where to put it in my home office/card room.
There was a card show up in OKC this weekend and I intended to go and make progress on the various vintage sets I have in the works (1959 through 1961 Fleer, and 1973 Topps.) The hope, once again, was that a specific seller of high quality vintage would be there. The reality, once again, was that he was not. So, I didn't make a lot of progress, but I did make some. So, I'll call it a success.
However, this post is about the modern cards I picked up by trawling through the discount boxes.
The five cards above are all inserts from the 1994 Ted Williams Card Company set. As you may recall, I bought a wax box of that set at a recent auction at Kevin Savage Cards. I intend to do a review of the set, but have been awfully busy lately and haven't had the opportunity. I still intend to do so, so I won't delve into these cards now. However, I will say that I think the set was well thought out. For example, all the insert sets, of which there was a few, were designed to have unique cards in multiples of 9.
These two cards are from recent Leaf products (2010 and 2012). I picked them up because I liked the design concept and figured at some point maybe I'll build the sets. I''ll throw them in my miscellaneous binder as a reminder in the future.
I didn't need this card for my Obak sets. It is from 2011 and I only have 2009 to complete. I got thsi card because it is a numbered parallel (10/25) and Banuelos is expected to get his first real crack at making the Yankees major league roster this year. If he sets the league on fire, I'll see if I can flip it for some cash. If he doesn't, I'm only out two bits.
Coming up tomorrow, or whenever I find some time, my vintage pickups. I only got 11 cards, but I think it was a good haul.
What I am listening to: The Gummy Bear Song. I am not sure how I came across this and, yes, I do get that it is aimed at a crowd 40 years younger than me. But, it makes me smile everytime I watch it. In fact, I made the main character my Facebook avatar. Don't hate.
Here it is. The last card I needed to complete my 2011 Tristar Obak set.
The card celebrates Roger Connor hitting the first recorded grand slam in major league history. Connor, a 1976 Hall of Fame inductee, accomplished this on September 10, 1881. Connor was also the MLB all-time home run leader prior to Babe Ruth. He had hit 138 round-trippers over his car. Ruth eclipsed this number on July 18, 1921 as a 26 year old.
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.
I haven't been too active lately and it has been a while since I made any progress on any of the modern sets I am working. I've been sitting at 5 cards to complete 2011 Tristar Obak for just about a year. By chance last week, I made a few searches on Ebay for cards I needed and was happy to find a 5 card lot of 2010 and 2011 Obak Cal Ripken cards, including this one:
This is the last short print I needed towards completing 2011 and I got it for about $6 delivered. This was quite the steal because I had never seen it on EBay other than as a Buy it Now, or on any of the retail websites like COMC, for less than $12. With only 4 base cards to go to finish that set, I am going to try and knock it off before the end of the year.
What I am listening to: Nightbook by Ludovico Einaudi
When most people think of career leader in hit-by-pitches, their thoughts naturally gravitate to Ron Hunt. However, Hunt is not the career leader in HBP. It is Hughie Jennings, who had 287 HBPs to Hunt's 243. Jennings also nudges out Hunt for the single season HBP record, 51 to 50. Hughie achieved that during the 1896 season, where he also hit for a .401 BA. He had an incredible .472 OBP that year, 85 points of which were contributed by hit by pitches.
Other fun HBP facts:
Ron Hunt is only sixth on the caeer hit by pitch leader board. He is behind Jennings (above), Craig Biggio, Tommy Tucker, Don Baylor,and Jason Kendall.
I've not been able to find a number for all the walk-off HBP in MLB history. I am guessing there is some way to query the Baseball Reference database to figure it out, but I don't subscribe to the site, so I am not sure I can figure it out.
Biggio, with 285 HBP, finished his career only two behind Jennings. The stress of getting close to the record apparently contributed to his career ending, according to this news report.
The most famous hit-by-pitch occurred on February 20, 1992, when Homer Simpson had a walk-off HBP to give the Springfield Power Plant team the city championship.
That is all for now. If anyone is proficient with the PI Index at Baseball Reference that can help me, drop me a line.
What I am listening to: How to Love Me by Kristen Ward
I'm still waiting on that card I spent a C-note on to arrive. I ended up dropping an email to the seller on Friday. Alas, he doesn't actually own a computer and the email was answered by his son and business partner. My message was passed on to Bill, so I'll keep an eye on the mail. If it doesn't arrive by Thursday, I'll give him a call and, if he hasn't sent it, I'll ask him to bring it to the mini-show up at Al's on Saturday.
In the mean time,I'll bring you another interesting story from baseball's history, using 2011 Tristar Obak as the launching-off point.
Jesse Burkett, a member of the baseball Hall of Fame, played major league baseball between 1890 and 1905 and still holds the MLB record for career inside the park home runs with 55. Second on the list is Ty Cobb with 51. Possessing a disagreeable personality, he was nicknamed "Crab." He continued as a player manager in the minor leagues putting in playing time from 1906 through 1913, as well as limited appearances in 1916 and 1919 (at the age of 50!) His 1906 season may well be one of the more interesting seasons in baseball history. As a player for the Worcester Busters, he lead the B level New England League in hitting with an average of .344. As the team manager, he lead the Busters to the first of four consecutive league championships. What made it most interesting, though, was that he was the owner of the team at the time. All and all, he appeared as a professional player in 28 different seasons.
Other Inside the Park Home Runs of Note:
The most inside the park home runs hit in one season is 12 by Sam Crawford for the Cincinnati Reds in 1901.
The most hit in one game is 3 by Tom McCreery of the Louisville Colonels on July 12, 1897.
Since 1950, only two players have hit 2 inside the park home runs in a game: Dick Allen of the Chicago White Sox on July 31, 1972 and Greg Gagne of the Minnesota Twins on October 4, 1986.
On July 25, 1956 Roberto Clemente hit the only walk-off inside the park grand slam in MLB history.
So, I was somewhat accurate on my prediction about Game 2 of the ALCS. I said Kuroda would give up 3 to 4 runs in 6 to 7 innings of workmanlike pitching. In the end, he gave up 3 runs in 7.2 innings, but it was anything but workmanlike. He carried a perfect game into the 6th inning, struck out 11 and walked none before getting yanked in the eighth. Indeed, if it wasn't for some poor work by the bullpen, and a lousy call at second, he probably wouldn't have been charged with 3 runs. The offense, however, remains anemic. The supposed big boppers in the lineup (A-Rod, Granderson, Swisher, and Cano) have only managed 12 hits in 107 cumulative at bats this postseason. I am pretty sure you could run any random sample of 4 AAA ballplayers out there and get more production than that.
Tuesday will see Phil Hughes take the mound against Justin Verlander. Hughes is a good young arm but is prone to giving up home runs. In fact, only Ervin Santana threw more taters in 2012 than Phil. But, he is a gamer and while I expect he'll get tagged for one or two long balls, he'll keep the game close enough that the Yankees will have a chance if the offense wakes up.
But, the title of this post refers to something different. I have never been really happy with my approach to blogging and have been wanting to make it more satisfying for myself and for my several readers. I have fallen into the trap of my posts being all of the "look at what I got" variety. Nothing wrong with that. I like seeing what you got. But, I just don't get a lot of joy out of writing them. And, having mostly eschewed most modern sets, my trading activity has dwindled to almost nothing. For several reasons, time is at a premium and if I am going to continue blogging, I need to make it more fun.
So, that is what I am going to try and do starting with the 2011 Tristar Obak box I got a while back. One of the things I like about Obak is that it is a quirky little set, of a manageable size, that is put together with some careful thought. Oh, it does do some of the up-and-coming minor leaguers, but generally never more than a handful. What is unique about Obak, and why I love it so, is that it highlights noteworthy people in baseball history who, for the most part, are obscured by the bigger names.
Take for example, Cal Hubbard.
Hubbard is the only person to be a inductee of both the Baseball Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame. And, for good measure, he is also a member of the College Football of Hall of Fame. A significant achievement. Yet, I never heard of him until I pulled this card from a pack.
As a football player in the early days of the NFL, he was a top defensive player, making first team All Pro 4 times, while helping his team win 4 championships (NY Giants in 1927 and the Green Bay Packers in each year between 1929 and 1931. He was among the inaugrual inductees when the Football HOF opened in Canton, Ohio in 1963.
While he was playing pro football, he began umpiring in the minor leagues during the off-season and and advanced to the major leagues by 1936, where he quickly became recognized as one of the best umpires. His major innovation was to design, based on his football experience, a comprehensive system of positioning and responsibilities for umpires that is still used today. He was inducted into the Baseball HOF in 1976, about a year before his death in 1977. What I am listening to: The Passenger by Siouxsie and The Banshees.
