Mid-June Miscellany

Another week out of town for work ended Friday. On Saturday, I stopped at the card shop to work on my 1977 set. I had pretty much pulled all the decent commons from his inventory, so I went through the star box and managed to get 22 cards knocked off the want list. Arriving home, I had two packages in the mail. One was the last card I needed to complete my 1974 set and the other was the four series (180 cards) of the Renata Galasso set I needed to complete that set. Later that evening, I went to see the OKC Redhawks lose to the NOLA Zephyr's 4-3.

There were a few linkages between my various highlights of the day. To wit: One of the 1977 cards I picked up, which links up with the following tribute to one OKC's favorite sons:




One of the Galasso cards, which ties to a statue outside the Bricktown Ballpark of that Oklahoma favorite:





Though Spahn was born in Buffalo, NY (not far from my birthplace of Rochester), he retired to a ranch near McAlester and died in Broken Arrow (a suburb of Tulsa). And in a semi-related note, the Spahns were friends of the Prichard family, who owned Pete's Place restaurant in Krebs. You can read about the restaurant, and it's bootlegging history (the 21st Amendment didn't make it to Indian Territory until 1959), at the link. Long story short, the family eventually opened a craft brewery and one of there recent offerings is the Spahnie 363 Beer, honoring the great pitcher.

The final card I needed for my 1974 set:


And finally, a few shots from the ball game:

June Card Show Pickups

There was a card show this weekend that I had been looking forward to for a while. My main goal was to make a dent in the remaining 1977 cards I needed. I have pretty much gone through all the 1977 common boxes at my LCS and was still 200-220 cards away from completing the set. These shows usually have at least one guy with boxes of vintage commons. Roger Nuefeldt, of Sports Memories of Oklahoma is there sometimes. Roger deals in real high end stuff and normally only does shows in MLB cities, but does the local show a few times a year.

Unfortunately for me, Roger was at a show in San Francisco and the other fellow, a young kid from Wichita, wasn't there either. So, basically, my plan for the day was shot to heck right out of the gates. So, I decided to spend an hour or two pawing through the dollar boxes. More disappointingly, there was alot of football dollar boxes, but only one guy that had any significant amount of baseball. So, I spent most of the time at his table. In the end, I bought 9 cards for a total of $10. Slim pickings, but I did manage to find 3 1977s I needed and some other cards that I like real well. So, it wasn't a total loss.



2004 Fleer Greats of the Game Roberto Clemente.

I have posted about this set before. I really like it and have most of the first series (out of two total series). However, I have been completely unable to find a box of the second series. I actually thought that I had located a box twice, but both times the vendor cancelled the order and refunded my money because they were out of stock. I still am looking around half-heartedly, but am mostly resigned to having to finish the set by buying singles. If any of you see a box of 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game Signature Cuts Edition at you local LCS, let me know. I'll pay a finders fee in cash or cards.....



2004 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Jackie Robinson (114 of 1947)

I like this design and might try and put the set together. Might. After my travails with Fleer GOTG, I am a little gun shy regarding this type of set.



Upper Deck SP Etched in Time Satchel Paige

I like the design of this card, although the wood detail seems a bit superfluous given that it is just a random piece of wood and not a game relic. But, I am strangely drawn to Satchel Paige. I've come across two of his cards (including this one) and have bought both. I am going to have to read more about him and, at some point, look for an original 1953 Topps card of his, although they appear to be fairly expensive.

Now here are the real jewels of the show for me:





1977 Renata Galasso TCMA cards

You can read about the cards here. And be sure to visit the Wikipedia page about Renata Galasso to read her story. I really, really like the non-nonsense feel to these cards. I basically decided to definitely put the set together. They are a cool part of sports card history and quite affordable. I have already bought one of the six 45 card series on EBay and am keeping my eyes on auctions for two others. Now, don't any of you scamps go bidding them up on me.