Fleer Autograph Project - 1960 Part 21 and 1961 Part 53

It has been a challenging few weeks 'round here.  Our OKC Thunder got eliminated in the NBA Western Conference Finals and we had to have my paint horse mare, Stormy, euthanized.  We have been fighting squamous cell carcinoma with her for at least three, and possibly four, years.  Earlier this year it became obvious it was accelerating but we continued to treat her as long as she had a good quality of life.  Without getting into the details, it became clear that it was time and so it goes. I'm not trying to be morbid. It is more just a case of getting it out and off my heart.

Moving along. Next up in this series is another Hall of Fame member, George Sisler.

So, what did I find interesting about Mr. Sisler

1. There is a running joke in Ohio that no matter where you go in the world, you will run into someone else from Ohio.  Despite growing up in New York and living now in Oklahoma, the center of gravity of my life is in Ohio.  I only mention this because George Sisler was born in Manchester, Ohio in 1893.
2. Manchester didn't have a high school and as a teen he moved in with his brother in Akron to attend school where he played football and pitched on both the school team and local semi-pro teams.
3. After graduating, he enrolled at the University of Michigan, originally planning to study law but ending up in an engineering program.  It was in Ann Arbor that his life changed when he came to the attention of the new Wolverine baseball coach, Branch Rickey.
4. In the summer after his freshman year, he pitched in the Akron industrial league for Babcock & Wilcox. That summer he managed to toss a no-hitter when Cy Young made an appearance as the games umpire.
5. Sisler's play at Michigan caught the attention of scouts and it became known that he signed a contract with the Akron Champs of the Ohio & Pennsylvania League prior to his senior year in high school.  On the heels of two All-American seasons at Michigan, the contract was bought by the Pittsburgh Pirates and he was ordered to report.
6. Branch Rickey, then with the St Louis Browns had the contract invalidated by the National Commission because the contract signed by the then 17-year-old Sisler did not contain his father's signature.
7. As he was a free agent, he signed with Rickey's Browns and was immediately put to use as a pitcher. In 1915, his first season, he took the mound in 15 games including five as a starter and ended with a 4-4 record, a 2.83 ERA and a league average ERA+ of 101.
8. During that same season he began making appearances at first base and in the outfield in order to take fuller advantage of his hitting abilities.  Indeed, through the balance of his career, he only made 9 more pitching appearances for a total of 41 innings and a 1-2 record.
9. Starting in 1916, he was the hapless Browns regular first baseman and most productive player. He hit over .400 in both 1920 and 1922. The latter season he his .420 and was the AL's MVP.
10. A serious sinus infection that led to severe headaches and double vision meant that he sat out the entirety of the 1923 season.
11. Returning in 1924 as a player-manager, he was never the same player again.  Prior to his illness he racked up 48.2 WAR in 8 seasons. and only 7.4 WAR in the 8 subsequent seasons.
12. He still was a .300 hitter over that time, including three seasons with over 200 hits.
13. Removed as manager after the 1926 season, he played one more year with the Browns before closing out the last two years of his major league career with the Washington Nationals and Boston Braves.  He did play in the minors in 1931 and 1932 with the Rochester Red Wings and Shreveport/Tyler Sports before hanging up is playing career.
14. In 1942, he joined the Rickey led Brooklyn Dodgers as a scout and helped prepare Jackie Robinson to play first base.
15. He followed Rickey to the Pirates in 1951 and helped both Bill Mazeroski and Roberto Clemente improve their game.
16. Despite moving back to St Louis in 1957, he continued with the Pirates as a roving hitting instructor. In this capacity, he instructed players like Don Clendonen and Willie Stargell.
17. He died in 1973 at the age of 80, two days after his birthday.
18. He had two sons, Dick and Dave, who also had major league careers.

Next up: The Heater from Van Meter.

What I am listening to: only wanna dance by almost monday

Doppleganger?

 I've been plugging away at my 1967 Topps set adding a few cards here and there.  I am down to 26 cards to complete the set. I need only one from Series 4, 17 from Series 6, and 8 from the high number seventh series. I think it is possible that I'll finish this year, though those semi-highs and highs often sell for considerably more than my willingness to pay.  Anyways, I was looking through my set binder and did a double take.

For a moment, I thought I had sleeved duplicate cards. Obviously, team names are different enough that I caught on soon enough. I may not be observant, but I make up for it by being slow.

That's it.  Just an odd moment.  I do have another entry in the Fleer Autograph Project in the works and hopefully I'll find time to work on it soon.

What I am listening to: Keep the Wolves Away by Uncle Lucius

Fleer Autograph Project - 1960 Part 20 and 1961 Part 52

It is coming up on a month since my last post. I should probably do a little dusting around here.  Recently, I partnered up with two other people to bid on two different lots of signed 1960 and 1961 Fleer baseball cards.  My focus over the last several years has been 1961.  Alas, we won the lot that was comprised solely of 1960 cards.  At some point, once I get to the realistic end of the 1961 set quest, I will turn to 1960.  So I was only a little disappointed that I made no progress on 1961.  

What was interesting is that I needed 5 of the cards on the lot we won. One of the other partners needed the exact same cards. I ended up taking two of my needs and let him have the other three.  Both of the cards I got were of players for which I already have their 1961 card in my collection. So, the next two posts will be combined.

And away we go:

Here is Hall of Famer Gabby Hartnett.

1. Gabby Hartnett was born as Charles Leo Hartnett in the waning hours of the 19th century on December 20, 1900. He was the oldest of 14 (!) children.
2. Like many of that era, he played semi-pro ball on both town and industrial teams. It was as a member of the American Steel & Wire where he came to the attention of professional baseball.
3. In a possibly apocryphal story a scout for John McGraw's NY Giants passed on Hartnett because his hand sere too small for major league baseball.
4. What isn't disputable is that, based on his performance for that industrial team, he signed his first professional contract with theWorcester Boosters of the Class A Eastern League. And that led to his contract with the Cubs.
5. He initally backed up Bob O'Farrell, who will be featured in a future edition of this series. It was in this role that he earned his nickname. As a shy 21 year old he barely spoke thus earning the ironic sobriquet Gabby.
6. Nickname was "Old Tomato Face"'
7. His first major league hit was a single of Dolf Luque on April 13, 1922. His final hit came 19 years later and was a single off of Gene Lambert on September 24, 1941.
8. He was the National League's MVP in 1941.Modern sabermetrics credit him with 4.9 WAR that season. Looking at the voting results, there were 12 other players with higher WAR led by Arky Vaughan who clocked up 9.8 WAR with the 4th place Pirates.
9. Was the Cubs catcher in the 1932 World Series and was behind the plate for Babe Ruth's controversial called shot.  Hartnett was quoted in his biography saying “I don’t want to take anything from the Babe, because he’s the reason we made good money, but he didn’t call the shot. He held up the index finger of his left hand … and said, ‘It only takes one to hit.’
10. Hit one of the greatest walk-off home runs on September 28, 1938 when he took a curve ball from Pirates pitcher Mace Johnson. It was a key victory in the Cubs path to the pennant that year. It was (is) known 
11. Hartnett played in 4 World Series but, befitting someone who played 19 years with the Cubs, was never was on a winning team.
12. He was the Cubs player-manager from 1938 through 1940. Fired after the 1940 season, he signed on as player-coach for the Giants that had chose to not sign him 20 years earlier.
13. Despite being a son of New England, he lived his entire post-baseball life in the Chicago area. He opened Gabby Hartnett’s Recreation Center which included bowling lanes, a barbershop, a soda fountain, a cocktail lounge, and a sporting-goods store.
14. Died on his 72nd birthday after several years of failing health.

What I am listening to: Enter Sandman by Metallica (N.B. This was recorded last year at Lane Stadium at Virginia Tech. The crowd's reaction to the start of the song was so strong it actually registered as an earthquake at Virginia Tech Seismological Observatory about a mile away. I mention this only because I was actually at that concert. It was one of the best concerts I have ever attended.)

A Good Day

 I went to a card show today!  My first in over a year! It was held at the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds and was the biggest show I have attended here in Oklahoma.  It was huge, but it included Pokémon and TCG and I expect it was dominated by those sellers. To be honest, I barely got inside the doors. Two of the sellers I buy from at every show were set up next to each other right by the entrance. I never got past their tables.  

Overall, there was nothing I would consider a noteworthy pickup. It was all set needs.  Mostly commons, but with a few minor stars and a couple of HOFers that aren't particularly popular in the hobby.  I did manage to find a few 1967 high numbers, which was a pleasant surprise.  Overall, it felt good to attend a show again.  

However, this post is about something different: mail deliveries!

As long as it has been since I went to a show, it has been even longer since I added something to my Johnny Antonelli player collection. And I added two this week.

I found this 2009 Heritage buyback on Ebay for less than $20 and I grabbed it immediately. I have a complicated relationship with buybacks.  I don't consider that the foil stamp conveys any transformative effect to the card.  This is, and will always be, a 1960 Topps card. But the online resources consider this different, so I will continue to add them provided the price is reasonable. I've seen other Antonelli buybacks, but prices in excess of $50 are not reasonable.  So, this is my first buyback card in this player collection.  

This is the real star of the two. It is a 1971 House of Jazz card.  These were issued by the House of Jazz record store in Glenside, PA as a store promotion. There are 35 cards in the set and it boasts an impressive checklist for an unlicensed set.  There isn't a lot of information on the store, though a quick Google Maps search shows that the address is now home to a counseling service and a community development organization. The checklist itself is dominated by East Coast teams but seems to lack any thematic organization. It includes all-time greats, stars, and utility players (Peanut Lowery!)  

The set itself would be fun to build, but the rarity of the set makes that a non-starter. I have only seen the Antonelli a few times, certainly less than 4, over the years and it normally sells in excess of $300. I can only imagine what the Lou Gehrig and Jackie Robinson would sell for. When I saw this on eBay for $99, I mashed that But-It-Now button immediately.   This is probably the second most rare Antonelli issue behind the 1958 Packard Bell (of which I have only seen once) To say I am stoked is underselling it.

What I am listening to: Life During Wartime by The Talking Heads

2026 Goal Missed

 I still haven't been to a card show this year. I ended up skipping the March show as it was the same weekend I was leaving for the CONEXPO-CONAGG trade show in Las Vegas and I needed to get some things done at home before I left.  

I didn't take a lot of pictures this year as the trade show was huge and I had specific things I wanted to achieve. But, I couldn't pass up the opportunity take a picture of this Komatsu WA700 loader staged as if it was dumping a load into an (also Komatsu) HD605 70-ton haul truck.   The company I work for predominately uses Caterpillar products in our operations, but we do have similar Komatsu equipment in our fleet.  Anyways, on to the main topic.

It is only a quarter of the way through the year and I've already completely messed up one of my goals for the year, though not necessarily in a bad way. One of my goals for the year was to almost finish the 1967 Topps baseball set.  Almost in that I wanted to get the set complete except for the high number Tom Seaver rookie card. However, in a turn of good fortune the company I work for gave out bonuses and, for once, I didn't have any adult obligations laying claim to the windfall. So....

I won't deny that I was a bit sick after placing my bid as it was for a price that makes the third most I have ever spent on a card.  The centering is off, but I've never been a centering absolutist.  As long as there is border all the way around, I am fine.  It isn't obvious from the image, but there is border along the bottom.  I put it at 80-20 centering top to bottom.  I probably won't change my goal from almost completing the set.  I need 53 more cards and 51 are from the sixth semi-high series and seventh high number series.  Lately, they have been getting really strong prices, and I am not confident that I can pick up more than one or two at a time.  But, I am pleased to have this one out of the way.

What I am listening to: Blind by Korn (Believe it or not, I had this teed up before it went viral as Mason Miller's entrance song)

Set Completion - 1970 Topps Football

 I am struggling to get back in the swing of collecting again.  It isn't anything financial even though my dishwasher just died and I had to get a new one.  I think it is more a case of having lost my muscle memory, as it were.  There is a card show in OKC at the end of the month, and I currently plan to attend.  It is the same weekend I need to fly to Las Vegas (Ugh!) for CONEXPO, an every third year conference combining the aggregates, ready-mix concrete, and construction industry. If I do get to the card show, it will be a week short of a year since the last show I attended.  

In the meantime, I looked over my want list and decided to knock off 1970 Topps football. I only needed 7 cards, mostly commons. I overpaid a little bit, but I really wanted to get something done. I was thinking of doing a post of my favorite card fronts and backs from the set and even went so far as to go through the set noting the likely candidates.  The time needed to scan and write looked to be more than I had available.  Then I noticed that the same card was on both lists. So, here it is: my favorite card from 1970 Topps Football.

I have no idea what is up with this image, but it is glorious.  

Grayson had numerous business interests' post-career, so I have to assume he wasn't working as a carhop.  I haven't been able to find much information to fill in any blanks, but there is enough information out there to see that he was an interesting fellow.

1. Originally undrafted out of college due to his small size, he was signed briefly by the Dallas Cowboys in 1961, but Tom Landry didn't think he was large enough for the NFL.  On the recommendation of Gil Brandt, Hank Stram signed him to the AFL Dallas Texans.
2. He played 4 years with the Texans and their successor organization, the Kansas City Chiefs. During those 4 years, he made 3 Pro Bowls and 2 AFL All-Pro teams.
3. In 1961, he returned an interception 99 yards for a touchdown against the New York Titans.  He was also a kick returner, and, in 1963, he returned a kick 99 yards for a TD against Denver.
4. In 1965, he was traded to the Oakland Raiders for cornerback (and later actor) Fred Williamson.  It is with Oakland that he really came into his own.
5. In 1965, his first season in the Bay Area, he intercepted 3 passes returning two for touchdowns. In 1968 he intercepted 10 passes and scored 1 TD.  The following year, he picked off the opposition 8 times and contributed 1 touchdown.  
6. He retired from football after the 1970 season.  In 6 seasons with Oakland, he made 3 Pro Bowls and 4 All-Pro teams.
7. During his 10-year career, he missed exactly one game.  That was the first game of his rookie season in 1961.  How is that for consistency?
8. He is the all-time AFL interception leader and was named to the AFL All-Time team.  He is the only defensive back on that team that is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  
9. He had a number of business interests in his post career life, and his son Dave Grayson Jr played 5 seasons as a linebacker in the NFL for Cleveland and San Diego.

What I am listening to: So Much Trouble in the World by Lucinda Williams & Mavis Staples

Chipping away at 2009 Tristar Obak

I started working on Tristar Obak in the spring of 2012, my second year back collecting.  Today, I am quickly approaching my 15th year in the hobby.  And still completing 2009 Obak still eludes me.  I started 2025 seven high number cards short of completion. In April I located three of the seven.  Last week, I found another.  Normally, I would only look for base cards and not serialized parallels. But this card was a bit more than $3 delivered. So, I am down to 3 cards to finish this set

Under normal circumstances, I would look for a song from a musician that was featured in a post, but Lachey was in the boy band 98 Degrees.  And boy bands were not, and are not, my thing.

What I am listening to: More Than This by Roxy Music