By nature, I am a pessimist. But, over the years I have done my best fight that tendency and work too see the positive. I try, in this blog, to keep things light. I don't always succeed, but I do try. Today, I am not even going to try. This effort to update my player collection have and need lists has brought me to a point of reckoning. And recognition.
TCDB is a great tool in that it has helped me identify cards that I need for me player collections. And I have discovered that I am the top collector on TCDB for both Paul Blair and Johnny Antonelli. But, somewhere along the line I began to measure those player collections by the percent completion. And that was at the root of my recent annoyance at the new entries I found. To be sure, anything I said about those new entries in recent posts was true but, in the end, it was about more than what was considered a card and what wasn't. It was about what those "non-cards" represented in terms of my percent completion of Paul Blair items. When I realized that was my unstated goal,, it caused a sea change in my thinking. It had been less about the fun of collecting and more about the percentage.
Here is what made me realize this.
This is one of the new entries I found for Paul Blair on TCDB. It is a 2012 Historic Autographs Champions 1978 Yankees cut auto of Paul Blair. Take a look at it and take a look at the back:
It probably isn't obvious what caught my eye, so let me cut right to the chase:
The PSA label indicates that this is serialized as #20 of 20. However, there is nowhere on the card itself that shows this serial designation. That tells me that it was slabbed by PSA right when it was created. Maybe not at the end of the production line, but it was created to be entombing it in plastic before distribution.
Take a look at the upper corners of the back. Do you see something? Here is a close-up.
See it now? This isn't a card. It is an envelope. I was ambivalent enough about cut autos when they were inserted into card stock. But, in a paper envelope? Ambivalence becomes loathing. And with that, my interest in maximizing my Paul Blair percent completion died. I won't be pursuing any more of these Historic Autograph items. And any other card that doesn't catch my interest.
But, in an attempt to cleanse this blog of that negativity, let me share a recent auction win.
It is the packaging from a 1956 Big League Statue of Johnny Antonelli. Just the packaging, but I am tickled beyond belief to have won this. I might even try to find one of the statues. Note that it isn't on TCDB. Certainly not the packaging, but not even the statue itself. Yet another reason to not put any thought to TCDB rankings. If you want to see what the original packaging and statues look like read here.
What I am listening to: Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace
Okay, a little bit. A while back the consensus from my Quandary post is that cards prominently featuring a player, even if the card doesn't name them and isn't even about them, belong in the player collection.
So, I had this in mind as I updated my list of known Paul Blair cards. I used TCDB to help with that process. I found new entries on TCDB for Paul Blair items. I decided to use the opportunity to reorganize my two player collections. Previously, my player cards were loosely organized by issuing company and year. However, I also tried to maximize the use of sheets, so everything was mushed together. And when something new came in, it got added to a sheet at the back and not necessarily with it's rightful grouping. This time through I am using the same organizing principle, but I am leaving open pockets on the sheets for missing cards.
While going through the TCDB entries, I had to revisit not only what counts as a Paul Blair card, but what is card generally.
So, here is a summary of the decisions I made:
1971 Topps #329 World Series Game 3 - Paul Blair is on the card, congratulating Frank Robinson at home plate after Robinson's 3rd inning home run. Even though he is featured prominently on the card, he is decidedly not the subject. TCDB lists this as a Paul Blair card. This is a Frank Robinson card and not a Paul Blair card. It was not added to the want list.
1970 Topps #202 Orioles Celebrate - This is the card that kicked this off last September. For some reason, TCDB only has the OPC version. But, based on that previous feedback I've added that and, of course, the Topps cards to my want list.
1969 MLBPA Photostamps unseparated sheet - I have the individual stamp which is also listed on TCDB. But, I don't see the point of acquiring the same item a second time in a sheet with other stamps I have no interest in. This was not added to the want list. By the same rationale, the following other TCDB entries were also not added to my want list: 1974 Topps photo stamp unseparated sheet, 1975 Hostess panels (both the Hooten and Hooton versions), 1978 SSPC Yankees team sheet, and the 1991 Crown Cola Orioles panel.
1978 Burlington Free Press Baseball Cards - these aren't cards, in my opinion. They are just small feature section of a normal newspaper. Don't believe me? Above are the front and back of the Carlton Fisk cards in the "set." That back is just an everyday clipping from a newspaper sport section. The same holds true for the 1963 Baltimore News-Post Baltimore Orioles Scrapbook Cards and the 1970-71 Dayton Daily News. These don't get added to the want list. The fact that some wisenheimer gave the Dayton Daily News clippings an actual hobby designation (M137) does not change anything.
2001 Topps Archive Reserve Signed baseball - It's a baseball, not a card. Not on the want list.
Now here are some things that annoy me, but are definitely cards.
Print variations: With Paul Blair, the only print variation I have found is the 1971 Kellogg's card, with three versions: 385 runs, 386 Runs with copyright year, and 386 Runs without copyright year. I have two and the third is on the want list.
Buybacks: I have previously stated my annoyance at buybacks. I don't think that taking a vintage card, slapping a foil stamp on it creates a new card. But, I have made my peace with it and have been picking up a few Topps buybacks here and there. But, the above card (2005 Fleer National Pastime Buyback) is really something. The card itself is from 2001 Fleer Greats of the Game. So, Fleer either bought it back or took it out of its unsold inventory, wrote 3/9 on it and called it something new. A foil stamp ain't much effort, but this handwritten serial number raises (or lowers) lazy to a whole new level.
Unlicensed Cut Autos - Tristar is famous for these, but they aren't the only ones. There is in excess of 20 unique cut auto cards listed for Blair on TCDB. I am not a fan, particularly of those that cut up an actual trading card, but I will pick them up from time to time if the price is right.
2016Historic AutographsFriends 'n Foes with Mike Flanagan - While this is really a version of the above cut auto card, it also strains at creating a coherent theme. Paul Blair were teammates briefly during Flanagan's late season 1975 cup of coffee and in 1976. Were they friends? Perhaps, but this card is a bit of stretch. If it was Paul Blair and Brooks Robinso, who played together for many years, I could accept that. But, one season? It doesn't really inspire. I couldn't find an image of it, so I included an image of a comparable card above. Interestingly, I don't believe there is any friend/foe link between Colbert and Musial either, though there is a record book linkage between the two. Read this article.
2006 Upper Deck Epic Four Barrel (Jackson/Munson/Chambliss/Blair) - This is a 1/1 and given the the inclusion of Munson, I will never be able to afford it. I did actually see it pop up on eBay a few years back, but the asking price was around $5,000 if memory serves. I would never pay that even if I could afford it.
2013 Topps Archive Printing Plates - I normally wouldn't add these, but I do have two film positives from the Topps Vault for Blair's 1978 card and a print proof from 1968, so these will be on the want list even though I have no expectation I will ever see them.
So that is about it, Updating my collection is taking time and has to pause since I need to order some four pocket pages for the team issued photo packs and postcards. I'm out of town on business later this week, so I probably won't be done until next weekend. After that, I'll go through the same process for my Johnny Antonelli collection, though it promises to be less frustrating with only a handful of new entries.
What I am listening to: Pump it Up by Elvis Costello
I was updating my TCDB collection today. I have been keeping up with my set builds, but not my Paul Blair and Johnny Antonelli player collections. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, there were new entries on TCDB for Blair that I hadn't seen previously. Alas, the same holds true for Antonelli. So, I've been trying to get my master spreadsheet updated with these new entries. You might ask why I am keeping a spreadsheet in addition to TCDB as they should be performing the same function. You might, but it would be a bit rude of you. However, since the question is on the table, let me answer.
Two reasons: first, I have seen a number previously essential websites disappear (Yahoo Groups and JPGMag are but two) and I will always have my spreadsheet. Additionally, I have a number of independently produced art cards that are not cataloged on TCDB. So, with that out of the way, let me get back on track.
While looking at my Antonelli collection versus TCDB, there are three main categories of "wants:'
Rarities like 1958 Packard Bell and 1971 House of Jazz.
Armour Coins (14 variations from 1955 and 3 from 1959)
Jay Publishing pictures.
I am not going to pursue the coins since they are not cards, or any type of paper product, for that matter. But the Jay Publishing's are bit of an issue since images get reused year to year. Note:
This is an animated GIF I created that cycles between the 1955, 1956 Past and Present 10, and 1956 Past and Present 12 Jay issues. The thing is that I cannot be 100% sure the variations you see (image exposure and image position) are attributable to the actual production or are just modern artifacts of image cropping and scanning differences. I will probably crop off the borders in my starting images and redo the animated GIF to see what that shows. But, holy moly, I really didn't want to go down a rabbit hole on this.
Added in edit: The cropped animation. The slight shifts may very well be my cropping.
So, I haven't exactly shut down all hobby spending, but it is the absolute bare minimum. For $12 delivered, I added a new card to my Paul Blair player collection; one that I have been watching for over the last several years.
A 1968 Topps Venezuelan. This is, to my knowledge, the last of the Venezuelan issues I needed for this collection. I logged into my TCDB account and added this to my collection and, flush with excitement, looked to see how complete I was on my Blair PC only to discover a number of new entries that weren't there before. So, I am only sitting at 62% complete according to TCDB. I'm still the #1 Blair collector, but 62% seems kinda low. Well, it's the chase that counts, right?
Anyways, in the days ahead, I'll update my want list and see what is out there to be had.
What I am Listening to: Dog by The Bottle Rockets.
We got home yesterday after a week and a half away. It was a nice trip, though nothing fancy. We went back to Ohio and visited with our families. The first weekend, my nephew got married in downtown Cleveland the same day as the Rolling Stones concert. I've seen the Stones three times in my life, though not since 2003. I'm not much for nostalgia acts, so I have no interest in seeing them again. It was a little disconcerting seeing folks walking with canes wearing Stones t-shirts, but I guess it should be expected since Mick Jagger is 81.
Anyways, after the wedding we had a good time touring the William J Mather steamship, spent a day at Cedar Point, and did a behind the scenes tour of the Ohio Reformatory where the Shawshank Redemption was filmed. My wife collects midcentury modern barware so we hit a bunch of antique stores while we were there. And, as luck would have it, there was actually a midcentury barware show in Lancaster, Ohio this past weekend. It took place over three days, but we were only there for Saturday. If it is held again, we'll probably stay for the whole thing.
So, as you might expect, the car was stuffed with all sorts of barware for the drive home. My hobby spending has been non-existent for the last month in anticipation of the trip and will continue to be so through the summer since I need to buy hay for this coming winter. But I did manage to find one thing I had to have while we were going through antique stores.
A 2007 CC Sabathia bobblehead! I have no idea what the story is behind this, but for $5 I couldn't leave it behind. I see that later this summer, CC will be inducted into the Guardians Hall of Fame.
The biggest news in the sports world while I was out of town was the passing of Willie Mays. I was reading Night Owl's reaction to Mays' death and his notice of the remaining greats of the past. The second card he showed was Rocky Colavito, which brought to mind this item that I acquired just before I shut down my hobby spending in May.
This Sport magazine from September 1960 is signed by both Mays and Colavito and came with a JSA certification. Apparently, signed magazines aren't in much demand in the hobby as this only cost me $100. Not a small sum, to be sure, but it seems worth it to have the autograph of one of the all-time greats.
What I am listening to: Feel it Still by Portugal. The Man.
There is an interesting new blog bat around about posting the last card from a major issue for your favorite player. Since I have two favorite players, I thought I would show them both.
It is an odd card, isn't it? Paul Blair spent most of his career with the Baltimore Orioles, then several years with the Bronx Zoo Yankees. So, to see him in a Cincinnato uniform is a bit disorienting. However, he didn't end his career in Ohio. After appearing in 5 games for the Yankees at the start of the 1979 season, he was released and, around month later signed with the Reds. He finished out the season with Cincinnati batting at anemic .150 in 155 plate appearances over the course of the 1979 season. A free agent after the 1979 season ended, he didn't catch on with another team until late May of 1980 when he signed with the Yankees again. After 12 games as a late game pinch runner/defensive replacement, he was granted a release on July 1 and brought his playing career to a close.
I really did a lousy job of scanning straight didn't I? I could have fixed the alignment in Photoshop, but I have a busy day ahead of me. We are leaving for a 12 day vacation in a week and a half and I have much to do around the farm before then. So, my apologies for phoning this one in.
Johnny Antonelli's career also ended on a less than deserved note. Antonelli had invested wisely during his career and owned Firestone tire stores in his (and my) hometown of Rochester, NY. He preferred playing close to home as to attend to his business interests. The Giants move to San Francisco obviously put a crimp in that and, not surprisingly, he wasn't particularly happy in the Bay Area. After two successful and one middling season in San Francisco he was traded to Cleveland after the 1960 season. After 11 wholly ineffective appearances, he was purchased by the Milwaukee Braves, where he turned in 9 more mediocre relief appearances before the season ended. In the time between the 1961 and 1962 seasons, he was selected by the expansion NY Mets, but chose to retire instead.
I've really struggled to get this one out. Since my last post in this series, I've added two more signed 1961 Fleer cards, bringing my total to 72. I started this quest in January of 2017. The first card was Burleigh Grimes and, at the time, I commented "If I had to guess, I would think it would be fairly difficult to get more than 50-60 such cards for this set." It is a bit mind-boggling that I have exceeded that level and I have been blessed to acquire a number of cards I would have considered out of reach 7 years ago.
But, let's move on to the next signed 1961 Fleer card: #119 Joe Kuhel. I think my inertia in working on this post is the fact that I had no idea who the subject was prior to starting the research for this post. He was just a common card when I was building the set originally. At the time, I was more focused on card numbers than names and biographies. Shame on me.
Let's learn a bit more about Joe Kuhel:
On June 11, 1939 in the first game of a home twin bill between his Chicago White Sox and the Boston Red cox, Kuhel went 3 for 4 off Hall of Fame pitcher Lefty Grove including a walk-off 2 run home run in the bottom of the ninth.
He was adopted.
After a single year in high school, he started an apprenticeship as a leather cutter. He continued as such until his fine sandlot play got him some playing time with the Class B Flint Vehicles of the Michigan-Ontario League at the end of the 1924 season.
From there his career was a steady, but slow, upward trajectory to his major league debut on July 31, 1930.
His minor league career included 3 years with the Kansas City Blues where he hit, respectively, .325, .327, and .372. He was purchased by the Washington Senators and ended up replacing Joe Judge as the permanent first baseman in May of '31 when the elder Judge went down with appendicitis.
After his playing days, he worked for 20 years as a sales manager for the Roper Sales Corporation in Kansas City. I've not had much luck looking for that company. Mostly I just get western wear store selling roper boots.
He was a member of the American Society of Amateur Magicians
What I am listening to: Hold On by The Alabama Shakes
This is the last card I needed to complete the 1958 Topps baseball set.
And this is the last card I needed to complete the 1973 Topps football base set. I still need two more unnumbered team checklists but I've been working on this for over 4 years and I feel like this is an accomplishment. I'll probably just scope out eBay in the next few days and knock those two checklists off.
Now my focus will be on three sets:
1972-73 Topps basketball - I only need 23 cards to finish and none of them are all that expensive. I've been working on this since late 2018, so 5 1/2 years. Time to put it to bed.
1970 Topps Football - I am a little short of 70% complete on this, but have pretty much all of the valuable cards. The only star card left is the Jan Stenerud rookie card. Everything else is commons with a few minor stars sprinkled in.
1967 Topps Baseball - Ugh. I am making some progress on this set and am almost 75% complete. However, 2/3 of the remaining cards are in the sixth and seventh series, so this will be slow. I expect it will probably be another 2 years at a minimum.
It is supposed to rain tomorrow, so I may try to knock out another signed 1961 Fleet post.
What I am listening to: Things Change by Dwight Yoakam
Two updates in one post? What is up with that? Am I trying to make up for being such an infrequent poster that doubling up is the only way I'll make an appreciable progress?
No.
I am particularly excited about my 17th signed 1960 Fleer card and, as luck would have it, I have already posted about the subject of the 16th card, albeit in my series of posts about the 1961 set. See?
If you missed my post about my signed 1961 Fleer card of Warren Giles, you can find it here.
So, let's get on to number 17.
I've mostly been focusing on signed 1961 cards, but progress has slowed of late. Recently, a large group of signed 1960 Fleer cards came up for auction on EBay. There were plenty of really rare cards in the group; cards that I have never seen before and likely will never see again. The cards were auctioned off over two nights.
The first night contained a number of cards that were rare, but do come up on EBay 2 or 3 times a year. I wasn't going to bid on them just because I will have other chances. The first group also contained impossibly rare cards of Mickey Cochrane and Frank "Home Run" Baker. I knew I would never be able to afford them, so I decided to sit on my wallet and focus on the second set a few nights later. It was the right choice. The Cochrane sold for $743 and the Baker for an eye-popping $2,431. Even the more available cards sold for a premium. Last year, I got a signed 1961 Heinie Manush for $175. The 1960 in this auction went for $281. A Lefty Grove went for $338 where, in contrast, I got my 1961 Grove for $43. Just crazy.
The second grouping was similarly divided between cards that come up infrequently and cards that only have come in this auction. It included Branch Rickey and Bobo Newsom (who died in 1962) I decided to focus on two cards that were really rare, but still within my budget. Since the auctions weren't staggered, but closed all at the exact same time, I had to have my bids in on both concurrently. Given the strong prices I decided to bid on both to increase my chances of landing one. Frankly, I was scared that I would win both, but was honestly expecting to get neither, given the strong prices the first night. I did manage to win one, so let's take a look.
It has been a rough few weeks here. My senior Great Pyrenees had to be euthanized. He had been undergoing treatment for cancer since before Christmas, but it was ineffective. His health took a turn for the worse and we made the choice to end his suffering. On top of that, I have had cascading plumbing issues associated with my barn mostly due to the half-assed work prior owners did. Some repairs I did myself, but others required more specialized skills. I won't bore you with the details but suffice it to say I am about done with country living and wouldn't mine moving back into town where I don't have to deal with fixing someone else's work. I've lived here 20 years. You would think I would have found it all by now.
Not a lot of hobby activity, although I did manage to get 3 of the remaining 4 cards I needed to complete my 1958 set. The only remaining card is #310 - Ernie Banks. The card is of sufficient cost that I probably will hold off on chasing after it until my life and checkbook return to something resembling normalcy.
Anyways, onward. Here we have Roger Peckinpaugh, another noteworthy, but not all time great, player. He was something the opposite of our previous subject, Riggs Stephenson. Where Stephenson was a good bat attached to a weak fielder, Peckingpaugh was considered one of the best shortstops in the Dead Ball Era, while generally packing a below average offensive punch at the plate.
Some interesting facts about Peckinpaugh:
He was the youngest manager ever in MLB history when he took over the New York Yankees on an interim basis for the last 20 games of the 1914 season. He was 23 years old.
Born and raised in Ohio, he started his major league career with Cleveland when the team was known as the Naps.
In a case of be careful what you ask for, he was traded from the Yankees to the Washington Senators after the 1921 season when Babe Ruth, while complaining about skipper Miller Huggins, suggested Peck would be a better choice for manager.
While with the Washington Senators, he was part of a formidable double play combo with player-manager Bucky Harris and acted as an unofficial assistant manager. They won the World Series in 1924 and the AL pennant the following year.
Despite what amounted to league average hitting, Peck's fielding and leadership led to him being the 1925 AL MVP. When sorted by the modern WAR metric, he would have been in 20th place among all the players recieving MVP votes that year.
He returned to Cleveland as a manager twice. First from 1928 through the first 51 games of the 1933 season and again for the 1941 season. He was succeeded in 1942 by 24 year old player manager Lou Boudreau, who I've featured here previously.
After leaving baseball, he became a manufacturer's rep for Cleveland Oak Belting. a company that appears to still be in business. One of their current product lines is conveyor idlers, a component that my employer uses in their quarries.
What I am listening to but probably shouldn't: Maggie's Song by Chris Stapleton
Do you ever just feel like the hobby gods are trying to send you a message?
I have mentioned a couple things here recently. First, I am not particularly fond of 1967 Topps. It is just a bland, uninspired set both front and back. Second, a while back I bought a lot of collector grade 1966 and 1967 cards with the intent of getting a jump start on my '66 set build. But, I ended up with only 20% of the '66 set and over a third of '67.
Moving on to yesterday, the local OKC show was actually held at the county fairgrounds here in Norman. A 10 minute drive instead of 45 minutes. I was a little skeptical as it was held in the same building that hosts livestock shows, which means there is a dirt arena right smack in the middle. But, it ended up okay. The show was well attended by sellers and the aisles were nice and wide. Other than it being a little cold in the building I couldn't ask for more.
My intent was to look for 1966 commons, find the last 3 cards I need for my 1973 football set and some of the last 5 cards I need for my 1958 baseball set. I failed on all three counts. However, my normal go-to vintage dealer had a 5000 count box of...you guessed it... 1967 Topps. So, I started going through and found a significant number of cards I needed. The seller cut me a good deal and I was on my way home.
In the end, I found nearly 160 cards and I am now sitting at 62% complete on the set. So, am I working the set? I guess so. But, there are challenges ahead. I have none of the major star cards outside Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, and well-loved Whitey Ford and Roger Maris cards. I also have exactly zero high number cards and only 26 of the 76 semi-high numbers.
Because I am a glutton for punishment, I decided to look a bit at statistics for the set and where I am in terms of completion. There are 609 cards in the set and when I looked it last their total Beckett high book value added up to $8,477.00. That works out to $13.92 per card. My progress is 379 cards with book value of $1,856 or $4.90 per card. Math tells me I have 230 cards to go with a average book value of $28.78. Ugh. So, while I guess I am working the set, my level of ambivalence hasn't changed any.
Anyways, whining isn't the sole reason for this post. When I am at a show, I generally look for card numbers on my want list, check condition, and either set aside or put back. For some reason, I took a look at the back of the Ed Brinkman card.
Obviously, 57 years later we know that Ed never developed into one of the American League's big stars. He never hit consistently well, but did manage to stay in the starting lineup for 11 years out of 15 he played in the majors. He is considered one of the finest fielding shortstops of his era, but only won 1 Gold Glove in his career because he was playing at the same time as one of the finest fielding shortstops in all of baseball history, Mark Belanger.
In a sad similarity, both Belanger and Brinkman died young (54 and 66 respectively) due to lung cancer.
What I am listening to: The Flood by Charles Wesley Godwin
Before we get started, can we just acknowledge the utter lack of visual appeal in this card? The crude signature combined with the extreme diamond cut of the card makes it one of the less attractive cards in this project. Yowza.
I've mentioned before that the 1960 and 1961 Fleer sets engage in a bit of mis-advertising. They are called Baseball Greats, but there are a fair number of subject players that, while noteworthy, are not necessarily great. Riggs Stephenson here is a good example. A solid hitter, his defensive deficiencies along with a history of injuries meant that he was only was a starting player for 4 seasons in a 14 year career. Interestingly, he received MVP votes in 3 of those 4 seasons. This included coming in 5th place in the 1932 race behind winner Chuck Klein, but ahead of such notables as Mel Ott and Pie Traynor.
Some interesting facts about Stephenson
His major league career ended in 1934, but he continued to play in the minor leagues through 1939. This included a 1936 stint as player-manager for the Birmingham Barons of the Southern Association. That year, he was the offensive leader of the team, hitting .355 while leading the team to the league championship.
He was a three sport standout at the University of Alabama, earning 3 varsity letters each in football and baseball, and 1 in basketball. His football coach at 'Bama described Riggs as “better football player than Jim Thorpe."
While at Alabama one of his baseball teammates was future Hall of Famer Joe Sewell.
He appeared in both the 1929 and 1932 World Series for the Chicago Cubs. The Cubbies lost both series through no fault of Stephenson who hit .316 and .444 respectively in the two series.
After his baseball career ended, he returned home to Alabama to farm and run various successful business ventures.
What I am listening to:: Muscle Shoals Nitty Gritty by Herbie Mann
