This card completes my 1974 Topps football set. I am not sure when exactly I started this, but I believe it was about a year and a half ago. So, a fairly quick build for me.
This one was a different story. I started the 1993 Upper Deck Baseball Assistance Team set, which is based on the T202 Hassan Triple Folds, in 2017. I had pretty much forgotten about it, but when I was adding 1974 Topps Football to my Want List widget I noticed it there and decided to just finish it. There are a couple other sets over there that I am in striking distance of finishing and I will probably try to knock them off next month.
What I am listening to: Finish What Ya Started by Van Halen
I have been working diligently on my 1967 Topps set recently. When I last checked in with y'all two months ago, I had 26 cards to go for completion and figured that Norm Cash would be the last one I needed to complete the set. I managed to find a not outrageously priced Cash card and have been picking up a few cards here and there over the ensuing weeks. As of a few days ago, I was down to 8 cards to finish the set off. Over the last several days, I found 3 reasonably priced cards online and 2 more at the large card show in OKC that is held every other month, including high number Don Demeter.
So, I am down to 3 cards to complete my set . Two of the three (526 and 592) are rookie star cards which collect a premium even though neither features noteworthy players. 526 features Pat Dobson and George Korince and 592 features Jim Shellenback and Ron Willis. And both of them will likely set me back in excess of $50 each. I never have been fond of 1967 Topps. I find the design boring and I have dubbed it the Cloudy Day set as that is the vibe I get from it. I know that others love the set and that is fine. Viva la difference.
I only built it because back in 2023 I bought a 700 count box of 1966 and 1967 cards. My intent was to build 1966, but I found that I had only 1/5 of the 1966 set and 1/3 of 1967. A few months later I found a cache of '67s at a show and guess what set I was building? Yup, 1967. My ambivalence for the design and the outrageous prices that the 6th and 7th series commands made this a hard slog. I am pleased to be close to the end. But having to pay up for two otherwise nondescript cards to finish it is the final insult that '67 has sent my way.
What am I listening to: Experience by Ludovico Einaudi
I am still struggling with the Bob Feller post, though it is no fault of the commenters on my previous post. There were good suggestions there. I am more put off by the amount of research it would take to bring a fresh look to a post about Feller. Time is at a premium at the moment, so it is hard to set aside the time. In the background I have also been struggling with the direction of my collection. As a vintage set builder, I am finding myself caught between Scylla and Charybdis*.
On the one hand, my baseball set journey is down to sets with expensive high numbers. On the other hand, there are vintage sets for basketball, football and hockey I am interested in and, while they are more affordable, they seem less available. As set builder, I just couldn't bring myself to build a low number only set. I have to build it all. So, I am faced with a future where I only get a few cards at a time with significant dry spells in between. So, I wondered, what can I do to have a regular collecting fix without breaking the bank? And it finally occurred to me.
As a young man, I loved the annual Street and Smith Baseball Yearbook. I had planned to buy the editions I had as a teen. The prices seemed reasonable, so why not try to collect the entire series? Normally, these types of questions are a fool's errand and end with me deciding the price tag was too high to take it on. This time it actually looks achievable.
Street and Smith was published annually from 1941 through 2005, when the brand was absorbed into The Sporting News. For example, here is the 1943 edition.
It cost me $25 delivered. So, pretty affordable. The one thing that will make it a challenge is that, at some point, the publisher decided to have multiple different covers for each edition. Based on the incomplete checklist I found at Beckett, this appears to have started around 1963. One problem is that the Beckett checklist is incomplete. There are covers I know exist that aren't on the list. The second problem is that the publisher got a little wild at the end and it appears that the final three editions (2003 through 2005) had 15 different covers each. At the moment, I have a list of 178 different versions over the 65 year history. 15 different covers for a year seems excessive, but given that copies of those years go for around $5 it isn't insurmountable. I am mainly going to focus on getting at least one for each year. the way these things work out, others will drop into my lap without even trying. At some point I will have to decide if I really want 15 slightly different versions of the same edition.
* Believe it or not that reference has nothing to do with the release of the Odyssey movie. I actual read the book several years ago, though I found it tedious. I do like the allusion, but it is not something that is used in normal conversation. So, you get to deal with a little bit of pretentiousness on my part.
What I am listening to: Green Manalishi by Judas Priest
I am really struggling with my next post in the series about my signed 1961 Fleer collection. The subject of that post is (supposed to be) Bob Feller. It is easy to write about players that, while they were big names in their time, are mostly forgotten now. I get the opportunity to learn about them and invariably I find interesting things to write about. But, legend like Feller? How do you write about them without regurgitating what people already know. I am trying to think of an interesting angle, but haven't figured it out yet. Thoughts?
So, I'm going write a post about a couple cards that showed up today.
2004 Upper Deck Timeless Teams was an interesting concept for a set, but poorly executed. I give my unvarnished opinion in the middle of this post. Also in that post I list out the six variations of each card. Since Paul Blair has two cards in the set, there are a total of 12 cards* to collect. The Bronze parallel above brings me up to 9. I still lack 1 of the Signature Golds (# to 5) and both Signature Platinum (1/1) This is the 170th unique item in my Blair player collection. I organized this collection at the end of 2024 but have updated the want list since and the last handful of acquisitions haven't been placed in their proper location yet. So, it is probably about time to organize again and assess where I am against known cards.
I mentioned a while back that I was building the 1970-71 Topps Hockey set. It is a weird set. But first, some context. When I build my want list, I always have the Beckett book value next to each card number. Mind you, I don't pay book value (except for 1967 high numbers. Grrrr) but usually look to be around half for high grade raw cards and a third or so for mid grade. The 1970-71 hockey set is odd in that my experience so far has been that commons sell for more than book value and stars for less. I have no idea why. Maybe my experience is wrong what with small sample sizes and all. But I am making steady progress on the stars and only occasionally picking up commons.
Anyhow, the two most valuable cards in this set are the Bobby Orr above and Gilbert Perreault's rookie card and I have the Perreault on its way. Of the ten most valuable cards in the set, I have 8 with the Gordie Howe and checklist cards to go.
Us set builders can be fussy about how we go about business. In the case of this hockey set, I have to state that I have a few OPC mixed in with the Topps. This doesn't really bother me. It probably should, but it doesn't I am considering, when I am done here, building the OPC-only part of the set (cards 133-264) When I get closer to completion (I'm 2/3 of the way there), I will start scouting out those OPC cards and see if they are reasonably affordable before making a final decision.
* Paul Blair also appears on a multiplayer relic card, but they are so dang expensive I am not interested in chasing it.
What I am listening to: All I Wanna Do by Sheryl Crow
Any hope that sports card will become less popular and (more importantly) less expensive was put to rest today when I looked to see the schedule of the upcoming card shows in the area. I skipped a show last weekend because the seller I buy the most from wasn't going to be there and it was being held at a casino. I don't gamble and always feel skeevy in a casino. This weekend there was three (yes, three) shows here in the Oklahoma City area. One was in the city I live in, one was in the next town north, and the third was about a 45 minute drive away. I hit the first two shows and they were both a complete bust. 99% TCG and modern sports. As luck would have it, there is a sports card shop in the same town as the second show so I went by. I went there and started pawing through boxes of commons.
I found about 15 cards for my 1966 set; all from the first five (of seven) series. Not wanting to get over my skis financially until I knew how they priced commons, I shifted to seeing what I could find for my 1974 Topps football set. I managed to find 30 cards I needed, leaving only 11 cards standing between me and completion. None are key cards, so I figured I'd throw up a want list and see if I could trade my way to completion.
Here it is:
COMPLETE
What I am listening to: Feelin' Good Again by Robert Earl Keen
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A serious sinus infection that led to severe headaches and double vision meant that he sat out the entirety of the 1923 season.
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.
He still was a .300 hitter over that time, including three seasons with over 200 hits.
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.
In 1942, he joined the Rickey led Brooklyn Dodgers as a scout and helped prepare Jackie Robinson to play first base.
He followed Rickey to the Pirates in 1951 and helped both Bill Mazeroski and Roberto Clemente improve their game.
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.
He died in 1973 at the age of 80, two days after his birthday.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Nickname was "Old Tomato Face"'
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.
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.
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.’
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
Hartnett played in 4 World Series but, befitting someone who played 19 years with the Cubs, was never was on a winning team.
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.
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.
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.)
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
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)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
He retired from football after the 1970 season. In 6 seasons with Oakland, he made 3 Pro Bowls and 4 All-Pro teams.
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?
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.
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
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
It is Christmas Eve day and I have the day off. I already have big plans for the day. I'm assembling an Ikea display cabinet for my wife. We recently recarpeted and repainted the master bedroom and are taking advantage of the empty room to get rid of a lot of the crap that had accumulated over the years and to better display my wife's glassware collection. Additionally, I am cooking Christmas dinner today. We have tickets for the OKC Thunder-San Antonio Spurs game that is at 1:30 on Christmas Day and afterward we are going to drive around some of the swanky OKC neighborhoods and look at Christmas lights. So, dinner is today. I figured I could do a quick year in review and look at my goals for 2026. I also figured that as long as I was at it, why not do a quick post of how I have started back collecting again. So, here we go.
2025 was a lost year. I put collecting on hold in March and have only started dipping my toe back into the water after Thanksgiving. That is it. No sets completed. Only two cards added to my Fleer project.
As far as my recent activity, I discovered WhatNot. If you don't know what it is, let me explain. WhatNot is what I can only describe as a rapid fire, live action auction site. My wife has been on it regularly buying marbles for her collection. There are plenty of sports card sellers on there as well. It works like this. The seller shows a card on video and starts a counter which is usually 10 to 30 seconds for initial bids. After that time expires any additional bid will add 10 seconds to the counter until bidding stops.
It works well for how my wife collects. But it doesn't work for me as a vintage set collector. There are a number of vintage sellers, but the way they run auctions is.....odd. The sequence of cards auctioned off are random. A mid 60s Roger Maris will be followed by an early 80s Rickey Henderson. No rhyme or reason. There is no way to know what is next and no time to figure out what a card should be worth before bidding starts and ends. Consequently, it was my observation that the winning bidder often overpaid relative to the cards value. Example: one seller decided to auction off a graded mid-1960s star card (I don't remember who, unfortunately) and talked about how much it was worth. He started the auction at $2,500 and someone bought it (I also don't remember the final price) I looked the card up at PSA and the average of recent auction prices was $1,800. To be sure, 99.9% of the cards that are auctioned there are not high end cards. That is just the one example that came to mind.
Since the format didn't work for how I collect and the site process invites overpaying, I deleted the app from my phone and left it quickly behind. I did get a few things. Nothing fancy, but I did end up buying a binder of 1970s hockey cards. It appears to have been a dealer's binder since there were only common cards included and there was massive duplication. I mean like 5 copies of an individual card level of duplication. I'm still working my way through it, but I have finished sorting through the 1970-1971 Topps hockey set. In the end, I had half of the 132-card set and I've already put together my want list.
I have a couple observations. First, unlike baseball, the Topps hockey set is actually smaller than its OPC equivalent. The 70-71 OPC set is 264 cards. Second, the set is not organized randomly but rather by team.
I am not sure why Topps did this, but it seems odd. Though they did set it up so that each team appears in the 132 card set and also shows up again in the second, OPC only series. So, an American collector would have gotten cards for each team but may not have gotten his favorite player who was only in the OPC second series.
To be sure, the orderliness of having similar card designs grouped together has an appeal. But, it also leads to messes like cards 23 to 25.
Both Bob Baun and Pete Stemkowski were traded by the Red Wings early in the season prior to the cards release, so Topps airbrushed the Detroit logo off their jersey's changed the team's name at the bottom of the card. Done and done in Topps usual slapdash way. With their baseball sets they at least chose photos and/or airbrushed so that it is not completely obvious the player is in their former teams uniform. They didn't even put that much effort in here and it is made worse because teams are supposed to be grouped together.
Anyways, the binder includes small groupings of cards for each set from 1970-71 through 1979-80. I'll be deciding which I want to build and getting my want lists together in the days ahead.
Speaking of the days ahead, now that I am (hopefully) clear of all the adult things that stymied my 2025 collection, I feel ready to set some goals again. And here they are. My 2026 Goals:
Get my hockey cards and want lists in order.
Add at least one card each to my signed 1960 and 1961 Fleer sets
I'd like to finish 1967 Baseball, but that Tom Seaver high number RC is still out there and is going for over $1,000 even in mid-grade condition. I'll be happy if I finish the set except for that card.
Finish 2 of these 3 football sets:
1969 (126 Cards left but all commons and minor stars),
1970 (7 cards)
1974 Football (55 cards)
I hope to have another post before New Years, but we'll see. Happy Holidays!
What I am listening to: Take Five by The Dave Brubeck Quartet.
I finally broke my hobby drought. After nearly 8 months of not adding a single card to my collection, I just bought what will be the 74th card in my signed 1961 Fleer project. It isn't a particularly noteworthy player particularly considering that I have 14 Hall of Fame players among the 20 players I need to get through before I arrive at number 74. But it is a significant addition in that the player in question, Hippo Vaughn, died in 1966 and the version I bought is the only one I have ever seen available. I am aware of a second copy in a friend's collection. But that is it. I am sure there are more out there but given the short time between release and his passing, there probably aren't that many. The price was actually fairly reasonable but high enough that I am going to go back into hobby hibernation until after the holiday season.
Anyone who has read my blog for a while (and there may be as many as a dozen of you) know that I live just outside of Oklahoma City and my wife and I are fans of the OKC Thunder. We have a quarter season (10 game) package. We generally make it to 8 or 9 regular season games each year. The nice thing about the package is that we get a crack at playoff tickets for the early rounds before they go on sale to the general public. So, this year after the Thunder romped through the regular season, we decided to attend one game per round. We had to buy tickets for the Western Conference Finals at the same time as the general public but were able to snag a pair.
The NBA Finals were a different story. The worst tickets, and I am talking about horrible no-good seats straight behind the basket and the last row of the upper bowl were over $700 each. There is no way we were going to pay that. So, we watched at home as the Thunder became NBA champions.
Not long afterward, we started getting solicitations for NBA Champions memorabilia. One was for Panini Instant mini sets of cards. I ended up buying three: one for opening, one for saving, and one to send to a friend. And that is the subject of this post. Talk about burying the lede. It took a while to get here.
I had bought a new high speed scanner in order to digitize a lifetime of family photos. It scans cards without damaging them, but it doesn't do a very good job scanning cards. It works as intended, but it automatically crops images to the edges. That is fine for photographs, but not for cards where it doesn't really show the edges and corners. And you know how us card collectors like our edges and corners.
That said, these cards do nothing to change my general disinterest in modern card offerings. The front design is fine though not particularly attractive. And the back is completely uninspired.
There was a total of 30 cards in the set. I won't show them all, but I will show my favorite players.
Lu Dort is my favorite player and my favorite type of player. He is one of the best defensive players in the league and draws all the toughest assignments. Lebron James? Put Dort on him. Giannis Antetokounmpo? Put Dort on him. He can run hot and cold on the offensive side of the court. But his defense is always on point.
Alex Caruso actually started his pro career with the Thunder's G League affiliate before moving up to the NBA with the Lakers and Bulls. He is another defensive standout. But his value is that he is one of those players that just brings energy to the game.
A veteran presence, Kenrich Williams is the second team anchor. He knows his job and he goes in and does it. No drama. Just a solid player.
Ajay was a rookie last season and played will though his season was hampered by injury. He has been getting significant playing time this season in the absence of Jalen Williams (J-Dub) who is still recovering from an off-season wrist surgery. He has been playing well with the opportunity.
Just a nice shot of Chet Holmgrem from Game 7.
I'll be back next with another signed 1961 Fleer card of a Hall of Fame player. It probably won't be until after Thanksgiving since we are going back to visit family. It has been years since we have traveled for the holidays, but the stars aligned and we were able to arrange boarding for our dogs and a farm sitter to take care of our horses. So, to all of you, have a Happy Thanksgiving!
My last post was a reaction to hearing about the death of Bernie Parent, a star hockey player of my youth. I guess it was a bit of foreshadowing as my mother passed away less than two weeks later. She was 88 and was independent and active up until earlier this year. She continued to live on her own terms even as her health issues mounted and it was only over the last few months that it became obvious that she needed a higher level of support than my sister could provide. We had moved her into an assisted living facility in August and, even then, it seemed clear that her time was short. I didn't expect it to be quite that short, but we don't get to choose these things, do we?
I haven't done anything hobby related in a while, though that has been a familiar refrain. I did have a nice little hobby exclusive arrive that I ordered quite a while back. I'll try to post on that next. But my plans to go to an October show were obviously set aside and with the holidays ahead I don't expect to go to another show until after New Years. Since the last time I did anything at all with my main collection was March, I am starting to wonder if I really am collecting anymore.
I mean, I am still a collector. Just on an extended hiatus, I guess.
Our next subject in my signed 1961 Fleer set is Hall of Famer Jessie Haines.
What can we learn about Jesse:
Jesse was born in 1893 outside Dayton, OH. He quit school after the 8th grade to take work as a well driller and played ball on town teams. Raised by religious parents, he had to hide his uniform in a neighbor's corncrib in order to play on Sundays.
He graduated to industrial leagues as he grew older and was eventually invited to pitch a game for the Class B Dayton Veterans. Twirling a 10-inning complete game loss was the start of his professional career. He had a typical minor league career from 1914 to 1918, punctuated by a one game, 5 inning appearance for Cincinnati. He was on the Detroit Tigers roster for two months in 1915 but never appeared in a game.
He finally graduated to the majors in 1920 after then Cardinals manager and team president Branch Rickey borrowed $10,000 from a local bank to sign him.
He developed a knuckleball early in his career as a way to stay in the league as his fastball, and his effectiveness, began to degrade.
Throughout his career, Haines was effective if not spectacular. Today, he would make a solid 3rd or 4th starter.
His best season was 1927, when he pitched to a 24-10 record and a 2.72 ERA, which was good enough for 8th in the MVP voting.
He was one of the stars of the Cardinals improbable 1926 World Series victory over the Yankees. He made 2 starts and 1 relief appearance, notching a 2-0 win-loss record and a 1.08 ERA. Taking the start in Game 3, he pitched a 5 hit complete game shutout and contributed 2 of the Cards 4 runs with a two-run home run in the bottom of the 4th inning of Dutch Ruether.
His advancing age began to get notice in 1930 when the 36-year-old Haines only had a 13-10 record with an astronomical 5.71 ERA. He bounced back the following year with a 12-3 and 3.02 performance in an injury shortened season.
1932 saw him shift to a spot starter/relief pitcher role. Through the end of his career, he was a solid contributor with modern sabermetrics showing him contributing between 1.0 and 2.0 WAR in 4 of his 6 remaining seasons.
In his final season (1937), in the 10 days after his 44th birthday, he pitched two complete game victories, though the remaining 6 appearances that season were less noteworthy.
For his first and only post playing days season, he was the pitching coach for the Brooklyn Dodgers under manager Burleigh Grimes. Incidentally, Grimes was the very first signed 1961 Fleer card in my collection.
After that single season as a coach, he returned home to Phillipsburg, OH and served as the Montgomery County Auditor for 28 years before retiring for good.
Elected to Cooperstown by the Veteran's Committee in 1970, his enshrinement is now somewhat controversial. Chaired by Frankie Frisch at the time, it is known that Frisch used his influence to have former teammates, like Haines, Dave Bancroft, and Chick Hafey elected despite an otherwise lackluster case.
He died in 1978 at the age of 85 and is buried in his hometown of Phillipsburg outside Dayton.
What I am listening to: The Sound of Silence by Disturbed
The dean of the (dwindling) population of card bloggers, Night Owl, has been musing recently on topics that derive from the advance of time and our position in that flow. He and I are of the same generational cohort. My 60th birthday approaches rapidly, but I cannot really wrap my mind around it. I am healthy, active, and at the peak of my professional career (which is a source of great satisfaction.) I don't feel 60 and I don't expect I will in a few short weeks when that number becomes reality.
But there are events that give me pause to consider the advance of time. Today brought one of those events: the death of Bernie Parent.
It has been a while since I followed hockey. But, following it was part of my childhood, and it was mostly driven by collecting NHL stickers that were given away at my local Loblaws grocery store in 1974 and 1975. Bernie Parent was 80 years old. I struggle more that he was that old than I do with my own age. I suppose it may have something to do with having moved my mother into assisted living recently and seeing the recent decline in her health. Anyways, before this post becomes even more maudlin, I'll sign off.
What I am listening to: Landslide by Fleetwood Mac
It's been a minute since I posted. So, without any extraneous commentary, let see who our next subject is in my continuing series about my signed 1961 Fleer set:
Hall of Fame member Waite Hoyt.
Let's learn a little about "Schoolboy" Hoyt:
Born in Brooklyn in 1899, poor grades initially kept him out of scholastic baseball but not the amateur newspaper leagues where he gained a reputation as a hard thrower. Eventually getting his grades in order, where he continued to burnish that reputation.
While his first professional tryout was with the hometown Brooklyn Tip-Tops of the Federal League and he tossed batting practice the National League Robins, his first professional contract came in 1915 with the NY Giants. At the tender age of 15, he was the youngest player ever to sign a pro contract.
He started his pro career with the Lebanon team in the Penn State League, which folded before the season completed.
He made his major league debut on July 24, 1918 when he pitched the 9th inning against St Louis, striking out two of the three batters he faced, and popping out for the first out in the bottom half of the inning. Sometime subsequent, John McGraw demoted him to Newark of the International League. Hoyt refused to report and chose instead to play semi-pro ball in an industrial league in Baltimore. Despite the Giants machinations, Waite had no intent of returning to the minors and, eventually signed with the Boston Red Sox, with who (whom?) he pitched for the next two seasons.
He debuted with the BoSox on July 31, 1919 pitching a 12-inning complete game victory against Detroit, giving up 10 hits but only one run and holding Ty Cobb to a triple in 5 at bats.
Pitching ineffectually over the next two season, he was traded to the Yankees after the 1920 season, rejoining Boston teammate Babe Ruth. It was with the Yankees that Hoyt enjoyed the most success of a 21-year career that saw him suit up for 7 different major league teams.
When asked about his success, Hoyt quipped "The secret was to get a job with the Yankees and joyride along on their home runs.”
There is actually a lot of truth to that. Other than 1927, Hoyt never led the Yankees staff in wins and was generally a steady, if not spectacular pitcher.
He was pretty good in the post season, putting up a 6-4 record with a 1.83 ERA across 6 World Series with the Yankees and one with the Philadelphia Athletics.
As a 21-year-old, in the 1921 World Series between the Yankees and his former team the John McGraw led Giants, Waite threw 3 complete game (earned run) shutouts. His record was 2-1 in a series that the Bombers lost three games to five.
During his time with the Yankees, Hoyt was a prolific drinker and ladies' man whose proclivities were likely overshadowed by his larger-than-life teammate, Babe Ruth
In the off-season, he had experiences in both vaudeville and his fathers-in-law's mortuary business. This earned him the nickname as the "The Merry Mortician."
After the death of Miller Huggins, Hoyt clashed with new manager Bob Shawkey and was traded to Detroit. For the remainder of his career, he bounced around to 5 teams occasionally flashing brilliance but mainly putting in workmanlike performance. Through this time, he lost discipline resulting in weight gain, alcohol abuse, and divorce.
He ended his career back home in Brooklyn with the Dodgers in parts of the 1937 and 1938 seasons.
With a background in vaudeville, he launched a post playing days career in radio. First with a pregame show for the Yankees and, in 1942, as the play-by-play announcer for the Cincinnati Reds.
While is drinking continued early in his announcing career. However, in 1945, after a bender he checked into a rehab program and became a vocal advocate of Alcoholics Anonymous.
He retired from broadcasting in 1964, was elected to Cooperstown in 1969, and remained living in Cincy until his death in 1985.
What I am listening to: The Thrill is Gone (Live) by BB King and Gary Moore
I am back! I was back in Ohio for a while to help my mother out while my sister was on vacation and I'm going back in a few weeks to help her move into an assisted living apartment. I am finally seeing daylight ahead as I work past some of the issues that plagued me year to date. I still have to make some repairs to my farm truck and put up some hay for winter, so I don't expect to actually go to a card show until October, but it is nice to be able to put a marker on the calendar.
Next up in this series is Hall of Famer Carl Hubbell. Hubbell, who died in 1988, was a prolific signer and his signed cards are one of the more affordable ones in 1961 Fleer. My version is not the most attractive and probably could stand to be upgraded, but it isn't a priority. So, what do we know about Carl:
He was born in Carthage, MO but grew up in Meeker, OK (about a 45-minute drive from my home) on a pecan farm. Although he passed away in Arizona, he returned to Meeker for his final resting place.
Coming out of high school he started work at oil company and playing in the Oklahoma State League for the Cushing Refiners. The league was considered Class D but doesn't appear to have been part of affiliated ball as there is no record of it at Baseball Reference.
B-R shows Hubbell's minor league career starting in 1924 with 2 appearances each with the Class C Bartlesville/Ardmore Bearcats and the Class A Oklahoma City Indians.
After a 17-13 season with OKC in 1925 his contract was purchased by the Detroit Tigers.
His career almost derailed during the 1926 training camp when Detroit manager Ty Cobb told to stop throwing a reverse curve screwball for fear of a serious arm injury. Carl was generally ineffective after giving up his signature pitch. Despite creditable year with Decatur in 1927, he was sold to the Texas Leagues Beaumont Exporters.
The Beaumont manager allowed Hubbell to start throwing the screwball again and after putting up a 12-9, 2.97 record in 21 starts for the Exporters his contract was purchased midseason by John McGraw and he reported to the NY Giants. He finished out the season with a 10-6, 2.83 record.
This started a 16-year major league career, all with the Giants. While he was a great pitcher under McGraw, Hubbell blossomed underneath Bill Terry (subject of entry 31 in this series) who took over the Giants during the 1932 season.
Hubbell ripped off 5 consecutive 20-win seasons from 1933 to 1937, which saw him winning the NL MVP in both 1933 (23-12, 1.66) and 1936 (26-6, 2.31)
The 1933 season saw the Giants defeat the Washington Nationals in the World Series. In the series, Hubbell pitched two complete game victories in which he gave up no earned runs.
In 1934, Hubbell surely gave one of the all-time great pitching performances in first inning of the All-Star Game by striking out Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Jimmie Foxx on 11 pitches.
Subsequent World Series appearances in 1936 and 1937 saw Carl throw an additional 4 complete games, though the Giants lost in both years to their crosstown rival Yankees.
Starting in 1938 the strain of the screwball on Hubbell's arm began to take its toll and while still a workmanlike starter, he was only slightly better than a .500 pitcher.
Following his playing career, Hubbell was the Giants farm director from 1944 through 1977 and a scout for an additional 11 years until his death as a result of a car accident.
Coming up: a series of 7 more Hall of Fame members.
It has been a bit of a year here with our animal family. We lost our 18-year-old cat Squeak (not unexpectedly) and my formerly feral cat Chester (quite unexpectedly) We have also been fighting a case of EPM (Equine Protozoal Myoencephalitis) with our senior horse Clyde. We have not been able to resolve it but have determined that a continual treatment with anti-protozoals keeps the symptoms at bay As it is, he is happy and active, so we'll just ride it out until infirmity wins out.
It is a bit of a bummer, but having lived in the country for nearly 25 years, I have created a rule known as the Law of Conservation of Cats which states that the loss of a cat will invariably lead to another showing up in short order. And so, recently, a small Manx cat showed up.
Meet Stubbs. He is still a kitten and is very friendly. So friendly that we think he may have been dumped out here. After some initial upset, he has paired up with our other barn cat, Stripe.
I am working on the next installment of the Fleer Autograph Project, but it is taking time. After months of regular rain, the weather has finally turned continuously sunny, and I am trying to catch up on my yardwork and pasture management. But it is coming!
What I am listening to: I Never Cared for You by Tami Neilson
I just heard that Dave Parker died today at the age of 74, a month short of his Cooperstown induction. His death came a bit over 13 years after being diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease.
Parker was a giant to me. He was at the top of his game at the time I was closely following the baseball season as a teenager. He was MVP in the magical (to me) 1978 season that saw an early glimpse of the "We are Family" Pirates. In 1978, the Pirates didn't hit my radar. I was engrossed in the AL East, that saw transcendent seasons from Boston's Jim Rice and my Yankees Ron Guidry. A race that culminated on the first Monday in October as Bucky "Fucking" Dent and my Yankees dispatched the Bosox in a one game playoff. The Pirates didn't really occupy any space in my brain until the following year, with the Pirates seven game World Series victory over the Orioles.
This passing has given me a pause since my father had Parkinson's Disease. It is a cruel disease, slowly robbing the person of their coordination and, in the later stages, of their memories. My family has never been particularly warm and close. And living half a continent away, I didn't get to experience my father's slow decline. Since I didn't get back to visit but a couple times a year, the progression of the disease was more jarring to me. And, in the end, robbed us of a proper goodbye as he knew he had a son that lived in Oklahoma but he didn't recognize me for being that son.
I don't offer this looking for sympathy. What is done is done and I have made my peace. I offer it only to say I am pleased that Parker was lucid enough to see his election into Cooperstown, even if he didn't make it to the induction ceremony. Certainly, not being able to attend the ceremony is a loss for him and the world. But, when I think of deserving inductees (specifically but not exclusively Ron Santo) that never even got to experience the joy of knowing they were elected, I take solace in knowing Parker was able to hear and understand the honor bestowed to him.
What I am listening to: Temporary Nature (of any Precious Thing) by Lucinda Williams
