2021 In Review

 It was a year. When I last left you, I was still waiting on the acquisition of my employer by a larger company to close. The transaction finally closed in early December and because, when given the option of moving to Houston or moving on, I chose the latter, a 180 day clock started ticking.  When that clock runs to zero sometime around June 3, I am officially unemployed. I haven't started looking for a new gig yet, but will be starting shortly.

As it stands, I have had plenty of time to prepare, so the change doesn't represent an existential issue. I'm blessed to have that flexibility and to be able to keep somewhat active in the hobby.  

So, enough about that. Shall we talk hobby?  My hobby activity was a bit odd.  I scaled back my level of activity as I prepared but, at the same time, also completed my three most expensive purchases.  So, let's review the year. First, though, I do want to acknowledge a recent kindness.

1. Cards from Night Owl

To get cards from Night Owl is always an opportunity to experience joy and guilt in equal measures. Joy because he seems to have access to really great cards that I don't see very often, if at all. Guilt because he does so much for the hobby already at his blog that receiving cards from him always seems to overweight one side of the ledger. I get that our little corner of this hobby isn't about making sure the debits and credits balance, but my collecting is so inwardly focused that I do occasionally need reminders of the obligation to be a good member of the community.

My early collecting included a mix of modern and vintage.  While I left the annual Topps releases behind quickly, there were several modern series of sets I really liked.  The Fleer Greats of the Game sets issued between 2000 and 2004 are the prime example.  I was mostly done with 2002, except I only had half of the Dueling Duos insert set. I had mostly forgotten about it when a package arrived from Greg that included three of my needs for that subset. I have acknowledge that one of the three was the card above that featured Duke Snider, a legendary Dodger.  Getting such a card from a Dodger collector is a great treat.  And it provided the necessary incentive to get this over with. I managed to piece together the remaining subset needs from COMC and Burbank.

I am almost exclusively a vintage collector, but I do occasionally pick up modern cards that catch my eye. If I came across this card in a discount box at a show, it would buy it.  No questions asked.That I received it as a gift makes it all that much more special.   

I still remember where I was when I learned that Thurman Munson had died in a plane crash.  I grew up in western New York and my family's annual vacation was to rent a cottage in the Thousand Islands near Alexandria Bay. Why mention this at all?  Well, Alex Bay is a short drive from where Night Owl lives. 

Finally,

An interesting card from this year's Stadium Club offering: a Superstar Duos card with Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton on opposite sides. The background graphics, particularly on the Judge side, remind me of the colorful backgrounds on the 2009 through 2011 Tristar Obak sets I love so well.

2. 1960-1963 Signed Fleer

I'm not going to show any cards here, as I still intend to have a series based on them at some point soon. But, for something I started on a lark nearly 10 years ago, I am amazed at how much progress I've made. See for yourself:

3. Set building

Set building has always been a slow process for me. I see folks on Twitter who finish multiple vintage sets per year.  It is hard for me to fathom that.  Once I got past the late 1970s sets, it usually takes me a minimum of two years to complete a set and sometimes more.  

I finally finished my 1968 Topps set in 2021. As near as I can tell, I started this set in 2017, but made absolutely no progress after 2019. I sat at two cards to go for two years waiting for the cost of the Nolan Ryan rookie card to come down. It never did and I finally resolved to just bite the bullet and get it over with.  I broke down and got the Lou Brock card earlier in the year, only leaving #177 to go. I managed to pick this up in an auction for $325 delivered:

This was the third most I have ever spent on a card, but was well below what all but the poorest of  Ryans usually go for.

If you look at the comps on this card, the price I paid was a steal. It went so low because of color fading on the left hand side of the card.  But, it is in great condition otherwise, and it has great eye appeal despite the fading.  So, I am very happy to have it and to have this set finally in the books.

I also have finished 1960 Topps. Sort of, anyways. The final card I needed for that set is still in transit to me and should be here Tuesday.  It isn't this card though:

I got this earlier in the year in a Robert Edwards auction.  This set me back over $400 and is the most I have ever spent on a card.  Evern more than the 1956 Mantle I got at the National several years ago. Barring a postal catastrophe, I'm glad to have finished 1960.

I have not, however, finished 1965.

I started working on 1965 four years ago, in the late winter of 2017, and I am still needing 21 cards to finish. While I picked up the Mantle in 2020, I still need a fair number of the high value cards, like Aaron, Mays, Banks, Uecker, plus the Carlton and Niekro rookie cards. 

Wait. Back up a second. Uecker? It's a high number, but a common nonetheless. Yeah, I don't get it either.  Beckett assigns it a book value of $25, but even rough copies of the card sell for more than that.  It is just odd.

Anyways, I am skeptical of my ability to finish this in 2022.  I looked back. In September of 2020, nearly a year and a half ago, I needed 38 cards to finish, I've added a total of 17 cards in 16 months.  I may just have to bite the bullet and start resetting my cost expectations on this set, because it really shouldn't be this hard.

4. Player Collections 

I have two player collections, Johnny Antonelli and Paul Blair.  This year, I undertook an effort to try and catalog the cards that are available for each. I mainly used TCDB, but found it incomplete andsupplemented it with what I already have.  If you look at TCDB, you will see me as having the largest collection for both players.  But, in summary, I still have a way to go.

This is the latest addition to my Antonelli collection, a James Elder postcard.  At the moment, I have catalogued 98 unique Johnny Antonelli cards and postcards and, also at the moment, I have 66 of them.  67% is pretty good, but not good enough if I am going to be serious here.  Unfortunately, the 32 I don't have are all pretty obscure. How obscure? Well, the only one of the 32 I have actually seen is a 1960 Topps Venezuelan card.  When a Venezuelan is the least obscure of the remaining needs, you know the rest are rarer than hen's teeth. 

My entry back into the hobby was trying to collect Paul Blair cards, since I had a Paul Blair model glove as a kid. Little did I know what I was getting myself in for. I have catalogued 209 different Paul Blair cards and photocards.  There are two sub-categories that I am ambivalent about:  Topps buyback cards (which are basically vintage cards that are stamped with foil, like this one) and cut auto cards mainly produced by Tristar.  Alas,. if I am going to continue to advance my Blair colleciton, I am going to have to overcome that ambivalence.  As of today, I have 154 of those 209 items, for a respectable 74%.  

So, that was a summary of where I am to date. I'm going to try and blog more in 2022.  There are a couple of series I started and let die that I'd like to pick up again. In my next post, I'll lay out how I see my hobby '22 shaping up.

What I am listening to: Texas Sun by Khruangbin & Leon Bridges

On this continent and in the psyche of its people the plains have always been a staggering presence, a place of myth and cliche, a place for transformation, bafflement, or heartbreak. From the east they are a release from the clawing of swamp and tangle and human density. From the west they are a drop and a straightening after the kinks and strains of mountains. Entered from any direction they are a new air, a joy to behold, a combination of large-scale intimidations and primordial inner acoustics. 

- "Magpie Rising" Merrill Gilfillan

Ten Records

The godfather of baseball card blogging, Night Owl, threw down a challenge earlier this week: to name 10 albums that were significant to you and tie it to baseball cards.  This is my effort.  I've gone a little further and added videos of songs from the albums (with one exception) and tied the cards to the song.    So, here we go:



1. Styx - Cornerstone

Why this album: This album changed my musical tastes.  Prior to buying Cornerstone, I listened to the worst of 1970s pop music, like The Village People and KC and the Sunshine Band.  The song Babe was what drew me in, but it was the rock power anthems on the record that converted me over to rock music.

Why this card:  Well, I am nothing if unoriginal.  Babe is the song that introduced me to Styx.  And what other baseball player to show?  Sure, there were many ballplayers with the nickname babe.  32, according to Baseball Reference.    But, none are greater than Babe Ruth

2. AC/DC - Back in Black

Why this album:  This album, bought at the KMart in Chili Center, NY really led me into the hard rock world and away from the (sometimes forced) theatrics of Styx.  A lot of Styx music sounds dated now.  Back in Black, at 37 years old, still fits into the modern music landscape.  Plus, I remember driving to Buffalo in a blizzard to see AC/DC as a college freshman.

Why this card: What Do You Do For Money, Honey?  Don Money?  Like I said, I don't pretend to orginality.

3.  Sammy Hagar - Standing Hampton 

Why this album: The first concert I ever attended was Sammy Hagar (with Aldo Nova opening) at the Rochester Auditorium Theater in my junior year in high school.

Why this card:  Well, standing hampton is a NSFW slang.   Look it up and you'll understand.

4. Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood

Why this album: I remember hearing a cut from this album, SRV's debut, on the radio during my senior year in high school and being completely blown away by it. The cassette tape was pretty much on loop for me the summer between high school and college.

Why this card:  Well it is Curt *Flood* and he was born in Houston, Texas.

5. R.E.M. - Reckoning

Why this album:  I first heard this playing on the store sound system as I wandered about The Record Archive in Rochester during college. It blew me away and I bought it immediately. It was my entrée into alternative rock.  The video is a bit of a stretch. I really spent some time thinking about this and never got anywhere.  I finally googled "R.E.M. " and "baseball" and found out two members of the band formed a group called The Baseball Project and released two baseball themed albums.  So, I went in that direction instead of beating my head on a wall trying to tie Harborcoat to baseball.

Why this card:  Well, the song is called Harvey Haddix.

6. Metallica-S&M

Why this album:  This brought me back to heavy metal after a long time away. I don't have an extensive metal library, but I do appreciate watching people that are really good at what they do.  And Metallica is that.

Why this card:  I defy anyone to come up with a different player.  Enter Sandman played whenever Mariano Rivera came in from the bullpen at Yankee Stadium and Metallica played at his final game.

7. Pine Valley Cosmonauts - The Majesty of Bob Wills

Why this album:  I came across this album in the music section of the late, lamented Borders Bookstore.  They had headphones along the rows of CDs that would allow you to listen to selected albums.  This album was one such selection.  It introduced me to Western Swing music, an amalgam of country and jazz most popular in the 1930s and 1940s.  It is still around, most notably by the Austin band Asleep at the Wheel.  Bob Wills is in both the Rock and Roll and Country Music Halls of Fame.

Why this card:  Well the song above is about the Alamo, which is in San Antonio. Cliff Johnson, a player on the Yankees teams of my youth is from San Antonio.

8. Social Distortion - Social Distortion

Why this album:  I really like the SoCal punk sound here.  And, when I found out that there was a fair amount of crossover between the SoCal punk scene and the classic country and Bakersfield sounds (typified most recently by Dwight Yoakam), I was hooked.

Why this card: Well, Casey Stengel wrote a book titled "Casey at the Bat: The Story of My Life in Baseball."

9. Slaid Cleaves - Broke Down

Why this album:  I don't rightly recall if this was my introduction to Americana music, since that is a fairly broad label that encompasses a number of other genres, like folk and alt-country. I will say that, after hearing this song on a locally produced radio show, I did go right out and get the CD and it did contribute to a new direction in my music listening.

Why this card:  Well, what else is the baseball equivalent of one good year other than the one year wonder.  And Joe Charboneau falls into that category

10. Metamodern Sounds in Country Music by Sturgill Simpson

Why this album:  Sturgill Simpson is the man.  Along with Chris Stapleton and Jason Isbell, he is saving country music.  Much to the chagrin of Nashville's Music Row. But screw them. They are peddling crappy pop and bro country. If you haven't seen his performance on Saturday Night Live recently, you should.  Go here and here.  While I expect that Beyonce's "Lemonade" will win, I'd love Simpson's "A Sailor's Guide to Earth" to win the Record of the Year Grammy.

Why this card:  Okay, this is a stretch. I admit it. But, I do need to show some faint glimmer of originality. Turtles all the way down is a colloquial expression of the infinite regress problem in cosmology.  It is also considered an example of the Anavastha concept in Indian philosophy.  So, here is a card of two Indian natives who joined the Pirates minor league organization in 2009 as part of the reality show, Million Dollar Arm. Dinesh Patel only hung on for two years, both in Rookie ball.  Rinku Singh made it 4 years, getting as high as A ball.  He resigned with the Pirates in November 2015 and managed to pitch one scoreless inning in rookie ball during the 2016 season.

Fini!

Things have been quiet here lately. With regard to my collection anyways.  In the last two weeks I have had to replace the AC compressor on two different cars, leaving a fairly big hole in my pocket.  I have picked up a few things here and there, and have managed to complete two sets.

These were the last two unnumbered checklists I needed to complete my 1973 Topps set. So, at the moment, the only "flagship" sets I am working on are 1956, 1975, and 1979.  I'd like to finish at least one of the latter two prior to the end of this year.  Depending on how you look at it, it took me almost three and half years to finish this set. I got my first '73s in a trade with Ted at the now defunct Crinkly Wrappers in January of 2012, although I didn't start working it in earnest until about a year later.

These were the two cards I needed to achieve my definition of complete for the 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game set. This was over 4 years in the making, as I really started on this set in April of 2011.  It isn't a master set, as there is the serial numbered blue parallels, the autographed subset, game used memorabilia parallels to various insert sets, and the uber-expensive Yankee clippings insert set.  But the cost to complete any one of those is beyond what I willing to pay and would only distract from my core vintage set collecting.  So, this one is done also!

Lastly, this is the one card I have added to my Paul and Lloyd Waner player collections. I bought it on a whim and probably shouldn't have.  It cost $46 delivered and is typical of most modern Waner releases: bat cards issued in low numbers. I like the card real well, but I am discouraged by the prices these modern cards get.  I am not sure what I am going to do with this collection. I may just limit it to vintage (which are also expensive) and non-exclusive modern cards.  At least for the moment, the need for car air conditioning in the Oklahoma summer has forced that decision into the future.

COMC Almost Black Friday Purchase

Like many of you, I had a COMC purchase arrive this week.  Unlike many of you, I didn't do the Black Friday thing. I wanted to make some progress on some of the various sets I am working, but wasn't planning on spending more than $25, including shipping. So it didn't seem worth it to me. I was able to finish one set, get a whisker away from another, and get within striking distance of a third. Let's look, shall we?

Last two cards I needed to finish the 1992 Conlon Collection set.  I'm going to work on the entire 5 year run of Conlon sets (1991 to 1995.)So, really, this is one down, four to go!

These are from the Forever insert set that was part of the 204 Fleer Greats of the Game.  I am slowly closing in on completion of that set.  There was a 145 card base set, with 4 insert sets totalling another 84 cards.  With these cards above, I am a mere 5 cards away from finishing.  I have to note that this does not consider the blue border parallels of the base cards or the auto/relic cards.  As I have said before, I may work on those if, and only if, I can find cheap lots of them.  But, I wil consider it done after I get these last 5 cards.

This is one of the short prints from 2009 Obak that are proving to be a problem for me. Alas, this isn't even one of the base set SPs, like I was looking for. It is actually one of the green print parallels, numbered to 75.  I must have been asleep at the wheel when I pulled the trigger on this one as I was just expecting to get the base card.  Not sure if I am going to try and replace it with a legitimate, unserialized base card or not. I realize that sounds odd, but the green print just doesn't look right in the binder.

I also picked up about 8 of the 2009 Obak T212 minis, leaving me 5 cards away from finishing that part of the set.

I picked up 3 more cards towards my 2011 Tristar Obak set (of which the Elston Howard card above was one), leaving me one measly, solitary, single card away from completion. I see the card I need out on Sportlots, but in a strange turn of events it is too cheap to get.  What, you say?  How could anyone complain about a card being too cheap?  Simple.  I cannot, in good conscience, buy a single 18 cent card from an online seller. I looked and looked, but couldn't find anything else in that seller's inventory that I needed.  So, I guess I will wait until the card shows up at COMC or someone from my vast readership finds it in their dupes box.  The card, if you must know, is #56 - Roger Connor.

So, there it is. I think I did pretty well considering how little I spent.  Up next is one of the two day card shows in OKC.  What with the holidays, I don't have much to spend, but I did save my birthday money over from November. Hopefully, that will be enough to make some progress on the 1973 Topps and/or 1959 through 1961 Fleer sets I am working on.

Added in Edit:  I found that Roger Connor Obak card on EBay for $3.71 delivered.  More than I really should spend on a non-SP base card, but it is the last one I need to complete the set. Screw it,  I'm pulling the trigger.


What I am listening to:  Near Wild Heaven by R.E.M.

Awesome Trade!

 I have been diligently working on the 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game set for several years now.  I really wanted to make a push to finish it up this year. But, I was concerned about the Announcing Greats subset, which pairs famous baseball announcers with a star from the team they announce for.  There was 10 cards in the subset and when I made the decision to really try and finish the Greats set I had exactly zero. I figured that they would be the last cards I needed towards completion. I was wrong.
 

With this Vin Scully - Steve Garvey card, I have finished the Announcing Greats subset. I had found 9 of the 10 on EBay, but this one eluded me.  So, I started googling to see if I could find one.  A page or two down in the search results, I came across a trade bait page for a fellow named Dave and this card was on it.  A wantlist was also available and I had cards he needed. So, a trade was born. 

 I also got this Greats Blue Parallel Paul Blair. I already have it in my player collection, but not in the Blue Parallel set I am slowly working on. But, Dave wasn't done. He looked at my blog, saw my fondness for Topps Fan Favorites and sent along a stack of over 30 of those as well.  Here are few, chosen because they use the design of some of my favorite vintage sets.

I am over the moon getting these cards and I am really going to need to get my Fan Favorites organized and get a want list up for them. 

Now, to anyone reading this, I would urge that you go take a look at Dave's wantlist. He appears to be a big Allen and Ginter fan, like a lot of you. Help him out.

Visiting an Old Friend

It has been about three months since I have blogged about my first hobby love, the 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game. I've picked up a few cards here and there, but haven't blogged about because I have been fairly busy with that part of life that takes place between card shows.  However, I recently won a couple of EBay auctions for some '04 GOTG for some unbelievably cheap bids. I managed to snag three more insert cards I needed towards completion. 

With these two cards, I am down to needing nine more cards from the 29 card Forever insert set

The last time I posted about this set, I didn't have any of the 10 cards in the Announcing Greats insert set.  With this Sandberg/Caray card, I am actually down to needing only one to complete the subset. 

But, wait! That's not all!  The same seller I bought the inserts from also had a small lot of 6 Blue bordered parallels, 5 of which I didn't have.  Here's two:

I am still torn about putting the blue parallel set together.  But, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get these for about 50 cents each.  I now have 35 of the 80 blue parallels of the first series (which are numbered to 500), but I only have 1 of the 65 card second series blue parallels (which are numbered to 75.)  I could might be able to make a decent run at the first series, but cards from that second series are as rare as hen's tooth and I consider it unlikely I could ever complete that.  So, I guess I'll just keep on as I have:  look for cheap multiple card lots of these parallels, but to not make it any kind of priority.

Joy of a Completed (Insert) Set - 2004 Fleer Greats

I was cleaning out my desk and came across a $25 gift card we got from the bank when we refinanced our mortgage late last year.  I probably should have used it for groceries or given it to my wife.  But, I bought cards.  Specifically, I used some of the money to complete two insert sets from 2004 Fleer Greats of the Game

This was the last card I needed for the 35 card Glory of Their Time insert.

And this was the last card I needed to complete the 10 card Battery Mates insert.

I am (sorta) closing in on completing the 2004 Greats set.  It depends on where I decide to call it complete.  At a minimum, I have 11 cards to go to finish the 29 card Forever insert set.  I could call it done there and be relatively happy.  There is also a 10 card Announcing Greats insert set, of which I don't have any.  I do see 6 of the 10 on EBay and I think I'll probably start picking them up, if the price is right.

The real question remains what to do about the Blue parallels (numbered to 500 for the first series and numbered to 75 for the second) and the autograph cards.  I actually have 31 blue parallels (out of 145) and 22 of the autographed cards (out of 109).  I am thinking at this point to not bother with the blue parallels, especially since they are fairly pricey given the low print run on the second series.  I am likely to occasionally pick up some of the autographed cards, but probably won't try and complete it. With names like Yogi Berra, Duke Snider, and Stan Musial, I don't harbor any illusions that I will ever be willing to plunk down the cash to make a run at it.

Coming up:  A couple of unsolicited trade packs arrive.

What I am listening to: "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive" by Patty Loveless

Another Greats Mail Call

Right on the heels of that great Ray Knight relic card from Napkin Doon, an EBay purchase of mine arrived.  It is also a relic card from the 2004 Greats of the Game set, although it was one for which I already had the base card.  But, this was too good to pass up at $13 delivered.

I would love to have one of the 2004 Greats Berra autograph cards, but the last one to sell on EBay sold for a C note.  That is too rich for my blood, so a relic card is the next best thing.

An Unexpected Mail Call

I got an unexpected surprise in the mail yesterday from Napkin Doon.

A few weeks back, Nap posted this card as a pickup from one of Cleve's auctions. I mentioned that I needed the base version of the card for my 2004 Greats of the Game set, but a relic card is an acceptable substitute, so I'd look for something to trade him for it.  Then, I completely forgot about it.

More recently, he posted about how Christian Colon, of the NW Arkansas Naturals, is one of his son's favorite players. The name rang a bell with me, so I checked my 2011 Heritage Minor League binder and, sure enough, I had a Colon jersey card.  Since I wasn't collecting the relic cards as part of my Heritage set, I figured it ought to go to someone who would appreciate it. So, off it went.

Fast forward to yesterday and this card arrived. I guess you could call it all part of an ad hoc trade.  Any ways, this card now brings me up to 18 out of the 29 cards in the Forever insert set.

Thanks, Nap!