The 1963 Fleer Auto Project - Parts 10 and 11

After the Post Office decided to sit on my shipment to MAB Celebrity Services for over a week, I wasn't sure if I actually got my cards into their recent signing. It arrived on Friday afternoon before a weekend signing.  The cutoff was actually Wednesday and the person on the phone didn't know whether I would get in.  Getting all OCD, I called again on Monday and the (same) person didn't have any better information. So, I decided to wait and see what happened.  Late last week, the charge for the signing appeared on my bank card, so my confidence increased significantly.  However, having spent over 20 years in the business world, I have learned not to count my chickens before their hatched.

So to speak. I tried not to get too excited. Well, today a UPS package was waiting on the porch when I arrived today.   And here is what was inside:

Two members of the Hall of Fame!  I am pretty psyched about these cards.   I still have two more out for signings this coming weekend.  Plus, I found a killer deal on Ebay for a signed card from this set from a deceased player.  With the four future signings, I have a sight line on 17 autographed cards, out of 66 in the set.   This has been a lot of fun so far, but I think it is going to get harder as I go along. There is a fair number of other signed 1963 Fleer cards on EBay, but most of them are signed in ballpoint pen rather than Sharpie. Plus, some are in dodgy condition.  So, I haven't really decided what to do about them yet.  But, I suspect I am going to have to find them where I can. Time will tell, I guess. 

What I am listening to:  Our Town by Iris Dement (with a guest appearance by Emmylou Harris)

 

True story:  This song was played in the background of the final scene of the final episode of the TV series "Northern Exposure."  The very day I first heard this song played on an internet radio station my wife called and said she just watched the last episode of the show and really liked the song that they played as they rolled the credits. How is that for a coinky-dink?

The 1963 Fleer Auto Quest - No. 9

The ninth entry in my 1963 Fleer autograph project arrived today.

This Tommy Davis card came out after the best year of his career, which saw him tally up 230 hits, 27 home runs, and 153 RBIs to match a .346/.374/.535 slash line.  Unfortunately, that was only good enough for 3rd place in the NL MVP race behind teammate Maury Wills and Willie Mays.

With that, I still have three other cards from this set out for signing. I saw a bank card transaction this week from MAB Celebrity Services, which should indicate that I got in under the wire for that signing in NJ last weekend.  I had two cards in for that, Bill Mazeroski and Bob Gibson (since I already let that cat out of the bag.)  Hopefully they will arrive this week. The third, which will remain nameless for the time being, is going to be signed on December 17 and will, hopefully, be back before Christmas.

Great Moments, Revisited

.....or Herp-a-Derp, Rederp.

While driving in to work yesterday morning I had an idea. I liked the idea of finding derpy cards in my collection, but felt it wasn't a fully formed concept yet. After all, you can find derpy cards just as well as I can. So, I had the notion to look back a the players career and find their derpiest performance. It wasn't enough, though, that the players performance on that day was bad, it also needed to have some impact on the games outcome. So, let's give it a try.

So, revisiting Clay Carroll, I was surprised to learn he actually had a solid career as a relief pitcher, compiling a 96-73 record with 143 saves, and a 2.94 ERA, across 731 appearances. On top of that, he was really consistent, rarely having more than one or two horrendous outings a season.

So, it was a tough choice, but I would say his derpiest performance as on May 24, 1970 in a game against the Houston Astros. With Cincinnati leading 7-3, Houston came to bat in the bottom of the 8th against starter Gary Nolan.  Astro shortstop Dennis Menke tagged Nolan for a single to left and Carroll came on in relief.  The first batter Clay fasted, Joe Pepitone laced a triple to centerfield, scoring Menke. Carroll got Doug Rader out on a popfly to second, but then Marty Martinez reached on an error by Reds shortstop Dave Concepcion, scoring Pepitone and narrowing the score to 7-5.  Catcher Johnny Edwards singled to left to put men on 1st and 2nd with one out and Jim Wynn "The Toy Cannon" coming to bat. Carroll must have lost the plate at this point.  After a passed ball advanced the runners, he walked Wynn to load the bases.

Carroll was relieved by Wayne Granger, but after a single by Jesus Alou and a throwing error on the resulting play by Reds CF Bobby Tolan, the game was tied, with Alou on 2nd. Norm Miller was walked to set up the double play, but Tommy Davis foiled the plan by singling in Alou with the winning run.  The Astros tacked on a couple more runs to go up 10-7 before the inning mercifully ended.  A quick top of the 9th, punctuated only by a wasted single by Tony Perez, and the game was over with Carroll taking the loss.
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Great Moments in Herp-a-Derp.......

.....or The Derpiest Cards in My Collection, Part 1.

Herp a derp!

I'm Pathetic

I am.  The first Saturday of every month is the mini-card show up at Al's Sports Cards in Edmond. I was on the fence about going.  My birthday was last month and I have a little mad money from that.  But, December is a rough month (as you might imagine.)  Obviously, it is the gift giving season. But, it is also time for me to make quarterly insurance policy payments.  On the flip side, we just refinanced our mortgage to take advantage of the low rates, so we don't actually have a payment due to January.  I was leaning against going, since there is the larger bi-monthly OKC show in 2 weeks and I expect Roger Nuefeldt from Sports Memories of Oklahoma to be there.  He is the last local dealer of quality vintage I need to visit with in order to get my 1971 set over and done with.

Then Bill, the investment banker/card wheeler dealer from Wichita, called me this morning to say he was on his way in to the show and had some interesting new acquistions.

You know where this is going, right?   Right.

My intent was to only buy something if it was needed for my 1971 set, my several 1960sFleer sets, or my 1969 Topps Deckle Edge set.  It didn't work out that way.  I only need 3 Deckles to finish the set (4 if you count 22B, the Joe Foy short print), but there was no one selling singles. One dealer (For the Collector out of Tulsa, who made a recent appearance over at Napkin Doon's place,) had a complete deckle edge set, including the Foy, but was only selling them as a complete set.  So, I had to pass, but did pick these 1968 Topps Game insert cards for a buck apiece.  It is another small, fun, and cheap set at 33 cards that I will put together once I finish the Deckles.  Bill had the Aaron and Mays game cards, but I decided to hold off on getting them.

I picked up 2 more cards for my 1963 Fleer set, leaving me only 9 to go to finish.  I am glad to get the Richardson, since Chris Potter Sports is having a autograph signing with him in February.  Speaking of 1963 Fleer and autographs, after my whining yesterday about my Mazeroski and Gibson card getting lost in the mail, the Post Office managed to find and delivery them to the autograph service at the end of the day yesterday. I called to see if they got them in time to include them in the signing, but the person I spoke to on the phone couldn't answer the question. So, I am back to hopeful that I'll get those two signed.  I'll probably get all OCD on Monday and call them to see.

My status beyond that is I have two other cards out for signing, one today and one on December 16.  I have identified 3 more future signings and 2 addresses for TTM requests.  One of my TTM targets will be Don Demeter, who lives right here in OKC and is the pastor of a Baptist church.  If I do my math right, I have 8 1963 Fleer cards autographed and in my binder and 9 more in the works in the future.  There is a number of them on EBay too for $15 or less each that I may have to seriously target with my Christmas money from my parents. (Am I the only one that finds it weird that a grown-ass man with a good job is getting Christmas loot from his parents?)

And here is where I weakened.

Bill had a huge stack of 1940 Play Ball cards that were neat to look at, but didn't really grab my fancy. Until I got to these two.  The Waner brothers were born not too far from here, in the town of Harrah, OK.  To come across pre-war vintage cards of two of the game's greatest, who also happen to be Oklahomans was too much for me to resist.  These are now the oldest cards in my collection, supplanting a 1948 Bowman Allie Reynolds (also an Oklahoman.)

A Setback

My quest to get as many of my 1963 Fleer cards autographed seemed to take a leap forward recently when I found a number of events and sent 4 cards off in the mail to be signed.  Three were to be signed at two different events this weekend, and the fourth at another in two weeks.  Alas, after a good run of success, the Post Office seems to have finally managed to foil my plans.  See for yourself:

My package seems to be stuck in limbo in Kearny, NJ.  The deadline was actually Wednesday for this signing. I'll keep an eye on the tracking and see if it gets delivered today and see if I can convince the company hosting the signing to include me.  But, at this point I am not hopeful of making it in.  Unfortunately, this was a signing with two different players I needed.

Who were they?  Bill Mazeroski and Bob Gibson.  Yes, I am pretty ticked.

Mail Call - Thanksgiving Edition

I am in the midst of final housekeeping before some friends arrive from St. Louis for Thanksgiving. So, this is go to be a hit and run post.  In my quest to get as many of my 1963 Fleer's autographed I sent three out to Chris Potter Sports in September for their recent signing and they arrived back today.

I now have 8 of the cards in the set in the books and I have 4 more out to various signings in early December. I hope to have them all back prior to Christmas.  And all four of those are awesome.  Stay tuned.