Trade with the Lifetime Topps Project.

I'm trying to get rid of my cards. Well, the cards I don't want. So, as I find cards and a collector that wants the cards I try to hook them up.

This happened recently. Charles, proprietor of the Lifetime Topps Project, needed some 1980 Topps cards that I had.

He was kind enough to pull two Orel Hershisers that I wanted and also threw in some D-backs for my dad.

1996 Upper Deck
Orel Hershiser (card # 59)

Was the 1995 Indians refuge for players from other teams?  I didn't know that Orel and Dennis Martinez were such good friends.  What's a 40 year old ex-Expo doing in Cleveland?

1996 Upper Deck
Checklist - Orel Hershiser (card # 220)

Why didn't I own these two 1996 Upper Deck cards before now? My guess is that it has something to do with the fact that I stopped collecting in about 1995, soon after my son was born. I had the interest, but not the time.

The embarrassing thing about this trade is that I haven't yet completed my end of it. I have the cards to send to Charles in a package, awaiting a trip to the post office. I really thought that today was the day. It wasn't.

Charles, thanks for the cards and your patience.

More Topps Cards in Dynamite Magazine Found

At the end of 2009 I wrote a post about Topps baseball cards that were included with Dynamite Magazine.  It is now the second most popular post on this blog, second only to the Orel Hershiser Tattoo post.  That one is only the most popular because I have included a photo of Josh Hamilton.  A lot of people search for photos of Josh Hamilton.

Back to the Dynamite Magazine...

image lifted from this ebay auction

The April 1978 issue (#47) included six 1978 Topps cards.

Bill Travers
Floyd Bannister
Jerry Augustine
Larry Biittner
Moose Haas
Jack Billingham

Colored House of David - a select bibliography

Ogdensburg Republican Journal - August 26, 1930

I've been doing some research on the Colored House of David and I wanted to share some of my results here.  Using the wonderful resources from the Northern New York Library Network I searched for the string "Colored House of David".  My bibliographic style might slightly differ from what you're used to, but it should convey the important information.


I hope to do similar searches for "House of David", "Zulu Cannibal Giants", and other barnstorming teams.


“Colored House of David” mentioned in newspapers from northern New York.


CLINTON COUNTY

“Papermakers Port Henry Game Sunday.” Plattsburgh Daily Press 23 August 1930: 5.
Available from http://news2.nnyln.net/plattsburgh-daily-press/plattsburgh-daily-press-1930-july-october/plattsburgh-daily-press-1930-july-october%20-%200379.pdf


“Colored House Of David Team Appears Here Today .” Plattsburgh Daily Press 26 August 1930: 2.
Available from http://news2.nnyln.net/plattsburgh-daily-press/plattsburgh-daily-press-1930-july-october/plattsburgh-daily-press-1930-july-october%20-%200392.pdf


“Chappies Win.” Plattsburgh Daily Press 5 September 1930: 2.
Available from http://news2.nnyln.net/plattsburgh-daily-press/plattsburgh-daily-press-1930-july-october/plattsburgh-daily-press-1930-july-october%20-%200464.pdf


“Papermakers Had Splendid 1930 Season.” Plattsburgh Daily Press 11 September 1930: 5.
Available from http://news2.nnyln.net/plattsburgh-daily-press/plattsburgh-daily-press-1930-july-october/plattsburgh-daily-press-1930-july-october%20-%200508.pdf




ESSEX COUNTY

“Local Happenings.” Ticonderoga Sentinel 30 July 1930: 4.
Available from
http://news2.nnyln.net/ticonderoga-sentinel/1930/ticonderoga-sentinel-1930-july-september%20-%200019.pdf




FRANKLIN COUNTY

"House Of David Defeats Ponies." Chateaugay Record And Franklin County Democrat 13 July 1934:1.
Available from http://news.nnyln.net/chateaugay-record/1934/chateaugay-record-1934-july-september%20-%200009.pdf


“Moubar Announces Noted Speaker For Celebration.” Tupper Lake Free Press and Tupper Lake Herald 18 August 1938:1.
Available from http://news.nnyln.net/tupper-lake/tupper-lake-free-press-1937-september-1939-april/tupper-lake-free-press-1937-september-1939-april%20-%200689.pdf




LEWIS COUNTY

“They Tell Us.” The Journal and Republican 6 July 1939: 5.
Available from http://news2.nnyln.net/lowville-journal-republican/1939/lowville-journal-republican-1939-july-september%20-%200005.pdf


“Huskies Meet Chain Gang In 3 Games.” Black River Democrat 6 July 1939: 1.
Available from http://news2.nnyln.net/lowville-black-river-democrat/black-river-democrat-1939-june-1940-august/black-river-democrat-1939-june-1940-august%20-%200041.pdf


Morse, Jim. “Sport Shots.” Black River Democrat 4 August 1938: 4.
Available from  http://news2.nnyln.net/lowville-black-river-democrat/black-river-democrat-1938-january-1939-may/black-river-democrat-1938-january-1939-may%20-%200244.pdf




ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY

“Colored House Of David To Play Chappie Johnson’s Stars Here Sunday.” The Ogdensburg Republican-Journal 26 August 1930: 6.
Available from http://news.nnyln.net/ogdensburg-journal/ogdensburg-republican-journal-1930-june-september/ogdensburg-republican-journal-1930-june-september%20-%200600.pdf


“Expect 2,000 Fans at Big Ball Game Sunday At Winter Park Benefit.” The Ogdensburg Republican-Journal 28 August 1930: 6.
 Available from http://news.nnyln.net/ogdensburg-journal/ogdensburg-republican-journal-1930-june-september/ogdensburg-republican-journal-1930-june-september%20-%200620.pdf


“Colored House Of David, Sensation In Baseball, To Play Games Here Sunday.” The Ogdensburg Republican-Journal 29 August 1930: 6.
Available from http://news.nnyln.net/ogdensburg-journal/ogdensburg-republican-journal-1930-june-september/ogdensburg-republican-journal-1930-june-september%20-%200636.pdf


“Winter Park To Be Scene Of Big Double Header Ball Game On Sunday.” The Ogdensburg Republican-Journal 30 August 1930: 6.
Available from http://news.nnyln.net/ogdensburg-journal/ogdensburg-republican-journal-1930-june-september/ogdensburg-republican-journal-1930-june-september%20-%200646.pdf


“Chappie Johnson Stars To Play Local Team Double Header Here Sunday.” The Ogdensburg Republican-Journal 16 September 1930: 6.
Available from http://news.nnyln.net/ogdensburg-journal/ogdensburg-republican-journal-1930-june-september/ogdensburg-republican-journal-1930-june-september%20-%200781.pdf


“Carthage To Play Stars Here Monday.” The Ogdensburg Republican-Journal 29 August 1930: 5.
Available from http://news.nnyln.net/ogdensburg-journal/ogdensburg-republican-journal-1930-june-september/ogdensburg-republican-journal-1930-june-september%20-%200635.pdf


“First Game Is Planned For Apr. 17.” The Ogdensburg Republican-Journal 8 May 1931: 2.
Available from http://news.nnyln.net/ogdensburg-journal/ogdensburg-republican-journal-1931-march-june/ogdensburg-republican-journal-1931-march-june%20-%200499.pdf


“Big Double Headers Sundey Expected To Draw Large Crowds.” The Ogdensburg Republican-Journal 19 September 1930: 6.
Available from  http://news.nnyln.net/ogdensburg-journal/ogdensburg-republican-journal-1930-september-december/ogdensburg-republican-journal-1930-september-december%20-%200018.pdf


“Noted Teams Play At Prescott Saturday.” The Ogdensburg Republican-Journal 5 September 1930: 2.
Available from   http://news.nnyln.net/ogdensburg-journal/ogdensburg-republican-journal-1930-june-september/ogdensburg-republican-journal-1930-june-september%20-%200684.pdf

Trade with the Quarry

This year I've been more active in my trading habits.  Now, there are a few readers out there that are wondering where their cards are.  Sitting safely in my travel bag, awaiting a trip to the post office.  Patience, my friends.

But this post is about my trade with Hiflew at Cards from the Quarry.  I have been trying to clean up stacks of cards around my house.  I don't need them, but others want them.  Some time back I got a big package of Rockies cards from --David at TribeCards.net.  No, I don't know why his generosity spilled my way.  Perhaps he thought that since I lived in the KnoxVegas area that I had some special bond to Todd Helton.  I don't.

So I approached Hiflew to see if he wanted what I had.  Since I'm an eclectic collector, or narrow some would say, he didn't have much that was right down my alley.  I looked through his tradebait and selected a few cards, thinking that I asked for too much.  He accepted and added more.

Here's some of what I got...

2001 Topps Chrome, What Could Have Been
Walter "Buck" Leonard (card # WCB3)

These are not blindingly shiny chrome cards, just enough silver-ish tone to make them look good when they're in your hand.  Scanners and shiny don't mix.

2001 Topps Chrome, What Could Have Been
James "Cool Papa" Bell (card # WCB4)

He also sent along a whole batch of Diamondback cards. I don't collect these, but my father does. I've got a big package waiting to go out to Arizona for him, so I won't pull out a sampling of what Hiflew sent. They're D-back cards. You've seen them before.

So, thanks, Hiflew, for the trade.  To see the other side of this trade, visit his blog entry about it.

He asked why I collect the players that I do.  Here's a short rundown...

Orel Hershiser - He's the player that I connected to when I started watching baseball again in 1988.  Good year to start watching the Bulldog.

Earl Wilson - I received one of his cards in the first trade I did.  He pitched in the minors for Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings of the Class C Arizona-Texas league.  I spent a few years down the road from Bisbee.  Earl's Topps cards span 1960 to 1971, so they'd be rather easy to collect.

Carl Erskine - Classy Dodger pitcher.  He has a son with Down syndrome.  My daughter has Down syndrome.  You do the math.

Bill Wade - A football guy.  While researching my son's school's football history I came across a story about how he was one of the commencement speakers for the school in 1963.  An interesting career and a rather small mainstream card offering.

Trevor Bayne cards

2011 Press Pass 

Trevor Bayne autograph card

Trevor Bayne won yesterday's Daytona 500 Race. Ebay exploded with his cards, stickers, tee shirts, etc.

About an hour after the race I checked to see how many listings there were. 164. Well over 100 of them had been listed on Sunday.

Today? 413 listed as of this posting. So, I looked at Press Pass's checklists to see what was out there. They had a few, but racing cards are foreign to me. I don't yet understand the nuances of the sets/subsets/inserts.

Here's what I was able to cobble together from auction sites, Zistle, and official checklists.  I'm guessing that there will be more cards in the future.  Please note that I do not consider this list complete.

2010
Main Event - card # 85
Main Event - Autograph - card # ? (#/71)
Main Event - Autograph on Blue - card # ? (#/30)
Main Event - Autograph on Red - card # ? (#/25) 
Press Pass Stealth - card # 47
Press Pass Signings - Autograph - card # ?  (#/40)
Undiscovered Element - card # 98
Undiscovered Element Green Parallel - card # 98
Undiscovered Element Blue Parallel - card # 98 (#/35)
Undiscovered Element- Autograph (Blue Ink) - card # UE-TB (#/125)
Undiscovered Element- Autograph (Red Ink) - card # UE-TB (#/25)

2011
Eclipse - card # ?
Press Pass (NNS Drivers) - card # 42
Press Pass (NNS Cars) - card #97
Press Pass (Autographs) Press Plate - card #44 (1/1)
Press Pass (Autographs) Bronze - card #44
Press Pass (Autographs) Silver - card #44
Press Pass (Autographs) Gold - card #44
Press Pass (Autographs) Blue - card #44
Wheels Element - card # 35
Wheels Element Green - card # 35
Wheels Element - card # 51
Wheels Element Green - card # 51
Wheels Element Red - card # 51

image lifted from Press Pass's facebook image gallery

A Racing Weekend

This won't be everyone's cup of tea. NASCAR has kicked off the season with some spectacular racing, including great racing in the top three tiers of their domain.

As a tribute to Fridays Camping World NextEra Energy Resources 250 winner, here are two cards of Michael Waltrip.

1996 Racer's Choce

Michael Waltrip (card #11)

See how young Mikey looks?  And such dreamy hair.

1995 Action Pack Stars

Michael Waltrip (card #17)

And I don't have a card of young Trevor Bayne, the rookie who won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Daytona 500.  He's a local kid from Knoxville, TN.  The NBC affiliate in town, WBIR, has posted the following video to their website.  This piece was assembled in 2004 and shows a young Trevor winning go-kart races.





Props are due for Danica Patrick for being the first female driver to lead a lap at a NASCAR sanctioned race at Daytona International Speedway in the Nationwide DRIVE4COPD 300.

Props are also due for Jennifer Jo Cobb who finished sixth in the Camping World NextEra Energy Resources 250, the highest finishing position a female driver has ever achieved in the Truck Series.

Congrats to the ladies.

A New Look and Stuff

I'm currently fighting the flu.  Yeah me.  So, I'll have a bit of time the next few days to sort cards, scan cards, put cards in packages to go out.  That sort of thing.

You probably noticed the new look.  This is to honor Marck, over at the Collective Troll blog.  He's been super busy lately and hopes to blog again very soon.  Until then, and maybe for some time after that,  I'll keep the new look.  Marck, relax and get back to us when you can.

I got to run down to the local card shop earlier this week.  Picked up a few cards and some card pages.  I've found it quite joyful to complete a page.

I've been reading Jane Leavey's Sandy Koufax.  And The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract.

My order from SportsLots came in .

And there's a contest afoot at Clear Cut Cards.

I'm headed off to get some sleep.  To paraphrase the Collective Troll, Mark out.

Misc. Cards

I was looking through my boxes of cards this last week and came across a few that I wanted to show. Not because they are super special, just a bit different.

The first two are a compare and contrast.

1991 Bowman
Pete O'Brien (card # 259)

The 2009 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards describes this set as:

The 1991 Bowman set features 704 cards compared to 528 cards in the 1990 issue. The cards imitate the 1953 Bowman style. Special Rod Carew cards and gold foil stamped cards are included. The set is numbered by teams. Like the 1989 and 1990 issues, the card backs feature a breakdown of performance against each other’s team in the league.

I guess that the little shiny crossed bats near Julio's head would be the "gold foil stamp".  I'm not quite sure what it means, but I've seen some references to SLUG or SLUGGER. 

1991 Bowman
Julio Franco (card # 368)

Kirby's got a BIG bat.  I'm guessing that there is some sort of MLB rule about the size of a bat.  And I'm right...

MLB Official Rule 1.10
(a) The bat shall be a smooth, round stick not more than 2 3/4 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length. The bat shall be one piece of solid wood.

1993 Topps
Kirby Puckett (card # 200)

The following card is designed solely to make Night Owl's head hurt...

1993 Donruss
Eric Young (card # 730)

NASCAR - Before and After card

The NASCAR season is almost upon us.  Yes, most of you are baseball fans. But my wife is a NASCAR fan. Actually, she enjoys most sports. Even curling.

I saw these photos and knew that something had to come of them.

Jack Smith started 14th that day and only completed 210 laps. He collected $100 in prize money. Fireball Roberts won the race and received $13,220. It pays to keep your wheels touching the pavement at all times.

Jack had two wins that season, 21 wins in his career. He was one of the original drivers in the NASCAR series.  He passed away in 2001.  Visit Smithinized.com for his biography.

Images from the Life archives at Google and the fonts are from dafont.com.

2008 Milestones & Moments

Or as I like to call this set, 2008 Chaos & Confusion.

These cards are my winnings from Community Gum's Pack Lottery Contest.  I didn't understand the contest and I don't understand these cards.

I like the cards.  They've got a classy look to them.  Not fleur-de-lis, but close.

And I like the selection of players that I won.  But I don't understand them.  Prince Albert had 129 Runs in 2005.  I get that.  And the cards are numbered to 150.  I get that.  But there's 129 different versions of this card?  That I don't get.

Ryan Zimmerman.  One of the stars of the Washington Nationals.  Now, if the Nats could just gel, they might have a run at the Phils.  Or maybe the rest of the NL East could cut their payroll and Florida and Washington could catch a break.

Topps really got a lot of mileage out of this set.  Same back for each of these Zimmerman cards.  I'm assuming that it is the same for all the others. And I have no idea how to enter these cards into the Zistle database.  None.

So, thanks, Jon at Community Gum, for the cards.  Next time please send a roadmap.

1991 ProCards - Knoxville Blue Jays team set

This last Saturday I spent part of the day out and about with my daughter. We went to Popeye's Chicken for lunch, to the library for some reading time and we ended up at the gift shop at Smokies' Ballpark.

Last season they had several team sets from previous years.  They were discounted, but were still about $5 a set. A fair price, but more than I wanted to spend.  On Saturday they had a big tub of sets for a $1 each.

Caroline and I started to sort.  She was a great help and I came away with seven team sets and two All-Star sets.  I'll start with the earliest set that I picked up on Saturday.

I was just in my second year of marriage when these came out.  I wasn't in Knoxville yet, but I think that the posed photos were taken at old Bill Meyer Stadium.

I'd call this the "Stenographer's Set".  I selected Rob Wishnevski to show because he was born in Hammond, IN.  Just like my wife.  Rob is one of two different Wishnevskis to play in the minors.  The other was Michael.  I don't know if they are related, but I'd put some money on it.

I didn't recognize many of the players featured in this 28 card set.  Jeff Kent caught my eye.  He had a decent run in the Majors, with several All-Star games and an MVP trophy in 2000.

Wow.  Vince Horsman jumped back and forth between Knoxville and Dunedin quite a bit.  At the time, Dunedin was Toronto's Single A team.  It is located in Florida.  About 676 miles south of Knoxville.  Just hop on I-75.  I wonder how many different Waffle Houses Vince stopped at as he traveled that route.


Here's the checklist for the set:
1760 Nathaniel Cromwell
1761 Jesse Cross
1762 Darren Hall
1763 Vince Horsman
1764 Jimmy Rogers
1765 Rick Trlicek
1766 Anthony Ward
1767 Dave Weathers
1768 Woody Williams
1769 Rob Wishnevski
1770 Randy Knorr
1771 Jose Monzon
1772 Jason Townley
1773 Domingo Cedeno
1774 Ray Gianelli
1775 Jeff Kent
1776 Mike Taylor
1777 Julian Yan
1778 Mark Young
1779 Juan DeLaRosa
1780 Bobby DeLoach
1781 Bernie Nunez
1782 Paul Rodgers
1783 Ryan Thompson
1784 John Stearns
1785 Mike McAlpin
1786 Steve Mingori
1787 Checklist

I've put them in binder pages.  All is right with the world.

Catch Up

As usual, I have too many kettles on the stove. So, it is time for me to regroup. By writing it down here I can more easily put my thoughts in order.

Here we go:

I've been a sounding board for Beardy as he traces Babe Ruth's 1923 barnstorming tour. This has caused me to look at old newspapers. What do I find? Stories about the Colored House of David (CHoD) touring baseball team playing in northern New York. There's a rabbit hole for me.  I've started a bibliography to document what I've found. Not ready for prime time, but I wanted to this one documented correctly. Or at least better than I've handled other projects.

I sent out some email to fellow SABR researchers. All were very helpful. Peter Gorton, who is researching John Wesley Donaldson, shared some of the relationship between John Donaldson and the CHoD.   Wayne Stivers shared some info as the HoD is one of his interests.  Dr. Leslie Heaphy, Associate Professor of History at Kent State, Stark, and author of a number of books on Negro League Baseball and history sent me the 10th Annual Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference Souvenir Booklet from 2007.  She wrote an article on the CHoD.  She also wrote articles on the Zulu Cannibals barnstorming team and the Harlem Globetrotters playing baseball.  Fascinating stuff.  Thanks all.

I received in my SportLots.com package.  Need to sort and put in binders my haul.  Then post about it.  Of course.

I also received a trade package from Johnny of Cards from the Quarry.  I need to get his Stack-O-Rockies cards out to him.  Tonight will be trade packing night.  I've got a few others.

I've been busy with Zistle, my choice of card organizing.  I've been contributing set checklists and card scans.  Now I need to focus on my collection.

On Saturday I went to the Smokies' shop in Kodak.  I picked up several team set from years gone by.

Also, another plug for Got it. Got it. Need it.  If you want to share your want lists with other collectors, this is the place to do it.  Your one stop shop for all your want list needs.

I need to say a public thank you to All About Cards for a fantastic contest.  Even though I didn't win, they offered a sweet prize of eight boxes of cards from a variety of sports and manufacturers.  Thank you.

And I'm proud of myself, I've been able to maintain my three times a week posting at my Old Knoxville Baseball blog.  Nothing stellar, but just good old solid baseball news from days gone by.

So, you can see that I've spread myself too thin.  But I'm okay with it. 

To finish things off, a few sports advertisements from the pages of the newspapers from the Northern New York Library Network's historical newspaper collection.

My Alma Mater

In the fall of 1980 I enrolled at Northern Arizona University.  Located in beautiful Flagstaff.  Home of the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome and the Lumberjacks.  I stayed there for two years, attending classes and growing up.  College and I didn't play nice.  I wasn't motivated and squandered away a fine opportunity to complete my education.

I turned out alright, but it could have been better.  I regret leaving college when I did.  But, if I hadn't left NAU in the spring of 1982 I wouldn't have attended Perkins School of Piano Tuning and Technology in beautiful Elyria, Ohio.  Then I wouldn't have met Doug W., moved to the Chicago area.  I wouldn't have met my beautiful bride to be.  I wouldn't have been the father of two wonderful children.

What would have happened?  Don't know and don't really care.  I'm very happy and content with my life the way it is.  Enough about me.  Back to my alma mater.

The NAU Lumberjacks aren't powerhouses in any sport.  Only one Major League Baseball player has come from the Flagstaff institution, then called the Northern Arizona Normal School.  George Grantham.  I hadn't heard of him, either.  They've produced a number of professional football players, although none are household names and none are currently in the NFL.  Dan McClintock is the only hoopster to be drafted into the NBA.

But this year there is one player who has a chance at getting some national recognition.

Guard Cameron Jones is a finalist for the Lowe's Senior Class Award. This honor exemplifies community, classroom, character and competition.

If you'd like to vote for Cameron Jones, please visit SeniorCLASSaward.com.

Go Jacks.

The ABCs of Baseball

I have been helping another blogger track down some baseball stories by checking newspapers, census records and other historical documents.  While checking a 1923 issue of The Sporting News I noticed that they used stylized drop capitals to lead some of their paragraphs.

The Sporting News - January 18, 1923

I was attracted to them for the simple beauty.  So far I have only been able to find 20 of the letters, still missing E, Q, V, X, Y, and Z.  Update: I've found an E, a V and a Y.

I have found variations on several of the letters, some batting, some pitching, some fielding.  Trying to find them all is similar to putting together some sort of rainbow set.  After I find more I'll like to share them all.

A Worthy Auction

I found a link to an interesting auction on ebay. In The Game cards is auctioning off an uncut sheet of their Heroes & Prospects Baseball Hits line.

Currently the bidding is up to $560.00.  Still nine days to get those bids in.  Update: It sold for $635.

Some people really like uncut sheets. I don't have a suitable area in the house to display those, and they really aren't my thing.

The reason that I'm writing about this auction isn't because of the really cool item, but the organization that will benefit from the sale of this sheet. Special Olympics.

I don't know why ITG is supporting Special Olympics. There are many worthy causes to aid.  But this auction is supporting an organization that means a good deal to me.

My daughter, Caroline, is still too young to participate in Special Olympics. In a few years she can.  This last weekend, while watching Sports Center on television, she said, "Daddy, if I get bigger I can play football.  And you can play with me.  But not Edison's friends.  They're too big."

Caroline and Edison

The King's Academy, 2010

So, take a look at the auction.  Bid on it if you can.  If you can't bid, at least drop In The Game a note thanking them for their support of Special Olympics.