1986 Fritsch Negro League Baseball Stars sample cards

Here are the last of the cards that the Night Owl, sent in a recent package. See how I dragged that out? At my current rate of posting my guess is I got a good month's worth of blogging out of that.  Thanks, Greg.

1986 Fritsch Negro League Baseball Stars
Ray Dandridge (card # 7) - Sample

Although I like card that depict Negro League players, I don't actually have that many of them.  I didn't have any of the Fritsch cards, much less sample cards.  These sample cards are different than others I've encountered.  It is a totally different print set up.  No, I don't know the printing technical terms, but they didn't just grab some cards and over print them.

1986 Fritsch Negro League Baseball Stars
Satchel Paige (card # 10) - Sample

The 2009 edition of  the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards lists the following as sample cards:
10 Satchel Paige
30 Josh Gibson
89 Monte Irvin

I don't know if all cards had sample copies.  But now we can add cards 7 and 20 to that list.

1986 Fritsch Negro League Baseball Stars
Lou Dials (card # 20) - Sample

Baseball at Clinton Park

Monday evening, July 11th at 7pm, Richard Leyden will be giving at talk about Clinton Park and the First Northern League 1901-1906. This is sponsored by the Clinton County Historical Association.  Clinton county is where I was born and raised.  I have a fondness for that area of the North Country.

I searched through some papers at the Northern New York Library Network and found notice of a game to be played at Clinton Park.  The local team would be playing the traveling Cuban X Giants.

Plattsburgh Daily Press - July 28, 1904

Plattsburgh Daily Press - July 29, 1904

Another day of summer in 1904.

Winnings from My Cardboard Mistress

Spankee, over at My Cardboard Mistress, held a contest some time back.  It was celebrating his 100th post.   I won.   Let's see what he sent...

1993 Ted Williams Card Company
Walter "Buck" Leonard (card #108)

1993 Ted Williams Card Company
John Henry "Pop" Lloyd (card #109)

1993 Ted Williams Card Company
Armando Vazquez (card #113)

1994 Ted Williams Card Company
Larry Brown (card #102)

1994 Ted Williams Card Company
Leon Day (card #103)

1994 Ted Williams Card Company
Judson "Bojum" Wilson (card  #116)

2010 Topps Chrome
Stephen Strasburg (card #212)

2010 Spankee Originals Stickers
Jefferson Burdick

I have created a wantlist for the Ted Williams cards.  It is on the sidebar to the right.  I think though, that I'm just going to order them through SportLots.  18 cents per card.  I can't really go too wrong.  And I can pick up some cards of the AAGPBA cards from the 1993 set.

BA Benny showed some interest in one other card that was part of the prize.  A shiny Tim Tebow.  I offered  to Spankee that BA Benny could have it.  Which led to emails between myself and BA Benny.  We've got a trade brewing between us.  It is going slowly, because we're both trying to figure out which Hershiser we have and want.

Spankee, thanks for the contest, for the winnings and for hooking me up with BA Benny.

Negro League Player Signed Ball

Back in July, I attended the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference in Birmingham, Alabama.  I blogged about it previously.

After the player panel and before we headed out to Rickwood Field, there was a short time to get some of the players' autographs.  I didn't plan ahead.  I had nothing for them to sign.  Well, maybe my program book. The lines started and I was lost.  Then, a fellow SABR-ite pulled out a small bag of fresh baseballs.  I asked if I could buy one from him.  He politely sneered, handed me one and refused any form of payment.

I took the above photo with the 'smart scene' option on my camera.  The picture is accurate.  The ball is very white.  The rest of the photos I took with the "Flower" option.  I don't know what that means, but I guess it was for close-ups. I'm not pleased with the creaminess color of the ball, but I was having trouble with the auto focus on the 'smart scene' setting.  I'll try to get better photos later.  I just wanted to share what I had now.

Joseph Marbury

I met Joseph "Bull" Marbury at Rickwood Field.  He was kind enough to spend some time as we walked into the Rickwood.  I asked him about the travels, the food.  I also sat with him at the Baron's game and we talked of baseball today versus when he played, what teams he followed and which players he liked.  Braves and Chipper Jones are the answers to the last two.

Sam Allen

Sam Allen was also very giving with his time.  I took a few photos of Sam and talked with him about his charity work.  He goes to the Dakotas and helps with putting together buildings for various Indian tribes.

Tony Lloyd

I didn't spend any time with Tony Lloyd aside from the pleasantries of him signing the ball.

Billy "Ray" Haggins

I met Billy "Ray" Haggins at the Meet and Greet on the opening night of the conference.  He told me about his equipment and playing High School ball, then on to the company teams and then on to the Negro Leagues.  A true gentleman and a pure delight to listen to.

Will Lee

Like Tony, I didn't spend any quality time with Will Lee.

Birmingham Sam Brison

"Birmingham" Sam Brison was a trip.  I asked for his autograph and he asked me for five dollars.  I wasn't keen on paying money.  He showed me his portfolio of photos, cards, and mementos.  Sam played for the Indianapolis Clowns and was in the movie "The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings."  He was quite proud of both of those accomplishments.  He finally signed the ball, then held it and asked me for the money.  It was my feeling that he was a bit down on his luck.  I reached into my pocket and pulled out a five. He was more than friendly after that.  He talked about the tricks and stunts the Clowns would perform, how part of his shtick was to take an infield ball and wait until the last possible moment and throw the runner out.

The time I spent with these gentlemen are very special to me.  When I spoke with them, I tried not to go into "interview" mode.  I wanted to talk with them, not grill them.  I hadn't (and still haven't) honed my questioning skills.  I have the conversations in my memories and they can't really be transcribed.  I don't know that I'll try to do that.  I might just be a bit selfish and keep them to myself.

If you have a chance to spend any time with former Negro League players, do take advantage of it.  You'll be glad you did.

Where I've been

You might have noticed that I haven't posted for about a week. What, with the crazy rule lawyers over at Gint-A-Cuffs II and heading out for a mini-vacation with my wife, I haven't really had time or great desire to blog here. But that has passed and I'm back.

I've been in Birmingham, Alabama to attend the 13th Annual Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference.

The first day was an education symposium. I skipped that. Thursday night was a "Meet and Greet" at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Feeling like a fish out of water by only knowing one other attendee, I floundered and soon found my comfort zone. I hid behind some columns until my friend Bryan was done talking with some other people. I don't remember the exact chain of events, but soon I was introduced to Billy Ray Haggins who played with Memphis Red Sox. I squatted down beside him, asked a few questions and started to listen. He told marvelous stories. About how the industrial teams provided him with all the equipment that he needed, save his glove. How he only had three or four gloves in his whole career, and only one of them was new. How his last glove "wandered off" after he was involved in an old timers game somewhere. How he wanted to own one again, even though he knew he'd never use it.

The conference was held at the Sheraton-Birmingham. Talks were given about players and teams, barnstorming sessions and race relations. There was a player panel and an authors panel. There was a trip to Rickwood Field and then on to Regions Park where the Barons beat the Diamond Jaxx, 8-3.

I met some wonderful people, learned some good research techniques, made memories and gave a nickname to a fellow SABR-ite. Hi, "Raybro".

And in the goody bag that I got at the registration table were some goodies.

2005 Judy Johnson Negro League Night Card - Bill Cash

The Judy Johnson Memorial Fund's purpose is to "educate the general public on the interesting forgotten history of Negro League Baseball", among other things. If you like this card, you can purchase it and many more through the JJMF blog.

2010 Rickwood Field Advertising Card

Rickwood Field is an interesting place. It was built 100 years ago. And they're getting ready to celebrate. Thousands of young men and women have played there over the years.

Click on photo for a larger image. For more photos of the conference, please visit my Picasa folder. There's only 141 other images. Click the link. You know you want to.

In the coming days I'll be sharing other stories and images from the conference.

Contest Winnings

Jim, from The Phillies Room, ran a contest a few weeks ago. It was about uniform numbers. I used Baseball Almanac to assist me. It worked. I won.

Jim quickly sent over some Hershisers, an Erskine, and some Negro League player cards that were all new to me. Enjoy them with me.

1996 Topps Stadium Club, Orel Hershiser (card #350)

1998 Pacific, Orel Hershiser (card #71)

1988 Pacific, Carl Erskine (card #350)

1983 Donruss, Hall of Fame Heroes, James Bell (card #25)

1983 Donruss, Hall of Fame Heroes, Satchel Paige (card #11)

1983 Donruss, Hall of Fame Heroes, Monte Irvin (card #15)

Thanks, Jim.

More Negro League Sets

I was searching the 2009 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards for card sets that include some players from the Negro Leagues and I found a few more sets. Along with the sets, I'm adding checklists for cards or subsets that feature players of the Negro Leagues.

At this time I'm not going to feature cards issued in Latin countries from the 1920s at this point, although there are a number of them. Maybe those will be future posts.

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1974 Laughlin Old-Time Black Stars
This 36 card set is attributed to R.G. Laughlin, although the artist did not sign the drawings. There is no copyright date. They are a bit of an oddball size for baseball cards being 2-5/8" x 3-1/2".

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1976 Laughlin Indianapolis Clowns
Another Laughlin issue, but uses black and white photos instead of his art. This 42 card set is also an oddball size, 2-5/8" x 4-1/2".

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1993 Ted Williams Card Company
97. Cool Papa Bell
98. Garnett Blair
99. Gene Benson
100. Lyman Bostock Sr
101. Marlin Carter
102. Oscar Charleston
103. Ray Dandridge
104. Mahlon Duckett
105. Josh Gibson
106. Cowan (Bubber) Hyde
107. William (Judy) Johnson
108. Buck Leonard
109. John Henry Lloyd
110. Lester Lockett
111. Max Manning
112. Satchel Paige
113. Armando Vazquez
114. Joe (Smokey) Williams
115. Negro Leagues Checklist

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1994 Ted Williams Card Company
100. Newton Allen
101. Willard Brown
102. Larry Brown
103. Leon Day
103a. Leon Day (Autographed)
104. John Donaldson
105. Rube Foster
106. Bud Fowler
107. Vic Harris
108. Webster McDonald
109. John "Buck" O’Neil
110. Ted "DoubleDuty" Radcliffe
111. Wilber "Bullet" Rogan
112. Toni Stone
113. Jim Taylor
114. Moses "Fleetwood" Walker
115. George Wilson
116. Judson Wilson
117. Negro Leagues Checklist

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2009 Topps Allen & Ginter
18. Clyde Parris
57. Frank Evans
81. Willie Williams
97. Art Pennington
112. Millito Navarro
128. Red Moore
278. Herb Simpson

Negro League Baseball Card Sets

Many cards have been issued of Negro League Players. Here is a brief overview of the cards that I could find that were issued as sets, rather than subsets. This is what I've found looking through the 2009 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards. Their descriptions and information found on the internet provide the basis for my descriptions. Images were liberally lifted from the 'net and from the SCBC. If the cards are just grey, then they are from the SCBC.

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1984 Decathlon Negro League Baseball Stars
119 card set, allegedly produced with the Negro Baseball Hall of History in Kentucky. 2,000 sets were printed.

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1986 Fritsch Negro League Baseball Stars
Fritsch bought the rights to produce the 1984 Decathalon set. There are three SAMPLE cards from this set: Satchel Paige (#10), Josh Gibson (#30), and Monte Irvin (#89). Card #119 is the checklist. You can still purchase this set of cards from Larry Fritsch Cards.

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1988 Negro League Stars
This 20 card set was sponsored by the Duquesne Light Company and the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was distributed at the September 10, 1988 Pirates vs. Houston game and features players associated with the segregated Negro Leagues around the Pittsburgh area.

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1988 World Wide Sports 1933 Negro All Stars
A 12 card, unnumbered set that uses sepia tinted photos from the Charles M. Conlon collection.

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1989 Historic Limited Editions Negro Leagues Postcards
12 players are featured in this 3-1/2" x 5-1/2" postcard set that was produced in a quantity of 5,000. Susan Rini is the artist. This set of cards is available from Larry Fritsch Cards.

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1990 Eclipse Stars of the Negro Leagues
36 cards make up this set of paintings done in watercolors by artist Mark Chiarello. These were sold as a boxed set.

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1991 Ron Lewis Negro Leagues Postcards
This set, numbered to 10,000, was created to raise funds for the Negro League Baseball Players Association. The fronts of the 3-1/2" x 5-1/2" postcards feature paintings by artist Ron Lewis. The set has 30 cards.

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1992 Eclipse Negro League BPA - Paul Lee
Featuring the artwork of Paul Lee, this four card set was distributed at Shea Stadium on June 2, 1992. It is estimated that 50,000 sets were handed out.

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This image doesn't do these cards justice.

Here's a link to one of the beautiful paintings

that John Clapp created for the set.

1992 Eclipse Negro League BPA - John Clapp
This 18 card set was sponsored by Kraft and 15,000 sets were printed to be handed out at the Lackawanna County Stadium on August 9, 1992 in honor of The Negro League Baseball Players Association night. Artist John Clapp painted watercolor pictures of the players.

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1991 Retort Negro League Legends, Series 1
100 cards are in this boxed set. The cards measure 3-1/2" x 5-1/2" are serial numbered to 10,000. 65 individual players are featured, along with team and game-action photos.

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1993 Retort Negro League Legends, Series 2
Following the release of Series 1, this is another 100 card set. Dimensions and production numbers are the same. Only 41 individual players are featured, the rest being composed of team and game-action photos.

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1994 Ron Lewis Negro Leagues Postcards
This set, numbered to 10,000, was created to raise funds for the Negro League Baseball Players Association. The fronts of the 3-1/2" x 5-1/2" postcards feature paintings by artist Ron Lewis. This set has 32 cards, with nine of them being cards featuring multiple players.

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1996 Legends of the Negro Leagues Playing Cards
Playing cards featuring Negro League Players. Jokers included, making a 56 card set. The Queens feature notable females of the Negro Leagues and the sponsor. This set was issued by the International Society of Athletes as a fundraiser.

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2000 McDonald's Negro League Baseball
A 10 card set issued by Milwaukee area McDonalds restaurants. Cards were sold in single-card packs for just under a dollar or the set of 10 could be purchased for $9.