Wade Boggs Jersey Card

Here's a man that didn't mess around. On the field, that is.

2009 Icons, Legendary Icons, Wade Boggs (card # LI-WB)

Eighteen seasons in the Major Leagues. Red Sox, Yankees and the Devil Rays. Twelve time consecutive All-Star. Eight Silver Slugger Awards and a couple of Gold Glove Awards. A .328 career Batting Average, with 3,010 hits, 757 of them being for extra bases. He won a World Series ring with the Yankees in 1996. He liked his chicken and his schedule.

I like this card. I paid $2.57 for it on ebay. A bit of S&H. It was part of a three card purchase from the same seller. Sure, the patch is all white. And they use the same photo on the back that they do on the front. But I still like it.

Carlton Fisk Jersey Card

Last month I won this Carlton Fisk card in a sportlots.com auction. $1.75 for the card, probably a few bucks for the shipping.

2006 SP Legendary Cuts, Carlton Fisk (card # LM-CF), numbered 026/199

The scan doesn't accurately reflect the shiny silver foil used on the card (no pun intended).

According to baseball-reference.com, there have been four players with the nickname of Pudge.

1. Carlton "Pudge" Fisk
2. Sid "Pudge" Gautreaux
3. Fred "Pudge" Haney
4. Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez

One of these is not like the others. Can you name him?

No, it isn't "Pudge". It is "Pudge". Fred "Pudge" Haney. Fred Haney played in the 1920s, primarily for Detroit, although he saw the big cities of Boston, Chicago (north side of town) and St. Louis. What makes this "Pudge" different that the other "Pudges"? He didn't play catcher. This "Pudge" was an infielder, mostly hanging out at thirdbase.

The subject of this post, though, is Carlton "Pudge" Fisk. His Major League career was played over four decades (1969-1993) for two teams (the Red Sox and the White Sox), mostly as a catcher, but like Fred, Carlton saw some time at thirdbase (just four games). He also roamed the outfield and even played some games at firstbase.

Carlton was selected as Rookie of the Year in 1972. He was an 11-time All-Star, won a Gold Glove and three Silver Slugger awards.

His batting average of .269 alone doesn't put him into Cooperstown. Maybe it is that he held the record for most games played behind the plate (2,226) until earlier this year. Thanks, Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez for breaking that one. Maybe it was his 351 Home Runs. Most by a catcher until Mike Piazza broke it.

He'll be most remembered for waving the ball "fair" in game six of the 1975 World Series. That kept the Red Sox alive, but they fell to the Reds the next day.

I'll remember him for his time with the Red Sox, his longevity in the game and his ingenuity.

"Hmmm..I forgot my brass knuckles. And the roll of nickels is stuck in my pocket. Hey, I'll use this baseball."

Tony Gwynn Jersey Card

Grant, over at Old School Pack Busters, and I made a trade and I thought I'd show what I came away with. He featured this card several weeks ago on his site with the disclaimer that the jersey swatch was dirty. That was fine with me.

Actually, I didn't even have a clue what it looked like. I try to approach trades with a very open mind. I've been involved in several trades in the last 8 months or so. Some of them have been vague. "Hey, I'll send you a buncha cards, you send me what you think would be fair."

Some of them have been very specific and vague at the same time. "If you think it's worth it, I'd trade (a few jersey, an auto, some parallels and some base Uggla cards) for this card (ebay auction link) BUT only if you can get him down to $20."

Which I interpreted as, "If you can get the seller to lower his price from $30 to $20, then I will trade you some cards." Which I did. But the other trader meant, "If you can get the seller to lower his price from $30 to $20 AND buy the card and have it shipped to me, then I'll send the Uggla cards to you."

Not so much. Several emails later, we had it sorted out and the trade was completed.

I've sent cards out to fill want lists and foregone any offer of cards back.

This time, I didn't even bother find out what the card I was receiving looked like. I should have, but I'm not at all disappointed in what I received.

2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces, Captured on Canvas,

Tony Gwynn (card # CC-TG)

Before we sent anything, Grant and I worked out what we were going to send. One card for one card. I sent Grant a 2008 Allen & Ginter Felix Hernandez Jersey. I tossed in some older Mariners cards. He tossed in a sweet and shiny 2009 Topps Cereal Box insert, Roberto Clemente, GR-9.

If you look close at the jersey swatch, it has several splotches. Stains. I don't know what they are. Could be chew? Could be blood? It isn't a grass stain, nor a infield dirt stain. I'm not licking it to find out.

Another card on my way to collecting relic / autographs cards of Hall of Famers. Thanks, Grant.

George Foster Bat Card

Here's a card I picked up on ebay about a month ago.

2002 SP Legendary Cuts, Bat Card,

George Foster (card # B-GFo)

I was duped. The title of the auction was:

2002 02 SP LEGENDARY CUTS BAT GEORGE FOSTER REDS HOF

The card looked good. Nice sideburns, nice muscle tone. I bid on it and won. The price was right ($0.50) with reasonable shipping($2.99).

Wait. George Foster isn't in the Hall of Fame. Part of the Big Red Machine. League MVP in 1977. Silver Slugger. Five-time All-Star. Led the league in RBIs three years in a row. Won two World Series rings with the Reds.

It could be argued that he would fit in well with the other residents of Cooperstown, but he isn't there.

I contacted the seller to let them know that the auction title was incorrect, but that it was also my fault for not knowing who was in the Hall. He admitted that he hadn't checked, and like me, made an assumption.

Since it doesn't quite fit in with my collecting scheme, I'm offering up as tradebait.

** UPDATE - this card has been traded.

Paul Molitor Jersey Card

I'm thinking that some of you are saying, "Criminy, enough with the Hall of Fame relic cards. Can't you think of something fresh to post? Sheesh!"

Actually, yes I can. But I'm not going to right now. You might have noticed that this is a blog about my foray into sports card collecting. This is where I'm at. Later I'll be doing posts about Carlton Fisk, Tony Gwynn, Al Kaline, Orlando Cepeda and Rod Carew. Get used to it.

At least I'm not doing auction catalog posts or book posts. Wait, I just bought a new baseball book on Sunday. And I had an auction catalog post brewing, but then the auction ended. No it didn't. It ends on Thursday. I can still sneak it in.

But back to the Molitor card...

2008 Donruss Playoff LP, Threads

Paul Molitor (card #31), numbered 112/300

The card is nice and thick, but the print on the bottom front is printed in an shiny, almost clear, but silvery ink. Doesn't show up on the scan very well, but it is nice in person.

I was fortunate enough to receive this card from The Mojo Hand. Jay offered the card to any Brewers fan. Although I'm not a Brewers fan, I emailed him saying that it would fit in with my collecting strategy. And I pointed him to a site for die-hard Brewers fans. For some strange reason, he found me worthy to be the caretaker of the card.

Mr. Molitor was a seven time All-Star, four time Silver Slugger and he won the Hutch Award, the Babe Ruth Award, the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award and the Branch Rickey Award. And the World Series MVP in 1993 as a member of the Blue Jays. 21 seasons left him with a .306 Batting Average.

He played the infield, the outfield and spent the majority of his final eight seasons as a Designated Hitter. I could not find record that he played either catcher or pitcher.

Thank you, Jay, for the card.

Jim Rice Jersey Card

I picked this card up on ebay for $4.76. Shipping was another dollar or so. I blew my guideline budget on this card, trying to keep them under $5. But, I did pick up two other cards from the same seller, so it brought the per price card down to just over $4 per card.

2009 SP Legendary Cuts, Legendary Jersey RED, Jim Rice
(Card # LM-JR2) numbered 41/75

I think that the price on this was higher than I was expecting because Mr. Rice just became a member of the Hall of Fame. I bought the card in the week leading up to the induction ceremonies.

Jim Rice was an eight-time All-Star and was the American League MVP in 1978. He won two Silver Slugger awards, in 1983 and 1984. He finished his 16 season career with a .298 Batting Average and only committed 66 errors over that same period. It must be pointed out that he spent some of those 16 seasons as a Designated Hitter and the error count would be considerably lower than that of a full-time position player.

He spent his entire career with the Red Sox, including the four years that he was in the minors, where he batted .307.

In the 1970's Boston was the team I rooted for. I was born and raised in the North Country of New York. My folks attended college in the Boston area. I was never a fan of the New York teams. I do remember having (and wearing) some Red Sox pajamas in the early '70s. Now I have some Nationals pajamas to wear, but my wife wants me to to burn them. Secretly, I do, too.

I'm glad I have this card to remember the days of innocent childhood.

Gary Carter and Terry Fox

Now you might be asking yourself, "What do Hall of Famer Gary Carter and journeyman pitcher Terry Fox have in common?"

2008 Donruss Playoff Prime Cuts,

Gary Card (card #34), numbered 27/30

1965 Topps, Terry Fox (card # 576)

The answer is that both of these cards came from my folks.

Oh, I guess I could have spent hours searching baseball-reference.com for some sort of twisted Six Degrees of Mantle thingo, but I won't.

Gary Carter is the only Expo to be selected as part of the Hall of Fame. The one in Cooperstown. He is also a member of the Mets Hall of Fame and the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. He played for 19 seasons, ending up as an 11 time All-Star. He collected three Golden Gloves and five Silver Sluggers. He helped the 1986 Mets win the World Series with two home runs in Game Four. He was also only one of six Mets players to play in all seven games of that series. On the other side of the field, the Red Sox had eight players in all seven games.

Terry Fox completed his seven seasons with 29 wins and 19 losses and 59 saves. He started out his Major League career in Milwaukee in 1960 with Red Schoendienst, Hank Aaron, Warren Spahn and Eddie Matthews. Nice club to start with. He then shifted over to the American League where he spent a little over five seasons in Detroit before being sold to Philadelphia.

But what caught my father's eye when he found this card is that he played in Knoxville (Smokies). He also played for the New Iberian Pelicans, the Austin Senators, the Sacramento Solons, the Denver Bears and the San Diego Padres (AAA in 1967, before they became the San Diego Padres). Gotta love the Minor Leagues.

Again, thanks to my folks.

We Got Pants

The Night Owl recently blogged about two different pants cards. Duke Snider and Alex Rodriguez.

Now it is my turn.

2001 Upper Deck Vintage, Timeless Teams, Willie McCovey (card # J-WM)

Another ebay conquest. Cost of the card: $1.31. Shipping: $2.50.

$3.81 for "an authentic piece of pants worn by Willie McCovey in an official Major League Baseball game." Not bad.

Willie McCovey played in four different decades. He started in 1959 in San Fransicso. He played through the 1960s with the Giants before being traded to the Padres of San Diego. His contract was purchased by the Oakland Athletics and the he was granted Free Agency. He signed with the Giants and finished the final four years of his career there, ending in 1980.

He was selected as Rookie of the Year in 1959, the Most Valuable Player in 1969 and won the Hutch Award in 1977. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986.

In his first Major League game, he went 4 for 4 against Robin Roberts of Philadelphia, with 3 runs and 2 RBI.

And I've got his pants.

One - Yes, Two - Not Yet

From the book of Second Hesitations, chapter 3, verse 21... There is a time for Joy and a time for Gripeyness.

First, the joy. I was able to purchase three game used cards in a SportLots.com auction.

2006 SP Legendary Cuts, Baseball Chronology Materials, Robin Yount (card # BC-RY)

2004 Upper Deck Reflections, Greg Maddux (card #149)

2008 SP Legendary Cuts Dual Memorabilia, Randy Johnson, Rich Hill (card # GEN-RR)

The first card is of Robin Yount, a Hall of Fame member (class of 1999). The card is good looking. Shiny. And it looks like it actually is a Brewer's uniform. Price: $4.25.

The second card, Greg Maddux, a first round Hall of Famer. Eight time All-Star, four time Cy Young Award winner, 18 Gold Gloves and has led the league in just about every positive pitching category at least once. I tend to think of Greg Maddux as a Brave, but he got his start in Chicago. I'm happy with this card. Price: $1.25.

The third card, well, it is Randy Johnson. And some other guy. Randy was selected to the All-Star team 10 times, five time Cy Young Award winner, strike out monster. A recent 301 game winner (everyone talks about win 300, but he's still going). He'll get elected to the Hall of Fame soon enough. He's been an Expo, a Mariner, an Astro, a Diamondback, a Yankee and a Giant. He gets around and gets paid very well. Speaking of rich, the other guy is Rich Hill. He's now an Oriole, but got his start with the Cubs. I'm not sure the reasoning behind this Generations set. Maybe it is the old guys with the young guys. Price: $1.25.

Total for the three cards: $9.50, including shipping ($2.75, for those of you keeping score at home). They all came from the same seller. Important to keep costs down.

And now for the Gripeyness...

Some ebay sellers aren't being quite truthful in their titles (click images for larger pics).

Is Manny in the HOF? Randy?

Greg?

Nope. Not yet. It is way too early to discuss Manny, but the Randy and Greg will get there. But they're not in yet.

Open note to all ebay sellers:

If the player isn't in the Hall of Fame, don't tell me that he is.

Knuckleheads.