Personal Sports Card

 

This is my son, Edison.

He was starting center for the middle school team.  And starting linebacker.  And played on special teams.  I think that they went 1-5 for the season.

Tonight he graduated from the 8th grade.

He was the salutatorian of his class.  He won the school spelling bee.  He was a member of the Scholastic Bowl team.  They won the big tournament.  He received many individual class awards for excellence.  He was awarded the Lionheart award for Christlikeness.  

He likes sports.  He's a card.

I'm very proud of him.

 

New Huggins & Scott Auction Catalog

A new auction catalog showed up in the mail last week. Huggins & Scott, a fine sports memorabilia auction house is having their May auction. Online bids are being accepted now.

They have a two day auction, so I selected one item from each day that I'd like to add to my collection. Neither are going to happen, but a boy can dream, can't he?

Day 1, Lot Number 107, a 1953 Bowman Color Complete Set of (160) Cards. Yes, this is the set that includes the wonderful Pee Wee Reese action shot card. The bid opened at $900 and is now up to $1,200.

Day 2, Lot Number 831, a Beautiful Babe Ruth Single-Signed baseball. To me, nothing says "baseball memorabilia" like a nice Ruth signature on a baseball. The bid opened at $750 and is now up to $7,000.

The catalog is full of cards, bats, balls, autographs, uniforms from a variety of sports. Full color with concise descriptions. It took me several days to select the two items that I wanted.

I'd urge you to go to their site and peruse the lots. Download the catalog in .pdf format. Not quite like having a real copy in your hands, but better than nothing.

1989 Ralston Purina

Mike Schechter Associates worked with Ralston Purina for this 12 card set that was distributed in boxes of cereal. A complete set could be purchased as part of a mail-in offer.

For the longest time I thought that these were some sort of bootleg or unauthorized card even though they had the MLBPA logo on the back. Lack of team logos and lack of sponsor also helped to that conclusion.

Checklist:
1. Ozzie Smith
2. Andre Dawson
3. Darryl Strawberry
4. Mike Schmidt
5. Orel Hershiser
6. Tim Raines
7. Roger Clemens
8. Kirby Puckett
9. George Brett
10. Alan Trammell
11. Don Mattingly
12. Jose Canseco

Manny - on ice

Manny Legace, that is.

2007/08 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey, Manny Legace (card # 14)

I won a "leave a comment, win some hockey cards" contest over at Bad Wax. They showed up earlier this week. Here are just some of the 20 some odd cards from the Hockey Smorgasbord.

2007/08 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey, Stephane Veilleux (card # 41)

I love the bend in the Stephane Veilleux's stick. Power waiting to be released.

2007/08 Upper Deck MVP Monumental Moments, Evgeni Malkin (card #MM5)

Evgeni Malkin has six goals in the playoffs this year, with four of them coming during power plays. And one of the teams he played for in Russia? Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Gotta love that.

2006/07 Upper Deck Artifacts Hockey, Ben Walton autograph (card # AF-BW)

Yes, some people consider relic and auto cards passé, but I still like them.

Thanks, chemgod, for the entertaining blog and the cards.

As Red Green often says, "Keep your stick on the ice."

All-Star Masks

Mr. Owl has a thing for masks. And Dodgers (too many posts to link to).  I think that I left a comment (somewhere) several months ago saying that I had this oversized book and would take some photos or scans and post them for Mr. Owl.

One of his favorite Dodger pitchers.  Mine, too.  The page is too big to fit on my scanner.

Here's part of the back of the book.  There are masks for all sorts of situations.

This was published in 1990 by Gallery books, an imprint of W.H. Smith Publishers, Inc.  I don't remember where I picked up my copy.

A word of warning from the publisher:

CAUTION: The use of the masks can obstuct vision.  Care should be taken while wearing the masks.  The masks should not be used while playing baseball.

So, take them off before going to bed and especially before playing baseball.

Blog Bat Around VI

Yes, time to assemble my thoughts and submit my entry for the sixth Blog Bat Around. Gellman, over at Sports Cards Uncensored, is hosting this time. The topic is:

... Why do you blog? What made you choose Sports Cards as your topic of choice? What got you started? What has been your favorite post from your own work?

Hmmm. I've been mulling this over for a few days, which has given me some insight into myself. At first, I couldn't find a reason. Then it turned into self doubt. In my opinion, there are several bloggers that have better wordsmithery, a better angle, a better insight, better cards. They've found their stride, their niche. At times, I still feel like a newborn foal, I can stand up, perhaps take a few steps, but I'm shaky. I considered putting up the keyboard for a while. Then, I get a heartfelt comment. I find that I'm on someone's essential reading list. I see that I get a mention on one of the big blogs and my visitor counter spikes for a day or two.

But this isn't about me getting noticed, getting a mention. It isn't even about visitor hits.

-- Sidenote: I've taken the visitor counter off the site. I'll still look at the stats, seeing if there are patterns, but I don't need to look at the number every day. It doesn't do me any good and I'm never going to catch Mario's numbers. This isn't a race.

I think I blog because it brings me pleasure. It is relaxing for me. I have an interest in the subject. Part of it is that I think I have something to bring to the discussion. Everyone does.

Returning to Gellman's questions, I think that I started blogging after finding Ben Henry's Baseball Card Blog. From there I found Punk Rock Paint. I don't know why I opened this blog.

My favorite post from my work? That's like asking "Who is your favorite child?"

Either Giving it away or Would the hat-check girl. Or the one with the books. Or the one with the catalogs. Or the Earl Wilsons. Or mail days. Or maybe the T206s or the T3 Turkey Reds. Or the card shops. No, the Earl Wilsons. Definitely the Earl Wilsons. Or the Hershisers.

I blog because I like to. I keep blogging because I like the people that I've met through this (and other) blogs. I blog because it keeps me off the streets.

Bill Virdon - Diamond Signatures

John, over at Boxes of Cards, sent me this signed Bill Virdon card for winning a contest.

These unnumbered cards were produced for the Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society. Ernie Montella was kind enough to answer a few questions about the set. Ernie also said that the Society will be producing a second series of cards that is due out this summer. I have assembled this alphabetical checklist from their website.

Joe Astroth
Jack Baldschun
Matt Batts
Ray Coleman
Jose Cunningham
Joe DeMaestri
Bob Dillinger
Dom DiMaggio
Bobby Doerr
Carl Erskine
Dave "Boo" Ferris
Herman Franks
Bob Friend
Ned Garver
Joe Ginsberg
Don Gutteridge
Whitey Herzog
Spook Jacobs
Eddie Joost
George Kell
Don Lenhardt
Lou Limmer
Johnny Logan
Stan Lopata
Art Mahaffey
Bob Martin
Maje McDonnell
Gil McDougald
Sam Mele
Mel Parnell
Johnny Pesky
Gary Peters
Bobby Shantz
Roy Sievers
Curt Simmons
Pete Suder
Frank Thomas
Lee Thomas
Virgil Trucks
Mickey Vernon

Bill Virdon
Bill Werber
Ken Wood
Gus Zernial

More info on the cards can be found at PAHS's online shop.

John is doing an interesting project, trying to get signatures on all the Pittsburgh Pirates 1960 Topps cards. To me he's having great success. Pop on over to his blog and see for yourself.