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.