State of the Blog

The state of the blog is good. For the past few weeks I've been sort of looking forward to this post.  33 months or so of blogging.  And this is blog post number 600.  I envisioned streamers falling from the rafters, balloons being launched, the champagne fountain never running dry.

Then I saw the Play at the Plate 1,000th post.  And then the Night Owl's post about blogging for three years. About 1,700 posts on that fine blog.  And then Brian's 30-Year Old Cardboard announced that he just completed post 5,000.

600 doesn't sound so significant, does it?  Well, compared to those maniacs, no.  But in my world, yes.  I didn't know what I was doing when I started this blog.  Hey, I still don't.  My output has diminished.  I stray from cards and indulge myself in a bit of research.  There are days I don't even look at card blogs and I feel like a louse.

Then there are days like last week when I arrived home from work, knowing that a full evening lay ahead with the kids, preparation for a meeting, and a bit of housework.  What do I find in the mailbox?  An envelope from zip code 13601.   I let it sit through dinner, through the bath and then the homework.  I held it, contemplating putting off the other things I had to do.  Later that evening I opened it and out came a team bag with a mess of Hershisers from my want list.  Also tucked into that bag was this Ray Dandridge card.  I'm not going to tell you about him.  Look it up yourself.  Darn, he was good.

2005 Upper Deck Classics
Ray Dandridge (card # 79)

This is one of the many Orel Hershiser cards in the envelope.  There are several variants of these cards.  I still can't tell what they all are.  Sure, I can consult the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards or look to my reference sheets, but I'm too tired right now.  This is my first Hershiser 1998 SPx card.  Greg just wanted it out of his house.  Something about black and orange.  And the team name GIANTS.

1998 SPx Finite - Spectrum
Orel Hershiser (card # 318) (#d/2250)

But this isn't a trade post.  I'll show you more Hershisers in the coming weeks.  Back to the original topic.

Through this blog I've increased my knowledge of cards and card history.

I've made many acquaintances across many states and a few countries, some of which have turned into true friendships.  For that I'm very thankful.

I've traded cards and given them away.

I've learned how to make a fake card well enough to fool another blogger into thinking it was actually part of a checklist.

I've sometimes turned the blog into a vehicle for respect, and I'll continue to do so.

This blog has helped me gain access to the Tennessee Smokies' Press Booth.  That's where I'll be on Saturday night, covering the third game of the Southern League Championship Series.  The Smokies are down 2-0 in a best of 5 series.

I'm happy with where I am and what I've done.  I make no apologies for my slowing down.  For the times I'm not blogging, I'm spending it with my family.  I''m reading.  I'm researching.  I'm enjoying my life as a blogger.

Thank you all for accepting me into this club and supporting me in so many different ways.

I say Micro, you say ...

Soft? Skirt? Scope? How about 1991 Topps Micro? Sure, I knew you could.

This first card came in the mail last week, from everyone's favorite Baseball Dad, Jack from the All Tribe Baseball blog.  It arrived with a note that said that he had a "major addition" for my collection.  Carefully ripping the package open, I saw this.  I don't have the actual size of this card, but it is rather tiny. 

1991 Topps Micro
Orel Hershiser (card # 690)

My initial thought was, "Great, another Cracker Jack card."  I've been sorting my Hershiser cards lately and I didn't remember seeing the Cracker Jack.  I checked Zistle.  I had the Cracker Jack, but not the micro.  Another one off the OH want list.  Thanks, Jack.

1991 Topps Cracker Jack, 2nd Series
Orel Hershiser (card # 17)

For size comparison, here's the standard Topps card.  I think that Orel is saying, "One win?  That's all I got last season?  One?  Great.  Just one loss, too.  Remember that.  I'm a .500 pitcher.  Valenzuela and Belcher are also .500 pitchers.  And Howell.  And Cook.  Ramon?  He's a freak.  Let's see how he does after tearing his rotator cuff.  Wait.  What?  Oh, just one out in this inning?  Okay.  Never mind."

1991 Topps
Orel Hershiser (card # 690)

Now all three cards are tucked safely away in the binder, taking up the top three slots in the 1991 section.

Thanks, again, Jack.

Whitey Hawking Post

I was not even four months old when this issue of LIFE magazine hit the newsstands.  Always nice to see Mark Antony smoking.  And Liz not wearing a wedding ring.

LIFE - April 13, 1962

On page eight of that issue we see Whitey Ford hawking Post Cereal Trading cards. 

image lifted from this ebay auction

I didn't know about these Mantle and Maris cards with advertising backs until doing some searching for baseball related advertising images for a previous blog entry.

This is a far cry from the earliest baseball card advertising I've seen (here and here).

Smed's Still With Us

Tonight I (and several other bloggers) received a short email from everybody's favorite blogger that is named Smed.  If you follow Smed's Baseball Card Blog, you know that he's been a bit quiet as of late.

He wanted everyone to know that his relocation is going well.  It will be another few weeks before he heads back to Minnesota to retrieve his collection, but to fill a yen to rip he did pick up a few packs of Gypsy Queen and A&G.

He sent this postcard along so he must be doing okay.

Hall of Fame Relic Card - Orlando Cepeda

2003 Topps ARTifact, Orlando Cepeda (card # AR-OC)

Cepeda, a seven time All-Star, was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1958. It wasn't until 1967 that he won the NL MVP. In 1967 he led the NL in two categories: RBI - 111 and HBP - 12. He spent eight full seasons in San Francisco before being traded to St. Louis for Ray Sadecki. Then a series of trades, releases, and signings with Atlanta, Oakland, Boston, and Kansas City. He played three games with the Athletics.  He went 0-3.  There's a career stop over to be proud of.  He was part of the 1967 World Champions team but batted rather anemically, just .103 for the series.  He was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veteran's Committee in 1999.

I won this on ebay for $1.41, plus $2.50 shipping. Under my $5.00 self imposed limit.  That was over two years ago.  I don't know why I'm just now blogging about this.  Perhaps because I haven't been showing too many cards recently.

Association Men

The Young Men's Christian Association was formed in the United States in 1851. This was seven years after it had formed in England. The YMCA promoted clean living, physical exercise, fellowship, and Bible study. While poking around Google Books I came across this article from one of the Y's house organs.

Association Men - 1914

I guess one could interpret the stats in a variety of ways.  Perhaps drinking and playing ball was good when you were young, but as you got older, drinking hampered your batting.  Look who did the research.  None other than Hugh Fullerton.  A few years later he exposed the evils of baseball and gambling.


The lure of the drink is strong.  Several players showed up in ads through the decades and some distillers used the game as a backdrop.

LIFE - May 12, 1952

I found a few other nice images from the pages of Association Men showing the young men playing the national pastime.

Association Men - July, 1904

Association Men - July, 1904

Association Men - 1914

Star Skating Rink & Base Ball Grounds

Back in July Paul H., a fellow member of SABR, asked about the location of the Star Park in Covington, Kentucky.  Paul runs Project Ballpark.

A few members answered Paul, including me.  I hopped on Google and searched.  I found it.  Clearly the Internet is paying off.  Here's what I found.

from Green Cathedrals by Philip J. Lowry

As I looked at it the info was rather vague. "Just across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio".  Really?  That's an awful lot of shore.  I found a map of Covington from 1874, but it didn't show any ball park.

Wait.  The Philadelphia Pearls?  Was that really a team?  A bit more research told me that from 1873 to 1875 the Philadelphia team in the National Association was named the White Stockings (also known as the Whites or the Pearls).  Who did they play?

More searching led me to this 1883 map from HistoricMapWorks.com.   Eight years after the ball game had been played.

Boone - Kenton - Campbell Counties 1883 published by D.J. Lake

A bit more poking around and I found this non watermarked version.  I don't remember exactly from where I retrieved it.

So, there it was.  On the northwest corner of Scott and Seventeenth.

I emailed Kevin at Seamheads of the good news so that they could update their BallParks database.  They moved the pin on Google maps a bit closer from where they had it, but it still isn't right.  I need to gently nudge them. UPDATE: I reached out again to Kevin at Seamheads and they said they'd move their pin based on this research, as it "is the best available evidence we have."  He likes to use Sanborn Fire Maps.

On the family vacation that we took at the end of July, we were just minutes from Covington on our way back home.  I asked my wonderful wife if we could take a short tour of the town "Just across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio" and try to find the old ballpark, knowing full well that it wouldn't still be standing.  She said, "yes" and didn't even roll her eyes.  She's wonderful like that.

I've never been to Covington.  Driven by it countless times.  Parts of it seem really nice.  They're doing some renovation, but the town, like scores of others across the land, has seen better days.

looking NW at the corner of Scott and Seventeenth

looking SE from the parking lot that was once the Star Base Ball Grounds

Back to 1875.  September 21 was a Tuesday.  What was a team from Philadelphia doing in Covington, Kentucky?  And who did they play?  Back to the Internet.

According to the Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky the White Stockings' opponents were the Hartford Dark Blues.

Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky - B

According to RetroSheet's Events of Tuesday, September 21, 1875 page, it was the only game played that day and the the score was 13-9, Philadelphia.

So, what did I learn?  I learned that answering a question for a fellow SABR member can be interesting rewarding.

current map of Covington, Kentucky

UPDATE 2: Kevin from SeamHeads indicated that he trusts Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps a bit more than other maps. I did a bit more searching and found two Sanborn Maps at the Kentuckiana Digital Library.

I modified the first image by including the scale on 17th Street.  The second image did not have street names near the block I cropped, but it is the same block as the first image.  There is no ball ground listed, but I could imagine the vacant space in the southwest corner of the block could house a baseball field.

1896 Sanborn Map - Covington, Kentucky

1909 Sanborn Map - Covington, Kentucky