I'm a good sport. I can post this without wincing.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Rubbing Salt Into The Wound
Yesterday my father gave me this 2011-2012 University of Kentucky basketball schedule. He did not yet know about me losing the UT-UK wager with my friend.
I'm a good sport. I can post this without wincing.
I'm a good sport. I can post this without wincing.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Rivalry
Today is the traditional end of the regular season UT vs. UK football game. I've got a friendly wager with a high school friend on facebook. If UT wins, he puts up UT's logo as his profile picture for a week. If UK wins, I put up UK's logo as my profile picture for a week. We also extended this wager for the two times that the schools meet for basketball in January.
Things don't look good for UT or for me.
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| 1991 Hoby SEC Stars The Beer Barrel (card # 393) |
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| unidentified UT card set Beer Barrel Stays Put (card # 123) |
Things don't look good for UT or for me.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
For The Good Of All, Do Not Destroy The Birds
I took the day off of work on Wednesday. My dad and I went to downtown Knoxville to the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection to do some research. He was interested in family history and I tore into a microfilm from the summer of 1921, doing some research on the local black team, the Knoxville Giants. We were both successful.
After a few hours of research we left to visit a new old bookstore. Central Street Books was formerly The Book Eddy. They have a nice selection of sports books, but I didn't buy any. I did find a book in the humor section for my dad. the lives and time of archy & mehitabel by Don Marquis. It wasn't the title that caught my eye, but the dust jacket. Below is the scan of the front of it. Was it a German commentary on the Psalms? Don't really know. I don't read German.
There was a note that the dust jacket was from 1733. We asked the clerk at the counter. He said that they had received a three volume set that had very poor binding. It wasn't worth it for them to have the books rebound, so they removed the pages and used them for various things around the shop. This page ended up as a dust jacket. They were selling the prints from the book individually.
There was a wooden bowl near the register that had some small (approx. 1-1/2" x 2-1/4") advertising cards of some sort. I picked up three that caught my eye. Normally I scan cards at 300 dpi and reduce them down to 150 dpi to show on this blog. It keeps the images big enough not to strain the eyeball, but small enough in size that the page loads efficiently.
I liked these so much that I kept them at 300 dpi. After getting home and looking at them I did a quick search on the web.
Jefferson Burdick designated them as "J7". John Hodge designated them as "AH2211". T.K. Treadwell designated them as "G". The were issued in in several series, with a cornucopia of variations. (See what I did there? Happy Thanksgiving.) I found most of my information on these cards at Joe Lill's Soda Cards page.
After Dad paid for his books (and my cards) I noticed a stack of loose sheets on the counter. The clerk described them as pages from a 1716 edition of The Book of Common Prayer. We looked through the stack and found the corresponding Psalm, 68, verse 24. He bought that one, too.
The price on all these? $7.50 for the archy & mehitabel. 25 cents each for the bird cards. A dollar for the Book of Common Prayer page.
We then went to Five Guys Burgers and on to another used bookstore. I didn't buy any sports books there, either.
The German language dust jacket has that glassine cover over the dust jacket. I didn't remove it to scan the jacket. It is presented at 150 dpi. Click on it for a larger image. The Book of Common Prayer image is presented at 150 dpi. Click on it for a larger image.
After a few hours of research we left to visit a new old bookstore. Central Street Books was formerly The Book Eddy. They have a nice selection of sports books, but I didn't buy any. I did find a book in the humor section for my dad. the lives and time of archy & mehitabel by Don Marquis. It wasn't the title that caught my eye, but the dust jacket. Below is the scan of the front of it. Was it a German commentary on the Psalms? Don't really know. I don't read German.
There was a note that the dust jacket was from 1733. We asked the clerk at the counter. He said that they had received a three volume set that had very poor binding. It wasn't worth it for them to have the books rebound, so they removed the pages and used them for various things around the shop. This page ended up as a dust jacket. They were selling the prints from the book individually.
There was a wooden bowl near the register that had some small (approx. 1-1/2" x 2-1/4") advertising cards of some sort. I picked up three that caught my eye. Normally I scan cards at 300 dpi and reduce them down to 150 dpi to show on this blog. It keeps the images big enough not to strain the eyeball, but small enough in size that the page loads efficiently.
 |
| 150 dpi |
I liked these so much that I kept them at 300 dpi. After getting home and looking at them I did a quick search on the web.
Jefferson Burdick designated them as "J7". John Hodge designated them as "AH2211". T.K. Treadwell designated them as "G". The were issued in in several series, with a cornucopia of variations. (See what I did there? Happy Thanksgiving.) I found most of my information on these cards at Joe Lill's Soda Cards page.
After Dad paid for his books (and my cards) I noticed a stack of loose sheets on the counter. The clerk described them as pages from a 1716 edition of The Book of Common Prayer. We looked through the stack and found the corresponding Psalm, 68, verse 24. He bought that one, too.
The price on all these? $7.50 for the archy & mehitabel. 25 cents each for the bird cards. A dollar for the Book of Common Prayer page.
We then went to Five Guys Burgers and on to another used bookstore. I didn't buy any sports books there, either.
The German language dust jacket has that glassine cover over the dust jacket. I didn't remove it to scan the jacket. It is presented at 150 dpi. Click on it for a larger image. The Book of Common Prayer image is presented at 150 dpi. Click on it for a larger image.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
NASCAR's Season is Over
The NASCAR season finished up on Sunday. Tony Stewart was crowned the champion, dethroning Jimmie Johnson. Johnson has held the title for the past five seasons. There's a streak for you. Probably will never be equaled.
During my trip to Chicago this summer I stopped at a Target to pick up some snacks and a wedding card. What do you know, they had their bargain-bin-o-cards. You know the one. $1.59 a pack. I picked up five packs of 2010 Press Pass Premium. I don't have any Tony Stewart cards to show you. My brother is a fan of Tony so he got the three cards of 'Smoke' that I pulled and two of the packs.
By now you should know that my wife's favorite driver is Jeff Burton. Only pulled one of his cards. With racing cards I've noticed that the manufacturers show the drivers, the cars, the owners, crew chiefs, and sometimes the pit crews or a memorable moment of the season. Here's Jeff's car.
And to keep Night Owl happy, here's a card with Danica. This is a retail only subset. If you line the back of the four cards up you get a photo of Danica. The backside of this one is the frontside of her backside. I felt it would be a bit creepy for me just to show that.
I'll forget about NASCAR until early next February when my wife starts planning our Sunday afternoons around when the race is on.
During my trip to Chicago this summer I stopped at a Target to pick up some snacks and a wedding card. What do you know, they had their bargain-bin-o-cards. You know the one. $1.59 a pack. I picked up five packs of 2010 Press Pass Premium. I don't have any Tony Stewart cards to show you. My brother is a fan of Tony so he got the three cards of 'Smoke' that I pulled and two of the packs.
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| 2010 Press Pass Premium Jimmy Johnson - Preseason Thunder (card # 82) |
By now you should know that my wife's favorite driver is Jeff Burton. Only pulled one of his cards. With racing cards I've noticed that the manufacturers show the drivers, the cars, the owners, crew chiefs, and sometimes the pit crews or a memorable moment of the season. Here's Jeff's car.
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| 2010 Press Pass Premium Jeff Burton - Passing Game (card # 79) |
And to keep Night Owl happy, here's a card with Danica. This is a retail only subset. If you line the back of the four cards up you get a photo of Danica. The backside of this one is the frontside of her backside. I felt it would be a bit creepy for me just to show that.
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| 2010 Press Pass Premium Danica Patric - Retail Insert (card # DP-3/4) |
Monday, November 21, 2011
My Mom's Chemistry Partner
My folks are in town for the Thanksgiving holiday. Last night my mom and I were talking about her high school and old friends connecting on facebook. I was retelling the story of how I met an alum of Beaver Falls High School at a mutual friend's book signing party. It turned out that the alum was in band with my aunt (my mom's sister-in-law) in the mid-1960s.
As I was recounting the conversation with the alum it was basically:
Me: So, what team did you root for when you were younger?
Alum: The Pirates.
Me: Were they the hometown team or did you just like them?
Alum: Hometown. I grew up in western Pennsylvania.
Me: Really? Where.
Alum: You've never heard of it. Beaver Falls.
Me: Yeah, that's where Joe Namath went to high school. The Tigers.
Alum (with a surprised look on his face): Yeah, that's right.
Me: My mom, aunt and uncles attended BHS.
As I was telling it to my mom, she interrupted and replaced "Joe Namath" with "Joe Walton". "He was my chemistry partner." I thought that she said "Bill Walton" and shook my head.
I had heard the name of Joe Walton, but couldn't quite place it. Joe Walton played football at Pitt and then was drafted in the second round by the Washington Redskins in 1957. He played for them from 1957-1960 and then for the New York Giants from 1961-1963. Later in his career he was the offensive coordinator for the Giants, Redskins, Jets, and Steelers. Oh, and he was the head coach for the New York Jets from 1983-1989, finishing up with a 53-57-1 record.
I've got a new player/coach to collect.
I'm a bit confused about the 1969 Topps Mini-Album Insert card. Clearly Topps reused the image from the 1962 card. I don't know why.
Some of Joe's other cards are:
As I was recounting the conversation with the alum it was basically:
Me: So, what team did you root for when you were younger?
Alum: The Pirates.
Me: Were they the hometown team or did you just like them?
Alum: Hometown. I grew up in western Pennsylvania.
Me: Really? Where.
Alum: You've never heard of it. Beaver Falls.
Me: Yeah, that's where Joe Namath went to high school. The Tigers.
Alum (with a surprised look on his face): Yeah, that's right.
Me: My mom, aunt and uncles attended BHS.
As I was telling it to my mom, she interrupted and replaced "Joe Namath" with "Joe Walton". "He was my chemistry partner." I thought that she said "Bill Walton" and shook my head.
I had heard the name of Joe Walton, but couldn't quite place it. Joe Walton played football at Pitt and then was drafted in the second round by the Washington Redskins in 1957. He played for them from 1957-1960 and then for the New York Giants from 1961-1963. Later in his career he was the offensive coordinator for the Giants, Redskins, Jets, and Steelers. Oh, and he was the head coach for the New York Jets from 1983-1989, finishing up with a 53-57-1 record.
I've got a new player/coach to collect.
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| 1960 Topps Joe Walton (card # 127) |
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| 1961 Topps Joe Walton (card # 126) |
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| 1962 Topps Joe Walton (card # 103) |
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| 1969 Topps Mini-Album Inserts San Francisco 49'ers (card # 15) |
I'm a bit confused about the 1969 Topps Mini-Album Insert card. Clearly Topps reused the image from the 1962 card. I don't know why.
Some of Joe's other cards are:
- 1961 Fleer (card # 112)
- 1961 Fleer Wallet Pictures ( card # 145)
- 1964 Coke Caps Giants (cap # 35)
- 1989 Pittsburgh Greats (card # 11)
- 1989 Pro Set (card # 311)
Sunday, November 20, 2011
A fantastic read
The Baseball Researcher has a great post today. He tracks down some info about the ballpark (and more) in this photo...
Go read it now.
Go read it now.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Potpourri for 100, Alex?
"What is, 'Mark has too much time on his hands'?"
I've been poking around old newspapers and magazines and came up with a few articles that are interesting but don't quite make a whole post on their own.
I'm not quite sure where I found this. Could have been Google News archives, Paper of Record, I just don't recall, nor can I find it again. What caught my eye was two colored teams playing in 1878. Sure, the gunshot and beating was interesting.
An ad from the September, 1958 issue of Popular Science.
I can't find any other reference to this game.
This article is from an earlier issue of Popular Science. October, 1937.
Okay, either their copy is wrong or the images are reversed. The pitcher is not a left-hander. I don't know who the pitcher pictured is. Here's the 1937 Washington Senators roster from baseball-reference.com. Who is he?
Back in the middle of June, I was watching a baseball game on television. It might have been ESPN. Yankees at the Cubs, if I remember. The announcers were talking about how neat it was for AL teams to come play at Wrigley, since it is such an iconic park. They spoke of Gehrig and Ruth coming to Wrigley for the 1932 World Series, among others. I know that 1929 Philadelphia Athletics visited for the 1929 World Series, bringing Mickey Cochrane, Jimmy Foxx, and Lefty Grove. Mickey Cochrane returned to Wrigley in 1935 with Detroit. He brought Charlie Gehringer and Goose Goslin. The Yankees also returned in 1938, with Tommy Henrich and Lefty Gomez. Then the announcers mentioned that the Red Sox had never played at Wrigley in the Golden Era of Baseball so it was sad that Ted Williams never got a chance to play there.
This didn't ring completely true to me. The Red Sox have never faced the Cubs in the World Series, but the 1947 All-Star Game was played at Wrigley. Who batted third? Ted Williams. Yes, this is nit-picky, but I like to be right. I'll claim it where I can get it.
To wrap up I'll leave you with a fun photo from 107 years ago.
In very broad terms, the school was set up to assimilate the Indians to the Anglo way of life. I don't know who these young men played against.
I've been poking around old newspapers and magazines and came up with a few articles that are interesting but don't quite make a whole post on their own.
I'm not quite sure where I found this. Could have been Google News archives, Paper of Record, I just don't recall, nor can I find it again. What caught my eye was two colored teams playing in 1878. Sure, the gunshot and beating was interesting.
 |
| Current intersection of Cumberland and Gilmor. (link) |
An ad from the September, 1958 issue of Popular Science.
I can't find any other reference to this game.
This article is from an earlier issue of Popular Science. October, 1937.
Back in the middle of June, I was watching a baseball game on television. It might have been ESPN. Yankees at the Cubs, if I remember. The announcers were talking about how neat it was for AL teams to come play at Wrigley, since it is such an iconic park. They spoke of Gehrig and Ruth coming to Wrigley for the 1932 World Series, among others. I know that 1929 Philadelphia Athletics visited for the 1929 World Series, bringing Mickey Cochrane, Jimmy Foxx, and Lefty Grove. Mickey Cochrane returned to Wrigley in 1935 with Detroit. He brought Charlie Gehringer and Goose Goslin. The Yankees also returned in 1938, with Tommy Henrich and Lefty Gomez. Then the announcers mentioned that the Red Sox had never played at Wrigley in the Golden Era of Baseball so it was sad that Ted Williams never got a chance to play there.
This didn't ring completely true to me. The Red Sox have never faced the Cubs in the World Series, but the 1947 All-Star Game was played at Wrigley. Who batted third? Ted Williams. Yes, this is nit-picky, but I like to be right. I'll claim it where I can get it.
To wrap up I'll leave you with a fun photo from 107 years ago.
 |
| Phoenix Indian Industrial Training School, 1904 Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library |
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