The end of set chase as well as a dynasty

 How appropriate that the last card I needed for my 1975 Topps set was this Oakland A's team card.

1975 would the last taste of playoff baseball Oakland would see for the next six years. The won 98 games while finishing first in the American League West but wound up getting swept by the Boston Red Sox in the 1975 American League Championship, 3-0.

One thing I love about this card is the alternating green and yellow jerseys, and then throwing the coaches in their white tops and white hats that they wore. Makes for a nice team shot of this colorful gang of the early 1970's.

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More on that 65 Topps set I will be chasing ....

Dug through some of my 60's Topps last night and low and behold I found another two high numbers along with another five cards I will need for my new 1965 Topps set. I certainly will have my work cut out for me as whoever had collected this set, they must have go away to summer cap or went on vacation during the summer of 1965.

Missing are:
Series IV: 284-370
Series V: 371-446
Series VI: 447-522

Does anyone know when these series' would have been release during the course of 1965? It would be willing to bet in was during the summer months.

I am guessing that this set was started by a kid and when we came back home for the start of the school year in September of 1965, got back to collecting this set and bought packs from the last series (Series VII: 523-598) as I am only missing 5 of these cards.

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Oh before I forget, I know there are a number of Dodger collectors on these boards ... if you happen to have a 1965 Koufax and would like to trade for a 1963 Topps Koufax, drop me a line. Maybe of you would rather swap for a different year? Of if you have a 1965 Willie Mays, Ernie Banks, or Carl Yastrzemski, I would be willing to part with that 1963 Koufax and/or 1964 Topps Koufax World Series card. Check my archives too for those and other cards I would be willing to trade.

Again, if you have any information on when Topps would release certain series', I would love to hear about it. Thank you for reading.

Closing in on a completed set

And then there were seven left. That's all that stands between me and a beautiful and complete 1975 Topps Set. If anyone can help, my remaining needs are here, no real biggies either.

Got these at the LCS about a week ago. All were in a big 3200 count box of '75s. I knew there was a nice Rose in the display case for $20, but landed this one for $8 due to a barely noticeable wrinkle at the top of the card. The Winfield looks as though it just came out of a pack. If anyone has another Expos team card, I could use it as this was is checked on the back. For right now, it'll work just fine.

Got a busy day of grocery shopping, errands, and if I am lucky I should be able to swing by a card store and maybe snag a couple more '68's as well.

Out of hibernation

So it's been awhile since I last posted. Been so long that Blogger has dramatically changed their dashboard and I feel a little lost writing this. Hopefully I'll get the hang of it again. Life's never-ending rush has prevented me from posting since December as well as reading many of the great blogs on this blog roll. I have managed to stay in the loop as far as new releases by picking up some packs here and there as well as continue to pick up some off-condition vintage along the way. I plan on getting back to posting more as well as trading. I do miss a good trade.

I recently put my near completed, 1975 Topps Set in sheets. I really had forgot how nice of condition set this was. The colors really pop and almost all the cards have sharp corners. It's definitely my favorite set of the 1970's, if not all-time. Of course, it's probably because my childhood idol, Jim Rice's rookie card is in this set. I have always wondered what made Topps place Jim Ed on a four-player card while the likes of George Brett and Robin Yount appear all by themselves.

One newly purchased item and a partial 1968 Topps set.

With the partial set, along with about seventy-five 1968's I already had, I have a little over half the set. While not my favorite design of the 1960's, it brings back memories from about 25 years ago. Back then I had worked in a baseball card store and had almost purchased a partial set from the owner. It was missing a number of star cards, including the Mantle, Bench rookie, and the Ryan rookie. God knows what it would have run me, maybe $80-100 bucks at the time. I just couldn't do it as I think I was intimidated by the cost to obtain all the other missing cards. Long before trading, eBay, COMC I just didn't pull the trigger.

Anyhow, I made an offer on the above and the seller took it. Overall, the set runs VG-EX which is fine with me. The "burlap" pattern actually does a nice job of hiding those soft corners. The high numbers aren't too pricey and for the time being, I can pick up reprints of the Bench and Ryan to fill in those holes.

It's a great set for me to tackle as the LSC has a number of commons, high #'s and semi stars in stock for pretty cheap money. The 1968 set brought back the return of The Sporting News All-Star cards and the leader cards are stacked with some nice pairings. You also have The Mick's last card of him while he was still active; same with the great Eddie Matthews (Tigers). There are two awesome multi-player cards; #490 "Super Stars" with Mick, Mays, and Killebrew and #480 "Manager's Dream" with Oliva, Cardenas, and Clemente. Also in this great set is the Sox-Cards World Series subset. That 1967 season changed how New Englanders followed their beloved BoSox. The Nation started then and there.

So for any of those out there with some '68's to trade, drop me an email. My wantlist is on the right hand side. I have a number of vintage stars from the 60's and 70's, some pretty nice, others a little beat up. Heck, if you have an off-condition Mantle, I'll trade you an off-conditioned 1963 or 1966 Topps Koufax. If you have a nice Bird Belters (#530), I have a 1961 Topps Frank Robinson with your name on it. Whatever you have, drop me a line and I'll be sure to respond.

Random pickings of a quarter box

So this morning after dropping off my daughter at school and in between grocery shopping stops, I hit a LCS (they also carry gaming cards, comics, & video games) in Worcester that I had only been once before. It's a small card section but did manage to find a quarter box while picking up some sheets.

Below is what I picked up ...

Quite the mix going on here.

1967 Topps Dave Morehead
Why I grabbed this card? For my 1967 Red Sox Team page. Dave played a role on the '67 dream team by contributing five wins in the August–September stretch drive.
Greatest career moment? Morehead threw a 2-0, no-hitter for the Sox against Cleveland in 1965. He showed flashes of brilliance, particularly early in his career, but extended success was thwarted by arm trouble.
Interesting card note: Front pic is taken from Spring Training. Graduated from Herbert Hoover High School, the same school that produced Ted Williams.

1975 Topps Paul Lindblad
Why I grabbed this card? For my 1972–74 A's Team page. Paul picked up a win in the 1973 World Series against the Mets.
Interesting career tidbit? Lindblad would go on to finish 18th in the American League MVP voting. Guys he finished ahead of; Don Baylor, Bert Campaneris, Bobby Bonds, and Carl Yastrzemski.
Interesting card note: Front pic is taken at the Oakland Coliseum. That turnstiles were first put into use in 1878. 

1975 Topps Dave Hamilton
Why I grabbed this card? For my 1972–74 A's Team page. Paul pitched in the 1973 World Series against the Mets.
Interesting career tidbit? Traded by the Oakland Athletics with Chet Lemon to the Chicago White Sox for Stan Bahnsen and Skip Pitlock. Obviously the A's outfield could have been pretty amazing with Lemon, Rickey Henderson, and Dwayne Murphy.
Interesting card note: Front pic is taken at the Oakland Coliseum. Date of birth is 12-13-47 ... just think, in three years his birthday will be 12-13-14. That is pretty cool.

1977 Topps Tim Foli
Why I grabbed this card? For my Cycles collection. On April 21, 1976, Foli hit a single, double and triple against the Chicago Cubs before the game was suspended. When the game was resumed the next day, Foli hit a home run to complete the first cycle in Montreal Expos history.
Interesting career tidbit? Was the first overall pick (New York Mets) in the 1968 amateur draft. Was involved in trades that included Ken Singleton, and brought Rusty Staub to the Mets and was involved in a deal with the Pirates that sent Jay Buhner to the Yankees.
Interesting card note: Front pic is taken from Spring Training. Date of birth was yesterday, December 8th. Happy belated birthday Tim.

1977 Topps Lee Lacy
Why I grabbed this card? For my 1977–78 Dodgers Team page.
Interesting career tidbit? Played in four World Series' from 1974–79, where he batted a weak .231. He did earn a ring with the "We Are Family" Pirates in 1979.
Interesting card note: Front pic is taken at Candlestick Park. Had a streak in April 1975 with 24 hits in 13 games.

1986 Topps Marty Barret
Why I grabbed this card? For my 1986 Red Sox Team page.
Greatest career moment? Was the 1986 ALCS MVP, while batting a .367 clip in helping the Sox come from behind and beat the California Angels.
Interesting card note: Front pic is taken at either Tiger or Yankee Stadium. This was the first year in which Topps included the stat line for Game Winning (GW) RBI on the back of it's cards.

2010 Allen & Ginter mini Francisco Liriano
Why I grabbed this card? For my 2010 A&G mini set.
Greatest career moment? Throwing one of the ugliest no-hitters in recent memory. on May 3rd, 2011 when he threw the first complete game and shutout of his career in no-hitting the  White Sox, 1-0. He still had problems with his control, however, as he walked six batters and threw only 66 of 123 pitches for strikes, but his defense turned three double plays and a number of gems behind him.
Interesting card note: Front pic/sketch shows the patch for the final season at the Metrodome.
Card number 338, a short print.

Another trade with “é rayhahn, rayhahn”

So a while back, I had written this post on some Allen & Ginter relics when “é rayhahn, rayhahn” offered to trade a Ginter relic for another Ginter relic. Of course, fillers going both ways netted each of us some cards off our lists. Already having a Ginter jersey relic of Joe Mauer, I was fine with parting it for a sand colored jersey of Matt Latos.

Too bad this wasn't a piece of the yellow and brown retro jerseys, now that would have been pretty sweet. Up next and definitely a pleasant surprise, THREE great cards off my '75 Topps wantlist!!!!
Gotta love the Maris/Roby card, off course of the three of four of these MVP cards I need, they are all Mantles.

Thanks again D for the great trade.

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So while trolling the 'Bay for more Ginter minis, I came across some RIP minis. Often these are pretty much priced out of my budget and therefore just a pipe dream. However, I came across some minor star RIP minis that were definitely available. One being, well ... at one point in his career, a star.

Welcome Jake Peavy, a RIP mini from the 2007 Allen & Ginter set. One thing I had not realized, since I have not seen one in person, is that the backs have are gray instead of the normal cream-white color. Also in separate auctions, I landed my first "Team Orange" from the 2008 A&G edition. The story goes that this "team" are fictional players based on people that work at Topps. 

The cards were found one in every 144 packs. Beckett's Chris Olds wrote about these cards back in in 2009. In the article, he confirms through an unnamed Topps employees that indeed these Team Orange legends weren’t baseball players at all, rather Topps employees.

So "Minty" Beans is actually, John Doldan, Art Director for the Topps Company. So it's quite appropriate that the one TO card I have, shares the same profession as this collector. I aside from wanting to be the next GM of the Red Sox, Art Director at Topps would be right up there on my dream jobs.

Also in the above image, two more Baseball Icons also from the '08 set. Tris Speaker and Jimmie Foxx. Of the seventeen cards in this insert set, I am know up to four of these. I think it's one of the better insert sets that A&G model has developed. Below is the entire checklist.

• BI1 Cy Young
• BI2 Walter Johnson
• BI3 Jackie Robinson
• BI4 Thurman Munson
• BI5 Mel Ott
• BI6 Honus Wagner
• BI7 Pee Wee Reese
• BI8 Tris Speaker
• BI9 Christy Mathewson
• BI10 Ty Cobb
• BI11 Johnny Mize
• BI12 Jimmie Foxx
• BI13 Lou Gehrig
• BI14 Roy Campanella
• BI15 George Sisler
• BI16 Rogers Hornsby
• BI17 Babe Ruth

So if any of you have one of these cards you want to part with, I'm sure I can find something to trade you. Until then, thank you again for reading, and stay tuned for more posts this weekend and some trade bait posts as well.

A long time coming ...

for a new post that is. Man, I have been swamped at work lately, add freelancing, coaching baseball, and an hour plus commute, and by the time I sit down, I'm able to catch a couple of innings of the Sox or MLB Network and I'm cooked.

So, I made it a point to do two things today, finally get some posts up, schedule some others, and go to the LCS. LCS was a success as I managed to add 100 Allen & Ginter minis from 2006–2010 for 10 bucks and also picked up two cool vintage cards for almost nothing. Will try to get scans of this stuff up before the weekend is out.

So, first up, I gotta recap some trades I have been able to make over the last two months.

First up, a great trade with Crinkly Wrappers, a trade that stemmed from this post. CW needed the 1975 Topps Munson and had a 1975 Topps Palmer that I needed for my 1975 Topps Wantlist. The trade turned into a bigger affair and the end result was two happy bloggers.

First up, the '75 Palmer that I needed for my set.

From this Palmer, Ted hit a number of spots on my needs list. He was able to knock three cards off my 2010 Heritage set as well as knocking Chris Woodward off my All-Time Red Sox Roster collection.

Next up, a bunch of 2009 Topps Heritage, including a couple of short prints. One of these days I finish this set ... always amazed at how few of those coaches cards ever cross my path.

Next up, some Allen & Ginter minis ...

And how about that 2010 Celestial Sign of Vladi!!!! This is the second one I have obtained via trade and in both cases (the other a Longoria), I had no idea it was coming. Truly a a great surprise!!!!

Next up, some T206 minis for my "Frankenstein" T206 set as well as a couple of 2009 Goodwin minis. I still need to post my needs list for the Goodwins set, I don't think I'm too far off.

And finally, some good 'ol Red Sox cards ...

Thanks again Ted, hope to trade again!!

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On a side note before I forget, and forgive me if someone else posted as such, but I purchased a 2011 Topps Series 2 blaster box from Target and I swear that color and the photography is off compared to my Series 1 cards. As a designer, I can't get past how the blacks are not as strong and the grass doesn't seem as green. For example (and a scan would have been appropriate here) but I compared an Oakland A's card from each series and the green is off in the name arc and the same green uniform is TWO different shades. There's almost a dullness to the fronts. Anyone else come across the same issue? 

Oh, and no real big hits, I think my two best cards were a Kimball Champion mini of Koufax and Musial, no complaints there.

Hmm, what's in this box ...

looks like some 1993 Upper Deck, some Pinnacle cards, oh boy 1992 Topps ... wait, hey I need that and that!

So I was recently back at my Mom's for the day and even though I have long moved out, there still is the occasional small box of cards I forgot to bring along with me. So at first, I thought this was pretty much just junk, and for the most part is was, but then I remember a couple of 1992 Topps cards that I needed for my No-Hitters Club, a Kent Mercker and Mike Flanagan — both guys who were involved in combined No-hitters in 1991. Mercker went six innings against San Diego on September 11, 1991, before Mark Wohlers and Alejandro Pena finished off the No-No. 

Mike Flanagan and the O's decided to go one better with four pitchers involved in their No-no on July 13, 1991 against the Oakland A's. Bob Milacki pitched 6 innings and struck out three batters before giving ball to the bullpen. He was taken out of the game when he was hit by a line drive in the seventh inning. Flanagan normally a starter pitched the seventh inning walking one batter. Mark Williamson pitched the eight innings and retired the side in order. Gregg Olson pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning striking out two batters to record the save.

But wait, what else do we have here?

A 1968 Topps Carl Yastrzemski, hey, I can use him for cycle collection too, and how about some 1975 Topps!!!! We've got a Bob Gibson Highlight, a Lou Brock, and Thurman Munson too!!!! Sweet!!! Now it's too bad I couldn't use any of these three towards my 1975 set, but maybe someone out there can and have a couple of '75's I need. Shoot me an email if you need these and maybe we can cross a couple of cards off one another's list. I also snatched the 1982 Kelloggs Neil Allen just because I have always loved the Kelloggs cards and who knows, maybe I'll come across some others here and there. So not too bad for a "junk" box. Gotta love days when you come across some cards you completely forgot about! Now, I can honestly say, thank you Mom for nothing throwing out my baseball cards!

Happy Birthday Jim Ed

Looking back, I don't remember the day that I said: Jim Rice, he's my favorite baseball player. It had to be sometime in 1980 when I remember searching my little stack of 1980 Topps and seeing a player who I thought was Jim Rice. It had a cool angled photo of a batter at the plate and you couldn't really see his face but I thought it had to be him ... no?

Well turns out it wasn't Rice but Bob Watson, see for yourself.

 It's ok though, when I did find the Rice, I said to myself that this was a way cooler photo and it had the awesome "A.L. All-Star" banner at the top. From that day on my Jim Rice collection was born. At the height of his playing days and of my collection, I thought I had every know Rice card and collectible out there. I also had two sweet game used bats from two different periods of his career. For some reason I ended up taking the cards out of sheets and into a box. I think it's high time I go back and fill in the blanks that I missed along the way, such as the 1979 Topps Comic or the countless issues of bat, jersey, auto relics that have popped up since the early 2000s.

Always wondered why Rice didn't get solo treatment ala George Brett, Robin Yount, or heck, fellow Red Sox rookie Rick Burleson. Clearly Jim Ed's minor league stats spoke volumes. So instead, he shared his Topps debut with three other players ...

Dave Augustine of the Pirates only played a handful of games in 1973 and '74 and was done. Look at his minor league numbers and he was a no-hit, no-speed, no-batting average stiff.

John Scott of the Padres, was the 2nd player overall in the 1970 draft, earned only 24 at bats between the '74 and '75 seasons. It wasn't until 1977 when he was selected in the expansion draft by the Blue Jays did he rack up over 250 plate appearances.

Pepe Mangual actually made his Major League debut in 1972 with Montreal!!!!!  HEY TOPPS ... UUHHHHMMMMMM 1972!!!!!!?????!!! He also played games in 1973 and '74 yet Topps decided to wait and place him next to an eventual HOF'er. 'Ol Pepe did have the second best career of this four-some swiping some 57 bases between 1975 and '76. Mangual did spend 3 years at AAA and manage to put up some decent numbers and definitely knew how to take a walk.

Jim Rice’s days with the Red Sox began in 1971, when he was the team’s first round pick in the June draft.  He went on to play sixteen major league seasons for the Sox, making the All-Star Team eight times, and winning the American League MVP in 1978. Respected by teammates, opponents, and fans, Jim Rice easily followed the footsteps of his left field predecessors Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski into Red Sox lore. In 2009, he followed Ted and Yaz once more, when he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

My favorite Jim Rice memory ... July 4th, 1984. The only time that I went to Fenway Park as a whole family with my dad, mom, and brother, Corey. It was a hot, hot, humid day and somehow we got  tickets down the 3rd base side, maybe 20 rows up from the field. It had already been a good day for my hero, having already gone 4 for 5 with a couple of rbi, but he wasn't done when he strode to the plate to face Gorman Heimueller.

"The guy (Gorman Heimueller) had struck me out the previous time I faced him on a screwball. But this time, I had my eyes wide open. I wasn't going to leave it up to Tony (Armas). I said to myself, I've got to do something right here."

Rice's homer was the only logical way to end the three-day affair, in which the average time for each game was 3 hours, 35 minutes. That hot, humid day at the Fens still remains one of my favorite Sox games that I have ever attended.

Happy Birthday Jim Ed, and to many, many more.