Saturday, January 31, 2009

Ease His Pain

An interesting story showing how baseball can work itself into our daily lives, seeping into our subconscious, and briefly weaving through the lives of three strangers.

Early last fall, I discovered the work of Mark Penxa, specifically his series depicting images inspired by baseball: Stealing Signs, Dead-ball Era Baseball, Memories From My Last Life; 1927. I remember viewing the collection online, noting which of the 100 images depicted St. Louis Cardinals & Browns, and asking my wife which I should order for my office or Isaac’s room. And then, of course, I completely forgot to order. Actually, I forgot about the works entirely, blissfully unaware that the images were quickly selling out: these were all 1/1’s.

Fast forward to last week. I signed Isaac up for a 2008 Heroes Box at Jawdys Basement hoping for the Cardinals, or at least cards he can trade for Cardinals. What we got was so much more. After a lackluster break (just Mets colored parallels), we received two offers for “shared” hits: Dave at Fielder’s Choice offered to give us the shared hit outright while Ernest at Blue Heaven offered the shared hit for a small trade. One thing leading to another, we settled on another side trade: his Cardinals for our Dodgers. More on that later… noting only that Ernest mentioned a Grover Alexander card he was sending our way.

I flew to Guadalajara on Monday, an adventure in and of itself: late connections, arriving at my gate at O'Hare while the doors were literally closing, and discovering my bags had not made it with me to Mexico. After the Monday chaos, a full workload on Tuesday, and a night of Paloma’s waiting for me Tuesday evening, something triggered memories of Stealing Signs that afternoon. I grabbed my Blackberry, eventually found Mark’s site, and after a few technical difficulties, inquired about a piece I wanted all those months ago: Untitled #003:

StealingSigns003

Amazingly, the piece was still available and I pestered Mark for payment information to ensure I would be the eventual owner. Unbeknownst to me, Mark had recently learned of a close friend’s death and I felt horrible for my “just making sure you got my message” email. I apologized as clumsily through email as I would have in person. Mark assured me it was no trouble and actually shared a few details of his loss. It turns out the gentleman who inspired Stealing Signs passed away earlier on Tuesday: I asked about 003 a few hours later. He thought it was great that someone asked about the series on the day of his passing, asked to re-enable the web presentation, and purchased a print from the series.

Emboldened by coincidence, I asked who, if anyone, was depicted in 003. I did a quick check on baseball reference sites for the 1927 Cardinals roster but nothing stood out. I boarded my flight home none the wiser. Later that afternoon, I saw that Mark had replied back: the player was Grover Alexander. When I got home, Isaac was excited to open the box that had arrived earlier and inside, among some great 80’s / 90’s era Cardinals and a Lou Brock pin was a Grover Alexander card. Ernest had included a 1950 Grover Alexander Callahan card (he had to tell me, I have no clue on these things).

Alexander Callahan 1950

Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not.

Foot note: Looking through Isaac’s cards, I think the artwork is probably based on the photo from these Conlon cards. The 48 marks above his left shoulder probably correspond to Alexander’s 48 strikeouts in 1927.

Alexander Conlon 1981 Alexander Conlon 1991

More on baseball related artwork in February and leading up to opening day. Don’t forget to check out Stealing Signs online. Its an amazing series of works and who knows, maybe one you like will be one of the few still available.

1978 Sporting News Official Schedules & Records

Schedules and Records 1978

1975 Who’s Who in Baseball

Who's Who in BB 1975

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Lost in the Shuffle

Not sure how I missed these two on the original posts but they came from the vintage binge at the local card shop.

1968 Brock - For reference, this one, which is in pretty sharp condition, was stickered with BV of $25, marked at $10, and included in the 60+ for $60 deal.

Brock 1968

1970 Gibson – I love the collared shirts under the jersey look. It emphasizes Gibson’s serious, competitive nature and approach to the game.

Gibson 1970

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Brock

More from the pre-1980’s binge. This time 1970’s Lou Brock. I had a ton of late 70’s / early 80’s cards when I was a kid. Unfortunately, I lost them all in a house fire… two days after Christmas, 1983. I remember going back to the site, couldn’t really call it a house at that point, and seeing the area where my room used to be, the corner where I stored my cards, and the cards themselves, frozen together in giant bricks. I brought them back to the hotel where we stayed until our new house was built. I thawed the bricks until the cards separated, tried drying them flat on towels and even used the hair dryer to no avail. Most of the cards were crinkly pieces of cardboard with half missing pictures and washed away stats. The few that survived, at least in passable shape anyway, were soaked with smoke. Not discolored, but stained with the odor of smoke, fire and cinders. I let them go too. After that, I’d buy a pack here and there but it wasn’t the same without having my collection for them to join. I had a brief affair with basketball cards in the 90’s but I suspect Jordan had that effect on many non-collectors. And so, my card collecting bug laid dormant through the years until I took my son, then five, to his first baseball game. He loved it. Which brings me back to these cards from my youth…

1975 Highlights

Brock 1975 Highlights

1976 SSPC - More info on SSPC from Super 70's.com

Brock 1975 SSPC

1977

Brock 1977

1978

Brock 1978

1979 – What happened to the “St”?

Brock 1979

Monday, January 26, 2009

Gibby

Its official. Between Isaac’s enthusiasm, the random cards from Winter Warm-Up and The Checklist, I’m hooked. I stopped by a hobby shop and went through their Cardinals box & display case and picked out HOFers and older cards in general. The prices seemed reasonable but I’m not really sure what they “should” be priced for anyway. Owner said he had everything priced to move, discounted cards as we spoke, and then discounted the whole stack another 25% at the register. In total, I bought over 60 cards and ended paying less than a dollar a card. Still not sure what I’m doing but that just makes it more interesting. I’ll post the more interesting cards starting with the Gibsons

Creased 1960

Gibby 1960

1968 All Star

Gibby 1968 AS

1969 All Star

Gibby 1969  AS

1969 Deckle – Not sure what that means aside from the edge cut. Just going by what the owner told me.

Gibby 1969 Deckle

1973 Base

Gibby 1973

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Cards from the Far East

Here’s a change of pace: Sayonara, Home Run! was my summer vacation book in 2008. Its light easy reading of a fascinating subject and era: Japanese baseball and baseball cards. The designs, color, photos and artwork of these old cards pop off the page in ways vintage American cards do not, at least in the books I’ve seen.

Sayonara

I actually considered starting a collection of these colorful cards, discs, masks & diecuts. Imagine my surprise when I discovered these two cards while strolling through an antique shop in Central Wisconsin! These generic Menko cards are probably from a baseball game and date from the 1950’s. They are approximately 7 inches in diameter and have cardboard “kickstand” on the flipside.

Right

Second

I originally bought them to frame and hang in Isaac’s soon-to-be baseball bedroom but may just hold on to them in case the collecting bug hits.

For more information on Japanese cards, old and new, visit Robs Japanese Cards and browse his cards for sale, books, and general collecting advice. Many of the cards displayed in Sayonara came from his personal collection. He was extremely helpful in identifying these discs when I finally decided to research them.

Friday, January 23, 2009

The Checklist

We gave this book to Isaac for Christmas. He pored over it at first; looking for pictures of HOF’ers, listening to his Papa’s stories of attending games at Sportsman’s Park, wondering why Musial didn’t have cards***, etc… Once the novelty had worn off, the book went to his baseball library (I’m only half joking about that) to gather dust until something triggered further investigation. Winter Warm-Up was that trigger. He saw the book at several vendors and finally put two and two together: those pictures are actually cards for his binder. Witness the transformation from dusty book to The Checklist… this could get expensive.

Surf

Oh, and the 2008 Heritage High Numbers cards he loves “are *just* like the cards from 1959, Dad!” Still, given the choice between a $4 –5 card from the 50’s, 60’s or 70’s and a pack of Heritage, Isaac went for the Heritage High’s. The lucky streak continued; he pulled a Chris Perez short print. I wonder when he’s going to decide he needs cards 1 – 500…

*** Can anyone explain this? Was Musial a Bowman exclusive?

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

An Interest Rekindled

I took Isaac to the Cardinals Winter Warmup last weekend and while most of my recent baseball card experience has been through Isaac’s ever growing collection of newer cards, I was drawn towards the older cards on display in the memorabilia and card dealer section. I ended up buying four cards from the same dealer we found a 2008 Ankiel Heritage card to get autographed: two Gibsons, two Brocks.

1968 Topps – 1967 Word Series Highlight. Wonder what motivated that asterisk?

1967WS

1971 Topps – 1970 National League Pitching Leaders. Miscut but who cares. I wonder how many of Isaac’s new cards will have three HOF’s pictured?

1970PL

1973 Topps – 1972 Stolen Base Leaders

1972SB

1974 Topps – 1973 Stolen Base Leaders

1973SB

Both Gibson and Brock were at the Winter Warmup and while I did not feel like ponying up $100+ for their autograph tickets, just watching them was an amazing experience. Both exhibited a humble, regal, elegance – equally at peace with their past accomplishments and willing to relive those memories with each passing fan.

Cardinals Winter Warm-Up Autographs: Day 2

Day two began with breakfast at the 4th Street Grill at the Millennium Hotel, site of the Warm-Up. I mention this b/c we bought 20 fifty cent scratch off tickets to win an autograph ticket for Rick Ankiel, Skip Schumaker, or Ryan Ludwick. In actuality, we bought the tickets for Ankiel; Isaac met Skip last year and we already had a ticket for Ludwick. My wife and I told Isaac that the odds of winning were small, that thousands of tickets had been printed with very few winners, that this was not like playing Yahtzee and his luck may run out, AND that we were NOT going to keep buying tickets until he won. With expectations properly deflated, my wife took my daughter to the buffet line while Isaac scratched off the tickets. Halfway through the stack he uncovered “WINNER.” Scratching below to reveal “ANKIEL.” We played the “What was your favorite part of Winter Warm-Up?” game during our drive home. I told him it was seeing his face after he won a ticket to meet one of his favorite players.

D2aT

Hawksworth has a chance to make the club as a spot starter / middle reliever. Ankiel is Ankiel. I saw him pitch in the playoffs against the Braves. We were in the stands his first game back where he homered to deep right; one of the few times I’ve seen Tony LaRussa lose his composure and openly celebrate a players accomplishments. Parisi has a better chance than Hawksworth to make the club, having pitched in the majors last year as injuries depleted our pitching staff. Ankiel & Parisi probably spent the most time chatting with each fan, taking time to personalize the experience. Parisi gave Isaac two fist bumps. He’s been fist bumping ever since.

D2b

We could not find a David Freese card before the show and brought this red mini-bat along just in case. No cards in the vendor area either so glad we had the bat. Freese seemed like an after thought in the Edmonds trade to the Padres, worked his way into a bona fide big league 3B, and found his way a rung lower on the depth chart behind Wallace by the end of the season.

D2aM

Glad Ludwick is back this year. Super nice guy who deserves the accolades (not to mention the pending arbitration pay out). He was one of the few players to thank us for coming out for the cause. The Worrell card revealed Isaac’s card collecting mindset. He had tons of cards to choose from: ROY, All Star, League Leaders, etc… but he picked this one. Why? “Because mini’s are cool, Dad!” Did I mention he’s six? Worrell, to his credit, stayed an hour over his scheduled signing time to meet the fan demand and was friendly and pleasant for us stragglers.. Barden is an aging infield prospect who played well in the Summer Games if I recall correctly. Given the Cardinals infield issues and the absence of Barden’s name in the equation, sounds like he’ll be a utility guy at best.

D2aB

Isaac found this card in a flea market binder last fall, recognized him on the MLB network promos, and bolted for his station before heading to our next paid auto. To honor Joe’s regal status, Isaac opted for a silver Sharpie. Kyle McClellan is another of Isaac’s favorites. He’s a local product who made the club last spring and was one of our more consistent relievers for the first 4 months of the season. Isaac gravitates towards the young players. I asked why given, at the time, the team was loaded with Pujols, Edmonds, Rolen, Eckstein, etc… “Because they’re like me, Dad. They’re kids…” Horton is not a kid, I remember watching him while I was in grade school. He is currently a Cardinals TV & Radio announcer / personality.

Day two: 10 autos - Paid for Ludwick & McClellan. Won Ankiel ($10 in tickets). The rest were freebies. Did not win Molina ($10 in tickets).

All in all, Isaac was on a mission: twenty player autographs in two days. I was surprised he lasted so long on both days: we nearly closed the place Saturday and were third from last on Sunday. Of all the cards he brought, we missed Ken Reitz and Bob Forsch. Its a three day event but we did not go on Monday. Instead, I offered to take him to meet Cardinal HOF-er Orlando Cepeda next month. I extended my offer for next year’s Warm-Up: I told Isaac I would take him all three days for as long as he wants to stand in line. That should give him plenty of time to find more Cardinals cards, not to mention mini’s.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Cardinals Winter Warm-Up Autographs: Day 1

This was our second trip to the Warm-Up. Last year, we paid for five tickets and walked away with five autos. This year, I told Isaac I would stand in any complimentary auto line he wanted to thinking he wouldn’t last very long. Little did I know…

This year, we decided to bring a small plastic box of cards instead of balls. We did have one player we could not find a card for so we brought an extra mini-bat from last year. Now, I’ve never asked for an autograph and don’t have a clue about the best method or pen or card to use; I quickly learned at our first stop:

D1aT

Joe Mather, or Joey Bombs as the local media and fans call him, is Isaac’s favorite player. How could he not be? We witnessed his big league debut at Busch last year. Diving catch in right field to save a hit and possible run? Check. Hit in first AB? Check. Super nice guy? You bet. I had read about rubbing chrome cards for Sharpie’s to “stick”… I didn’t realize I had to rub down nearly all modern cards, chrome or note. Shame, since Isaac loves the gold parallel. Never again.

Brian Barton is another player Isaac loves to watch. We had a season ticket package last year. Our first game: Barton scored from first on a routine double in the gap. Being a good base runner is one thing, having the ability to out run a throw is another. Barton out ran the relay. Isaac was hooked.

D1aM

Two prospects, twenty years apart.

D1aB

Chris Perez is the Cardinals closer in waiting. Bryan Anderson caught him last year. Perez has nasty stuff but can’t control is slider. Anderson is stuck behind Molina and is constantly mentioned in trade talks.

D1bT

Brett Wallace was the Cardinals #1 draft pick last summer and has had an amazing run in the minors since. Despite owning the weekends laziest signature, we’re excited to see him in the bigs. He is the heir apparent to Glaus at third. Stavinoha spent time between Memphis and St. Louis last year as the outfield injuries mounted. OF/1B type in an organization with a future HOF at first and an absolute log jam in the OF. Don’t know much about Jay but he's a non-roster invitee to spring training. Guess we'll find out...

D1bB

Jason Motte, a converted catcher, has supplanted Chris Perez as Isaac’s favorite young reliever. Why? 98 – 102 mph. Isaac’s eyes lit up when he saw the stadium radar gun flash 100+ mph fastballs. He needs a second pitch but man is he exciting to watch.

Day one: 10 autos - Paid for Barton, Perez, & Motte. The rest were freebies.

For Dave @ Fielder’s Choice

Magrane

Magrane auto for Dave

More to come…

Monday, January 19, 2009

Trade with Project 62

In addition to sending the Pete Rose auto set, we worked out a trade with Chris from Project 62. Turns out we both bought our kids boxes of Sportflics for the holidays so we sent each other any doubles we had plus all of our Cubs for all of his Cardinals. Chris was also nice enough to send a few extra Cardinals for Isaac’s team binder.

2008 UD Masterpieces

Project 62 P2

Ozzie Sportflics, Mitch Boggs Bowman Chrome, Carp UD GU

Project 62 P1

Isaac loved the cards and has started a Masterpieces page in his Cardinals binder. The Carp GU will join his only other GU card: a Bazooka Mark Grudzielanek bat card celebrating April 27, 2005, the day he hit for the cycle in old Busch stadium. Coincidently, I was at that game and he’s been on me about finding my ticket stub. Thanks again, Chris.

Monday, January 12, 2009

2008 Topps Heritage High Numbers

Need: Bold denotes Short Print

Base Cards (Green Backs)

523, 531, 532, 541, 542, 545, 579, 596, 677, 703, 711, 713, 714

Rookie Performers (RP's)
2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14

Flashbacks (FB's)
1, 3, 10

Then & Nows (TN's)
2, 4, 6, 9,

For Trade: Bold denotes Short Print

Base Cards (Green Backs)
501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506, 508, 509, 510, 511, 512, 513, 515, 516, 518, 519, 520, 521, 524, 526, 527, 528, 530, 533, 534, 536, 537, 540, 543, 546, 547, 548, 549, 550, 551, 552, 554, 556, 560, 561, 562, 564, 565, 566, 567, 568, 569, 570, 571, 572, 573, 574, 575, 576, 577, 578, 580, 581, 582, 583, 584, 585, 586, 588, 589, 590, 591, 592, 594, 598, 600, 602, 603, 604, 606, 607, 608, 609, 610, 611, 612, 613, 614, 615, 616, 617, 618, 620, 622, 623, 625, 627, 628, 629, 632, 633, 635, 636, 637, 638, 639, 640, 641, 643, 644, 645, 647, 649, 650, 654, 656, 657, 658, 660, 662, 663, 665, 666, 667, 669, 670, 671, 674, 675, 676, 678, 679, 680,683, 684, 685, 694, 697, 701, 706, 712, 716, 720

Black Backs
523, 532, 539, 545, 549, 579, 595, 596, 597, 619

Flashbacks (FB's)
2, 7, 8

Then & Nows (TN's)
8

Rookie Performers (RP's)
1

Updated 2/10/09

Saturday, January 10, 2009

1986 Sportflics

Need:
1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 42, 46, 48, 50, 51, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 60, 62, 63, 64, 66, 69, 72, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 92, 93, 99, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 113, 114, 116, 122, 123, 126, 127, 128, 129, 131, 132, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 141, 143, 146, 150, 151, 154, 156, 157, 159, 160, 163, 166, 168, 169, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 187, 188, 189, 191, 192, 195, 199, 200 & higher.

For Trade
3, 5, 8, 20, 45, 51, 67, 75, 94, 139, 149, 152, 153, 155, 165, 180, 196, 197. Boat load of trivia cards.

Updated 1/16/2009

Thursday, January 1, 2009

2008 Allen Ginter

This one's for Dad...

Needs:
325

Sharks: Bull Shark, Ocean Whitetip, Mako

Baseball Icons: BI2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18

Team Orange: TO1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10

Any STL Cardinals mini's


For Trade:
2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 57, 58, 59, 61, 62, 63, 64, 66, 67, 68, 69, 71, 74, 75, 76, 77, 79, 80, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 88, 89, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 101, 103, 104, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 118, 120, 122, 123, 125, 127, 130, 131, 132, 134, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 143, 145, 146, 148, 149, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 169, 173, 174, 175, 177, 178, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 191, 192, 193, 194, 196, 198, 199, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 210, 211, 212, 213, 216, 217, 218, 220, 225, 227, 229, 230, 321, 234, 235, 236, 239, 240, 243, 245, 246, 247, 248, 251, 255, 257, 259, 260, 262, 263, 264, 266, 267, 270, 272, 273, 274, 275, 277, 279, 284, 285, 287, 288, 289, 290, 292, 293, 294, 296, 297, 298, 299

SP's
303, 305, 306, 308, 316, 318, 323, 324, 328, 330, 337, 340, 342, 343, 345

States
4, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29, 28, 32, 33, 38, 40, 41, 44, 45, 46, 47

Updated 1/12/2009

2008 Topps Chrome

Needs:
2, 6, 7, 9, 11, 14, 15, 17, 24, 28, 33, 34, 35, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 68, 72, 73, 76, 79, 81, 82, 90, 93, 103, 104, 117, 118, 126, 130, 134, 135, 141, 142, 146, 149, 156, 162, 163, 170, 194, 197, 198, 204, 210, 212, 218, 219

TCHC6, 7, 19, 20, 21, 24, 37

ARC11, 22

WMDPC3, 9, 12, 19

TCCP8, 10, 11, 13, 17, 22

For Trade:
1, 4, 18, 19, 22, 23, 25, 31, 36, 39, 41, 43, 46, 49, 51, 54, 65, 67, 69, 70, 77, 78, 80, 86, 99, 105, 109, 111, 115, 121, 127, 129, 138, 147, 154, 155, 157, 161, 167, 169, 171, 175, 179, 183, 185, 196, 202, 214, 217,

MMSC46, 51

ARC2

TCHC33, 36, 43, 46

Updated 1/1/2009

2008 Topps Updates & Highlights

Needs:
Base Set: None! A jumbo hobby box did the trick! Insert wants coming soon.

For Trade:
1, 4, 5, 10, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 24, 25, 27, 28, 31, 32, 34, 36, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 50, 52, 53, 55, 56, 57, 60, 63, 64, 65, 67, 69, 72, 76, 77, 78, 81, 82, 85, 86, 87, 89, 90, 93, 95, 100, 101, 103, 105, 106, 114, 116, 118, 124, 125, 130, 133, 140, 142, 143, 144, 148, 149, 152, 153, 154, 160, 163, 167, 168, 170, 172, 173, 174, 182, 183, 185, 187, 190, 192, 193, 196, 197, 198, 202, 203, 205, 206, 211, 213, 214, 215, 217, 221, 223, 224, 225, 227, 230, 231, 235, 236, 239, 241, 243, 244, 248, 249, 250, 252, 253, 259, 260, 261, 262, 264, 267, 270, 272, 274, 277, 279, 284, 285, 287, 288, 293, 297, 298, 299, 300, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 315, 317, 320, 321, 322, 323, 325, 326, 328, 329, 330

Current as of 1/15/2009.