It's a Box Break! Part 3, 2009 Tristar Obak Packs 11-15

The best part about opening this box are the strangely distorted images from the nineteenth century (ok, that's not really true.) Let's continue.

Pack 11
88: Patrick T. Powers-1st president of the minor leagues
81: Elias Howe-inventor of the sewing machine
63: Bobby Grich- 1977 minor league player of the year, all-star 2B
45: Oscar Eckhardt- highest professional career batting average
13: Tim Beckham-current player, Rays system
Mini 53: Jack Norworth-lyric writer of "Take me out to the ballgame"

Pack 12
57: Grover Lowdermilk-holds minor league single season K record
38: Ryne Sandberg-HOF
23:Buster Posey-current player, Giants system
83: Arthur Irwin-inventor of full-fingered fielding glove
80: Harrison Horwood-baseball manufacturer
Mini 27: Ted Williams 1910 Back Variation


Pack 13
62: Gene Conley-two sport basketball and baseball star, 2 time POY
77: Candy Cummings-credited with discovery of curveball

98:BO Jackson-needs no comment

96: Sammy Baugh-HOF QB from the Redskins

90: Branch Rickey-created framework of minor league system, among other things***


Mini 15 black variation (2/50): Buster Posey


Pack 14
11: Lars Anderson-current player, Red Sox system
40: Duke Snider HOF
78: Washington, James, and Benjamin Duke-cardboard advertisement inserts with baseball players?
A41 (92/200): Robert Forrest "Spook" Jacobs auto-1948 Tri-star league MVP

Mini 67: George Schmutz


Pack 15
6: Brian Matusz-current player, Orioles system
34: Satchel Paige-HOF
99:Wiliam Howard Taft-president and Supreme Court justice
1: Pedro Alvarez-current player, Pirates system
15: Naftali Feliz-current player, Rangers system

Mini 66: Ten Million


***A Story of Branch Rickey

Branch Rickey was a long time around the game of baseball. He was with the Cardinals in the '20s, the Dodgers in the '40s, and the Pirates in the '50s. He is most famous for his signing and support of Jackie Robinson. Maybe this story is not so well known.

When he was in college at Ohio Wesleyan in 1903, the best player on the team was an African-American first baseman named Charles "Tommy" Thomas. There was an incident when they played University of Kentucky, where they refused to take the field (at Ohio Wesleyan). Rickey basically called them out as cowards. Thomas did play. When traveling to Notre Dame, Thomas was not allowed to stay in the hotel in South Bend until Rickey persuaded the manager to let him stay in his room by threatening to take his team's business elsewhere. Rickey later remarked, "whatever mark the incident left on the black boy, it was no more indelible than the impression made on me."