The Oldest Cards in My Collection

I am not a super vintage collector.  I'm not a really a super anything collector.  I'm a dabbler.  I dabble in set collecting and team collecting and autos collecting and dust collecting, but there's not one thing that distinguishes my collection.  I may have an unhealthy obsession for completing whatever I start, and this has led to an accumulation of untold Phillies and Bowman from the 2011 calendar year.  And maybe this is why the hobby has such a hold on me; I must get the next thing, even if the next thing is unattainable and out of reach.

There are a few things on my list that I have not been able to obtain and this bothers me to no end.  If I had unlimited funds, I would just go out and get them.  One such object of desire is a 1993 Finest Refractor, another is the complete 1995 Score Platinum Set (please don't ask me why), and another for a long time, was a card issued before WWII.

Since I had stopped going to shows sometime in the '90s, tracking down one of these guys without any references or sight unseen proved to be difficult.  (I also got sidetracked by all my other crazy collecting pursuits).  Beyond the tobacco cards and 1933 Goudey, I didn't have much idea what was out there.  Why? Because anything before 1948 was not listed in Beckett for a long time.

Then, along comes Matt of the Number 5 Type Collection, who sends me two cards of the '30s from two different sets out of the blue (I think it was for a contest).  These are the two oldest cards in my collection by 15 years.

1935 Diamond Stars Jimmy Wilson: I had never heard of Jimmy Wilson except in the most tangential sense.  I knew he was a catcher for the Phillies in the '30s.  That is until I read this article at Sully Baseball.  It really put into perspective that not all catchers are what they seem.  Of course, his name everywhere else is Jimmie Wilson.

1934? Goudey "Sad" Sam Jones:At the time of this card, Sad Sam was already at the 40 years mark, having played in the big leagues for 20 years.  He was a two time World Series ring holder (1918 with the Red Sox and 1923 with the Yankees, joining Everett Scott, Babe Ruth, Carl Mays, and Bullet Joe Bush to be on both the last Red Sox champ of the 20th century and the first Yankees champ of the 20th century). He also was good enough to pitch a no-hitter during that unforgettable 1923 season.  He was called Sad Sam by the sportswriters simply because he kept the brim of his hat down all the time while walking on the field, giving him a downcast look.

Hopefully, this won't be the first look I have at pre-WWII cards.  They're way more vintage than vintage.

Vote for Chooch: A Very Deserving Phillie for the All-Star Game

Card Presented: 2006 Upper Deck Special F/X Purple /150 (note how purple this card is, it's not just the border, plus what was this set?  A weird foily imitator of Topps Chrome?)

Let me join the voice to Phungo. The Phillies, as we all know by now, have not been having a good season.  The one extremely major exception  has been the Panamanian smasher known as Carlos "Chooch" Ruiz.  He is not hitting like a catcher or even like a first baseman, he's hitting like one of the top 5 hitters in the league.  Check out this line (as of 6:43 pm PDT as I just finished watching him hit a HR in the 8th inning): .361/.427/.579.  The last catcher to hit that well was (I think) Joe Mauer in 2009.

He's taken up residence in the clean-up spot for the team and is not just keeping it warm.  Only one batter in the NL can lay claim to having a better OPS than him (Joey Votto), only 4 have a better slugging %, none have a higher batting average.  He already has a career high in HRs with 10, and is the linchpin on offense and defense for his team.

He;s been a model of consistency, never going more than 2 consecutive games without a hit throughout the entire 2012 season.  And most impressively, he has 3 stolen bases so far with his catcher's fram (5'10", 200 lbs).

For more statistical goodness, he is 10th in the league in runs created, 8th in the league in intentional walks, 3rd in the league in WAR (5th for the offensive component and 6th for the defensive component), and first in the league in hit by pitches.

So, elect a well-deserving player to this year's game.  And he's not come out of nowhere (having received MVP votes the last two years, including with a .400 OBP in 2010).  His body of work says he deserves an all-star appearance in his career, and with these top of the line stats, he's even harder to ignore than before.  There is no more players overshadowing him, since he casts such a long one himself in 2012.

I've voted 25 times for Chooch.  Have you? (fans of teams of Phillies' rivals can be exempt if claiming mental hardship)

2012 Topps Archives Jumbo Pack Break

Here's a quickie pack break of the latest fun and filling entry into the baseball card market, 2012 Topps Archives. (also, to see more packs open in which you will have a vested interest, join the group break that can be more fun than a water slide. ) It will probably be the only pack I purchase of it (though I did participate in a group break).  I really don't like the base cards that much because it feels disjointed in a sense.  I wish each design had some kind of theme for the players that were represented.  (1954 Topps for pitchers, 1971 Topps for league leaders....or something).  Like for most, the fan favorite shortprints and autos are really the draw of the product.   There are also interesting inserts I wouldn't mind seeing (3-D, Deckle Edge, In Action) What did this pack break bring for me with 14 cards for $5.49, at a not so terrible $.39 per card.

You'll see it was not a star-studded pack.

83-Craig Kimbrel (71)-ROY-Jo!  (h/t to Stale Gum for the phrasing.)

33- Jon Lester (54)-struggling
156-Ubaldo Jimenez (84)-struggling

126-Rickie Weeks(80)-really struggling
90-Joe Mauer (71)-swinging like it's 2008

24-Lance Berkman (54)-injured
134-Chris Carpenter (80)-injured

101-Adrian Gonzalez (80)-struggling
54-Jemile Weeks (71)-Mendozian struggling
5-Freddie Freeman (54)-sophomore slumping

56R-THU-Torii Hunter Relic- This is a really nice design in the 1956 Topps style plus it's a relic with stats on the back!.  And even more impressively, it reads,  "Topps pledges to bring you closer to the game from the past, present, and future!"  I think I want a relic card from the future now.

183-Dan Uggla (84)
82-Jose Reyes (71)
32-Adam Jones (54)-I scanned this card for the return of the cartoon bird hat.

That's all there was.  I can see how collecting this set could be fun, but I'm not going to unless forced to by circumstances.  If you want to buy this set, buy a hobby box, get the autos, and enjoy the penmanship.

Some Graded Vintage Phillies Courtesy of the Adventures of Napkin Doon

This was a group of one of the cooler sets of cards I've received in a trade.  This trade was courtesy of the proprietor of the blog with the never ending checklist chipaway (seriously, check out the awesomely organized wantlist spreadsheet) The Adventures of Napkin Doon.

He was jonesin' for some cards from the GQ, premiere edition and he offered up this triplet of tectonic titans of the vintage Phillies variety.    Before this, I had only three 1955 Topps cards in my collection, so they were very welcome additions/

Tom Casagrande (or Tom Big House) was graded a 4 VG-EX and never appeared in the majors, spending 7 years in the minors shuttling between the Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington systems.  He did play on three AAA teams.

Bob Miller was also graded a 4 VG-EX and by 1955 was a reliever after his glory days of mostly starting for the 1950 team.  He was 5th in the league in wins probability added in 1955, meaning he was used in a lot of high leverage situations and succeeded in them.

Mayo Smith was graded a VG 3 and was the manager of the Phillies from 1955-1958 compiling 164-282 record.  He's best known for managing the Tigers to the World Series title in 1968, making the unorthodox decision to start his all-season centerfielder (Mickey Stanley) at shortstop during the series over the Ray Oyler and to form a power hitting outfield of Jim Northrup, Willie Horton, and Al Kaline.  Kaline had been hurt most of the end of the season and needed to be worked into the lineup somehow without sacrificing too much defense ,so he transferred his centerfielder without an error all season to shortstop for 7 games (because the SS hit .135 for the season).

thanks for the trade!

Side note: 4 spots still available in the group break of the moment.

Lost in a Quagmire: Phillies Edition, Some Possible Suggestions to Help 2012

The Phillies are mired in a swoon. Some would even call it a June swoon. Reminiscent of the approach of summer and increase in light, their record indicates they are feeling faint in the presence of opponents and need revitalization.

It hasn't helped that the majority of the team anchors are on the shelf.
-Utley and Howard have been rehabbing from the beginning. They should have been partially prepared, and they partially were since Nix has been hurt and Thome until his week was either hurt or ineffective.
-Halladay is out and the staff attitude has been deflated.
-And now on this night, the best hitter on the team to this point, Carlos Ruiz falls for an undisclosed amount of time to the most silently painful of all injuries, the oblique strain.

Others have fallen by the wayside, such as the fielding wunderkind, Freddy Galvis, the majority of the projected bullpen out of spring training (Stutes, Herndon, Contreras), and Cliff Lee and Vance Worley for a time. This is not to say that injuries are the only culprit of the poor record, but rather that a team can only do so much with 3rd stringers and general ineffectiveness. Poor fundamental playing and bullpen management (read here at this from Crashburn Alley for the best perspective on the bullpen I've read) have not helped the general cause.

There seems to be a general malaise around the team.  Worley has allowed 4 earned runs in his last 3 starts and has lost all 3.  Cliff Lee has an under 3.00 ERA for the season and has pulled an 0-fer in the W column.   The offense has not been the only problem since its numbers have improved greatly with a nearly 100 point OPS increase since the end of April.    Unfortunately, they have a .515 OPS with a runner on 3rd this year (the entire team essentially becomes Mario Mendoza)

They are 5-11 in one run games this year, probably worst in the league, due to the league worst bullpen.....ach...or ick.

Bright spots? I'm struggling besides tracking the rehab of Utley and Howard.....they've dropped 10 of 13. I hope this is the low point.

I have some possible solutions.

Take away underperforming relievers with an ornithopter mid-game and have it search for viable arms, if any more exist in the system. The vehicle can also be served as a staging area for spare balls in the dugout so they are coaxed to fly out of the park when they hit Phillies' bats.
Pro: Can generate wind to blow back possible home run balls by flapping
Con: Needs someone who can cycle a long time to run it correctly.

Andrea Roth as Harper Stanhope could appear at the whim of the Others in Citizen's Bank Park to bring up haunting memories of opponents.
Pro: Brings fear back to opponents in Philadelphia after stumbling to 12-19 record.  Uncle Cholly says they don't scare nobody.  Ghostly memories will accomplish that.
Con: May choose to haunt whoever's wronged her.  Ghosts are not that controllable.

William Sanderson as Oldham of the Dharma Initiative could introduce the island life/scientific evaluation that they need.
Pro: Decent enough at inspiration.
Con: Stuffs sugar down people's throats.

The Linen Balloon is a convenient way to give the balls a little more lift.  They can also maybe inflate Ty Wigginton's glove for a little more softness around the hands.

Pro: Easy and cheap to use.  Easy to hide helium tanks to fill pores of balls with.
Con:  Birds can knock them out of the sky with their beaks.

Terry O'Quinn as John Locke is a man of faith and trusts in his situation.  He looks for help in mystical powers and may or may not receive it, though he did regain the ability to walk.
Pro: Has a good sense of the land and would be a great advance scout..
Con: Has bad luck and is susceptible to betrayal because of trusting nature.  Lost a kidney and maybe his life that way (depending on which timestream you're talking about).  Outfielders can't learn from betrayal.

Or maybe this is just a bad season and they;re not feeling the love of 2012. ...

These other suggestions couldn't hurt though.

Finally! A Bowman Set is Complete by Hand Collation

Sign up for my one of a kind (that I know of) group break.  Get some great cards and here me speak live on video!  Four slots remain.

I don't know how many times I've mentioned this on this blog (probably too many to count), but I am a Bowman collector of a medium order.  In other words, I have been collecting the sets from the beginning of the modern era of Bowman (1992) until the creation of the confusing numbering systems (2005).  I have bought a couple of the sets because they were the most cost effective ways considering what else comes in a box (such as 1994, 1996) or because pack prices are so expensive that it would not be worth it to buy a box for the purpose of getting a set (2001).  

I am in the process of collating 1997, 1998 (well, not after this post), 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005.   I know they all look the same, but they each have their own personality.

1997: The progenitor of the red and blue, proud and bold and chromily inspirational: the patriarch

1998: Then & now features, sideways signatures, and very sticky: the restless toddler.

1999: Very dark and shadowy with stealth rookies and shaded borders: the schoolyard bully.

2000: Silver shine, retro/future parallel, little star power: the middle child

2001: haughty, expensive, given to chroming with curves: the stepping-out teen

2002: largest one series offering since 1996, but the borders are stripey, less mature than 2001: the wannabe primary school student

2003: museum framed portraits with a look to the future, full of friction: the almost adjusted freshman in college

2004: silky smooth, but leaves out the corners, feels like a shortened checklist, the smoothness does not cancel this: the proverbial promise maker

2005: loves to show off and hogs the spotlight, only really wants to be the best Bowman set it can be: the overachieving family member

In any case, here are the last three cards I acquired to complete the 1998 set.

Wade Miller:  Rookie of the Reading, PA product who was a good mid-rotation starter for the Astros for a few years.

Fred Mcgriff:  in the original Devil Rays uniform; they were very strange and the Crime Dog didn't take to it very well the first year with the 2nd lowest OPS+ of his career.

Brian Rose: was once traded for Mike Lansing.

Those are the cards that allow me to call myself a Bowman collector in full.  Before, I was merely a struggling one.  One set down, 7 more to go....plus the draft picks and prospects sets from 2002-2005 (but we're not counting those yet).

Mid/High End Group Break Still Open: 4 Slots Left

Here are the final details for the group break here. Only 4 slots left!

1. me

2. Brad's Blog

3. Arno

4. FieldLevelView

5. Brad's Blog

6. Tim (to be confirmed)

7.

8.

9.

10. 

1. 1 box of 2011 Leaf Ink- 4 slabbed buyback autos plus a 1/1 cut auto per box
2. 2 boxes of 2011 Leaf Valiant- 10 prospect autos per box
3. 2 boxes of 2010 Panini Century Collection-5 total autograph/memorabilia cards per box (multi-sport and celebrity cards included)
4. 1 box of 2009 Upper Deck Signature Stars-4 total autograph/memorabilia cards per box plus an off-chance at a Bryce Harper USA card.

5. 2 boxes of 2007 Tristar Prospects Plus- 10 prospect autos per box

How I envision this is there will be 10 people needed to sign up.   Each slot you sign up for will be for a total of guaranteed SIX auto or memorabilia cards plus other cards from the Signature Stars and Tristar Prospects Plus box AT A MINIMUM.  Also, please choose up to two teams for the base cards from the Signature Stars/Prospects Plus box.  (Notice that the number of hits adds up to 59, there is also a wild card slot that you can choose something from my collection of which there will be two categories to choose from).

Once you get your numbers, (1-10), then they will be randomized for the first round.  After that, a snake-style draft will result with at least six rounds.

 Then, the first person will choose a box and a number.  For example, the first person will choose something like 2010 Panini Century Collection box 1 #1....this means that they will get the first choice from that box.  The next person can then choose 2010 Panini Century Collection box 1 #2 (which means the 2nd choice from that box) or the 1st choice from any other box such as 2011 Leaf Ink #1.

NOTE: For your choice, you do not have to choose a hit.  For example, there are Team USA cards in Signature Stars, these can count.

Cost for participation is a little pricey, but think of it this way....would you rather get some guaranteed autos/relics from mid-high end products or buy more blasters of Heritage or Archives.

First slot is $60, second slot is $55, each slot is for the SIX auto/relic cards+additional things that won't be revealed until the slots are filled.  

Stat Anomaly: 20 Losses, Harry Byrd, 1953

Harry Byrd is pictured as a New York Yankee here on his 1954 Bowman card, but the feat of achieving 20 losses in a season in 1953 occurred when he was a member of the Philadelphia Athletics.   The AL rookie of the year award winner in 1952, can this be attributed to something more than the dreaded sophomore slump?

1952 was a great year for the rookie pitcher, finishing 9th in the AL in WAR with a 15-15 record with a 3.31 ERA (119 ERA+) with 3 shutouts in 228 innings.  Unfortunately, it seemed that everything that could go wrong, did, on the surface in 1953.    He led the league in batters hit (14) and earned runs allowed (145), though he finished 8th in the league in K/9 (4.6) and did face the 5th most batters.

It seems the regretful fate of 20 losses was unavoidable for Byrd in 1953.  There were 4 losses in which he pitched 7 innings or more and allowed 2 or fewer runs over the course of the season.  Conversely, there was a game where he walked 10 batters and got the win.  It seems his performance dropped severely after the all-star break.   As of July 18,  he was 10-10 with a 4.13 ERA. He finished 11-20 with a 5.51 ERA with only 3 of his 11 complete games after that point.  There were also 7 starts after that point in which he did not make it through the 5th inning.  The interspersed relief appearances did not help his apparent fatigue since he allowed 8 runs in 3 innings in 3 appearances between starts.  Left handed hitters had a 120 OPS+ hitting against him, suggesting a platoon split and Connie Mack Stadium, especially, did not agree with him, pitching to a 6.88 ERA in 18 starts.  He also had 6 starts with only 2 days of rest (instead of the normal 3) and was 0-5 with a 7.20 ERA.

At the end of the season, he left the penultimate Philadelphia Athletic team to join the Yankees in a massive 6 for 5 trade with the most recognizable name for me being Vic Power....just in time to join the Yankees for 1 of 2 years in the '50s for which they were not in the World Series.

Group Break at Cardboard Conundrum (and here)

Join the group break at Cardboard Conundrum to claim a team of your choice from 2012 products. It will be epic.

 

There's no reason for the scans above except to deflect attention from the Phillies' play this week.  Also, I liked the Prime 9 cards from last year, and these were great examples from a 33 cent box.

 

Here are the final details for the group break here. Only (possibly) 4 slots left!

 

1. me

2. Brad's Blog

3. Arno

4. FieldLevelView

5. Brad's Blog

6. Tim (to be confirmed)

7.

8.

9.

10. 

 

1. 1 box of 2011 Leaf Ink- 4 slabbed buyback autos plus a 1/1 cut auto per box
2. 2 boxes of 2011 Leaf Valiant- 10 prospect autos per box
3. 2 boxes of 2010 Panini Century Collection-5 total autograph/memorabilia cards per box (multi-sport and celebrity cards included)
4. 1 box of 2009 Upper Deck Signature Stars-4 total autograph/memorabilia cards per box plus an off-chance at a Bryce Harper USA card.

5. 2 boxes of 2007 Tristar Prospects Plus- 10 prospect autos per box

How I envision this is there will be 10 people needed to sign up.   Each slot you sign up for will be for a total of guaranteed SIX auto or memorabilia cards plus other cards from the Signature Stars and Tristar Prospects Plus box AT A MINIMUM.  Also, please choose up to two teams for the base cards from the Signature Stars/Prospects Plus box.  (Notice that the number of hits adds up to 59, there is also a wild card slot that you can choose something from my collection of which there will be two categories to choose from).

Once you get your numbers, (1-10), then they will be randomized for the first round.  After that, a snake-style draft will result with at least six rounds.

 Then, the first person will choose a box and a number.  For example, the first person will choose something like 2010 Panini Century Collection box 1 #1....this means that they will get the first choice from that box.  The next person can then choose 2010 Panini Century Collection box 1 #2 (which means the 2nd choice from that box) or the 1st choice from any other box such as 2011 Leaf Ink #1.

NOTE: For your choice, you do not have to choose a hit.  For example, there are Team USA cards in Signature Stars, these can count.

Cost for participation is a little pricey, but think of it this way....would you rather get some guaranteed autos/relics from mid-high end products or buy more blasters of Heritage or Archives.

First slot is $60, second slot is $55, each slot is for the SIX auto/relic cards+additional things that won't be revealed until the slots are filled.  

The Hope of Cliff Lee

Programming Note: Please join the group break.  Six guaranteed hits (+ surprises).  Five spots remain.

Cliff Lee is pitching and facing the Dodgers today in a possible season direction defining match.  At the very least, it is a statement game.  To be a viable contender, the team has to at least hold serve on a homestand with the #1 on the mound (since Halladay is hurt).  The Phillies are currently on a three game losing streak and still occupying the 5th position in the NL East standings.  There needs to be hope for improvement and it has to begin with the always gritty, go-getting visage of the Cliff Lee.

And what better image for hope than a 2011 Topps Update Hope Diamond card with tape on the toploader?  The team needs fixing and a direction, and Cliff Lee can be the captain of the new direction for the 2012 Phillies.  Almost all the other leaders from the past year's success are injured.  With the ones that remain (Lee, Hamels, Rollins, Victorino), they need to set the tone for the team in both attitude and performance.

Lee has not been the beneficiary of good luck or run support to this point of the 2012 season.  This is easily seen in his record: 0-2 in 8 starts with 3.00 ERA and 1.02 WHIP.  Wins are not exactly correlated with performance (check out Nolan Ryan's 1987 season or Randy Johnson's 2004 season for some extreme examples), but they usually do tend to follow some pattern in that a good performance is most likely rewarded.

This has not been the case thus far as Lee's run support has cratered to below 3.5 runs/game.  This is especially evident in the fact that in his 6 no-decisions he has allowed a total of 10 runs.  The 2 losses were the only 2 outings in which more than 3 runs were allowed.

He does not give in to any batter, peppering the boundaries of the strike zone with cutter after cutter.  He maintains a league best 5.40 K/BB ratio as of this writing.  This aggressiveness can be his demise as it was against the Red Sox.  However, the patient teams will take called strikes, be put behind, and eventually be put away.  The Dodgers tonight should hopefully be a good matchup for the strike zone movement artist.

The Phillies must take this game tonight and the next game tomorrow to begin the trend of reversing their home record from the current 12-16.  To be a contender, you have to hold your turf and Lee is throwing out the first pitch for that at the beginning of the 2nd third of the season.

What the Junkie Hath Wrought

Many moons ago, sometime before I learned to stop leaving cards on the desk for weeks at a time, I received a package from the noteworthy dayf of the renowned Cardboard Junkie blog.  This deal was struck at the peak of the pony-capades. He asked for junk (pack dividers and such) and in return, he sent whatever he pleased.  I was pleased by what he was pleased to send in return for 50 pack dividers.

2000 Topps Brett Myers rookie: This was the first Myers rookie I have had in my collection.  This gets me one step closer of trying for a trifecta of every 2008 Phillies team member (probably not going to happen anytime soon).

Scott Rolen Metal Mining for Gold: I like metal, it can be magnetic.

Topps Gallery Mike Schmidt: I do enjoy a Mike Schmidt in a fielding pose.  They just mentioned on MLB network that Zimmerman did a Schmidt play (charged a ball, fielded it bare-handed and threw it to first)

2002 Topps Heritage Nelson Figueroa: One of the players received in the Curt Schilling trade, he came back for another whirl with the Phillies in 2010.

2001 Fleer Futures Pat Burrell: This set was like 1959 Topps on a lunar mission.

2005 Topps Chrome Mike Lieberthal: It's a shame that Lieberthal never played on a Phillies playoff team, he should be more fondly remembered.

Jim Thome Classic Portraits: Thome's return to the Phillies this year has not worked as well as first visit to CBP in 2003-2005.

2004 Donruss Jimmy Rollins: Has always been tres cool, now he needs to start getting on base again.

There were also many non-Phillies cards, of which these caught my eye the most.

Fleer Premium Edgar Martinez: When I was in junior high, there was a card shop I used to go to that had semistar boxes for all the brands.  I used to love to go through these boxes and pick out cards of players who I thought were good, but were not listed in Beckett.  I have quite the collection of Edgar Martinez, Moises Alou, and Craig Biggio cards from these boxes.

Ovation Gary Sheffield:  The textured seam design rears its head again.

1997 Upper Deck Cal Ripken: I unequivocally love this card. It's from a set that has a caption for every photo, and this one in particular has the logo for the 1996 all-star game in Philadelphia.

2003ish Upper Deck Willie Stargell Piece of History:  A big card of the head of the family.

2001 EX Hit&Run insert: This is a weird card from a usually design-oriented brand.

2001 Sweet Spot Larry Walker: This is from the inaugural Sweet Spot set.  Walker for his career hit .381/.462/.710 in Colorado.

2004 Upper Deck Matsui Chronicles:  I'm not sure what set this is exactly from, but it seems Godzilla's every step was chronicled during his rookie season.

Mid-2000s Ultra Clint Barmes:  This is a short printed gold version of those Ultra sets that look exactly the same at the end of their run.

2005 Topps Chrome Matt Holliday: Not as famous as his most famous slide (2007 playoff game), but a rookie cup card of a star (6 years after his official rookie card).

Of course, the piece de resistance of the package is shown below.....ponies! dancing! from the pencil of the dayf.

Luna is not pleased...