Time Travel Trading Update #15

The dreams were getting stronger, and definitely weirder. Carlos Correa tossed and turned, all the while imagining himself playing basketball for the Rockets, then hockey with Canadians, even singing in Las Vegas with Neil Diamond. These were dreams, right? No, something felt real, felt familiar. He had gone through this before, but when?

"He's dreaming again..." said the doctor to her assistant, more of an offhanded explanation for the spike in the neurological readings than an observation. "He may not be able to handle a second travel." They stared at the man as he slept. It took him two months to come back from the last time, and although he looked the same, it was well known he was not. Still, it was important to see how repeated travels affected the human body and mind. The trip would go on as scheduled.

*****

Fastball looking. Swing and a miss. Fastball looking. The batter stood frozen in the box as Tom Seaver threw strike after strike. "98 MPH. Not bad!" said the coach nearby. "You look almost as good as you did at your peak!"

"Bull!" Seaver retorted. "I've never thrown better!" He knew it too, but he couldn't explain how. He had gone to sleep after a benefit dinner in Cincinati, and when he awoke he was at least 40 years younger. Now he was, down in an undisclosed Spring Training facility in Florida, trying to see if he could pitch again. Oh, to be on that mound again!

"Mr. Seaver, a word if you please." The man in the dark suit walked right onto the field as if it were home. "I'm Mr. Black, and I know how you got here. You've been given a gift, Mr. Seaver, and you now have the opportunity to help other ballplayers come back too."

"Hard pass, pal." Seaver replied, then focused on the catcher to deliver another pitch.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Seaver. That wasn't a request." The needle penetrated the skin of his neck before Tom Seaver could so much as blink, and field grew dark around him.

*****

Dan Frisella sat on the couch and rubbed his temple. It was impossible to believe, but the stranger had provided the proof: a newspaper sports section from January 2, 1977 - almost 3 months from now. The headline was as he had said. On New Year Day, Dan Frisella was going to die in a freak accident. Frisella looked at the stranger, who had refused to give a name and yet seemed so familiar. It was that sense of familiarity that made him trust that this man was indeed from the future. "OK, that settles it. No dune buggy rides for me!" Frisella shook the strange man's hand and walked him to the door.

As he got in his car, the stranger looked back at Dan Frisella and his pregnant wife. He hoped he did enough to earn the chance to meet see him again someday. A son could only hope...

*****

The trades continued to come in! 3 more offers!

First trade came in courtesy of  Chris from the blog The Collector. This is Chris's 2nd time travel trade, and he snagged 5 cards off the stack. The return package included a variety of cards, including:

Some modern cards


Some older cards:


Checklists:


And a really great vintage from the 50's:


A TCDB member became my 20th Time Travel Trade partner and snagged the 1971 Tom Seaver card. In exchange for one Hall of Famer, he sent me 4 Hall of Famers:


Eric from Old Red Sox Cards also got in on the fun. He picked up some early 70's cards, and responded with some great cards from the 60's:


There's just so much good stuff here! You know the deal by now! Make me an offer, either through this post or on the TCDB (Member Name: Kep75).

The Time Travel Trade Stack:

2016 Topps Heritage - Baseball Flashbacks
#BF-EM Eddie Matthews

2015 Topps Heritage
#273 NL Aces (Adam Wainwright/Clayton Kershaw)

2012 Topps
#396 Yoenis Cespedes (RC)

1993-94 Fleer (basketball)
#224 Michael Jordan (LL)

1991 Conlon Collection TSN
#13 Red Ruffing (HOF)

1990-91 Hoops (basketball)
#168 Glen Rice (RC)

1990 Topps
#18 Carlos Quintana

1986 Sportflics
#64 Bert Blyleven/Jerry Koosman/John Denny
#122 John Tudor

1986 Topps
#2 Rose Special '63-'66
#3 Rose Special '67-'70
#4 Rose Special '71-'74
#5 Rose Special '75-'78
#6 Rose Special '79-'82
#7 Rose Special '83-'85
 #401 Fernando Valenzuela (Turn Back The Clock)

1982 Donruss
#NNO Checklist 545-653

1982 Fleer
#660 Specials Checklist

1981 Topps
#63 Steve Renko
#704 Bill Travers

1980 Topps
#143 Bruce Bochte
#157 Willie Wilson 
#671 A's Future Stars

1979 Topps
#130 Bob Watson

1978 Topps
#24 Don Money
#193 Rich Chiles
#347 Terry Forster
#445 Mike Ivie
#471 Roy Smalley
#581 Lynn McGlothen

1977 Topps
#294 George Medich
#524 Rowland Office

1977 Topps (football)
#206 Cleveland Browns (CL)
#269 Archie Griffin (RC)

1974 Topps
#17 Doug Bird (RC) 

1974 Topps - Team Checklists
#NNO Montreal Expos

1973-74 O-Pee-Chee (hockey)
#53 Richard Lemieux

1973 Topps
#18 Leroy Stanton
#36 Steve Barber
#98 Dick Woodson
#99 Carl Taylor

1970 Topps
#47 Bob Miller
#103 Frank Reberger

1970 Red Rose and Blue Ribbon North American Wildlife In Danger (non-sport)
#32 Polar Bear

1969 Topps
#453 Mike Cueller

1969 Topps - Deckle Edge
#13 Mel Stottlemyre

1969 Topps (football)
#73 Bennie McRae
#154 Sam Baker

1968 Topps
#4 1967 AL RBI Leaders (Yastrzemski/Killebrew/Robinson)

1968 Topps (football)
#7 Earl Gros

1967 Topps
#206 Dennis Bennett

1967 Philadelphia (football)
#109 New York Giants (TC)

1966 Philadelphia (football)
#104 Rams vs. Browns

1965 Philadelphia (football)
#193 John Paluck

1964 Philadelphia (football)
#172 Ken Gray (RC)

1964 Topps
#60 Frank Malzone
#79 Bob Heffner (RC)
#305 Jack Lamabe
#352 Eddie Bressoud

1963 Topps
#111 Al Jackson
#155 Bill Stafford
#246 Lee Strange
#343 Johnny Pesky (MGR)

1962 Post Cereal
#58 Frank Malzone

1962 Topps
#278 Ken Johnson

1960 Topps
#95 Frank Thomas

1959 Topps (football)
#80 Joe Perry

1958 Topps
#341 Pittsburgh Pirates (CL, TC)
#371 Marty Keough (RC)

1958 Topps Zorro (non-sport)
#83 Rude Awakening

1957 Topps
#66 Brooks Lawrence
#235 Tom Poholsky
#249 Dave Pope
#371 Bob Lennon

1956 Topps
#103 Willie Miranda (white back)
#156 Johnny Antonelli

1956 Topps Flags of the World (non-sport)
#70 Jordan

1955 Topps
#126 Dick Hall (RC)

1954 Bowman
#16 Jim Wilson
#73 Don Mueller

1952 Bowman
#57 Clyde Vollmer

1938 Church & Dwight Useful Birds Of America Tenth Series (J9-6) (non-sport)
#2 Black-throated Green Warbler

The Time Travel Trading Project is simple in concept. I started out with a random pack of 2018 Topps Series 1 baseball cards. My aim was to trade every card in that pack for something older. Each card I receive in turn is then made available for trade, with the goal to get the oldest card I can get.

Number of trades completed: 21
Unique trading partners: 17

Number of cards mailed out: 39
Year of oldest card mailed out: 1956

Number of cards received: 108
Year of oldest card received: 1938