Top 5 Tribute: Tom Seaver

Two weeks ago, we lost an all-time great. Tom Seaver passed away at the age of 75. Seaver was one of those players that I learned early in my collecting career was one of the best, but was on the back end of his career in the mid-eighties. I knew him from the Red Sox and White Sox more than the Mets and Reds.

In honor of his life and career, I present the top 5 Tom Seaver cards in my collection:

1971 Topps #72 NL 1970 Strikeout Leaders

The oldest card in my collection, and the one I feel best summarized Seaver. According, to TCDB, I have 24 cards of Tom Seaver. 25% of them are League Leader cards. I have him gracing cards for strikeouts, ERA, and wins - the triple crown of 1960's and 70's pitching categories. He lead his league 5 times in strikeouts, and 3 times each for the other two.

1980 Topps #500

I said before I was more familiar with him with Chicago and Boston, but I also had my fair share of his Cincinati days. I actually miss when Topps would give the rounded hundred numbers to all-time greats (usually) and all-star caliber guys with the tens. Seaver undoubtedly earned #500 in this set.

1987 Topps #425

Of course, I'd be doing myself a disfavor if I didn't  show off at least one card of Seaver on my favorite team. This sunset card reflects his last season, spent partially with the Red Sox after a mid-season trade. He was still a serviceable pitcher, but unfortunately got hurt before the 1986 playoffs. I can't help but wonder if he would have made a difference in that World Series if he was healthy.

2012 Panini Cooperstown - Hall History #9

It seems so long ago now, but there was a time Tom Terrific was the standard for Hall of Fame vote percentage. His inclusion on 98.8% of the ballots was a high water mark that stood until Ken Griffey Jr surpassed him in 2016. He's now 4th highest behind Rivera, Jeter, and Griffey.

2016 Topps - The Greatest Streaks #GS-07

10 consecutive strikeouts is impressive, but the story of the game makes this even more remarkable. Overall he struck out 19, giving up two hits. You want an example of pure pitching domination? Those 10 straight strikeouts came during the last 10 outs of the game! Think about that - starting with the last out of the 6th inning, he recorded the final three frames all via strikeout. I can't imagine what the opposing team (Padres) were thinking as they helplessly tried to do something, anything, against Seaver.

Rest in peace, Mr. Seaver. You will be missed!

TCDB Trade Recap: Cards From San Antonio, TX*

(*and also Eagle MI!)

You wouldn't have known from reading my blogs, but I took some time off this month. I had some minor nasal surgery on the 1st. Since I hadn't used any vacation time this year, I decided to just take some time and enjoy life at home as I recovered. Part of my little break was also going to be from blogging, since I wasn't sure how up to it I'd feel post surgery. Fortunately, I had enough posts ready to publish ahead of time, and really only missed Labor Day on my usual M-W-F schedule.

It was almost perfect, except for the part where I realized Wednesday's haiku was the last thing I had  scheduled. So I apologize in advance if the next few posts are a little sloppy, as I'm trying to whip up some short tributes to a couple of deceased legends, another Time Travel update, and new haiku for next week.

Anyway, on to the subject of today's post. Like a lot of people who rely on Wal-Mart and Target to get new product, the shelves have been bare for most of the summer and there hasn't been much of anything. (I went to Target a few days ago for the first time in months, and the only baseball cards they had were Angels team sets...from 2016!) Needless to say, I've been trying to get at least the Red Sox cards from Topps Series 2 via the trade route, and managed to pick up 4 of them from a TCDB named JD.

It makes me sad to say this, but Topps needs to stop putting Pedroia in the base set. He's played 9 games since 2018. He's done, although I still hope he gets one last chance next year.

I also picked up a couple of cards from Terry in Eagle, MI. My trade with Terry was actually a Time Travel Trade, which I'll get to sometime in the near future. Outside of that I picked up two more cards:
 

I really like how these two cards look next to each other! Although each pitcher is facing a different direction, you have a straight arm on the left and a bent arm on the right. Eovaldi is wearing the road grays while Hernandez gets the more colorful home reds. Just a lot of similarities and contrasts between the two!

Favorite card: Pretty standard photos here, so I'll pick the sharp red uniform on Hernandez!

Thanks for the cards JD and Terry! 

Never forget!

Repack Haiku #169 (Ozzie Guillen)

Names of his three boys:

Ozwaldo, Oney, Ozney

All begin with "O"

1993 Donruss #255 Ozzie Guillen

For what it's worth, his wife's name does not (Ibis).

TCDB Trade Recap: Cards From $30/Week Habit

Robert from $30 A Week Habit is collecting the 35th Anniversary 1985 Topps inserts from this year's base set. I, on the other hand, am not. So I decided to look through his needs and see if I had anything I could send him. Before you know it, we had a trade! You can see what I sent him here, and in return I got some fantastic inserts of my own!

Favorite Card: It's not often I can use a viral video clip to accurately depict my choice...

 

Thanks for another great trade Robert!

Repack Haiku #168 (Al Oliver)

Simmons broke the curse

Of Hall of Fame "One-and-done"

Is Oliver next?

1986 Topps #775 Al Oliver

Al Oliver has a surprisingly strong Hall of Fame case: over 2700 hits, a career .300 hitter, 7-time All-Star, MVP votes in 10 different seasons. Yet, on his first ballot appearance in 1991, he failed to get 5% of the vote. It didn't help that it was a stacked ballot, with 9 eventual Hall of Famers to compete with. It definitely didn't help to be compared with fellow 1st timer Rod Carew. Perhaps if the owners didn't collude to end his career after 1985, he could have hung on long enough to get to that 3,000 hit mark. Ted Simmons fell off the ballot after one yer and eventually made the Hall of Fame; perhaps Oliver could get another look?

Cards Once Owned By A Panini Employee In Training

Earlier this month, Bo from Baseball Cards Come To Life had a Free Card Friday. I managed to contain myself and only pick up 4 cards:

The UK Mini is one of those sets that I'm not actively trying to complete, but I have enough of them that I'll pick up a stray now and again.  Then there is the Upper Deck Masterpiece, which honestly doesn't look like Yaz, but is still a work of art. Finally, there are two well-loved vintage, which have been carefully given the unlicensed treatment by having the Red Sox name and logo blotted out. Thanks for the cards, Bo!

Favorite Card: Marked up or not, gotta love a card of the man who led the "Impossible Dream" Red Sox to the World Series!

TCDB Trade Recap: Cards From Pell City, AL

Sometimes when I propose a trade on the TCDB, my goal is more to clear out extras I have than focusing on what I get in return. Such was the case with David, who gladly took some 2017 Topps off my hands, and gave me some Red Sox in return.

The 2019 cards were cards I already have, but I wanted to have a few extra for a potential side-project I've been mulling over. To my own surprise, I still needed all three of the 1986 Topps cards.

Favorite Card:  Well, seeing as how I declared it to be the Greatest Red Sox card of 2019, Sweet Victory scores a quick, and yes, sweet victory!

Thanks for the trade David!

Repack Haiku #167 (John Moses)

Wildcats team Captain

Year they became college champs

Played with Francona

1989 Donruss #626 John Moses

Moses was the team captain for the 1980 Collegiate World Series champion Arizona Wildcats. Among his teammates were future Major League players Casey Candaele, Craig Lefferts, and Terry Francona!

Time Travel Trading Update #44

You may recall with the last Time Travel Trading Update that I was faced with a conundrum with what to do with some cards I had recently acquired. After some outside input and much contemplation, I decided to trade those cards to myself and replace them with some from my personal collection. I have added the following to the stack: 

In addition, I also made a standard Time Travel Trade through the TCDB. I showed off some extra cards I received in that trade last week, but now the stack has a little more touch of gray:

The trade stack keeps getting older and older! Plus, I already have 2 small trades in the works for next time! I've been fortunate to get a few new traders of late to inject some new cards into the project, but I need your help to keep the inventory circulating! If you see anything you like, let me know!

The Time Travel Trade Stack:

2018 Topps
#502 Xander Bogaerts

2017-1018 Pocket Schedule
Carolina Hurricanes

2017 Bowman
#12 Trea Turner

2008-09 O-Pee-Chee (hockey)
#128 Tim Thomas

1998 Score
#68 Scott Rolen
#74 Mark McLemore

1994 Sportflics
#113 Pete Harnisch

1993 Classic Draft Picks (basketball)
#33 Will Flemons
#67 Bennie Seltzer

1992 Fleer Ultra
#594 Dave Righetti

1991 Upper Deck
#778 Dave Righetti

1990 Fleer
#629 Jose Canseco (POD)

1990 Upper Deck
#626 Frank Viola

1990 Pro Set - Theme Art (football)
#10 Super Bowl X Pittsburgh Steelers / Dallas Cowboys 

1989 Fleer
#29 Bob Welch

1989 Score
#495 Larry Parrish

1986 Topps
#5 Rose Special '75-'78
#6 Rose Special '79-'82
#401 Fernando Valenzuela (Turn Back The Clock)
#510 Wade Boggs

1985 Donruss
#305 Steve Carlton
#421 Andre Dawson
#557 Mark Langston (RC)
#616 Joe Carter 

1985 Topps
#694 Joe Carter

1983 Topps
#70 Steve Carlton

1982 Donruss
#74 Carl Yastrzemski
#76 Alan Trammell
#214 Tim Raines
#252 Lee Smith (RC)
#NNO Checklist 545-653

1982 O-Pee-Chee E.T. The Extraterrestrial (non-sport)
#15 Among Elliott's Toys

1982 Topps
#3 Tim Raines (HL)
#34 Joe Sambito
#70 Tim Raines
#74 Bob Clark
#190 J.R. Richard
#303 Bill Caudill
#399 Pat Zachry
#401 Johnny Bench (IA)
#462 Dave Chalk
#480 Steve Carlton
#651 Carl Yastrzemski (IA)
#754 Joe Morgan 

1981 Fleer
#268 Rod Carew

1981 Topps

#82 Astros Future Stars (RC)
#98 Clint Hurdle
#121 Larry Harlow

#194 Rod Scurry
#250 Ron Guidry
#259 Mets Future Stars
#363 Geoff Zahn

#365 Graig Nettles

#374 Tom Hutton
#414 John Pacella

#415 Ben Oglivie

#438 John Montefusco

#465 Bill Russell

#477 Luis Gomez 
#494 Bob Walk
#530 Steve Garvey
#560 Joe Morgan

#569 Al Williams
#600 Johnny Bench (AS)

#632 Alan Bannister

1980 Topps
#29 Mark Wagner
#51 Joe Ferguson
#88 Ken Landreaux
#143 Bruce Bochte
#157 Willie Wilson
#290 Steve Garvey (AS)
#325 Dan Driessen
#362 Danny Goodwin
#406 Paul Molitor
#572 Jerry Morales
#642 Ken Forsch
#655 Tug McGraw 
#671 A's Future Stars

1979 Topps
#25 Steve Carlton
#130 Bob Watson
#214 Boston Red Sox (TC) 
#465 Reggie Smith

1978 Topps
#295 Bill Lee
#373 Jim Willoughby
#385 Tito Fuentes
#424 Boston Red Sox (TC)
#482 Rick Miller
#706 Rookie 1st Baseman (Cage/Cox/Putnam/Revering) 

1976 Funky Sales Corp Funky Facts Baseball
#2 In A Trance
#3 Fans Vs Players
#5 Baseballeese

1976 Topps
#70 Roy Smalley/Roy Smalley Jr. (FS)
#196 1975 AL RBI Leaders (Scott/Mayberry/Lynn)

1976 Wonder Bread (football)  
#17 Bill Bergey

1975 Topps
#310 '74 Victory Leaders
#378 Derrel Thomas
#402 Bob Tolan

1974 Topps
#38 Don Kessinger
#67 Tommy Helms
#107 Alex Johnson
#141 Pat Bourque
#158 Jack Billingham
#158 Jack Billingham
#227 Mike Lum 
#349 John Vukovich
#534 Eddie Watt
#572 Enzo Hernandez
#638 Ken Sanders
#660 Larry Dierker

1974 Topps - Team Checklists
#NNO Montreal Expos

1974 Topps Traded
#458T Jim Ray
#496T Tom Murphy

1974 Wonder Bread (football)
#8 Bob Griese 

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

1973 Topps
#29 Tony Taylor 
#30 Tug McGraw
#68 1972 Leading Firemen (Carroll/Lyle)
#75 Vada Pinson
#79 Jim Willoughby (RC)
#80 Tony Oliva
#102 Rudy May
#116 Ralph Houk (MGR)
#145 Bobby Bonds
#215 Dusty Baker
#225 Albert Oliver
#230 Joe Morgan
#232 Ken Singleton
#240 Bobby Murcer
#258 Tommy John
#325 Boog Powell
#329 Ed Kranepool
#365 Rico Petrocelli
#368 Bill Buckner

1972 Topps
#33 Billy Martin (MGR)
#43 Rick Wise
#163 Tug McGraw
#197 Johnny Briggs
#225 World Series Game 3 - Manny Sanguillen
#231 Casey Cox
#239 Tom Timmermann
#266 Bobby Bolin
#363 Ron Klimkowski
#373 John Mayberry
#438 Maury Wills (IA)
#451 Tony LaRussa

1972 Topps (football)
#111 Jim Tyrer
#114 Bob James (RC)

1971 Topps
#16 Ken Singleton (RC)
#63 AL 1970 RBI Leaders (Howard/Conigliaro/Powell)

#63 AL 1970 RBI Leaders (Howard/Conigliaro/Powell)

#67 AL 1970 ERA Leaders (Segui/Palmer/Wright)

#69 AL 1970 Pitching Leaders  (Cuellar/McNally/Perry)
#71 AL 1970 Strikeout Leaders (McDowell/Lolich/Johnson)
#90 Joe Pepitone
#95 Luis Tiant
#105 Tony Conigliaro
#146 Ralph Houk (MGR)
#195 AL Playoffs Game 1 - Powell Muscles Twins!
#208 Billy Martin (MGR)
#270 Rico Carty
#290 Tony Oliva
#295 Bobby Bonds
#310 Tommie Agee 
#328 World Series Game 2 - Bufird Goes 2-4 (WS)
#374 Clete Boyer
#374 Clete Boyer
#388 Al Oliver

1971 Topps (football)
#22 Ken Avery (RC)
#110 Floyd Little (AS)
#176 Mac Percival

1971 Topps - Games Insert (football)
#38 Matt Snell
 
1970 Red Rose and Blue Ribbon North American Wildlife In Danger (non-sport)
#32 Polar Bear

1970 Topps
#47 Bob Miller
#390 Willie Davis
#457 Rico Petrocelli (AS)  

#601 Pete Richert

1969 Topps
#66 Orioles Rookies
#80 Norm Cash
#131 Chris Cannizarro 
#139 Andy Kosco
#182 Bill Rigney (MGR)
#484 Joe Gordon (MGR) 

1969 Topps - Deckle Edge
#13 Mel Stottlemyer

1969 Topps (football)
#73 Bennie McRae
#115 Randy Johnson 
#154 Sam Baker
#175 Joe Morrison

1968 Topps
#4 1967 AL RBI Leaders (Yastrzemski/Killebrew/Robinson)
#7 1967 NL ERA Leaders (Niekro/Bunning/Short)
#44 Frank Kostro
#181 Jerry Zimmerman
#260 Jim Wynn 
#309 Ken Henderson
#348 Larry Colton/Dick Thoenen
#449 Gene Oliver
#519 Jerry Stephenson 

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

1967 Topps
#1 The Champs (F. Robinson/Bauer/B. Robinson)
#348 Tug McGraw
#366 Andy Kosco

1966 Topps
#154 Chuck Hiller

1966 Philadelphia (football)
#104 Rams vs. Browns

1965 Topps
#17 Johnny Romano
#27 Dick Bertell
#86 Les Narum
#87 Nelson Mathews
#108 Don Mincher
#111 Lee Thomas
#178 Dalton Jones
#307 Barry Latman
#352 Alex Johnson (RC)

1965 Philadelphia (football)
#193 John Paluck

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

1964 Topps
#18 Billy O'Dell
#45 Milt Pappas
#92 Steve Ridzik
#341 Jim Roland 

1964 Topps - Coins 
#7 Frank Malzone

1963 Topps
#155 Bill Stafford

1961 Topps
#32 Ray Sadecki
#38 Bob Lillis
#96 Billy O'Dell
#98 2nd Series Checklist 89-176 (CL, VAR)
#258 Jack Sanford
#267 Norm Siebern
#399 Cliff Cook (RC) 

1960 Topps
#138 Art Mahaffey (RC, RS)
#186 Dave Sisler 
#289 Willie Jones
#414 Don Williams (RC)

1959 Topps
#298 Tex Clevenger
#424 Ken Aspromonte
#424 Ken Aspromonte 

1959 Topps (football)
#80 Joe Perry

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

1957 Topps
#212 Rocky Colavito (RC)
#235 Tom Poholsky
#249 Dave Pope
#371 Bob Lennon
#406 Bob Hale

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

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

1955 Bowman
#25 Minnie Minoso
#208 Ed Fitzgerald

1955 Topps
#45 Hank Sauer

1954 Bowman
#16 Jim Wilson
#73 Don Mueller

1954 Bowman Power For Peace (non-sport)
#91 USS Coral Sea (CVB43)

1952 Bowman
#57 Clyde Vollmer

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

1922 Church & Dwight Useful Birds Of America Third Series (J7) (non-sport) 
#7 Prothonotary Warbler

1915 Church & Dwight Useful Birds Of America First Series (J5)  (non-sport)
#1 Quail

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: 57 (2 pending!)
Unique trading partners: 33

Number of cards mailed out: 189
Year of oldest card mailed out: 1956

Number of cards received: 413
Year of oldest card received: 1915

TCDB Trade Recap: Cards From Two Rivers, WI

Earlier this month I received a trade proposal from a collector named Mike. He claimed one of my Time Travel Trading cards, but also asked for a few of my doubles. 

I'll show off the return for the Time Travel Trade soon in an upcoming post, but as for the rest of it:

The Doc Gooden was the last one I needed to complete the 1987 Topps All-Star Glossy set. I can finally take in down off my So Close page! The rest of these Red Sox cards were all needs. Thanks Mike!

Favorite Card: I absolutely love the photo on that Stadium Club Ted Williams. However, any time I can complete a set the honor has to go to that last card. Gooden gets the win here!

Repack Haiku #166 (Derek Lowe)

Won the final game

Of each postseason series

For curse-breaking team

2006 Bowman #107 Derek Lowe

For the 2004 Red Sox, Lowe picked up the series clinching win in Game 3 of the ALDS, Game 7 of the ALCS, and Game 4 of the World Series.

I'll Lead, You Follow

I usually spend about an hour or so each morning reading other blogs. Depending on how many new posts there are, I'll try to at least skim through each one (Of course there are a few "must-reads"!) More often than not something will catch my attention and I'll end up going back and reading the whole post from the beginning. 

I was reading a particular favorite blog of mine recently, and it wasn't so much that day's content that caught my attention, but rather the list of followers on the side. The blog had less followers than me, and that didn't seem it could possibly be correct. 

It led me to looking at the numbers of the other blogs I read (at least, those that use the follower feature on Blogger). There's quite a few out there with less followers than me, and to be perfectly honest, they deserve more. I thought it would be nice to just highlight a few blogs I read, and encourage my followers to give them a follow as well. Maybe I'll make this a monthly thing, just something simple to spread the love.

Here are 3 blogs that deserve your time  and attention:

Collecting Cutch

There are super-collectors, and then there is Brian. Brian is the ultimate Andrew McCutchen fan, and has close to 3,000 unique cards in his collection. The best reason to follow his blog however, comes during his Save Second Base event in October. Brian is a huge supporter of breast cancer awareness and research, and his daily October posts feature plenty of  pink cards and lovely ladies. 

Give Collecting Cutch a follow now!

Horizontal Heroes

You may know him as Comishbob from the blog The Five Tool Collector, but he has another blog where he's showing off each and every card from the beautiful 1960 Topps set. Each vintage card gets its own write-up, showcasing the players career and how they did in 1960.

Give Horizontal Heroes a follow now!

Nothing If Not Random

Sometimes it's good to read posts about stuff outside of the trading card hobby. Don't worry, you'll get plenty of that too, but with TV, movie and music reviews mixed in as well. This is also the home of the Affordable Group Break, where he frequently busts cheap boxes of cards.

Give Nothing If Not Random a follow now!

As I said, there's plenty of other blogs out there that could use a boost, so maybe I'll make this a regular thing. 

Happy reading!

Johnny's Trading Spot BFG (August Edition)

Another month, another Big Fun Game courtesy of Johnny from Johnny's Trading Spot! I got signed up early enough to me a part of lasts Friday's game, and as usual I'm quite happy with the cards I ended up with!

Stealing another player's pick is half the fun of these games, so I hope that my pick is closer towards the end so I can see if anyone else has something good. That was the case this time, and I picked up a few new Red Sox cards for my efforts.

 

These 1987 Fleer World Series cards were originally included in factory sets, so pack rippers like me never got the joy of pulling one. Although the 1986 World Series is one Red Sox fans look back as a missed opportunity, it's still worth remembering a great team that kept fighting and didn't give up.

 

Do you know what the best part of this set is? The write-ups on the back! Fleer didn't focus on the game score, instead focusing on the individual players who excelled in the spotlight. Hard to believe that a set dedicated to the 1986 World Series doesn't even mention Bill Buckner's error! Just goes to show you how a narrative can change over time!

Favorite Card: Marty Barrett has the best action shot. I would love to see a clearer, higher-resolution version of it!

Can you believe that there are still open spots available for the rest of Johnny's BFG this month? Seriously, it's free cards! Even if your not around to play he gives out consolation prizes. Sign up! 

As always, thanks again for the free cards Johnny!

Repack Haiku #165 (Darin Erstad)

Sole Gold Glove winner

To win award playing both

Infield and outfield

2002 Upper Deck Diamond Connection
#2 Darin Erstad

He won the Gold Glove as an outfielder in both 2000 and 2002. Then switched to first base, where he won again in 2004!

Mystery Red Sox From Penny Sleeve

Way back in May, Jon from A Penny Sleeve For Your Thoughts held a Free Stuff Friday overflowing with awesome cards. I, of course, claimed any unwanted Red Sox cards for my collection, and boy did I claim some beauties!

Every Red Sox fan know names like Foxx, Rice, and Evans. Even Hub Leonard is a name that'll ring a few bells. But those two cards from the 1978 TCMA The 1960's set feature names I had never heard of before. Bill Spanswick? Arnold Earley?

 

That's what makes baseball card collecting fun, isn't it? I took a few minutes a researched these men.

 

Spanswick only managed one season in the Majors, but still had some amazing professional moments. In the minors, he once struck out 22 players in a 9-inning game, and 25 batters during a 14-innibg shutout!  He's still involved in the sport, acting as an usher for Spring Training games at the Red Sox site in Fort Myers.

Early pitched a robust 8 seasons in the Majors. He made his major league debut the day before Ted Williams hit a home run in his final at bat. After a career pitching for the Red Sox, Cubs, and Astros, Early became a sheriff's deputy in Flint, MI.

They may not be household names, but history remembers them anyway.

Thanks for the cards, Jon!

Favorite cards: Gee, after all that research, I have to give the honor to Early and Spanswick don't I?

Payday Pack - A Dandy Sandy

Wal-Mart's card section mocks me. It knows I'm hoping for some new product. It even teases me sometimes. You would think I would know better, be stronger, look away. But that itch, that deep addict's itch to open a pack gnaws at me. I can't help but see what crumbs the barren wasteland has left for me.

Bare shelves, unless you're looking for Pokemon. Sure, a few boxes of Series 1 and Heritage are there, as they always are. Plenty of last year's stickers, a hanger of Opening Day. Nothing to excite me. I settled for cheap. I settled for unexciting. For this edition of Payday Pack, I settled for a lone pack of last year's Gallery.

3rd Place

2019 Topps Gallery - Masterpiece
#MP-9 Francisco Lindor

I'm not a huge fan of Gallery. The artwork is very hit or miss. Plus, between the Living Set and Project 2020, it's an over-saturated niche. Still, I can appreciate the gems, including this masterpiece. The action/portrait blend works well.

2nd Place

2019 Topps Gallery - Wood
#124 J.D. Hammer (RC)

I'm not going to lie. I am unfamiliar with Mr. Hammer, so I had to Google him to see if he really is this goofy-looking (He's not). Those glasses are so fantastic however, that I hope he achieves a Chris Sabo level of iconic fame for them. Where those specs with pride!

1st Place

2019 Topps Gallery - Hall of Fame Green
#HOFG-14 Sandy Koufax

Serial numbered cards are good. Relatively low numbered serial cards are better. Relatively low numbered serial cards of Hall of Fame players are the best! These green bordered parallel cards are numbered to 250, and you can't argue with an iconic pitcher like Sandy Koufax!

Other Contestants not Appearing On Stage:

#16 Harold Ramirez (RC)

#73 Josh James (RC)

#62 Christian Yelich

#123 Luis Severino

#106 Rhys Hoskins

#65 Jacob Nix (RC) (Wood parallel)

#17 Justin Upton

#19 Myles Straw (RC)

#68 Kohl Stewart

Repack Haiku #164 (Alexi Ramirez)

"The Cuban Missile"

Hit four grand slams in season

A rookie record

2011 Allen & Ginter
#8 Alexei Ramirez

The Collector's Time Capsule

Did you want me
Did you need me
Could you not say
You believed me
And our love is in a time capsule

- Matthew Sweet, "Time Capsule"

Chris, AKA The Collector, went excavating in his mom's attic and rediscovered loot from a bygone era. Among the treasures were some cards, which he graciously offered up to anyone who wanted them.  I took him up on his kind offer to snag a few goodies:

Chris included some extra cards as well. Thanks Chris!

Favorite Card: Bill "The Spaceman" Lee's last base card as a member of the Red Sox gets the win!

As I was reading Chris's post about his "Time Capsule" discovery, the above song by Matthew Sweet  kept popping in my head. If you've never heard it, I'll end things off with the video. Enjoy!

Top 3 Tribute: John McNamara

Earlier this week, longtime Major League manager John McNamara passed away. Although he managed for almost 20 years, he'll best be remembered for leading the Boston Red Sox to the 1986 World Series. In tribute, I present 3 favorite cards from my collection:

1986 Topps

#771 John McNamara (MGR)

As I was looking at the cards I had of McNamara, one thing stood out to me. After 1986, it doesn't appear he smiles on his cards. He seems to have an annoyed, "WTF" look about him. I've read that he lost a lot of joy managing after all the backlash he got for leaving Bill Buckner in that fateful Game 6 of the World Series. I don't know if that's true, but his smile here reflects a man about to have a great year!

1987 Topps

#306 Red Sox Leaders (TC)

McNamara managed for at least a portion of 19 seasons, and in that time he managed some truly legendary players, like Tom Seaver here.

I want to take this opportunity to talk about another player he managed. Most of the articles I've read about McNamara's passing make sure to mention that part of his career legacy will always be tarnished by that decision to play Bill Buckner. There's another story not usually mentioned that should be a larger part of what he should be remembered for.

John McNamara was a minor league manager in the 60's for the team in the racially divided city of Birmingham. While there, he manage a young African American ballplayer named Reggie Jackson. McNamara's integrity never wavered. From the SABR Bio Project:

"When we'd be on a road trip and we'd stop at a diner for hamburgers or something to eat, McNamara wouldn't compromise. It was simple for him: if they wouldn't serve me they weren't going to serve anybody. He'd just take the whole team out of the restaurant, we'd get into the bus and we'd keep driving."  - Reggie Jackson

1988 Topps - Glossy All-Stars

#1 John McNamara (MGR)

By virtue of his 1986 AL Pennant, McNamara got to manage one of the greatest All-Star games the following season. Pitching ruled the day as both teams put up zeroes for an amazing 12 innings. McNamara AL squad fell in the 13th, thanks to a 2-run triple by the game's MVP, Tim Raines. McNamara managed 9 eventual Hall of Famers in that game.

R.I.P. John McNamara

Repack Haiku #163 (Greg Blosser)

From first-round draft pick

To private detective work

Now in real estate

1993 Fleer Final Edition
#F-170 Greg Blosser (RC)

Johnny's Trading Spot BFG (July Edition)

I didn't forget this time! After missing out on Johnny's BFG for June, I made sure I was around for this month's offering. I landed the coveted 5th spot, which allowed me to see a bunch of cards before deciding what to pick/steal. A sweet lot of Hall of Famers were revealed right before my turn, and I decided to steal them!

According to the rules of the BFG, whoever picks 1st gets the final chance to keep what they picked or steal someone else's prize. In this case, those Hall of Fame cards got double-stolen, and they were no longer mine!

I had a choice now. I could take what Player #1 gave up, or pick one of the unclaimed lots. Seeing what was given up, the choice was pretty easy:

You can't go wrong with vintage! Beautiful, beat-up, vintage from the 1963 Topps set!

Favorite Card: There's just something about those old team cards, right?

Thanks once again for the cards, Johnny!

EDIT: Johnny has signups for August available now! Sign up and get some cards!