The Senior(s) Circuit

This essay will appear on Beckett.com on Thursday, August 30th


Watching Roger Clemens pitch in the Red Sox/Yankees game tonight gets me thinking. Do you remember the Senior Professional Baseball Association from the early Nineties? It was a league down in Florida comprised of a few teams of ex-major leaguers and other assorted amateurs. According to Wikipedia, the SPBA was only around for two seasons (1989 and 1990), but some big names took part in the action, including Vida Blue, Ferguson Jenkins, Rollie Fingers, Dave Kingman and Ron LeFlore, to name a few.

The reason I bring this up is simple: there needs to be a national Senior League. Not just in baseball. It looks like basketball could use one too, because the last time I looked, Charles Oakley was still talking to his mirror about how good he is and Reggie Miller decided he couldn’t handle the grind of the NBA. But what about the NBAGL (Geriatric League)? It could be part of the players’ League pension plan: if you retire and feel the need to get out and play against someone other than your children, you can play a forty-game season in warm-weather cities like Tucson, Austin, Fort Lauderdale, Richmond, Santa Barbara, Las Vegas, Omaha and Cincinnati. This would give guys like Oakley, Miller, Tony Massenburg, PJ Brown, Allan Houston, Scottie Pippen and Gary Payton a chance to dominate again.

I mean, who doesn’t flip through old cards of former stars and wonder how they’d compare against today’s stars? It’s a pipe dream, one collectors and fans happily engage in to keep the debate alive—not something that ex-players should buy into. The ‘retirement’ blueprints of players like Roger Clemens and Michael Jordan should be anomalies, not the norm. I say this as a collector who has purchased items celebrating the retirement of stars like Jordan and others, only to feel duped when they make their triumphant—and sometimes not so triumphant—return.

As when a player first breaks into the league, his retirement is a big deal. It’s a turning point for collectors as well. Take Ted Williams. His 1958 Topps card is the last one of him as an ‘active’ player. Sure, he played well into 1960, but that one from 1958 was his last regular season card. (There is a reason for this, as he signed a contract with Fleer for cards after 1958, which allowed for 1959’s hero-worship Ted Williams set, and seemed to be the reason why Fleer produced their Baseball Greats sets in 1960 and 1961.) His Fleer cards, and subsequent cards of him as the Senators/Rangers manager in the late 1960s/early 1970s, pale in comparison to his Topps cards in terms of value (and rightfully so). But what if he had decided to come back as a player in 1962 and stick around for a few years? Would his cards be worth as much from that period as from the Fifties? I’d answer ‘no’: cards from the later period would not be worth as much as the earlier ones. The only ones that would even compare in price would be his first card after coming back and his new last card as a player.

I’m pretty sure Oakley, Pippen and Houston aren’t thinking about basketball cards and other merchandise that their sudden re-emergences on the national radar would spark, but it would be interesting. I think the scenario I outlined in the Ted Williams example would be true for those considering a return.

But what is it that makes players think we want them to come out of retirement? Is it some kind of Baby Boomer backlash that I’m not keyed into? And what if Charles Oakley’s sideline trash talking is for real and he can still perform at the NBA level? What other now-round mounds want to shag rebounds? (And while we’re talking about old timers, how old is Greg Oden, anyway? The photo of him in this month’s Beckett Basketball makes him look at least thirty-five. It’s those glasses and the beard. If only he’d stayed in college—I bet he can buy beer without a fake ID. Forget McLovin: McOden’s the one who’s superbad.)

But seriously, I can only think of two players who I’d root for to make a return (even today): Jim Brown and Sandy Koufax. Luckily, those two guys were smart enough to hang ’em up when they were still at the tops of their games.

Cards That Never Were: Checklist

As promised, here is the checklist for the eTopps set, The Cards That Never Were. Note: This is a preliminary checklist; some subjects may have changed.

1. Ted Williams, Red Sox, 1952 Topps
2. Ryne Sandberg, Phillies, 1982 Topps Traded
3. Stan Musial, Cardinals, 1954 Topps
4. Joe DiMaggio, Yankees, 1952 Topps
5. Whitey Ford, Yankees, 1952 Topps
6. Steve Carlton, Cardinals, 1966 Topps
7. Don Mattingly, Yankees, 1983 Topps Traded
8. Nolan Ryan, Mets, 1967 Topps
9. Wade Boggs, Red Sox, 1982 Topps Traded
10. Roger Clemens, Red Sox, 1984 Topps Traded
11. David Ortiz, Twins, 1997 Topps
12. Randy Johnson, Expos, 1988 Topps Traded
13. Greg Maddux, Cubs, 1986 Topps Traded
14. David Wright, Mets, 2004 Topps Rookie and Traded
15. Ryan Howard, Phillies, 2004 Topps Rookie and Traded
16. Johan Santana, Twins, 2000 Topps Rookie and Traded
17. Alex Rodriguez, Mariners, 1994 Topps Rookie and Traded

A&G 2008: Sir Gary Sobers

Last week I brought up that Topps dropped the ball on not including David Beckham in its Allen & Ginter Worlds Champions subset. Since then, card bloggers at Cardboard Junkie and Stale Gum have been going nuts with their own lists of individuals (and more than a few things) that they would like to see in A&G 2008.

Tonight I officially join the fray. May I present to you Sir Gary Sobers (he of the six sixes), cricketer extraordinaire.

In other news, you may have noticed that on the Boggs 'Card That Never Were' scan in an earlier post, he's listed as pitcher. It's also a mid-career photo. It turns out that this is not the officially released version of the card. It looks like it's an eTopps variation, albeit in scan form (if such a thing exists).

Also, I know a lot of you would like to know the full checklist of the Cards That Never Were set. I'll post what I know of it tomorrow.

Another Round of Ask Ben a Question

My Beckett.com post yesterday was all about my big fat love of 1986 Topps Traded, and how I think it's one of the most significant sets from the all-important 1986 to 1989 period in baseball cards. I also made the claim that out of the stellar 1986/87 rookie class, only three individuals would make the Hall of Fame: Barry Bonds, Andres Galarraga and Jim Leyland. To use a popular turn of phrase, one reader questioned the forthrightedness of my intentions (in other words: was I for real).

Reader Jeff writes,

Do you really see Galarraga as a HOF'er or was that said with tongue firmly in cheek? I just don't see it, he was a great story, especially with his personal triumphs, but our local star (also represented in the 86 TT set), Scott Bailes, has as much of a shot at Cooperstown (that was definitely said with tongue in cheek).

Yes, Jeff, I really do see Galarraga in the Hall of Fame. Here's why. We all know that personality plays into the BBWAA's choices almost as much as ability, awards and stats (otherwise a sourpuss like Jim Rice would already be enshrined), and Galarraga's resurrection from cancer, not once but twice is about as feel-good as a story can get. Besides overcoming remarkable medical battles and being a fan favorite, he hit for power, he hit for average and he was excellent in the field. People think that if a guy doesn't collect 3,000 hits, or doesn't hit 500 home runs or isn't a bona fide superstar over his career, then he isn't Cooperstown material. That's garbage. Also, players who peaked in the Nineties will inevitably be put under the steroids microscope when they come up for immortality. And for the most part, as with the first stipulation, it's irrelevant. Galarraga will run into both problems, as will his tenure with the Colorado Rockies. People will say the thin air inflated his numbers, but look at his pre-Rockies years on the Expos, playing in the cavernous Olympic Stadium: He crushed the ball out of there, too.

I don't think he'll make it right away, or even after a few years. I think he's more of a Veteran's Committee election type player. If you look at his page on Baseball Reference, scroll down to where the database compares him with other players. Cepeda and Stargell both make the list (as does Rice). His is an interesting case, one that I think will land him in the Hall. Andres Galarraga's stats on Baseball Reference


I'd like to enlist other readers on the following question. It's one I don't have an answer to (mostly because I remember really disliking Topps' design for 1990, so I didn't collect very many).

I was wondering if you know any info about the 1990 Topps Frank Thomas error card without the name on front... Like for instance was it found to be ONLY in factory sets, rack packs, wax packs, vending boxes, or whatever? I have a couple of unopened boxes of wax packs, and was wondering if there's a chance it might be in one of them. Also, in "researching" this, I read in the 2002 Beckett Almanac (that 1500+ page annual book with basically everything in it) that there were a few of the George Bush president cards accidentally put into some packs. Again, there's no information on the sources of those cards besides "a few collectors did receive these cards when opening packs." So at least they weren't a "factory-set only" kind of mistake, or only found in vending boxes... -Aaron, via email

As always, please leave comments on this post or email me your thoughts.

Topps: Now What?

So Upper Deck decided Topps wasn't worth the hassle. If you're Topps, what does that mean? And what is your next step? Do you immediately sell to Eisner and Tornante? Or do you count your lucky stars that McWilliam and Upper Deck got sick of your 'I-know-you-are-but-what-am-I' stalling, regroup with what you've got, and say the hell with Eisner? We'll find out next Thursday, August 30th, when Topps shareholders vote.

I have no doubt in my mind that a baseball card market with Topps in the picture as an independent company is a good thing for collectors. But if you're Major League Baseball and the Player's Association, should you consider bringing Donruss (or a newcomer) into the mix? Presumably this won't be the last we'll see of Upper Deck trying its hand at baseball card imperialism. And if you're Topps, what does this mean for your products? Even if Topps does an about-face and rejects Eisner's bid, is now the time when you look at your product lineup and fine-tune? And if not now, when?

News: Upper Deck Withdraws Offer to Buy Topps

Late yesterday Upper Deck withdrew its offer to takeover Topps. The words 'forthright' and 'intentions' were mentioned a lot as reasons for Upper Deck to say the hell with it; sounds like Mean Gene could've been a helpful mediator between the two companies' pre-match bravado.

Read all about it here.

The Essentials

Let's say that you were assigned the job of putting together a baseball card time capsule, to be opened way in the future, presumably a time when it's normal for baseball cards to talk (not just Topps' Talkin' Baseball, which I'm still looking for, by the way). If you were to put together a list of those cards that are most essential to the hobby, that best represent achievements in the baseball card (after WWII), which cards would you choose?

I've put together a list (it's relatively short) of 59 non-rookie cards (from 1948 to 1989), 97 rookies (1948 to present), and 24 sets (1948 to 1989). I've asked Chris Harris of Stale Gum to provide a list from 1990 to the present. Here's what we came up with (in no particular order):

The Essentials (Post War)

Rookies
1. 1969 Topps Reggie Jackson (r)
2. 1960 Topps Carl Yastzremski (r)
3. 1978 Topps Eddie Murray (r)
4. 1980 Topps Rickey Henderson (r)
5. 1982 Topps Cal Ripken (r)
6. 1979 Topps Ozzie Smith (r)
7. 1972 Topps Carlton Fisk/Cecil Cooper (r)
8. 1975 Topps Fred Lynn (r)
9. 1978 Topps Paul Molitor/Alan Trammell (r)
10. 1952 Topps Ed Mathews (r)
11. 1954 Topps Ernie Banks (r)
12. 1954 Topps Henry Aaron (r)
13. 1954 Topps Al Kaline (r)
14. 1955 Topps Sandy Koufax (r)
15. 1955 Topps Roberto Clemente (r)
16. 1984 Fleer Update Roger Clemens (r)
17. 1984 Fleer Update Kirby Puckett (r)
18. 1975 Topps George Brett (r)
19. 1968 Topps Nolan Ryan/Jerry Koosman (r)
20. 1968 Topps Johnny Bench (r)
21. 1967 Topps Tom Seaver (r)
22. 1965 Topps Steve Carlton (r)
23. 1963 Topps Pete Rose (r)
24. 1962 Topps Lou Brock (r)
25. 1960 Topps Willie McCovey (r)
26. 1957 Topps Frank Robinson (r)
27. 1957 Topps Brooks Robinson (r)
28. 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle (r)
29. 1951 Bowman Willie Mays (r)
30. 1948 Bowman Stan Musial (r)
31. 1949 Bowman Satchel Paige (r)
32. 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey, Jr. (r)
33. 1967 Topps Rod Carew (r)
34. 1983 Topps Tony Gwynn (r)
35. 1983 Topps Wade Boggs (r)
36. 1983 Topps Ryne Sandberg (r)
37. 1984 Topps Traded Dwight Gooden (r)
38. 1984 Donruss Don Mattingly (r)
39. 1985 Topps Roger Clemens (r)
40. 1985 Topps Mark McGwire (r)
41. 1987 Fleer Will Clark (r)
42. 1987 Fleer Barry Bonds (r)
43. 1987 Topps Bo Jackson (r)
44. 1986 Donruss Jose Canseco (r)
45. 1985 Topps Kirby Puckett (r)
46. 1985 Topps Dwight Gooden (r)
47. 1989 Fleer Ken Griffey, Jr. (r)
48. 1989 Fleer Bill Ripken (r)
49. 1987 Donruss Greg Maddux (r)
50. 1966 Topps Jim Palmer (r)
51. 1963 Topps Willie Stargell (r)
52. 1970 Topps Thurman Munson (r)
53. 1959 Topps Bob Gibson (r)
54. 1972 Topps JR Richard (r)
55. 1991 Upper Deck Pedro Martinez (r)
56. 1994 SP Alex Rodriguez (r)
57. 1992 Bowman Mike Piazza (r)
58. 1975 Topps Robin Yount (r)
59. 1974 Topps Dave Winfield (r)
60. 1976 Topps Dennis Eckersley (r)
61. 1973 Topps Mike Schmidt (r)
62. 2001 Topps Ichiro (r)
63. 1990 Leaf Frank Thomas (r)
64. 1991 Stadium Club Jeff Bagwell (r)
65. 1992 Bowman Manny Ramirez (r)
66. 1993 SP Derek Jeter (r)
67. 1992 Topps Traded Nomar Garciaparra (r)
68. 1995 Bowman Vladimir Guerrero (r)
69. 1991 Bowman Chipper Jones (r)
70. 1965 Topps Jim Hunter (r)
71. 1965 Topps Joe Morgan (r)
72. 1970 Topps Vida Blue (r)
73. 1975 Topps Jim Rice (r)
74. 1975 Topps Gary Carter (r)
75. 1977 Topps Dale Murphy (r)
76. 1981 Topps Fernando Valenzuela (r)
77. 1992 Bowman Mariano Rivera (r)
78. 1990 Leaf Sammy Sosa (r)
79. 1965 Topps Tony Perez (r)
80. 1949 Leaf Jackie Robinson (r)
81. 1948 Bowman Yogi Berra (r)
82. 1948 Bowman Bob Feller (r)
83. 1948 Bowman Warren Spahn (r)
84. 1948 Bowman Phil Rizzuto (r)
85. 1951 Bowman Whitey Ford (r)
86. 1949 Bowman Roy Campanella (r)
87. 1955 Topps Harmon Killebrew (r)
88. 1961 Topps Juan Marichal (r)
89. 1955 Topps Harry Agganis (r)
90. 1962 Topps Gaylord Perry (r)
91. 1964 Topps Phil Niekro (r)
92. 1988 Fleer Tom Glavine (r)
93. 1988 Fleer Edgar Martinez (r)
94. 1988 Score Update Craig Biggio (r)
95. 1988 Score Update Roberto Alomar (r)
96. 2002 Bowman David Wright (r)
97. 2001 Bowman Albert Pujols (r)

Individual Cards (1948 – 1989)
1. 1952 Topps Andy Pafko
2. 1954 Topps Ted Williams (#1)
3. 1954 Topps Ted Williams (#250)
4. 1959 Topps Symbol of Courage (Roy Campanella)
5. 1957 Topps Ted Williams
6. 1958 Topps Stan Musial All-Star
7. 1953 Topps Mickey Mantle
8. 1953 Topps Jackie Robinson
9. 1952 Topps Willie Mays
10. 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle
11. 1967 Topps Carl Yastzremski
12. 1975 Topps Joe Morgan
13. 1972 Topps Joe Morgan Traded
14. 1965 Topps Yogi Berra
15. 1951 Bowman Yogi Berra
16. 1951 Bowman Ted Williams
17. 1953 Topps Ed Mathews
18. 1988 Topps Wade Boggs
19. 1967 Topps Whitey Ford
20. 1954 Topps Warren Spahn
21. 1969 Topps Aurelio Rodriguez
22. 1971 Topps Thurman Munson
23. 1969 Topps Maury Wills
24. 1982 Topps Traded Ozzie Smith
25. 1981 Topps Traded Dave Winfield
26. 1984 Topps Traded Pete Rose
27. 1976 Topps Traded Oscar Gamble
28. 1976 Topps Bazooka Champion Kurt Bevacqua
29. 1977 Topps Big League Brothers (George & Ken Brett)
30. 1963 Topps Pride of the NL (Mays & Musial)
31. 1961 Topps Sandy Koufax
32. 1962 Topps Roger Maris
33. 1974 Topps Hank Aaron
34. 1970 Topps “Mets Whoop It Up”
35. 1972 Topps Roberto Clemente
36. 1973 Topps Roberto Clemente
37. 1978 Topps Jim Rice
38. 1985 Topps Pete Rose
39. 1987 Fleer “Dr. K Meets Super K” (Clemens & Gooden)
40. 1988 Topps “A’s Leaders” (Canseco & McGwire)
41. 1964 Topps NL Home Run Leaders (Aaron/Cepeda/Mays/McCovey)
42. 1963 Topps Brooks Robinson
43. 1963 Topps Casey Stengel
44. 1963 Topps NL Home Run Leaders (Aaron/Banks/Cepeda/Mays/F. Robinson)
45. 1962 Topps “Maris Blasts 61st”
46. 1962 Topps “The Switch Hitter Connects”
47. 1962 Topps Babe Ruth Story “Greatest Sports Hero”
48. 1962 Topps “Manager’s Dream” (Mantle & Mays)
49. 1954 Topps O’Brien Brothers
50. 1961 Topps “Brother Battery” (Larry & Norm Sherry)
51. 1961 Topps “Gehrig Benched After 2,130 Games”
52. 1958 Topps Don Mossi
53. 1957 Topps “Yankees Power Hitters” (Berra & Mantle)
54. 1955 Topps Dusty Rhodes
55. 1977 Topps Reggie Jackson
56. 1975 Topps Carlton Fisk
57. 1970 Topps Seattle Pilots Team
58. 1954 Bowman Ted Williams
59. 1964 Topps Ken Hubbs In Memoriam


Sets
1. 1952 Topps
2. 1953 Topps
3. 1954 Topps
4. 1986 Topps Traded
5. 1959 Topps
6. 1965 Topps
7. 1963 Topps
8. 1972 Topps
9. 1975 Topps / Mini
10. 1984 Donruss
11. 1957 Topps
12. 1955 Topps
13. 1975 SSPC
14. 1986 Sportflics
15. 1949 Leaf
16. Complete run of Donruss Diamond Kings (1982 – 1989)
17. 1987 Topps
18. 1989 Upper Deck
19. 1978 Topps
20. 1971 Topps
21. 1951 Bowman
22. 1955 Bowman
23. 1963 Fleer
24. 1951 Topps Blue & Red


Chris Harris' List (1990 to present)

1. 90 Upper Deck Reggie Jackson Baseball Heroes AU
2. 90 Score Bo Jackson "Black and White"
3. 90 Topps Frank Thomas NNOF
4. 91 Donruss Elite (set)
5. 91 Stadium Club (set)
6. 91 Upper Deck Michael Jordan
7. 92 Bowman (set)
8. 92 Fleer Rookie Sensations Frank Thomas
9. 92 Score The Franchise Mantle/Musial/Yastremzki AU
10. 92 Topps Gold Brien Taylor AU
11. 93 Finest Refractors (set)
12. 94 Leaf Limited Phenoms A-Rod
13. 94 Score Rookie/Traded Call-Up A-Rod
14. 94 SP Holoview FX (set)
15. 94 Upper Deck Michael Jordan
16. 94 Upper Deck Griffey/Mantle AU
17. 96 Leaf Signature (set)
18. 96 Select Certified Mirror Gold (set)
19. 96 SPx (set)
20. 97 Flair Showcase Legacy Masterpiece Ken Griffey, Jr.
21. 97 New Pinnacle Press Plates
22. 97 Upper Deck Game Jersey Ken Griffey, Jr. GU
23. 98 Upper Deck Retro Legedary Cuts Babe Ruth AU
24. 99 Upper Deck A Piece of Hostory Babe Ruth GU
25. 99 Upper Deck 10th Anniversary Buy-Back Ken Griffey, Jr. AU
26. 00 Fleer Tradition (set)
27. 00 Greats of the Game Autographs (set) AU
28. 00 Greats of the Game Yankee Clippings Mickey Mantle GU
29. 01 Donruss (set) -- If only for pure suckiness.
30. 01 SP Legendary Cuts (set) AU
31. 01 Sweet Spot Signatures Babe Ruth AU
32. 01 Topps Heritage (set)
33. 01 Ultimate Collection (set)
34. 02 Topps 206 Honus Wagner GU
35. 04 Diamond Kings (set)
36. 04 Donruss Fans of the Game James Gandolfini AU
37. 04 Leaf Certified Satchel Paige GU
38. 04 Topps American Treasures (set) AU
39. 06 Topps Allen & Ginter Danica Patrick AU
40. 07 Topps Derek Jeter
41. 07 Topps Allen & Ginter Ken Jennings
42. 07 Topps Allen & Ginter George Washington DNA

Please leave a comment on this post if you think we've left anything out.

iPhone Cards Wallpaper

I'm completely intrigued by the iPhone, even though it will be almost five years before I'll be able to buy one. That said, I've considered providing cellphone wallpapers, but thought their screens wouldn't do a baseball card justice. Enter the iPhone. The screen is almost a perfect 1-to-1 ratio for a baseball card. So here's the first one of what I'm calling 'iPhone Cards'.

Just click to download.

Bull Pillman

Here's that clip of Bull Pillman I told you about.

Adios Comfort Zone

Something happened to me earlier this week that I’ll not likely soon forget. I ended up in the emergency room and since then I’ve stayed in my apartment: warm, soothing, welcoming apartment, it has felt like a haven and a prison for me this week. I’ve been operating at half-speed (talking, walking, thinking), keeping me out of work and on the couch and in bed for the week. Today I started feeling a little more normal and went out to see if the subway still freaked me out (it did).

On my way back to the apartment, I started to think about my comfort zone: where I live, what I eat, how I spend my free time and money, how I live my life. My apartment has betrayed me this week, I eat a lot of junk food, I watch TV, movies, I read and I write about baseball cards, and I don’t really spend money on myself, except for groceries and paying bills. When I spend money on baseball cards, I don’t ever spend very much. In fact, one of the reasons I buy low-grade cards is because I’m a bit of a cheapskate. I don’t like spending a lot of money, period. Especially on cards. The most I ever spent on cards was at Brimfield Flea Market about ten years ago. My dad and I spent just over $200 for a lot of 48 1955 & 1956 Topps, including 3 Al Rosens, 2 Newhousers, a Vic Power, 2 Jackie Jensens and a Ted Williams.

So today I thought I’d test the comfort zone a little and go for a larger purchase at my local card shop. I ended up buying a box of 2007 Allen & Ginter baseball. This purchase goes against everything I stand for: expensive premium cards, high price point, useless inserts whose very existence I’ve made fun of on this blog before. While not a $500 box of three cards, I would characterize A&G as ‘risk-taker’ cards. High-roller cards. I’d rather buy ten boxes of early Nineties crap than one box of A&G. Speaking of the early Nineties, I should probably continue the Early Nineties Countdown one of these days…

I ended up paying $105 for the box. That’s $4.38 a pack. $0.55 a card. Just one look at the checklist and I can already imagine the perfect pack will consist of Willy Taveras, Brad Ausmus, Gil Meche, Brandon Inge, Sweet Loretta, Kevin Mench, Chris Burke and Milton Bradley. Or maybe a flag of Kenya. I thought the purpose of creating a set like this was to weed out the commons. I know, Meche signed for a ton of cash this off-season, but he’s still a common, right?

Needless to say, I have rather low expectations for this box. Maybe that’s just the post-purchase guilt spreading itself on real thick…

Let’s start out with the box loader. I got a ‘National Pride Cabinet Card.’ After checking out the checklist, I’m gunning for anyone except the Koreans and the Canadians… Goddamn, useless lousy Canadians! And there’s a big picture of Niagara Falls in the center of the card! What, Topps didn’t want to use a photo of a polar bear attacking a school bus in Victoria?

Alright, staying positive…here’s the first pack.

Matt Cain, Barry Bonds, Chris Capuano (mini A&G back), Dick Perez Jose Reyes Sketch Card, Mohandas Gandhi, Josh Barfield, Gil Meche!, Michael Cuddyer

Gotta love getting Gil Meche in the first pack. Also, after a quick scan of the checklist, I thought it said ‘Mohandas Giambi’. Apparently that is not true. Finally, I hope Josh Barfield’s teammates call him ‘Barf’, and that after he hits a home run at home, the Jumbotron at Jacobs Field plays the scene from Spaceballs! where Lone Starr and Barf (the esteemed Bill Pullman and the late John Candy) celebrate with ‘Gimme paw!’ One last thing—try to find a video of the Museum of the Moving Image Salute to Will Smith, where the announcer introduces Bill Pullman as ‘Bull Pillman’. It’s hilarious.

Second Pack
Brian Roberts, Pedro Martinez, Mariano Rivera, Flag of Austria (mini), Dick Perez Raul Ibanez, Aaron Harang, Mike Cameron, Kelly Johnson

Well, I got a Flag of the World (Austria). And a special insert card of Raul Ibanez (sigh). At least Aaron Harang looks like a zombie… You know what would spice these cards up? Real cigarettes in every pack. Or chewing tobacco. Or even better—why hasn’t anyone thought of this?—a little packet of Big League Chew.


Third Pack
Raul Ibanez, Michael Young, Jermaine Dye (mini), Dick Perez Freddy Sanchez, Jeremy Bonderman, Chipper Jones, Dontrelle Willis, Stanley Glenn

Another fuckin’ card of Raul Ibanez. Please, God, let that be the last one I get. Also, I propose we start calling Chipper Jones ‘Larry’. That’s his real name, not ‘Chipper.’ Besides, he’s looking old and fat, which is something I thought would never happen; his body fits Larry Jones more than it does Chipper Jones.


Fourth Pack
Manny Ramirez, Eric Chavez, Joe Borowski, Scott Kazmir (mini), Dick Perez Daisuke Matsuzaka, Miguel Tejada, Bob Wickman, Chris Duffy

Incredible, I got three look-alikes in this pack. Miguel Tejada looks like Charles Bronson, Bob Wickman looks like President Taft, and Joe Borowski looks like what I’ve always imagined the boxer looked like from Hemingway’s The Killers. I have to admit it: whatever Photoshop technique the Topps designers used on this set, the colors really pop.

Fifth Pack
Garrett Atkins, Ken Jennings, Elijah Dukes (mini), Dick Perez Ryan Zimmerman, Rickie Weeks, Willy Taveras!, Bobby Abreu, Kei Igawa

I honestly don’t know what’s better: a special card of Elijah Dukes, the batshit crazy Devil Rays rookie, or a card of Ken Jennings from Jeopardy!. By the way, in MLB: The Show 2006, Rickie Weeks is a bona fide superstar. Also, Barry Bonds is called ‘Reggie Stocker’ (probably because they couldn’t get licensing).


Sixth Pack
Tony La Russa, Lyle Overbay, Juan Rivera (mini A&G back), Dick Perez Carlos Lee, Chad Tracy, Gary Sheffield, Sean Casey, Brian Fuentes

You know how after you buy a lot of packs of a certain set, you begin to recognize collating patterns? And then, after getting pack after pack of the same players, you suddenly get a pack of commons that proves to be the linchpin to the rest of the set? This pack feels like it’s A&G’s linchpin.


Seventh Pack
Chris Stewart, Jorge Posada, Carlos Lee, David Ross (mini), Dick Perez Prince Fielder, Shea Hillenbrand, Brad Lidge, Wes Helms

Or maybe this pack is the linchpin…


Eighth Pack
Jeff Kent, Francisco Cordero (mini), Dick Perez Alfonso Soriano, Alfonso Soriano, P.T. Barnum, Joe Mauer, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Shawn Green

Pretty good pack. I can’t say that I really like the Dick Perez inserts. They’re too much like his Diamond Kings he did for Donruss. I guess they work with the illustrated look and feel of this set, but DK’s are what made Donruss sets so great. Topps had their subsets, Fleer had the inevitable error card and hot rookies and Donruss had the Diamond King. Also, I’m surprised at how much I like the idea of P.T. Barnum having his own card.

Did I ever tell you about the time I visited the Tufts University Special Collections Archive and got to handle the last remaining piece of Barnum’s Jumbo the Elephant? I didn’t? Well, maybe another time then… (but it’s true, Barnum had Jumbo—one of his greatest moneymakers—stuffed and then shipped to Europe for a tour. During a storm en route, part of her tail fell off. Later, after the Barnum Taxidermy Museum at Tufts in Medford, Mass. burned down, the smidgen of tail was all that was left. Barnum was a fascinating man, especially because he was deeply religious and he took joy in finding new and ingenious ways of ripping people off.

After a third of the box, I haven’t gotten any doubles yet. I’ve also gotten a handful of Dick Perez cards, a number of mini cards and a few special cards, including P.T. Barnum. I also struck out with the box loader, receiving a crappy card of Famous Base-Ball Playing Canadians. Here’s how I did with the rest of the box:

2 relics: Miguel Cabrera (bat), Rich Harden (jersey)
14 Dick Perez sketch cards: all different
11 special cards: all different, including Fyodor ‘The Butler Did It’ Dostoevsky
1 A-Rod Home Run Bullshit Waste of Space
1 mini Flag of Taiwan
2 mini cards with black borders: Rafael Furcal and Brad Ausmus (!)
3 mini special cards: Eleanor Roosevelt, Mario Andretti, Jamie Fisher
3 mini rookie cards: Carlos Gomes, Gustavo Molina, Hunter Pence
10 other mini cards: all different, including Ryan Howard no number
and no doubles

I also got some short-printed cards:
Bob Geren
Placido Polanco
Hunter Pence
Justin Verlander
Ken Jennings
Michael Young
Josh Bard
Grady Sizemore
Barry Bonds
Rocco Baldelli
Francisco Cordero

Impressions: Good color, nice design, mini cards pleasing addition to each pack. I’m surprised I like this set. I thought I’d hate it. Some things I don’t understand:

-Why so many Dick Perez cards? They’re really just Diamond Kings. Why not put them in the base set?
-Why include the lousy A-Rod mirror set? Topps really blew it with this one.
-I don’t understand the black bordered parallel set. It’s too intrusive on the face of the card.
-Why bother with relics at all? Everybody knows most of them are not worth more than $5 after they’re removed from the pack. I say, don’t make the promise of two a box. Then only make ten or twenty different ones and include them less frequently.
-Topps has now had two years of Allen & Ginter Champions of the World subset, and yet they have yet to make a card of Gary Sobers. There are more cricket fans in the world than there are citizens of the United States, so what, pray tell, is the deal with not including him?

I probably won’t collect this set. I got all the players that I like: Ichiro, David Ortiz, Vladimir Guerrero, Justin Verlander, Hanley Ramirez, Kenji Johjima, Prince Fielder, Placido ‘Domingo’ Polanco. The only guy I didn’t get that I might buy separately is Magglio Ordonez.

I guess going outside of the comfort zone wasn’t so bad. I have to admit, I’m intrigued by the level of thought that Topps has put into this set, what with the number of parallels and short prints and other stuff they’ve got going on within the confines of the Allen & Ginter cigar box. I like the minis, the flags are okay, and I like most of the special cards.

I’d like to do the next checklist of special cards for A&G 2008, precisely because I think Topps dropped the ball in not including David Beckham in this set, but also because Ernest Hemingway, Keith Richards and the Lusitania need their own cards. Maybe I could do a set called ‘Famous Men and their Thrilling Demises’…

One More Note About White Plains

If you click on the link in the post below, and then click on Chris's link for the show promoters, make sure you watch the slide show of pictures from last year's ECN. About halfway through, past the photos of Darryl Strawberry struggling to figure out where he is and the ones of Cliff Johnson looking fat and bored, there are a few of Juan Marichal. What's great about Marichal's photos is that the guy working for the promoter has labeled them: "Juan Marichal, 1962 Yankee World Series Champ!".

I guess even Yankees fans are prone to revisionist history once in a while. Let's finish the job for them. Here's your White Plains Revisionist Yankees (Hall of Fame edition):

P- Juan Marichal
C- Roy Campanella
1B - Eddie Murray
2B - Joe Morgan
3B - Mike Schmidt
SS - Ozzie Smith
OF - Ted Williams
OF - Ty Cobb
OF - Al Simmons

East Coast National

We're approaching 200,000 visitors (since inception) here at The Baseball Card Blog and to celebrate, I plan on attending the East Coast National, going on now at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, New York. It will be the largest show I've attended since I went to a show at BC High School in the early Nineties with my dad. I'm not going to be part of the show in a formal way, but if you want to meet me, I'll be the guy haggling over low-grade 1961 Fleer Baseball Greats.

White Plains Pants Party

Back in the Game

It’s obvious that Rickey Henderson’s days are spent out-running golden retrievers at the park to steal their Frisbees in his mouth mid-flight, and his nights racing Deion Sanders in no-holds-barred, techno-thumping 10k fun runs through the mean streets of downtown Oakland (lined with underground gangsters and street thugs hustling to hold out cups of water and orange slices).

And it’s pretty obvious that Reggie Miller keeps a bottle of talcum powder and a peel-back shoe-sticker-grippy-mat-thing next to his front door at home, and rubs powder in his hands and gives his wingtips a little grip before he leaves the house each day.

But what’s most obvious of all is that old geezers don’t know when to quit. Personally, I think it’s great: I love Charles Oakley, especially if he turns out to be as big as the Radish Spirit in Spirited Away. He too should end up on the Celtics, so he can mentor Big Baby Davis in the ins and outs of using brute, gastronomical force (a.k.a. body-slamming opponents) towards effective rebounding and boxing out the lane.

I’m rooting for them because I also wish I could leave my desk job for another run at the championship (it’s the only thing that’s eluded my grasp). And really, I’m rooting for more guys like them to climb out from under their rocks and get back in the game. It doesn’t even have to be the major leagues. I’d settle for barnstorming. Hell, I’d even buy an old mystery trip school bus and some musical instruments and teach them all to play a few waltzes if it meant getting them back in the game.

We could stumble around the South and the Mid-West and New England, playing local teams by day and local taverns by night. I think we might even make decent bread from the gigs, enough to only have to sleep in the bus a couple a nights a week. So if I had to put a team together, here’s who I’d get (cue ‘getting-the-team-together’ montage music):

I’d start by floating out to the offshore drilling platform where that grizzled roughneck Gorman Thomas is hiding and name him my starting center fielder and fiddle player. Then Thomas and I would drive the mystery trip school bus out to the most lonesome roadhouse and convince Chuck Knoblauch that there’s still aim in his arm (we’d also give him pick of the litter for musical instruments and we’d hold back our snickers when he chooses the trombone). We’d bond over siphoning diesel out of the sleazy carnival-ride-towing eighteen-wheeler owned by Lance Parrish, and when Parrish comes out with his shotgun, we’d trick him into ditching the trailer for a mask, some pads, and lessons at an upright piano. The rest would be easy.

We’d lure Nolan Ryan out of his yard with a trail of Advil and he’d willingly learn the drums as part of his Stockholm Syndrome. Kevin Maas would join up based purely on our promise of a hot meal and a shower every night (and it would only be later that we’d learn he could hit a high G on the trumpet). Bobby Bonilla would join on a lark and then follow behind the bus in his Bentley, and though he sang with a feminine alto and knew quite a few standards by heart, his financially brilliant move with the Mets over deferred payment would cause fissures with the rest of the team and we’d have to ask him to leave; we’d get Ron Cey to replace him after ditching his graveyard shift at an all-night diner. Garry Templeton would join simply because he played a mean upright bass, Ruben Sierra would get sick of the high life and fulfill the urge to learn to read music, and Jim Rice would simply want to bash the ball out of the park again.

Miller, Oakley, Allan Houston—those guys can have their championship dreams, but they’ll be coming back as role players. More in the limelight as creaky-kneed anomalies, not superstars reclaiming the stage.

But a rag-tag team of all-stars on the field and a snappy nine-piece big band that rocks the house from coast to coast? Now that’s what I call getting back into the game.

Putting the No in Nostalgia

I started collecting because I wanted to feel closer to my favorite players and the activity involved in collecting was a good outlet for my mild childhood OCD. And though I was a hard-core baseball card collector for over ten years, it’s hard to say the exact moment I realized my fate. It may have been the first moment I hefted a pack of 1986 Topps in my seven-year-old hand. It may have been when I got my first double. The list of precise moments is endless… and right now I’m not in the mood for nostalgia.

It seems like our hobby is built on nostalgia: it’s probably the number one reason– subconscious or not–why cards are bought (once you strip away the potential investment they may represent). Very few of us buy a card because of its aesthetic makeup or its importance as an historical object.

And that’s okay; I freely admit that I came back to collecting because of nostalgia. Once the spark is lit it’s hard to turn your back on it completely, especially when you’re fresh with the remembrance of an easier time, where saving up for a pack of cards was your biggest worry.

But there’s something nagging about nostalgia today: it’s been hijacked by the card companies. I have to surround it in quotes for it to make sense. Topps and Upper Deck are out to make a buck. And one of the ways they accomplish this is by jamming their versions of “nostalgia” down our throats. Sets like Topps & Bowman Heritage, Allen & Ginter, Turkey Red, the new Sport Kings line, Tri-Star products—they’re aimed at our love of that simpler time, but they’re not simple. They’re just skins for new players or a way to make a buck out of the back catalogue. If anything, they’re a much more expensive version of that old, fading memory. I guess real nostalgia just doesn’t fit into the equation anymore. Then again, maybe it never did and I was too caught up in being sold to to notice.


By the way, if Donruss still had their license, who do you think would’ve been on the 2007 puzzle? My money’s on Willie Mays.

How to Make Your Own Baseball Card

This post is a long time coming. I created a card of myself as a project in grad school and used it as my business card upon graduation. I used Johnny Damon's 2003 Topps Heritage card as my backdrop (in the 1954 Topps style). I didn't know really how to do it, but after 20 hours over a weekend I figured it out.


There are a few things you'll need before you create your own cards:

1. Scanner
2. Computer
3. Photoshop, Illustrator, Quark or InDesign
4. Person who knows how to use these programs
5. Color Printer
6. Paper cutter
7. Photos of people or things you're putting on cards
8. Patience

You should also decide how much effort and time you want to put into making these cards, and if you can afford to have them professionally printed and cut. If you can, and you have a printer you like, they can explain your different options in terms of using coated stock, foil stamping and that kind of thing.

If you aren't working with a budget, here's how you do it for no money:

1. Find a card design you like.
2. Scan the card into Photoshop
3. Erase the player and insert a photo that matches the layout
4. Match the fonts for the card and put in your own text
5. Depending on the level of expertise the designer you're working with possesses, you can add in other little touches that make the card look like the real thing, like a facsimile autograph
6. Put in a few hours of trial and error with making things fit
7. Print out a copy on your printer. Does it look okay? If yes, start on the back of the card. If no, look at the real card you're using as a source material. What makes it look the way it does/What are you trying to imitate?
8. Put in a few more hours of trial and error on the back of the card
9. When you've got the images looking right, bring the images into Quark or InDesign (your design program); it's okay to do the photos and graphics in Photoshop, but not the text
10. A standard modern card is 2.5" x 3.5", make your palette that size and resize your images to fit
11. Print out front and back and cut down to size
12. Use double-sided tape to stick them together and see if your card is any good
13. If you're taking it to a professional printer, use this as your mechanical (if it's good)
14. If you're printing it on your own, try lining it up to print front and back

That's it. That's how I created the card I made of myself. It's a lot of trial and error, and I did this while teaching myself how to use Illustrator (I didn't have Quark or InDesign). I didn't use a professional printer, but if you do, they're very knowledgeable about what you can and can't do on a piece of cardboard, plus they can score and cut them for you. Obviously, you don't have to emulate a card design that already exists, nor do you have to use photos. Illustrations can look just as nice (1953 Topps is a perfect example).

More Images from eTopps CTNW

By popular demand, here are four more
images from the eTopps Cards That Never Were set.
Enjoy.

Meaning in the Cards

I thought I'd post one more time before I go on vacation. In the meantime, if you're itching for more, make sure to check out my posts on Beckett.com. New posts go up every Monday and Thursday. See you in a week.


Why do baseball cards exist? What I mean is, what's their purpose? I'm familiar with the history of cards and its many twists and turns, but for all the books that are out there, none of them gets to the real meat of the question: Why? And if not 'why', then for whom?

The answer cannot be 'for collectors,' because if cards did not exist, collectors would collect something else. The answer cannot be 'for fans of the game,' because fans of the game have myriad other ways of rooting for their team—the game's marketing arm has made sure of it.

I think I've come upon two answers, one for each side of the question. Baseball cards hold the most meaning for, and therefore exist for… drum roll please… career minor leaguers who've finally been given a cup of coffee. As a collector, it's not every day that you get a card of a guy you've never seen before, and truthfully, it may not register very high on your excitement meter. To you that player is just another common, just another guy between the Hero numbers, there to take up space because there had to be someone on that number. But there they are, obviously excited to be posing for the photo, excited that they're going to be included in a card set, excited just to be there. And to them, the existence of their very own baseball card is the icing on the cake.

For the career minor leaguer, being on a major league baseball card isn't a summer-camp certificate of participation, it's proof that he made it. It's validation that the effort he put in over the years paid off, and that he mattered, if however briefly, in the grand scheme of things.

That brings up my second answer. If baseball cards exist for the career minor leaguer, the reason they exist is for history. That's their main, existential reason for being: to record history. They're artifacts, footnotes. That they're littered with bad airbrushing, bad photos, jokes and useless trivia only masks their importance to the uninitiated and allows scholars to dismiss them as a quaint American pastiche of Sunday comics, pop art and sentimental pastime; something better suited for sticking between bicycle spokes than for serious study.



The Fantastic Card of the Day

Many notable cards have been dubbed "The Mona Lisa of Baseball Cards." Honus Wagner's T206 comes to mind, as do the Donruss Canseco rookie and the Upper Deck Griffey rookie. Without inflating their importance, you could make the case that without these three cards our hobby would look very different, just as Western Civilization would be slightly off without Da Vinci's masterpiece. But that's where the resemblance ends. Griffey looks too happy and Wagner's background is all one color, so that dooms those two. And you're right, Canseco's smirk does make him kind of look like Da Vinci's muse, but his mustache puts the card more in line with Duchamp's L.H.O.O.Q. than anything else. No, there just aren't any notable cards that can really accurately be called "The Mona Lisa of Baseball Cards."

But if we get past the idea that the card has to be of a 'notable player', a contender pops up. I'm referring, of course, to Tampa Bay Devil Rays Manager Joe Maddon, 2006 Topps #590. The background is spot on, with one side definitely higher than the other. Maddon's sporting unisex-style glasses that brings out the yin and the yang, so chalk up a point to androgyny. Plus, I think you could make a case that he's both smiling and not smiling, so add another point. Really, what would make it perfect would be if Maddon had long hair and wore a robe, but nobody's perfect. This is the closest any card has come to truly doing justice to the title of "The Mona Lisa of Baseball Cards."

By the way, on the back of the card it says that Maddon was a minor league catcher when he played and then spent 31 years in the Angels' organization before getting the chance to manage. Way to make your card count, Joe!