PBS from the NSCC...

Unfortunately, I was not able to travel with our fearless leader, Ben Henry, to the National Sports Collectors Convention in Baltimore. I'm getting married in less than a month. A prenuptial, cross-country journey to support my hobby was strongly discouraged. It's not that I didn't try to persuade her:

"Baby, it isn't just about baseball cards. It would also be important for the blog... Expand coverage, bring in new readers, get some great new ideas for posts..." I implored.

"When was the last time you posted on either of your blogs?" She asked.

Sooooooo... Needless to say, I am still in San Diego.

I really wanted to stay in touch with what was going on at the convention. Following the action on twitter was fine, but it was more voyeuristic than participatory. I felt the need to be a part of the action, so I asked Ben if he could find me some cool cards to inspire some new posts.

Ben has a pretty good grasp on what I collect, so I left it up to him to do the shopping. Here are the first two cards he found for me:

1968 Topps AS - Mr. Rogers

Ben certainly knows what I like! It isn't the famous '68 rookie card that he shares with Daniel Striped Tiger, but nonetheless awesome! Despite the all-encompassing amazingness that this card represents it isn't my favorite one that he bought for me...

1998 Topps Gallery of Heroes - Richard Lederer

This bad boy takes the cake! If you aren't familiar with Richard "Verbivore" Lederer, you really should be. Mr. Lederer hosted "A Way with Words" on PBS radio. I rarely made time to listen to a radio show, but from 1998 through 2006 I hardly missed an episode. The show was (and still is) wonderfully informative and entertaining. While Richard co-hosted the show it was amazingly pun-tacular. I love puns, and Mr. Lederer is the undisputed king of wordplay.

The Gallery of Heroes inserts from the 1998 Topps Gallery set were a pretty tough pull at 1:24 packs. I didn't buy more than three or four packs that year, and beat the odds by pulling TWO of them! Of course, both were Jeff Bagwell. Nothing against him, but I am pretty sure every insert card I got in the 90's was a Bagwell.

But I digress... Did you now that Richard Lederer is the father of poker superstars Howard Lederer and Annie Duke. Annie got a card in this year's Allen & Ginter set. Now I have a card of her dad too!

Thanks Ben!

I'll continue posting some of the best cards that Ben found for me at the National...

Maybe.