Wednesday, October 31, 2012

That's no moon!

Happy Halloween for starters. I just realized I am Star Wars referencing in two consecutive posts. Unintentional. Anywho - this post(s) comes courtesy of my wife for two reasons. For starters, my wife was needing some pants to go with a quick Bears outfit for work (in a school, ya know). I figured a pair of black baseball pants would do the trick, and my kids had spares around. It was the point of finding them. Well, look-look-look and nothing. But while looking, I spotted this DVD player box, that I have seen a million times before yet never really noticed. "Why's this old thing here" I thought, and proceeded to open it and toss the old player inside. Oh - but this was not a container for some recent technology; oh no. Within the depths of the box was a wonderous surprise...

BREAKFAST OF THE GODS!

My wife has this stuffing habit. At times it sucks, but this time it was awesome. In the box were blasters and packs of cards. Lot of 2008 UD baseball, a few packs of Star Wars and Indiana Jones (don't judge me!), some Topps 2006 base, Goudey and a smattering of hockey. But the winner? Allen & Ginter. 2006, 2007 and 2008 A&G. Sweet mother!

You rang?

We'll get to the spoils over a few posts. For starters, lets talk about a blaster in the box called "7th Inning Stretch". A repack box from a few years back for $15. What did I get? There is a sealed pack, but that was not in the box. Don't recall what it was. Here are 4 of the other 7 items.


SOOOOOOOOO exciting. The window for the relic swatch is even smaller than it looks in that scan. Ok, here is item #6.


Dig that check list! I more wonder how the gum would taste. I mean, the celo wrap is still on. I bet it's still soft and minty. The last item in a graded gem 10 card. Drum roll....


Um. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. If you are interested in any of this stuff, let me know.

So I'll post a little more of the spoils of the DVD box tomorrow. It'll be better - I promise

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

HOLY WHAT????

This story is so not baseball card related, but my life requires a comment. It was just announced that Disney has bought Lucasfilm, and a 7th Star Wars movie will come out in 2015.

For those that have ever emailed me, you can probably guess that SW has a lot of meaning in my life. One look in my basement will confirm that. And if not, just click here.

Never saw this coming. Of all the possible places, Disney would have been my thought of who would end up owning the SW rights, but didn't see this happening for a good 10-15 years.

And Episode 7? We nerds know it was the original plan back in 1979, but George said "no" around 1999. Guess the times, they are a changing....

This means war (plus vintage)

I am a few days late getting this up. Granted, I know you have no clue what happened a few days back, and maybe you don't give a flip. But I am going to tell you anyway, cuz this is my house, and this is my yard and you can just take your toys and go home.

Wait....wait. Don't leave. I'm sorry. I haven't had anything to eat yet today, so I am a little cranky-er. Let me take a few deep breaths and center my thoughts before I come over there and smack you around for acting like everything is all about you, cuz it's not!

Oh boy - hold on. Let me grab a bagel real fast.

<CHOMP> <CHOMP>

So much better. Again, I apologize for all that. So where was I? Right - the other day. The other day was the monthly raffle and pack wars at my LCS. I have tried for many a month to get there, and finally had the chance. Didn't partake in the food (wasn't hungry) or the liquids (Coors Light?), but I did check my tickets for purchases during the month and for the door prize. No winners there, but that's alright. Cuz it's your favorite and mine - PACK WARS. It's like robot wars, but without the robots. Or the arena. Or the fans with home made posters. So really, it's nothing like robot wars. I took part in two of the drawings. Ticket for the selected card and a ticket for hits. For starters, how about a quick glance at my hits for the night?


Technically, the Kopitar is from a pack I purchased before I left. Nice hit, but way too much white space on that card. The Lindley is numbered to 350, which would be something if I knew who the hell this guy was. You want it? Email me. That Coffey was hidden right behind the exact same base card in the card. Deju vu for sure. Nice relic of an Oilers sweater.

Well, my tickets from pack wars did garner me a couple wins. I snagged an Earl Bennett autograph (8x10) and a blaster of Bowman Platinum. The Bennett will look nice on the wall, but I know you want to see the awesomeness of the blaster. Well, go to another blog, then, cuz the best part of this blaster was that it was (for the most part) free. Best three cards?


Trout and Paulie base. And a nice Chippa die cut. Like I said - snoooooooooooooze.

Ok - so I said "vintage" in the title, and that is why you are still reading. Here's the deal. Before I hit my LCS I stopped at Target for a few needs, and picked up a repack box of 10 packs. Nothing so great, but I was shocked when I pulled out three vintage packs to open. Usually, you only get packs from this century, but holy hell if the repack did go old school on me.


HEY!!! Those babies are almost 25 years old!!!! Ok, ok...I suckered you into that. But it was fun to have the feel of a true wax pack in my hand again, as well as the Score celo pack. As my standard, here are the best three cards, one from each pack:


Hell yeah I pulled a Johnson rookie card! Surprised to see that. The other Donruss was a major blah with the Gwynn being the winner. The Score was even worse, but you always respect the specs when it comes to Tekulve.

It was fun, if not completely knocking my socks off. But there are drawings at the end of every month, and it can only go up.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

The dollar menu

Been a while since I took at stab at some repacks. Now, usually I prefer the pack repack boxes from Walmart or Target. True - you get CRAPLOADS of Upper Deck opening day, or whatever they call that set, but you get a few fun packs too. And you never know what you could pull, like a #/18 Reggie Jackson Goudey or a Eric Chavez relic. It's a dice role, but at a buck a pack, they sure make for a nice period of fun.

This post, however, is not talking about pack repacks, but the dollar store repacks. If you have seen them, it's like 30 cards for a buck, with a star card showing and mostly junk wax inside. Still, you can pull some nice stuff from these. We stopped at a dollar store and I picked up 3 baseball only packs. How'd I do? I am glad you asked.

Here are the three cards you could see through the front of the package.


These come from a set put out in 1986 by the Sporting News called World Wide Sports. According to the backs, the pictures used are from Charles Conlon and they are limited to 12,000 sets. So we have Fred Clarke on the left. Yeah - "who" is right. The back says....well, it doesn't say what team he played for. I know he batted .406 in 1897, but lost the title to Wee Willie Keeler that year, who put up the insane .432. Wikipedia says he played for the Colonels and the Pirates and is in the HOF. Ok. On the right we have Harold Traynor. You may know him better with the nickname "Pie". His card back has a few snarky remarks, but nothing funny enough to repeat. That dapper man in the middle. He only played in 2130 consecutive ballgames.

Alright, now those are nice cards, but you hope for a couple keepers in each pack. I figure if you find 3 more out of the rest of the cards, you made out on the packs. How'd I do? I am glad you asked. Pack one is probably the weakest of the bunch. Here's the best three in my opinion.


Two White Sox cards. I like the '85 Baines. The Hough in the middle? Yes - Charlie did pitch a while for the Sox, but I like the misprinting on that baby. It really is as blurry as it looks. Winner!

On to pack two. And this pack I am calling "kinda not right", cuz the three cards I think are the best are just a little off. Here, let me explain.


First we have Boggs as a Yankee. I do know he played like 4 or 5 years there, and actually won a WS title with them, but he still seems like a BoSox to me. The Brett in the middle? Note he is listed as the DH. Lastly we have Donnie Baseball. Do I really need to point out what's missing?

So if pack two is called "kinda not right", then pack three is named "holy sh*t, that is so wrong".

  

Murray as a Met? Wrong. Blue as a Royal???? Are you frigging serious? And Williams managing the 'Spos? Ok - he did have his longest managerial tilt there, but completely forgettable. 

So I think I made out well, even if the ending made me scratch my head.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

I got skillz!

We all, by now, should have seen Adam Kennedy's Topps Update card. It's a beaut of a picture. Bit of a shame that it's on the 2012 template. Seems more like a 1973 photo if you ask me. So here ya go.


Besides that pink by his neck, which the filter seems to have made pretty invisible, I think it's dandy. It's no Luis Alvarado, but what card really is?

Throwback Thursday - 10.25.12

Every Thursday, I post a card showing a ballplayer wearing a throwback uniform from my collection. Hopefully, he will be wearing it well, with proper pants height. I'll try not to duplicate a uniform. The picture may be from the front of the card, or the back. Enjoy the uniforms from years past.

Mark DeRosa - 2003 Upper Deck - Atlanta Braves throwback

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

The end is near!

Well folks, it's been a 162 games, and then some, but we have finally arrived at the series to end all series. Literally....for the 2012 season. It should be exciting, and from a uniform standpoint, not too ugly. I always like to do a look-see back at the pre season predictions, to get an idea who was right, who was wrong, and who was not sharing the bong. Follow along here.

So 19 of the writers had the Angels taking it all. Why? Pujols is one man, guys. One. And he doesn't even pitch. The D-Backs made 14 writer's World Series, all losing. I guess they are kinda right. Arizona didn't win the World Series this year. Just one put the BoSox into the finals, winning it all. So the Bristol bias didn't appear too much, but enough to know that Karl Ravech has a drinking problem. A grand total of 6 got it 50% right, in regard to the Series. Interesting that the only times that Detroit were selected to make the WS, they were predicted to win it all. Conversely, the 2 times El Gigantes were guessimated to make the dance, they were chosen to lose. So, in no more than 7 games, either six writers will be half right, or they all will be completely wrong. I guess somewhat right is better than being way wrong. Eh, Dimwit?

So grab your popcorn and get the most confortable seat in the house. Here comes the fun. And oh yeah - Tigers in 5. Hate to say that, but the truth is the truth.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Trade #19: the forgotten trade

Why title this the forgotten trade? That's real easy. When you get some great cards, and then you kind of forget about them and continue on posting about other trades, only to realize as you are making some attempt to organize your email that you have a message that sparks your mind on whether or not you shipped your end of the trade. to then have an epiphany that you never posted the great envelope you received in return - then you make the title "the forgotten trade".

I know a little about being forgotten.

This awesome trade took place between myself and Chris over at the very cool Nacho Grande blog. We turned me reading about a trade he completed into each of us doing some damage to the others want lists, along with a few extras cuz that's what you do. My 2012 A&G base got a great beatdown by Chris, and he included a good stack of White Sox to boot. I won't bother with the Ginter - me thinks you have seen plenty of them. How about a quick scan of three great Sox cards he included?


Remember Carlton as a White Sox? It lasted all of 10 starts in '86, but Topps gave him his due. Luis in a GORGEOUS Goudey reprint. Damn, I do love that card. And John Garland on the right in a throwback to the 1906 South Siders.

Thanks a ton to Chris, and also a public apology to him. I shouldn't have forgotten about this trade and posted it sooner. Hope you can give me a little grace. And to the NHL owners and players - enough. Play some frigging hockey.

Friday, October 19, 2012

The not soccer signature

One of the great parts of card collecting in recent years is adding in relics (real or not - but hopefully mostly real) and autographs. Back when I first started in the 70's, and then when I got back in during junk wax, these were nothing you could find. I remember when Upper Deck first added autograph cards in the early 90's. Always wanted to pull one but it just never materialized.

Now we have short prints, relics, serial, autographs, refractors.... I could keep going, it's great when you pull something cool. Usually, I pull a high production serial or a relic. So most of the autographs in my collection have come from trades or purchases. There are a few current White Sox players autographs I have wanted.

Now tell me what you want, what you really, really want...

I was getting to that, Victoria. So I have been trying to score an autograph card from this player for many months but I seem to get sniped each time I go after what I want.

So tell me what you want, what you really, really want...

Posh - knock it off. Anyway, as I was saying, I would search for cards of this player and someone would swoop it and snag it from me seconds before the end, or the price of the card just got way above what I wanted to pay.

Yo tell me what you want, what you really, really want....

HOLY CRAP, DAVID!! Would you reign in this wife of yours?! This is my forum and I will be the one talking here about finally obtaining a long time want.

I'll tell you what you want, what you really, really want.

Screw this - images.....


 Serialed #19/99. And today is the 19th. Go figure. Gordon Beckham - check!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Throwback Thursday - 10.18.12

Every Thursday, I post a card showing a ballplayer wearing a throwback uniform from my collection. Hopefully, he will be wearing it well, with proper pants height. I'll try not to duplicate a uniform. The picture may be from the front of the card, or the back. Enjoy the uniforms from years past.

John Kiely - 1992 Upper Deck - Detroit Tigers throwback

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Trade #18: just in time for hockey season

Few days late getting this up, but let's talk about my most recent trade received. This time, Scott over at Scott Crawford on Cards posts a bit of trade bait one day. Either he is a stalker, or stumbled upon my blog some drunken night in July when I talked about my pseudo Ben Petrick collection, as he posted a couple Petrick cards that I could not pass up.

Format.....(hic)... Jack Daniels /blur

Well, it took a few emails, mainly because the chain of correspondence got buried under all my offers for fake watches, new jobs, Cialis and H0T g|rLz th@T w@Nt t0 ch@T N0w. But we recovered nicely and pulled off a great trade. I had fun giving up a bunch of relics that had no connection to my heart and got a killer stack of cards in return. Lookie? Sure. Here's the Petricks that I desired.


Autograph #2 in my collection, and my first mini. The auto is from 2000, same year as the other one I own. I bring this up because the signatures are indentical, in the fact that there is no sign of tremor in his stroke. I will say this - both signatures are "small". I have seen a card from 1999 with his autograph on it and there is a definite height and width to his signature that is lacking in the 2000 cards. My wife would have the same issues signing her name, depending if she was off or on her meds. I am going to say Ben was not getting good response from the meds in the two cards I signed. Not horrible, because the signature flows, but his hand and arm was rigid, which makes for the smaller, tighter signature.

There are a few White Sox vintage in there and Scott hit me up with some cards I needed for '12 Series 2. But then he POUNDED me with Blackhawks cards. Ohhhh baby!


Here is but a very few of what he sent. What is great about these is I "lost" a 5000 count box to water damage years back. All hockey. So the killer team sets he sent replaced those cards and then some. Great Roenick - gotta love those All Star uniforms. Gramps in the top middle with a nice Belfour next to him. Love the simplicity of the borders on the Score set in the middle. Yes - that is a rookie Hasek. Can you believe we traded that guy? And the Bolland needs an autograph. The framing on that card is so sweet.

Scott - thanks a bunch for all the cards. So glad to get so much hockey just 2 weeks into the sea.... What? They are what? DAMMIT!

Monday, October 15, 2012

Meh.

We've all heard about them. Those über hot packs with nothing but stars; amazing cards of incredible rarity and sheer purity of soul that they transcend this mortal planet and elevate into the reaches of the heavens.

This post will talk about the opposite of that. For every ying, there must be a yang, right? The dark side that balances the light side. A Moriarty to counter Holmes. A blaster of Update with nothing decent to speak of in the packs contained, and a blaster with a Bryce Harper auto. I got the former, and not the latter. Proof? Here, in my opinion, is the best card of the box.


Sad when that card is choosen only cuz of the stylish orange unis. Could I have picked one of the stars with an All-Star logo? You bet. But whoopie do on those. No short prints. No players in their new uniforms. Nothing. And the manu-patch?


Sigh....

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Sunday SIL: Box it up

The World Series is quickly approaching, and I could give a crap this year who wins, cuz I hate all 4 teams remaining. But let's go back one week ago....56 year ago. If you don't want to do the math, I am talking Oct 8th, 1956. The only perfecto that really made a big difference. There are hundreds of ways the game has been remembered on cardboard - I just happen to like this one. So much that I bought it for $2 with shipping off eBay. Overpaid - maybe. But I didn't need that extra buck to supersize my meal anyway, so I think it was better spent. Fleer put out a simple card with a nice premise about the ballgame.


It's a shame the box score isn't some pseudo reprint though. They do fake patches in the past few Topps releases, so step it up next time. But I still enjoy this card, and serialed #878/1956 is nice too. One thing that bugged me - what are the 24 and 10 noting? It took a couple minutes of research to learn the 24 is the number of put outs for the player, while 10 is the number of assists. They don't show those stats in a box score very much anymore. And why 24? Remember this was a home game for the Bronx Bombers.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Welcome the the club, quarter century old Billy

I was watching a card on eBay and did not happen to be home when the auction ended. Didn't make me too happy because I wanted this card. Thought the condition and price was right. Well, fortunate for me, the auction ended with no bids, and the seller put the card right back up. For $5 w/ shipping, I have now scratched another card off my Billy Pierce Project.


Centering is a little off. The surface has a minor scratches, but you have to tilt it in the light to see that. A couple corners have dings, but I think I got a steal on the card. 1952 Bowman - DONE!

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Throwback Thursday - 10.11.12

Every Thursday, I post a card showing a ballplayer wearing a throwback uniform from my collection. Hopefully, he will be wearing it well, with proper pants height. I'll try not to duplicate a uniform. The picture may be from the front of the card, or the back. Enjoy the uniforms from years past.

Mike Jackson - 1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice - SF Seals throwback

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Topps Update - an observation

So Update is out. If you follow more than blogs, or even if you don't, you may have see chatter about this and that with the set - the photo variations, SPs, All Star cards, etc. I'd link to some of the stuff I read, but to be honest, the hell if I remember where I read any of it. But I have picked up a rack pack and one of those 72 count half blasters (?), so let's have a gander at some things I have scanned, discuss some other things, and do my best to be objective. And by "objective", I mean snarky. ONWARD!

First things first - I commented about Series 2 about the poor quality control in some cards. Well, something still ain't right. At least on the 100 cards I have, the fronts look fine. But tell me, what is the deal with the backs?


The only manipulation is cropping and putting those two scans together (mad Photoshop skillz!). Why is Topps using two different sized fonts? It's pretty obvious the size difference - I know I did not double dose on my medication. These are the backs of two sequential base cards. Com'on Topps - get it together.

Speaking of base, it's nice to see card UP1 is a White Sox. Even after the Sox won it all in 2005, the following year's Topps set took until card #13 to have a White Sox player depicted. The Cubs, celebrating their 98th year of nothing in '06, had a player in the set before the Sox.

The photo variation cards are not short prints, from what I have read. I did pull one, and interesting enough, both the base and variation cards came out of the same Target rack pack I purchased. The font is the same on the back of both cards, in case you were wondering.


Photo variation on the left. He holding a hat in his hands in the variation. Took me a while to realize he wasn't playing Call of Duty. How does one scream "F***ing noob camper!" in Japanese anyway?

I like that the minis have the Future Star logo on a few of the cards - that is a nice touch. And lastly, I pulled one of the Presidential Predictors redemption cards. It's the President for the state of Oklahoma. Yeah, I don't see that state going blue this election. The really strange thing is the back of the card. It gives the code, but no website to enter it. If you go to Topps, there isn't a single article I could find that talks about where to redeem the code. The regular redemption area of Topps.com does not accept it. Sigh.....

Friday, October 5, 2012

Trade #17: sort of a trade

Three trade posts in a row. Wow!!! For starters, if you don't know the Collective Troll, you should. Really. He's a great guy and a bunch of fun. You can tell Troll just has passion for things in life. The dude hobbies in roller derby - COM'ON! How awesome is that? Well, this is the second trade between the Troll and I. Though, as I subjected, this really isn't a designed trade. Troll's the kind of guy you just like to drop cards on cuz it's fun to do. I know I dropped him an envelope a few months back (and I have a 2nd group of cards I am building for him), so Troll, being Troll, just sent me back a nice stack of cards. Far too many to scan, but let's look at some of the highlights.


VINTAGE! That '66 Lamabe on the left is autographed, so double bonus on that. The '65 Stephens on the right is in really nice condition. And yeah, that is a pseudo-vintage in the middle, serialed #284/1959.


Night Owl talked the other day about Starting Lineup cards, so interesting Troll has an Albert Belle card in the pack. I do remember collecting SLU back in the day, and still own a loose Jordan vs. Thomas (with the cards). Speaking of Jordan, there is his Airness on a blue bordered insert for UD. Lastly, while I do not collect football, who can pass up a card of Butt-head? Note the complete lack of logo creep on Butler's uniform. Pretty.

Lastly, Troll sent the ultimate Ray Durham collection. Got to be over 30 cards of the former second baseman. Here's my vote for the three best.


Always love Fleer Ultra action shots. They took the time to really pick out quality images, and the fronts of the cards are fairly clean. Remember laser cut cards? There is something enjoyable about them now. Five years ago, they sucked. Now, they have a quirky joy about them. Flair - always seemed so high end in their look. Jeff like!

Thanks again, Troll. Watch your mailbox

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Throwback Thursday - 10.04.12

Every Thursday, I post a card showing a ballplayer wearing a throwback uniform from my collection. Hopefully, he will be wearing it well, with proper pants height. I'll try not to duplicate a uniform. The picture may be from the front of the card, or the back. Enjoy the uniforms from years past.

Mike Felder - 1993 Upper Deck - NY Giants throwback

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Trade #16: West side!

Let's get another trade post up, shall we? Greg with PTSIA (that's Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle) had a want list. I had cards that were just taking up space. Isn't that how most trades get started? Now, I took part in Greg's card draft #2, and along with my winnings he dropped me a nice stack of White Sox. Bonus, right there. But that isn't what prompted me to give his Ginter needs a dent. It was more a "holy crap, I have too many Ginter cards" revelation, so it was time to thin the herd.

I said no pack searching!

Greg sent along a great group of cards,  and cleared 3 from my A&G mini want list. Highlights?


Holy HELL do I love that Robinson sparkle. The color is great with the Oriole colors, and I do love that uniform. Need that Big Hurt for the Ginter sub set of sketches. And a very young Black Jack McDowell minor league card. Is it me, or does that uniform look like a beer commercial? And the three mini knocks...


Two Giants and a doggie. Slow go, but I will complete those and the Bible subset. You really should check out my needs for those and help me out. I'm nice men. 

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Trade #15: too long in coming

Trade number 15 too way took long, and I mean that in a few ways. First, it's basically just been too long since I got a trade completed. Not paying enough attention to needs lists and trade bait lists and the like. That would be my fault. Also, and here is the bigger reason, it took too long because of my end. Summers can suck around my house, mainly for financial reasons. And the blame goes to the dingbat I see looking back at me in the mirror. My wife is a contract worker in a school. Oh, she's an awesome speech pathologist, but not district. So when she doesn't work, she doesn't get paid. Her surgery didn't have anything to do with the lack of pay over this summer. It's the same crap I deal with year after year, and I only have to deal with it because I fail to plan ahead. I want to be ready for the loss of over half our income, but I just don't do right, and by the end of the summer, we are struggling to stay afloat. Gotta ration what we have, and by the end of August, I have to do some create bank work. So there is little money for fun things, like postage. Poor planning is one of my many character defects, or "features" as we like to say in the computer program world.

Click here to leave your underwear on the floor

 But let's get to the nice trade I was glad to make. Dan from the great "It's like having my own card shop" jumped all over my post about Ginter relics and inquired about the Young jersey. Have to be honest - I was a bit of a jag in that post, not knowing who Chris Young was.

Just a bit of a jag?

But Dan was all over that card, and shot me a link to some White Sox he was offering.

I received the cards a while back, but as I said at the top, I didn't get my return package out until yesterday, so only now will I show the spoils. That link has all the cards, but here are three of my favs.


Gold Crede #1712/2004, Starquest Thome in a throwback and Konerko #171/2003. Bing, bang, BOOM! Thanks Dan for the great trade, and your package will be there very soon (I hope).

Monday, October 1, 2012

Sunday SIL: you can't tell the players...

First off - yes. I know it's Monday. This post was intended to go up yesterday, but we got quite busy and I finally had a chance to start typing it up close to midnight. I really, REALLY like the subject of this week's SIL, and didn't want it to get too buried in case some of my readers come from a link or a blog roll. All 4 of you. Ok - 5.

This is a bit of an instant SIL, cuz I acquired it yesterday. See, I have this shed in the backyard. Shed needs a door. Doors can be pretty expensive. I recall this house nearby that has a garage sale going every so often, and he always has old doors available. Well, my wife and I saw the sign out, so we stopped by. And no doors. But, he's a picker, so he had a ton of nice things to check out. There were two binders of baseball cards, but those just held junk wax. Roamed a few more of the tables and he had a stack of mid 70's Wrigley score cards. Great designs on the front, but you know my Cubs rule. However, there was another group with a bunch of minor league scorecards, so I started digging. And boy did digging pay off. I found 3 scorecards that I purchased. They were all scored, and that's the love of them in my mind, because now I have a piece of history with a star player on it. Two of the scorecards are from the late 60's - a 1967 game between the Braves and the Astros, and a 1969 tilt with the Padres versus the Cardinals. But the gem of the three has these partially completed score cards to view.



I mean - holy hell - do you see some of the names on there??? This is a 1957 game, the 2nd of a doubleheader, between the NY Giants and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The top image has Willie Mays in the 2nd slot with Bobby Thompson hitting 5th. Going to the Pirates starting lineup, we see Dick Groat batting 3rd, and then check out 6th and 7th in the lineup - Bill Mazaroski and Roberto Clemente. This is a freaking rookie card in my book. And it set me back $7.50. All three scorecards together were for the cost a blaster with tax - $21.50. And I got tons of hits in this "blaster". If you want to check out the scans, you can view them with these links:

Pirates vs Giants
Padres vs Cardinals
Astros vs Braves

The scans are in page order, so flip through like you were enjoying the program in your hand. The Padres/Cardinals game has Lou Brock, Curt Flood and this young starting pitcher named Steve Carlton. And the Astros/Braves? Oh, just this kid named Aaron (who went 0-3 with a walk).

I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.