Just something I noticed...

I know this card is one of Nick's personal favorites, and I happened to be leafing through my Mike Devereaux collection a short time ago.

I couldn't get a nicely focused photo of the front of the card, but here's a stolen pic :

I turned the card over, and here was the back :














I'm pretty sure the formatting here blows, but let me just say I think all of these pics are from the same play, based of the marks on Mike's left knee.

Man I hope the pics are aligned...!

Nick J

Anaheim Fish

Found me some fish in my collection.

They're both Angels players, so I guess they'd make a great team along with Tim Salmon and Mike Trout.

I present to you, Robert Fish (2008 Bowman Chrome Prospects #142) and Steve Fish (2000 Bowman #289). They're two more Angels players with oceanic names, and I can't recall a more seafood-named franchise in the history of any sport.

Except the Marlins, Rays or Dolphins...

A Heart-Warming Short Story

Well, I think everyone out there can recall what happened last year.

After getting beaned on the first and only pitch he saw in the Majors, (I think it was 2004 or 2005), Adam Greenberg disappeared from the Majors, apparently never to be seen again.

He signed a one-day contract with the Miami Marlins last year and made it back to the Majors for a very heart-warming single at-bat.

He may have struck out on 3 pitches, but it was no disgrace. He K'd against a guy who was dominating the league on his way to a Cy Young Award, (R.A. Dickey), and I'm guessing nobody left the stadium that day with dry eyes.

I had trouble recalling if I owned a card of Greenberg's from his Cubs days, but thanks to 2004 Topps Total, I have one in my collection.

Thank You, Topps Total,

You are still sorely missed in the collecting world.

Nick

Juan Two Three Four...

Now I've never been a massive fan of Juan Gonzalez, but I have to respect what he accomplished in the Major Leagues. And I'll Blog about him because that's the pile of cards I'm currently viewing!

I always seemed to get his cards whenever I bought packs during his playing days. Enough of them, in fact, to land me 206 of Juan's cards.

Included in the above (blurry, sorry) photo, is a 2006 Upper Deck Diamond Collection card, which is the only 2006 card I have of Juan's. He didn't even make it into the 1250-card main set that year, which is odd. That card, visibly or not, is actually numbered 106/699, so I must have a 'Gold' or 'Bronze' variation.

The following 2 cards are from my 2 favorite sets this century : Topps Total (2004) and Upper Deck 40 Man (2002). It doesn't look like we'll ever see either of these sets again, so I'll just have to live in the past.

Lastly, the Gold-Bordered card is from the 2001 Topps Traded set, and is also numbered 0052/2001. Juan came back in a big way in 2001 after a disappointing year in Detroit. He hit .289/22/67 in 2000, then mashed .325/35/140 for the Tribe in '01.

The card at the top left is from the 2000 Topps Traded set (#97) and depicts Juan during his previously discussed 'down' year in Detroit.

The second card looks a lot like the original 1989 Upper Deck release, but it's been given the typical late-90's facelift, complete with shiny foil surface and shiny foil stamping. I never noticed until just now, but that card is also numbered 0186/4000. Just so you know, it's from the insert set called '10th Anniversary Team', which perfectly explains the 1989 design.

There's yet another very '90's-looking' card at the bottom left, from 1997 Upper Deck. It's a one-per-box insert, from memory, and is actually pretty impressive to look at when it's in your hand.

I chose to include that 1997 Donruss card because I'm a sucker for throw-back uniforms. Also, it's card #1 in that set.

We arrive at the year 1995, and, man... what a colorful year that was for cards! At least, the top 2 cards here are from 1995.

There's a 'Rising Star' insert from 1995 Ultra, and a 'Ring Leader' insert from 1995 Stadium Club. I always thought Topps tried too hard with their inserts, but I actually like the way this card refracts when you move it.

The card at the bottom left is from 1994 Stadium Club, and I think it was from a 3rd series pack. They're called 'Finest Inserts', a wildly imaginative title for the set.

I love Fleer Pro Visions. And this one, takes the prize of my favorite of all time. So much color. The coolest brand of bat ever, and the yellow brick road with horses near it. Just cool!

I threw in the last card there because it's from 1993 Upper Deck, and it shows Juan being kind to some kids. Good fellow, he is.

Finally, we reach some early Juan cards from 1992 down to 1990.




The first card is from the 1992 Upper Deck Ted Williams Best Hitters insert set. On the back, Williams predicts Gonzalez to be a 'Sure MVP'. Teddy Ballgame wasn't wrong...

The 1991 Ultra card is from the formerly-over-valued Update set. I think, according to Beckett, this card was worth around $20 in the middle of the 1990's. Glad I waited until 2011 before buying the set for around $5.

I love the Mirror-image Rookie Card that Donruss produced in 1990. The cynic in me says it was a deliberate error. The cynic is probably right, too. I'm just glad I found the error version in some random shop on the Big Island of Hawaii about 20 years ago. Despite being a tad faded, it still remains one of my favorite cards of Juan's.

Well, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed our quick look back at the card career of one the 1990's greatest sluggers, Juan Gonzalez.

Nick J

Danny Tartabull - A Quick Look...

I've decided to post a brief overview of Danny Tartabull's career in cards.

Or, at least, picture one card for each team he played for.

Danny will always be one of my favorite players of all time, not just because he was a good hitter, but because of his legendary appearance on my favorite show of all time, Seinfeld. (If you need to check it out, Danny appears in the 6th Season Episode, 'The Pledge Drive').

I chose these two cards because the borders matched the uniforms.

I love team-color-coded cards.

LOVE them!

Even though these two cards are team-color-coded by default, I still rate them as two of the best Tartabull cards of all the ones I own. (I just checked, and I have 127 different Tartabull cards).

I waited for years to get a card of Danny with the Athletics. Years.

The moment that my complete set of 1996 Donruss arrived at my door, my 'Bull' collection was complete.

To this day, I still only have three cards of Danny with the A's - this '96 Fleer card, as well as the '96 Donruss #548, and the '96 Score #339.

That '92 Fleer card is from the Update set. That set was (and still is) way over-valued when it comes to a certain price guide magazine. I bought it for what I thought it was worth. From memory, it was about $10.

The final 2 cards in my collection are from Danny's years with the White Sox (1997 Donruss #97) and the Phillies (1998 Pacific #389).

I also own only three cards which showcase Danny's tenure with the Phillies, this Pacific issue, as well as the '97 Fleer #614, and the '97 Score #448.

The fact that he has at least three cards with the Phillies is incredible, considering he only played 3 games for them in 1997, with a grand total of zero hits from 7 at-bats.

Despite that, he had a great career.

And I'm sure if Danny Tartabull were here, he'd say "That's right, Nick".

Multi-Tasking Pitchers

Like most other bloggers out there, I love cards that depict pitchers doing stuff that aint pitching.

Upper Deck seemed to catch Charles Nagy a few times either hitting (1992 & 1993) or running the bases (1998 Collectors Choice).

For the record, Nagy strode to the plate 20 times over his 14-year career, and managed to get 2 hits, for a .105 average. He also somehow managed to score 3 runs.

His career All-Star Game average? 1.000! He led off the 8th inning of the 1992 ASG,  and singled off Doug Jones. Perhaps that hit is depicted on the 1993 Upper Deck card, since A.L. pitchers pretty much never batted in those days.

Denny Neagle.

Now here's a guy who, for a pitcher, was certainly a useful bat at the bottom of the order.

For his career, he batted at a .164 clip over 628 plate appearances, with 5 homers and 44 RBI.

I love that 2002 Upper Deck card - everyone remembers Denny as a fun-loving and goofy kind of guy, and I think he may have been impersonating Larry Walker's (in)famous All-Star Game at-bat from a few years earlier.

I may have a few more cards of Pitchers-doing-stuff-they-don't-often-do elsewhere, but they may have to wait for another day.

That day could well be tomorrow, if I find them this afternoon!

Thanks for reading,

Nick J

A Dave Winfield Cardboard Tribute... (Part 2 of 2)

(Part 1 Here)

G'day again!

 We're on to part 2 of my Dave Winfield tribute, in cardboard form.

I had a great time last night creating the first post, and I imagine this one will be even more enjoyable, as we will be heading into the 70's.

Brown.

Mustard.

Psychedelia.

Who doesn't love 1970's Baseball Cards???

They're all to come soon, but for now lets focus on the 1990 cards.

Wow, we nearly have 2 cards from each set represented here - save for Leaf and Bowman. Even though the Blue Donruss card is from a semi-oddball issue, it still serves it's purpose as 'Donruss Update', to me.

That Upper Deck card in the top left is my favorite card in this group. You may not be able to see it here, but the look on Winfield's face is hilarious. Looks like he is picturing Big Stein's face on that baseball...

Next in line are my 1989 and 1988 cards.




For me, the 1988 Score card stands out the most. That dark purple seems to go really well with the Yankee uniforms, for some reason.

Donruss really seemed to love the style of photo it used for the 1989 Winfield card. Hitter... Close-Up... Awaiting pitch... in batting stance...! That pose appeared on a lot of great hitters' Donruss cards from 1986 to 1992.

Speaking of Donruss, I really love the 1988 Baseball's Best set. I think it's referred to by some in the collecting world as 'The Halloween Set', but my main attraction to the set is the glossy fronts (an exception, rather than the rule, in those days), and the full career stats on the backs.

Now we venture into Winfield's 5-year stretch of 100+ RBI seasons.



Unfortunately for myself, and most Dodger fans, these years were Winfield's Yankee years.

But weren't they explosive! Despite all the crap that occurred between Big Stein and Winfield, he still managed to produce runs by the bunch, year in and year out.

Looking at the 1987 Donruss Opening Day card, we see yet another close-up photo of a hitter in his batting stance... etc. A true Donruss staple!

That 1986 Topps design is maligned by many, and adored by few. I'm actually sitting on the fence with this one, but that Black & White design was extremely Yankee-friendly. They have the best looking cards in that set, I believe.

Here is a nice pile of Winfield cards from 1985 down to 1983. My favorite designs in this lot? 1985 Fleer, then 1985 Topps, then 1983 Topps. The two 1985 sets, for me, are two of the best sets from the 80's. Why? Team-Color-Codedness! To quote Barney Stinson, "It's a thing..."

Looks like Donruss stole their 'Superstar Hitter Pose' photograph idea from Fleer somwhere between 1984 and late 1985. I love that 1984 Fleer card. I really miss the old Fleer sets. These days, whenever I buy a complete set, I sort all of the cards into teams. Fleer negated the need to bother with that, by doing it themselves.

We have arrived at the earliest cards of Dave Winfield as a Yankee.

Nothing too spectacular here, although that Diamond King card is one of the first 26 we ever laid eyes on.

I wish Topps would bring back something they only did once - that is, issue the Traded or Update series as a numeric continuation of the main set. In 1981, the main set had 726 cards, and the 132-card Traded set was numbered 727-858. I want my 2013 set to go from 1-990, but hey, I'll settle for what they're doing now. At least they're actually still producing an update set. (1996-1998 Topps, I'm looking at you!)

Finally, we have reached the coolest stack of Dave Winfield cards I own : The Padres cards!

Now, obviously the 1974 card is one I cherish, but my favorite among the 10 cards here is the 1976 Topps card. Why? Team-Color-Codedness, yet again. My favorite 1970's set? I'm going to be really original here and say 1975.

Colors, colors and more colors!

There's not much that needs to be said here, since these cards are simply awesome.

But I will say this : Every single card that I have pictured here in the last 2 days is now living in Australia. I'd guess it's probably the largest Dave Winfield card collection in this country. At least I hope it is!

Thanks for reading,

Nick J

*Edit : Here's Dave's website : http://davewinfieldhof.com