Simmer Down Now.

With the launch of Series 1 Baseball less than 2 weeks away and the announcement that Topps decided to add SP's of  Albert Pujol's in his new Angels jersey and Jose Reyes in a Marlin's jersey. There has been a small fervor in the sportscardblogosphere over it.  The cards will be #331 and 332 respectively and be short printed in Series 1.  But both cards will have non-SP versions in Series 2 with different photo's most likely ones not photoshopped.  I really don't understand what the big deal is.  This is just like in 2010 where Topps had to keep the Strasmania going and issued a super SP of Strasburg #661 only available through the Cards Your Mother Threw out giveaway website.  He also had a none SP version released later in the Update series.

For me I could give a rat's ass about the SP cards.  I don't chase the one's Topps already does with inserting SP's of HOFer's or Sparkle variations or whatever, unless they are cards for my Player or Team collections.  For me as a set collector, the base set is one through 330 for Series one, no SP's.  I either trade away or sell all the stuff I don't want and to be honest these added  SP's adds a little value to the box. Because while I'm not a completist as a set collector there are plenty of people who are, or people willing to chase down the first Pujols or Reyes card in his new uniform.

For Topps this is pretty much  more of the same.  It's not game changing, it's not surprising, it's just par for the course.  Just my 2 cents.

1963 Topps Baseball Project - The first HOFer makes it into the collection

I've been on a little spree lately with the 1963 Topps Baseball Project.  I just won another decent lot of 15, so I'll have some posting fodder for weeks.  But last week I also picked up 3 different Hall of Famers.  I'm not going to spoil the fun your just going to have to wait and see who I picked up.  Or peruse the checklist, they're already marked, but the first one I picked up was this Orioles legend.

 #345 Brooks "the Human Vacuum Cleaner" Robinson

I was lucky enough to snag this bad boy for fairly cheap and I'll say so far it's the single most expensive card in the set for me.  I paid a whopping $19.50 shipped.  After staring at this card for a while I think I got a hell of a deal.  To be honest the person listing this card gave a terrible description, "No wrinkles or creases, corners are nice." That's a pretty minimal save your ass listing description.  But they were right an absolutely beautiful card and the centering ain't half bad.  I was trying to make Ernie Banks my first HOFer in the set, but missed out on a great looking card that went for way too cheap, so Mr. Robinson is my conciliation prize.

If you were to ask the average Joe who is the best Oriole they probably would say Cal Ripken.  If you were to ask an Orioles fan most likely they would tell you it's Brooks.

Brooks resume is pretty impressive.  Sixteen time Golden Glover, 2 World Series rings, 1970 World Series MVP honors, 1964 AL MVP, just shy of the 3,000 hits club, and let's not forget a first ballot Hall of Famer that got 92% of the vote!

Brooks is still kicking and still active in Major League Baseball working with the players union.

So welcome Mr. Robinson to my 1963 Topps collection you are most welcome!

2nd Annual Almost the Easiest Super Bowl Contest on the Web - Conference Championship weekend round up.

Wow what another crazy weekend in the NFL.  And I have to say, both games could have gone either way.  If Lee Evans had held on to that ball in the end zone, if Billy Cundiff hadn't shanked that kick if Kyle Williams hadn't screwed up twice.  If, if, if.  In the end the Pats got lucky and lets face it it could have gone either way in the Giants/Niner's game.  But even if the wins weren't pretty and relied on others mistakes we have the stage set.

So here were the 8 going into this weekend.

hiflew - Ravens over 49er's, 27 points, 6 TO's

Spankee - Patriots over Saints, 60 points, 3 TO's

Cardhobbyist - Ravens over Saints, 41 points, 3 TO's

Matt - 49ers over Patriots, 73 points, 5 TO's

Hackenbush - 49ers over Steelers, 48 points, 3 TO's

Skroeker - Patriots over Packers, 56 points, 3 TO's

SpastikMoose - Patriots over Saints, 45 points, 5 TO's

Josh D. - Patriots over Packers, 61 points, 1 TO 


Now we're down to 4 who could win by picking the winner.  Here's the interesting thing though.  No one picked the Giants.  And lets face it the last time these two teams met the Patriots were on their way to the perfect season and seemed unstoppable.  This year, while the Pat's are playing good ball, they are not near as the juggernaut they were in 2008.  And the Giants have turned it on at the right time, much like the Packers did last year.  So what's going to happen if the Pat's don't win?  Well then we have to go to the tie breakers and while I have 4 people who have correctly picked one of the teams to make the Super Bowl, I ask for the winner.  So that means that everyone who picked the Pat's to lose are still in it!!! And if the Pat's lose the 4 that have the Pat's to win lose.  Anyways.  Here are the final 4 that picked the Patriots to win.


Spankee - Patriots over Saints, 60 points, 3 TO's


Skroeker - Patriots over Packers, 56 points, 3 TO's

SpastikMoose - Patriots over Saints, 45 points, 5 TO's

Josh D. - Patriots over Packers, 61 points, 1 TO 




and here we have the players that are back in it if the Pat's lose!!






The Diamond King - Packers over New England, 69 points, 2 TO's


Colbey - Saints over Patriots, 54 points, 1 TO's


The Dimwit - Saints over Patriots, 63 points, 3 TO's


Mariner1 - Saints over Patriots, 72 points, 1 TO


Matt - 49ers over Patriots, 73 points, 5 TO's

Kyle4KC - Packers over Patriots, 54 points, 3 TO's, pimp


dkwilson - Packers over Patriots, 59 points, 2 TO's

Play at the Plate - Saints over Patriots, 73 points, 3 TO, and 36 pass-interference calls.

Fuji -  Packers over Patriots, 73 points, 4 TO's



Wow, what an interesting predicament.   Alright with a break in the action to let Eli Manning get some rest.  Holy crap he took a lot of hits, and to let Aaron Rodgers get a free trip to Hawaii, I'll have the final pregame post with all the finalist, from 4 to 13, wow.  Good luck everybody.

1963 Topps Baseball Project - The Rule of 3

Ah the old tenet of the Rule of 3.  Bad things happen in 3's, good things happen in 3's, your karma is returned 3 fold.  Here at the crack the 1963 Topps Baseball Project posts 3 common cards at a time.  

However you take it, it's another offering from the shoebox.  

First up #153 Hal Smith.

Not to be confused with Hal Smith the actor who played Otis Anderson, the town drunk on the Andy Griffith Show or Hal Smith the catcher for the Cardinals.   Nope this Hal played as a utility player, catching and holding down the corners.  He played most of his career in Kansas City, but played two years in Houston, 62 and 63, before ending his career in Cincinnati.  Hal is remembered in Pittsburgh as one of heroes of the 1960 World Series, hitting a 3 run homer in the bottom of the 8th with two out to put the Pirates ahead of the Yankees.  Of course the Yankees ended up winning it in the 9th, but Hal is still remembered for his pivotal hit.
Hal Smith is still around and 81.

#157 Diego Segui

Man I really like the looks of those old Kansas City Athletics hats. Diego would play on and off for the Athletics for 10 years before finally being traded away to the Cardinals in 1972.  Diego also as the distinction of being the only picture to have pitched for both Seattle major league teams.  After being released by the Mariners in 1977 Diego went on to pitch for 10 more years in the Mexican Leagues.  I couldn't find where Diego calls home now but he's still around at the age of 74.


And lastly we have #159 Jim Pagliaroni

Jim was only 17 when he appeared in first major league game, says so right there in the comic on the back of the card.  He was also only 31 when he retired a Seattle Pilot in 1969.  Jim joined the military in 1956 and was out in time in 1958 to make spring training.  In 1968, Jim was traded to the Oakland Athletics where he caught for Catfish Hunters perfect game the first one in the American League since 1922.  Sadly, Jim passed away in April of 2010 from cancer.

2nd Annual Almost the Easiest Super Bowl Contest on the Web Conference Championships Round!

It's Friday, two days till the NFL Conference Championships!  I'm sure most of you have forgotten I'm holding a Super Bowl contest since you're out.  What have I learned from holding this contest 2 years in a row?  Never bet on the Saints.  And if you get in late pick the team no one else does.  Now remember I only asked you who the winner was going to be to win.  But since I was sure there would probably be more than one entry to guess the right team I had a few tie breakers.  I asked for the opponent, total points in the game and total turnovers.  We have 8 contestants left standing after 2 weeks of playoffs.  You'll notice that 3 of the 4 teams are represented.  Nobody picked the Giants, not surprising, but no one even picked them as an opponent.  I won't lie I'm bitter toward the Giants this year so I'll be rooting for the 49ers this Sunday, as for the Ravens/Pats game I don't have a favorite so I'm just going to enjoy the game.  I'll have a contest update on Sunday night or Monday morning.

Here are the 8 Semifinalists and their picks:

hiflew - Ravens over 49er's, 27 points, 6 TO's

Spankee - Patriots over Saints, 60 points, 3 TO's

Cardhobbyist - Ravens over Saints, 41 points, 3 TO's

Matt - 49ers over Patriots, 73 points, 5 TO's

Hackenbush - 49ers over Steelers, 48 points, 3 TO's

Skroeker - Patriots over Packers, 56 points, 3 TO's

SpastikMoose - Patriots over Saints, 45 points, 5 TO's

Josh D. - Patriots over Packers, 61 points, 1 TO 

1963 Topps Baseball Project - Obituary Free

I'll say this I'm really enjoying this vintage set building thing.  One of my goals for this set was to feature it here on the blog as I build it.  In the process, I wanted to do a little research on each player to provide a little meat to the post and in turn I get to learn some great baseball history and pass that on down.  If you've wandered over to my dedicated 1963 Topps Project page you know I set a few rules for myself in collecting the set.  First was no wax backs and the second was no filler.  My main goal was to put together a nice mid-grade set.  So that meant no crappy cards.  Now that doesn't mean in buying lots I won't get a few cards I consider sub-par for the set.  I will.  I know it, but I'm not knowingly going after cards under my desired grade which is EX+ or better.  I'm hoping to get the best centering possible with sharp corners, but this is 1960's Topps!  With that said I'm fairly happy with the cards I've acquired so far.  

I've also be posting in groups of three.  I think that's a good fit for the blog.  Just enough meat to fill you up, but not so sparse as to leave you hungry. And who knows when this is all said and done maybe we might just learn something too.  As always comments are welcome.

So enough blabbing here are 3 more cards from the shoebox.

#140 Frank "Taters" Lary

Actually when I started researching Frank he had a few nicknames.  He was also called Mule and the Yankee Killer.  Frank played 11 years in the Majors most of it with the Tigers. In 1964 he was traded to the Mets who then traded him to the Braves.  The Mets picked him up again in 1965 and traded  him away again to the White Sox where he finished his career.  Later Frank scouted for various teams and eventually retired completely from baseball and opened up his own construction business.  Frank is 81 and currently living in Northport, Alabama.

Next, figuratively and numerically we have #141 Manny Mota.

It's interesting to see Manny here labeled as a Colt .45, when he never actually appeared in a Colts uniform.  He was traded to Houston from the Giants, but was traded again in early April in 1963 to the Pirates.  Manny had a nice long career of 20 years and is probably best remembered as a Dodger, where he from 1969 to 1982.  In 1969 he was the first player selected by the Expos in the expansion draft, oddly enough a player's card I featured in the last 63 project post, Mack Jones was the second.  Manny is 73 and is still active in the Dodgers organization and is the longest tenured coach with over 32 years of service.  Manny also has two World Series rings one from the 1981 World Series were he was both a player and a coach and the 1988 World Series as a coach.


#152 Ron Nischwitz

Ron had a short career in major league baseball from 1961 to 1965, and not playing in 1964.  This was Ron's only year with the Indians and he only made 14 appearances going 0-2 with a 6.48 ERA.  He took the '64 season off and finished his career back in Detroit.  After baseball he became the head coach for the Wright State University baseball team for close to 20 years.  And as a nice change of pace all three of the featured players are still alive.  Ron is 74 and still kicking.

1963 Topps Baseball Project - 3 More in the Shoebox

So far I'm plugging right along with this set, trying to score small lots for cheap on ebay here and there and it's been working.  I'm bummed I missed a decent Ernie Banks card that went for way too cheap, but last week I added 3 HOFer's to the collection.  They'll be up here soon when I get them.  But until then another trio of commons from some recent pick ups.  You can follow the progress over at my 1963 Topps Project page.  I've got the whole checklist there and have color coded the cards with their status, I've got a completion tracker and I've even decided to try and track how much I spend putting this set together.

OK first up...

#118 Sherm Lollar

This would be Sherm's last year playing baseball.  From the back of the card you can see he played for four different teams during his career, with most of the time spent with the White Sox.

Sherm also has two World Series rings one as a player with the Yankees in 1947 and one as a coach with the  1966 Orioles. A nine time All-star and three time Golden Glover Sherm also coached for the Oakland Athletics in 1969 and two of their minor league teams.  Sherm past away in 1977 from cancer.

#122 Julio Gotay

Not much to say about Julio.  He played most of his career in AA and AAA minor leagues being called up for St Louis full time in 1962 he was traded to Pittsburgh the next year and then to the Angels and the Astros, but  played most of that time back down in the minors.  Julio past way in 2008 from respiratory failure.

#137 Mack Jones

Mack "the Knife" Jones only played 10 seasons of professional baseball but most of those were with the Braves.  A native of Atlanta he moved with the team in 1966, which I'm sure he enjoyed.  He was trade to the Reds in 1967 and then in 1968 was taken 2nd by the Expos in the Expansion draft.  Mack past away in 2004, in what seems to be a reoccurring theme here, from complications with stomach cancer.