Yadi card of the week #15

I have to admit I have a thing for, a crush so to speak on the vintage type baseball cards, Topps Heritage and Archives, Bowman Heritage, Fleer Tradition, Fleer Vintage, 2009 OPC, and Allen & Ginter. Can some one tell me what the difference is between Archives and Heritage?

The card I have chosen for this week is Yadie’s 2012 Topps' Archive #14. This card reproduces the 1954 Topps' look and feel. The front has an orange-red background with Yadie looking up to the sky at an awkward angle.

To his left is a mini action shot that recycles the same Yadi shot on other cards, lazy arses.

Across his chest is his facsimile signature. The Birds on the Bat is in the top right corner and his name, team, and position in the opposite corner, all framed in white. There is a parallel version in gold which is seeded at one in twelve packs, or two per box. The obverse of this card is also in the 1954 style and I love it.

This is what baseball cards are missing and probably explains why I am drawn to them. The top third of the obverse is in white and has a blurb about Yadi with his position and team in the top right hand corner. The opposite side of the back has the card number inside of a baseball with his name and bio and details such as height and birth place and year. The bottom two thirds of the card is in green with white text that contains his stats for the previous year and for his career, the totally cool thing is the cartoons below this which give two stories about Yadi. I can never get enough of those! All in all I really like this card, not so much the front even if it gives me a full on Yadi headshot, but for the back which is colorful, informative, fun, and easy to read which makes me think of the cards from my youth-no I wasn’t around when the originals were issued. So this year's archives release at the end of this month I am eagerly awaiting my box to arrive.

STL MLB Player of the Week #13

One of the joys of being a Cardinals’ fan is hearing Mike Shannon’s play by play on KMOX radio. He is at times intentionally funny “He’s faster than a chicken being chased by Ronald McDonald!”, “Like Spring makes the rains come, so does the edge of the plate grow”, and other times unintentionally funny “…this crowd is on their feet for the Canadian Star Spangled Banner.”,  ‘‘Even the standing-room only seats have been sold.”, either way he brings the games to life. Thomas Michael Shannon was born in South STL on July 15, 1939. Mike’s dad was a STL police officer, and then after earning a law degree he became the Prosecuting Attorney for STL in the 1970s. He attended Christian Brothers College High School then briefly attended the University of Missouri but left in 1958 to start his professional career. An interesting note is that some thought he was a better football player and was good enough to win a Heisman Trophy.

In 1962 he began his carrier with the Cardinals and in 1964 he became the regular right fielder. However, in 1967 he shifted to 3^rd base to make room for Roger Maris. Mike was known for two key home runs in World Series history, first he hit a game tying two-run homer off of Whitey Ford in Game 1 of the 1964 World Series, and he hit another key home run in the 1967 World Series against Bosox the in Game 3. In 1968 he hit a home run off of the Tigers Mickey Lolich in the final game of that World Series. Mike wasn’t done with his notable home runs. He hit the last home run in the old Sportsman’s Park (AKA Busch Stadium I), and the first home run in Busch II. Unfortunately Mike contracted a kidney disease (nephritis) in 1970 and his career was finished. His career stats were as follows; 882 games played, 3056 plate appearances, 313 runs scored, 710 hits, 367 RBIs, 19 Stolen Bases, .255 BA, .698 OPS, and .954 fielding average. 

                                                 Mike's last card

In 1972 Mike became a broadcasting partner of Jack Buck until his death. Following Jack’s death Mike was named the lead broadcaster. All in all he has spent 55 years of his life as a Cardinal and only Jack Buck has called more Cardinals’ games. I know when he stops calling games it will be a gigantic loss for baseball as he is an old school broadcaster with so much “character”.

                                         Jack and Mike in Busch II

Yadi card of the week #14

This week's Yadi card isn't really a card but you wouldn't know it by just looking at it on a computer screen. This week's card also serves a dual purpose as it also our EBay pick up of the week. So what the heck am I talking about? Printing plates baby-2013 #210 Bowman Chrome Yellow. Why do you see three images? Well because I have been able to pick up three of the four plates (Yellow, Magenta, Black) for us. Hopefully the fourth one will pop up sooner than later. I have had some luck pulling printing plates, 2014 Topps Series 1 I pulled a Miggy, 2013 Topps Update (?) I pulled a Jose Battista, and in a group break of 2014 Gypsy Queen this year I got a Waino printing plate. I am not sure if others think of these as cards but I guess I do.

Play at the Plate hits 2000 posts and is throwing a contest to celebrate.

Congrats to Play at the Plate for his 2000 blog post and click on the link for his contest.

Better than a Blaster #2

Work has been a little busy for me so I am a little late with BTB #2.

# of cards in lot: 45 (3 doubles and 4 former Cardinals before they were Cardinals) for a total of 42.
Cost of lot with shipping: $6.76
Cost per card of unduplicated cards: .16 cents per card.
Quality: 3 Blasters (no “Junk Wax”)
Value: 3 Blasters
Expectations: 3 Blasters

1969 Topps 1968 N.L Pitching Leaders #10 Marichal, Gibby, Fergie a little off center to the right but in excellent condition.

1972 Topps 1971 NL Batting Leaders Joe Torre and two dudes I don’t know, card is in excellent condition.

2000 Topps T206 Mark McGuire

2003 Fleer Tradition Scott Rolen. I love the Fleer Tradition Cards.

2007 UD SP Legendary Cuts George Sisler #244 out of 550

2011 Topps Diamond Cognac Base Variation Stan “The Man” Musial.

2011 Topps Diamond Anniversary Lost Cards Stan Musial #341 and #275

2012 Bowman Platinum Oscar Taleveras BPP51 #3 of 199.

2012 Topps Black Border Skip Schumaker #48 out of 61.

I liked this lot and all of these will make it to our collection.

STL MLB Player of the Week #12

This week’s STL player hails from across the river in ESTL. ESTL is still going through deindustrialization resulting in a steep decline of this blue-collar city. I am 46 years old and when I was very young my parents would take me to get my haircut at my Uncle Nick’s barbershop on Main Street. I don’t think I could do so now.

I digress, James “Salty” Parker was born in ESTL on July 8^th, 1912 and he died on July 27^th, 1992 in Houston. Salty was a shortstop with the Tigers. He had a brief MLB career and played with the Tigers from August 13, 1936 through September 16, 1936.  Salty was in 11 games, had 25 at bats, a .280 BA, scored 6 runs, had 7 hits, and drove in 4 runs with a OBP of .333. On December 2, 1936 he was traded by Indianapolis American Association to the Tigers along with one other player as a “player to be named later” for Dizzy Trout.

Following his major league career he became a minor league manager with a team in the DR. He also was a coach for the SF Giants (1958-1961), the Indians (1962), Angels of Where Ever (1964-1966 and 1973-74), Astros (1968-72). Salty briefly managed the Mets for 11 games in 1967 and one game for the Astros in 1972. Following his career as a coach he became a scout in the Houston area for the Angels of Where Ever. Salty was a also a coach for the Mariners’ Bellingham Mariners in 1987 and a coach in the Karl Young League and this is from the Astros Daily:

 "He was great for the Karl Young League. Salty would help anybody who asked him. He was one of the few people in baseball I knew who would never say a bad thing about anybody -- even if they couldn't field or play a lick."

Even though he had a short career as a player he has several cards as a coach with several teams including 1960 Topps #469 Giants Coaches, 1973 Topps #276 Angels Coaches, 1974 Topps #276 California Angle Coaches, and 1987 Seattle Mariners Bellingham Mariners 1987 team issue.

Ask and ye shall receive

I got a heads from Fuji regarding this book on Amazon and yesterday I found this link Cardinals Baseball Cards. This gentleman has most of the Cardinals' cards up until 2006. It is missing some newer Topps but what a service to Cardinals' collectors.