Just because I haven't been blogging...

Doesn't mean I haven't been doing something that is related to the blog.  I've spent a bit of my spare time updating/sorting my PC's, finding doubles in both the Thome and Sakic binders.  What I thought would amount to a handful of hours on a weekend turned into a 4 evening project, but in the end it was well worth it knowing that both of those collections are up to date.  Now, the focus has changed to getting the piles of cards off of my desk.

One of the giant piles should be easy to handle, it's a giant stack of these:

Hockey will always be a weakness of mine, and even after saying that I wouldn't chase the 14-15 OPC set, there's a big stack on my desk.   I decided to show the Orr card after seeing a post here the other day.   One day I'm going to have to learn how to put custom cards together, I've seen so many people in the blogosphere do it and it looks like a lot of fun.

A pile that I actually did get off the desk this weekend was a bunch of these.

The Blue Jays "Just the hits" page is finally complete.   All of my autos and jersey cards are finally scanned and up for your viewing pleasure (if looking at the Jays actually pleases you).  There was about 40 of them to scan, and the stack of top loaders was a lot taller than I imagined. 

Next pile that's up for removal?   Minis.

I have an aversion to minis.  Yes, they are cards, but I find that I have a tough time handling them.  Over time what I've done with them is as they come in, I set them to the side.  More come in, the pile grows a little higher.  I guess what I'm hoping is that they'll magically go away somehow.

No chance there.   Now it's time to deal with them.

The goal in 2015 is to get things finished, sorted and neat.  That takes time, and for this guy, patience.

Hopefully I can find lots of both and get back to a state of sanity....

thanks for reading, Robert

'59 Topps set build #11/572 Cincinnati Red Legs team card

I felt like doing something a little bit different with this '59 Topps post, so instead of going in order after the Eddie Miksis card, I jumped ahead and grabbed my first team card to go over.

Card #111:  Cincinnati Red Legs (checklist 89-176) 

I had never really thought about it in the past when I looked at team cards, but there's an awful lot of players in this photo.  So many that I decided to count them.   There's 37 players in uniform, with maybe a handful of them having their faces defaced over time. 

There is only one Hall of Famer on the '59 squad, Frank Robinson.   I didn't see uniform #20 on any of the players, so I'm going to guess and say that he is 3rd from the left in the 2nd row from the top, standing to the left of Brooks Lawrence (#46).

Overall record:  74-80, 5th place in the NL, 13 games behind the division winning Dodgers.

Team Leaders:  

• Hits: Vada Pinson 205.   Pinson also led the team in runs, doubles and ABs (all 3 of those categories he led the NL), as well as batting average (.316) and steals (21).   Team MVP, no?
• Homers:  Frank Robinson, 36.  Frank also led the Red Legs in RBI with 125.
• Wins:  Don Newcombe and Bob Purkey had 13 apiece.   Newcombe also led the team in K's, with 100 and complete games with 17.
• Saves:  Brooks Lawrence had 10 saves, the number being so low because he also started 14 games.

The Reds fired their manager halfway through the season, as they struggled under first year manager Mayo Smith (35-45).  He was replaced by Fred Hutchinson, who guided them to a 39-35 record the rest of the way, and would guide them to three straight winning seasons between 1961 & 1963, also earning an NL pennant for the Reds in '61.

The back is in very nice shape, no pen marks or lost paper at all.  

I thought it very interesting that the checklist on the back was the 2nd series check list, instead of a team list.   This intrigued me so much that I had to see if I had any other team photos (I do, the Senators) to see if there was a team list on the back (there wasn't, the Senators are the 6th series check list).  The Blue Jays very first All-Star from 1977 also appears on this checklist, see if you can figure out who. (answer below)

There's a few interesting names on this check list...Bill "Moose" Skowron at #90, Felipe Alou #102, Stan Musial at #150 and Sandy Koufax at #163, none of which I own yet. 

I also wondered where the name "Redlegs" came from.  It appears that the "Reds" nickname was removed from the uniform between 1956-1960,  because of the association of the color red with communism.  Redlegs was once a derogatory term used to describe a group of poor white people that live in the Caribbean, mostly coming from Ireland and Scotland (reference here).  The team became the Reds again after the 1958 season, maybe not in time for Topps to change the name on the front of this card?

Ron Fairly (card #125) was the very first Blue Jay to appear in an all-star game in 1977, hitting .307 at the break and finishing the season with a .279 average with a career high in homers with 19.

thanks for reading, Robert                 

A couple of '64s that I forgot to show off + some other stuff

With all the serial numbered insanity cards that I've gone through since the beginning of the year, there was a couple of other cards that I neglected to show off.   A pair of '64 Topps cards that have vaulted me over the 500 card mark for the set!  I'm getting closer, but unlike the SNI set, the final 86 cards that I need for this set is going to be a bit more of a daunting task to acquire.

I really like the All-Star Vets card on the left; it's one that I've been trying to find at a reasonable price for a while, and I was lucky to find it on COMC for $3.  The Hector Lopez card set me back just under $3, but that's the price I guess I'm going to have to pay to acquire some of the Yankees commons that I need.

I haven't done a shout out for a fellow blogger in a while, but seeing this guy's blog made me want to speak up.

Dan at the Daily Autograph blog is one of my more recent followers (thank you Dan), and as I am continually playing catch up, I finally got around to checking out his blog today.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of obtaining in person autographs, it's just not my thing.   I don't discourage anyone out there from the practice, because I've seen a lot of great stuff on many people's blogs, and have been fortunate enough to receive a bit of swag that was obtained IP from other people.

Dan's blog, well it takes the IP autograph to a whole new level.  He posts one card a day, at 10AM.  Dan is posting his cards in the order that he received the autograph.  How is that for meticulousness!!
His coming soon tabs at the top of his blog (there's 2 of them, for both halves of the alphabet) show off the schedule he has for future players.  The latest date I've seen is April 2017!  Seeing something like this makes me feel bad that I'm going to post approximately a dozen times in January.  Maybe it's just the kick in the ass that I need.

Give Dan a follow if you'd like, you just might see someone you may have forgotten about over time, like Floyd Rayford .  Keep up the good work Dan!


Speaking of autographs, I have had a pretty good week obtaining autos myself.   I scored an auto from Wes at Jaybarkerfan's Junk earlier in the week, and today I received a 2nd auto from a fellow blogger.

I received the goodies from the group break that Chris at Nachos Grande ran earlier this month today, and inside the box was this bonus! 

Is this another trend in the blogosphere?  #Walletcard has been a smash hit in the blog world, and now 2 autos from fellow bloggers in one week?   Damn I am so behind the times.

I'm a book nerd by the way, so my #Walletcard is actually a book mark.  I haven't dinged the card up too much as of yet, but I'm sure after a while it'll be a mess...

Maybe I'll find a suitable card for my wallet soon, you know, something to join all the moths in there.

thanks for reading, Robert