On this date: June 14, 1975

• Tom Griffin would pitch a 3 hit shutout as the Astros beat the Cardinals 9-0
• This would be Griffin's 3rd, and last win of the season.  Tom would only make two more starts in 1975 before being shut down for the rest of the season.

• Big Cliff Johnson would go 2 for 5 in the game with a homer and 4 RBI's.
• This is Johnson's RC, and is located right beneath Steve Garvey's card in my binder.

• Elsewhere, Johnny Bench would go 5 for 5 and drive in a run as the Reds beat the Cubs 11-3.
• Interesting thought about the Reds batting order that day:  George Foster actually batted 8th that day.  All those years of big power and average numbers and I could never have imagined that he'd be batting before the pitcher....ever.

- Robert

I spent more on breakfast than I did at the monthly card show

Before you ask, I did not eat at one of those all you can eat buffet places, so rest assured my breakfast didn't cost much.

I was very excited to go to this month's card show, as they have relocated to a new venue, which is a little closer to my house (and closer to the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, which may not be a good thing).

The new hall was quite nice, a lot roomier and cleaner than the previous location.  Most of the vendors are still the same, so that familiarity was still there.

I sat down first at a table that had several boxes of cards (no price marked), mostly newer stuff.  Starting the Larry Fitzgerald PC allowed me to do something I hadn't done at a show in a long time, look through stacks of football cards.

Found half a dozen, not bad.   Fitz wasn't the only PC finds, as I found a card each for Thome and Ichiro in the boxes.

After that, it was all Toronto cards for me.   As I mentioned, a lot of newer stuff in the boxes, so I managed to put dents into several of this years Blue Jays team sets.

Gypsy Queen.  That might just be all of the Jays.  Love the red cap on Osuna.

How soon before we see a hundred billion of these on the market for a penny apiece? 

The Tulowitzki Museum Collection card is from last year's set, but I would have never known because I've never bought a pack, seen a pack or looked for a pack.  The Heritage cards are cool, probably about 1/2 the team set is featured here.

Lots of miscellaneous cards for the Jays as well.  Love the Bringer of Rain moniker card of Donruss from last year. 

Once I was done looking at baseball, I was surprised to see a big chunk of hockey cards in his boxes.  The first row of cards made an immediate liar out of me...

as I had mentioned last week when going over Doug's package that you never see Ice cards down here in the deep south.  Shocked, but pleased that I was able to pick these up.

Love SP Authentic cards, and was happy to add 4 of these to my collection.  Picking up early cards of Marner and Nylander for cheap was a very welcome relief to my wallet.

I've seen a few of these on the blogs, but never really knew much about the UD Full Force cards.  One day I'll have to look into what this set (or sets, I don't know) consist of.  Never the less, 3 more Leafs in the collection.

Happily, when I handed the vendor the stack of cards, all he asked for was $5.  I spent $6.25 on breakfast.

I walked around the show for a while longer, but just wasn't in the mood to pull the trigger on anything else. 

Maybe I'll head up to the West Palm Beach show this week and see if I can hit the $10 plateau...

Thanks for reading, Robert

Going through the closet: 2011 Topps Chrome

A few years back, it was all about putting the sets together, and not really looking at what was inside them.   I whipped through this 220 card set and found that while the set looks nice because it's shiny, and it has a lot of rookies at the end of it, to me it was nothing spectacular.

Of course, there were a few cards that made me stop and look twice.  Wouldn't be much of a post if there weren't any....

I really didn't stop until I hit card #80, which is Joe Mauer ripping another baseball.   The card looks better in hand as you can see the crowd a little better.  Something about this card just screamed old school for me.  Not sure why, maybe it's the pinstripes.

The very next card in the set was Mat Latos, who has been on Twitter the past day or 2 for throwing a ball over a batter's head in the minors, triggering a bench clearing brawl.   Looking up his stats I see that he threw 3 starts in Toronto last year.   I missed all 3 of those, and now he's pitching in the CanAm league.  I remember when this card came out how he was one of the better starters in the NL; funny how things can change over time.

It's been a while since he was called Mike.  I prefer Giancarlo as he does.  Just seems to suit him more.  He only needs 18 more HRs to hit 300.  I think 500 is well within his reach, but I'm not sure that 600 is possible.  We'll see...

There's probably been a few people over the years that have shown this card on their blogs.  I may have even done so once.  The overhead shot with the ball on its way to the plate is a great photo.

Nice double dip shot for GCRL.  Elvis Andrus makes this look easy.  I believe that's Cody Ross who was with the Giants at the time that is getting forced at 2nd.

The last 50 cards are RC's, which I don't remember worrying about a whole lot back at the time I was putting the set together.  Freddie Freeman and Eric Hosmer are also among the rookie crop that includes Chris Sale shown above.   It surprises me, and then again it doesn't, that there isn't more action on Sale RC's; I guess collectors are into chasing the latest and greatest now and not proven veteran stars so much.

I don't recall having to chase this set very much when putting it together.  I'm sure that a few years ago that there were so many people buying these that trades were probably easy to come by.

This will probably be the only Chrome set I'll ever own.   Doesn't bother me in the least.

Thanks for reading, Robert

On this date: June 10, 1973

• Wayne Twitchell was the big man for the Phillies on this day, going 3 for 3 at the plate with 2 singles, a double, a run scored and a RBI to help the Phillies to an 11-0 whitewash of the Padres.
• Oh yeah, he pitched a complete game shutout, allowing only 5 hits and a walk while striking out 8.  

• Meanwhile, Boots Day hits a 2 out, 2 run single in the bottom of the eighth inning to put the Expos ahead for good, as they beat the Giants 7-6 at Parc Jarry in Montreal.
• The winning pitcher for the Expos was reliever Mike Marshall, who would improve his record to 7-4.  Marshall would finish the season with a 14-11 record, appearing in 92 games, all in relief, finishing 73 games and saving 31.  Mike would also finish 2nd in Cy Young voting in '73, gaining 9 of the 24 first place votes.  Tom Seaver would win the award that season in the NL.

- Robert

Serial Saturday #18: A great start to the Larry Fitzgerald PC

It's good to have connections in the hobby.  Especially when it's one that is very generous, such as Wes from the Willinghammer Rising blog.  I was fortunate to be one of the few that received one of his "trade retirement" packages recently.

Wes had asked me about my Larry Fitzgerald PC, and how many cards I was looking to have of him.  I hoped to eventually have 200 cards (hoped being the key term here), and Wes took that as a challenge.

I'm more than halfway there now.  Wes sent a 100 card count plastic case filled with Fitz cards.

He also knows my affinity for serial #'d cards, so there were half a dozen in there mixed in with all the base.

From the early returns on the Fitz lot, there is a ton of Panini product that I've missed over the years.  From what I've seen so far I really like what I've missed over the years, largely because it's very colorful (another weakness of mine). 

Flipped through the lot a 2nd time while writing this post and found a couple more serial #'d cards.  The Franchise card is # 155/499. 

So between my original buy of 35 cards, Wes' near 100 count lot, and 2 more purchases of lots on ebay, I'm guessing that the 200 goal has probably been reached already.

Not bad for 2 weeks worth, eh Captain?

Thank you Wes!  The cards are very much appreciated. 

Thanks for reading, Robert