National Sports Collectors Show 2015, day two (Thursday) highlights

As time and tide wait for no man, neither do your feet adjust to hours of pounding around the robust concrete floors of Rosemont's convention center. Oy vey. But onto the cards!

I spent two hours sifting through variety boxes at one of my favorite National dealers, Kurt Tourdot. Thanks to John and Len, I also spent awhile thinking about a new haircut. Unitas has a classic gridiron look, but Dawson's closer to what will actually happen on my head.

Speaking of haircuts, here's another guy with a buzz.

Despite finishing my own 1976 SSPC baseball set a few years ago, I'd completely forgotten about its #589 George Brett / Al Cowans Cowens masterpiece of no-budget photography. SSPC showcased several great goofball photos in the "high numbers," but I think this is the best.

It's hard to find subtle, excellent design like the colors and script used for 1962 Post Cereal's CFL set. Would've loved this photo design for Post's baseball sets, which feel cramped in comparison.

Other than last year's Allen & Ginter barbed wire card, Dan Gladden is as close as I'll get to seeing "Glidden" on a trading card.

The barbed wire card, with mention of my great-great-great-uncle Joseph.

I spent an hour-plus sifting through a table of oddball postcards and photos, including this snapshot of Joe DiMaggio looking down at something. He also has a good haircut.

One table featured an 800-count box of autographed 1970s minor league cards. This TCMA manager card from Dubuque's Packers, an Astros farm team, was my favorite for many reasons. They are all cornball and exaggerated reasons.

Nice Yankees patch and perfect companion to this Brooklyn patch from day one.

Longtime blog readers might recall the National Poster Stamp Society's "Eureka Sportstamps" article about their Yankees promotional set. Here's another of their products, a booklet of stick-ons to liven up any kids' binder or desk or what have you.

None of these seals had been sealed to anything, so I suspect it was found in storage rather than purchased for 19c by a sports or seals enthusiast.

At one point, I tried to collect the 1936 S&S Game, one of the hobby's easier 1930s sets to finish. While available primarily as singles into today's vintage market, this was the source for all such cards: a boxed board game called The National Game.

This game came complete with lineups, multiple rule cards, and even a "CASH AWARDS" promo that asked players to write a 100-word essay on why they liked the game itself. That last bit's some cunning work by S&S itself, since customer-written essays would give them a ready supply of marketing research and ideas. In this shape it fetches four figures, well above what I can afford on a collectible.

I found a few more type cards, including these from 1927-29 W560, a multi-sport set with one #5 for each card suit.

In order to better understand the explosion of the 1930s trading card market, I've also picked up more Goudey and National Chicle cards from that era, including some of Goudey's "Indian Chewing Gum," a large set about the American West.

My first two Indian Gum cards ($3 each) feature a settler and a "border patrol leader," spiritual forerunner of today's Texas Rangers law enforcement unit. Clearly a good set for fans of beards.

#49: "[Gen. Ben McCulloch] introduced into the West that death-dealing instrument, the six shooter..."

Speaking of six-shooters and "Indians," here's Sonny Sixkiller, Cherokee and former star QB for the University of Washington, my alma mater. He reprised this role, kind of sort of, as a player in 1974's "The Longest Yard."

Sonny's the true-life QB in this promo photo, instead of leading man Burt Reynolds, who played halfback for FSU. Sonny's career continued briefly as a pro for the 1970s WFL (which itself played but briefly) and he remains in football today as a TV analyst.

In addition to the earlier pair of W560 type cards, I also scored this 1968 Tipps from the Topps #5 panel on turning the double play for $25, starring the Cardinals' Julian Javier. While I'd written about that set based on scans back in 2012 (set profile), it's great to finally own the real deal.

Total #5 type cards owned now stands at 550 for both major and minor leagues! I know that's far more than I thought existed when this project started. Maybe there's another handful to locate before the show's over...? Day three tomorrow!

1971 O-Pee-Chee Baseball Wantlist (COMPLETED July 30, 2015)

This post tracked progress on my Good-to-VG set of 1971 O-Pee-Chee's low series (#1-523). It was COMPLETED at the 2015 National by Sal Domino of OldBaseball.com, who hit me six times. Thanks Sal!

1971 represents O-Pee-Chee's first push for a real Canadian identity. Montreal-based card editors shaped the set to better serve local fans, so several things stand out from past adaptations of Topps' own design.

1. Full 752-card set

1971 Topps / OPC #752, Dick Drago

From 1965 to 1970, O-Pee-Chee collectors saw a subset of American cards, in part because hockey dominated local sports pages prior to 1969's expansion into Montreal. This 1971 set went the full monty, matching Topps card-for-card in total count.

2. Parlez-vous français?

1971 O-Pee-Chee #202, Claude Raymond

O-Pee-Chee honored Canada's Official Languages Act by adding bilingual French-English to #1-523 card backs. This reinforced local fan identity and gave other collectors a start on Quebecois ice breakers like "Pardon moi, etoile de la L.N. en 1966? Oui?"

I assume OPC ran out of time or money to translate its #524-752 high series into French, so they match Topps apart from that yellow background. This group's many times rarer than #1-523, so I don't even attempt to complete them anymore, low grade or not.

3. Extra Expos

1971 O-Pee-Chee #289, Rusty Staub

1971 O-Pee-Chee #560, Rusty Staub

A handful of Montreal players get extra love for their Canadian roots, displacing World Series highlights, team cards, and others seen stateside. The indispensable Oh My O-Pee-Chee! cataloged every Topps/OPC variation, 1971 included, and OPC collectors should be all over that blog if you missed it up to now.

4. 1971 OPC pack break videos

People still open packs older than me! Note that 1971 OPC wax includes Baseball Story booklets first seen in 1970 Topps.

5. Thurman Munson

1971 Topps/OPC #5 shows Munson tagging out A's pitcher Chuck Dobson in one of my favorite vintage action photos. And how about that trophy? And that elegant autograph? A+.

The Hall of Thanks

Feb 13: OldBaseball.com friend and OPC collector Gord Ellis said he didn't know which #123 Checklist I needed, so sent both variations!

1971 O-Pee-Chee #123A/B (centered and right-aligned)

Thanks also to fellow OldBaseball.com friends Mark Talbot and Richard Dingman for help with past 1971 upgrades!

Mar 14: Found three hits via the Beckett marketplace, including HOF Billy Williams.

Mar 31: Won this $13 Thurman Munson on eBay! Might break it out of the holder just to get a better scan and put it in the binder.

Also found another dozen cards that could use replacements, so the list grows. Have I started down the slippery slope of upgrading?

Apr 6: More upgrades from the Beckett.com marketplace!

One card stood out, as I'd never heard of Angel Mangual, despite completing every 1970s set over the years and, as it turns out, his significant role for Oakland's back-to-back-to-back Series wins.

The meat of Angel Mangual's career spanned Oakland's 1972-74 title run and he even singled home the game-winner in 1972's game 4, their last of four straight pinch-hits. Here's the at-bat as it happened, via MLB.com.

Won't forget you again, Angel!

Dec 5: Two singles found on eBay, #344 Ellie Rodriguez and #428 Jim McAndrew.

July 29: Last six hits from Sal, including Rose and Jenkins!

Baseball's Top 5 Non-All-Stars (Pitching Edition)

How many trips to the mound must a man walk before you call him an All-Star? Some do it a hundred thousand times without ever getting in. Others suit up for the Rays, do not-so-bad for a year, and nab that one-player-per-team selection.

Your 2003 Tampa Bay All-Star, Lance Carter

There's no magic solution to getting chosen at the midyear break, but steady performance, peer recognition, and a little "Frankie Zak" all help. Today's post salutes the hurlers who stretched, warmed up, and threw the pill, year after year, without coalescing the intangibles into an All-Star berth. I took the All-Star ERA (1933-present), queried for pitchers who'd never been selected, and sorted by a common equalizing measure, WAR. Here are the top 5; full results at B-R.

1. Tom Candiotti (42.6 career WAR)

1984 Topps #262, Tom "Candy Man" Candiotti

Wins Above Replacement (WAR), what is it good for? It's good for Tom Candiotti, who ranks highest in career total for pitchers without an All-Star resume. Critics would say most of it (30 WAR from 1988-93) came from franchises who needed more help, but few pitchers had better stuff than Tom Candiotti's knuckler in its prime. (And few collectors have better cards: check out his prewar collection in Tom's "Best of the Best" at PSA.)

These days, Candiotti does commentary for the Diamondbacks, telling stories between game action. One curiosity is whether Ramon Martinez plunked Jeff Kent for Tom's rotisserie league, cited as a reason the Candy Man stopped playing fantasy sports. Is it true? Did Ramon send New York's red-hot second-baseman to the infirmary to improve his teammate's chances at pretend baseball? No, not exactly.

Tom said this story happened in an early 90s New York road game and LA pitcher Ramon Martinez did hit Kent in the second inning on April 30, 1994 (box score). That's still his first at-bat, so we can forgive Tom's "first inning" muff, but our real question is whether Ramon heard a bullpen conversation and decided to knock Jeff out. Unfortunately (for the story), Ramon hit Jeff on on the 5th pitch, hardly a sign of killer intent, and the at-bat followed a Bobby Bonilla homer, itself a more likely brushback trigger. Kent went on to finish the game without apparent ill effects and there's nothing to imply Ramon's countrymen went on a spree of targeting him thereafter.

But speaking of hit batsmen, who did plunk Jeff Kent with pitches more often than anyone else? Yup, it was yarn-spinner Tom Candiotti.

2. Danny Darwin (40.6 career WAR)

1991 O-Pee-Chee #666, Danny Darwin

Guys with high WAR totals but no All-Star appearances tend to be above-average, well-traveled, and durable, which fits Darwin to the letter. I even see it in his face: "Oh, I'm with the Red Sox now? OK, let's go."

Danny turned great 1990 numbers with Houston (5.3 WAR & NL ERA title) into a 4-year, $10 million free agent contract with Boston, where he managed one more excellent year in 1993, posting 5.7 WAR. Perhaps those peak seasons came late enough in Darwin's career (age 34 and 37 respectively) that they didn't stand out to managers when filling out their All-Star rotations.

3. Fritz Ostermueller (34.5 career WAR)

1934 Goudey Big League Gum #93, Fred (Fritz) Ostermueller

This lunchpail 1930s & 40s pitcher might ring a bell because his name resurfaced in the Jackie Robinson biopic 42. Near the end, Jackie pays back Ostermueller's racist beaning with a dramatic homer, the essence of skill trumping discrimination that's both satisfying and very Hollywood.

Fritz's daughter protests today that "[i]t didn't happen that way," as her father expected to pitch inside on May 17, 1947 (box score), despite Jackie's own habit of crowding the plate, and brought no racial animosity to the mound. Robinson's mid-September homer off Ostermueller (box score) came well after Brooklyn wrapped up the pennant, so it's a stretch to connect both moments without artificially linking them to some larger issue, something movies have a deserved reputation for doing.

Making Fritz an on-screen goat is a cheap choice, but the writers might've lacked options once they decided to stick with 1947 as Jackie's only celluloid season. (As an inherited Dodgers fan, I was hankering for a stretch into 1955, when Brooklyn won its only title.)

The real Ostermueller's career peaked early (11.6 WAR from age 26-28) and late (14.9 WAR from 36-40). Fritz changed teams and pitching roles several times, which would've reduced visibility at All-Star time and explains his third spot here.

4. John Tudor (34.3 career WAR)

1985 Topps Traded #124, John Tudor

In 1985, Tudor led the NL in shutouts (10), posted career-highs with 185 ERA+ and 8.1 WAR, and in any other year would've carried home the NL Cy Young (career stats). Unfortunately for John, his best efforts coincided with this guy.

1985 Topps #620, Dwight Gooden

Doc was 1985's unanimous NL Cy Young award winner, posting a 12.1 (!) WAR and foiling John Tudor's best shot at the lasting notoriety and higher profile that helps in future All-Star selection. For his career, I suspect Tudor was OK with winning a ring (1988 Dodgers), earning several million dollars throwing baseballs, and not riding Gooden's cocaine roller coaster across the sports pages.

5. Charlie Leibrandt (34.3 career WAR)

1987 Topps #223, Charlie Leibrandt

Leibrandt faded into my mental background after Kansas City won their 1985 title. He became one of those guys you think will always stick around, always pitch, always fill out the back end of a staff. Then, one day, he's on the list of first-year HOF eligibles, and then he gets no votes, and that's about it for baseball pitchers like Charlie Leibrandt. Work hard for a couple decades, get your MLBPA union pension, and pick out some post-career interests.

Charlie didn't possess the shutout threat of John Tudor or longevity of Danny Darwin and his best awards finish, #5 on the 1985 AL Cy Young ballot, trailed two guys on the same KC staff. Consider his footnote a nutshell version of today's list, as last in a line of pitchers who were good enough for long enough that being 25th-best Royal of All-Time is the suit that fits best.

Fifth Anniversary Giveaway: the Envelope Please

Thanks to the long list of nominees for my fifth anniversary giveaway theme, Almost, But Not Quite. They covered the gamut from famous to personal, beginning with one of my favorite games, being a big fan of LA's two World Series wins in the 1980s.

1. The Bash Brothers, 1988

1988 Fleer #624, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco

For his nomination, reader Stealing Home relived the heroics of Kirk Gibson, who set the World Series tempo by overcoming McGwire's game 1 grand slam and nigh-unhittable Oakland closer Dennis Eckersley for a 5-4 Dodgers win and eventual 5-game title win.

The Bash Brothers didn't have to wait long for a title, overcoming San Francisco just one year later, but 1988 wasn't quite it.

2. A Pitch-Out Is Werth A Thousand Words, August 23, 2010

Richard Nebe grabbed this sharp play by Phillie catcher Jose Quintero.



Michael Jordan said great players motivate themselves by using every failing, criticism, or perceived slight to push their performance forward. If this 2010 lapse made Jayson Werth what he is today, it was worth it. Because otherwise...ouch, man, ouch.

3. Angels One Strike Away, 1986

Dave Henderson's homer is the flip side of Mookie Wilson's World Series grounder through Bill Buckner's legs, as this two-strike, two-out blast sent Angels pennant dreams into extra innings and on to eventual defeat.



Thanks to MLB Classics, you can watch this entire game on YouTube and this crucial 9th-inning at-bat starts about 2:29:30. ("You're looking at one for the ages, here!" - Al Michaels calls Hendu's tying homer.)

Jeff also made this nomination for its image of 40 year-old Reggie Jackson standing on the dugout steps, Mr. October poised for one more World Series, only to be denied at the last.

4. LA's Future Stars, Eventually, Maybe

GCRL echoed Reggie's dugout step frustration as an indelible image, but kept his nomination close to home with LA's parade of mid-80s AAA "almosts."

1982 Topps #681, Dodgers Future Stars

The Dodgers farm system seemed unstoppable in the early 1980s, as Steve Howe (1980), Fernando Valenzuela (1981) and Steve Sax (1982) all took home Rookie of the Year trophies and a 1981 World Series win helped shift the New York power balance away from the Bronx (and towards Shea Stadium) for several years.

What LA's 1988 team won with smoke and mirrors, 1981's squad helped take with promising young stars. Next up, Mike Marshall! Candy Maldonado! Greg Brock! Except...not really. The hyped superstar promise never materialized as superstar performance, leaving fans with that empty feeling you get when "dessert" turns out to be a tray of burned cookies.

5. The Curse Of Todd Van Poppel, 1991-2004

1991 Studio Bust #32, Todd Van Poppel

The younger version of blog reader Fuji invested in TvP cards, a mid-90s prospect who did his best work a half-dozen years later as middle reliever for the Cubs. If your career high point is middle relief in a city far removed from your "future Nolan Ryan" expectations, you too might inspire a page like The Curse Of Todd Van Poppel.

6. I Shake My Fist At You, Alex Gordon, 2006

"...to the last, I grapple with thee; from Hell's heart, I stab at thee; for hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee." - Moby Dick, Herman Melville

2006 Topps #297, Alex Gordon

Night Owl returned to purchasing cards in 2006 and cascaded dollars and enthusiasm upon pack after pack until all checklists were checked...save one. Still missing from his collection is #297, this Alex Gordon RC now valued in the four figures thanks to Topps' last-gasp decision to pull a player with no MLB experience, which should've precluded his appearance in non-minor league sets.

Did Topps make a mistake or calculated gamble that a "pulled" Gordon would generate disproportionate collector interest? Keith Olbermann added his own context (and a rare proof scan) in The Heritage of Alex Gordon, which explains without making people like Night Owl feel any better about the situation.

7. Billy Ashley, 1992-98

Given its AAA level, winning the 1994 Pacific Coast League MVP award should mean big league stardom lies ahead, not that fans and front office executives now have a measuring stick for future frustrations.

"Guess I won't be needing this..."

Greg Zakwin nominated this "sure-thing" Dodger superstar for finishing with below-average fielding (-1.5 career fWAR), slugging (91 OPS+), and on-base percentage (.302) in parts of 7 MLB seasons. Even his Baseball-Reference page sponsor laments that Billy's prodigious minor league power never clicked anywhere else. Then as now, buuuuuuummer.

8. Montreal Expos, 1994

Speaking of things from 1994, check out the solid, young lineup fielded by Montreal's Expos, where Pedro Martinez was just 2nd or 3rd-best on his team's pitching staff.

Mark Aubrey notes how far ahead of MLB competition Montreal stood at 74-40 (a full 3.5 games better than AL-best New York), only to be derailed without a post-season by the MLBPA strike. They'd never finish first again. I felt bad for them then and doubly regret it now that Les Expos have gone the way of the Seattle Pilots and St. Louis Browns.

9. Roger Clemens, Sept 18, 1996



Thanks to a friend with tickets in Detroit, Potch could've attended this Tigers game, one of the last Roger Clemens would pitch in Boston red-and-grey. If he'd made it, all would've enjoyed the Rocket's second 20-strikeout performance, a taste of history and achievement that made me feel slightly better about his 20 punch-outs against my Seattle Mariners ten years earlier.

The Real, Not-Almost Winner

With so many good choices, I had to randomize the winner or risk getting sentimental and declaring all 9 nominations a winner. Thanks to Random.org, here's who doesn't have to wonder what could've been!

Our number generator selected #4 (retired for Duke Snider), so that means Dodgers fan GCRL wins the selection of vintage cards from his favorite team. I'll go out on a limb and assume that team is the Dodgers.

Congrats to him and thanks to everyone for sharing and following along these last five years!

Top 5 Carlos Peña Impersonators

I have a soft spot in my heart for Carlos Peña, who turns 35 today. Houston's slugging first baseman doesn't club them into the seats at the same pace he used to, but his 5 years in Tampa Bay were so good, he comfortably holds the Rays franchise HR record at 163.

Peña's similarity scores from B-R.com turn up more of the same, big first basemen and designated hitters who regularly posted 120 OPS+ thanks to their power stroke. His top five cover a nice range of years and players, where "nice range" means "after the DH's installation in 1973."

1. Gorman Thomas (1984 Donruss Champions #5)

If that uniform looks odd, it's because the Brewers traded Gorman, a fan favorite, to Cleveland in mid-1983. I happened to attend one of his "Milwaukee return games" on June 26 (box score), the first time I can remember home fans cheering when a visiting player homered. (Thomas went deep off reliever Tom Tellmann in the 8th.)

2. Tony Clark (1998 Pinnacle Performers Swing For The Fences #5)

Soon after my move to Boston, the Red Sox signed Tony Clark to a $5M contract, fresh off his 2001 All-Star season in Detroit. Clark proceeded to post a 47 OPS+ and everyone in the seats hated him, hated the team, and hated the owners. He followed that folly with a handful of decent years elsewhere, so I assume Tony never felt comfortable with Boston itself, his teammates, or contract.

3. Jason Thompson (1985 Fleer, what a color combo)

Thompson made 3 career All-Star games and struck out nowhere near the totals posted by free-swinging power guys today. Given his 120 career OPS+, I'm surprised he didn't get more opportunities after age 30. Montreal cut ties with Jason after two bad months in 1986 and that was it for his career.

4. John Mayberry, Sr. (1978 Topps #550)

Houston drafted Mayberry with high expectations, but he never hit well in spot-duty and they unloaded him to Kansas City for Lance Clemons and Jim York, two pitchers who combined to win 9 games for the Astros. Six years, two All-Star appearances, and 143 HRs later, it's fair to say the Royals got the better end of that trade (career stats).

5. Jesse Barfield (1989 Score NatWest Banks Yankees #5)

This is one of the first cards to show Jesse Barfield as a Yankee, after Toronto swapped him early in 1989 for a youthful Al Leiter. Jesse could still reach the seats in New York, but without the consistency shown earlier in Toronto. Like Jason Thompson, Barfield was finished by his early 30s, but might've stuck around longer with the surfeit of teams playing today.