1980 TCMA Richmond Braves Baseball #5, Fred Hatfield

After a while, TCMA's red borders and blocky team names all blend together. The company produced 52 different (!) team sets that year, so this blog will have a virtual deck of cards once they all get an entry.

Card front

As you might guess from the uniform, Richmond served as a AAA affiliate for Atlanta in 1980, which they did nonstop from 1966 to 2008. Prior to the 2009 season, they relocated to Gwinnett, Georgia, chasing a more lucrative stadium deal. Fortunately for local fans, the Giants filled this gap by moving one of their AA teams to Richmond. CATCH SQUIRREL FEVER!

Card back

Note that TCMA invites you to write for a free list of cards and "collect them all." Putting together 50+ sets would've been a huge task in 1980--and remains one today--unless you had enough money to buy them en masse from the maker. It's a good bet at least one oddball dealer owned all the sets at one point, but I wonder if a collector ever did?

Value: Coach Hatfield cost me $2 from Beckett Marketplace, about right for "common" minor league players.

Fakes / reprints: Haven't seen any TCMA minor league reprints in the market.

1980 TCMA Toledo Mud Hens Baseball #5, Gary Serum

Baseball fans seem to really like the Mud Hens, and I bet it's not because their female mascot's named "Muddona." Perhaps longevity bred familiarity and affection, as the team name traces all the way back to 1896, when the American Coot, aka "mud hen," made its home in Ohio's ample marshland.

Given the uniform's strong American colors and "serif-T" hat, I expected Toledo to be a Texas affiliate, but they served the Twins in 1980. That relationship ended in 1986 and they've been a AAA team for Detroit ever since.

Card front

As a baseball-mad 7 year-old in 1979, I fell asleep with the Seattle team set clutched to my breast on more than one occasion and pored over every stat line as if gold nuggets would pop out of the newsprint. Just about every player who took a turn at bat or pounded a resin bag that year found a welcome chair in my baseball world.

I've got an unexpectedly strong memory for Mr. Serum, considering his brief 3 years in the majors. Gary pitched against the Mariners twice in 1979, both Minnesota defeats; a 10-2 loss on July 3rd likely imprinted his name in my cranium, considering how rarely Seattle scored into the double digits. (Credit the Baseball-Reference.com pitching logs for finding the exact date and score of that start.)

Card back

Serum spent most of 1978 in Minnesota's rotation, garnering 23 starts and 9 wins, but split 1979 between the Mud Hens and Twins. 1980 marked the beginning of his end, as Gary failed to make the major league roster and spent 3 more years in the minors before retiring at age 25.

Value: You can find TMCA minor league singles on eBay and Beckett Marketplace for a dollar or two.

Fakes / reprints: I've never seen a fake of a "common" minor leaguer and would be surprised if one turned up.

1980 TCMA Syracuse Chiefs Baseball #5, Pat Rockett

With that hair and mustache, I bet Pat listened to some Little Feat in his day. "GOT A ROCKET IN MY POCKET AND A ROLL IN MY WALK..." (video thus)

Card front

Pat Rockett hit a single MLB homer in 152 career games for Atlanta. That's one more than I ever hit, of course, but even an average blogger might've slugged better than the .155 (not batting, slugging!) he managed in 1978.

Card back

1980 marked Pat's final season in pro ball, when he logged 81 games for Toronto's AAA affiliate in Syracuse, NY. He set a career high in walks that year and broke .350 OPB for the first time. Unfortunately, with infielders Alfredo Griffin, Damaso Garcia, and Roy Howell playing every day for the Blue Jays, slim "breakthrough" odds might've pushed him to try another line of work.

Value: Non-star TCMA minor leaguers cost a few dollars at most and that's how much I paid for this one on Beckett Marketplace.

Fakes / reprints: Unless it's superstar like Cal Ripken or Albert Pujols, I doubt folks would try to reprint a modern minor league player.

1980 TCMA Spokane Indians Baseball #5, Joe Coleman

Joe Coleman, Jr. covered a lot of geography in uniform. Just 18 years old at his (Washington) Senatorial debut, Joe eventually pitched for 7 teams, wore 13 uniform numbers, and totaled 145 career victories. No longer able to find big league work in 1980, he signed to pitch and coach with Seattle's AAA squad, the Spokane Indians.

Card front

After 3 seasons in Spokane, Joe switched to coaching pitchers full-time. He's currently with a Detroit affiliate, the Flying Tigers of Lakeland, Florida.

Card back

These stats munge Joe's 1979 somewhat. He started the year with San Francisco, making 5 brief relief appearances before they released him in late April. Pittsburgh signed him to a AAA contract in May, where he proved an effective middle reliever. A final September call-up netted 10 big-league games with the eventual World Champions and he picked up an airbrushed 1980 Topps card for the effort.

1980 Topps #542

Value: TCMA printed their minor league cards in larger numbers by 1980, so you can find them for a few dollars on eBay or Beckett Marketplace.

Fakes / reprints: I haven't seen any reprints in the market and doubt someone would take the trouble for anyone other than a superstar.

1977-78 Venezuelan League Baseball Stickers #5, Simon Barreto

On June 23, 2010, the New York Mets hosted (and beat) Detroit's "Tigres" on Venezuelan Heritage Night. Given our southern neighbor's longtime importance to the sport, how could this card not follow?

Simon Barreto played in the American minor leagues from 1971 to 1973, compiling 8 wins and 9 losses. Whether by choice or for lack of options, his career then moved south to baseball-friendly Venezuela. Unfortunately, foreign stats are hazy from that era, so I don't know how he did prior to this photo with the Tigres de Aragua. He looks brightly arrayed, if nothing else.

I normally don't show blank backs, but this one includes an album remnant. Its collector pasted Simon onto the page, but later thought better of it and pulled him away. This residue matches the card front, with both Tigres and their team logo.

This 402-sticker set features a great deal of local talent like Barreto, but also reprints portions of 1977 Topps itself. I'm sure player collectors gnash teeth at the inclusion of guys like Nolan Ryan and Reggie Jackson in its checklist, given their rarity and expense.

#158, Nolan Ryan

UPDATE: OldBaseball.com trading friend Rick shared these scans of a new-to-him album purchased with most of the set already mounted inside. Amazing pick up and the first intact album I've seen.

Nolan Ryan in position on his page of MLB stars

Value: "Common" players like Barreto cost $5 to $10 each, unless they miraculously escaped being taped into an album and remained in higher grade. MLB stars can cost hundreds, though so few are actually available that it's hard to set a consistent price.

Fakes / reprints: Haven't seen any definite fakes, but would be wary. It has thin paper and cheap printing, so would be easier to counterfeit than most Topps sets.

Poll: How long will you wait for an eBay transaction?

On May 3 (of 2010), I bought the wrong thing on eBay. It's a case of mistaken identity, where I watched two cards and ultimately bought one thinking I had the other. Thousands of transactions since 1996 and I can still push the wrong "Buy It Now" button!

The seller advertised a 7-day return window, so I confirmed his policy by email, repackaged the "wrong" card, and dropped it in the mailbox with money for return postage.

And waited.

On June 1, I emailed to confirm receipt of the exchanged card, since it'd been a couple of weeks. The seller said it arrived OK, but that he was out of country until mid-June. If needed, he could tell his office to send it ASAP.

"No problem," I said, "and no rush. Just send it once you're back." And waited.

Being June 24th, it's been 7 weeks since the original purchase for under $10, and I assume it'll take another reminder email (and waiting into July) at this point.

So today's poll question: What's your "longest" eBay transaction, at least for something that wrapped up successfully? Weeks? Months? A year?

1922 Godfrey Phillips "Clan Tartans" Silks #5, Clan Fraser

In the early 20th century (we're talking 1910s and 1920s) tobacco companies printed some of their sets on swatches of silk. Thanks to Topps' enthusiasm for re-use of vintage card concepts, silk's finding fashion again, typically packaged in protective plastic.

Silk from FanOfReds 2010 Topps Series 1 Review

These small scraps of material can last a very long time, even in the wild. Today's post features a non-sport silk from England, just one of many exotic issues tobacco-makers packaged with their products. This is the Fraser tartan, a plaid-patterned Scottish symbol of their clan.

Card front (blank back)

 Wikipedia covers the history of tartans in some detail. Prior to modern times, they represented regional areas in Scotland, somewhat distinct from European heraldry, which followed specific families and political groups. By the time this silk issue came out in 1922, clans had picked "official" designs, so this pattern's unique to Frasers.

Tobacco companies put lots of different designs on silk, not just flags. While I focus 99% on baseball, I like that this set uses cloth to represent cloth, so had to pick one up. Here's a similar set featuring cricket insignias from the same tobacco company, Godfrey Phillips.

1921 County Cricket Badges (also silk)

Value: British tobacco cards are plentifully available (via eBay or non-sports dealers) and I bought this for $1.

Fakes / reprints: This would be tough to fake, since you'd need blank silk.

1980 Cincinnati Enquirer Baseball #5, Johnny Bench

Completing our recent "great backstops of the 70s" trend, here's Johnny...Bench.

Card front (and back, sort of)

The Cincinnati Enquirer, which now runs Cincinnati.com, printed these profiles of the Reds as newspaper clip-outs from March to May in 1980. Numbered by player uniform and relatively small in size, it looks like you folded along the dotted line to make a "card." 32 players in all, this set includes Big Red Machine stars like Bench, George Foster, Dave Concepcion, and Tom Seaver.

Card back

Even this small clip of newspaper references some important things.

• Ken Griffey, Sr. appeared in the 1980 All-Star Game, homered off Tommy John, and was named MVP.
• A short clip about Pete Rose mentions a potential player strike. Back in March 1980, Sports Illustrated talked about free agency and the growth of baseball's union, under the assumption a strike might stop the 1980 season before it started. (It actually took place mid-1981.)
• From "for greener pastures" and "left-handed starting," I infer the Reds went shopping for a free-agent pitcher. Nothing in their 1980 transactions log looks like a match, unfortunately.

Speaking of their 1980 transactions, check out these 2 draft choices from that year.

• Drafted Danny Tartabull in the 3rd round of the 1980 amateur draft. Player signed June 10, 1980.
• Drafted Eric Davis in the 8th round of the 1980 amateur draft. Player signed June 8, 1980.

Tartabull did well for several other teams and finding Eric Davis in the 8th round is not bad at all.


Value: This is a very scarce set, at least outside of Cincinnati. While Bench is listed at $9 in the SCD annual guide, actual selling prices are uncertain. I've only seen near-sets on eBay, so assume collectors tried to get the whole team.


Reprints / fakes: It'd be fairly easy to fake this, assuming you had blank newsprint, but demand is too low to make it worthwhile.

1963 Sugardale Meats Baseball #5, Jim Perry

Not long ago, this blog profiled the nearly identical 1962 Sugardale Meats #5 of Perry. Most of that set matches up identically with 1963, aside from minor text updates. In Jim's case, they added "His record during the 1962 season was 12-12," which obviously couldn't come until after the season wrapped up. (I still love its side-printed advice: "This card may be wiped with a damp sponge.")

Card front 

After two promising seasons at 23 and 24, Perry's performance sagged in 1961 and 1962. After 5 poor relief appearances in 1963, Cleveland swapped him to Minnesota for similarly shaky starter Jack Kralick.

Teams rarely make 1-for-1 position trades, but both pitchers benefited from a change of scenery. Kralick won 25 games for Cleveland over the next 2 years and made the 1964 All-Star team. Perry anchored Minnesota's rotation for 10 years and won the AL Cy Young in 1970.

Card back

Cleveland traded Perry to Minnesota in early May, so Sugardale withdrew him from the packaging process and released relatively few of them. They didn't replace Jim with anyone, so #5 became a scarce short-print.

Value: Only a couple of 1963 Sugardale #5s made it onto eBay over the past few years. Given their scarcity, I was happy to win this low-grade example for $60.

Fakes / reprints: This oversized card is nearly 3" x 5" and has a protective plastic coating, so would be tough to credibly reprint. While I haven't seen any in the market, it's possible someone would take advantage of its scarcity to make an attempt. If you're looking for a 1963 Sugardale type card, go with someone cheaper than Perry.

Punk Rock Paint tackles the Slovenia World Cup uniform

OK, they're an Alpine country and those are supposed to be mountains. Still looks like Charlie Brown to me.

Check out Punk Rock Paint today for an artful combination of both concepts!