A look at Gil Hodges: 1954 Bowman #138

Finally.  

A major component of the mission statement for Ryan's Pitch was a promise to take a look at cards from my collection.   To share and enjoy.   To remember and appreciate - both the card and the player.   I've had a healthy run of trade reviews and new card reviews on here, mixed in with some good tidbits of TTM success and other random topics.....but here's a great example of what I consider to be the favorite part of my sports card collection:

Gil Hodge's 1954 Bowman card, Card #138

Egads! 

But...but....It's not even a Yankee, you may say......and you're right!   It surely isn't.   Don't worry, fellow Bombers fans.   I promise that there will be pinstripes aplenty as this blog marches on.   But the Ryan's Pitch Collection (that sounds so enjoyably corny to me as I write it) appreciates greatness from the game in all shapes, sizes and colors - and this is no exception.

The Card.

No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you and I don't have a defective scanner.   This card is horribly trimmed.   In fact,  I can't imagine that this card could have been in a worse shape to have caused the guilty trimmer to reach the point at which he or she stopped and said, "OH YES - THAT looks so much better!"

But that's fine by me.   I can see color.   I can see Mr. Hodges.   I can see his signature.   We're good to go.   I love vintage in any shape, form or fashion (especially for 99 cents)!   The '54 Bowman set is certainly not going to cause you to jump in jubilation.   It's a simple design, much more so than the Topps set from that same year for sure.   But it IS color, which by '54 had finally become the prevailing medium (Deckle Edge and other special sets to come notwithstanding).   And these colors are sharp.   The yellow highlighting has nothing to do with that beautiful Dodger Blue but the clear skies and fluffy clouds behind Gil's huge smile brings it all back to order.   There are creases all over this great card but they don't take away anything from Gil Hodges, arguably the finest first baseman from the golden age of baseball and a true gentleman as well. 

“If you had a son, it would be a great thing to have him grow up to be just like Gil Hodges.” -- Pee Wee Reese

He was loyal to the Dodgers from '43 on through 1961 when he finished things up with the Mets.   He would also then manage for the Senators and Mets until 1971, highlighted by his role as leader for the "Miracle Mets" in 1969 when they overcame the machine that was the Baltimore Orioles and claimed the first World Series title for any expansion team.   As a player, though, Gil was an eight time All-Star and three time World Champion.   He garnered three Gold Glove Awards and ended his career with a total of 370 HRs.   I'm always a bit partial to those amazing players who broke away from the game to defend our country during WWII and Korea.   Mr. Hodges was one of these heroes, leaving after that initial '43 season at the age of 19 to join the Marines and, you know,  man some anti-aircraft guns at the Battles of Tinian and Okinawa in the Pacific Campaign.  

Reflect on that for just a moment.

He earned a Bronze Star for his meritorious service and returned to baseball in 1946.   Job well done, Mr. Hodges.   I have some other Gil Hodges cards in my collection that I can't wait to share here - so I'll save a few of my other favorite stories of Brooklyn's beloved ballplayer from Indiana.   It's all good stuff - this man was amazing.   In the meantime, let's wrap up this look at his '54 Bowman card!

Here's the back of this great card:



The classic design is at work here for Bowman.   Dominating the back of the card is a great write-up to devour that starts off with a very proper, dated comment:

"Big Gil is one of the nicest fellows in baseball and one of the most capable and dangerous of players."

I love it.   He's a great guy......but he's dangerous.   The ying AND the yang.    The write-up also describes Hodges' four HR game in 1950.   In light of Josh Hamilton's recent tying of that mark, this certainly seems appropriate.   This '54 card notes that Gil tied a major league mark with his four dingers.   So who had previously slammed four round trippers in one game?

Bobby Lowe (Boston Beaneaters) in 1894

Ed Delahanty (Philadelphia Phillies) in 1896

Lou Gehrig (New York Yankees) in 1932

Chuck Klein (Philadelphia Phillies) in 1938

Pat Seerey (Chicago White Sox) in 1948

Impressive, Phillies!   The Hambino was the 16th player to join this list in baseball statistics when he knocked four out against the Orioles on May 8th. 

The back of the card also delivers both offensive and fielding statistics for the previous year and Mr. Hodge's career averages.   Gil would slam 42 home runs in 1954, taking back the Brooklyn team record for dingers in a season from Roy Campanella (who bested the previous mark of 40, set by Hodges in 1951.   Duke Snider would overtake Hodges again in '56.

A great vintage baseball card of a great ball player from the game's golden age.   I am thrilled to have it in my collection and to be able to share it with you.

Thanks for reading!

ARPSmith Contest Celebration!!!!

ARPSmith's SportsCard Obsession is having a great kick-off contest to celebrate the success of the new blog.   The posting frequency over there puts me to shame - great job, ARPSmith!   The contest winnings include some 70's cardboard goodness - doesn't get any better than THAT  now, does it?

You can find the contest post here - so go check it out so that you know when I win!

The latest Ryan's Pitch has GOT to be coming soon.......

You've Got Mail, Some Patriotic Lumber & a Lawyer From Puerto Rico Named Laura

Spent a few moments with the USPS kiosk this morning.   Trade packages of cardboard goodness are headed out to the following zip codes:

• 34270
• 13601
• 60706
• 07446
• 33065

Thanks for your patience, guys!   How about a quick cardboard stream-of-consciousness?

This card is interesting to me.   It's a relic card for Yankee great, Jorge Posada - so yeah, I know, of course I love it.   But it's a bit different from your every day relic card.   Upper Deck mixed things up a bit in 2001 with this SP Milestone bat card by paying tribute to Jorge's Puerto Rican heritage by branding that Commonwealth's flag into the wood.   I think it turned out pretty cool:

My iPhone picture probably doesn't do it justice, but considering the size of the bat chip and remembering my woodworking disasters as a Boy Scout - I think Upper Deck did a great job.   Not only is this something different (variety is the spice of life) for the collection but it encouraged me to do a little extra Internet reading about one of my favorite Yankees.   A few quick factoids:

- Jorge's father fled to Puerto Rico from Cuba in order to escape Castro's communist rule

- Posada Sr. worked in the Rockies' organization as a scout while his Uncle Leo (Yes!  Seinfeld reference!) played for the Kansas City Athletics back in the day.   Leo was traded to the Braves in August of 1962 but never played int he majors again.

Posada finished his career with four World Series rings, five All-Star selections and five silver slugger awards.   He is always a fan favorite for how hard he played on the diamond but some of his best work might be his charitable efforts to fund cure research and care for families affected by the disease, craniosynostosis.   His own son Jorge Luis was diagnosed with the disease shortly after birth and has followed his daddy's lead in fighting hard against this foe ever since.   His fight continues.

As a Dad myself, that's pretty good stuff.

Jorge is also well known to be a close, personal friend with the Captain, Derek Jeter.   So much so that Derek was best man to Jorge in 2000 when he married lawyer, actress and supermodel, Laura Mendez.   Gratuitous blog post picture, please:   

By all accounts, a smart and beautiful woman.   I guess we share a similar taste in women with one glaring difference:  my wife is NOT from Puerto Rico.

So there you go!   Who knew my first little Jorge Posada bat card could lead us here?   I kind of went all over the place with that one.   I love this hobby.

Thanks for reading!

Ever Wondered What Gem Mint Tasted Like?

Me too.

I will probably never know what it is like to own a "gem mint" rookie card of a baseball legend.   That's okay!   Condition is not the "end all, be all" for me when it comes to baseball cards anyways.   Yes, I would prefer them in the best condition that I can afford.   But as long as I can read the words, admire the statistics and enjoy the picture(s) - I'm usually good to go!   Still, seeing something historic in perfect condition is pretty special.   And while I will probably not have the chance to hold such a baseball card in my own two hands, I can at least gaze upon them in delightful high definition and watch as folks with a larger petty cash pile than myself bid away on these cardboard beauties.   You can, too!   What am I talking about?

Allow me to explain.

Dmitri Young is known to many of us as the former major league baseball player with quite the dramatic 13-year career.   He was a two-time All-Star amongst a plethora of chaotic personal issues but ultimately triumphed over his demons in 2007 with the Washington Nationals when he stepped in for the injured Nick Johnson and earned the "NL Comeback Player of the Year" honor.   I dig that because I prefer happy endings.  

Even better,   Dmitri shares our passion for the great hobby of baseball cards.   How sweet is THAT?!   Amassing shoe boxes of cards during his childhood years, his love for the hobby never truly left him and was rekindled over the past 13 years as he brought together one of the most impressive collections of Hall of Fame rookie cards that the world has ever known.

Why is it so impressive?

Mr. Young, along with his partner and fellow collector Dave Bailey, only pursued cards that garnered a "gem mint" grading by PSA.   While a lot of us do not consider condition to be imperative for ownership or cardboard appreciation (mostly due to cost), I am sure that we can all appreciate an amazing card that has survived in amazing condition.   Dmitri's collection contains more than 500 of these perfect specimens and has been featured on the MLB documentary, "Cardboard Treasures".   Here's his flawless copy of Roberto Clemente's 1955 Topps card, card #164:

If you enjoy a good drool session every once in awhile like I do, or are simply curious to see what these slabs of cardboard and plastic will fetch - I highly encourage you to check out the action here: SCP Auctions.   Dmitri's cards have about two more weeks to go.   There are already some impressive numbers being posted which is great when you consider how the funds will be used.

Dmitri Young's career and personal mission are moving on to the next level as he begins his own non-profit organization, the Dmitri D. Young Foundation.   His charity will host baseball and softball camps and clinics, support the Boys and Girls Clubs, and sponsor programs and scholarships for student athletes from Dmitri's hometown area of Ventura, CA.   I hope that he can still find time in his schedule to do some work with Card-Corner Club Radio for whom he has been a co-host for many years.   While I'v never caught a live broadcast, I've enjoyed the articles that Dmitri has written about his career, his collection and his passion for life.

Congratulations on your collecting achievements, Dmitri, and best of luck as you continue to work for the betterment of others.      

Long Live The Hobby!

A Pirate's Swap For Me!

I recently completed a trade with Brian from over at "Pirates Treasure Room".   This is a GREAT blog, folks!   It's very easy on the eyes and he will typically have some beautiful scans of some very vibrant Pirate hobby pieces.   He seems to specialize in relics, autographs and patches from players in Pittsburgh and is always very focused on some incredible collecting goals.   I admire that.   I need some collecting focus, quite frankly. 

SO, it's fitting that Brian provided the spark for this trade with a relic from one of my favorite Braves, Craig Kimbrel.   Kimbrel had me captivated, along with the rest of the baseball world, as he set the new season mark for saves by a rookie last season.   Thanks to my geographical location, I can usually find the Braves game on TV and it seemed that every chance I had to tune in last season (amongst the nightly circus that is a house with two kids), Craig was notching another game on his belt.

Plus, he hangs his throwing arm in front of his body as he receives the signs from McCann in a really interesting way....and that earns him another +5 in cool points.

Anyways, I dropped Brian a note to say I was interested in the Kimbrel and figured he may be interested in a McLouth Letterman that I had picked up last year in a card draft at some point.   I think it may have been part of my winnings from a Cardboard Don (formerly known as Wicked Ortega) draft?   I love how some of these cards can be traced from origins to good homes where they belong.

Brian said the trade sounded great and slipped in a little, "Hey, are you a Braves fan?" towards the end.

He was up to something.

And that something was a wonderfully generous helping of bonus Braves cards!   OH, and THEN he went and knocked a few off of my '12 Heritage Inserts NEEDS list along with my '12 Topps Inserts NEEDS list.   He also knew I'm a Yankees fan and threw in a sweet Opening Day Mickey.

That sneaky Pirate!

Here are the cards:

My FIRST Kimbrel relic!

You can't go wrong...

Without a doubt: 2 Hall of Famers!

YES!  Mark 'em off!

CHIPPAH!   CHIPPAH ROOKIE!

Cool Shot

Incredible....if you squint, you can be amazed, too. 

Some of my first Opening Day pick-ups.   Nice!

Threads and Lumber from Braves of yore.

Just had to slip some pinstripes in here, didn't I?

Brian - THANK YOU for the very generous trade.   I hope the McLouth patch provided a letter that you still needed for one of your on-going quests.

Thanks for reading!

Size Matters with Another 'Spring TTM 2012' Return!!!

Ah, yes.   The large bubble mailer.   This bad boy was waiting for me at home a couple weeks back:

"Through The Mail" autograph requests are one of those parts of life where size really does matter.   Okay, I betcha TTMs aren't exactly the first topic up for debate when the discussion arises, but we're talkin' baseball today, folks!

You see, the size of a TTM matters for several reasons.   There's the cost.   It simply costs more to send more to our favorite athletes.   Yes, thank you Captain Obvious.   But there's also the awkwardness of the large-sized, bulky packages.   Envelopes with cards and letters can be stacked and piled and slipped in lockers rather easily.   It doesn't guarantee anything, but at least the logistics are in your favor.   Our heroes are busy, and toting around large packages from their fans (or asking someone from their entourage to do so) just isn't probably on their list of favorite things to do.   Ever.   And over-sized, over-achieving autograph requests, whether in person or through the mail, can sometime completely backfire and leave a well-intentioned fan empty-handed with a bitter memory of a particular athlete.

I get that.   And I respect that.   And I even fear that when I send a baseball.   But I still try, sometimes!

And sometimes..........you get lucky.   Very lucky.

Earlier this spring, I started a new spring training tradition of TTM quests that I colorfully called: "Spring TTM 2012".   I know........amazingly pithy, yes?!?!   A bunch of cards, in small TTM envelopes, went out to a bunch of players.   A few baseballs went out to a few, select players.    Mostly because the balls simply cost more and so I have to be selective about who I would like to send them to.   After all - they might not come back.   However, they weren't necessarily sent to the most popular players (which is usually a lost cause anyways) but my personal favorites or the ones that would mean the most to me.  

One of them was a ROMLB (previously discussed here) and a couple of cards to my current, favorite player from my favorite team - David Robertson of the New York Yankees.   That's right, a middle reliever.   The Bombers' 8th inning guy.   Mo's set-up man and, right now, heir apparent.   Not the most exciting idea for most collectors, probably - but I was stoked to give David a try.

Yeah.   I just called him David.

I returned to the hobby last year and, admittedly, returned to baseball as well.   I have always tuned in for the post season every year but I had really been a poor excuse for a baseball fan since I left the hobby and the sport for [girls, my HS sports, college, wife, job, family, etc.] back around '94/'95.   It was time for a change early last year though, when I found out I was going to have a son.   A boy's Dad has to know what's going on in baseball, now, come one!   As Homer Simpson would say, "the boy" is now here and so is my addiction to the game.   I tuned in whenever I could to catch a game last season and, as luck and the law$ of marketing would have it, a lot of those games were glorious Yankees games.   And in a lot of those Yankees games that ended with a W for New York, I was mesmerized by the 8th inning pitching machine that is David Robertson.

He often got himself into trouble with a hit there or a walk here......but he always pitched himself out of it, earning the nickname of "Houdini" by many fans.   He earned a spot on the All-Star roster last year where he retired the side in the 2nd inning with, appropriately, one hit and one strikeout.

Ironically, Michael Pineda struck out TWO NL batters in the 3rd inning......but I digress.   Sorry, the "Jay Buhner Part Deux" horror show is still too fresh on my mind!

Back to Mr. Robertson....

I also have a vivid memory of catching an inter-league game between the Rockies and the Yanks and watching Robertson strike out Tulowitzki with runners in scoring position to end the inning.   It was epic!   The guy has a 7-foot stride when he steps towards home plate in his delivery.   This enables him to serve up some strong pitches while minimizing the reaction time for the batters he's facing.

Great stuff.   Good baseball!   Size matters.

Plus.....he sports the 'high socks' look which is just flat out cool.   Even cooler is that Robertson (a University of Alabama alum) set up his charity, "High Socks for Hope" in order to raise money for disaster relief in the tornado-ravaged town of Tuscaloosa, AL.   They were hit pretty hard last year and David wanted to help out.   He also guest-celebrity-bartended at a watering hole in New York City at some point and donated all tips from that night to charity.   A great pitcher for my team and, by all accounts, a great guy.

So, he easily earned a spot on my "Player Collections" roster and has become one of my favorite players.   If you have any Robertson's, especially the parallels that I just can't seem to find.....let me know and I'll be more than happy to work up a swap!

Which brings me to the purpose of the whole post............David responded to my autograph request and was kind enough to sign and return the mementos I had sent!   I couldn't have been more excited to chalk up another success from Spring TTM 2012 with my favorite current Yankee, David Robertson:

I like to think he may have shuffled through my fan mail and some others while sipping a cold brewskie and nursing his bizarre foot injury during spring training.   He seems to have recovered nicely since his apartment-moving mishap though, as he currently sports a 0.00 ERA and 1.12 WHIP with 8 K's in 11 innings pitched.   And I'll certainly be cheering him on during every inning to come.

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my request, Mr. Robertson and good luck as the 2012 season unfolds!

Thanks for reading!

What's a Rah-Mulb & How Is It Made?

I'm guessing that many of you out there have seen this before but I felt like it was worth sharing!

Here's a quick 5-minute video that shows the making of a Rawlings Official Major League Baseball or, as we like to call it in the blogosphere......a ROMLB.   You know, a "Rah-mulb".

Never waste an opportunity for a good acronym, I always say.

I love these balls.   When there's one in the shopping cart or on my desk at the house, it usually means one thing:  an autograph opportunity has presented itself or I'm in the process of cooking something up.

Wait.   That's two things.

These ROMLBs certainly aren't cheap but they are, by far, my favorite memento to have signed by a ball player.   SO, when a TTM request or "fence waiting" session at an actual game doesn't yield some ink - it can be expensive AND frustrating.   You can normally find these balls, in a nice clear-plastic-cube display case for about $14 at your local Target.   Not bad, but again, not cheap when you add in the postage, time and then any signing fees that might be required by a particular player you're hoping to have sign.

So, yes - I've complained about the price tag.

But after watching this video, I think I'll temper my rants just a little bit.   Hand-stitching?!   Pretty special.   Glad I stumbled upon this behind-the-scenes look at the creation of a FAVORITE part of my baseball memorabilia collection!

By the way - I recently had another very exciting return from my Spring TTM 2012 adventure and, as it just so happens, involved one of these beautiful, pristine baseballs from Rawlings........and my favorite current Yankee!   I'll be sharing this real soon.   Stay tuned.


Thanks for reading!