My Hall of Fame Collection - 1951 Bowman #31 Roy Campanella

I recently opined on the twitter that "modern cards and prospecting are like one-night stands...vintage is true love."

I truly believe that and it appears that I am falling in love again thanks to this Campy! Introduce yourself, Roy...

I encountered a well-priced batch of graded '51 Bowman's on the Bay of E earlier this year. The Ryan's Pitch Collection welcomes all forms of vintage cardboard  - graded, non-graded, degraded, whatever the case may be - but my adrenal gland kicks in when a seller has numerous graded cards of players I really enjoy, at great prices, with combined shipping and (the kicker) a 'Make An Offer' option available.

I'm shy by nature and dislike the art of negotiation, but only because I wish I were better at it. And even when I decide to face this inner demon, the Bay is usually a hostile environment in which to attempt to do, particularly in the card market. Sellers are there to profit and the Bay is known to be full of buyers that are short of hobby knowledge but accompanied by deep pockets. This produces a beneficial equation for the sellers and gives them little reason to suffer through the entertainment of an offer from a spendthrift like me.

But this was true vintage love, you see....the stuff miracles are made of!

I quickly checked PSA's SMR database to ensure that my eyes were not deceiving me and formulated an offer amount on this Campy along with a few others. I wanted to cause deliberation without insulting and, after some quick emails, the Seller and I reached a mutually beneficial arrangement for the whole lot. I could barely contain my excitement then, and it persists today as I am very excited to share this particular card with you.

Campanella has a special place in the history of the game as one of its finest catchers, despite only playing for ten seasons. His Hall of Fame career, spent entirely with the Brooklyn Dodgers, was cut much too short due to a paralyzing injury suffered during a car accident in the winter of '58. Prior to that horrible twist of fate, Roy had earned a World Series ring (against my Yanks in '55), 3 National League MVP Awards, 8 All-Star appearances, led the league in RBI for a season and caught 3 no-hitters!  

"Campy" was one of the pioneers in breaking the color-barrier in baseball, joining Brooklyn during Jackie's sophomore campaign. He was one of the first four African-American players to appear in an All-Star Game, joining Robinson, Larry Doby and Don Newcombe. Yes, Roy, who passed away in 1993, holds a special place in the hearts of Dodgers and baseball fans in general, including myself. And now this card has joined him!

Where to start with this card?! It's pretty well centered and has excellent edges, two attributes that I really enjoy. The grade was most likely given for the corners, slight surface 'dent' in the upper right corner and border fading.

No problem.

A VG-EX "4" '51 Bowman is a GEM in my collection, any day of the week! The coloring of this card is amazing and the pose for this shot is baseball perfection. From my humble sampling, action shots appear to have been few and far between for '51 Bowman, so this look at Campanella tossing his old-school catcher's mask aside while he focuses on a pop-up is a real treat! How about that catcher's gear, though? I know many of you enjoy catcher's cards in particular and it's easy to see why. The chest protector, knee pads and backwards ball cap..... great coloring. Even the background calls your attention! The vivid green stadium seats in the background provide a very 'you are there' experience, enhanced by the depth perception provided through the stadium's deepening shadows as our eyes follow up into the stands......can anybody confirm if these green seats indicate Ebbets Field?

And who's that guy? Why only one spectator, a spectator wearing a mustard-colored shirt and sunglasses?    

Well focused.......the player and the card!

The back only adds to my enjoyment of this card, offering Bowman's traditional and simple approach: name, bio-stats, brief summary, card number. In 1951, he was coming off his third season in which he had surpassed the 30 HR mark (31) and approached 90 RBI (89) while batting .285. Bowman mentions that Roy held a .985 fielding percentage in 1949...he matched that in 1950 and would never drop below that mark for the duration of his career.

The back is in great shape, with no paper loss or markings to interfere with enjoyment of the information. The coloring is great, too.....just an all around great card, condition-wise. Interestingly, the write-up mentions that the Dodgers first noticed Campy when playing against him in an exhibition game. Hmmm, I wonder what the story is behind that statement? Well, as usual with the game we all love, here's the tale, according to SABR:

"In October 1945 Campanella caught for a black all-star team organized by Effa Manley against a squad of major leaguers managed by Charlie Dressen in a five-game exhibition series at Ebbets Field. Dressen, a Dodgers coach at the time, approached Campanella to arrange a meeting with Dodgers general manager and part-owner Branch Rickey later that month. Campanella spent four hours listening to Rickey, whom he later described as “the talkingest man I ever did see,” and politely declined when Rickey asked if he was interested in playing in the Brooklyn organization. Campy thought he was being recruited for the Brooklyn Brown Dodgers, a new Negro League outfit that Rickey was supposedly starting. A few days later, however, he ran into Jackie Robinson in a Harlem hotel. After Robinson confidentially told him he’d already signed with the Dodgers, Campy realized that Rickey had been talking about a career in Organized Baseball for him. Afraid that he’d blown his shot at the big leagues, he fired off a telegram to Rickey indicating his interest in playing for the Dodgers just before he left on a barnstorming tour through South America."    

Like I always say, all baseball cards are great pieces of history. Some have great players while others have great stories. And some, like this '51 Campanella, just seem to have both. I've only touched on the very tip of the iceberg that was Roy's contribution to the game and to the world, but this is a great way to start a conversation that I hope continues for a long time. I can't wait to add more of Campy's cardboard to my collection and learn more about his legacy, but I'll never lose my excitement and love for this card. I am thrilled to add it to my collection and could easily file this one under the "One of My Favorite Cards" title.

Either way - here's to you, Roy. Rest in peace and thank you for this walk into history.

Thanks for reading!

My Yankee Collection - 2013 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Jim Abbott Autograph

I can still remember learning about Jim Abbott for the first time as a kid.   I couldn't wrap my brain around how incredible and special it was that this guy was pitching in the major leagues with only one fully-functioning hand.

So many years later, it was a very exciting moment for me to be able to bring home this Jim Abbott autograph for my collection and to do so for about $4:  

I don't really dabble much with the Goodwin Champions release.   It has some pretty bizarre cards that I find attractive on some days and incredibly awful on others.   I'm sure the lack of license doesn't help my preferences either, making for some disappointing pictures.   That being said, this card is exactly what I want in a certified auto issue of a player like Abbott....with the exception of maybe hoping for a bit more in the image.

Nevertheless, the portrait-picture of Jim is pretty charming.   The uniform could easily be from his days at the University of Michigan, so I am okay with the editing of that maize "M".   Bleh.   The area left for Jim's signature and his effort to center it beautifully in that space transforms this card (in my mind) into a true piece of memorabilia - a little above and beyond a standard, signed card.

Here's the back:

Standard verbage here, but back to Mr. Abbott...

I am STILL in amazement and have been an avid fan of Abbott's ever since I excitedly pulled his "#1 Draft Pick" rookie card out of packs of 1989 Topps.   You remember this one?

Boy, did I LOVE that card.   1989 was one of those years where I bought a LOT of wax and had a healthy stockpile of this particular rookie card.   How could you not love him?   He had just helped the US Olympic baseball team bring home the gold - but he was pretty much a super-hero in my eyes already, based solely on his ability to overcome the challenge he was born with.   Sure, it's a story that we've heard a million times, a million different ways, and it serves up the same 'ol life lesson.....but there was something about Abbott's story that just sticks with you.   I hope it always does for me and I plan on sharing it with my little ones.

Jim wowed fans and won their hearts wherever he went, including his epic no-hitter in Yankee Stadium, as a Yankee, in September of 1993.   I'll never forget it.   Sure, it was extra special as a Yankees fan, but it certainly seems to be an excellent exclamation point for an already amazing story.

I am thrilled to add this Jim Abbott autograph to my collection and would jump at the chance for some more.   Only time will tell, but in the meantime - thank you for the memories, Jim!

Thanks for reading and keep collecting!

One of My Favorite Cards - 1985 Donruss #273 Roger Clemens Rookie Card

Roger Clemens will always be remembered as a dynamic pitcher.   His permanent record is now tarnished thanks to his alleged use PED's during his career, but there is a healthy debate as to whether or not this abuse made him better, last longer or....somewhere in between.   Regardless of the things we will never know, I will always say that many or most of the PED-using stars from that era were still very, very talented baseball players.   And when it comes to pitching talents, there were very few who were hurling as fiercely as the Rocket during his prime.

I picked up my first Clemens rookie card during my quest (still on-going!) to build the 1985 Topps set.   It is one of those cards that have become a standard for those of that recall the 80's with hobby fondness.   It led to the junk wax era, but these were the days that formed our love of the hobby - so it can't be all that bad!

Clemens' 1984 Fleer Update card is the rarest d most expensive rookie card of the bunch, but I always wanted a copy of his Donruss version.   I was finally able to scoop this card up for about $4:  

It's not perfect, but it has pretty good centering - a feat for '85 Donruss based on a lot of the examples that I've seen.   The edges are also pretty solid, a challenge for sets with mostly solid-black borders.   I'm looking at you, 1971 Topps!

Unlike its Topps brother, this Clemens card has a great action shot of the Rocket about to deliver a sizzling fastball.   The color scheme of the red and black across uniform, card and Red Sox logo works REALLY well, too!   Even if it is the Red Sox logo.....

Here's the back:

Pretty standard Donruss for back in the day - uninspiring.   But, wait.   What's that?   Guess what I just noticed?   The "Contract Status" information line!   What a FANTASTIC addition to a baseball card.   Has this piece of information appeared on any other brands?   Very interesting, and it definitely peaks my interest that Clemens' contract was only through the '85 season, the year of this card.

I also like the statistic regarding Clemens' feat of 15 K's against the Royals on August 21st of the previous year.   It states that this was the most by a Red Sox pitcher since 1961.

Okay, challenge accepted!

In 1961, on May 12th, 17 batters for the Washington Senators were struck out by Red Sox hurler, Bill Monbouquette?

Bill Monbouquette!

I fully admit that I knew nothing about Bill before conducting this '85 Donruss Clemens-inspired research.   I'm not a red Sox fan, but you can now call me a fan of Mr. Monbouquette.   He was a four time All Star and hurled a no-hitter in 1962 against the Chicago White Sox.   He played most if his ten years in Boston but also took the mound for the Tigers, Yankees (whew!) and Giants as he finished up his career.

Hey, how fitting is it that Clemens is connected to Monbouquette via the single-game strikeout record AND they both played as Sox and Yanks?   Magical, right there.
 
One more thing - "Monbo" had a great Eastwood-esque facial expression that resulted in some of the finest baseball card pictures I've ever seen.   Check these out!

I love it.   Is it just  me, or does Mr. Monbouquette also look like Virgil Trucks?   I will definitely be on the lookout for some Monbouquette cards to add to my collection, Boston or no Boston :)

Yes, back to Clemens.....

Love having this card in my collection even more now!   My second Clemens rookie.

Thanks for reading and keep collecting!

Ryan

One of My Favorite Cards: 2005 Upper Deck USA Baseball Max Scherzer Certified Autograph

A little something different today.

I can remember how cool the USA baseball team cards seemed to me as a kid.   Naturally, the most epic example of these was the '85 McGwire.   Big Mac was one of my favorite players back then, probably #2 behind Donnie Baseball.

Yes, another first baseman.   I really can't explain it.  

I can also remember picking up the complete USA team set during a trip to visit my Aunt in Maryland.   My sister and I stayed with her for a week and she treated me to a trip to a local card shop at some point.   SWEET!

The team set was the one thing I can remember picking up, though I am certain there was more.   It came in a nice little "2x2" collector's album.   You know, the 4-card pages?   I believe it was the '91 set.   Phil Nevin was the big prospect stud at the time and some guy named Giambi.   You can buy the set for $2.00 on eBay right now....I think I paid more than $2 at the time.   Bummer.   I'll have to dig it up out of my collection and revisit.   That should be some fun!

The Olympic team sets continue today, in all kinds of different formats.   One of them is displayed in this '05 card of Max Scherzer that I added to my collection recently:

Why do I have this card?

It's not a Yankee or a Brave or one of my favorite players - heck, I really don't like the Tigers.   But I couldn't resist this Scherzer!   You see, Max was a member of the pitching staff on a dynasty fantasy baseball team that I recently began managing.   So he's like....you know...one of my guys.   Sort of?

Scherzer was drafted by the Cardinals in the 43rd round of the 2003 draft but went on to play for the University of Missouri.   Good move.  He was later selected as the 11th overall pick in the '06 Draft by the Diamondbacks and would make his debut with them on April l29, 2008.   One day after my birthday.   How about that?  

On a sad note, Max's little brother, Alex, took his own life last year.   Alex had a serious passion for sabermetrics and Max has integrated the use of advanced statistics into how he prepares for his games.   Scherzer honors his brother by dedicating every start to his memory and, so far, the inspiration and mathematical analysis seems to have worked for big brother.

Scherzer has done pretty well for both me and Detroit this year.   He can throw some heat and can truly rack up some K's when he's in top form, with 106 thus far this year (2nd to Yu Darvish's insane 127).   He's 9-0, with a 0.87 WHIP.  

Pretty darn good.

In my opinion, there's lots of "incognito" potential for Mr. Scherzer to work his way up in the record books.   I say it like that because the Club in Detroit is more famous for one of their other aces and his ex-girlfriend.

Therefore, I picked up the card - my first "USA" card in quite some time.   It's a nice, clean design and the autogoraph shows up very well in black ink on the stark white paper.   I would take this construction over the sticker auto's any day.   For just a couple bucks, I think it makes a nice addition to my collection and could really amass more historical significance as Max's career marches on.

Interestingly, my quick internet research didn't yield much in the way of statistics for Scherzer as a member of Team USA.   Anybody know anything about that?   I know Team USA did NOT make the games in '04, being eliminated by Mexico in a qualifier game.

Thanks for reading and to all the dads out there - Happy Father's Day!