My HOF Collection - 1969 Topps #480 Tome Seaver

I decided that I didn't have enough "vintage" Tom Seaver in my collection.

Alright, I didn't have anything before 1978.   The rest of his cards are absolutely fabulous, don't get me wrong.   But there's something special about cards of these stars from their younger years.   Vintage cards are extraordinary in their own right - but vintage cards of a Hall of Fame hurler like Tom Terrific are a rare treasure for a collector like me.

I jumped on a chance to snag this Seaver on the Bay of E for what I thought was a pretty good price.   There were more affordable versions in lesser condition, but I thought this one struck a good balance for me when it came to one of my preferences for decently-centered cards.   And after doing some research, I quickly learned that finding this particular card in well-centered condition is a challenge.

Without further ado, here she is:

She's a little 'low' top-to-bottom and it's easy to see the wider margin on the left-hand side, but overall this was a reasonable card with very little bidding.   A couple of last minute snipers drove up my final purchase price, but at slightly m ore than a blaster, I was thrilled to win this card for my collection.

The '69 design is very basic and this photo of Tom is not helping at all - but what are you going to do.   It is a nice close-up mug shot of a young ace staring wistfully into a promising yet still unknown future....

In 1969, Seaver had just wrapped up an amazing sophomore season by eclipsing the 200 K mark (205) for the first of many times while going 16-12 over....get this, 278 innings pitched!!!!!   He would subsequently take it easy in '69, deciding to only go to work for 273.1 frames....but increase his K total to 208.   OH, and win the Cy Young.   Yawn.   Ho-hum!   The "Miracle Mets" would also take the pennant in 1969 and win the World Series by defeating the Baltimore Orioles

Whoa.   This 1969 Seaver card keeps getting better and better.   What about the back?

Ah, yes - love it.   Right off the bat we can see an umpire from the Jetsons add his flavor to the very same '68 K-total stat I mentioned above.   Love it.   Mr. Seaver's bio data appear right next to a really cool retro-Topps logo.   The write-up highlights some of Seaver's tremendous accomplishments during his first couple of seasons but the final mention has definitely grabbed my attention - his "15th inning" pitching that saved the Senior Circuit's 2-1 victory!

I must do some follow-on research to dive deeper into that story.......yes.......

For the card itself, the color is great on both sides and the corners are in pretty good shape, too.   Overall, I found the card to be a slight pleasant surprise, condition-wise, when it showed up.   Too often, a raw card purchase on the Bay is very risky and can result in a 'card in hand' that varies dramatically from the image you peered at in the middle of the night, on your iPhone screen.

I'll take my successful escape.

I'm very excited to add my first vintage Seaver card to my collection!

Thanks for reading and keep collecting -
Ryan

One of My Favorite Cards: 1954 Topps #153 Albert "Rube" Walker

As promised, some Dodger "blue"!

I love this card.   It's a 1954 Topps card, so I would love it anyways - but this one definitely has my attention.   It's in pretty good shape, so I feel lucky to have it in my collection as a great representation of baseball in its golden age.   The coloring is terrific and the old-school look of Rube's collapsed hat should be in the dictionary to explain what exactly a "ball cap" is!

Classic. Period.

The details on the front side of this card provide you everything you need to know - team, team logo, position, autograph, close-up and "position action shot".   Rube was a catcher for the Dodgers, so this card provides the extra bonus of getting to see some of that classic catcher's gear.   Love it.

The back of this card is just as good.   It divulges the full spectacle of Albert Bluford Walker Junior's name.   Would never have guessed he was from North Carolina with a name like that, eh?   Rube batted left but fielded as a right hander.  Rube never played ball in college and was drafted by the Cubbies out of high school in 1948.   The write-up gives a great tidbit on a couple of records that Mr. Walker lay claim to as a young player with Brooklyn who was finally getting a shot in '52.   Campanella was obviously the main guy behind the plate for the Dodgers at this time, so I can only imagine the frustration that Rube felt as he battled to make the starting line-up.   Or, perhaps he was enjoying every minute of it!?   Topps squeezes even more information into the comprehensive review of Walker's minor league batting numbers.   That's good stuff and something we don't see too much of anymore.

Call me Al......unless it's the FRONT of this card...

Topps provides the previous year's statistics along with the cumulative career numbers, as was the standard.   It looked like Rube was a pretty good fielder with a .978 fielding percentage.   You combine that with a .250 average and I think you have the makings of a solid back-up catcher.  Plus, his name was Rube and that's just awesome in itself.

Ah, the cartoon strip, "Inside Baseball".   Love these things, and this particular 3-panel strip is a great example.   It relates a portion of Rube's contribution to the epic Dodger-Giants playoff series of 1951.   Most of us know about that (the "Shot Heard 'Round the World") Series and its incredible/terrifying finish but what I personally did not know was that MVP Campanella did not play in Games 2 or 3.   If I am reading the comic correctly, the "...a Dodger was hurt..." refers to Campy, right?   First of all, I am a bit shocked that Topps didn't provide the star player's name here......perhaps it was a simple factor of not being able to fit "Campanella" - but I don't think so!   There's a lot of space still available in Panel #1.   My second complaint is that I can only find mention of Campanella's injury in one remote space in the internet universe......somebody refers to Roy "injuring his thigh" at some point.   But I can't find a write-up of Game 2 that describes some type of in-game injury or event and the resulting substitution.   In fact, Baseball-Reference.com doesn't portray Campanella as being on the starting lineup.   Therefore, I'm assuming that the Dodger backstop suffered something during Game 1 and just couldn't make the start in Games 2 or 3. 

Can anybody confirm this?   For you Dodgers fans - do you think this had any impact on the Series' outcome.......well, more than that whole telescope, thing?

Anyways - Rube Walker got his chances in Games 2 and 3 and, as it says on the back of this card, made good use of his time.   He pounded 3 hits and 2 homers to assist the Dodgers on their way to a 10-0 victory that necessitated that epic Game 3.

Or did he?

The back of this 1954 Topps card credits two home runs to Walker but the box scores at baseball-reference.com do not agree - they report only 1 home run, in the 9th inning, for 'ol Rube.   Huh.   I wonder what happened there?   Does anybody know?   Perhaps some kind of in-the-park deal from earlier in the game?   You can read over the numbers from that Game 2 here.   That would be interesting - again, if anybody can provide some insight, I'd be grateful.   Otherwise, it may just be a baseball card curiosity! 

Rube much closer to achieving "full Medlen" than Tom.

Walker went on to do some managing for the Dodgers and Yankees farm systems before becoming a pitching coach for the Senators, Mets and Braves.   A testament to the role a good catcher can play in successful pitching, he was a pitching coach for the Mets from '68 through '81, including the Amazin' Mets of '69 and oversaw development of two pitchers that made their way through the Metropolitans organization: Nolan Ryan and Tom Seaver.   'Nuff said, Rube!

Guess what just got added to my "Want" list?

Mr. Walker finished out his days in the Game as a scout for the Cardinals and passed away in '92.

So there you go - some great stories to go along with this Rube Walker card from 1954.   I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did researching (even though I feel a bit incomplete for the effort).   Mr. Walker sure is a great part of the Dodgers' franchise history and another classic component of our great Game, too.

Thanks for reading!