Pride of New York

Spring Break has arrived.  I've been looking forward to this day for weeks.  I'm looking forward to resting my body, driving my car, cleaning my office, and maybe even catching up on some card related stuff.

Not sure how many people have noticed that my blog has been placed on the back burner the past year or so.  I've even taken some extended breaks here and there.  In fact the majority of the posts published here are prewritten and scheduled several days and sometimes several weeks in advance.  The days of writing a post and publishing it on the same day are rarer than spotting blasters of Bowman at Target.

I wish I could promise the people who take the time to read my posts that things are going to go back to pre-pandemic times, but I just don't foresee it anytime soon.  That being said... today's post was written today, but the contents have been bouncing around in my head for several weeks now.

Now that the designated hitter is being used in all of baseball, I wanted to write about this card...

2003 UD Yankees Signature Series Pride of New York Autograph #PN-RB

This card has been sitting in an 800ct. box for a few years now.  It was part of a collection I purchased from my buddy that included a bunch of signatures, memorabilia cards, and manufactured relics.

The collection was part of a larger collection my friend had purchased.  I originally wrote about the purchase here if you want to check out a few of the nicer cards.

There are three more cards from this box that I want to share, but before I do, here's a card of Orlando Cepeda from my vintage binder:

1974 Topps #83

While Blomberg gets credit for being the first designated hitter in MLB history... Cepeda was the designated hitter sitting in the opposing dugout that day.

Cepeda's Red Sox destroyed the Yankees that day, but Blomberg had a better day at the plate.  He went 1 for 3 with a walk, while Cepeda was hitless with two strikeouts in his six at-bats.

Getting back to the 800ct. box collection, here are a pair of jersey cards featuring Elston Howard:

2000 UD Yankee Legends Legendary Pinstripes #EH-LP

On April 14th, 1955... Howard became the first African American to play for the New York Yankees.  That took place eight years after Jackie Robinson made his debut.

Here's the latest addition to my Robinson collection:

2019 Topps Stickers #110

This card was NOT part of the collection I purchased.  It was part of the care package Reader X sent me back in February.

And since this post has a New York theme to it, here's one more card from his care package...

He actually sent me a stack of these Seinfeld playing cards, but this was hands down my favorite.  I love me some George Costanza.

And rounding out the post is one more New York related card that was part of that 800ct. box collection:

2014 Topps Update World Series Champions Ring #WSR-MR

Today every MLB player is wearing #42 on the back of their jersey... but Rivera was the last guy to wear that number on a daily basis.

Happy Jackie Robinson Day and sayonara!