One Thing Leads To Another

This tale begins with fellow blogger, Daniel Wilson.  Mr. Wilson runs the blog It's Like Having My Own Card Shop and recently decided to promote other bloggers as part of their 2014 hobby goals.  The first person he selected was Corky over at Pack War.

Corky was so appreciative of this random act of kindness, he decided to "pay it forward", which brings us to today's post.

Two days ago, a nice care package arrived at my doorstep with several cool cards and this amazing 1909-11 T206 tobacco card of Doc Powers:

On the surface, it's a century old piece of cardboard with a cool looking picture of a catcher.  That in itself is awesome.  But the deeper you dig, the cooler the card is.

Let's start with the player.  Statistically, Michael Riley Powers isn't your hall of fame caliber player.  He had a lifetime average of .216 and only hit four home runs his entire career.  However he was well respected by the legendary Connie Mack and was once the personal catcher of hall of fame pitcher, Eddie Plank.

But there's more.  Although there are different stories surrounding his death, several versions involve him dying from injuries suffered during the first baseball game at Philadelphia's Shibe Park.  If true, he was the first major league player to pass away from injuries received in a game.  Pretty interesting, right?

Okay, now let's move onto the card.  Two years ago, I set out on a journey to acquire a 1909-11 T206 card of a Philadelphia Athletic for my personal collection.  After several saved eBay searches and a bunch of bids that came up short, I abandoned the goal and never looked back.

Fast forward to earlier in the week and you're now up to speed.

I'm actually not sure what's cooler:  the card or the actual random act of kindness.  The card allows me to cross off a major goal and is an amazing addition to my A's collection.  On the flip side, I'm truly grateful that someone took the time to read my blog and went out of their way to help me complete a goal that I, myself had given up on.

All I know is that this trend won't end with me.  Keep an eye out, because I'll be "paying it forward" to another great blogger out there in the very near future.

Thanks Corky!  I should have Seahawks cards headed in your direction within the next couple of days.

Happy Wednesday and sayonara!

Extra Innings

Oops... almost forgot.  I was so caught up with the Powers, that I almost forgot to show off the other cool cards that Corky sent me.  Here ya go... 

And congratulations on reaching 100 followers!