30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Monday, September 24, 2018

He's Back

When my back isn't tweaked, one of my favorite ways to take my mind off of things is to go out and play nine holes at the golf course near my house.  There's just something about being surrounded by green grass, fresh air, and the occasional deer that takes me away from my real world issues.

My love for golf doesn't necessarily translate to it's professional counterpart.  My father is a huge golf fan and when I was a kid, he'd watch guys like Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Crenshaw, Chi-Chi Rodriguez, and Tom Watson.  He'd put the Masters, the U.S. Open, or whatever major golf tournament was currently being played on the family room television and give the rest of the family a choice.  Watch it or leave.  I'd say I stuck around about 50% of the time.


That was back in the 80's.  I can't remember the last time I sat down and watched an afternoon full of golf.  That doesn't mean I don't watch highlights on ESPN.  This weekend, I was one of the millions of fans interested in Tiger's progress at the Tour Championship.  And I was super excited when I heard that he was able to hold his lead and secure his first tournament victory in five years.


Ironically, I just left a comment mentioning Mr. Woods on The Collective Mind's blog back on Thursday.  He asked his readers the following question...



What's your greatest epic find or collection purchase?  What amazing stuff did you get just by chance or luck?

The first thing that popped into my head was a box of cards I found for two bucks at the Capitol Flea Market back in 2013 that contained this:



If you're not familiar with this sheet of cards, it's a 1996 SI for Kids uncut sheet featuring one of Tiger's first trading cards.  There was a time when these sheets were selling for over $500.  There were other cards in the box including a Kobe Bryant patch card, a Lebron James jersey card, and a Jerry Rice rookie.  But the centerpiece is definitely the guy golf fans were watching this weekend.


Welcome back to the world of winning Tiger!


Another person I'd like to welcome back is Brady over at St. Louis Cardinals' Cardboard.  Technically he hasn't posted since mid-July, but I did have the opportunity to hang out and catch up with him at the card show this weekend.


In typical fashion, we exchanged care packages.  Inside were a bunch of 8x10 photographs:


Nolan Ryan

Ken Caminiti

Jose Canseco

Mark McGwire

Greg Maddux

Hideo Nomo


I don't think I've ever mentioned it, but I actually have a collection of 8x10 photographs sitting in a binder on my bookshelf.  These will make nice additions.

He also gave me these to Unocal 76 pins from the early 90's:



I'm not exactly sure if these were stadium giveaways or gas station promotions.  Either way, these will go into my box of Oakland A's pins.


And last, but not least is this 1993 Kellogg's/Star Pics card of Scottie Pippen:



At first glance this looks like a standard trading card.  However it opens up to reveal this:



I don't really go out of my way to collect basketball anymore, but I'll never turn away something as cool as this.

Thanks Brady!  It was nice seeing you again and catching up.

Happy Monday and sayonara!

8 comments:

Registered History said...

Ever since my baseball career ended, I've tried to go golfing more. I usually shoot in the triple digits (when playing 18) with some generous "mulligans" but it's still a great way to spend an afternoon, even if I wake up sore the next morning!

Adam said...

I played on the golf team when I was in high school. I wasn't great and never made varsity but I still had fun. I also used to go golf with my dad at a local course every Sunday. Oh, I think I remember that sheet to, having a subscription to SI for Kids at one point, I'm pretty sure I actually had it at one point. I do remember having some golf cards way back in the day of Brad Faxon, Arnold Palmer, and the like.

RAZ said...

My grandpa would always watch golf with his eyes closed, leaned back in his recliner. You couldn't change the channel, though, because as soon as you did he would stop snoring and ask you what you thought you were doing.

SumoMenkoMan said...

It’s great to see him back! I’d say finding an uncut sheet of his SI for Kids is a pretty big find for sure!

Nick Vossbrink said...

Never been a gold guy so I'm just going to answer the question.

I was ebaying for a box of 1991 Donruss (how many of us are doing the "I had *so* many of these as a kid I may as well finish the set" thing?) when one of the listings stopped me. It was an old 800-count box full of grey card stock with "1991 Donruss" written on the side. Clearly not 1991 Donruss. When Iooked at the bigger photo I could see that like 25% of it was clearly 1975 Topps based on the colored borders. $10 shipped? Sold. I ended up with a couple hundred each of 1975–1979 cards. Nothing amazing in there but I'd only every had maybe a handful of those ad a kid so it was fun to really look through everything.

Fuji said...

jasongerman9 - haven't played 18 in years. my goto course is an executive par 27 course. takes me about 45 to 70 mins depending on if there's anyone in front of me. it's the perfect therapy session.

adam sanders - you should search for it. they've dropped a little in value, but you can still get good money for this sheet (especially if it's still in the magazine).

raz - lol. awesome!

sumomenkoman - yeah. it's definitely a top 3 flea market find of mine

nick vossbrink - congratulations! nice purchase. pays to be able to recognize grey card stock and colored borders.

Baltmoss68 said...

Love that Tiger! I have his Masters card but still looking for the SI Kids.
Just a few weeks ago at my local flea market I picked up 18 60s Hall of farmers for a buck each. Most were in good condition a couple worse. 61 Koufax with creases... but it’s Koufax for a dollar!!!

Fuji said...

Nice. I'd love to add the Masters card to my collection one day. Probably won't happen if he starts winning again though. Congratulations on that vintage find. Creases = Character