The Pride of the Yankees

There are tons of classic baseball movies that I've watched and enjoyed over the years... but one stands out more than the others:  The Pride of the Yankees.  It's about some guy named Lou Gehrig.

I can't remember the first time I watched this film, but it was definitely during the 70's when I was a little kid.  It would pop up on the television every now and then and I never grew bored with the story.  And as much as I dislike the New York Yankees, I couldn't help but grow up admiring The Iron Horse.

Today I'll be showing off some of my favorite Gehrig cards as part of a contest entry.  Brian over at Collecting Cutch has asked his readers to write about one of our favorite sports movies, while connecting them to baseball cards in our collection.  If you're interested in participating, click here for details.

Okay, let's check out some cards...

#1:  2007 UD Masterpieces Box Topper #MP-6

If you've never seen one of these framed and matted box toppers, you're missing out.  They're gorgeous.

This card happens to capture Gehrig standing in front of his teammates and a sold out Yankees Stadium on the day he delivered his famous "Luckiest Man" speech back on July 4th, 1939.  After watching The Pride of the Yankees and listening to his humble speech, I can't imagine any baseball fan not having a soft spot for Mr. Gehrig.

#2:  1976 Topps #341

This is probably my favorite card of Gehrig.  Well... at least out of the ones I own.  I love the black and white action shot combined with the red, white, and blue The Sporting News subset design.

As a bonus, Topps gave collectors Gehrig's entire career stats on the back.


#3:  1989 Topps LJN Baseball Talk #21

Before I added the actual 1976 Topps card of Gehrig, I bought this oddball issue.  If you're not familiar with these cards, they were made to be used with a handheld record player produced by LJN back in the late 80's.

Collectors who owned both the record player and this card... could listen to Mel Allen, Lefty Gomez, and Hank Greenberg talk about Gehrig.  Here's a YouTube video posted by DaClyde which captures the audio:

If you listen to the entire video, you're treated to a clip of Gehrig's famous speech.


#4:  2004 Topps Clubhouse Collection Career Legends Relics #CL-LG2

This is hands down my most valuable Lou Gehrig card.  Last year, I entered one of Colbey's group breaks and was fortunate to walk away with this card and a few other cool Yankees relics.

The card features a piece of a game-used bat used in a MLB game.  However the way Topps wrote up the COA on the back doesn't guarantee that the bat was used by Gehrig.


#5:  1972 Kellogg's All-Time Baseball Greats

This is my second favorite Gehrig card sitting within my collection.  It's hard not to love the combination of 70's Kellogg's lenticular cards and baseball legends.

The card back lists some of Lou's career highlights which includes his special day at Yankees Stadium.

This post wouldn't seem complete without featuring at least one Cal Ripken Jr. card, since the two will forever be associated with each other.  Here's a relic card featuring soil used at Oriole Park at Camden Yards during the season Ripken broke Gehrig's 2,130 consecutive games played streak record:

1996 Fleer Ultra Diamond Dust #NNO

I think it's interesting that collectors often talk about the 1997 Upper Deck Game Jerseys as baseball's first memorabilia cards.  However if you consider game-used dirt to be a form of memorabilia, these technically came first.

I'll wrap things up with a card that I don't own...

2009 Panini Americana Movie Posters Memorabilia #64

I've recently updated my wantlist and have included this card, since it's definitely one of those cards that stirs up fond memories of my childhood.

Thank you Brian for motivating me to write this post and for offering another contest on your blog.  Now I think I'll go and watch The Pride of the Yankees for the umpteenth time.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Extra Innings

2018 WTHBALLS Stars of 1940 #NNO 5x7 Box Topper

I found this card sitting in one of my folders and had to include it into this post.  It was a gift from a fellow blogger who preferred to remain anonymous and it came with a bunch of other really cool cards that doubled as a board game.  If interested, you can read more about it here.