#1: Lou Brock
1970 Topps Posters #4
Can you list the last five stolen base leaders in each league? If so, I'm impressed. I know I can't. But when I was a kid, I followed guys like Tim Raines, Willie Wilson, and Rickey Henderson as they chased Lou's records.
1975 Topps #2
Back then adding a 70's card of The Franchise was just as big of a deal to me as adding a card of Stretch, Pops, or the Little General. Rest in peace Mr. Brock.
#2: Fancy Cats
1983 Topps Perlorian Cats #31
When it comes to cool card blog names, Jon's A Penny Sleeve For Your Thoughts is one of the most creative around. Well this week he wrote a post about possibly switching gears and changing it to A Whisker For Your Thoughts and he wants to hear your feedback.
Even thought I like the "Penny Sleeve" title better, I'd support his blog either way.
1983 Topps Perlorian Cats #18
Jon... This cat's for you.
#3: Freddie Freeman
2007 Bowman Chrome #BDPP12
Yesterday, Shane over at Shoebox Legends wrote about his slabbed Justin Verlander rookie card that he picked up for way less than the price of a blaster... which reminded me of this Freddie Freeman rookie card I purchased for $16.50 last year.
He's been on an absolute tear the past month or so... collecting a hit in twenty-four out of his last twenty-five games with a .394 batting average, .509 on base percentage, and a .723 slugging percentage. I don't go out of my way to collect his cards, but I wanted something of his for my collection, because he's just one of those likable guys who works hard and has been loyal to the Atlanta Braves since they drafted him thirteen years ago.
#4: Fan of the Game
2018 Donruss Fans of the Game Autograph #FG-CK
Although my focus will remain on baseball until the final out of the 2020 World Series, I'm excited that the NFL season is on its way. This autograph of Olympic gold medalist, Chloe Kim is my most recent NFL trading card related purchase.
I purchased this card back in June for $24.50 (+ $4.50 shipping and $2.27 tax), because I've been trying to add her signature to my collection ever since watching her gold medal performance on the halfpipe at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
#5: New Blog on the Block
Chris (The Collector) has started a new blog: The 1993. As you might have guessed, it's a blog that focuses on 1993.
I'm pretty sure that I was out of the hobby for most... if not all of that year. The card shop I worked at shut its doors and I had blown most of my savings on building my 1992 Fleer Ultra master set.
I'm looking forward to seeing what I missed that year. As for the Gwynn, it's probably my nicest card from 1993. I picked this card up back in April of 2016 on 4 Sharp Corners for $63.50, which is about a third of what people are paying these days.
Well that wraps up another week in sports and our blogosphere. If there was a major sports or card related story you think I should have covered, please leave it down in the comments.
Otherwise, here are your questions of the day:
What are some of your favorite under-appreciated non-sports sets?
When his career is over, do you predict Freeman will eventually get the call from Cooperstown?
Do you have a favorite Olympic athlete?
What's the first hobby related thing that comes to mind when you think of 1993?
Happy Saturday and sayonara!
Love the Brock poster! I'm going to give myself a pat on the back because I thought of Whit Merrifield as a Stolen Base leader of recent years (although I should've thought of Billy Hamilton as well).
ReplyDeleteProbably my favorite under-appreciated non-sports set would be 1961 Topps Sports Cars... If we're keeping it more recent, the 1993 "Beatles Collection" set.
Hobby-wise, 1993 makes me think of chasing down cards of Rockies and Marlins in their new uniforms.
My favorite Olympic athlete would be about half a dozen Olympic curlers. :-)
No particular favorite non sport set. I do favor those from 1966 my birth year. Yep, Freddie will get the call. I have Olympic cards, but it is just way too overboard anymore, not like when I was a child, it was a big thing....it was Patriotic to watch and root for the US. 1993: 1993 Topps.
ReplyDelete1. My favorite non sports set is the early 1990s G.I.Joe set, which I am only a handful of cards from completing. 2. At the pace he is going, Freeman could very easily get the call from Copperstown. 3. I enjoy watching the Olypics, both winter and summer, and enjoy seeing the discipline in all the sports. 4. 1993 represented the last summer that the Cleveland Indians played at Municipal Stadium, and that gave us fans an oppurtunity to collect pieces to commentrate this season.
ReplyDelete2009 Rittenhouse James Bond Archives
ReplyDelete2012 Sports Illustrated Decade of Supermodels
No.
Not really. I guess the ones that come to mind are more historical: Jesse Owens, Steve Prefontaine, the Miracle on Ice team. Carl Lewis was a big deal for a while though.
1993 Leaf baseball I guess.
1993 upper deck baseball and 1993 leaf baseball.
ReplyDeleteFavorite Olympians are probably Phelps or Nastia. True greatness.
ReplyDeleteI never heard Brock referred to as "The Franchise" before. Guess no one dared use that around a Mets fan like me. Really strange that no one talked about that connection between Seaver and Brock on anything I saw.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I have an answer for your first 3 questions, but 1993 makes me think of Fleer's Flair brand and the first time I spent $3.99 on a pack of cards.
ReplyDeleteSteals don't seem to be something that people care about anymore, which is unfortunate, because I know when I followed baseball much more closely, seeing a guy takeoff for a steal was always one of the most exciting aspects of the game.
ReplyDeleteI have a set of Star Wars Lego cards that were given out by the Disney Store a couple if years ago. You had to go in each week for 6 weeks and say a different famous line from the films to get 4 cards at a time.
ReplyDeleteshlabotnikreport - i knew whit could hit... but didn't know he won a stolen base title. i think billy hamilton is the last stolen base leader i remember. as for cards, the 1961 sports cars set is awesome. i have a few sitting in my collection
ReplyDeletejohnnys trading spot - i sure hope he does. i love how he plays hard. and i hope he plays his entire career with the braves.
ohio tim - dang, i missed out on the gi joe set. but i played with the figures as a kid. i bet there's some pretty cool municipal stadium collectibles out there. they did the same thing when candlestick was going to be shut down
elliptical man - i remember the james bond archives. i might even have an autograph from that product. never heard of the si supermodels set though. that sounds awesome. as for 1993 leaf, i didn't buy any. but i've had a lot pass through my collection over the years
unknown - 1993 upper deck baseball is one of the best sets of the decade. awesome photography
the lost collector - definitely knew phelps. had to look up nastia. i haven't really kept up with olympic gymnastics since mary lou. but if my former student eventually reaches the olympics, i'll definitely follow him
brett alan - i don't know if i've ever heard anyone call him that either, but i saw it on mlb's website. it'd be cool to look up brock's stats against seaver, but these days you have to have a paid subscription on baseball reference to obtain that information. maybe one of my readers does and will leave the info in the comment section
gcrl - nice call on 1993 flair. actually... i remember buying some of that product. i'm just not sure if i bought it in 1993 or afterwards though
jon - yeah. it's kind of a forgotten statistic. but when i was a kid, it was a big deal. then again... i grew up watching and rooting for rickey
jongudmund - oh man, those cards sound awesome. never seen or heard of them before, but i love star wars legos. you should write a post on them.
I was losing interest in the hobby when 1993 rolled around, but the first thing I remember about that time is that inserts and premium cards were becoming very, very popular.
ReplyDeleteAs for favorite Olympic athlete, can I say the entire 1980 US hockey team? If not, maybe I'll say Eddie the Eagle.
Love those Perlorian cards. So cool and unique! Great theme for a series of posts.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what those Perlorian cat cards are all about but I like them.
ReplyDelete1. I don't really do much with non-sport cards, but those cat cards are incredible. I use Google Slides in my virtual class. Been using a lot of cat gifs. Might have to use those cards instead.
ReplyDelete2. Freddie Freeman and The Hall of Fame? I lean yes, but he's not even 30 yet. If his career ended today, he's not in. A few more really good years.
3. Two summers ago, I sat down with my son and rewatched all the 1992 Dream Team games. I am not a huge Christian Laettner fan, but it was cute that he was the "walk-on" type player on that team who would come in when the score was out of control.
4. First thing that comes to mind from the hobby in 1993? Jim Edmonds rookie cards.
1993...my first year of collecting
ReplyDeletegregory - yeah... topps sure took things to the next level with finest. i wasn't collecting at the time, but i remember hearing about how tough it was to find boxes and how the refractors were going for big money. good call on the 1980 olympic team. as for eddie the eagle, i had to look him up. at first i was thinking you were talking about ed belfour.
ReplyDeletesumomenkoman - i'm hunting for a box of perlorian cats. if i can find an affordable box... you and i will split it and do some old fashion trading to build sets
sean - i actually discovered them after i showed off some japanese cards that featured cats dressed in human clothes. pretty sure it's the same photographer
the snorting bull - i'm sure your students will crack up if you do. definitely too early on freeman, just trying to get some guesses, so we can look back on them one day. you watched the dream team games? i'd love to watch some of those. always wondered why they went with him over shaq. as for edmonds... i do remember picking up a few of those (maybe in 1994 or 1995).
sport card collectors - nice. jumping right into the heart of shiny inserts and parallels.