Thursday, November 19, 2020

Early Birthday Celebration

Baseball has always been fascinating to me, because of the numbers and lists.  And when you look at Stan Musial's career... his numbers are simply breathtaking and he's near the top of a lot of baseball lists.

He started his MLB career with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1941 and wrapped it up twenty-three years later in 1963... which was almost a decade before I came into this world.  But that's the thing... when you accumulate the kind of numbers Musial had... you become a legend.

I have a deep appreciation for guys who spend their entire careers with one professional franchise as well as guys who have the ability to hit for averageMusial fits both of these categories... which is why I've accumulated a small collection of Stan Musial cards over the years.

In honor of his 100th birthday... which is this Saturday... I was hoping to show off my latest addition to the Musial collection.  Unfortunately... COMC failed to ship on schedule... so I'll have to write about that vintage pickup another day.

In the meantime, here's the rest of Musial PC:

1959 Topps #150

PinholesRounded corners.  And a collector's initials written in red inkWho doesn't appreciate cards with character?

1961 Topps #290

1956 Topps #134

Although this isn't officially a Musial card, it represents the oldest card in my collection with Musial on it.

2005 Absolute Memorabilia Tools of the Trade Autograph #TT-183 (#'d 001/100)

I've shared my opinion on sticker signatures quite clear over the years... but this purchase was made before I stopped purchasing them.  Plus it's one of the nicest cards in my Prime Number PC.

2005 UD Hall of Fame Class of Cooperstown Autographs #CC-SM2

Yeah.  Yeah.  Yeah.  Another sticker-graph.  Fine... here are a trio of on-card autographs for you:

1998 Donruss Signature Significant Signatures #NNO

1999 UD Century Legends Epic Signatures #SM

2002 Topps Legends Autographs #TTSM

And a signed baseball...


The next few cards aren't signed, but they're each very special...

2014 Stadium Club #13

Stadium Club is known for its fantastic photography and this card fits the bill.  His 2020 Stadium Club card features a similar photo which is just as cool.

1992 Score The Franchise #2

I've been meaning to write about this card for years.  I have no idea how I acquired it, but it's a really cool piece of cardboard.  A simple design, fantastic photograph, and limited to only 150,000 copies.  Yup.  150,000Extremely limited.

And wrapping things up is one of my favorite non-Kellogg's oddball issues of the 80's:

1989 LJN Baseball Talk #27

Happy birthday Mr. Musial!  You're a legend and will never be forgotten.  Happy Thursday and sayonara!

13 comments:

John Sharp said...

Love "Stan the Man," what a magnificent ballplayer. I'll have to post something on Saturday.

Good Job. 👍

The Diamond King said...

Yeah, thanks for the reminder about his 100th. I feel the same as you about one franchise and high average guys.

Jeff B - Wax Pack Wonders said...

You'll love this stat: Musial had the exact same number of hits at home as on the road.

Peter K Steinberg said...

Wow. Nice PC here! Hope you get the new card soon and can't wait to see it!

Johnnys Trading Spot said...

NICE COLLECTION

The Lost Collector said...

Impressive collection!

Rod (Padrographs) said...

I went to a card show once that Musial was signing at with a friend of mine. When he talked to Stan, Mr. Musial said he had a voice for radio. My friend was an on air personality for one of the stations here in Portland.

Collecting Cutch said...

Awesome collection of The Man. I remember having the Baseball Talk as a kid. That 2002 auto is nice!!!

Chris said...

So many great items here, I just have one Musial auto but it's one of my favorites. I also have an 8 x 10 (non-autographed) and a 1960 Topps single. Way back in my childhood I had a Musial Starting Lineup figure and it was one of my favorites. The Cardinals uniform looked so sharp in his day.

Matt said...

That is an incredibly impressive collection! I don't have any from his playing days, but I do have a complete 1988 Donruss puzzle! I recommend adding his 2019 Stadium Club card to your wish list - now that's a cool photo!

CinciCuse Bill said...

Sweet collection! I also have an appreciation for guys who spend their entire careers with one team (great subject for a post!). Also love cards with character.

The Snorting Bull said...

Great collection of cards Fuji! Love the Upper Deck Century autograph.

Fuji said...

john sharp - one of the greatest hitters of all-time for sure

the diamond king - sadly both of those things about ball players are slowly becoming things of the past

jeff b - that's pretty darn cool. i wonder if any other guys can say that

peter k. steinberg - comc sent me an email stating they were putting together my package. not sure if it has shipped though

johnnys trading spot - thanks. you're collections is pretty nice too

the lost collector - thanks aj!

padrographs - guess stan was a pretty cool judge of character. did you get a chance to sit down with mr. musial and chat?

collecting cutch - love the baseball talk set. i have two complete sets. one is bindered and the other is in the original packages.

chris - i love the 1960 topps set. not sure i'll be adding anymore vintage musials to the collection anytime soon... but if i did... the 1960 would be one i'd consider

matt - that is a pretty cool card. i bought the complete set last year, so i have at least one copy. one of these days (when i have more space), i'll binder it up so i can appreciate it on a regular basis

cincicuse bill - thanks. i'm pretty sure i've written a post on one franchise guys, but if i haven't... i will

the snorting bull - yeah, that's one of my all-time favorite autograph sets.