30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Saturday, January 9, 2021

TWiB: 80's Baseball, the Loss of a Legend, and More Slabs

This was a weird week.  I'm not just talking about what's going down in Washington D.C.  I'm talking about This Week in Blogging.

Normally I have tons of stuff to write about, but this week my notes were lacking.  Part of that has to do with the fact that I missed an entire day of reading blogs, but I think I just dropped the ball in documenting what was going on in our blogosphere this week.

Maybe this is for the better, since last week's post was a little too long for my liking.  This week's post we restore balance.


#1Another Sayonara Salute

After school yesterday, I hopped in my car and headed for Taco Bell... to grab some comfort food to cap off another week of teaching online.  That's when I heard the news about Tommy Lasorda.

2017 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autographs #FFA-TL

There's something about managers from my childhood that made such a huge impact on my love for baseball.  Back then memorizing the names of managers was just as important to me as memorizing starting shortstops.

This morning I quizzed myself and was able to accurately name only eight current managers and their teams.  That's pretty sad.  I'm still kicking myself for forgetting Aaron Boone.

2005 Donruss Greats Blues Materials #DB4

Anyways back in the 80's, I enjoyed cheering for Fernando and Sax, despising Gibson, and watching guys like Garvey, Hershiser, and Guerrero... but everything started with Lasorda.  He was the face of the franchise.

2005 Donruss Greats Blues Materials #DB4

The news of his death might have been sad, but it was really nice sitting in my car in front of my place, eating nachos, and listening to radio personalities (who are San Francisco Giants supporters) reminisce on their favorite Tommy Lasorda memories.

One of them talked about this particular moment:


I had never heard of or seen this play before... but that's exactly how I remember Lasorda from my childhood.  You can just see and hear his love for baseball and the Los Angeles Dodgers in his voiceRest in peace, Mr. Lasorda.

Oh I almost forgot, please check out these other Tommy Lasorda tributes written by actual Los Angeles Dodgers fans: Chavez Ravining, Night Owl Cards, and cards as i see them.


#2The Countdown Begins

Night Owl has revealed the first ten cards on his list of The Greatest 100 Cards of the '80s.  I've been excited about this series, because I love that decade.  Plus I'm way too lazy to actually sit down and compile my own list.

1986 Topps #85

Anytime people publish these sort of lists, there are going to be cards you agree and disagree with.  That's part of the fun.  Seeing this awesome Tony Perez card reminded me of a conversation I had with another collector a long time ago.  I can't remember who came up with the idea, but we both thought it would have been cool if Topps used the photo on Eric and Tony's 1986 Topps cards.


#3Shoebox Slabs

Shoebox Legends and I both enjoy collecting graded cards.  I realize this isn't for everyone.  In fact, it seems like most of my readers and fellow bloggers aren't fans of encapsulating cards.  That being said, Shane wrote two great posts this week and each featured a slabbed sports card.

1974 Topps #201

The first one featured an ALCS highlight card from the 1975 Topps set signed by Brooks Robinson and Tony Kubiak.  I thought I had at least a few dual signed slabbed signatures in my collection, but this Rod Carew and Pete Rose was the only one I found in my search.

The other card he featured on his blog was a graded 1935 Diamond Stars Kiki Cuyler that he paid less than $25 for.  One look at the card he purchase and you'll be in awe.  Not very often you can purchase a beautifully conditioned card of a hall of famer from a vintage set for that kind of price.

He was able to pick it up for a great price, because it's graded the same as my Steve Carlton rookie card:

1965 Topps #477

Both of our cards received these grades, because they were stabbed and slabbed.  So if you ever want to pick up a great deal on a graded card... try to find a copy with a pinhole in it.


#4OCD and Collecting

Although I've never been officially diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), I display many of the commons signs and symptoms.

Cardboard Hogs wrote a great post last weekend where he gave his readers a peek behind the curtain as he showed off how he sorts and stores his collection.  Even if you don't have OCD, it's still an interesting read.  I encourage you to check it out.

Well that's it for another This Week in Blogging post.  Hopefully this upcoming week I'll be more focused... and the week itself will be filled with more positivity and cheer.

I'll help kick things off by showing up a new and improved version of Tamlyn Tomita for my Celebrity Crush PC:

2011 Rittenhouse Eureka Autographs #NNO

I wasn't a big fan of the way Rittenhouse captured her beauty on the Heroes card I posted this past Tuesday, so I ran out and grabbed an autograph from a show I had never heard of or seen before.  But I think she looks much prettier on this card.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

10 comments:

Johnnys Trading Spot said...

pretty lady

Matt said...

She has a solid signature. That's why i like non sport autographs so much. Celebrities take their time on signing cards

SumoMenkoMan said...

How are we losing all these HOFers so suddenly??! Love that Carlton!

Peter K Steinberg said...

It was a very strange first week of the year. Maybe we've already hit the nadir and will start to ride, even if slowly. Be well.

gregory said...

Man, that audio clip of Lasorda is fantastic. Thanks for sharing.

acrackedbat said...

I don't eat a lot of fast food but when I do...I love the Bell. Bean burritos with extra cheese and lots of hot sauce. My grandmother loved enchiritos so sometimes I have one to enjoy her memory. The heroes of our youth are aging. We were lucky to have Lasorda for as long as we did. Thanks for sharing that clip!

CinciCuse Bill said...

Great call on the Perez-Davis card. It’s one of my all-time favorites. Stay safe!

gcrl said...

It's been awhile since I've had taco bell but I have probably had more than enough during college. Like you I can no longer name all of the managers in the majors.

shoeboxlegends said...

Thanks for the feature in TWIB again! Your two slabbed auto examples are absolutely beautiful, you have me drooling over here. Especially that combo Rose/Carew...just...WOW

This post also tipped me off to the fact that I'd totally missed the first two parts of Night Owl's 1980s countdown. I immediately went and rectified that, so thanks for that as well!

Fuji said...

johnny's trading spot - she sure is

matt - yeah... you can actually make out her name from her signature

sumomenkoman - i think this past week broke the streak. i think.

peter k. steinberg - this past week i was so busy at work, i didn't have time to focus on the news. i think that was a good thing

gregory - i hadn't heard of that play until the guy on the radio mentioned it. love lasorda's enthusiasm

acrackedbat - ooh. enchiritos. i wonder if they still make these. i tried to order a beef meximelt and they don't have them anymore

cincicuse bill - that perez card popped up a lot on blogs that week

gcrl - glad i'm not alone in regards to the managers. maybe i'll try to force myself to at least memorize the entire al west and nl west.

shoeboxlegends - night owl's countdown has been awesome. it's opened my eyes to a few cards i never would have even considered or knew of.