The Inside the Park Home Run

Card blogs rule.  They've been a big part of my life for eighteen-plus years.  I'm constantly learning about new cards and discovering interesting sports trivia from people around the world who share a common interest.

Last month, Greg over at Night Owl Cards wrote a post about the 1980 Burger King Pitch, Hit & Run set which was the inspiration for this post.  He showed off the back Willie Wilson's card which happened to mention his five inside-the-park home runs in 1979.  That blew my mind and led me down this road of research into inside-the-park home run trivia.  If you're interested in this topic, my two primary resources were Baseball Almanac and Wikipedia.

Here are five facts that stood out to me...

1956 Topps #33

On July 25th, 1956 Roberto Clemente hit the only walk off inside-the-park grand slam in MLB history.

1975 Cramer Circle K Phoenix Giants #12

On September 2nd, 1975 Johnnie LeMaster hit an inside-the-park home run in his first MLB at-bat.  What's kinda cool is that he'd only hit 21 more home runs during his MLB career that spanned 12 seasons and consisted of over 3,000 at-bats.

1986 Topps #162

On October 4th, 1986 Greg Gagne hit two inside-the-park home runs in a single MLB game.  It's the last time anyone has accomplished that feat.

1992 Leaf Gold #435

On May 8th, 1992 Butch Henry hits the first and only home run of his MLB career.  It's the last time a pitcher hit an inside-the-park home run in a MLB game.

2007 Topps Update #UH222

On July 10th, 2007 Ichiro Suzuki hits the only inside-the-park home run in MLB All-Star Game history.  

It's the first and last inside-the-park home run of his career.  I was kind of surprised that Ichiro didn't hit more.  The same thing goes for Rickey Henderson.  Did you know he only hit one inside-the-park home run during his 25 seasons in the MLB?

1980 Topps #482

It happened on July 6th, 1980 in his sophomore season.  

Thanks Greg!  Not sure I ever would have spent so much time looking into inside-the-park home runs had I not learned read the back of Willie's card, but I'm glad I did.

I was also happy that I purchased the 1975 Cramer Circle K Phoenix Giants team set (for the Johnnie LeMaster), because it contains a card of Mike Cramer (founder of Pacific cards):

1975 Cramer Circle K Phoenix Giants #26

Speaking of LeMaster, I also discovered on When Topps Had Balls that he wrapped up his career in Oakland with the A's.  Thank you Gio!

That's why card blogs rule.  They continue to teach me interesting facts about sports and our hobby.

I'll wrap things up with today's question of the day:

Do you have any favorite inside-the-park home run trivia?

Do you ever purchase a card or cards to fit a post you are writing?

I look forward to reading and responding to your comments down below.

Until then...

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Enjoying My Free Time

A few weeks ago, I received a warning from a fellow blogger in my comment section...

The message was simple.  I was going to need "a lot" more free time soon.  The reason?  John over at Johnny's Trading Spot had just sent me two packages.

One was a large padded envelope and the other was a small flat rate box.  The contents were ten team bags filled with goodies.  The sorting process took me a little under an hour, but scanning the singles took another hour.  That's two hours of solid entertainment on a Sunday afternoon.

In an effort to keep things timely, I'm going to follow in John's footsteps, keep the writing to a minimum, and let the scans do the talking.  Here we go...

2025 Topps 1990 Baseball #T90-46

2025 Topps 1990 Baseball #T90-40

2025 Topps 1990 Baseball #T90-36

Unlike last year, I have barely touched any 2025 Topps baseball.  I think I opened up one jumbo hobby pack earlier in the season, but that's about it.  I'm very excited to add new cards of three of my favorite players.

Here's one more of #19...

2025 Topps Call to the Hall #CTH-21

Not the most creative or attractive insert, but it's a new Gwynn for my collection.  Here's another favorite...

2004 Bowman DP&P Gold #BDP39

Two Kurt Suzuki sightings in three days.  Life is good.

Let's show off three more Athletics...

1991 Topps Magazine #TM59

2025 Topps Chrome Refractor #45

2025 Topps All-Star Game #4

Johnny has been showing off a ton of magazine cards lately on his blog.  Here's the first one of this post, but not the last.

Let's show off some new additions to my Japanese PC:

2007 Finest Rookie Finest Moments Blue Refractor #RFM-KJ

2015 Topps Update #US335

Not sure if it's coming across in the scan, but the Johjima is stunningly beautiful.  As for the Aoki, I discovered it was a photo variation when I was adding it to my binder.  Nice angle of Citi Field in the background.

2024 Topps Trading Card Day #NTCD-B14

These days, any Ohtani sent to me will get scanned.  Can't stand the Dodgers, but I can't root against this guy.

2021 Topps Chrome NPB #90

The same applies to Mr. Yamamoto.  Outside of one rough outing against the Phillies, this guy has been a stud in the playoffs this season.

One more Japanese athlete, but let's switch genders... 

1992 Legends #42

As a teacher, I try not to name favorites.  But this magazine card of my celebrity crush is the exception to the rule.

Here are the final two baseball card scans...

2006 Upper Deck Collect the Mascots #MLB-1

2006 Upper Deck Collect the Mascots #MLB-2

John knows that I'm a big fan of mascots.  In 2006 Upper Deck created a three card set which was also an interactive contest for kids.  I'm now on the hunt for the final card:  Mr. Met.

Okay, five more cards.  Two feature athletes I collect:

2019 Prizm Red, White, & Blue Prizm #258

Wilson is past his prime and now riding the bench in New York, but I'll always appreciate what he accomplished in Seattle. 

2021 UD Goodwin Champions #61

Just like Ohtani... any card of MJ is scan worthy.

Last, but not least are the non-sports cards...

1972 Donruss Choppers and Hot Bikes #48

I'm not sure why John sent me this card, but I love it.  This chopper reminds me of the Hot Wheels I used to play with when I was a kid.  Speaking of childhood toys, here are a pair of Lego cards:

2000 Lego Mini Heroes Collection #1

2000 Lego Mini Heroes Collection #3

Not familiar with them, but they'll be added to the Japan non-sports binder.

That wraps up the two care packages from John over at Johnny's Trading Spot.  Sorry it took me so long to open them up and sort them, but this was the first weekend in as long as I can remember where I had some "free time".

Happy Monday and sayonara!

Quality Customs (& Customer Service)

A few weeks ago, Gavin over at Baseball Card Breakdown showed off some cards he purchased from a fellow custom card creator and retired blogger:  Mark @ Stats on the Back.

The stuff he showed off was super impressive, so I visited Mark's online store and added a bunch of items to my cart.  Gavin had mentioned that he used a promotional code and received free shipping, but when I tried it... it didn't work.

No biggie.  When you want something bad enough, you're willing to pay for shipping.

The first item I added to my cart was this set of Beastie Boys cards:

When it comes to any Beastie Boys trading cards, I'm typically willing to open up my wallet as long as the item is reasonably priced.  This was definitely the big ticket item in my order, so $8 for this trio of customs was a no-brainer.

The rest of my order were singles picked out of his awesome dollar bins:

He has dollar bins for decades running from the 50's through the 80's, along with a special section of current stars.

I was very excited to see his interpretation of my all-time favorite baseball card:

I also picked up a few other cards for one of my friends and another card for myself that I'll share over the holidays.

But before I close out this post, I want to show off some generous bonus items that Mark included in the order.

First off, he included these two awesome cards:

One of my favorite cards in the 2009 Goodwin Champions set is the Ichiro Suzuki card.  The card on the left is Mark's version of this card.  The other card is so iconic... it needs no explanation.

If these two freebies weren't enough, he also refunded me the seven dollars I paid for shipping.  This was a surprise and a very kind gesture.  It's customer service like this that makes me want to head back over and place another order.

If you're interested in supporting Mark and purchasing some of his custom cards, click here.  I'm not sure if there's an expiration date, but if you spend $10 or more, feel free to try and use his FREE10 code to receive free shipping.

Well that wraps up today's post.  I just received my COMC order, another custom card purchase, and a pair of blogger care packages, so I've got lots of material for future posts.  Now I just need a little more free time.

Until then...

Happy Wednesday and sayonara!

Back to School

When I was a kid, I always had mixed emotions about going back to school.  Sure part of me was excited to see what friends I had in my classes... and whether or not I got the teacher(s) I wanted.  But there was also the fact that summer break, sleeping in, chilling out in the neighborhood, cruising around on bikes and skateboards, and staying up late were all coming to an end.

The same thing still applies to me as an adult.  Only now I'm checking to see how large my classes are and which prep period my friends have at work.  And although I'm no long chilling out in the neighborhood or cruising around on bikes and skateboards, I still enjoy sleeping in and staying up a little later than usual.

That's all over though, because the Summer Break of 2025 is officially coming to an end.  This Thursday I officially report back for my 28th year in my current district.  But I've actually been going in the past two weeks and working in my classroom.

Not sure if I've ever done this, but here's a peek at some before and after shots:

Every summer, the custodians clean the carpets and wax the floors... so we come back with a clean slate.

All of the student desks are up on the counters and we take them down and set them up.  This is usually when I tweak my back.

But I'm happy to report... no injuries this year.

One of the biggest projects every year is taking all of my toys and collectibles out of storage and creating my display.  This is a collection of items I have accumulated over the years.  Some of the stuff are things I bought... while others are gifts I have received from students, parents, fellow teachers, and others.

Here's a peek at my collection of sealed collectibles:

Luckily my principal doesn't make me take these down every year.  In fact, I don't think I've messed with these in six to eight years.

Anyways, there were three things I wanted to accomplish with this post.  First... I wanted to honor a few people who passed away recently.  Although none of these gentleman were personal favorites, they each played a role in my childhood.

Ozzy Osbourne

1985 AGI Rock Star #2

(December 3, 1948 to July 22, 2025)

It's hard to say what stands out the most about Ozzy.  The story about the "bat" or his MTV show.  Both immediately come to mind when I think of him.  Wasn't the biggest fan of his music when I was little, but I learned to appreciate his stuff from the 70's with Black Sabbath in high school and college.

Hulk Hogan

1987 Topps WWF #3

(August 11, 1953 to July 24, 2025)

There was a time when WWF was more important to me than the MLB.  It was right around 8th or 9th grade... and if it was on... I'd do whatever I could to watch it.  Hogan played a big part of my fanfare.  Today he would have celebrated his 72nd birthday.  Happy birthday Hulk!

Ryne Sandberg

1983 Topps #282

(September 18, 1959 to July 28, 2025)

As a Gwynn fan, Sandberg was always one of the other two big rookies in the 1983 baseball sets.  Their names along with Boggs always seem to go together when you discuss that awesome rookie card class.

Rest in peace Ozzy, Hulk, and Ryno.

Next up... I wanted to honor the Cooperstown Class of 2025:

Dick Allen

1966 Topps #80

Dave Parker

1982 Donruss #95

Billy Wagner

1997 Topps Gallery #178

CC Sabathia

2017 Topps NYY Factory Team Set #NYY-10

Ichiro Suzuki

2023 Stadium Club Red Foil #72

Congratulations Dick, Dave, Billy, CC, and Ichiro!

And finally... I wanted to show off the final care package of the summer.  The same day I receive'd Matt's PWE, I also received a flat rate box from John over at Johnny's Trading Spot.

He filled it up with a bunch of stuff, so let's dive in and check it out.  Let's start with a huge stack of Ichiro cards (including the Stadium Club card above):

In addition to the the sixty to seventy cards in this photo, he also sent me these nine:

Plus there were these three cards from a Topps On Demand Ichiro set:

2019 Topps On Demand Ichiro Legacy #16

2019 Topps On Demand Ichiro Legacy #19

2019 Topps On Demand Ichiro Legacy #20

A large percentage of the box were new additions to my Japanese Athlete PC.  Here are a few of the highlights...

2008 SP Legendary Cuts Destination Stardom Memorabilia #DS-AI

2024 Topps Now Off-Season #OS-13

2025 Topps Stars of Japan #SOJ-6

Saw this cherry blossom decorated insert a few weeks ago over on Cards As I See Them.

Very happy to add five to my binder.  I'm debating on picking up a few more over on COMC before I request shipment later in the week.

2021 Donruss Optic Signature Series #SS-JY

2023 Topps Allen & Ginter Framed Autographs #MA-FS

And here are a few other Japanese athletes who don't play baseball...

John also sent me a stack of Mr. October...

Here are a closer look at nine of them...

He also sent me a a few other A's for my collection...

In addition to baseball cards, he also sent me some MJ's...

1994 Action Packed Minors #23

This card stood out, because I liked how Action Packed kept it real in their scouting report.  

The second half of his care package were a ton of Wacky Packages.  Let's start with two vintage tan backs:

1973 Topps Wacky Packages 4th Series Brute 88

1974 Topps Wacky Packages 9th Series Windstun

He also tossed in a nice starter set...

2008 Topps Wacky Packages Flashback Series 2 Starter Set

Within the starter set was a complete puzzle:

2008 Topps Wacky Packages Flashback Series 2 Quacker Oats Puzzle Backs

I pulled out a few of my favorites:

2008 Topps Wacky Packages Flashback Series 2 Favorites

And rounding things out are some album stickers from the mid 80's:

1986 Wacky Packages Album Stickers

These are smaller than your standard size cards.  Here's a size comparison with the album sticker on the left and a standard Wacky Packages card on the right:

1986 Wacky Packages Album Stickers Size Comparison

Thank you John for another generous care package!  I had a lot of fun going through and organizing the stacks of Ichiro, Reggie, and Wacky Packages.  It was a fantastic way to wrap up my summer.

I hope all of you had a great summer.  After a reasonably mild summer in regards to weather, things are starting to heat up around here.  I might be ready for the students, but I'm not ready for triple digit temperatures.

Happy Monday and sayonara!