It's a Sunshine Day

It's been over a month since I've written a 30 Day Baseball Card Challenge post.  I'll try to sit down and wrap up the final two challenges over the holiday break.

In the meantime, I'd though I'd share two other memorabilia cards I stumbled across while putting together my Day 28 (Favorite Relic/Manufactured Relic Card) post.

First up is this brightly colored card of The Wizard:

2001 UD Decade 1970's Game-Used Bat #B-OS

I've been a fan of this relic card design since I first laid eyes on them years ago.  The whole beaming sun rays coming from the supposedly game-used sliver of bat practically pops off the card.  I also love the color combination used for this set.  They sort of give off a Partridge Family/Brady Bunch vibe.

2008 Topps Factory Set Mantle Memorabilia #MMR60

I'm not really sure how this could have happened... but I actually forgot this card was sitting in my collection.  It's one of those cards that Topps includes on top of their factory sets.  A few years ago, I purchased the entire 2008 Topps set for $20 at a local card show.  Mantle has always been a big name in our hobby... and he was hands down the biggest name when I started off collecting in the 80's.  I don't really have a lot of his stuff and this is the only game-used memorabilia card featuring The Commerce Comet that I own.

There might be rarer and more expensive Mantle relic cards on the market, but as a fan of the 1960 Topps design... I'm more than content with owning this one.

Let's do something a little different with today's question of the day...

What's your favorite 70's television show?

For my readers who weren't alive during the 70's...

What's your favorite television show?

I probably could write a Saturday Night Five post on this question... but I'll go with Three's Company, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, and The Brady Bunch.  

Not sure if I'm ready to declare which one is my absolute favorite, but I'm leaning towards Marsha and company.

Have a Sunshine Day!  Happy Wednesday and sayonara!

The Generosity Box Project

I'm always amazed at the camaraderie among sports card bloggers.  Most of us have never met or even seen photos of each other, yet we're still willing to ship care packages all over the world.  Society could learn something from the acts of generosity I've witnessed among us over the years.

Last December, The Junior Junkie kicked off his Griffey Generosity Project which is a box of his extra Ken Griffey Jr. cards.  The goal was for Griffey collectors to help build each others' collections a few cards at a time.  Collectors who received the box could pull out as many cards as they wanted.  The price?  All TJ asked was for collectors to contribute some of their duplicates to the box.

Back in October, I received a huge white box from Corky over at Pack War.  Unfortunately between my sore back, reorganizing my collection, work, some light traveling, and life in general... I didn't get around to cracking the box open until yesterday.

I honestly thought it was a huge care package, but to my surprise it was The Griffey Generosity Box.

Over the years, I've collected a fair share of Griffeys including a bunch of inserts, most of his rookie cards, a handful of relics, and at least one autograph.  But I wouldn't necessarily call myself a Griffey collector.

However Corky specifically thought of me when he received the box, because he wanted me to have this:

2016 Topps Now #AS1

I've have yet to jump on the Topps Now bandwagon, but I gotta admit... this card is awesome!  It honors the 1992 All-Star Game MVP which was played in San Diego that season and their hometown hero and my favorite player.  This is only the second Topps Now card to be added to my collection.  Thank you Corky!

While the box was open, I figured I might as well see if there were any oddball issues I could add to my binder.  And there were:

1990 Toys R Us #13

I love the Toys R Us Rookies sets of the late 80's and early 90's.  I think it was really cool that Topps decided to use the same design every year, but change the border colors.  I've been wanting the Griffey from this series for awhile now and thanks to TJ's project... I have one.

I also grabbed this card:

1994 Super Nintendo #NNO

I've seen this card before... probably on TJ's blog... or maybe somewhere else.  Anyways... I was excited to have the opportunity to add it to my collection.  People who bought Ken Griffey Jr. Presents: Major League Baseball for the Super Nintendo received one of these.  I don't think it's exactly rare, but it's definitely a really cool oddball issue.

The last two cards I grabbed were a pair of Ken Griffey Jr. custom cards created by Gavin over a Baseball Card Breakdown:

1989 Upper Deck#7

1992 Topps #8

I'm a huge fan of custom cards... and Gavin produces some of the finest within our blogger community.  I just couldn't pass up the chance to grab these two.

Both of these Simpson mashups will join the Wade Boggs he gave me a while back in my Cool Cards binder.

There were a few other cards I considered grabbing, but I honestly don't have a lot of extra Griffeys laying around.  In fact, I was only able to scrape together nine inserts and parallels for the box.

The one card that I really, really, really wanted to take was this one of a kind sketch card created by Corky:

I love sketch cards, but ended up leaving it in the box for a true Griffey collector.  I did keep this sketch that Corky drew on the package:

Thank you TJ for starting this very cool project.  Thank you Corky for giving me the opportunity to add some new Griffeys to my collection.

Today's question...

Are there any bloggers out there who wants a shot at the Griffey Generosity Box?

I emailed TJ for suggestions, but if one of you out there is interested go ahead and leave me a comment and I'll reach out to you.

Happy Monday and sayonara!

Saturday Night Five: Hall of Very Good Members

1978 Topps Burger King #8 and #15

When the Modern Era committee elected Jack Morris and Alan Trammell into the National Baseball Hall of Fame last weekend, baseball enthusiasts around the country celebrated and rightfully so.

Both of their names have consistently been brought up in Hall of Fame debates over the past few years.

I was happy for both of these guys and their fans.  However there was a part of me that was bummed that Baseball's Hall of Very Good lost two of their prominent members.  So tonight, I thought I'd dig through my collection and choose five of my favorite Hall of Very Good members.

2001 Topps Gallery Autographs #GABB

1985 Topps/Renata Galasso #1

1995 Upper Deck Autographs #AC4

Now before I begin... I want to clarify that guys like Barry Bonds, Pete Rose, and Roger Clemens were excluded from this list, because they're being kept out of the Hall of Fame for reasons outside of player performance.

Tonight I'm just listing guys whose career numbers have been debated for years... and up until now... they've fallen short of Cooperstown.


#1:  Dave Parker

1976 Topps #185

The 1978 NL MVP is a two-time batting champion who hit .290 and 339 home runs over 19 seasons.  He was a 7x all-star, 3x Gold Glove Award winner, and a 3x Silver Slugger Award winner.  If that weren't enough... he had a cannon for an arm.

I've heard that Parker has been kept out of Cooperstown because of his struggles with cocaine.  Well... Raines got the nod.  Maybe one day The Cobra will too.


#2: Ted Simmons

Leaf Certified Autographed Baseball

I've gotta admit something.  I don't remember seeing Simmons play during his years in St. Louis, but I do remember him having a few good years in Milwaukee.

I also read a really good writeup about Simmons a while back and was blown away.  I couldn't understand why for years his name was buried among other semistars in our hobby.  He has a .285 career batting average, hit 248 home runs, and drove in 1,389 runs.  He was also an 8x all-star during his twenty-one year career.  That's pretty impressive.


#3:  Thurman Munson

1971 Topps #5

Okay.  The Walrus may not have the career numbers for Cooperstown, but this guy had one helluva career.  I'm gonna guess that there are plenty of baseball fans who feel that he was well on his way to punching his ticket had he not passed away at such a young age.

#4:  Steve Garvey

1985 O-Pee-Chee #177

1987 Topps #100

How many guys can say that they're a 10x NL all-star who won an MVP Award and four Gold Gloves?  I honestly have no idea, but I'm guessing that most are enshrined in Cooperstown.  I know of one guy who fits the description who isn't:  Garvey.

#5:  Tony Oliva

2004 Sweet Spot Signatures #63

A few years ago, I read an interesting article in Baseball Digest about Tony Oliva and his amazing rookie season.  By the time I was finished reading it, I was bummed that I never got a chance to actually see him play.  

He was an AL all-star from 1964 to 1971.  During that time he led the AL in hits five times, won three batting titles, and won the 1964 AL ROY Award.  Over the course of 15 seasons, he had a career .304 batting average and collected 1,917 hits.  That's definitely Hall of Very Good worthy.

Okay.  There's my list of my favorite players who had really good careers, but not quite "Cooperstown" good.

Who are some of your favorites?

And do you think any of my five will eventually get elected?

Only time will tell.  Until then, they're proud members of Baseball's Hall of Very Good.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Father of the Wave

It's Throwback Thursday... so I figured I'd go back to one of my happiest and most memorable periods of my life:  the early 80's.

The Oakland Athletics have been a part of my life since the mid 70's.  Although I don't remember any specific games, my brother started taking me to Candlestick Park and the Oakland Coliseum before I entered elementary school.

By the early 80's, I was a diehard Oakland A's fan and the five things that stand out from that era were:

#1:  Billy Martin

1982 Donruss #491

What ten year old kid doesn't enjoy seeing their favorite team's manager kicking dirt and screaming at the home plate umpire?


#2:  Rickey Henderson

1982 Topps #610

Before Gwynn... there was Rickey.


#3:  Kool and the Gang

1993 Collect-A-Card American Bandstand #99

The Oakland A's play Celebration after every home game victory.

It's a tradition that's lasted over thirty-five years.

#4:  BART

Each day hundreds of thousands of commuters ride Bay Area Rapid Transit every day.  I haven't taken it in years, but when I was a kid... I'd beg my brother to park in Fremont and ride BART to the Coliseum.

#5:  Krazy George

2017 Allen and Ginter Autographs #MA-KG

When I first heard about P-town Tom's contest, I immediately thought of this card, because it's hands down be my favorite card of 2017.

Krazy George was a fixture at Oakland A's games back in the early 80's.  Self-proclaimed Father of the Wave, he's still pounding his drum at San Jose Giants and San Jose Earthquakes games three decades later.  It's safe to say that he's a Bay Area legend and one of my favorite memories of attending A's games back in the day.  

You know the routine.  It's your time to shine...

What are your thoughts on Topps having super fans sign cards for their products?

Although I was pretty stoked to see Topps produce cards of Krazy George, I can totally see the other side of the coin.  If I didn't grow up watching him, I'd have no interest in owning his cards.

For example, I was totally scratching my head when I first saw this card earlier in the year:

2017 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autograph #BV

If I spent $100 on a box of Archives and I pulled this was one of my two guaranteed autographs, I would have been less than amused.  But I'm sure there are at least a few Yankees fans out there who view him as I view the Father of the Wave.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!