1992 ProSport Peanuts Classics Series 2

As part of a "non-sport" purchase, I received this pack of cards.  At first, I thought it was a general Peanuts card set.  The more I looked at the wrapper I thought this might be worth checking out as a baseball-related item.  Randomly inserted in packs was a "Stan Musial Hologram Card."  I opened the pack immediately.

Inside, there are 10 baseball-themed Peanuts cards.  The front of each card sports either a gold or silver border and a comic frame from one of Schulz's strips.  I thought that was a pretty cool thing to do to cards in and of itself.  But, when I turned the card over:

I saw that ProSport had printed the entire strip on the back!  Not only do you get the frame on the front, but the context of the frame within the whole strip as well!  What a great idea!

Of course, I did not pull the Musial hologram, but reading through the 10 comic cards was a thrill anyway.  Aside from Bazooka Joe, I hadn't seen cards with comics on them like this.

This is a cross-blog post. Related articles appear on the following blogs:

A Pack To Be Named Later
A Pack A Day
Things Done To Cards

1887-1888 Scrapps Die Cuts

Issued directly after the 1887 season, this 18 card set features 9 players each from the American Association's St. Louis Browns (the modern day Cardinals) and the National League's Detroit Wolverines (a team that disbanded in 1888). These two teams met in the World Series in 1887.

The Wolverines beat the Browns 10 games to 5. The Wolverines won the series on October 21st, but since the games were already sold, the teams played the remaining four games.

St. Louis Browns
1 Doc Bushong
2 Bob Caruthers
3 Charles Comiskey
4 Dave Foutz
5 Bill Gleason
6 Arlie Latham
7 Tip O'Neill
8 Yank Robinson
9 Curt Welch

Detroit Wolverines
10 C. W. Bennett
11 Dan Brouthers
12 Fred Dunlap
13 Charlie Getzen sic (should be Getzien)
14 Ned Hanlon
15 Hardie Richardson
16 Jack Rowe
17 Sam Thompson
18 Deacon White

While there are Hall of Fame players in the set (Dan Brouthers, Sam Thompson and Ned Hanlon), the most valuable and most sought out is the Charles Comiskey. 19th century cards are usually riddled with errors and this set is no exception. Charlie Getzien's name is misspelled.

These die cut cards were popular in its day and were prime candidates to be glued into albums. It's extremely rare to run across examples of these cards today that haven't spent some time glued into an album.

What have we learned from these cards? Despite what revisionists would have you believe the World Series and die-cut cards are not inventions of the twentieth century. They've both been here all along.

1991 UD Comic Cards 2

Let us delve into a pack of cards I received as part of a "Non-Sport" purchase.

Taz gives Reggie a high-five.  Each card features a title ("Seventh Inning Stretch" here), the Looney Tunes and UD logos and some kind of picture.  Sometimes, the pictures are of actual people.  Other times, well, it's just looney.

Every card ties the Looney Tunes cast into a baseball-related scenario.  The backs of the cards feature trivia questions with answers.  What was the name of the LAST Bugs Bunny cartoon to be released in theaters?  No, really, without Google.  Go ahead.  Okay, fine, it was in 1964 and it was "False Hare." Happy now?

I'm not sure if you put the cards in order they would tell a story. Judging by the dialogue, I would have to guess yes.  Judging by the talking bubles, I'd have to say the writers are probably out of work these days.  Well, most folks are out of work at UD these days.

This appears to be the title card.  Reggie and Nolan are smiling all the way to the bank.  Though, I'm not sure just how many of these packs were actually sold.  You can see the "photoshop" technique employed with multiple layers, masking, and more.

Do you see that!? Dupes. In a single pack, I get dupes.  Yeesh.

"So, Nolan, you're one of the greatest pitchers ever, right?  Well, we'd like to take some pictures of you pretending to talk to Bugs Bunny.  Yes, I said Bugs Bunny. Hello?  Hello, Mr. Ryan?"

*This post appears in a three-way cross-posting between "APAD," "A Pack To Be Named Later," and "Things Done to Cards."

Cards Under Glass

What you see above was a Christmas gift from my well-intentioned Mother-in-Law.  Now, before we get started, let me say that she did *NOT* make this.  She simply bought it at a local "Trade Days" expo they held before Christmas.  With that out of the way, let's get cracking.  The person who put this together snagged 16 Topps 1990 cards and put them in a picture frame.  My mother-in-law bought it because it had an Indians player in the mix, which was very thoughtful of her.  What was *not* thoughtful was the doof that attached the cards in place:

Yes, I took the frame apart to see how the cards were attached.  With a little prying, the crime had become blatently obvious - it was.... soap... poisoning... Er, I mean, it was GLUE!  Is that the biggest crime here? That is dependent upon your point of view.  The fact that these are 1990 Topps and not 1968 is a good sign.  The fact they aren't serially numbered, game-used items is also a nice touch.  The fact that I don't know several of the players on the board is where I get mixed feelings.  On one hand, it would be nice to have a display of well-known players of the time.  On the other, if they were well-known, would we want them glued to the cardboard insert that came with the frame?  That's a toughie.  Feel free to chime in.

I thanked my mother-in-law profusely for the frame and assured her it was better she bought it for me to appreciate than to wind up in the trash bin where it was probably headed (though, I am sure I put that much more delicately).  Besides, when you live next door to your mother-in-law and on your in-law's land, it's always better to choose your battles carefully.  Baseball cards glued into a picture frame is not one of those times.

For those interested, the cards are:  Walt Terrell (Yankees), Lance McCullers (Yankees), Ray Searage (Dodgers), Joe Price (Red Sox), Ron Darling (Mets), Charlie Hough (Rangers), Jim Deshaies (Astros), Pete Smith (Braves), Richard Dotson (White Sox), Jamie Moyer (Rangers), Brook Jacoby (Indians), John Cerutti (Blue Jays), Scott Garrelts (Giants), Gregg Jefferies (Mets), Stan Belinda (Pirates), and Randy Kramer (Pirates).  Oh, and I taped Terrell back into place after the picture.  I didn't have any glue handy.

2010 Topps Commemorative Patches

Depending on what school of thought you subscribe to, these commemorative patches are the best thing since sliced bread, the worst thing since Hitler or so completely indifferent that you are barely aware of their existence.

Me? I'm pretty indifferent to them. I think the idea behind them is pretty cool. A specially manufactured patch commemorative a certain event, embedded into a baseball card with a small picture of someone from that specific event who did something cool. The idea is pretty solid.

The reality of these patches is that you will more than likely pay a premium on the secondary market for something that wasn't from the era of the specific event. That's not so hot.

For instance, this commemorative patch card sold for as much as the blaster that it was found in cost. What's so special about a patch recently made to commemorate an event? There are patches commemorating an event featuring the likes of Ryan Zimmerman and Mark Teixeira, but I'll bet that they won't pay for the price of the blaster.

Is it because Lou Gehrig's picture is on the card? Is it because the card features a Hall of Fame Yankees player? Is it because the subject on the card is from a vintage era? For some reason, I don't imagine Robin Roberts commemorative patch going for nearly as much unless a few die-hard Phillies fans get into a bidding war.

If a 1937 World Series era patch was featured in this card, I could see this selling for an astronomical price. Alas, the patch is most likely vintage 2009.

Maybe someday, I will understand the allure of manufactured patch cards. Sure, the one I have in my collection is pretty cool. It's a Carlton Fisk manufactured patch card featuring a silhouette of the "wave" from the 1975 World Series. Part of what makes the Fisk card so cool was the low price that accompanied the card. $5.00.

1967 Topps Poster #15, Hank Aaron

Despite their choice of questionable photography in some sets, Topps could take a good picture when they needed to. 1964's set of "giants" gave a great first look at oversized, color prints on card stock (set gallery here) and they soon followed with a series of poster inserts featuring individual players (1967, 1968) and full teams (1969).

Hank Aaron had a comparative off year in 1966, the first in Atlanta after moving with the Braves from Milwaukee. Of course, he still led the league with 44 homers and 127 RBIs, but with "only" a .279 batting average. Gap power (and average) returned in 1967 and stayed high throughout his 30s (career stats here).

Card front (unfolded, 5" x 7")

The Hammer's bat handle proudly bears #44 and would never put up with the Billy Ripken treatment.

Card back (folded, 2.5" x 3.5")

Somewhere in the middle of the year, Topps added a poster to card packs as a promotional insert. Only proof versions come without folds, and are thus exceedingly rare. The set includes some great pictures of and legendary players (set gallery here), but individual "cards" don't cost much. As I write this, HOF singles are on eBay for Buy-It-Now prices under $5.

Cards as therapy

We are a few, short days away from the postseason, my friends. And you know what that means to fans who have a team still playing, don't you?

Angst. Frustration. Hopelessness. Feelings of anger, powerlessness, despair.

For fans of one lucky team, the postseason ends in elation -- a world championship. But for the rest, disappointment is the ultimate destination.

I'm no psychologist, so I can't explain the motivation behind half the things I do, but when I am frustrated during my team's postseason run, I tend to avoid taking it out on my own team -- those are my guys out there, you know. Instead, I take it out on the opposing team.

Often times, that's an easy task. It's easy for me to find something to dislike in the Yankees or Giants or Mets or Diamondbacks. Other times, it's a little more difficult, like with the Dodgers' upcoming postseason opponent, the Cardinals. (But, trust me, I'll find something to dislike. Probably something related to Brendan Ryan's socks).

You may have noticed how I took out my frustration when the Dodgers played the Rockies in a season-ending series to determine who won the National League West. I'm not a fan of the Rockies for a variety of reasons, and I couldn't bear to see them win the NL West. I wish I could be a gracious loser, but I'm not. However, I didn't throw things (that much) or get too loud. Instead, I took it out on my cards.

After the Rockies' win on Friday night, cutting the Dodgers' lead to one game, I washed this 2009 Topps Brad Hawpe card with the rest of the dirty dishes. I don't have a dishwasher, because my kitchen is too small. So I washed the dishes by hand, using the card to help with the daily ritual. As you can, see, it wasn't exactly up to the task. Kind of fell apart on the job.

For Saturday's game, I sort of mowed over a Todd Helton card:

The Dodgers actually won Saturday's game, so there was no reason for me to do this. For an explanation, you can click on my blog. Oops, sorry, Todd.

But the whole purpose of this -- besides having a blog post -- was therapeutic. Slowly reviewing the Dodgers' loss in my mind while I washed silverware with a baseball card, actually helped calm me down a bit. And nothing got damaged, except for a dupe of a base card.

(I absolutely recommend using only doubles for postseason therapy. Don't do anything you might regret).

I don't anticipate doing this again this postseason, unless the Dodgers face the Rockies again, or possibly the Yankees. I have a whole stack of Mickey Mantle home run cards backed up for that purpose.

But I have to say, this is a lot better than punching a hole in the wall, or putting a pile of money down on a shrink to tell him that Manny can't hit a fastball anymore.