Pursuit of Browns

No, I'm not starting a football collection and I wouldn't normally display these here, but Joe, over at The Priceless Pursuit, was disposing of his football card collection and offered them to anyone who asked. I do have a few Browns and Cavs cards laying around so I told him I would take some Browns. This is what he sent :

A pair of Antonio Langham 1994 SP Premier Prospects, base and die-cut.

1995 Classic Pro Line Carl Banks and 1994 Classic Draft Derrick Alexander in his Michigan gear. BOOO !!

1994 Topps Stadium Club Ozzie Newsome Dynasty Destiny insert and 1987 Topps Bernie Kosar.

Finally another pair of Antonio Langhams except one of them was actually (David, if you're reading I know you'll love this !) a Pittsburgh (BOO !! Again) " Staler" card of Charles Johnson.

Joe had to get his little "dig" in !

That was FUN. I don't really follow the Browns a lot so it really doesn't bother me much.

Well, thanks Joe for your generosity. I'll definitely keep the one with the note. The others will probably be offered to my sons.

The Newest HOF'ers

Congratulations to the to the newest members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame !

Tribe Autographica

Autographs are always fun. I remember standing in a lot of lines with my sons and sometimes my wife who would graciously wait with us to get an extra one. The extra one was never to sell. Just an extra, maybe for a friend or for my collection. I hate it when people line up with items and you know they have no interest in the player or the autograph.They just want to resell it for profit. That makes it hard on us true fans sometimes. Anyway, the following are some of the auto's I have in my collection.

These plastic picture frames are great for displaying sports cards.

This 3-way holds Enrique Wilson, Casey Whiten and John Farrell as a Rated Rookie.

Enrique and Casey were pack pulls while John made an appearance at the Christmas Connection Show in Cleveland a few years ago.You could buy the cards there and he signed them for free.I bought three explaining that two were for my sons who weren't with us.I don't think he believed me as he made me tell him my name and the boys' names. Then he personalized each card,which was fine.

Aahh, the perfect game ! At least 100,000 people claim to have been there but even Municipal Stadium wasn't that big !

The one current Indian, Johnny Peralta, was doing a mall signing.The live auto is just a teeny bit different than Bowman's.

Einar Diaz was also a mall sign but the marker didn't like the shiny card too much.

A Jimmy Poole Leaf pack pull, which says San Francisco Giants on the side, but he is in a Tribe uniform.

This is a glossy 8x10 mall signing of Danny Graves.

Super Joe. 1980 ROY.

I had this 8x10 of Joe signed here....

at a Cleveland Tri -Star show. I saved the flyer I received in the mail and keep it with my Super Joe binder.

These two are a little fuzzy. Sorry. This is what Thome's auto looked like in 1993.
I worked at a Chrysler Dodge Jeep dealer in Shelby,Ohio where Jim purchased a new Jeep Cherokee. When he came to pick it up my wife brought our sons down to the store and he signed these McDonald's Kid Club cards for us.We had just been at a game a couple weeks earlier and saw Jim hit a home run !

This is another configuration of the plastic stand-up frames. This frame holds these....

Rapid Robert in his younger days ! He used to do a lot of mall signings and drug store promotions.

Another early, baseball card sized, sepia photo.

And finally a Topps HOF insert.

This was a Sporting News insert I had Mr. Feller sign.

And last, but not least, of Bob Feller's auto's is this program that has a very special meaning to me.This is from 1949 so the Tribe was the reining World's Series Champion. My Father had this program but I never knew about it until he passed away. I discovered in a dresser drawer in the basement of my parent's home when my Mother finally moved out. Bob signed it for me at a mall.

Autographs can be obtained on almost any type of object you can think of. I've shown cards, photos and books. You can also use bats, gloves, shirts and many other items. For my last item today I'm showing off a salsa jar !

Omar Veeeeskel !

While Omar played in Cleveland he had his own line of salsa. The mild variety I had was very good! He was doing a signing at Great Northern Mall in North Olmsted ,Ohio. I carried this jar around like it was my third child ! I was terrified I would drop it before I got to Omar (or even after) but we all made it home safely. Now I just need to get Pronk to sign his Big League Beef Jerky package and candy bar wrapper.

Cards and Wrappers

I received a package today from Jeremy over at "no one's going to read this blog ". Obviously, at least I do !

This is Jeremy's business card which he included.
It is very unique in it's size, measuring 2 3/4" x 1 1/8".

A nice touch to the package.

The cards start with Pronk and Jake Westbrook.At least they're not on the hit list yet.

Then a couple oldies but goodies from '89 Topps.

And last but not least, some 2006 Topps Updates.

Updates update : none are still with the Tribe !! I did need a couple of these for my collection however.

Now, a nice mixture of wrappers. All hobby versions except for the Turkey Red.Those are what I need most. With no card shops in the area I have to rely on shows to get them. I also watch for other variations such as the number of cards per pack and the material the wrapper is made from. Like the shiny silver and white versions from Walmart and Target.

Jeremy also included some football wrappers.While I don't collect these specifically, I do have a few football and basketball cards and wrappers I have picked up over the years.These will go safely in with the others !

Thank you very much Jeremy ! You should be getting a package soon.

I really have to get a checklist started of the wrappers I have as I continue to make posts on them.

Amby McConnell, Heinie Wagner and Jake Stahl

These three Boston Red Sox players were all involved in a history making play 100 years ago today.So why is this news on a Cleveland Indian based blog ? Oh yeah, this guy was there too.

Neal Ball of the Cleveland Naps. The first unassisted triple play in baseball history.

These photos are from today's Plain Dealer and can be seen here : Triple Play.

This feat has been performed 14 times since 1876. The Tribe has been involved in 6 of them. Three up and three down.

7/19/1909
Cleveland Naps Neal Ball SS vs Boston Red Sox

10/10/1920
Cleveland Indians Bill Wambsganss 2B vs Brooklyn Dodgers ( Game 5 1920 World Series )

9/14/1923
Boston Red Sox George Burns 1B vs Cleveland Indians

10/6/1923
Boston Braves Ernie Padgett SS vs Philadelphia Phillies

5/7/1925
Pittsburgh Pirates Glenn Wright SS vs St. Louis Cardinals

5/30/1927
Chicago Cubs Jimmy Cooney SS vs Pittsburgh Pirates

5/31/1927
Detroit Tigers Johnny Neun 1B vs Cleveland Indians

7/30/1968
Washington Senators Ron Hansen SS vs Cleveland Indians

9/20/1992
Philadelphia Phillies Mickey Morandini 2B vs Pittsburgh Pirates

7/8/1994
Boston Red Sox John Valentin SS vs Seattle Mariners

5/29/2000
Oakland Athletics Randy Velarde 2B vs New York Yankees

8/10/2003
Atlanta Braves Rafael Furcal SS vs St. Louis Cardinals

4/29/2007
Colorado Rockies Troy Tulowitzki SS vs Atlanta Braves

5/12/2008
Cleveland Indians Asdrubal Cabrera 2B vs Toronto Blue Jays

Derby was a dog but the game rocked !

I thought the Home Run Derby was boring and took way to long.I like the old TV show in the 60's. A home plate umpire called strikes and balls. A pitch in the strike zone was an out if the batter didn't swing.Some of those guys just wait too long for the "perfect' pitch and still don't hit very well.Don't get wrong,I'm sure it's no easy task to hit a baseball 350-450 feet pitch after pitch and I don't expect every hitter to put on a show like Josh Hamilton last year.Or like Sosa and "Big Mac" in the steroid era.(But you have to admit that was exciting !). It's like there's too much hype before the derby and then everyone has to sit around for 2 1/2 hours.I think the whole extravaganza needs a revamping.

I did enjoy the game and not just because the American league won.There were some exciting plays and some others you may not have expected to see in an All-Star game.It's not like a regular season game and sometimes can't be played in the conventional manner.I know there are a lot of different views on the game and everyone has there own idea of how it should be done.Player selection, game strategy and importance of the game are all very controversial subjects right now.I really don't think everyone will be happy no matter what kind of changes might be put into place.The whole game of baseball has changed and will continue to do so, just as the whole world and our own lives do.There are always "old school" people who think the game should be played just like it was 50 years ago, and younger groups who cry for more modern changes to bring it into the 21st century.I'm middle of the road myself.I have nothing against the current commissioner, but I think there should be limit on the term.I think we need a poll of fans, players, managers, owners and sports writers/announcers to answer some questions and clear up a few things.

What is the purpose of the All-Star game ?

Is it to showcase the best current players of the game?

Is it for the fans so we can see our favorite players?

Who should vote on the players?

Should there be a specific purpose for the game or just an exhibition and
break for the players? (of course, if you're playing, it's not really a break)

Baseball,as all professional sports,aren't really just games any more.They're businesses, and technically have been since 1869 when the Cincinnati team was first paid.But in today's world it's more serious than ever so the sport is bound to change accordingly.

At my age, I'm not getting too upset or excited about the whole thing.I just like to watch baseball !!

That's a Wrap (per) 1981

There it is. That unopened pack of cards.Just lying there on the car seat or maybe tucked away in a pocket.You know there could be an incredible game -used or autographed card inside . You hear it calling ! Can you wait until you get home ? Maybe , maybe not. When you have an unopened pack of cards do you just want to rip it open any way you can to see what kind of treasures are inside ? Sure , we all want to know what's inside , but I always try to be as careful as I can to only break open the seams without tearing the wrapper itself. The reason being that I also have a wrapper collection. To me the wrappers represent a kind of history of their own. They show the changes in materials , the changes of the advertising styles and sometimes the changes in pricing. Some of the older wrappers are also very collectible and bring good prices on the auction web sites.A lot of old cards got saved but not many wrappers.

I store my wrappers in regular binders using various sizes and configurations of pages.

The oldest wrappers I have are from 1981 so I'll start there.

1981 Fleer Baseball - Premier Edition

Wax pack with 17 cards plus a stick of gum.

The year Fleer came back to baseball with a 660 card set.

Unlike traditional collectors, I fold the wrappers so they are about their original size.

Purists unfold them completely and lay them out flat,but that takes too much room for me.

This wrapper offers a 3" photo button of your favorite star for only $1.00 and that includes s&h !

1981 Topps Baseball Scratch-Off

Wax Pack with 18 cards and 1 stick of gum.

The cards came in panels of three with perforations for separation.

There were 3 sheets for the American League and 3 for the National.

144 different panel combinations were possible for the 108 different player cards.

The back of the wrapper advertises Bazooka Bubble Gum, the " juicest and bubbleblowingest around".

The top card has the instructions for playing a baseball game by scratching off the circles on the front one at a time. The circles reveal a single, double, triple, home run, ground out, strike out or fly out. The middle card has a score card section to keep track of your runs.The bottom card is reserved for more offers to get the rest of your money. In this case, a vinyl sports card locker to store 1350 cards. Only $5.75 +$.75 handling.

1981 Topps Giant Photo Cards

A wax pack conceals 1 - 5x7 glossy, color photo card.

10 different teams were represented with a total of 102 cards.

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Red Sox

Angels

Reds

Astros

Dodgers

Mets

Yankees

Phillies

Rangers

White Sox

The back of the wrapper has offers to purchase team sets @ 5.00 per set.

The card backs are pretty straight forward with player name, team name, position and team checklist at the bottom.

Not too good to be true !

We have all read stories about the generosity of the the blogger community. This one is no different. This is one of the prime examples.

A couple weeks ago I ran across a blog I wasn't familiar with , Waxpackrelapse , and decided to check it out. Tigre had some 2009 SP Legendary Cuts posted, including the Grady Sizemore jersey shown below. I immediately left a comment wondering if was available. When he said it was I checked his want list and found a couple Evan Longoria cards he needed. He was also looking for Casey Blake cards (which, being an Indian fan, I had plenty of ) and I found several he needed along with some cards for sets. I was more than willing to give those up for the Sizemore jersey and he agreed.He was also going to see what else he had in Tribe cards. Ok, I figured a few more Tribers may come with it. When his package came I was just shocked ! Below are the cards he sent. From here on out I'm just going to let the pictures do the talking.

Todd, I don't know how to thank you for these cards but you will be on my "free gift" list !!