Sunday, July 24, 2011

Sunday Morning Funnies - How to remember your anniversary

My wife thought of me immediately when she read this !













Our wedding day.
May 31st, 1980

Cleveland beat Seattle 5-2

Dan Spillner pitched an 8 hit complete game with 9 K's and no BB.

Cliff Johnson and Ron Hassey both homered.








Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Yankees vs Indians - There's always fireworks !

The 4th of July in Cleveland !

The Yankees are in town.

They're going to wish they had stayed home !


The wind was blowing the big flag in from right center field.
This could be a pitcher's game.
We were sitting in the upper deck behind home plate and the wind was really swirling by us.Even the hungry birds were having trouble navigating.


The big flag comes out and we are getting ready to to rumble !



The Independence Day crowd was ready for a "W".


Josh Tomlin takes his warm-ups. This could be win #10.


Derek Jeter steps up to the plate with 2994 hits. He left the game with 2994 hits.

Tomlin no-hit the Bronx Bombers for 6 innings. Of course, we only had 1 hit. Then the wind died down. The 7th inning ended the no-no bid and gave the Yanks a 2-0 lead. The Tribe stormed back though, with some early fireworks, as Austin Kearns came to life with a 2 run blast to right. Carlos Santana added an insurance HR for a final score of 6-3 !!


The victory march, as the Tribe defeats the Yankees in the first game of this series.


As the bleachers were cleared, the crew started setting up for the fireworks display.



The was a 1/2 hour delay as they waited for the sun to go down ! I don't really know why the game was started at 6:30. Here we watched a post game interview with Kearns. He and Tomlin were the heroes today.


Next was a video review of Bob Feller's career with Cleveland.













There were many more scenes but they faded in and out and I couldn't really gets pictures of them all.

In the same fashion, there was a short history of Cleveland baseball. This was old League Park.



Then it got dark !

And the fireworks display began.




















As usual, the display was much more impressive in person.

Thanks to Key Bank for the show and for this.....





..... Bob Feller "bronze" statue.

He stands almost 8" high and makes a very nice addition to my Tribe collection.


Hopefully the Tribe will continue with their winning ways tonight!

Sunday, July 3, 2011

More 10 cent box goodies ! Odd balls and magical cards

I think just about everyone likes the 10 or 25 cent boxes at card shows.


I know I do !


It's a perfect time to acquire more cards for trading and for my sample card collection.


I did a post on it almost 3 years ago. It's sort of like Mathew's cards over at No. 5 Type Collection. I don't search for a certain card number and I also include inserts and parallels.


So that's where most of these cards will find a home.











First up is a 1987 Hostess of Canada Mike Krukow sticker. These were inserted into bags of potato chips. I usually try to get star or HOF players but I take whatever I can find. I try to update them later on if possible.




This one, obviously, is still in the original cellophane wrapper. It is also bi-lingual as is with most Canadian cards.

Disc shaped cards were very popular in the late 80's and early 90's. At least with consumer product manufacturers, maybe not so much with collectors.







This is a 1990 Holsom Bakeries Super Stars Mark Davis. Mark was a Cy Young winner in 1989.
Holsum included discs in various bread products for 3 years from 1989 through 1991.




Jiffy Pop popcorn was a new and exciting product when I was a kid but they didn't start including baseball discs until 1986 and quit after 1988.






This is a 1987 Mike Scott #18/20.





One last disc for today. 1992 King B Terry Pendleton.



King B enclosed baseball card discs in tubs of shredded beef jerky for 15 years from 1988 through 2002 ! I need the 2002 Jim Thome if anyone has it !





Upper Deck issued Fun Packs in 1993 and 1994. The 1993 set included 10 of these heat sensitive cards and added 8 more in 1994. I love these cards !




I'm sure Capt. C and Night owl are familiar with these, but in case anyone else who might be reading isn't, it works like this.






When you press your hot little hands on the black background it magically changes color !







If you rub the entire card, try not to get too excited, a cartoonish background will appear.



The little kid in me just loves these. I have three different ones now. Still diligently searching for the other 15.




Now we have something a little more conventional.



2006 Upper Deck Amazing Greats Ivan Rodriguez insert.






Next up, 1994 Stadium Club Kansas City Super Team Card. These were inserted as a contest in 1994 but had to be carried over to 1995 because the winners were based on the teams that won their division, league and world series. Due to the shortened season in 1994, the 1995 season determined the winners. Some very nice card sets were given away. I want the Cleveland Indians card badly, but it's scarce since they were one of the winners!






Twenty years ago Topps was celebrating their 40th anniversary. The cards carried a special logo but are very common today so why would I spend even a dime on this card ?













Because it is actually a 1 1/4" x 1 3/4" Cracker Jack prize card !





Jim Abbott was a very talented and very determined athlete.



I always admired him and was amazed at the way he could play ball.



Most pitchers with two good hands never throw a no-hitter.
I also collect his cards and these are two new ones for my collection.



Pinnacle Inside. Cards in a can ! I was always a sucker for odd ball stuff.


I opened a bunch of these and even used one of those (at the time) new fangled can openers that cut the can on the side so there were no sharp edges ! Plus the lid would sit back down on the can and it would appear to be unopened !




This is a Todd Hundley 40 Something insert from 1997.


He hit 41 HR's in 1996. Previous high total was 16. Hmmmm.... mid to late 90's and he nearly tripled his HR output.





One thing I didn't understand from the 90's was pogs. Of course, the kids collecting pogs probably didn't understand baseball cards either. So I guess it evened out.




In 1993 The Ted Williams Card Company had someone in marketing who understood pogs.




They issued a 26 card insert set with 2 pogs per card.



This is a very shiny, refractory looking card from 2000 Fleer Gamers.

Sean Casey, Determined, #15/15.



Another sharp insert from 2002 Donruss Elite.

Paul Lo duca Back to the Future #'d 0846/1000.


Michael Young doing his thing on second base.

2003 Ultra Gold Medallion.


While we're on the subject of gold,

here is a 2006Upper Deck Ovation Mike Sweeney 354/499.


And more gold !

Just a few more of the 1965 Topps Embossed inserts.


The backs were very plain, simple and to the point.


The American League cards had a blue background.....



while the National League had red.





The last card for today goes back to 1936 !



Well, actually this is a TCMA reprint. Otherwise it wouldn't have been in the ten cent box .

1936 Goudey Wide Pen type II

Designated "Wide Pen" because of the wide script on the autograph.

Type II because it doesn't say "LITHO IN USA" on the bottom.

There was also a Type III that was borderless.


I actually have more but I don't want to bore you guys and gals too much !