Today I want to show an oddball set I acquired from a former boss of mine. His wife at the time was helping him clear out some of the extra clutter at their house and came across a bunch of baseball cards.. I've had these for a while but decided I should maybe show them off..
They came from Maxwell House Coffee.. I don't know if they were inserted in the can, or in a sleeve on the inside lid, or what.. But...
Toronto Blue Jays Team Photos.
There was a Base white set and a Gold Parallel Set. I have the whole Gold Parallel set.
There is a Header card as well, just stating Maxwell House Toronto Blue Jays 1977-1992. I heard there was also a booklet for the cards but I don't have that.
So here we go, the front shows a team photo. The back shows the players names and information on that season.
There we go.. That's the set.. As I mentioned, there's a white bordered set and a Gold Bordered set.. I have the gold.. I only have one card from the white bordered set.. I actually like the gold borders on them.
Well, it took a couple days but I'm back to finish off the trades post I made.
This is part two.
First was a small PWE from Team Collectors member AXHawks24.
A nice Joe Musgrove auto and a 2019 Donruss Jonathan Davis
I didn't realize Musgrove played in the Jays minor league system. It turns out he was part of the deal that brought Happ to the Jays from the Astros.
Second is a small PWE I received from Team Collectors member Sideshow.
These are all needed cards for me as well. The Diaz in the middle is a Rainbow Foil.
I'm not sure how I feel about Chrome in Heritage.
Now.. I don't want to get off on a rant here, but Heritage should be an old school set with not many gimmicks. Use the old card styles. Show a mix of modern and old school players (preferably players who actually played during the time you're showing the card designs from) and leave the gimmickry elsewhere. Not everything needs chrome and multiple coloured parallels.
Of course, that's just my opinion... I could be wrong..
*ahem*
Anyway.. The final trade was a bubble mailer full of nice stuff from Team Collectors Member Nimster
RIP Damaso Garcia.
I was looking at that Sprague Donruss card for a while.. I don't know if it's the angle the photo was taken at but.... I don't think legs/feet/ankles are supposed to bend the way the front leg does...
Those Gallery cards are nice as well.
Glaus' card is a Jays card in the way the team stamp is Jays.
I honestly didn't realize I needed as much of the 2014 team set as I did..
I love the photo on that Bowman Bautista. Also always nice to get Vlad Jr.
It's hard to be a Jays collector at this point wanting to find Vlad/Bo/Cavan because they've been hyped for a few years.. Also hearing people saying those looking for those guys aren't real collectors. Well, the only reason I want those three is they're Jays.. And in the Vlad case.. Jay and Canadian born.
Hey look a Tim Raines!!
I like the couple Bo cards here. I also like the DK Guerrero here. I really liked the old school Diamond Kings cards..
Danny Jansen is from one of those TBT sets. My one gripe about the TBT sets is there's nothing on the back about the player.. Just that it's part of the Throwback Thursday set.. Yippee.. I know this. I want info on the player on the front, not a Barry Horowitz style back pat by Topps..
The back pat is in there, for reference.
Hey! There's a Biggio here. And a Blue Bichette.. A Shiny Vlad DK! And a Galarraga Expo!
The Donruss and the GQ cards here, if I'm not mistaken, come from a Box break that was done on the site free of charge for us members.
There are some nice ones here. Bichette, Guerrero, Zeuch, Gurriel, Kay...
I've fallen behind again on getting incoming cards catalogued and scanned.
Today I'm going to show a couple I received. Tomorrow will be a couple more I received.
First is everyone's favourite Dodger fan on the Eastern side of the US, Night Owl.
He had sent me some cards a little while ago saying he hoped to fill some spots in the Frankenset.
Well, he did fill some spots.. But in the collection. These are the ones I didn't have. I'm really happy to see the Carter and Johnson archives. I still need/want to get the 50th anniversary Expos set.
Next is a trade from the Trading Card Database..
A bunch of 1997 Pacific Crown Collection Expos. I also got a Matt Stairs and a couple Jays I just realized I forgot to scan. These were from alchapman
The third trade I'm showing is from fritz63.
We have a couple set needs with the Edgar 90 Topps and the Studios. Kirk McCaskill also makes an appearance.
Some more Jays and Expos plus a Fergie Jenkins that I've never seen before..
Today I'm doing something a little different for my blog.
I've been emailing back and forth with Richard Armstrong who does the George Moon Gibson blog. At one point, I saw the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame Twitter account mention a book about Gibson and I asked Richard if he was one of the two authors. It was him. He sent me a copy of the book and I had read it.
Today I want to just go over what I thought of it.
It was interesting to find out more about a guy who, from the accounts given, was felt to be one of the best catchers of his era. Admittedly, before reading the book all I really knew about him was that he existed, he was a manager at some point, and that his stats were underwhelming to a person with modern eyes.
The book gives an account of Gibson's early life in London and how he ended up in Pittsburgh playing for the Pirates. The chapters go over the seasons he played year by year for the most part. Generally ending with Gibson going back to London for the offseason.
What I found interesting is that even as a player, his managers had a high enough regard for him to lead the Pitchers and Catchers in Spring Training.
Even after he ended his career as a manager, he was prominent in baseball, helping out around London setting up a youth league and was a popular figure in Pittsburgh.
They included some pictures of his tobacco cards and his career batting and fielding stats.
Overall, if you're a fan of early baseball and particularly of the Pirates, it would be an interesting read. If you're a fan of Canadian baseball players, it's an interesting read.
I'll just say it's an interesting read regardless.
Not too long ago, I bought two sets of ballpark postcards from Andrew Aronstein. I previously purchased the CMC minor league cards from him, so I knew things would be good.
He mentioned to me that the first series is missing Ebbets Field. I did end up getting two copies of Shibe Park in there though.
So, since I love ballparks and love collecting ballpark images, why not?
Let's see what they look like..
The usual suspects here with Polo Grounds and Sportsman's Park. I find it interesting that Municipal Stadium in Cleveland makes it. I also noticed the Municipal is spelled wrong.
Candlestick, Comiskey and Shea continue the first series.
Shibe, Forbes, and Memorial Stadium
Series 1 ends with Wrigley Field.
Series two starts with the Astrodome and Crosley Field.
Dodger Stadium, Busch Stadium, and Milwaukee County Stadium are next
In a way, I miss the cookie cutters.. But not too much.
Los Angeles Coliseum, Braves Field, and KC Municipal Stadium are next
It's nice to see some of the former parks here like Braves Field and Municipal Stadium. LA Coliseum was a very interesting park as well.
Finally, Arlington Stadium, Wrigley Field LA, Fenway Park and Griffith Stadium round out Series 2.
At first I thought we had two postcards honouring Wrigley Field in Chicago, then I looked and remembered that Wrigley Field in LA was Wrigley before Chicago's.
LA's Wrigley Field was owned by the Wrigley family around the time the Cubs were playing in West Side Grounds. The Chicago Whales of the Federal League had what we know as Wrigley. It was then known as Weeghman Field.
I'm also surprised the Rangers never used the Texas Shaped Video Board again. They should.
Anyway, I'm looking for an Ebbets Field from this series. If anyone happens to have/find one, keep me in mind, please.
