Lots of Press for Bam Bam

    With the Giants in the World Series, not to mention unleashing 20 runs in the first two games, there is are a new crop of articles about the man that helped make that happen, the San Francisco Giants hitting coach, Hensley "Bam Bam" Meulens.  Here he is in his 2010 Topps Emerald Nuts card along with coaches Tim Flannery and Roberto Kelly, his first card since becoming a Major League coach.  I might actually consider collecting modern cards again if they'd eliminate several of the annoying reprint insert sets and go back to including coaches in the sets.

 
The Big Five with … Giants hitting coach Hensley Meulens (NBC Sports)

Former Yankees prospect Hensley 'Bam Bam' Meulens is now a Giant hit in San Francisco (NY Daily News)

As Giants make a World Series run, hitting coach Meulens is gratified by success (The Canadian Press)

Pregame interview with Hensley Meulens (MLB.com) 

Muelens logró la fórmula (El Universal, Venezuela)

Meulens recuperó el poder bateador de los Gigantes (Terra, Argentina)

And of course, this one:

Bonds says he wants to be the Giants' hitting coach (Washington Post)

Yeah, how 'bout you start in the Arizona Fall League with the Arizona Giants, first, Mr. Bonds.  I think Mr. Meulens has the job pretty well in hand.  

1993 Topps / R&N China porcelain baseball cards

     In the very early 1990s, R&N China acquired a license with Topps to produce porcelain versions of many of Topps' iconic cards from the previous 50 years.  These were marketed by The Hamilton Collection, makers of endless "collectible" nick-nacks as "Baseball's Dream Team".

     They ran a prospective enthusiast $19.50 per card (+ $1.50 shipping & handling) each month, and included the nifty wooden wall display.  Today, the most common cards can be picked up on eBay for $10 or less even though many sellers list them for more.  I've yet to see any of the porcelain cards sell for more than $15.

     The original Dream Team collection included reproductions (basically a printed decal of a baseball card image on the "World's Thinnest Porcelain", front & back) of the following:

1952 Topps Mickey Mantle
1952 Topps Jackie Robinson
1952 Topps Willie Mays
1952 Topps Duke Snider
1952 Topps Yogi Berra
1953 Topps Satchel Paige
1953 Topps Whitey Ford
1954 Topps Ernie Banks
1954 Topps Gil Hodges
1957 Topps Brooks Robinson
1958 Topps Roberto Clemente
1959 Topps Casey Stengel

     Once has to assume this offering was at least moderately successful (as was pretty much anything related to baseball cards in 1990), as Hamilton went on to produce a 12-card sets of Nolan Ryan (1993) and Mickey Mantle (1995), and at some point there was also a series of Topps rookie cards of key players, to include this Dave Winfield that I recently pulled the trigger on:

       The above card seems to have been part of the Danbury Mint's "Tomorrow Hall of Famers" collection, which consisted of the following:

1974 Topps Dave Winfield
1976 Topps Dennis Eckersley
1979 Topps Ozzie Smith
1980 Topps Rickey Henderson
1982 Topps Traded Cal Ripken, Jr.
1983 Topps Ryne Sandberg
1985 Topps Kirby Puckett
1985 Topps Roger Clemens
1986 Topps Traded Barry Bonds
1989 Topps Traded Ken Griffey, Jr. 
1990 Topps Frank Thomas
1993 Topps Traded Mike Piazza

      There was another set released as "The Heirloom Collection" that featured the following cards:

1974 Topps Mike Schmidt
1984 Topps Traded Dwight Gooden
1985 Topps Orel Hershiser
1986 Topps Traded Jose Canseco
1986 Topps Traded Bo Jackson
1989 Topps Carlton Fisk

       There were later sets from R&N China that came in wooden cases (Griffey's Donruss, Fleer, Upper Deck and Topps rookie cards, various cards of Harmon Killebrew and Willie Mays, and even a complete run of Nolan Ryan's Topps cards from 1968-1994, as well as the 1990 Topps highlight cards that started the set that year).  The Danbury Mint also distributed sets of Ted Williams (18 cards) and Cal Ripken, Jr. (16 cards).

     According to the 2003 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards, the entire 1993 Topps set was reproduced in porcelain versions with pricing in 2003 listed as commons for $3 and stars at 15x their base set value.  The SCBC had the following to say:

     Each card in Topps' 825-card set for 1993 was reproduced in a porcelain version.  The thin, round-cornered porcelain cards are in the same size as the regular cards and exactly reproduce both front and back.  Each card was sold shrinkwrapped on a 5-1/2" x 8-1/2" cardboard backing with a wooden display stand and numbered certificate of authenticity.  The first five cards in the set, and every card with a number divisible by five, were produced in an edition of 5,000; all other cards were issued in an edition of 1,000.

     I've posted queries here and there trying to ascertain the validity of that entry, and I find my self agreeing with those who have thought it highly doubtful that R&N China actually produced every card.  I can find no evidence of any of the prospect, manager or checklist cards, and precious few commons.  I've decided to compile a checklist here of every card I've actually seen on the web in the hopes that it helps someone track down a card they might not have known about for their player collection.  I'll update this post as I find more.  So far I've found evidence of 165 of 825.

---UPDATE 8 FEB 2024---

     After several years of speculation and discussion about these cards, I think the logical conclusion is that while the cards were "limited to X" that doesn't mean X number of cards were produced.  Rather, that was the upper limit of what would be produced by R&N China as the cards were ordered.  As the cards are really just white porcelain blanks with card image decals applied to them, they cards were likely just produced on-demand as orders came in.  So while some cards were "limited to 1000", that was only the upper limit, meaning no more than 1000 of that card would be produced, not that 1000 were produced up front to sell.  That would help explain why certain cards of popular players are more prevalent, and certain cards extremely rare, or non-existent.  

     I began tracking the 1994 set on TCDB, and have so far documented 33 cards.  Again an odd assortment of players.  Whereas someone clearly ordered mostly complete team sets of the Rockies and Braves in 1993, it appears someone did the same with the Indians in 1994.  But 1994 is likely far less represented as fewer collectors were interested in the $9.95 or $12.95 likely retail price for something that was just a novely with absolutely no potential investment value.

----

1993 Topps/R&N China

1 Robin Yount
2 Barry Bonds
3 Ryne Sandberg
4 Roger Clemens
5 Tony Gwynn
10 Will Clark
11 Eric Karros
17 Dave Hollins
18 Terry Steinbach

20 Tim Salmon
32 Don Mattingly
40 Ozzie Smith
41 Alex Fernandez
47 Bob Scanlan

50 Roberto Alomar
52 Bobby Bonilla
58 Jose Melendez
60 Roberto Kelly
66 John Burkett
75 Juan Guzman
76 Kevin Appier
77 Junior Felix
80 Cecil Fielder

83 Reggie Sanders
87 Kevin Reimer
93 Sandy Alomar, Jr.
98 Derek Jeter #1 Draft Pick
100 Mark McGwire
102 Brian Hunter

110 Barry Larkin
116 Mark Lemke
123 Moises Alou

131 Dave Winfield
138 Joe Oliver
140 Gary Sheffield

143 Steve Finley
144 Kent Mercker
150 Frank Thomas
154 Wes Chamberlain
156 Sammy Sosa

160 Lou Whitaker
163 Tim Wakefield
168 Kevin Maas
170 David Justice
173 Andres Galarraga
178 Jeff Fassero
179 Ken Griffey, Jr.
180 Darren Daulton
183 Greg Maddux

190 Doug Drabek
200 Kirby Puckett

201 Jose Uribe  
207 Paul Molitor
209 Jeff Parrett
211 Doug Dascenzo
220 Benny Santiago

221 Carlos Baerga  
224 Sid Bream
227 Jeff Bagwell
230 Carlton Fisk

232 Tino Martinez  
237 Jose Vizcaino
240 John Olerud

243 Rob Deer 

250 Chuck Knoblauch 
262 Mickey Morandini
265 Andre Dawson
270 Frank Viola
275 Andy Van Slyke
280 Tom Glavine
281 Butch Henry
291 Tommy Greene
300 Cal Ripken, Jr.
304 Melido Perez
306 Damon Berryhill
311 Jay Howell
319 Paul Assenmacher
322 Pat Borders
333 Otix Nixon
335 Mark Portugal
340 John Kruk
344 Jack McDowell
350 Joe Carter
356 Freddie Benavides
362 Luis Gonzalez
371 Mariano Duncan
392 Travis Fryman
393 Ron Gant
397 George Brett
399 Daryl Boston
400 Bo Jackson

402 Ryne Sandberg / Carlos Baerga AS
404 Barry Larkin / Travis Fryman AS
406 Larry Walker / Kirby Puckett AS
407 Barry Bonds / Joe Carter AS
412 Jamie McAndrew
413 Pete Smith
421 Curt Schilling
425 Joe Girardi
426 Nigel Wilson

430 Eddie Murray  
437 Chris Hammond
439 Bryan Harvey
440 Ruben Sierra
444 David Nied
445 Dale Murphy
447 Keith Shepherd
448 Ken Caminiti

450 Darryl Strawberry
460 Randy Johnson
461 Steve Reed
463 Scott Aldred
473 Dave Henderson
478 Jessie Hollins
480 Pat Listach
482 Darren Reed

486 Eric Wedge
500 Jose Canseco

503 Buck Rodgers / Tony Perez MGR  
504 Gene Lamont / Don Baylor MGR
517 Bill Pecota

520 Charlie Hough
522 Shane Reynolds
523 Doug Bochtler
530 Sterling Hitchcock
551 Eric Young
552 Jeff Blauser

555 Terry Mulholland
565 Jerald Clark
572 Trevor Hoffman
578 Dave Magadan
580 Walt Weiss
583 Marvin Freeman
591 Alex Cole
595 Shawon Dunston
606 J Owens
615 Steve Avery
630 Mark Grace
635 Albert Belle
640 Doc Gooden
643 Luis Aquino
644 Dante Bichette
650 Terry Pendleton
652 Dave West
664 Calvin Jones
676 Rudy Seanez
680 Craig Biggio
681 Darren Holmes
691 Jim Tatum
700 Nolan Ryan

701 1993 Prospects (Mike Piazza / Carlos Delgado / Brook Fordyce / Donnie Leshnock)
708 Greg Olson
709 Jeff Juden 

715 Greg Gagne
719 Butch Henry
721 Rick Wilkins
722 Chuck Carr
732 Travis Buckley
740 Len Dykstra
741 Mike Devereaux
750 Rickey Henderson
759 Charlie Hayes
760 Luis Polonia
769 Francisco Cabrera
789 Jeff Conine
794 Andy Ashby
795 Deion Sanders

1993 Topps Traded/R&N China
1T Barry Bonds
24T Mike Piazza
31T Andres Galarraga
44T Benny Santiago
48T Paul Molitor
54T Greg Maddux
94T Doug Drabek

     There were also porcelain magnets produced, in a smaller size and square configuration.
So far, I've seen these:

1993 Topps/R&N China Magnets

2 Barry Bonds
4 Roger Clemens

26 Skeeter Barnes

30 Fred McGriff

32 Don Mattingly
34 Juan Gonzalez
35 John Smoltz
40 Ozzie Smith

74 Steve Buechele
75 Juan Guzman
107 John Kiely

116 Mark Lemke
135 Mickey Tettleton
154 Wes Chamberlain

160 Lou Whitaker  

170 David Justice
179 Ken Griffey Jr.

185 Jack Morris  
240 John Olerud
280 Tom Glavine
298 Scott Livingston
300 Cal Ripken, Jr.
306 Damon Berryhill
333 Otis Nixon

344 Jack McDowell

350 Joe Carter
353 Buddy Groom

356 Freddie Benavides
392 Travis Fryman

393 Ron Gant

500 Jose Canseco

552 Jeff Blauser

615 Steve Avery

650 Terry Pendleton

692 Chad Kreuter
700 Nolan Ryan

708 Greg Olson

709 Jeff Juden

740 Len Dykstra
795 Deion Sanders

Other magnets I've seen include (but are not limited to):

1978 Topps Dale Murphy
1980 Topps Rickey Henderson
1983 Topps Ryne Sandberg
1984 Topps Traded Darryl Strawberry

1984 Topps Traded Juan Samuel  
1984 Topps Traded Dwight Gooden
1986 Topps Traded Bo Jackson

1986 Topps Traded Wally Joyner
1986 Topps Traded Jose Canseco

1986 Topps Traded Will Clark (with, and without Topps logo by name)
1989 Topps Mark Grace
1989 Topps Nolan Ryan

This ebay seller has a lot of both the cards and the magnets: http://myworld.ebay.com/1crybaby/.  His listing for a 1998 Topps Chan Ho Park is the most recent porcelain card I've found evidence of so far.

A few other collectors are also chasing down the porcelain cards of their interests:

Rickey Henderson Collectibles
Porcelain 1980 Topps Rookie Card

Collecting The Cubs
Porcelain Topps Cards made by R&N China

1986 ProCards Waterbury Indians Bernardo Brito

     Unfortunately for all of us Brito collectors (read: me) Bernie had no baseball cards in 1984 & 1985.  No team sets for Batavia or Waterloo those years.  But young Senor Brito was a busy man.  In 1984, he must have found his stroke as he went from a .228, 11 home run hitter in 95 games split between Batavia and Waterloo to a .300 hitter with 19 long balls in just 79 games with Batavia in 1984.  Then back to Waterloo again for 1985, where, while his average dipped back to .257 he went deep 29 times, earning a spot on Cleveland's 40-Man roster (though no actual playing time).
 
     By the end of 1985, Brito had spent five years in A ball.  That winter, he headed home to play his first official winter league season for the Licey Tigres.  A great season with Waterloo was followed by a great season with Licey, where Bernie, with 7 homers and 35 runs batten in, earned an All Star selection as well as Rookie of the Year honors and a spot on the Caribbean World Series roster of the Dominican League champs, Águilas Cibaeñas.

     In 1986, he'd long past earned his promotion to AA and a spot with the Waterbury Indians.  While his numbers were slightly down from the previous year, hitting only 18 home runs on the season against the tougher Eastern League pitching, he still managed to put on a show, such as his three dinger performance on July 22nd.  But in a glimpse of what might have been, from a story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer from 24 October 1986, he beat out the boss, Indians president Peter Bavasi with a fishing pole:

Bavasi attended the Indians' organizational meetings in Florida earlier this month and received a fishing lesson from Bernardo Brito, one of the Tribe's minor-league prospects on their Instructional League team.

"When they're finished playing the games, a lot of the players go fishing," said Bavasi, an avid fisherman. "I've got hundreds of dollars worth of equipment and poles, but Brito said all he needed was a line, a hook and a sinker."

Bavasi supplied Brito with those basic tools and the outfielder sat down at the end of a dock.

"Here I am with a back pack, poles, waders and everything else," Bavasi said.  "All Brito did was bait the hook with a piece of banana, throw the line in, and catch a red snapper.  I didn't catch anything."

     ProCards was making their debut in the minor league team set arena in 1986, as evidenced by the complete lack of information about the players on the backs of most of the cards that year.   While ProCards was just getting warmed up, 1986 would be the least season for affiliated minor league baseball in Waterbury, Connecticut.  Cleveland would move their AA affiliation to Williamsport, Pennsylvania for the 1987 season, and Waterbury wouldn't see another pro ball team until the independent Northeast League arrived in 1997 in the form of the Waterbury Spirit.  It would be short-lived as the Spirit would leave for Lynn, Massachusetts after the 2000 season.

2000 Future Bee Power League UL box break (pack 7)

After the Mid-Season hiatus, we now return to the Power League UL box break.


Takeshi Hidaka  - still catching for Orix, only now for the Buffaloes and on a part-time basis.  Hit .279 in  79 games this past season and earned free agency for the second time in his career.
Takeshi Hidaka @ NPB Official Website


Hiroshi Gondoh - in 2000, the manager of the Yokohama BayStars.  In 1961, Gondoh was the recipient of the Eiji Sawamura Award, the NPB equivilent of the Cy Young Award.  While it's well established that Major League pitchers used to throw a lot more innings than they do today, they couldn't hold a candle to the mileage of Japanese pitchers.  Gondoh, a starter, appeared in 69 games in 1961, winning 35, completing 32.  Across those 69 games, Gondoh pitched 429.1 innings with an extremely stingy 1.70 ERA.  That's FOUR HUNDRED TWENTY-NINE.  The Major League leader in innings pitched in 1961 was Whitey Ford with 283.  This season's leader, was naturally iron man Roy Halladay with 250.2 IP.  The last time anyone threw over 400 innings in the Major Leagues was in 1908 when Ed Walsh pitched in an insane 464 innings (with a ridiculous 1.42 ERA), but that was also the dead ball era and the spitball was still legal.


Jun Inoue - part time outfielder with the Yokohama BayStars.  Over the course of his career, he never played more than 83 games in a season.  Granted I'm not doing any research here, but he seemed worth more than that, hitting over .300 several times. Unless he was just injury prone, he seems to have been given the short end of the stick in his career.


Makoto Shiozaki - another Orix mainstay, playing with the BlueWave since 1997, and stuck with the Buffaloes after the team merger.  Only played a handful of full seasons, so he looks to be a utility infielder. 
Makoto Shiozaki @ NPB Official Website


Nobuhiko Matsunaka - One of NPB's heavy hitters, seen here with the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks.  He would stay with the Hawks as the team changed ownership and became the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in 2005.  This is his card from the Super Rare insert set.  Matsunaka's power output peaked at 46 homeruns in 2005, but has dimmed somewhat over the past five seasons.  He missed a chunk of the 2010 season to a wrist injury.
Nobuhiko Matsunaka @ NPB Official Website


Hiroshi Shibahara - outfielder with the Hawks since 1997.

Hiroshi Shibahara @ NPB Official Website

15 Years of Winfield Oddballs

A very eclectic mélange of goodies in the post today.

1989 Phoenix Collect the Stars Baseball Magnetables

I'm not sure why, but Beckett only lists 47 magnets in this set, while the Standard Catalog lists 156. For the 1990 set, Beckett only lists about 17 of a set of at least 115 and the Standard Catalog doesn't list the 1990 set at all.

1994 Minnesota Twins pocket schedule

There were at least three different pocket schedules in 1994 with this photo on the front. In addition to the SuperAmerica (a local convenience store chain in Minnesota and the Midwest) back, there were two others with different ads for WCCO TV on the back.

August 22, 2004 Be a Good Sport at the Dome Day

A stadium giveaway featuring a Minnesota legend and a Minnesota legend in the making, encouraging good sportsmanship by all. Respect the game, but have fun. And that's one to grown on!