2005 La Liga Mexicana de Beisbol set update

     The more I dig, the more I keep finding on the 2005 Beisbol Cards set for the Mexican League.   Just yesterday, Google coughed up a listing on a site called Ofertopia.com for 158 different cards from the set.  I can't quite make out what the purpose of Ofertopia may be as there never seems to be any contact or payment information in the listings.  I don't know of these are just historical listings from MercadoLibre or what.  But taking that list and eliminating all of the cards Arturo and I have, left me with a list of 93 more cards.  Unfortunately, there are no images that are large enough to make out details, so I don't have any way to accurately number the cards yet, but here is the list of 93 cards, sorted by team:

****ACEREROS DE MONCLOVA****
AC?? Edgar Vega
AC?? Leobardo Arauz
AC?? Lino Rivera

****DIABLOS ROJOS DE MEXICO***
DR?? Roberto Saucedo
DR?? Oscar Robles
DR?? Víctor Bojórquez
DR?? José Luis "Borrego" Sandoval
DR?? Manuel Velez
DR?? Daniel Fernandez
DR?? Roberto "Metralleta"  Ramirez
DR?? Ray Martinez

***GUERREROS DE OAXACA***
GU?? Francisco Madero
GU?? Josmir Romero
GU?? José de Jesús Jiménez
GU?? José Montenegro
GU?? Jose Isaias Avalos
GU?? Abraham Valencia
GU?? Angel Peña                   
GU?? Juan Carlos Pulido

***LANGOSTEROS DE CANCUN***
LA?? Ruben Quinones
LA?? Langostino y Chirchie  (Mascots)
LA?? Raul Sanchez
LA?? Juan Jose Pacho
LA?? Oscar Salazar
LA?? Hector Chavarria
LA?? Conrado Garza

**LEONES DE YUCATAN**
LE?? Luis Navarro
LE?? Hector Castaneda
LE?? Juan Carlos Canizales
LE?? Willie Romero
LE?? Luis "El Rayo" Arredondo
LE?? Scott Bullet
LE?? Juan Manuel Palafox
LE?? Raul Rodríguez
LE?? Eddy Diaz

**PERICOS DE PUEBLA***
PE?? José Juan Nuñez
PE?? Luis Carlos Martínez
PE?? Omar Espinoza
PE?? Darrel  Sherman
PE?? Cristian Alaniz
PE?? Manny Martinez
PE?? Pedro Iturbe
PE?? Julio Miguel Trapaga
PE?? Armando Valdez
PE?? Jesús Arredondo

**PIRATAS DE CAMPECHE**
PI?? Roque Sanchez
PI?? Francisco "Paquin" Estrada
PI?? Hector Paez
PI?? Francisco Campos
PI?? Juan Jesús Alvarez
PI?? Willis Roberts
PI?? Roberto Vizcarra

****POTROS DE TIJUANA****
PO?? Cesar Peña
PO?? Randall Simon

****AGUILAS DE VERAZRUZ****
RA?? Amaury Garcia
RA?? Leobardo Moreno
RA?? Manuel Casarin
RA?? Eloy Arano

***RIELEROS DE AGUASCALIENTES***
RI?? Ildefonso Lara
RI?? Lino Urdaneta
RI?? Alex Taveras
RI?? Eduardo Ríos
RI?? Rontrez Johnson
RI?? Alexander Delgado
RI?? Grimaldo Martinez
RI?? Francisco Rivera
RI?? Flavio Orea

***SULTANES DE MONTERREY***
SU?? Demond Smith
SU?? Rigoberto Loya
SU?? Miguel Flores
SU?? Mario Valdez
SU?? Charles "Bubba" Smith
SU?? Heber Gomez
SU?? Isaura Pineda
SU?? Sergio Mora

***TIGRES DE LA ANGELOPOLIS***
TI?? Adan Munoz Rodriguez
TI?? Matias Carrillo
TI?? Jorge Vazquez
TI?? Cecilio Garibaldi
TI?? Guillermo Vazquez
TI?? Jesús Guzman
TI?? Carlos "Chispa" Gastelum
TI?? Javier Robles

***TUNEROS DE SAN LUIS****
TU?? Pat O'Sullivan
TU?? Darryl Brinkley
TU?? Luis Bustillos
TU?? Edgar Leyva
TU?? Nestro Renovato
TU?? Enrique Martinez
TU?? Sharnol Adriana
TU?? Dave Doster

****VAQUEROS LAGUNA****
VA?? Ramón Espinosa
VA?? Cornelio García

      If you add those to the updated list from my previous post (click here to see the earlier post), we have a total of 180 cards.  Combining the two lists, the per team card totals look like this:

Acereros - 14
Diablos Rojos - 11
Guerreros - 18
Langosteros - 13
Leones - 13
Pericos- 15
Piratas - 15
Potros - 13
Rojos del Aguilas - 13
Rieleros - 11
Sultanes - 13
Tigres - 14
Tuneros - 14
Vaqueros - 3

    With only three cards representing the Vaqueros, I'm willing to bet the set is closer to 200 cards.  Odd that the Guerreros have so many more cards that the rest of the set so far.   As always, more information will be provided as it is uncovered.  I have to travel to San Diego in January, so I may see if I can find any local card shops that have some history behind them and ask if they know anything about cards from Mexico.

    More to come!

Mexican Baseball Cards and Stickers

     I'm sure the few of you that read my ramblings have noticed that my interests typically lean toward the less-than-mainstream.  In this particular instance, however, it is rather surprising just how far outside the mainstream this subject happens to be.  Mexico has consistently had professional baseball since 1925, when La Liga Mexicana de Beisbol (LMB) was organized. And since that time, it has had significant interactions with the sport north of the Rio Grande, at various times serving as a source for talent, an alternative to the Major Leagues, another venue for players of color to ply their trade during the days of racial segregation, a supplement to the minor league system, a place to play ball in winter (in La Liga Mexicana del Pacifico, LMP or the Mexican Pacific League) and a place for aging Latin stars (and in some cases, blackballed Americans) to finish up their careers.

Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese and Minor League Baseball Card Checklists (Online)

(click here to skip the wandering preamble and get straight to the important stuff)

     A few years ago, when I seriously got back into collecting baseball cards, I decided to pick up where I left off on my Hensley Meulens collection.  I had mostly stopped collecting and following baseball after the strike in 1994.  Then came school, marriage, the beginnings of a career, and for awhile there, I was more concerned with just keeping the lights on, the rent paid, gas in the car and food on the table, so I had almost no idea what had happened in the intervening 8-9 years I was away from the hobby.  When I got back into it, I found that Dave Winfield had been elected into the Hall of Fame, Matt Williams was named in the Mitchell Report and Meulens had spent three years in Japan (later making a couple of unsuccessful returns to the Majors).

   As I started to jump back into things, I discovered the joys (and pains) of eBay, online trading sites (SportsCardForum and The Bench Trading being the main two I've settled into, later expanding to Freedom Cardboard, mostly for the conversation), the expansive sites based around statistics (Baseball Almanac, Baseball Reference and The Baseball Cube being my most frequented) and all manner of collector's blogs and hobby news sites.  But that only showed me that there were some glaring gaps in my collection and knowledge from outside the mainstream of the North American hobby.

     As I caught up with lots of the Meulens cards I'd missed, I had to find resources for the Japanese cards about which, up to this point, I knew absolutely nothing.  As I hunted for information on them, I encountered great sites like JapaneseBaseball.com, The Japanese Baseball Card Blog, Rob's Japanese Cards and Prestige Collectibles.  Through Rob Fitts' site, I was able to pick up most of Meulens' BBM and Takara cards, but came up short on the Calbee cards.  I only knew those cards existed because Beckett happened to include a few years of Japanese cards in their online price guide.  However, I knew there had to be more, and just in learning about the BBM and Takara sets, I knew Beckett was far from complete or accurate in their listings.  Everyone I encountered or asked for help suggested I pick up a copy of Gary Engel's Japanese Baseball Card Checklist & Price Guide.  So I picked up the 6th edition.  And learned that there was an enormous world of baseball cards in Japan.  And Hensley Meulens had a few more cards that I needed to find. (A 7th edition was released in early 2010 and is available from Prestige Collectibles.)

Bam-Bam Takes The Helm (Again)

     Twice in as many seasons, the Bravos de Margarita of the Venezuelan winter league have parted ways with their manager as the playoff drive gets underway. Finding the team in last place with a 15-27 record, team vice-president, Tobías Enrique Carrero,  relieved manager Don Baylor of his duties, in what is described as a "mutual decision" (sure it was).

Baylor cesa funciones en Bravos

     Also twice in as many seasons, the Bravos have handed the reins over to hitting coach Hensley Meulens. One has to wonder if the team might have just appointed Bam-Bam as manager for the season were he not potentially tied up with the Giants in the playoffs this year.

Getting to be a habit.

     In any case, congratulations, once again, Mr. Meulens. I wish you well!

1982 Topps Seattle Mariners (Before They Were) Future Stars

      It would probably be no surprise to learn that players on the same team on a Future Stars card would be on the same team in the minor leagues.  What was slightly more surprising, however, was to find that I actually had all three players on their own cards from that very minor league team.  So here you have them...Before They Were (Future) Stars all playing for the Spokane Indians, then the AAA affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, featured here on their 1980 TCMA cards:

      Interesting how the region's teams clung to the Seattle Pilots team colors for so long....

1987 ProCards Modesto A's #285 Dann Howitt

     By 1987, the minor league baseball card market had expanded enough that Modesto actually had a second team set.  For some reason, ProCards always numbered their cards as part of the master set that included all of the team sets they issued each year, so if seeing a #285 in a team set of 20-30 cards seems odd, that would be why.  ProCards issued over 100 team sets in 1987, so some of the cards are numbered in the 2000s.  The 1987 design was nearly identical to the 1986 design, both front and back.  And while Dann played yet another season with Modesto in 1988, neither of the 1988 Modesto team sets were produced by ProCards.

     1987 wasn't just a season of struggle for Howitt, as mentioned in my last post on him, but was a poor season for the whole San Jose Bees ball club who were on their way to the worst record in California League history (33-109).  The August 9th edition of the Modesto Bee described an uncharacteristically good day for Howitt.  In addition to driving in four runs on a single and double, after having sat out the previous three games, from deep right field he gunned down a runner attepting to score, sending San Jose packing with a 7-5 loss and snapping an 8-game losing streak for Modesto.  That would be one of Dann's 13 assists from the outfield that season, which put him in a 4-way tie for 3rd in the league in assists.

1986 Baseball Cards Magazine Index

Baseball Cards, April 1986, Issue #15, Volume 6, No. 1
Cover: Vince Coleman
Articles:
"On The Baseball Beat" by Irwin Cohen, Tom Seaver interview
"What's New" by Steve Ellingboe and Vic Knight. pp22-23, 42, 44, 46.  Sets referenced: 1986 Fleer; 1986 Topps; 1986 Donruss; 1986 Donruss All-Stars and Pop-Ups; 1985 Fleer Update; 1985 Topps Traded; 1985 Donruss Highlights; 1985 7-Up Chicago Cubs; 1985 Minnesota Twins Fire Safety; 1985 Toronto Blue Jays Fire Safety; 1985 Kondritz Vince Coleman; 1985 Mother's Cookies; 1985 Star Company; 1985 Hostess Atlanta Braves; 1986 Sportflics; 1985 Topps Football; 1986 Donruss, Topps and Fleer box bottom cards; 1986 Fleer Star Stickers, 1986 Topps Pete Rose set.
"Eddie Mathews" by Paul Green.  pp24-29.
"Stand-out Stand-ups" by Robert L. Parker. pp30-31.  Johnny Pro Orioles and Phillies.
"The hottest cards of '86: Checkin' up on Coleman collectibles". pp32-34. Vince Coleman rookie cards.
"Autograph Addresses" by Tom Owens. pp 50-52.  The Sport Americana Baseball Address List.
"Liz & Dick cover for Mantle & Maris". p56. 1962 Post Life Magazine inserts.
"Spring training autograph tips" by Dave Miedema. pp 70-72.
"The complete Tom Seaver cover checklist". p76.  Checklist of publications with Tom Seaver on the cover.
"Baseball & baseball cards in 1969: Celebrating a centennial" by Tom LaMarre. pp78-84. 1969 Topps issues.
"Do you remember these?" by Stewart Jones. pp86-91. 1940-1965 regional and food issues, Glendale Meats, Kahn's Weiners, Wheaties, collectible tickets, pins, Seattle Ranier items, Leaf, Sugardale Meats, Bell Brand Chips

Baseball Cards, June 1986, Issue #16, Volume 6, No.2
Cover: Rare Topps proof cards
Articles:
"What's New" by Steve Ellingboe and Vic Knight. pp20-22. Sets referenced: 1986 Topps Mini Leaders, 1986 Topps Glossy All Stars and Glossy Send-Ins, 1986 Fleer Limited Edition, 1986 Fleer League Leaders, 1986 Fleer Classic Miniatures, 1986 Donruss All-Stars and Pop-Ups, 1986 Quaker Granola Bars, 1986 Fleer inserts.
"On The Baseball Beat" by Irwin Cohen. pp24-26,48,50. Don Sutton interview.
"Those great Fleer 'Greats'" by William Warren. pp 28-30. 1960 Fleer Baseball Greats set.
"1953 Bowman: Color Them Hot" by Ted Zanidakis. pp32-36.  1953 Bowman set.
"Autographs: Who signs, who snubs" by Dave Miedema and Chris Burleson. pp38-44.  Signing habits by league.
"1961: Maris-mania" by Paul Green. pp70-72. Roger Maris' 1961 season and Topps cards.
"The '$20,000 Garage Find'" by Keith Olbermann. pp76-81.  Rare Topps proof from 1960-1985.
"Joe Rudi" by Paul Green. pp82-87.  Joe Rudi interview.
"Collect Your Favorite Team: Philadelphia A's" by Ted Taylor. pp88-92.  Philadelphia A's collectibles.

Baseball Cards, August 1986, Issue #17, Volume 6, No.3
Cover: Dwight Gooden
Articles:
"What's New" by Steve Ellingboe and Vic Knight. pp20-22.  Sets referenced: 1986 Topps Woolworth's; 1986 Drake's; 1986 Fleer Walgreen's; 1986 Leaf; 1986 Kay Bee; 1986 O-Pee-Chee; 1986 Topps stickers; 1986 Topps Super; 1986 Topps bronze and aluminum miniatures: 1986 Big League Chew Home Run Legends: 1986 True Value: 1986 New York Mets fan club issue: 1986 Kansas City Royals National Photo: 1986 Cain's, Kitty Clover, Kas and Jays photo chips discs; 1986 Dorman's Cheese.
"Rookie cards: a close-up look" by Bob Lemke, pp24-30.  Lemke's rookie card investment recommendations.
"BBM Interviews: Tom Lasorda" by Paul Green. pp32-38. Tommy Lasorda interview.
"1986 rookie card line-up". p40.  List of 1986 rookie cards.
"Solo Rookie Cards" by J.R. Green. pp42-46. 
"On The Baseball Beat" by Irwin Cohen. pp60-62. Reggie Jackson interview.
"Autographs: Who signs, who snubs; Part 2" by Dave Miedema and Chris Burleson. pp 63-65. Signing habits of players by league.
"5¢ today, $5 tomorrow: Successful rookie card speculation" by Robert L. Parker. pp66-71.  Tips and tactics for evaluating rookies for investment.
"Collecting Topps "trophy cards," the 1960-1978 All-Star Rookies" by Dave Steidel. pp72-81.  Profile and checklist of Topps All-Star Rookie cards.

Baseball Cards, October 1986, Issue #18, Volume 6, No.4
Cover: ??
Articles:

Baseball Cards, December 1986, Issue #19, Volume 6, No.5
Cover: Wally Joyner
Articles:
"New Issues Gallery" by Steve Ellingboe and Vic Knight. pp22-28. Sets referenced: 1986 Topps Traded, 1986 Fleer Update. 1986-87 Fleer Basketball, 1986 Star Company sets, 1986 Donruss Rookies, 1986 Fleer Baseball's Best, 1986 Fleer Classic Miniatures, 1986 Houston Astros Police, 1986 Provigo Montreal Expos, 1986 Burger King All-Pro, 1986 Sportflics, 1986 Milwaukee Brewers Police, 1986 Los Angeles Dodgers Police, 1986 Lite Beer Houston Astros, 1986 Gatorade Chicago Cubs, 1986 Beatrice Foods, 1986 Mother's Cookies, 1986 Toronto Blue Jays Fire Safety, 1986 Topps Football, 1986 Coca-Cola Chicago White Sox, 1986 ProCards, 1986 Smokey the Bear.
"On The Baseball Beat" by Irwin Cohen. pp30-32,64-65. Wally Joyner Interview.
"Non-Topps proof cards are a non-stop challenge" by Keith Olbermann. pp34-39.  Proof cards for tobacco, Bowman, Donruss, Fleer, Goudey, Hostess, Kelloggs issues.
"Those Great Fleer Greats" by Tom LaMarre. pp40-42,76.  1961 Fleer Baseball Greats set.
"1951: The real Topps rookie cards" by Bob Lemke. pp66-70. Profile of 1951 Topps sets.
"Tug McGraw" by Paul Green. pp71-75. Tug McGraw interview.
"The "forgotten" set: 1974 Topps" by Jeff Zeigler. pp78-82.  Profile of 1974 Topps set.
"Autograph inquiries" by Dave Miedema. pp84-85. Answers to common autograph questions.

My Roberto Kelly want list

      Below you'll find the list of cards I need for my Roberto Kelly collection.   Over his career, he played for the Yankees, Reds, Braves, Expos, Dodgers, Twins, Mariners and Rangers.  He has some cards in a Rockies uniform, but he never made it back to the majors with them and ended his career in Mexico.  Since retiring as a player, he managed the Augusta Greenjackets for three seasons before becoming the San Francisco Giants 1st Base and baserunning coach in 2008, a post he has held ever since.  An American League All-Star in 1992 with the Yankees, he achieved a rare feat by making the All-Star team again in 1993, only this time for the National League after being traded to the Reds.

     I started collecting Roberto Kelly in 1988, along with all the other Yankee rookies that year like Jay Buhner and Al Leiter.  Since all three were very promising young players, naturally the Yankees dealt them.  Somehow, the Yankees made a Bizarro World trade with the Mariners where they send Buhner and TWO OTHER PLAYERS to the M's for a single Ken Phelps.  A year later, the Yankees would then deal Phelps to the A's for a single minor league pitcher.  Leiter took a few years to settle in to the pitcher he would be for the Mets in his prime, but at least they got the best right field arm in baseball in return in Jesse Barfield.  The Buhners kept tricking into the collection for awhile, but I never really pursued it after he was traded, and Leiter just didn't pan out, so I gave up on him pretty quickly.

     But Kelly ended up being the only bright spot for the Yankees in the early 90s, as Mattingly succumbed to back problems, the pitching was terrible and Deion Sanders just never "arrived" while in New York.  I never gave up on him, even through the trades, but at the same time, I never really concentrated on him until the last few years.  So far, I've picked up 472 of his 497 total cards (based on the Trading Card Database catalogue), which puts me at about 95% complete.

     Cards that are already on the way are denoted in bold.  As always my entire Sportlots inventory is available for trade.

1990 TV Sports Mailbag

1991 Score Promos #119

1998 Pacific Online Winners #738
1998 Ultra Masterpiece #424 /1
1999 Aurora Red #192
2000 Pacific Crown Collection Platinum Blue #282 /67
2000 Pacific Premiere Date #424 /37
2013 Leaf Memories Buyback Red #38 /1
2014 Leaf Memories 92 Buyback Red #156 /1

2017 Topps - Rediscover Topps 1990 Topps Stamped Buybacks Silver #109

1987 Baseball Cards Magazine Index

    Back in my school days, around the grades when we were expected to be able to research a subject and write a report about it, our teachers would march the class down to the library.  There the librarian would enlighten us on the wonderful world of reference books at our disposal.  The dictionary, the thesaurus (Latin for "treasure"?), the Encyclopaedia Britannica, it's much lesser used cousin, the Encyclopedia International, it's more colorful niece, the World Book Encyclopedia, an assortment of gazetteers and almanacs, and piles of other books whose covers we would never crack, were paraded out for our perusal.

     One of those resources the librarians introduced us to was the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, which was basically an index of mainstream American magazines.  I say "mainstream" because it included all the usual titles like Sports Illustrated, Time, People, Jet, National Geographic, Field & Steam, but never included any hobby magazines.  No references to Beckett or Sports Collectors Digest or Baseball Cards Magazine.  I always felt this left a tremendous gap in the tool belt of the average hobby researcher.  We have no organized reference guide to help us in our quests for the obscure amid the murky depth of our field.

     In an effort to fill that gap, I've begun work on an index of the baseball card magazines I own.  Hopefully, it can be expanded to encompass other sports and more recent periodicals.  If this gets any traction, maybe I'll see if I can interest one (or more) of the current hobby websites to host a copy so everyone can use it and contribute to it.  It might make a good addition to a site like BaseballCardPedia.com.

     As a work in progress, I'll start with the 1987 issues I have of Baseball Cards magazine, and use this a a venue to seek suggestions from all you out there in TV Land as to the ideal format.  Due to the sheer volume of information, this will only include references from the actual articles and columns, not the advertisements.  If anyone finds this useful, let me know and I'll proceed with this project and index the rest of the various issues I have of Baseball Cards, Baseball Hobby News, Tuff Stuff, Baseball Card News, etc.

Baseball Cards, February 1987, Issue #20, Volume 7, No. 1
Cover: Jose Canseco
Articles:
"What's New." pp20-22. sets referenced: 1986 Renata Galasso Don Mattingly, 1986 Renata Galasso Dwight Gooden, 1986 Coca Cola Los Angeles Dodgers, 1986 Southern League All-Stars, 1986 Memphis Chicks, 1986 Kondritz Ozzie Smith, 1986 Sportflics Rookies, 1986 McDonald's NFL, 1986 Lite Beer Texas Rangers, 1986 Performance Prining Texas Rangers, 1986 Texas Gold Cincinnati Reds
"On The Baseball Beat" by Irwin Cohen. pp24-2. Jose Canseco interview.
"High hard ones" by William Warren. pp30-36. 1967 Topps.
"A tip of the (baseball) cap" by Dave Miedema. p38-40. 1960s National League caps.
"1977" by Tom LaMarre.pp58-63. 1977 Topps.
"Joe Garagiola" by Paul Green. pp64-69.
"Sure-fire Investment Sports Illustrated" by Joseph Hammann. pp 70-79. Sports Illustrated magazines.

Baseball Cards, April 1987, Issue #21, Volume 7, No. 2
Cover: Don Mattingly
Articles:
"What's New." pp22-24. sets referenced: 1987 Donruss, 1987 Fleer,1987 Topps
"Years ahead of their time"  pp26-28. 1970,1972 Topps test stickers.
"Checklist: Don Mattingly". pp30-36.
"Can't beat them for price." pp38-42. 1977-1978 Royal Crown cans.
"Have you lost your marbles?" pp60-62. 1968 baseball player marbles.
"Test issue or $400 party favor?" pp64-66. 1953 Topps reprints.
"Learning about Linnets." p68. 1976 Linnett Superstars.
"Triple-play Topps test issue." pp70-71. 1968 Topps Action Stickers.
"Superstars at 1976 prices." p72. 1969 Globe Import playing cards.
"O-Pee-Chee? Topps?" pp76-77. 1977 OPC & Topps,
"With Viewmater, 'cards' came alive" by Robert L. Parker. pp78-81. Viewmaster baseball reels.
"7-Eleven cups." pp82-84.
"A scarce 'Smokey' issue." p86. 1984 Jackson Mets Smokey Bear
"A tip of the (baseball) cap" by Dave Miedema. pp88-89.  1960s American League caps.

Baseball Cards, June 1987, Issue #22, Volume 7, No. 3
Cover: Mike Schmidt
Articles:
"What's New." pp22-24. sets referenced: 1987 Star Company sets, 1987 Fleer Glossy Tin, 1987 Topps K-Mart, 1987 Fleer Headliners, 1987 Fleer boxed sets, 1987 Topps Boardwalk & Baseball, Indiana University All-Time Basketball Greats, LSU baseball/basketball, USL athletics set, David Lipscomb College baseball set, 1987 Big Apple Pete Incaviglia, 1987 Topps Rookies.
"Spring Has Sprung" by Dave Niven. pp26-28. spring training.
"Making Misteaks" by Tom LaMarre. pp30-34. error cards.
"Autographs: Mets worst?" by Dave Niven.  p36-38.  Mets autographing habits.
"Grand old players, brand-new chance" by Paul M. Green. pp60-68. Hall of Fame Veterans committee.
"Mike Schmidt." pp70-76.  Mike Schmidt checklist.
"On The Baseball Beat" by Irwin Cohen. pp78-82. Rob Deer interview.
"Jim Bunning" by Paul Green. pp84-88. interview.

Baseball Cards, July 1987, Issue #23, Volume 7, No. 4
Cover: Bo Jackson
Articles:
"'87 errors." p14-16. errors in 1987 sets
"On The Baseball Beat" by Irwin Cohen. p24-28. Cory Snyder interview.
"The BBM 100" by Kit Kiefer. pp30-50. top 100 rookies of 1987.
"What's New." pp70-72. sets referenced: 1987 Topps glossy send-in, 1987 Kay-Bee, 1987 Toys "R" Us, 1987 Woolworth's, 1987 Sportflics Team Preview, 1987 Fleer boxed sets, 1987 Topps League Leaders minis, 1987 Topps Gallery of Stars
"Autographs: Signing their lives away" by Dave Miedema. pp74-76. Hall of Famer autographing habits.
"They're back!" by Dave Steidel. pp78-80, 1987 Topps All-Star Rookies.

Baseball Cards, August 1987, Issue #24, Volume 7, No. 5
Cover: Ryne Sandberg
Articles:
"Autographs: Some sign" by Dave Miedema. pp18-20. Hall of Famer autographing habits.
"On The Baseball Beat" by Irwin Cohen. pp24-28. Ryne Sandberg interview.
"Special Report" by Bob Lemke. pp30-48.  preview of 1987 rookies by team.
"Modern-day darkhorses" by Paul M. Green. pp66-69. veteran Hall of Fame candidates.
"What's New." pp70-72. sets referenced: 1987 Syracuse Chiefs season tickets, 1987 ProCards team sets, 1987 Kraft Home Plate Heroes, 1987 Leaf, 1987 O-Pee-Chee, 1987 Classic, Sports Illustrated posters, more 1987 Fleer boxed sets.
"All-Star Cards" by Tom LaMarre. pp74-77. investment potential of All-Star cards.
"1978" by Jeffrey J. Ziegler. pp78-86. 1978 Topps.

Baseball Cards, September 1987, Issue #24, Volume 7, No. 6
Cover: Pete Incaviglia
Articles:

Baseball Cards, October 1987, Issue #26, Volume 7, No. 7
Cover: Eric Davis
Articles:
"Dick Perez" by Greg Kraeer. p14-20. profile of the artist
"What's New." pp22-24. sets referenced: 1987 Bohemian Hearth San Diego Padres, 1987 Coca Cola Chicago White Sox, 1987 Nestle, 1987 General Mills Booklets, 1987 Hostess Stickers, 1987 MSA discs, 1987 Drake's Cakes, 1987 traded and update sets, 1987 Junior Mints, 1897 Pucko Buffalo Bisons, 1987 Mother's Cookies.
"Autographs: Unhealthy" by Dave Miedema. pp26-28. Hall of Famer autographing habits.
"Milestones" by Ted Taylor. pp30-40. 1951 Bowman.
"Eric Davis." pp62-63. Eric Davis checklist.
"On The Baseball Beat" by Irwin Cohen. pp70-73. Mark McGwire interview.
"The Nuts: Baseball's funkiest, freest spirits" by June Barsky. pp74-83. Jim Bouton, Jimmy Piersall interview.

Baseball Cards, November 1987, Issue #27, Volume 7, No. 8
Cover: Wade Boggs
Articles:
"Autographs: Regular Guys" by Dave Miedema. pp18-20, Hall of Fame autographing habits.
"New Stuff." pp22-24. sets referenced: 1987 Toronto Blue Jays Fire Safety, 1987 Donruss Opening Day, 1987 Fleer Classic Miniatures, 1987 ProCards, 1987 Best minor league team sets, 1987 Columbus Clippers Police, 1987 Topps Surf books.
"The Card Game: Overrated? Underrated?" by Jeff Zeigler. pp26-29. rookie cards.
"1987 Collector's Choice Awards." pp30-32.
"Set Review: The year was 1968" by Paul M. Green. pp34-40. 1968 Topps.
"Interviews: Jay Johnstone" by Paul M. Green. pp56-61.
"On The Baseball Beat" by Irwin Cohen. pp62-65. Dwight Evans interview.
"Checklists: Stan Musial" by William Felchner. pp70-74.
"All-Stars: '62 all-stars" by Tom LaMarre. pp78-81. 1962 Topps All-Stars.

Baseball Cards, December 1987, Issue #28, Volume 7, No. 9
Cover: Kirby Puckett
Articles:
"New Stuff." pp22-24. sets referenced: 1987 Albuquerque Dukes, 1987 Everett Giants, 1987 Topps stickers, 1987 Fleer Baseball's Best boxed set, 1987 Minnesota Twins postcards, 1987 Atlanta Braves postcards, 1987 California Angels postcards, 1987 St. Louis Cardinals postcards, 1987 Topps football, 1987 Classic Baseball travel edition.
"Stuff: Rollin' numbers" by Dave Miedema, pp26-28, high number cards
"Milestones: '81 Fleer" by Ted Taylor, pp30-337, 1981 Fleer
"No. 1" by Mark Newman, pp38-42. First cards in Topps sets.
"Obscurities: Metal minis" by Bob Lemke, pp60-61, 1983-1987 Topps Gallery metal mini cards
"On The Baseball Beat" by Irwin Cohen, pp62-65, Kirby Puckett interview
"Football Cards" by Mark Rose, pp66-69.
"Raiders of the lost art" by Kit Kiefer. pp70-73. 1979-1985 Topps All-Star Rookies.

Dave Winfield - Travelling Man (Part 3)

       Having renewed his value on the free agent market, after the 1991 season, Winfield headed north, and took his talents to Canada where he played a big role in a hugely talented 1992 Toronto Blue Jays team. As mentioned in an earlier post, it was with the Blue Jays that Dave finally picked up his World Series ring. However, despite having a great season with the Jays, Winfield became just another of those high profile hired guns, spending just the one season, winning the gold, and moving on to greener ($$$) pastures.

     With a new team, came another appearance in the year's update sets.  Donruss took a different approach than all the other companies, and rather than issue their update cards as a standalone boxed set, or as another series, they instead included them in specially marked 1992 factory sets.  But they didn't include the whole update set in the box, they just included four cards from the 22-card set in each box.  To help confuse matters for collectors, Donruss issued at least three different factory sets in 1992.  There was the blue box that included a few 1992 Studio preview cards.  There was a red box, sponsored by Coca-Cola (I think it included the 1992 Donruss Coca-Cola set), and there was another red box with a special sticker on the shrink wrap indicating the presense of the 1992 Donruss Update cards.

     So here you are, at the end of the 1992 season, you've already busted countless packs of 1992 Donruss.  Stacks of the blue & white cards scattered around or in sorting boxes.  And since your favorite player was traded, you know there's at least one more card to get.  But to do so, if you can't find anyone selling the singles (good luck!) you basically have to go buy "packs" of 792 (+4) cards in hopes of catching the ONE card you are looking for.   It is no wonder that the 1992 Donruss Update cards are some of the most difficult to find for collectors.

     Due to the nature of how this set was distributed, price guides hugely undervalue these cards.  It took me 3 sets to find this one.  The first set I picked up was in a blue box, because I didn't know any better.  After that wasted $10, I did a little more research to figure out what I should have been looking for.  My second set, another $12, in the proper red box, unforunately did not contain a Winfield.  I did get the McGwire, however.

     I quickly put those four cards on Sporlots, and between them, made back $10 of the $12 I had spent on the set.  That still left me with another complete 1992 Donruss set.  Sure they're much better quality than all previous years, but still, Leaf let the presses run, so there is no shortage of these and I already had several hundred cards from opening packs years ago.  In the last three years, I've managed to sell a whopping FOUR cards from this set on Sportlots.

     Thankfully, set #3 landed me the card you see above.  And another 792 useless 1992 Donruss cards.  So all told, the card above probably cost me something like $25.  And to this day, I have still never seen another.  I'm sure there are still thousands of them buried in unsold, unopened and unwanted 1992 Donruss factory sets.  A bit of maybe useful information, the UPC code on the red box sets is 0 10700 82149 2.  The much more common blue sets are 0 10700 82150 8.

     Fleer, thankfully, took the more sensible approach to issuing their update set, and as they had been doing since 1984, as a boxed set.  Much easier to find, much cheaper to pick up.

     Score and Topps did the same, which resulted in my finding the rest of Dave's traded/update cards for around $1 altogether.  Not a bad deal.  I didn't include Upper Deck's 1992 offering because they issued their cards slightly later than Donruss and Score and managed to sneak him into their Series 2 that year in his new duds.

Since the Jays had only signed him for a year, it was only a matter of time before Winfield made yet another appearance in another year of late season update sets.

2011 San Francisco Giants Emerald Nuts SGA - Coaches

     For the seventh consecutive season, Emerald Nuts sponsored another team set give away for the San Francisco Giants. For me, that means one more card of Hensley Meulens and Roberto Kelly. Fortunately, this year, the day after Baseball Card night, several people put the sets up for sale on eBay, and one was even kind enough to sell me an extra coaches card for an extra $1, so I could have one for both player collections.

     The design is obviously the main 2011 Topps set design, and disappointly they used the same coaches photos from last year's card, only this time without the fake ballpark crowd background.  As far as I know, the Giants are the only team to have Topps produce them a team set every year as a ballpark promotion, and one of few teams to consistently have a yearly team set give away.  You would think that would be mandatory.  But then you'd also think baseball cards in boxes of Cracker Jack would be mandatory, too.

     Topps does produce a blister-packed team set for each team every year, different from what is issued in the main base set, but those are usually only 17 cards or so, and are intended for sale at the ball park or in retail outlets.  While they are listed in Beckett every year, I don't know how many collectors are aware of them.  The main difference between this set and the Topps retail team set, aside from the Emerald Nuts logo, is the inclusion of the coaches.  I really think that if Topps included the coaches in the yearly retail team sets, more people would pick them up.

     Getting back to the card at hand, the Giants once again find themselves struggling to make the playoffs, and the only reason they are even close is their amazing pitching staff.  I just don't see them repeating as World Champions in 2011.  And some of that will obviously be heaped on their hitting coach, Hensley Meulens, but I would also put some of that on their 1st base/baserunning coach, Roberto Kelly.  The Giants are 13th out of 16 teams in the National League in steals.  This coaches card make a point of detailing Kelly's 235 steals over his career.  While he was pretty good in his early days, stealing as many as 42 in 1990, that's still 235 steals over 14 seasons, for an average of less than 18 a year.  To his credit, Andres Torres did manage 17 steals in the 107 games he played.  Unfortunately for the Giants, Andres Torres can't hit the broad side of a barn, managing a pitiful .219 batting average.  Not something you want from your lead-off man.  I've not seen anything written about replacing Kelly, but I'm curious if he has the same problems as Meulens.

     That brings the focus back to Bam Bam.  The Giants hitting is the second worst in the National League.  One has to wonder if there is some sort of executive problem here.  By all accounts, when players actually follow his advice, their hitting improves.  Yet the team seems to be loaded with guys who simply refuse to be coached.  Quoth Brandon Belt after making an adjustment in the batter's box (emphasis is mine),

“Bam Bam thought that would work.  I finally did what he told me to do. It’s going to help. That pitch I hit (Thursday) night, an inside fastball, I’ve been taking it for strike three. It’s just being in a good position to hit. When I’m just able to react up there, that’s when I feel I’m at my best.”

     How many other players need to finally do what they're told?  Do you blame the hitting coach for a player that refuses to be coached?  Why not just bench them or send them down to Fresno, and bring up someone who actually wants to win?   It was said that the Giants previous hitting coach, Carney Lansford, wasn't a great communicator.  And while Bam Bam is multi-lingual, and seems to have a better rapport with the players, communication is a two way street.  Maybe Carney's biggest problem was that they players just weren't listening.

      In any case, the checklist for the 2011 Giants Emerald Nuts set has been added to the Inventory Manager over at SportsCardForum and TradingCardDB.com.

1983 Fleer & Topps Dave Henderson...what no Donruss?

Not Hendu's 1983 Donruss card

     In 1982, Dave Henderson spent his first full season on a Major League roster, platooning in the outfield for the Seattle Mariners.  Yet despite playing in 104 games in 1982 (but a reasonably productive 104 games, hitting 14 home runs), he was somehow snubbed for a spot in the 1983 Donruss checklist.  Rick Sweet got a card and he only played in 88 games in 1982.  As did Gary Gray who played in 80 games.  Even Jim Essian, who only played in 48 games, got a card!  Al Chambers, who was a rookie in 1983, playing all of 1982 in AAA Salt Lake, actually got a card while the checklist architects at Donruss missed out on the greatness that was Dave Henderson's moustache.  

     There must have been one heck of a backlash from collectors for Donruss to so drastically cut production for the 1984 set.  I'm sure it had absolutely nothing to do with Donruss almost completely repeating their set design from 1982, or having printed far more cards than anyone was going to buy.  Yes, it had to have been fan reaction to the exclusion of Hendu.  So Dave Henderson's 1983 Donruss card is officially Missing In Action.

     Fleer, while not exactly taking the world by storm with their set design, saw fit to recognize Dave with a card.  And the inclusion of Hendu actually seems to have improved the photographic quality of the entire set, as gone were the blurry photos that plagued the 1982 set, to be replaced by the razor-sharp (by 1983 standards) photography of 1983 that gave us major league players in all their stubblacious glory.

     While not exactly blazing any trails, they were the first set of the 1980s to revive the player mugshots on the backs of their cards, something not seen since Topps last employed the feature in their 1971 set.

     Topps, having already made Dave the centerpiece to the Seattle Mariners Future Stars card in the 1982 set, not only made the obvious decision to include him in the 1983 set, they even included him in a photo using their newly discovered Sunlight Photographic Technology^TM, that allowed them to present players in something other than a cloudy, hazy, murky posed photo from spring training. (Just a slight digression here, but why, when 90% of photos from the 70s & 80s that were obviously taken before the season, in spring training camps in Florida....The Sunshine State, were they always apparently taken on overcast days or at dusk?  Players spent upwards of 8 hours in the sunshine!  Were the photographers all vampires?)

     Much like Fleer, Topps also resurrected the close-up portrait shot of every player, including it on the front of the card. In many cases this resulted in very redundant double close-up cards (see #46, Richard Dotson), but it resulted in one of the more popular sets of the 1980s.  Despite landing solidly in the checklists for Fleer and Topps, Dave didn't make it into either company's 1983 sticker sets, so these are the only two documented cards he had that year.

     Dave had a decent 1983 season, usually hitting in the #3 or #5 spot in the heart of the batting order.  He led Seattle in hits with 130 (hitting .269 on the season).  Much like this season, there were rarely any Mariners on base to be driven in, so his 24 doubles, 5 triples and 17 home runs only amounted to 55 runs batted in (good for 2nd on the team).  Dave held his own on a last place team lacking any real stars.

Dave Winfield Cachets In on Induction Day 2001 (then things get hairy...)

     Another week, another cachet commemorating the induction of Dave Winfield into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. This is the sixth cachet for Winfield's HoF induction, with apparently no end in sight.   It has been 10 years since his induction, and I'm still finding new commemorative cachets dedicated to this one event.  For 30-something collectors, the art here probably looks a bit familiar, as it is the same giant-hatted, beaked depiction of Winfield that appeared on his 1987 Donruss Diamond King card, courtesy of artist Dick Perez, the man who basically put Donruss on the map in the early 1980s.  This rendition was perhaps a subtle shot at Winfield's 1983 Toronto Seagull Incident, or perhaps not.  You be the judge.

    This image would be used three times in 1987, in the main Donruss set, in the Super Diamond Kings set (note the slightly different cropping of the photo in the Super, as well as the completely different formatting on the back):

     And in the 1987 Leaf set (with the text on the reverse in both English and federally legislated French):

     Wait...what's that?  Is that a hair?

     It would appear we have a possible new variation discovery here.  I just checked and the hair is actually on the card, it was not just one of a billion stray cat hairs that I'm forever cleaning off my scanner.  It would appear the hair is only on the regular 1987 Donruss version of the card.  But a check of my voluminous box of Winfield duplicates reveals there are actually two versions of this card, both With Hair and Sans Hair (I found about 4 with the hair and about 12 without):

      And because everyone else was doing it, in 2001, Donruss saw the need to trot the card out again (without the hair) in it's Donruss Diamond Kings Reprints sets in honor of it's 20th anniversary: