Another TTM Success From Jim Gentile

The above 1961 Nu-Card Scoops card of Jim Gentile enticed me to send another TTM request to him.  I thought I jad sent one already, but it appears that I hadn't.  So, when I saw this in one of my boxes, I decided to pair it with a 1964 Topps I pulled from Conrad's stuff and sent them on their way.

Both of the cards turned out great.  I've gotten Gentile several times.  His signature is starting to look shaky, so I'm glad I sent when I did and got them done.

I mailed to Gentile on February 2 and got the cards back on February 17, for a 15-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Vern Law

My mom asked me when I posted my card that Vance Law had his dad, Vern, sign, why I didn't post Vern Law's stats.  Well, I didn't post them because I had a plan to get Vern Law on his own.

I bought the above 1952 Topps off of Ebay, along with the below 1955 Bowman and 1961 Nu Card Scoops.  I wanted to add another 1952 to the autograph binder since I like 1952 Topps so much.  Law included some nice awesome inscriptions to the card, as well.

The 1955 Bowman received the same inscriptions as the 1952 Topps.  This is the card that really made me want to send to Law in the first place.  I passed on buying one at the February card show, but ended up getting this off of EBay instead.

Finally, Law left the inscriptions off of the '61 Nu Card Scoops, I guess since it already pretty plainly says he won the Cy Young award.  I had been wanting to add a Scoops card to the binder for some time now, and finally have it.

Law (b. 1930) played in the majors in 1950, 1951 and 1954 to 1967 for the Pirates.  He had a career record of 162-147 with 1,092 strike outs and an ERA of 3.77.  He received MVP votes in four seasons, with his best finish being 6th in his Cy Young Year, 1960.  He won the World Series that season with the Pirates, and was on the NL All Star team.

Law appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot 7 times between 1973 and 1979, with his highest voting percentage being 2.4% in 1973.  Law is outspoken against his autograph showing up on EBay, so he charges a signing fee of $10/card.  I sent a check along with my request, so I didn't mind paying the fees.  I had gotten Law on a ball back in 2012, which you can read about here.

I mailed to Law on March 14 and got the cards back on March 21, for a 7-day TAT.

COMC Pickup - 1961 Nu Card Scoops Bob Feller

The last of my Thanksgiving COMC pickups, I got this Bob Feller 1961 Nu Card Scoops for my Feller PC.  BV on the card is $4.00, but I got it for $3.25.  I think this is one of my coolest Feller cards now.  At least until I get some of his 1950s Bowmans.

I know I recently went into detail on Feller's career, so I will spare you guys this time around.  Feller was amazing in his day, though.  I wonder what his career record would have been had he been on those late 1940s/early 1950s Yankee teams.  or what if he was on the Dodgers during that era?  Feller pitching to catcher Roy Campanella?  Wow.  Kind of scary if you think about it.  Anyway, like I said above, that does it for my Thanksgiving COMC pickups.  Next in my queue are cards from the most recent Raleigh card show.  Stay tuned.

COMC Pickup - 1961 Nu Card Scoops Eddie Gaedel

I love how PC this card is, a 'midget' pinch hitting for the Browns.  I guess 'Little Person' might have taken up more room.  If you know about the history of baseball, then you have to know about Eddie Gaedel.  Gaedel was the shortest person to ever play in a Major League game.  At 3' 7" tall, he was walked on four pitches in his only major league at bat.  Gaedel was used by the Browns' then-owner, Bill Veeck as a publicity stunt.  The Browns were one of the worst teams in the league and Veeck did everything he could to drum up attendance.

You can click on the image of the back of the card to read more about Gaedel's at bat.

Eddie Gaedel (b. 1925 - d. 1961) wore number 1/8 for the Browns in his only plate appearance.  His contract was voided shortly after the game.  He went on to work for Bill Veeck in promotional capacities.  He died in 1961 after he was beaten and possibly mugged in his home.

COMC Pickup - 1961 Nu Card Scoops Jim Gentile

I got this 1961 Nu Card Scoops Jim Gentile off of COMC near Thanksgiving mainly because it was the only Oriole card that I saw in the set.  Gentile was a monster for the O's early in their existence.  He went on to hit 46 home runs in 1961 (of course it was overshadowed by the shenanigans of two guys in the Bronx...).

Gentile signs TTM for free.  This would probably be a cool card to get signed, but I think I might go for the set, so I would have to leave it unsigned.  I probably should add more Gentile stuff to my PC, as I have only this one card (that I know of).  Might have to get on that soon.

COMC Pickup - 1961 Nu-Card Scoops Fred Merkle

I'll just let you all sit here for a moment and appreciate the sophomoric humor that I found in the headline on this card..........

Ok, my sense of humor, which is perpetually 14-years old still has me giggling at this card.  If one is offended at this, well, all I can say is, sorry.  The card makes me laugh.  Also, I'm sure I'll get at least one email about it being inappropriate and what not.  Oh well, it's my blog.

Anyway, Cubs fans can look at this card and rejoice at Merkle's 'Boner' (as it was called way back in 1908 when that word meant something entirely different that it does today) and sent the Cubs on their way to winning the NL pennant and eventually the World Series.  Click on the picture of the reverse of the card to get a better explanation of Merkle's blunder than I can ever come up with.  To summarize, he hit a ball in the final inning of the game with the game tied 1-1.  The guy on third scored, so instead of touching second base, Merkle turned around and ran toward the dugout.  A Cubs player took note, screamed for the ball and touched second, ruling Merkle out and causing the winning run to not count and the game ended as a 1-1 tie because it could not be continued as fans had stormed the field, thinking the Giants has won.  It sounds an awful lot like an infield fly called in the outfield to me...  The teams were neck and neck for the NL pennant at that time late in the season and the Cubs ended up winning it by one game.

Fred Merkle was actually a really good ballplayer.  Merkle (b. 1888 - d. 1956) played from 1907 to 1920, 1925 and 1926 for the Giants, Dodgers, Cubs (ironically enough) and Yankees.  He had 1,580 hits, 61 home runs and a .273 batting average.  He finished 7th in the MVP voting in 1911, which that MVP award is a different one than what is given out today; it means the same, but it is a different award supposedly.

The 1961 Nu-Card Scoops set consists of 80 cards numbered from 401 to 480.  I'm not sure why, if someone wants to fill me in on that, please do.  This would be a really cool set to put together.  i picked up 3 more cards from this set that I will show soon.  I think I would consider putting it together at some point.  A few of the premium cards (Ruth and Gehrig, of course) run a little higher than the others.  I got this one the Sunday after Thanksgiving for $1.75, even though it books for $1.50.  It was the only one I saw, so I didn't mind paying a bit more.  One of those supply and demand things.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this card as much as I did.  I really do think it is a cool one that I had no clue about until a few weeks ago.