November 11, 2023, Virginia Beach Card Show Recap

On Saturday, my friend, Josh, and I went to a card show in Virginia Beach.  I had heard about the show from my friend, Ryan, since a couple former Orioles were going to be there doing signings.  I had a very limited budget, but was still able to come away with a few cards for each vintage set I'm working on (lists have been updated). I also picked up a lot of stuff for TTMs.  The coolest thing I found was the above 1983 Donruss Diamond King signed by Hall of Famer, Carl Hubbell.  I got the card for $20. I couldn't pass that up.

The signers at the show were Mickey Tettleton and Rudy May (there were some other signers, but May and Tettleton were the ones we were going after).  I got Tettleton on a nice 1999 Topps Gallery (above).  I had to get May on a card showing him as an Oriole, so the above 1977 Topps fit the bill.

I was going to settle on two May cards, but then found this 1971 Topps that I had to get done.  I loved the action shot on this card, and it looks great in the album. 

The above 1991 Crown Orioles card was the main one that I wanted to get May on, and it turned out great.

This 1988 Topps Big was the other card that I got Tettleton on.  I wanted to continue to fill out some of the 8-card pages that I have, so this helped that cause. 

I didn't realize, but May has been living in NC.  I heard him talk about being near Edenton, so I naturally had to talk to him about the sandwiches at Westover General Store.  It was so cool that he knew where I was talking about and had lunch there last week.

Tettleon was really cool, as well.  He commented on my Hartford hat.  The hat made me stand out at the show, which is why I bought it.

I got the following (in person) autographs: Rudy May x 5 and Mickey Tettleton x 2 (7).

Hall of Fame Ebay Success - Carl Hubbell

I have been saving money lately so that I can knock some more baseballs off of my want list. However, I have been so indecisive about what I wanted to buy that I have been racking up the savings.  I thought to myself that I could take what I've saved and get a big name like Mantle or DiMaggio; keep saving and try for a Dizzy Dean or Jimmie Foxx or spread it out to several hall of famers that I normally wouldn't be able to buy.

That's when I went on Ebay and started looking at all that I could get with what I had saved.  After days of looking at prices, I jumped on a Hall of Famer who was kind of on the tier as far as average price of a Mantle or DiMaggio.  Ok, well, maybe on the lower end.

Anyway, I jumped all over this PSA authenticated Carl Hubbell.  After doing some research, I found that a signed ball of Hubbell went on average for around $300-$350, so when I saw the price this one was at, I had to grab it.  Let's just say, I got it for a decent bit less than the lower average price.

Hubbell is my 53rd Hall of Fame signed baseball and is definitely one of my more valuable ones (his and Ted Williams, I would rank as my top 2).  Charlie Gehringer is still my 'oldest', having a career that spanned from 1924 to 1942.  As far as actual player age, Gehringer beats Hubbell by a little over a month, having been born in May 1903 to Hubbell being born in June 1903.  Putting that into perspective, my great-grandparents were both born in 1901, only 2 years before Hubbell (and Gehringer) were born, and my Grandmother was born in 1927, only a year before Hubbell began playing in the Majors... 

Carl Hubbell (b. 1903 - d. 1988) played in the majors from 1928 to 1943, all for the New York Giants.  He was a 2-time MVP (1933 and 1936) and won the World Series in 1933.  He had a career record of 253-154, 1,677 strikeouts and a 2.98 ERA.  He won 20 games or more 5 years in a row (1933 to 1937).

In 1934, Hubbell set an All Star game record by striking out 5 batters in a row (the record was later broken in 1984 when Fernando Valenzuela and Doc Gooden combined to strike out 6 batters).  Funny thing is, though, is that the 5 batters Hubbell struck out all ended up becoming Hall of Famers.  He struck out, in succession, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin.