Hall of Fame Signed Baseball - Willie McCovey

Another auction has ended over at collectauctions.com and I came away winning 2 lots.  One lot was this signed baseball of Willie McCovey, and the other lot was a lot of 2 balls, one of which I needed for my Hall of Famers (the other ball is someone I have already and will sell for $60 shipped - Wade Boggs).

All of the baseballs came with PSA/DNA certifications and each looks really nice, save for a few marks on the Boggs ball (which some rude kid pointed out to me on Instagram, even though it was pretty visible on the pic I showed).

So, the auction was very successful for me and I was able to push my total up by two.

Ball #104 in my collection is the above Willie McCovey signed William White ONL baseball.  Man, it's sharp!

McCovey (b. 1938) played in the majors from 1959 to 1980 for the Giants, Padres and A's.  He had 521 home runs, 2,211 hits and a .270 lifetime batting average.  He was the 1960 NL Rookie of the Year and the 1969 NL MVP.  In his career, McCovey hit 35+ home runs 6 times, his most being 45 in 1969.  Something I noticed about McCovey, though, was that in 1963, he hit 44 home runs with a .280 batting average and followed that season up with a dismal 1964 campaign where he hit 18 homers with a .220 batting average.  This made me immediately think of the season that Chris Davis is having this year.  Interesting to say the least, especially since McCovey bounced back for six straight 30+ seasons after 1964.  McCovey's 521 home runs are good for 18th all-time where he is locked in a three-way tie with Frank Thomas and Ted Williams.

A 6-time All Star, McCovey played in only one World Series, 1962, and lost to the Yankees.  He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1986 (his first ballot) with 81.4% of the vote.

Surprise 1969 Topps Package From Wes

I got an email before I went on vacation from a guy named Wes who needed my address because he had some 1969 Topps for my set.  I figured it would be a few, but he said in the email that it was quite a bit, which was a nice surprise.

When they got here the other day, I was even more surprised that there were a few Hall of Famers in the lot and they were all in great shape.

The above Willie McCovey is especially nice.  I need to get more McCovey cards, that's all there is to it.

There's another McCovey card rtight there!  That didn't take long at all.

Wes also included this card of Hall of Fame manager, Dick Williams.  I forget about Williams every now and then.  He is still a ball I need for my HOF collection and can be had at reasonable prices.  I just need to get one.

Anyway, thanks for the cards, Wes.  I have a bit of vintage to send your way, which I will do in the next few days.

Instagram Trade With Joey - 1960 Topps Willie McCovey RC

Again with a graded card!  Another Hall of Fame rookie card.  I've been on fire with successful trades lately.  I have been able to interact regularly with maybe 10 or so people from Instagram enough now that I consider them actual friends, much like the folks from the blogs that I call friends.  One of the guys I chat with who is high on the friend list is Joey.  Joey is a North Carolinian, like myself, and he is also a huge fan of vintage cards.

Joey is also a huge David Ortiz fan, so when I recently asked if anyone wanted me to look through my card boxes for them and he asked for Ortiz, I obliged him.  Most, if not all of my Red Sox stuff goes to either Scott or my brother, John, but I did have a few David Ortiz cards left.  I also had just recently picked up an Ortiz rookie, one where he is referred to as David Arias, that Joey really has his eye on.

So, he offered me this graded - 2 Willie McCovey RC for the Ortiz, which I thought was more than fair.  I also threw in the other Ortiz cards I had, which were ones Scott had told me before that he didn't want, so I didn't feel like I was cheating on him.

I'm really happy with this McCovey.  I know I have said that I don't really like graded cards, but this one is fine with me and it has a cool story to it.

Most importantly, I'm making some good friends in another nice card community.  I'm glad I am able to tie that into my blog, as well.  Here's to hoping that with all these young folks on Instagram, that one.) the card hobby is alive and well for a new generation and two.) I hope to see some of these young guys want to start blogs and keep this niche of the hobby going as well.  Here's to hoping!

Thanks for the trade, Joey!

COMC Pickup - 1969 Topps Leaders

Here are a few more cards I got off of COMC.  I knocked some 1969 Topps off with these two leaders cards.  I like the Ernie Banks shot.  I don't recall that I have many Willie McCovey cards.  I think I need to change that.

Here is the AL Batting Leaders card that I got.  I looked at the back and thought it was kind of funny that Yastrzemski won the AL batting crown (and triple crown that year) with a .301 batting average.  Talk about the year of the pitcher!

Well, I'm just plugging away on the 1969 set.  I'm nowhere near close to completion, but I'm enjoying putting the set together so far.  I still need a bunch of big names like Mantle and Ryan.  Those will come in time, I'm sure.

Thoughts on 1986 Donruss Highlights

I didn't get any mail today, so I thought I would put down some thoughts on an old box of cards I found in my collection.

I have had this box of 1986 Donruss Highlights for around 20 years.  I remember when I got it, it was worth quite a bit due to the Jose Canseco and Roger Clemens cards included.   Heh.  Little did we know...

Yes, when I bought it, I paid $14.00.  Probably worth around $5.00 now.  Oh well. 

 The first thing you see when you open the box is this Hank Aaron puzzle.  It is really cool, I think.

 Something really cool in this set is that they showed the players who were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986.  I think this is something that should be featured each year.  Above is one of the best TTM signers around, Bobby Doerr.

Here is another '86 inductee, Ernie Lombardi.  I wrote a post last year on Lombardi.  You can check it out here.

The last Hall of Famer featured is Willie McCovey.  I need to get more McCovey stuff.

Bo Knows

 

So, I really like the design of the cards.  There are a bunch of good players in the set.  The set is 55 cards featuring highlights of the 1986 season.  From record setting performances to individual milestones to players of the month for AL and NL for each month of the 1986 season.  Not too bad.