1955 Topps #75 - Sandy Amoros

Sandy Amoros (b. 1930 - d. 1992) played in the majors from 1952 to 1960 for the Dodgers and Tigers. He was a part of the 1955 World Series champion Dodgers. He retired in 1960 with 334 hits, 43 home runs and a .255 average.

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Awesome Baseballs in the Mail

Sometimes, when I get bored, I type 'Autographed Baseball' into the search field on Ebay and see what comes up. A couple times, I have been able to find some absolute steals and some hidden treasures. A week ago, I was lucky to find two baseballs that I felt like I couldn't pass up...


First, I got the above pictured baseball. The signatures on it are very faint, but they can be read. On the ball are signatures from the 1962 Baltimore Orioles. The ball has signatures from 4 hall of famers: Brooks Robinson, Robin Roberts, Dick Williams and Hoyt Wilhelm. Also on the ball are a few Oriole legends: Boog Powell, Gus Triandos and Jim Gentile. With what I paid for this one (under $15), I am really satisfied. Makes you kinda wish they had UV protected ball cubes back then...
The next ball i was able to get for under $13 and it is something that immediately becomes very special in my collection. It is a ball signed by Orioles from the 1986-1989 seasons. On the sweet spot is a signature I haven't seen alot of - Cal Ripken, Sr. I have 2 autographed baseballs of Cal, Jr. Being able to snag a Cal, Sr. ball so cheap was a no-brainer for me. The signatures on this ball are much easier to make out and a little bonus is that on the other side of the ball is a signature from, yep, you guessed it (maybe you did), Bill Ripken! So, I now have baseballs signed by all of the Ripken baseball family!
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So, I consider the two baseballs absolute steals and I am so happy to add them to my collection.

1955 Topps #74 - Bob Borkowski

Bob Borkowski (b. 1926) played in the majors from 1950 to 1955 for the Cubs, Reds and Dodgers. He retired with 294 hits, 16 home runs and a .251 average. He only played 9 games in 1955 for the World Champion Dodgers.

Hidden in my Collection - 2005 UD HOF Bob Gibson

I've been pretty busy lately because I am preparing a bunch of stuff to take to the December 17-19 card show in Raleigh. This will be my first attempt to set up a table at a show and sell stuff. We'll see how it goes. This is the next logical step in my goal to start up some kind of card shop. Wish me luck.
I missed doing one of these posts last week due to how busy I've been, so I wanted to make sure this week's 'Hidden' post was a good one.
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I have already posted on the Upper Deck Hall of Fame set of 2005 when I talked about the Harmon Killebrew that I pulled. I bought the tin from a now-closed shop in Statesville, NC. I remember, it was a Stan Musial tin (which I still have... somewhere). I'm pretty sure I only bought one of them because they were $100 each. I got the Killebrew as a redemption and got this Bob Gibson relic/auto out of the pack. So, technically, this was my first auto of a Hall of Famer. It is a really awesome card, I especially love Gibson's sideburns.
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Gibson was AWESOME in his day, he won 2 Cy Young awards, an MVP, 2 World Series... He is also the reason the pitcher's mound was lowered starting in the 1969 season.

1955 Topps #73 - Jack Shepard

Jack Shepard (b. 1931 - d. 1994) played in the majors from 1953 to 1956 for the Pirates. He had 195 career hits, 6 home runs and a .260 batting average.

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1955 Topps #72 - Karl Olsen

Karl Olsen (b. 1930) played in the majors from 1951, 1953-1957 for the Red Sox, Senators and Tigers. He retired with 160 hits, 6 home runs and a .235 batting average.

1955 Topps #71 - Ruben Gomez

Ruben Gomez (b. 1927 - d. 2007) played in the majors from 1953 to 1960, 1962 and 1967 for the Giants, Phillies, Indians and Twins. He had a career record of 76-86, 4.09 ERA and 677 strikeouts. He was a member of the 1954 World Series Champion Giants.

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Later in his career, Gomez played in the Mexican league. One day, a young boy begged Gomez to buy a lottery ticket that the boy was selling as a way to make money for his family. Gomez normally didn't do things like that, but the boy insisted because the number on the ticket matched Gomez's uniform number, so Gomez ended up purchasing the ticket from the boy. The lottery ticket ended up being a winner of a $35,000 prize. When Gomez tried to share the money with the boy's family, the family refused. So, Gomez went to a bank and set up a trust fund for the boy to collect when he turned 18. In 2001, when Gomez was undergoing surgery for cancer, a young mexican doctor requested to attend the surgery. After the surgery was complete, Gomez asked the young doctor why he had requested to attend, the young doctor responded that he was the young boy and that the money Gomez had left him paid for his madical school.
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