More Birthday Stuff From Drew

 I'm quickly frowning on the new version of Blogger, considering that I already wrote this blog entry, hit submit and found that an error caused NOTHING to be saved.  FAIL.  Anyway, back to what I was saying.....

Among the stuff Drew sent in his awesome birthday box to me were some random Orioles cards.  A few of which came from his 'mysterious binder' that he picked up as part of a craigslist sale.  Head over to Drew's blog and check it out.  I was lucky enough to see the mysterious binder in person, and believe me, it definitely is amazing.

I thought this 1967 Topps World Series Highlights Jim Palmer was really cool.  Also, since I don't believe I had ever seen one before Drew showed me, I was really happy to see that he added it to my 'present'.

 Looking at the box score from this game, oh how I long for the Orioles to return to their winning ways of the past and get away from the joke that they have become.

Drew also threw in this 1960 Topps Billy Klaus.  I've never heard of him, but the 1960 Topps set has always been one of my favorites.  I look forward to the day when I can start building this set.  I need to finish 1970 and 1971 before I start on another year (next will most likely be 1959).

Now onto some 2011 Allen & Ginter that Drew threw in from his recent box break.

I really like this year's black bordered minis.  Here is the Adam Jones, and it looks pretty sharp.  Recent years' black borders were kind of bland, so it was nice to see Topps shake things up slightly.

Finally is a 2011 A&G base Mark Reynolds.  You always know what you are getting with A&G and O's fans knew what they were getting with Mark Reynolds.  A ton of strikeouts, but lots of homers as well.  I am glad to have him on the team and I hope he can add a few more homers before the season is out.

Thanks again, Drew for this awesome stuff.

Check back later on for one more item from the birthday box.  I hope to post it soon.

Hall of Fame - The Rings

Something really cool I saw when I was in Cooperstown was the case that housed all of the World Series rings.

Rings weren't issued to the World Series winner regularly until 1926. Before that, players were given trinkets like gold pocket watches, medallions and charms as the token of remembrance of their championship season.

You can see the huge case above where the rings are found. Also, in the foreground, you can see some of the trinkets that were issued prior to the customary World Series Ring.

Above is the 1966 World Series ring, which the Orioles won by defeating the Dodgers.

Here is the 1970 ring that the Orioles won as they triumphed over the Reds. This was the World Series that Brooks Robinson shined in, winning the World Series MVP award.

Here is the ring from the 1983 World Series. The O's defeated the Phillies that year, Cal Ripken caught the final out and Rick Dempsey won the World Series MVP award.

I thought this was a really cool part of the Hall. I'd love to get my hands on one of those rings, but I'm sure they are expensive. I think it would be a travesty for someone to sell theirs, but we have all seen former players hawing their precious trinkets and trophies to pay for bad investment deals, gambling debts, alimony, lawyer fees, drugs, etc. That's definitely a shame.

Hidden in my Collection - 1966 Topps Sandy Koufax

A while ago I wrote about players who may have hung on a little too long, and used my 1973 Topps Willie Mays as an example. you can read the post here.

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I got this card at the shop from a collection that was brought in, same as the 1967 Mantle I posted about here. This is Koufax's last Topps base card. He would retire after the 1966 World Series with the desire to still have the ability to have the full use of his arm later in life, rather than pitching a few more seasons and risk permanent damage. Koufax won 165 games in his career, but one has to think that if medical technology that is available today were available back then, he would have been able to pitch a lot longer. Something I've always found interesting is that his final game was a loss in the 1966 World Series.

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Koufax pitched for the Dodgers in Game 2 of the Series against the Orioles and was matched up against a young 20-year old pitcher named Jim Palmer. The Dodgers committed 6 errors in the game and the O's won by a score of 6-0. The last batter that faced Koufax was Andy Etchebarren who grounded into a double play.

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I have 3 Koufax cards in my collection so far, his 1955 Topps RC, 1956 Topps and 1966 Topps.