TTM Success - George Brett

A recent bonus I got from work went away pretty quickly when I signed up for this private signing with George Brett.  I needed Brett on two cards for my 1987 set, and he hasn't signed a whole lot the last few years.  I wanted to go ahead and knock the cards out and get them into my album.

Both of the cards turned out great, and I am happy they both are finally done.  I have knocked out some of the tougher team leaders cards lately, which has been very helpful in pushing me toward my goal of completing the set.

I am about 60 or so cards from finishing the set, so I have a decent shot at getting close.  If some of the tougher guys agree to doing signings, then I have as good a shot as any.  Also have to keep an eye on those saved Ebay searches.

I mailed to this signing on April 1 and got the cards back on June 25, for a 71-day TAT.

A Look At The Last Royals World Series Winner

It was the year that Marty McFly departed from to explore the past, and then in the sequel, leapt to the future.  Ronald Reagan was president.  The Cold War was still going on.  I was in Kindergarten.  The Royals won their first (and only) World Series in 1985 on the back of Hall of Famer, George Brett.  They would finish the regular season with a record of 91-71, tops in the AL West.  They would dispatch the Blue Jays 4-3 in the ALCS, then would make it an all Missouri World Series.

The Royals battled the Cardinals through seven games and won 4-3.  It would be another 29 years following that victory before the Royals would appear in another post season, breaking the drought last season.  We all know, now, that they advanced all the way to the World Series.

The 1985 Royals were led offensively by Brett who batted .335 with 30 homers and 112 RBI.  They also had slugger, Steve Bablboni who mashed 36 homers that season.  Brett would finish second to Don Mattingly for the AL MVP crown.  Teammates, Bret Saberhagen and Dan Quisenberry would finish 10th and 11th and Balboni finished 19th.

The pitching was led by Saberhagen.  In his first of two Cy Young Award seasons (he won his second in 1989), he went 20-6 with a 2.87 ERA.  The pitching staff also boasted Charlie Leibrandt with a record of 17-9 with a 2.69 ERA, and Quisenberry who recorded 37 saves with a 2.37 ERA.  Quisenberry would finish 3rd in the Cy Young award voting and Leibrandt would finish 5th.

Quisenberry passed away from a brain tumor in 1998.  Additionally, manager Dick Howser passed away in 1987, also from a brain tumor.

Hall of Fame Signed Baseball - George Brett

I got my 85th Hall of Fame signed baseball today while I was visiting my brother in Columbia, SC.  I went to the Columbia Antique Mall like I usually do when I'm in Columbia and I spent a good bit of money.  I spent so much time there, my brother, my wife and my son all left and came back later to pick me up.  I got a ton of 1971 Topps and another Hall of Famer, but those will be shown later.

I had been eying  this Brett ball since my last trip to the antique shop.  I got a Bill Dickey signed baseball that time, you know, I posted it here.

George Brett (b. 1953) played in the majors from 1973 to 1993 for the Kansas City Royals.  He had 3,154 career hits, 317 home runs and a .305 career batting average.  He was the AL batting champ 3 times (1976, 1980 and 1990) and was the AL MVP in 1980.  He won the World Series with the Royals in 1985.

Brett was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1999 (his first ballot) when he received 98.2% of the vote.

1992 Topps Box Break With Max

I was in Raleigh on Friday to take (and bomb) the second half of the ASBOG exam (the professional geologist exam). After I fried my brain for 4 hours, I met up with Max and we went to Cardiac Cards in nearby Cary to wind down and relax.
After a little bit of debate about what we wanted to do, we decided to spend a little money on a box of 'junk wax.'

We picked 1992 Topps because we had the potential to pull the Manny Ramirez RC. I like how packs cost $0.55, when base packs range from $2.00 to $3.00. I really liked the photography in this set. It looks like Topps brought their A game to this set with some of the photos. See the above George Brett, and the Stan Javier and you'll see what I mean.

Here is an example of a player playing for a team toward the end of their career that doesn't seem to fit (Willie Mays as a Met, Hank Aaron as a Brewer?). I had no idea that Gibson played for Kansas City. Wow. Was a nice surprise, though. I like cards like this.

We did get the Manny RC, so we acheived our goal. I doubt what we ended up with paid for the box, but Max and I had a good time opening it. That was worth it, in my opinion.