Another TTM Success From Whitey Ford

I was worried that this card was lost forever, since it took so long for it to come back from Whitey Ford.  I had mailed to him in October of last year, along with a check for $40.00, and got the card back unsigned.  The check had been cashed, which I found out due to my online banking.  I found it odd that the card came back unsigned, so I wrote Ford a letter asking if a mistake was made.

I also included a copy of the canceled check.  I waited and waited, thinking that Mr. Ford had taken my money and ran, and the card would be lost forever.  The card had been given to me by my brother, Andy, one Saturday at the Winston-Salem card shop.  He had used his savings to buy me something he thought I would like, and I did!  After those many years sitting in my box, I thought it would be cool to get this card signed by Ford and add it to my autograph album.  So, you can see why I was so worried that it would never come back!

Finally, in July, the card came back, and I was really excited.  I had originally mailed the card on October 30 and re-sent about a month later in November, then it finally came back on July 28, for a total TAT of 271 days.

Vintage Card Pickups From The Card Shop

One of the things I miss the most from my time helping out at the card shop in Winston-Salem was when folks would bring in their cards that they wanted to sell.  Lots of times, the cards they were dumping were garbage, but every now and then someone would come in with a shoebox full of vintage and I would enjoy countless hours of sorting and pricing the cards, and sometimes I would have the opportunity to buy the cards for myself, depending on the price that the person wanted.

Well, that shop is closed, has been for 3 and a half years now, and I live clear across the state.  The shop owner here in Winterville knows I am a huge fan of vintage, so when I walked in there yesterday, he handed me a stack of cards that he had just purchased off of someone.  The top card was a 1958 Mantle, so I knew he scored big.  There ended up being 3 or 4 Mantles, 3 or 4 Willie Mays, a '62 Clemente, a '63 Ford, several of the '62 Babe Ruth Story cards, and some other nice early to mid 60s cards.

I decided that I really liked the above 1963 Topps Warren Spahn, just because, and I picked it up for $25.00.  The card is in great shape, as you can see from the scan.

Since Windell (the shop owner) made me a good deal, I also picked up a couple 1967 Topps cards, even though I haven't officially started my set.  I got this Whitey Ford and the below Elston Howard for really good prices ($8 for Ford, $5 for Howard) and can add them to my set.

I really wish they carried more vintage cards at my local shop, but they don't.  I have to wait til September 27 and 28 before I can go to my next card show, so I'll just bide my time until I can get some good steals on nice vintage.  I also have my birthday coming up, so maybe someone will help me with some set needs, as well.

June 21, 2014 Raleigh Card Show Part 3 - 1959 Topps Pickups

The bulk of what I picked up at the show today was a great deal of set needs for my 1959 Topps set.  Check out this awesome Yogi Berra I got for $30.

In all, I got 19 cards for my 1959 set.  Most of them were in great shape.  This Robin Roberts, for $3, was the roughest of the bunch.

I got this Eddie Mathews for a steal at $15.  Not too bad, I think.

This Whitey Ford was probably the best looking of the bunch.  I got this one in a bulk deal, so I don't know what the individual cost of it was.  Much better than the $35 price tag, I assure you.

This Enos Slaughter isn't rough, but it sure is off center.  I had a Larry Doby that was just as bad and I ended up upgrading it.  I may do the same with this one, we'll see.

Hey, look, another Mazeroski.  He seems like he was a common pickup today.

I got a whole bunch of these group cards.  I already had quite a few of them, and I feel like I knocked out most of the remaining ones.

This Ashburn/Mays card might be the second roughest card in the bunch, but I got it dirt cheap and I'm ok with that.

This Podres/Labine/Drysdale was the last card I picked up before I headed for the door.  I had $4 left in my wallet and figured I might as well see what I can get for it.  I saw this card for $6 and offered the guy $4 and he took the offer.

I looked at a few of the team checklists today, but this was the only one I grabbed.  The back is unmarked and the card looks really cool.

The next two cards are more of the group cards, but the coloring on each really make them pop.  This Fox/Aparicio is a nice one of two Hall of Famers that I oftentimes forget about.

Stengel shows up in a few Topps regular issue sets quite a bit.  This one of him discussing baseball with the legendary Don Larsen is pretty cool.

Here we are with another old manager.  Billy Martin isn't in the Hall of Fame like the two guys I talked about in my previous post, but getting this card was really nice.  Especially since his early cards carry a little bit of a premium.  I honestly believe it is because of the name recognition in that he was the Yankees manager for a time (several times).

Finally, the sole semi-star RC that I picked up.  Johnny Callison was quite the second baseman in his day.  I had heard Brian Roberts (pre-injury) compared to him in the past.  I really like these RCs in 1959.

So, there you go, those are all of my set needs pickups from the card show.  My next post will be about my few vintage PC pickups.

Hall of Fame Induction Weekend - The Parade

Whitey Ford

One of my favorite parts of the Trip to Cooperstown during Hall of Fame Induction Weekend (other than spending time with my son, brother, best friend and best friend's dad, of course) was the parade of Hall of Famers.  There weren't a ton of Hall of Famers present for this year's induction, but the stars definitely came out.  Missing altogether were legends such as Yogi Berra, Nolan Ryan, George Brett, etc.  The parade led off with Dr. Frank Jobe and Tommy John in a convertible 1960s Mustang.  Jobe was to receive an achievement award.  Jane Forbes Clark and Jeff Idleson rode by in the back of a truck.  Then came the Hall of Famers themselves.  They came along in order of their induction, so Whitey Ford (inducted in 1974) was the first legend we saw.  Drew's Dad and I were camped out along the barricade next to one of the Hall's interns, Bill, who was a really nice guy.  The three of us chatted for a good while before the parade started and between legends.

Ralph Kiner

Ralph Kiner must have finally finished with his line of autograph seekers, because he was atop this truck.  Unless the guy beside him is the list autograph seeker.

Hank Aaron

Chris was camped out right between me and Bill the intern, right against the corner of the barricades.  He jumped and screamed as we told him who each Hall of Famer was.  The first one to acknowledge us was Hank Aaron.  That was surreal because the real Home Run King waved at us as he passed by.  I would have loved to have met him and talked with him, but I probably would be a quivering mess due to severe star struck-ness.

Frank Robinson

I had my 'Buckle Up Birds' shirt on and as Frank Robinson passed, I screamed "Go O's!" to which Chris continued, while jumping up and down.

Frank (he is on a first-name basis among Orioles fans, much like Earl, Cal, Jim, Brooks and Eddie are) heard us and said "That's right, go O's!" and waved at us.  The above picture is frank's reaction to Chris.

Brooks Robinson

I got really emotional about the next Hall of Famer, none other than Brooks.  As he passed, I yelled "I love you Brooks!"  He heard me and said "I love you too, thank you so much for coming out!"  I was speechless.

Drew shot this picture as Brooks was acknowledging me.  That man means so much more to Oriole fans than other sports fans can ever fathom.  He is always courteous and gracious to fans and I can't get enough opportunities to express my fandom and love to the greatest defensive third baseman in the history of baseball.  I was so happy to be able to shout to him what I felt and to have him respond was so awesome, I teared up a bit during that moment.

Phil Niekro

Phil Niekro was really cool as he passed by.  Chris was jumping and yelling.  Niekro noticed and waved, using his knuckleball grip.  That was pretty awesome.  He has been working with the Orioles lately, teaching two of their minor leaguers how to master the knuckleball.

Ozzie Smith

This was a great shot I took of Ozzie Smith.  He is one guy who seems genuinely happy to be a Hall of Famer and I think this photo captures that.  I'm really proud of myself for this shot, actually.

Cal Ripken

Finally, there was Cal.  He also acknowledged us as he passed by.  This shot is from Drew who got Cal as he was pointing and waving to Chris.  I doubt Cal remembered that he met Chris last year in Greenville.  Chris remembers it though.

One thing I did want to point out about the parade that was disappointing was seeing Tony Gwynn.  He has been battling mouth cancer over the last fer years and seeing him atop that truck, you could tell the cancer has returned.  I had read about it returning recently, but seeing his swollen face, definitely confirmed it.  He has also regained a lot of the weight that he lost during his last bout with cancer (which took him down to his early career weight).  It was really sad to see and it put a little bit of a damper on the parade.

That being said, I really enjoyed the parade.  I know Drew and his dad did as well.  Adam (my brother) told me that he enjoyed it as well.  It was so awesome being able to see some of the Hall of Famers that I have only read about or seen on TV.  Being able to have Frank, Brooks and Cal acknowledge us was really cool as well.  Also, being able to say that you were waved at by Hank Aaron is pretty cool too, I'm just saying.

So, make sure you stay tuned to Drew's blog for his take on the parade and a look at some of the guys I didn't feature as well.  His dad got a really cool reaction from one of them, but you have to keep an eye on his blog to see it because I'm not going to be the one to spoil it!

Another Pickup in Cooperstown

A final piece I was able to get in Cooperstown is the above official MLB 2130-2131 logo baseball. I got this ball from the same shop that I got the previously mentioned Ferrell and Herman baseballs. I have recently decided that I would like to get some older (maybe antique) baseballs and display them in my man cave. I asked the guy in the shop if he had any old baseballs, he laughed and said "I have boxes of them..."

He brought out a box that had a bunch of baseballs in it and let me take a look. I found the Ripken ball and took out an older looking one that had some faded signatures on it. I asked him if he'd be willing to sell one of the baseballs that had a bunch of signatures on it, and he said he might after taking a better look at them. He pulls out a magnifying glass and looks at one of the balls. "Oh, that says Ed Ford on it... well that's Whitey Ford. Oh wait, that is Mickey Mantle on the sweet spot! Its faded but you can see, its him..."

Yep, it was Mantle, alright. Dang, I wasn't going to be able to get that ball. I picked up one that looked older, it was definitely an Official League Spalding Ball that also had some faded signatures on it. He looks at it and points out: Bob Feller, Early Wynn and Buck Leonard among the signatures. The ball also had 1976 induction written on it. Jeez. I helped this guy find at least two baseballs that were worth LOTS of money. He did give me a nice deal on the Ferrell and Herman baseballs and also threw in a signed post card that I will discuss in my next post. I thought you guys would love to hear about my almost epic pickups though... Almost.

Whitey Ford TTM Success

I sent off for Whitey Ford on Monday, November 29 and got the signed ball back today, making it a 7-day turnaround. The signature cost $30, and as you can see, it was completely worth it. I'm definitely not a Yankee fan, but as a baseball fan, I am really happy to add this pitching legend to my collection.