Wednesday, August 17, 2011

...And Here Comes Albert


I know, long time no post. Since we last spoke, the Cardinals have fallen way back in the standings and it appears that their only hope is to leap over two teams and win the Wild Card. The Brewers are absolutely on fire and they are clearly the team to beat this year. In fact, if they make the playoffs, I hope they defeat the Phillies. That is, if someone hasn't done it already.

Since the Cardinals barely have a pulse at this point, my attention turns to Albert Pujols. Pujols is not my favorite player on the team but he is the one I start to watch this time of year if the team is faltering. I am always intrigued by the chase for his .300/30/100 line that he has achieved in all of his first ten seasons. It appeared early in the season that he may not get there. He looked horrible at the plate. Rolling over balls, swinging at bad pitches, etc. It wasn't until after the All-Star break did he start to hit well and not until the month of August that he has had a prolonged hot streak.

As of today he has his 30 home runs. He also has 76 RBI's. I think 24 in the last month and a half is very doable for him. His average is now at .288, his highest mark of the season. He could go on a 7 for 10 streak and be right up near .300. He also leads the league in runs with 82. He has only failed once to get 100 runs scored, and that was 2007 when he only had 99. It looks as if he will get there again.

Don't look now but he now leads the league in homers and runs, is seventh in RBI's, and has cracked the top 25 in average. I don't think he'll top either of the latter categories, but it's worth watching.

Friday, July 22, 2011

1953 Bowman Color Additions

God I love the photography in this set. I am just beginning and it will take a while since they are pretty pricey.



Saturday, July 16, 2011

He Said Wood...


I admit that, even at 36, I still sometimes have a Beavis and Butthead mentality. I have been working on a unique card collection of rather unique names. Most, if not all, sink into the mental realm of the above esteemed pair. Periodically, I will post one of the collection when I have nothing better to write about. Nothing like childish behavior for a fallback huh? Anyway, I present to you my first example.


I know it was the '60s, but you know he had to have taken all kinds of crap for his name. Even a preacher would have a chuckle. Mr. Held had a really long (huhuhuhuhuhuh) career actually. Over 14 seasons he had nearly 1000 hits, averaging 21 homers and 65 RBI's over a 162 game season. His career average was .240, and according to a short bio written on his Baseball Reference page, "At the plate, he swung hard in case he hit something". That pretty much tells you all you need to know.

He said "hard"...

Friday, July 15, 2011

A&G? No, I'll Take 1987 Fleer, Thank You.


So almost everyone is going ape sh*t over 2011 Allen & Ginter. I think it's a nice design and I will collect the Cardinals. I will not however fork over money to buy a pack or a box. Topps inserts way too many non-sport/sports nobody cares about cards in these packs. On top of that, they keep on with the abomination that is "game used". These things have completely run their course and should be put down like an injured horse. I don't want to go postal when my "hit" is a piece of cloth that was on the back of Tim Wakefield, no thank you. I saw yesterday on Collector's Crack that Topps is now using "Travel Day Memorabilia". What the hell? Yes, I want a piece of Prince Fielder's designer shirt. Topps has truly jumped the shark. So in conclusion, I am not giving Topps any of my money for A&G, but I will however buy or trade for Cardinals on the secondary market.

So anyway, I alluded to 1987 Fleer in the title. I was at my LCS yesterday and he just bought a bunch of junk wax from a former dealer. He had quite the variety - '82 Donruss, '84 Topps, '91 Stadium Club and '91 Upper Deck, among others. He had one box of '87 Fleer in the case so I decided to try my luck at...well, I don't know really. Most of the rookies in there aren't worth a whole lot except for Bonds and Bo. Call it nostalgia. I plunked down my $3 and these were the best two cards I got...


Neither are Hall of Famers but both were very good. I remember in my youth that '87 and '88 Fleer were hard to come by here in the Midwest. If you found them in a gas station or grocery store it was like Christmas. In my opinion, this was the best looking set that Fleer put out in the junk era. Like something else better? Leave me a comment and state your case.

Saturday, July 09, 2011

1968...A Year Of Turmoil And Ugly Cards

1968 Topps is probably my least favorite set of the '60s. The wood grain borders just don't do it for me. That and they are inconsistent; they look different from card to card. One cannot however complete a run of vintage Topps team sets without also collecting the "inferior" sets. So without further ado, here are three new pickups.


1968 Topps #497 Cardinals Team Card. I have already admitted that team cards don't do it for me, so combine that with an inferior set and you get...a card I actually like. Yes, I actually like the look of this card. Maybe it's because this features the 1967 Championship team.


1968 Topps #378 Bob Gibson A.S. - Of course 1968 was the year that Robert established the modern record with a 1.12 ERA. He lead the league with 13 shutouts. Simply dominant.


1968 Topps #372 Lou Brock AS - In 1968 Brock led the league with 46 doubles, 14 triples, and 62 stolen bases. The ultimate table setter.