Rest in Peace, Pete Rose

He was a polarizing figure for some.  Regardless of that, he was a baseball legend.  Today, the world lost Pete Rose.  The all-time hits leader was 83.

I met Pete Rose a few times, the most memorable being at the Hall of Fame induction weekend in 2013 when no living Hall of Famers were being inducted.

I made that trip with good friend, Drew, his dad, Joemama, my son, Chris and my brother, Adam.  So much had changed since then.  I'll never forget Chris getting tired of standing in line and plopping down at the first chair he saw, next to Pete.

Chris had earlier gotten his baseball signed by Pete for free.  We were standing in line and Chris was holding a ball. Pete asked him his name and asked "Do you want me to sign your ball, buddy?" Pete did, and added his hits inscription.  I've got the ball put up for Chris.  When Chris sat beside him a bit later, he said "Hey Chris!".

I ran across Pete at a National a couple years ago, and thanked him for being cool to my son.  He didn't remember the encounter; at least he was honest about it.  I get it, he did tons of shows.  Still, I showed him the photo and he chuckled.  I, then, showed him a more recent picture of Chris and he said "Boy, look at all that hair!"  Pete could have brushed me off, but he was so nice.  Things like that won't be forgotten.  People can believe what they want about the man, but I'll sit back and reflect on my own personal experiences, and mourn him.  Rest in peace, Charlie Hustle, Hit King, Legend, Pete Rose.

TTM Success - Ray Fosse

This TTM success from former catcher, Ray Fosse, was nice in that it was also a success from Spring Training.  I sent off some nice cards, and they all look great now that they are signed.  I liked this airbrushed 1976 Topps Traded showing Fosse after he had been traded back to the Indians from the A's.

I also got a 1972, 1977 and a 1980 signed by Fosse.

Fosse (b. 1947) played in the majors from 1967 to 1977 and 1979 for the Indians, A's, Mariners and Brewers.  He had 758 hits, 61 home runs and a .256 batting average.  He was a two-time All Star (1970 and 1971) and won the World Series twice with the A's (1973 and 1974).  He was a Gold Glove Award winner in 1970 and 1971, and his best MVP finish was 23rd (1970, AL).

Fosse was injured during a collision with Pete Rose on the last play of the 1970 All Star game.  He wound up with a later-diagnosed separated shoulder that had healed incorrectly.  That collision is still talked about today.

I mailed to Fosse on February 19, via A's Spring Training and got the cards back on March 11, for a 20-day TAT.

TTM Success - Pete Rose

I added another huge name to my 1987 Topps set and crossed off three cards with this TTM success from Pete Rose.  I was missing this manager card from my bulk box of 87s, so I had to buy this off of COMC last year, but I got it, and now it is signed.

Rose signed pretty small, but the autos still look good.  I was really happy to go ahead and get these done.

Rose (b. 1941) played in the majors from 1963 to 1986 for the Reds, Phillies and Expos.  He is the all-time leader in hits (4,256), games played (3,562), plate appearances (15,890) and at bats (14,053).  He also had 160 home runs and a career .303 batting average.

He was an All Star 17 times (1965, 1967 to 1971, 1973 to 1982 and 1985), the NL Rookie of the Year in 1963 and the NL MVP in 1973.  He won the World Series with the Reds in 1975 and 1976 and with the Phillies in 1980.  He remains banned from baseball after a 1989 investigation into his admitted betting on baseball.

I mailed to the private signing on October 12 and got the cards back on December 15, for a 64-day TAT.  I paid a fee of $35/card.

Awesome "Pulls" From Jack

My buddy Jack did some "pulls" a couple weeks ago for $5.00.  What a "pull" is, is when someone dumps a bunch of cards into a box and for a price, they randomly pull out cards.  I think I got 3 pulls with my $5, or something like that.  I lost track once Jack pulled this Pete Rose auto for me.  I mean, this awesome auto for $5?  STEAL!

The "pulls" concept is a pretty good one, I think.  I've never done it, but if there are good chasers, then it would almost be attune to buying a pack of cards.  I had no idea what was available, I just sent the money to help out a friend.  Jack is a good kid, whom I have helped along with his collection.

Thanks for the pulls, Jack, especially since I did so well!

Awesome Trade With Max S.

I completed a huge deal a few weeks ago with my friend, Max S., when I sent him a couple Michael Choice autographs and some other Cubs cards.  In return, Max sent me two packages of vintage stuff. There was so much in the packages, I was overwhelmed while looking through it all.  You can see how much he sent below.  There were 9 pages of 1975 Topps, a snap case with more 1975s and a few other 70s cards.  There was another snap case of advertising cards (mostly 1976 Hostess), three mini albums filled with 70s cards and some other miscellaneous stuff.  The card I liked the most was the above 1965 Topps Deckle Edge Willie Mays.  It was on the last page of the last mini album that i looked through and I was so excited to see it.  There were several other Deckle Edge cards, one of which was a sweet Carl Yastrzemski.

There were quite a few cards in the package(s) that looked like someone had went to town on with a pair of scissors.  Most likely, it was a kid who was trying to get their cards to fit into an album page.

This 1958 Topps All Star card of Stan Musial was the biggest example of the trimming.  There was also a 1956 Topps base card that had also been trimmed significantly.  While it would have been cool to get this Musial in untrimmed condition, it is still a nice card and carries a good story.  I'm not concerned with the value.

There were a whole bunch of these 1976 Hostess cards, not quite the complete set, but probably pretty close.  Most of them were cut like the above Cuellar, but this card will still look cool in my Cuellar PC.  The other ones will be put up for now.  I may consider going for the set later on.  They would look cool in an album, I think.

There were quite a few 1975 SSPC cards in the deal as well.  There weren't any stars, but the cards are still really cool.  This might be the first time Jorge Orta has made an appearance on my blog.

Max S. had to send this deal in two packages because the album pages of 1975 Topps didn't fit into his original package.  I ended up with a bunch of 1975s.  I already have completed this set, so I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with these.  I might trade or sell some of them, or I might hold onto them for a bit until Chris gets into set building.  If that happens, he will already have a nice starter set.

There were a bunch of 1976 Kelloggs cards, the highlight of which was this Pete Rose that was in really awesome condition.  Most of the Kelloggs cards that came in the deal were in great shape and didn't have all of the surface cracking that I have seen on these in the past.

There were also some 1970 Kelloggs cards in the package.  The nicest of which was this Rod Carew.  I know some people in the past have built these Kelloggs sets.  I don't know if I will, but at this point, I will definitely consider it.  Worst case, I will hold onto the Hall of Famers and flip the others, who knows.

Finally, there was a really nice 1971 Topps Catfish Hunter card in the package that will get put into my Hall of Fame box (probably where a lot of this stuff will go).  I have picked up a few early career Hunter cards and each of them looks so cool with his uniform.  Hunter is also a sort of local legend around this area, as I live about 2 hours from Hertford, NC, where he called home.

While I was waiting to get this huge deal posted, Max S. and I worked out another deal where I sent him some more Cubs cards.  In return, Max sent me some nice Orioles and this really cool Topps Archives chrome Hank Aaron.  The card looks really great and I was glad Max sent it.

Please note, I will be referring to Max S. as Max from now on.  Those who have been reading this blog since its inception will remember that I used to know someone else named Max who had been featured quite a bit on here.  Since we no longer associate with one another, I will not be referring to him at all and I didn't want anyone confusing the two.  So, from now on, Max S. is who I will be talking about; a really good guy from Chicago.  I hope that clears up any confusion.

Birthday Gift From Mom and a Trip Home

I went to my parents' house last weekend for my birthday and was surprised when my mom gave me a card as a present.  I had already thought that the tickets she got us for the Carolina Panthers vs. Detroit Lions game was my birthday present, but Mom couldn't resist going to the local card shop in Clemmons, NC (Lucky Dog Collectibles) and picking up some cards.  She found the above 2010 Topps National Chicle Adam Jones artist's proof card and thought I would like it.  I do, and it is really cool that the card is signed by the artist who painted the portrait on the card, Jeff Zachowski.  The card is numbered 5/10 as well.  I always liked the National Chicle cards.  I'm sure Topps will bring them back sometime soon.  I also like that this was an Adam Jones card.  I realized the other day as he was doing the victory lap around Camden Yards that I don't have enough Adam Jones cards in my collection.  He is the leader on this team and I am happy that he has a long-term commitment to Baltimore.  Thanks for the card, Mom!

While I was in town, I wanted to get a few cards for myself, so I went to Lucky Dog on Saturday and checked out their vintage wares.  While I was there, I met up with old friend of the blog, the wonderful Babe-O-Licious (or Babe for short).  While we chatted it up with Babe for a while, Chris and I picked through the vintage boxes in the shop.  I got one 1959 Topps card for my set and 16 1969 Topps cards for that set.  I also picked up some cards I knew that I needed for my 1967 set, like the above Pete Rose.

The highlight of the 1969s that I got was another Pete Rose (it must have been Pete Rose Day in my brain).  Both of the Rose cards are in great shape, and the owner of the shop gave me a great deal on them.  I also picked up a sweet Ron Santo rookie card for a future trade with my buddy Max S., the Cubs fan.

I saw this 1972 Topps Traded Frank Robinson and had to pick it up.  I don't believe that I have seen a Frank as a Dodger card.  He definitely looks odd wearing the white and blue.  The card is beat up, but the owner only charged me a couple bucks for it.  I wasn't about to complain.

Finally, I picked up another 1967 Topps card, this one being Mike Cuellar, prior to his Orioles years.  Cuellar is such an underrated pitcher and it was a shame he lost his battle to cancer a few years ago,

Cards From Vacation

One of the things I enjoyed while I was on my vacation was that there were several card shops right near where we were staying in Michigan.  I visited two different shops (one of the shops, I visited twice) while on vacation and left them with a great many cards for my collection.

One of the shops had a box of really rough vintage cards that he hadn't gone through, yet, and I was working on a trade on Instagram for some 1954 Topps, so I offered to sort the box for the guy.  He had no problem with that, and I really enjoyed it.  I found some rough treasures, and had a good time chatting with some of the other patrons of the shop.

I found the above 1955 Bowman Ralph Kiner in the box.  It has seen better days and I almost put it back in the box, but part of me figured that no one would appreciate it the way I would, so I added it to my pile.  It pretty much became a throw-in in our overall deal, so I was glad I added it.

This 1953 Bowman Warren Spahn had also seen better days, but I love '53s, so I made sure to add it as well.  I have the Musial and Reese out of this set, and each card I see looks really awesome.  The 1953 set is one of the best-looking in all of the card sets out there in history, so anytime I can pick one up, I try to.

On that note, I saw this Nellie Fox 1953 Bowman and wasn't too interested, initially, but I figured that I really didn't have any of Fox's cards in my colection, and it, too, was a 1953 Bowman, so I added it to the pile as well.  Fox is one of those guys that you kind of forget is a Hall of Famer, but he is, and had passed away long before he was enshrined, so he was one of those guys who never got to enjoy being a Hall of Famer.

I had seen this Robin Roberts posted on other blogs before, but when I saw the opportunity to get this one for $2.50, I jumped all over it. Roberts is shown as a Yankee on this card, but he would never pitch a game for them.  He had been purchased by the Yankees from the Phillies in October of 1961, only to be released by the Yankees in May of 1962.  He was picked up by the Orioles on the same day and would have a bit of a career renaissance in Baltimore and was pivotal in adding veteran leadership to that young pitching staff.  He was released by the Orioles in July of 1965.  Had he been able to stick with the Orioles for one more year, he may have been able to collect his first World Series ring.  A World Series Championship was something that Roberts would be missing from his Hall of Fame resume.

Sometimes, when I look at vintage cards, I really enjoy seeing the old, obsolete teams and their jerseys.  I picked up this 1966 Topps Catfish Hunter for a steal.  I had my choice of this or a 1967, and I chose this one.  I felt that it showed off the uniform much better.  The current A's colors are correct, but seeing the KC hat just seems odd.  This is a great shot of the future Hall of Famer, and a 2nd-year card, no less.

Here's another with a cool retro uniform.  I took significant chunks out of my 1959 and 1969 sets while vising the shops as well.  I forgot to count how many from each set that I purchased, but I know I had more 1959s than 1969s and I got more big name 1959s as well.  Along with Hall of Famer, Schoendienst, I got Early Wynn, Louis Aparicio AS, Nellie Fox AS and a bunch of high numbers.

The biggest 1969 I got was this Pete Rose All Star for $12.00.  Not too bad.  I also ended up with a Lou Brock All Star card as well, and a few other base cards for the set out of a $1.00 box.

So, those are all of the cards I picked up while I was away.  I felt like I did very well.  I also did a really good job of keeping up with them as the trip went along.  I had brought along a Rubbermaid tote box and kept these with the cards I brought to show Dustin and Andrew.

Thanks for taking a look.  The next several posts will be about all of the mail I had received before I left and while I was gone.  Stay tuned, as the blog will be back of in full force again.  I hope you all missed me!

Hall of Fame Induction Weekend - Meeting Pete Rose

The first thing we did today while visiting Cooperstown (after checking out a card show, which I will talk about later) was to arrange for Drew to meet Pete Rose.  As you can see above, Drew and his dad paid for a photo op with Rose which turned out really well for me too.

As I was taking pictures for Drew, Chris snuck in there with a ball and a pen and got a signature from Rose.  Rose was really nice to Chris and even fist bumped him after finishing the signing.  The best part of the signing, though, was while we were waiting for Drew's photo to be developed, so Rose could sign it.  Chris plopped down beside Rose, to which Rose replied, "Hey Chris!"

Yeah, my son just sat beside Rose and hung out for a few minutes.  It was pretty surreal, to tell you the truth.  Chris was pretty bold to just take a seat there, but it was really awesome of Rose to acknowledge him and be ncie to him.

Here is the signed ball that Chris got.  I will hold onto this one for him.  It's his ball, since he had the guts to just ask for it.  I'm really proud of Chris for not being shy.  This was such an awesome way to begin our day.  Stay tuned for the first Hall of Fame signed baseball that I picked up today.

Day 2 of the National

Well, the National is over and I left with $30 left out of my budget.  I got a ton of stuff and saw a lot of things.  I only knocked off two cards from my want list, but found so many other things I had thought about for a while.  First, we met Joe Morgan this morning.  He was really nice and when I went to take Chris' picture, he motioned for him to come to his side of the table for the photo.

Chris and I got baseballs sighed by Mr. Morgan, which I will show in another post.  He was stationed between Mike Tyson and Fergie Jenkins.

Jenkins' line went really quick.  He looked pretty bored while we were waiting on the Tristar guys to call our number for Morgan.

We were able to get close to Pete Rose and Mike Tyson.  It was pretty cool to be able to be so close to living legends.

After the signing I got my ball authenticated by Tristar (thanks to Julie)/.  Then, I walked around and picked up some odds and ends.  I also took a look at a ton of cool stuff like the below jerseys.

So, my haul was significant.  I ended up with 4 Hall of Fame baseballs, one ball signed by an Oriole legend, one signed by a former member of the AAGPBL.  I got a complete set of 1992 Conlon Collection, a ton of Orioles cards/inserts and two bobbleheads.  I now have plenty of things to blog about for a long time.

In the end, I had an awesome time at my first National.  I would love to be able to go again.  Next year's show is in Chicago.  My wife wants to go, so we might head that way next year.    Stay tuned for a deeper look into the stuff I was ale to pick up.

Hidden in my Collection - Pete Rose Autographed Baseball

I realize it has been a while since I posted something other than a 1955 Topps card. I have been moving and unpacking at the house, so I haven't had very good access to my cards yet. The room I plan on turning into a man cave has been the staging area for the boxes that will be unpacked and contents of said boxes will be spread throughout the house.

Anyway, I did get to the two boxes full of autographed baseballs. They have been removed from the boxes and placed inside my awesome china cabinet that I bought at a 'garage sale' that was being done through my company's corporate office in Charlotte. I got the china cabinet for a CHEAP $200 because it was so cumbersome to move, the people selling it didn't want to take it back and accepted my offer. Woo hoo. Anyway, that isn't what you came to read about today:

This is by far one of the coolest autographed baseballs that I own. I saw it on his official webpage (along with t-shirts that say the same thing) and got a good chuckle out of it. I doubt Rose is truly sorry, as the ball suggests. My good friend P.A. put it in perspective for me several months ago: Pete Rose makes a lot of money sitting across the street from the Hall of Fame every year. The controversy surrounding Rose sells and if he were one day inducted into the Hall of Fame, the novelty of all of this would soon wear off. I agree with P.A.'s point. Rose could just sell baseballs with his autograph on them, but one that says "I'm sorry I bet on baseball" is truly unique among the other baseballs that I own, especially ones with inscriptions. I have no doubt that Rose will one day be in the Hall of Fame, but I believe it will come after he has passed away; just my theory.
Pete Rose (b. 1941) played in the majors from 1963 to 1986 for the Reds, Phillies and Expos. He was the Rookie of the Year in 1963 and the NL MVP in 1973. He was the NL batting champ in 1968 (.335), 1969 (.348) and 1973 (.338). Rose holds the career record for the following categories:

• Games played - 3,562
• Hits - 4,256
• At bats - 14,053
• Plate appearances - 15,861
• Singles - 3,215
• Times on base - 5,929

Also, his 746 doubles rank him second all-time to Tris Speaker who had 792. Rose retired with a .303 career batting average which ranks him 174th all-time.

Clearly, Rose the player should in in the Hall of Fame, if not Rose the person. His numbers definitely warrant inclusion. That is why I believe he will be in there one day, but, again, it may happen after he is gone. I also believe that Rose knew what he was doing when he signed the agreement with Bart Giamatti banning him from baseball for life. However, the Hall of Fame isn't an affiliation of MLB. They are their own separate entity, but one can understand why they have kept their doors shut to players like Rose, Joe Jackson and Eddie Cicotte, among others.