Down to One Card?

 My Sportlots order came in today and I have mixed emotions. This is the tenth time I've used the "Box" shipping method, and I love the savings in shipping which are possible. The time, as long as one isn't in a hurry, usually takes about 3-4 weeks. This one came in at exactly 19 days, which is pretty sweet. 

I'm excited to post the cards, which did come in, but I'm disappointed with the ones that didn't. Back in July I purchased what was listed as hand collated 1986 Larry Fritsch Negro League Stars set on Ebay. It was short eight cards. Strike One. 

I found three pretty early on and captured the Buck O'Neil on Beckett Marketplace. 

I thought I had the last four coming from one seller on Sportlots. Strike Two. 

Luckily, three of the four cards were still listed on Sportlots and they're on their way. I'm having a tough time pulling the trigger on the last single, which is listed on Ebay. 

Maybe someone has a copy of card #24 - Oscar Charleston they'd be willing to trade me?

Let me know if there's a copy of Oscar Charleston floating around in the blogosphere. I'll do my best to make it worth your while! Plus, I'll give him a great home. I've got the rest already paged up and in a binder just waiting to be put on display. 😁

There will be more show-and-tell Mail Day posts in the coming days.

Thanks for reading!

The Base Vogey and a Mini Bobbing Head Card

 The author of cards as i see them and long-time trading partner of more than a decade, gcrl, sent me a PWE with the 2021 Topps Update Dan Vogelbach card. 

Bonus: two new to me Kerry Wood cards were included. 

The above one is from the 2000 Pacific Paramount set and it is heavy on the blue!

The one below is from an insert set I've never seen before: 1999 Upper Deck Choice Mini Bobbing Heads.

The checklist from this 30 card set is loaded with stars. How has this fun set eluded me for so long?

Thanks for the great PWE of cards, Jim. I'll have something out to you soon!

Rooting for Buck

 Later this evening MLB Network will reveal the names of those players from the Early Baseball Era and Golden Days Era who are to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Each of the ballots consist of ten players, and 75% of the 16 person selection committee needs to vote for an individual to get the nod. You can find more information about the selection process and the different committees at the National Baseball Hall of Fame's website.

 I have opinions about many of the twenty combined names on the ballots, but I'm all-in on one particular individual: Buck O'Neil. 

 I visited the Negro League Baseball Museum in January of 2008, which started me down a rabbit hole about the often underrecognized Negro Leagues. I've learned a lot about many of the greats, like Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige and Cool Papa Bell, but Buck O'Neil has become my favorite. 

 I actually had a somewhat comprehensive write-up on O'Neil's career and influence when I was counting down my favorite bobbleheads in my collection back in 2012.  Buck O'Neil's name is all over the game of baseball. 

Since then I have been tracking down baseball cards which focus on the Negro Leagues and anything Buck O'Neil related which I may happen upon. Yes, in fact, he is represented in my Folder of Fun.

Dreams Fulfilled and artist Graig Kreindler produced a 184 card set celebrating the Negro Leagues during the summer of 2020. I wrote a blogpost after purchasing a copy of the set and the first two cards I spotlighted were of Buck O'Neil. 

Fast forward to this past summer and I read The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America.  This book was just the pick-me-up I needed after a year of pandemic teaching. Buck seemed to have had such a positive influence on everyone he met and he possessed a special talent of being able to put a positive spin on nearly every situation. 

 Recently, I've jumped back into blogging a bit by showing off Mail Day purchases. A particularly special one arrived a week ago, but I saved it for today's post. 

I never met Mr. Buck O'Neil, but Joe Posnanski's book resonated so strongly within me that I felt I needed to immortalize Buck within my own collection. I haven't been this excited about adding a singular card to my handcrafted storage box in quite sometime.  Assuredly, this card was a pricey acquisition, but completely worth it.  

Good luck today, Buck!

2021 Update Vogey

 I had another good Mail Day today. 

Topps didn't completely forget about my favorite masher this year as they snuck him into Update. 

I would have been happy only having to chase the base card, but Topps loves parallels and I'm a sucker for a good rainbow... so, yeah, that'll be happening. 

The gold this year looks more copper or bronze to me. Regardless, I'm pretty happy Vogey finally got the 2.5" x 3.5" treatment. One card down and fourteen more (non 1/1 versions) to go. 😁

If anyone has a Vogelmonster base card they don't need, then please drop a comment below. I'd love to do a PWE swap. I don't have any 2021 product, and I'm fresh out of Trout/LeBron/Mahomes, but I'll do my best to send back something you might like. 

Thanks for reading!

My Favorite Manager of All-Time

No mail today, but I do have another card that's been sitting on my desk which arrived over the past weekend.

I don't really remember Andre Dawson swatting 49 homers and winning the NL MVP for the last place Cubs in 1987. I was only nine years old at the time and professional baseball was still a foreign concept to me. 

Two years later I was memorizing the backs of baseball cards and following The Boys of Zimmer as close as I possibly could, as the Cubs were on their way to winning the NL East. What a fun summer that was!

Ryno, The Hawk and Mad Dog were the big names, but they had a great supporting cast in Dunston, Grace, Sutcliffe, Wild Thing, Les Lancaster, Mike Bielecki, Dwight Smith and Jerome Walton.

For the record, I think these movie poster cards from Topps, found in Archives, are a pretty creative idea. Good on Topps. 

Rino? Never seen it spelled that way before!

Don Zimmer seemed to be the glue that kept my favorite childhood team together. I'm not sure if he's my favorite manager of all-time, because maybe that's Joe Maddon's spot, but it's difficult to best memories from one's youth. 

Do you have a favorite manager?