I Missed Again

My blog anniversary that is.

I wish I could do a blog about music. I've spent most of my life around it...whether it be listening, rehearsing, performing...there really hasn't been an instance where music hasn't put me in a better mood.

But I can't even do this blog on a regular schedule...much less add another one.

I was a huge Genesis/Phil Collins fan back in the 80's. No Jacket Required is still one of my favorite albums of all time. I've read that this album has not held up over the years, but I don't care. I'm not ashamed to say I like it. I don't care what the public perception is about any artist. I like what I like. For example, I was walking my dog this evening listening to Creed. I do believe whenever there is a "Worst Band" poll, they come out on top.

So I've been blogging since February of 2013, and I've published 370 posts. My first year I did 172 posts, last year 11. I'ts not been lack of anything to post about, just lack of time or energy. I've made it a point over the past week to read blogs again and have thrown up a couple of posts.

One of the things I often write about when I do post is my lack of organization. I'm forever sorting cards and really getting nowhere. This card is from a stack of thirty-two 1974 Topps that have been sitting in a bottom drawer waiting for me to post about them.

Here's something you don't see every day. A Red Sox player as the stolen base leader.

Although that's probably not nearly as surprising as finding out that Reggie Jackson was tenth.

1977 was the first year I collected baseball cards, but I still have a long way to go to finish this set. I think this stack of eighty-six cards came from a card show some months (or maybe even a year) back. Say hello to Grant the Hatless Mariner. Although he was drafted by Mariners in the expansion draft, he never played for them, as he was traded to the Pirates a few weeks later.

I am still amazed that he only hit one home run over his career.

I love the lousy airbrushing jobs on some of these cards.

What a difference a year makes. I can go through every card in the 1978 set and recognize everybody. The 1977 set has a whole bunch of players that I have no idea who they are.

When I was a kid, I would get so excited when I got a Red Sox card from this set. I still do. I love this set and was glad to see it represented in last year's Archives.

Another set from my youth that I need a lot of cards from is 1982 Topps Football. I managed to score a stack of fifty towards it. I think I paid a dime a piece for each of these cards. I can't remember for sure though.

Even though the Boston teams are my favorites, I was a huge Dallas Cowboys fan in the 70's and 80's to the point where I could name every player from Roger Staubach to Scott Laidlaw. Everson Walls was my favorite player of that time period.

You had to feel bad for anybody that played for Tampa Bay the first few years. I remember rooting for them when the made the playoffs for the first time during the 79-80 season.

Kenny King. I remember seeing him taking a screen pass 80 yards to the house in Super Bowl XV.

3 posts in a week! Maybe that music blog isn't such a crazy idea after all.

Shopping At The Dollar Store

Okay, so it wasn't a real dollar store...it was a table at a card show a few months back. But each set was only $1.

1989 Score Supplemental Set...or Traded Set as I call it. Yup, $1. Not bad.

And this isn't the only good fortune I've had with 1989 Score lately. You know those repacks you can find at Walgreen's? 75 football cards for $4.99? I pulled a 1989 Score Troy Aikman rookie out of one. Trust me, I looked the card up and down for signs of a reprint, but it's the real deal.

1984 Topps Cereal Series, a thirty-three card oddball set.

1981 Drake's set. Another thirty-three card oddball set.

I picked up a few of these small boxes of Topps Stadium Club Members Only cards.

This one had seven football and thirteen hockey cards in it.

This one featured all baseball.

This one only had ten cards but they were all baseball as well.

1989 Topps Traded. I had bought this before at Goodwill, but the Griffey Jr. had been pilfered. This set had the Griffey Jr., and was cheaper.

1985 Topps Traded. 

1986 Topps Quaker Chewy Granola Bars.

I bought three of these sets, which I didn't realize until I got home and started looking at the cards. Now I'm sure we've all bought something we already had before, but when it's in your damn hand? And not once, but twice? That's old age creeping up. Did I mention it's my birthday this week and I'll be half-a-century old? I'm now getting AARP mailings. Good times.

1989 Topps Major League Debut.

Bringing up the rear is 1991 Upper Deck Final Edition. 

As a mentioned, each set was had for just one dollar.

Now if I could find deals like this at a real dollar store...

A's On Cards

I received a package in the mail from Kerry at Cards on Cards. I opened it up and it was full of Oakland A's. I wondered why I had gotten a stack of cards from that team...then I vaguely remembered something about a giveaway and I picked the A's because the Red Sox had already been taken.

And I never turn down free cards.

So here are a few highlights:

You can never go wrong starting off with Rickey Henderson...who also happens to be my favorite Oakland A's player.

I've always been a fan of the yellow and green uniforms.

Just because it's Rickey Henderson.

I've always been a fan of the Topps Major League Debut sets. I was lucky enough to find this entire set for $1 several months later at a card show.

This is from the 1993 Hostess Baseballs set. I ate a ton of those snack cakes to try to complete this set. I actually don't think I have this card.

As you may know, I am a big fan of oddball cards. I also was a big fan of Jose Canseco in the 80's and 90's. I was extremely excited when the Red Sox traded for him in the mid 90's.

Although since in the past we had Dom DiMaggio, Jeremy Giambi and Mike Maddux, I'm surprised they didn't sign Ozzie instead.

 I also enjoy 1980's minor league cards.

There were also a few cards from the Series 5 Baseball Immortals set which was released in 1988. These are cards that I would have had no interest in back then. But as you get older, things change.

What do you say we close out this post with a couple of autographs. The first one is Eric Chavez from Best cards. The back of the card says "Authentic Autograph Card from the Best Card Company." Get it?

And now from Team Best is Barry Zito. I have no idea if Team Best and Best are the same company or not. Googling the name does not bring up either, so it's a safe bet the "Best" card company is no more.

A much belated thank you, Kerry!