McCovey Monday #6

 My favorite player of all time is Hall of Famer Willie McCovey.  I have amassed a collection of over 1100 different  McCovey cards since I started collecting him in the late 1980s.  I will show off one of my favorite cards every Monday.  Stretch was one of the most feared hitters of all time and I am excited to show off my collection.

I decided to showcase another recent McCovey pick up this week. I promise I will get some more vintage cards into the mix but this card just came in and is a very nice addition to my collection.

This is my first autograph pick up of McCovey out of this year's Tribute issue.  I thought I would share the pros and cons of this card/set from my perspective.

Pros:

1. Its a Willie Mac Auto!
2. I like how the blue of the card matches the blue of signture
3. On card signature
4. Pretty nice signature of an aging McCovey
5. Great fact on the back "If there's a greater tribute to a player than winning an award, it's having one named after him.  Each year since 1980, Giants players and staff have given the Willie Mac Award to the player who best exemplifies the Hall of Famer's spirit and leadership."

Cons:

1. Blue really isn't a Giants color
2. On the fence on the encased and stickered card - decided it is a con
3. As a player collector, not a fan of all the parallels of this card, we have Base /99. Orange /25 (need one of these - bet the orange looks great!), Gold /15, Red /5, Onyx Gold Ink /1 and Purple /1 not to mention 4 signed printing plates

Gotta say my Pros far outweigh my Cons.

Speaking of the Willie Mac Award, here are the past Giants winner since the inception of the award.

Year    Player
1980    Jack Clark
1981    Larry Herndon
1982    Joe Morgan
1983    Darrell Evans
1984    Bob Brenly
1985    Mike Krukow
1986    Mike Krukow
1987    Chris Speier
1988    José Uribe
1989    Dave Dravecky
1990    Steve Bedrosian
1991    Robby Thompson
1992    Mike Felder
1993    Kirt Manwaring
1994    (not awarded due to strike)
1995    Mark Leiter
1995    Mark Carreon
1996    Shawon Dunston
1997    J. T. Snow
1998    Jeff Kent
1999    Marvin Benard
2000    Ellis Burks
2001    Mark Gardner
2001    Benito Santiago
2002    David Bell
2003    Marquis Grissom
2004    J. T. Snow
2005    Mike Matheny
2006    Omar Vizquel
2007    Bengie Molina
2008    Bengie Molina
2009    Matt Cain
2010    Andres Torres
2011    Ryan Vogelsong

There are some great names in SF Giants history on this list.  Is there anyone else surprised that Barry Bonds never won the spirit and leadership award?  Just kidding, although Jeff Kent is somewhat of a surprise.  Willie's great leadership and reputation as a wonderful teammate and stand up guy is part of the reason I was drawn to collect him as a kid.

Contest Update

I am back home and my first contest is now closed.  I will get a list together of all the entries and do the randomizer and announce the winner in the next day or two.  I want to thank everyone for their participation, I was able to drum up a dozen new followers and quite a few hits onto the blog.

Also several of you inquired about the condition of my dad - thanks!  He is doing very well and was appreciative of my road trip to take him to and from the hospital and get his situated at home post procedure.  It appears the procedure was a success and while he is feeling mild discomfort, overall he is doing very well.

There was a bright side to the trip.  The hospital was less than an hour south of AT&T Park and I was able to go up Friday night after dad was out of the operating room and resting and catch the Giants and A's in an inter-league battle. I am too tired to post about it tonight but I have some nice pictures from my sweet seats I will try and share tomorrow.

Thanks again for the contest participation and well wishes for my dad!

Cooperstown Visit - The Ultimate Card Set - Part 1

I mentioned in a prior post that I visited the Baseball HOF in Cooperstown last spring. It was an amazing trip I would recommend to anyone who loves baseball.  As you can imagine, there was tons of baseball memorabilia on display and supposedly there is 100X as much in the archives.  We all know that baseball cards are part of the allure and history of the national pastime and there were quite a few cards on display.  The most impressive was The Ultimate Set and I was lucky enough to capture pictures of all 25 cards.  I will split this into two posts, showing the first 12 here, if you want to take a guess at which cards appears in the second half leave a comment.

This placard gives a brief overview of the set.  Here is the text if the picture is a little tough to read:

 

 The Ultimate Set

Earl G. “Ken” Kendrick, managing general partner of the Arizona Diamondbacks, has collected baseball cards since his childhood in the 1950s.  Kendrick’s success in business afforded him the luxury of tracking down and assembling his all-time favorite cards: 25 cardboard classics that comprise his “ultimate set.”

These cards are among the most desired in the hobby for many reasons.  Some cards represent childhood heroes, lasting symbols of a bygone era.  Others recall the game’s greatest stars and the seasons in which the shined brightest.  A select few among the most treasured rarities of all time, coveted by collectors young and old.  All are in stunning condition, crucial to the high-end baseball card aficionado.

Here is an overview of the first 5 cards in the collection.  Originally I was just going to capture the pictures this way but luckily I decided close ups were in order.  I am going to let the cards pretty much speak for themselves with a little commentary at the end.

1951 Bowman Willie Mays - PSA 9

 1955 Topps Sandy Koufax - PSA 10

 1949 Bowman Duke Snider - PSA 10

 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle - PSA 10

 1954 Topps Henry Aaron - PSA 10

 1909 E90-1 American Caramel Joe Jackson - PSA 8

 1916 Sporting News Babe Ruth - PSA 8

 1910 T-206 Eddie Plank - PSA 8

 1954 Bowman Ted Williams - PSA 9

 1933 Goudey Nap Lajoie - PSA 9

1909 T206 Honus Wagner - PSA 8

Here is an overview of how the Honus is displayed with a brief write up of its history.

1909 T206 Christy Mathewson - PSA 9

So there you have the first 12 cards of The Ultimate Set.  What do you think so far?  Do any of these not belong in your opinion?  As a Giants fan I obviously love the Mays and Mathewson cards but I also love the early 20th century cards and the Henry Aaron as favorites.  The condition of this collection is amazing.

In a few days, I will share the final 13 cards in The Ultimate Set, be prepared for some more cards from the first half of the 20th century in amazing condition. 

Mailday #4

I picked up some nice cards in the mail last week that I thought I would share.

 First up is the eTopps card celebrating the 2004 Giants team.  2500 of these were produced and I wasn't aware of this card until I stumbled across it in a Sportlots auction. Picked it up on the cheap and glad to add it to my collection.  The Giants of 04 finished with 91 wins and in 2nd place so I guess they were worth celebrating at the time.  Back in the day I used to buy a few eTopps cards, mainly those from my player collections and football players from USC.  I ended up paying the shipping on them to have them delivered when I heard no new cards were being produced.  They are certainly nice looking cards but the shipping was ridiculous.

This next group were also picked up in various Sportlots auctions.  I have probably gotten over half of my 60s Giants in these auctions including this Pierce and Haller.  The Haller is in such good condition, it could be fake but why would anyone reproduce a 64 Tom Haller and sell it for a buck?  The Robinson SP was only a quarter, if anyone is interested it could be had for a decent Giants card.  The Perry Milk Duds cards is also for trade, I have accidentally picked up two.  The Cain is from this year's Heritage and I am working on putting together the entire Giants team set - I believe there are 6.

Finally a group of Giants I picked up from the same seller on eBay.  I got these 2 GU and 6 minis for $13 delivered.  I am hoping to complete the Giants mini set with all the variations, it is going to be a daunting task and I need to get on it soon.  Completing the GU should be easier.  I really enjoy the design of these mini GU cards.  I wish there were more Giants in the set.

Contest Time - Win some HOF Vintage

I have decided to hold my first contest in celebration of the progress this blog and to recognize those that have been following and commenting on it.  I have posted 30 posts since Opening Day (4/6), not quite one per day but close enough for me based on all the traveling I have been doing for work.  I expect the travel to slow down some and hopefully I will hit a nice stride and start a couple new regular features.  My 30 posts have generated 42 followers (more than I ever expected) and closing in on 900 page views.  Let's see if I can increase those with a contest.

Pretty simple contest.  If you haven't figured it out by now, I am a huge Giants fan.  We are struggling this year with some sub par play by a couple of key people (Lincecum and Crawford - although I didn't expect much from Crawford) and more damaging some key injuries (Wilson, Sanchez and Sandoval).  So to lift my spirits, I need some Giants love - not too over the top but some Giants love.

To qualify for the contest, you need to be a follower of my blog - don't worry you still have time.  Other than that, you need to leave a comment on this post telling me who your favorite Giant is, past or present, and why.  If you pimp my contest in your blog and share a link, I will give you two entries into the contest.  I will random the entries on random.org 6 times (number of Giants' championships in their history) and winner will receive these vintage 1970's HOF cards.

The Yount is a little rough and none of them are mint but who needs mint vintage!?  Plus they are free.

I will also toss in a couple other HOF cards of a newer vintage - a Rickey Henderson GU and a Manufactured Hat Logo of one time Giant Orlando Cepeda.

I am heading out of town today to help out my dad - he is having a procedure on his heart - shouldn't be a big deal but it is his heart so it is a little scary. Once I return I will end the contest and we can figure out a winner.

Good luck and thanks for you interest in this blog!

Cardboard Collection April Break

It has taken me a while to get this one up but it was a fun Affordable break.  I try to get into Colbey's breaks most every time and pick up some cards for the Giants collection.  Cobley runs a great blog with monthly breaks at Cardboard Collections and here are my goods from the April break.  Unfortunately I have all the base cards from the boxes that are getting broken in May but I am hoping to jump back in for the Giants in June.

The first box was 1999 Skybox Thunder.  I picked up 5 of the 10 base cards for the team set.  Also, if you check out my newly updated Want Lists, you will see I need just one more card to complete this team set - #286 Barry Bonds.  The Want List is broken out by 2012, Base, Parallels, Inserts/Small Sets and Oddball Wants.  I currently have my want lists from 1987 to 1999 plus 2010-2012 available.  I am hoping to have the 2000s and 1980s done by the end of the month.  Still haven't decided if I will do more than Bowman and Topps base prior to 1980, I am sure ultimately it will include all of them.

I know the lists are long but I am trying to be all inclusive to limit some of the dups I seem to get frequently. I love getting cards but currently I am storing 4 or 5 800 count boxes of Giants dups.  If you or someone you know wants some Giants drop me a line.

Back to the break.  The next box was 2003 Fleer Genuine.  The Giants only have 3 players in the base set, I was lucky enough to score all 3 plus a very nice serial numbered Descending parallel of 2B Ray Durham #008/121.  I needed all 4 of these cards in my collection and was very happy to pick them up.

Finally the last box of the break was 2003 Fleer Double Headers.  I had a few Giants cards from this set going in but was lucky enough to score these 4 additions to the Giants collection.  The bottom 2 are fold out cards that feature players from other teams.  I was very happy that Colbey decided that the cards should go to the person who could best display them.  Again this break leaves me just one card short of a team set - I need #25 Barry Bonds. 

Thanks for another great break Colbey!  If you have the last two cards for my team sets or any other Giants on my robust want list of the late 80s, 90s and 2010s, drop me a note and lets make a trade.
I think the two team sets with 1 card remaining my inspire me to create the sidebar Top Wants list that seem to score quite a few bloggers some goodies in trades.

Cooperstown and the Baseball HOF podcast

Last spring I traveled to Cooperstown, NY to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame.  It was a gift of sorts from my wife to celebrate my 40th birthday.  Originally it was going to be a solo trip but when I started looking at places to say, my wife decided to tag along as long as we booked at one of the nice bed and breakfasts in downtown Cooperstown.  I was happy for the company and ended up loving the trip.  I plan on sharing some of my photos and memories from the trip in future blog posts.

The trip inspired me and renewed my love and passion for baseball.  The love was always there but since that trip baseball has reentered my life in a way similar to that of my childhood.  I have been collecting cards for years but my focus prior to the trip was more on USC football, this trip sparked my desire to super collect the Giants.

Since the trip, I have been on the email list for the Hall of Fame.  Weekly I get an email that tells stories of the past, shares current news of the HOF and links to a blog that share a lot of inside information on the HOF.  In a recent email, they shared the creation of a new monthly podcast with interviews and discussions about baseball history.  The podcast is called Cooperstown Conversations and they have produced podcasts under an hour a piece each of the 5 months of 2012.  I have listened to May and April (and listening to March as I type) and I would highly recommend giving it a try. 

My highlight was an interview with a man who befriended Jackie Robinson as a teenager and stayed in contact with Jackie for the remainder of Jackie's life.  They shared tons of letters and visited each other a few times.  I believe the man who was interviewed is publishing a book of all the letters. It gave great insight into who Jackie was as a man and elevated my already high respect for him.  Some other cool features were interviews with Carlton Fisk and Ozzie Smith along with a replay of a past interview of the late Gary Carter.

Check it out and let me know what you think.