Thursday, February 27, 2014

TTM: Al Worthington

Did you know that after his career in the majors, Al Worthington accepted the head coaching position at Liberty University?

Monday, February 24, 2014

What a Catch!

It's been a while since I've picked up anything for my Cincinnati Reds man cave and although I do like adding some vintage cardboard to my collection, I'm always on the lookout for some great pieces that I would like to display in the cave. Last week I came across a listing on eBay for a vintage Wilson Smoky Burgess signature series catcher's mitt. I wasn't sure I would be able to land this since the listing price was right at the ceiling I set for what I was willing to spend on it. Needless to say, I was the only bidder so now it's part of my collection. I love old catchers mitts and I've been wanting to grab one for the longest time, unfortunately I had a long list of criteria for such a glove. I wanted to make sure it was vintage, it had to be in great condition, and if it was a signature series the player must have spent time with the Reds. I love the patina on this mitt and the piping is all original. I'm still on the lookout for a vintage Wilson Ball Hawk glove that will complement this mitt nicely!

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

TTM: Woody Woodward

Did you know that Woody Woodward hit his only major league home run in 2,423 plate appearances on July 10, 1970 against Ron Reed of the Atlanta Braves?

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Crime Doesn't Pay....Especially When Baseball Cards are Involved!

Just thought my fellow collectors would like to read about this recent arrest of two men here in the Cleveland area that were busted for selling fake Ruth and Mantle cards. How dumb can you get?

http://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/index.ssf/2014/02/fraudulent_sale_of_babe_ruth_m.html#incart_river_default

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

An Offer Too Good To Refuse!

I've always had collecting goals when it comes to this hobby for as long as I can remember. Back in 2011 when I started this blog I had set some goals that, for the life of me, I can't remember! Guess the mind is the first thing to go. Anyway, I have goals to keep me on track so that I don't wander all over the collecting universe and can feel like I can accomplish something which, in turn, allows me to not get burned out of the hobby. This past week, however, I got a little sidetracked. I've been on the fence for a long time about whether or not I should collect the Kahn's Cincinnati Reds team sets. Fellow Reds collector Red Cardboard did a weeks worth of Kahn's post last year and that got me thinking. Each year Kahn's distributes these at the ballpark to the first somethin thousand in attendance. I had always liked the sets for their simplicity and being an "oddball" type of set. I mean come on, who doesn't like weiners? Besides, Kahn's Big Red Smokeys where always a staple at my family reunions. Where was I? Oh yeah, so a few days back I came across a listing for thirteen different Kahn's Cincinnati Reds team sets 1988-1997, 2002-2003. I decided to put a bid in since that starting price was equal to a blaster of cards and to my surprise I was the only bidder for the lot. I couldn't be happier to add over 300 new Kahn's cards to my collection. I'm not quite sure yet if that makes me a winner...or a weiner.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

2014 Topps

OK, so I'm a little late to the party. That's alright with me since I gave up busting packs years ago and instead seek out my cards through sportlots and comc. I nabbed the 14 Reds cards that Topps has released and my favorite of the bunch would have to be the Reds top prospect coming into this year...Billy Hamilton. I'm not a fan of this year's design. Essentially all the reviews that I've read this year are spot on, in my opinion. It just feels way too Bowman to me. I'm not sure what Topps was trying to accomplish this year, but I'm not impressed. 2013 was great, as was 2011, but this year's design is just a whole lot of bad. The only thing going for this set is that the wave action is a nice complement to the 2012 surfboard design. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if Topps decided to go the Stadium Club route with their future flagship releases and use full bleed photography and ax the borders. I'm sure that will never happen though.