1974 Reds Team Signed Baseball

I decided to save the best for last when it comes to the autograph baseballs in my collection. Although the 1985 autographed baseball holds a special place in my heart because of Pete Rose passing Ty Cobb's mark of 4,191 hits on September 11, 1985, this baseball features many prominent members of Cincinnati's Big Red Machine. While the 74 Reds didn't make it to the Fall Classic, the fact that this ball is autographed during the Big Red Machine era puts it as the pinnacle of my autographed baseball collection. There are a total of 23 autographs on this baseball and the signatures I can discern are: Sparky Anderson, George Scherger, Johnny Bench, Fred Norman, Cesar Geronimo, Bill Plummer, Darrel Chaney, Phil Gagliano, Alex Grammas, Don Gullett, Denis Menke, Joe Morgan, Ross Grimsley, Ted Kluszewski, Pedro Borbon, Pete Rose, Andy Kosco, Tony Perez

Some Love from a Phillies Fan

A few weeks back I was lucky enough to win a copy of The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book from Jim over at The Phillies Room. The package arrived last night and I am very excited to dive into the book. I was also blown away by Jim's generosity to see that he enclosed a relic card from a Hall of Famer and member of the Big Red Machine. It's a dual relic card with a piece of lumber and swatch of jersey. A very beautiful card and I'm very appreciative of Jim's generosity.

TTM: Pat Zachry

Pat Zachry...the 1976 NL Rookie of the Year and member of the Big Red Machine. Very sweet, especially since he personalized it to me!

Hal McCoy Autographed Baseball

I know the majority of you readers out there are asking "Who the hell is Hal McCoy?" Well, to those who don't know allow me to illuminate. Hal is currently the Reds writer at FoxSportsOhio.com and has been writing about the Reds since 1972 when he was the beat writer for the Dayton Daily News. Hal was the person who coined the phrase "Big Red Machine". In 2002 he won the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for meritorious contributions to baseball writing. I'm thrilled to have his autograph as part of my Reds collection.

George Foster Autographed Bat

Here's another bat that's a part of my Reds autograph collection. This fine, but broken, specimen (if that's even possible) of a bat is a Louisville Slugger model that Foster autographed with the inscription of his 1977 National League MVP award. Foster was still with Cincinnati at the time and his numbers were very impressive that year. 124 Runs, 52 Home Runs, 149 RBIs and a 1.013 OPS. A five time all-star with the Reds, he was an integral part of Cincinnati's back-to-back World Championships in 1975 and 1976.

A Ticket to One of the Greatest World Series Ever Played

Here's the latest addition to my ever expanding Reds collection. This weekend I received this ticket in the mail to Game 4 of the 1975 World Series. I know it's not a ticket stub from Game 6 of the series, but I wanted to get a stub that had the Reds logo and since I was able to grab this for the price of a blaster, I couldn't refuse. There's no fading, and most importantly, no creases whatsoever to the ticket. Even though this might set me back on completing some of my card collecting goals for the year, I knew I had to get this cool piece of history. Now if I can only find a ticket stub to the 1990 World Series for the same price.

1973 Topps

I'm not much of a fan of the 1973 Topps set. Maybe it's because it looks cheap due to the little player graphics on the front of the card. Or maybe it has to do with the orange and black pairing of color on the card back that reminds me of a Halloween nightmare! Sure, you can argue that this set contains the Big Red Machine prior to their reach of Everest in the 75-76 season, but there's just too much bad vibes this set gives off. I make it a point to collect all subsets that have any affiliation with the Reds and that includes rookie, all star, and world series subsets. Looking at the 1972 World Series subset Topps included in the 1973 run is just horrid! One man basically destroyed the Reds in the 72 series... Gene Tenace! Gene Tenace of all people! Not Reggie Jackson or Rollie Fingers or Bert Campaneris or Vida Blue. Gene Tenace!!! Anyway, the only card I do care for in the 1973 set is the Johnny Bench card. I love how Johnny's heading for the dugout to try and catch a popup! Very cool photo! Johnny Bench = Like! Gene Tenace = DISLIKE!

1976 Topps

My last post I talked about the 1975 Topps set and the Big Red Machine's victory over the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. I decided to follow it up and talk about the 1976 Topps set. Not as appealing as the 1975 Topps set... and the photos are a bit sketch. The white border is ok, but I hate the cheesy all star that makes it's reappearance in this set on the bottom corner. But what's lacking in eye candy is more than made up with the player cards in this set. Again, the Big Red Machine is represented well in this set and I would have to say the Bench card is my favorite. Least favorite though would have to be the Joe Morgan card. What's up with the hands under the arms? Is he nervous? Kinda reminds me of Mary Catherine Gallagher when she gets nervous.

1975 Topps

With the playoffs in full swing, I decided to write about one of the greatest teams to take the field... The Big Red Machine. Sure, I'm not old enough to remember them playing baseball, but I have seen the highlights, read the books, and listened to countless stories from others how they were a force to be reckoned with. Carlton Fisk can have his game six home run. Doesn't matter much since Cincinnati won game 7 and the series. I like the 1975 Topps cards. The two tone border was a nice change up for Topps. I also like the player facsimile autographs on the front of the card and the 3-D rendering of the team names at the top of the card. The little all-star stars on the bottom are a little cheesy, but that's something I can overlook. I guess the main reason I like this set is because it features the Big Red Machine in their prime. Rose, Bench, Morgan, Perez, Griffey, Concepcion, Foster, and Geronimo! It doesn't get much better than that.

Did I mention I collect autographs too?!

In addition to collecting Topps Cincinnati Reds baseball cards, I'm also collecting autographs of past and present players. One of my most favorite successes is the great eight of the Big Red Machine (Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, Joe Morgan, Ken Griffey, Cesar Geronimo, Dave Concepcion, George Foster) and their manager (Sparky Anderson). Although I was born in 1975 and never witnessed the Big Red Machine play, that doesn't mean I can't admire the awesome achievements they made and their dominance of the National League in the mid 70s. Carlton Fisk can wave his arms all he wants......they still lost the 1975 World Series to the Machine.....one of the best teams to ever take the field.