Rose and the Hall of Fame

I know I'm a little late to the party on this. Life happens and I don't have as much time as I once did to post. Looking at the date of my last post, it's been long overdue for me to throw something together to put on the blog. So, about MLB's decision to reinstate Rose and the other deceased members of the Banned for Life players, I'm not really sure how to take it. I've said before that Rose played the game hard. What he did on the field was amazing. What he did off the field; however, is unacceptable. You break the rules, you pay the consequences. That's just how life works. It's hard to separate the professional and the personal aspects of an individual and that's my conundrum. Was he a great ballplayer? Absolutely. Should he be enshrined in Cooperstown now that he's passed on? I'm not so sure. I'll leave that up to the voters to decide. What I do know is that I'll still keep collecting his cards for the things he did on the field. Case in point, I just picked up this 2011 Playoff Prime Cuts numbered out of 25 for just over the price of a "blaster". I always liked these cards and if I can find one that I need at a reasonable price I'll definitely add it to my Charlie Hustle PC. 

Farewell Charlie Hustle

I was keeping tabs on the Braves/Mets series yesterday when I received word from my wife's Uncle about the passing of Pete Rose. It's still a little bit of a shock, but I guess at 83 years old it was only a matter of time. Sparky Anderson, Joe Morgan and now Pete Rose. I know that the remaining members of the Big Red Machine aren't getting younger and no one knows how much longer those players will be with us. Love him or hate him, Pete Rose knew how to play baseball. I think that passion for the sport is what drew me to him as a collector. That and the fact that he was a flawed individual. He was far from perfect and a very polarizing figure. He made some mistakes and committed the cardinal sin in baseball that will probably forever keep him out of Cooperstown. I wanted to show off the last card I picked up of Pete prior to his passing. This 2010 Panini Century Collection Six Cent Stamp is fantastic. While I'm normally not a fan of Panini cards, in my opinion, this is just an amazing piece of cardboard. I don't have this card in hand yet as it's at COMC headquarters. There was a 3 cent stamp listed on Beckett that I purchased today since I had been eyeing that card for a while but hadn't pulled the trigger yet. I figured I had better grab it since a lot of the Rose cards I had been watching on eBay vanished quickly after the news broke yesterday and I wasn't sure when another copy would show up. There's nothing more I can say about the Hit King. He belongs to the ages now. People either liked him or they didn't. He was a polarizing figure before polarizing became the norm of society as it is today. But no one can argue his drive and determination to play the game hard. A game he loved probably more than life itself. After all, Pete once said "I'd walk through hell in a gasoline suit to play baseball." 

Passing the 500 card mark

Today I was able to meet another goal I had wanted to complete before the end of the year. I finally crossed the 500 card mark for my Pete Rose PC. While I no longer hold the #1 spot on Tradingcarddb for Rose cards in my collection, I am happy with the progress I've made in acquiring his cards. I know it's a bit premature, but maybe I'll be able to hit 600 by the end of the year. Onward and upward, unlike my Reds who are sitting in the basement in the NL Central.

Movin On Up

 

September, I guess you could say, would be called the Rose month for me. I spent the majority of last month tracking down various Rose cards for my Pete Rose PC. I was able to get 65 cards, of course 60 of those cards belonged to the 2011 Leaf Pete Rose Legacy set. The other 5 cards came from 2013 and were all Pinnacle cards. Two of those were the Clear Vision inserts and the other three were the Die-Cut Pete Rose Hit King inserts. I'm still disappointed with myself for getting rid of my Pete Rose PC a few years back. I think I was just getting burnt out of the hobby and decided to downsize. Regardless, I'm slowly reacquiring cards that I let go but I'm being more selective on the Panini products. There are some that I'm just not a fan of and I won't buy them (at least not anytime soon) when there are still a ton of oddball issue cards from the 70s and 80s that I'm still trying to track down (Kelloggs, Hostess, Drakes, O'Connell & Sons, etc.) I did notice that when I finally updated my PC collection on TCDB that I'm now the #1 Rose collector on the site. Not sure how long that will last but it's nice to be king of the mountain when I was in the #25 spot just over a month ago.

Always Prefer On Card

When it comes to autographs I always prefer the on card type instead of sticker graphs. For whatever reason, I feel as though an on card auto was perhaps handled by the individual who signed it instead of a page of stickers that someone signed and sent back to the manufacturer. Case in point, Pete Rose has a ton of autographs out there. Many of these autographs are in Leaf products and many of these (especially his Living Legend autos) are sticker graphs. Don't get me wrong, I won't pass up a Rose autograph if the price is right, but sticker graphs are a dime a dozen and I'm willing to shell out more money for one that isn't. This 2014 Leaf Q is a perfect example. Did I pay more that I should have, sure I did. But I really like the card and I love the fact that the auto is ON CARD. There are a few other Leaf Q on card autographs I would still like to chase down, but those can wait for another day.

Forgetting the First Rule of Collecting

Collecting shouldn't feel like a chore. It's a hobby that one should enjoy. When it starts feeling like a chore, or a job for that matter, then it's lost its purpose entirely. A few years back I started a PC of my favorite Reds player of all time. I had amassed more than 600 unique Pete Rose cards at the pinnacle of collecting his cards. While I can reflect now that 600 was a lot for someone who last took the field 30 years ago, I wasn't content with my collection. The parallels and short prints that comprised Donruss in 2008 as well and Leaf and Panini from 2011 to today just became too overwhelming for me. I felt that if I couldn't own every single Pete Rose card that the hobby produced then it made no sense having a PC of Rose. So I dumped the collection...all 600+ cards. It was freeing knowing that I no longer had to set aside funds to chase down a numbered color parallel to 10 or a short print photo variation; however, there was a part of me that regretted that decision. The variety of cards that I had acquired from the 70s and 80s (Kelloggs, Kahn's, Purina, Nestle, Hostess, Drake's, Coca-Cola, Squirt) was fantastic. It showed a time when anyone and everyone was producing baseball cards to include in their products. These were cards that I had wanted to grab when I was a kid but couldn't afford to buy didn't have the funds to acquire them at the time. After a lot of thought I decided I would create another Pete Rose PC collection but with one major difference. I would make sure that I would abide by some of the cardinal rules of collecting.....collect what you like and have a goal in mind. So, I've already stated my enjoyment of the oddball issues of the 70s and 80s. My goal for this PC will be to keep everything within Pete's time in the majors. Nothing past 1989. There are a couple of cards I will be trying to track down that won't be part of this collection (2014 Leaf Q autographed jersey relic, a 2014 Leaf Q Pure Auto, and the 2015 Leaf Sportkings base, mini and autograph cards) but that's it. I know that if I stick to my goals I'll enjoy putting this PC together and it won't feel like a chore this time around.

2019 Topps

I realize that Topps released their 2019 flagship series one cards a few days ago, so I'm a little late to the party. I do like the design of this year's set. Although there aren't any borders, the hockey stick style that's reminiscent of the 1982 design comes close to providing one. I just wish Topps hadn't included the pixel effect on the cards. There are a few Reds base cards that immediately grabbed my attention in this year's series one release. The first being Billy Hamilton with the ivy at Wrigley.

I'm still disappointed that Hamilton is no longer with the Reds. Defensively, he's a beast and has some of the greatest catches I've ever seen a center fielder make. Offensively, he just doesn't have the bat to at least get on base. Maybe he'll be able to pull it together in Kansas City. The second card I admire is Joey Votto stretching before his at bat. For whatever reason, this card reminds me of all the Leaf Pete Rose cards that show Charlie Hustle doing the exact same thing.

Finally, this Votto short print is fantastic. It's something you don't see very often from Topps in a base flagship set. Every time I look at this card I hear the same phrase repeated over and over in my head, "Damn he's smooth."

So, that's my thoughts about 2019 Topps series one. I'm already looking forward to series two as long as there are no super short prints I have to chase.

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

Ticket to a Coronation!

In addition to collecting cards, I always like to add pieces of Cincinnati Reds history to my collection. Whether it's a piece of astroturf or stadium seats from Riverfront Stadium, or even World Series tickets from a championship year, it's always great to memorabilia of significant importance as it relates to the Reds. I've been searching for quite some time for a ticket from a game held at Riverfront on September 11, 1985 but didn't have much luck in locating one in my price range. After a lot of patience one finally appeared on eBay for a price that I thought was reasonable. I'm extremely excited that this ticket is now in my collection. So, what was special about September 11, 1985 you ask? It's the night that Pete Rose recorded hit 4,192 to surpass Ty Cobb as the leader of all-time hits in major league baseball to be crowned the "Hit King". I think this will complement my Pete Rose PC nicely.

Leather and Lumber

No, I'm not talking about the Donruss sets of the early 2000s (although I have been tempted on numerous occasions to put one of these together). I'm talking about the "elements" that make up the game we cherish. The elements that comprise the balls, gloves and bats of the game. I shared in a previous post my autographed Pete Rose Rawlings black bat and today I've decided to share with you my autographed Pete Rose Louisville Slugger ball glove. There's a bit of a water stain in the glove where Pete signed, but it hasn't affected the signature. Pete will be inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame the weekend of June 24th-26th. In case you're wondering, the ball that I have displayed in the glove is from the August 13, 1999 game when the Reds took on the Phillies at Cinergy Field. It's the only time I've caught a foul ball during a game and it was a nice surprise to occur on my birthday of that year.  The Reds won that game 5-4.

1963 Cincinnati Reds Scorecard

This past week I purchased one final scorecard for my collection, a 1963 scorecard depicting a match up between the Reds and Cardinals. I'm not sure what specific game this is from, but I have it narrowed down to a series that occurred July 30th to August 1st of that year. The scorecard is in excellent shape for being more than 50 years old. My favorite is always the old advertisements that are in these scorecards. My primary purpose for picking up this particular scorecard was that it's from Pete Rose's rookie season with the Reds. It's icing on the cake that it included Hall of Famers Frank Robinson and Stan Musial! I'm definitely happy to have this in my collection!

1985 Cincinnati Reds Pocket Schedule

Distributor: Anheuser Busch

Venue: Riverfront Stadium

Attendance for the year: 1,834,619

Where Did They Finish: 89-72, 2nd in the National League West

Anything Memorable: Pete Rose hit his 4,192nd hit on September 11 against Eric Show of the San Diego Padres becoming baseball's new "Hit King"

3 Coins in a Fountain

More oddball items to add to my collection. These three coins were made by Kahn's /Hillshire Farms but I'm not entirely sure if they were stadium promotions. Out of the three (Bench, Morgan, and Rose) I would say that Pete's my favorite. The Bench and Rose feel as though they're made from brass while the Morgan almost feels like a cheap imitation metal of some kind. Nevertheless, I'm glad they're part of my collection.

My National Experience

Ok, so the National ended on Sunday and it's already Wednesday. Better late then never for a review. I spend about four hours at the I-X center this past Saturday with two other friends and I will say that I was very overwhelmed by the whole experience. What struck me most was the amount of autographed memorabilia and high prices that the vendors were charging. I went with one goal in mind...to pick up a 1985 Topps Pete Rose Commemorative Set. Unfortunately, I came up empty on that but I did find a few finds to add to my collection. The first was a Pete Rose comic that I spent $2 on. It's a nice oddball that I had never seen before and it looks nice on my display case. The second item I found was a Reds pennant. The vendor had a large table of pennants with some historical but a huge selection of modern pennants. I was able to grab this Reds pennant for $3. I also found a vendor that was selling a package of 10 1991 Stadium Club baseball packs for $3. Finally I nabbed 5 ultra pro 8 x 10 toploaders to hold my autographed pictures. All in all, I spent $13 for everything. I was a little bummed that I couldn't spend time in the dealers dime and quarter boxes, but that was probably for the best as that would have completely blown my budget. It was nice to see some historical artifacts there at the show, but I don't think I would attend another National. Just waaaaaaay too crowded for my liking.

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.

Bobblin Bench

In addition to the 1940 World Series ticket I snagged from selling my 2011 Toppps Gypsy Gueen master set, I had enough left over to add this outstanding bobblehead to my collection. There were only 10,000 of these nodders given away at the game on May 31, 2002 when the Reds were blanked by the Atlanta Braves 7-0. I will say that this is probably my most favorite bobblehead that's in my collection, followed closely by my Pete Rose and Dusty Baker bobbleheads.

1985 Cincinnati Enquirer Pete Rose Hit 4192

One of my favorite pieces in my collection is this 1985 edition of the Cincinnati Enquirer covering Pete Rose's historic 4192nd hit passing Ty Cobb and crowning him the all-time hit king. The paper does show some yellowing, but that doesn't bother me in the least. Again, as with my other newspapers, I just need to figure out a way to frame them for displaying. I think it complements my 1985 Reds autographed team ball nicely.

TTM: Todd Benzinger

While Barry Larkin and Pete Rose are my favorite Reds, Todd Benzinger will always hold a special place in my heart. Benzinger not only recorded the last out of the 1990 World Series, he's also a graduate of New Richmond High School (New Richmond, Ohio) where I too am a proud alumni.

Marty Brennaman Autographed Baseball

Marty has been the Reds radio announcer for the team since 1974. For thirty years he called play-by-play with former Reds pitcher Joe Nuxhall until Nuxhall's retirement from broadcasting in 2004. Some of the most notable events in Reds history that Brennaman has called include: the Reds World Series victories in 1975, 1976 and 1990, Pete Rose's 4192nd hit, Tom Browning's perfect game, and Ken Griffey Jr. 600th career home run. Marty was the recipient of the Ford C. Frick award in 2000 for major contributions to the game of baseball. 

Pete Rose Autographed Jersey

The pinnacle of my Pete Rose collection. I don't have anything to add that hasn't already been said of Pete Rose. He's still my favorite Red and while I don't agree with him betting on baseball (even though he said he bet on the Reds to win during his wagers) I respect his accomplishments on the field. Charlie Hustle had a love and desire for the game you really don't see in today's players. Do I think Pete will ever be admitted to the Hall of Fame....probably not. If Joe Jackson, who put up amazing numbers during the 1919 World Series while allegedly helping to throw the series, still isn't enshrined in Cooperstown then the chance of Rose ending up in the Hall doesn't bode well. Baseball is an imperfect game filled with flawed heroes, and that suits me just fine since I'm not perfect...only human.