where in the world is my wallet card? - local card shop edition

i paid a visit to the newest local card shop in the twin cities recently, and obviously, wallet card was along for the ride.  we got there a bit early...

the shop has been open for a little over a year now, and it's owners are a couple of regulars at the monthly card shows.  

once i got inside on this particular day, i was drawn to some of the bargain vintage - fifty cents a pop - and picked up a 1954 bowman fred baczewski card

i am not collecting this set, nor am i a reds collector, but the lack of the facsimile autograph, coupled with the mention of mickey mantle on the back of a card from 1954

was enough to get me to bite.

there were some 1956 topps cards for only slightly more, and i picked up a couple for the double play binder - tommy carroll

and pete runnels

funny that pete is enough of a nickname that it needed to be in quotation marks.

back to the cheap vintage, here's a 1955 bowman bob talbot

because i couldn't leave it there for fifty cents.

this is not a 1955 bowman card

but rather a 2001 bowman rookie reprint of don zimmer.  yes, there were modern singles to be had at the shop, too.

oddball stuff was in strong supply as well, as i picked up a few cards from the 1977-84 renata gallaso releases.  this particular card is from the 1983 set featuring the 1933 all-stars (the very first all-stars).  it's the national league team card

and it features a couple of dodgers - coach max carey and tony cuccinello.  here's the back

with connie mack and john mcgraw 'choosing sides'.

there was also a box of autographed cards going for fifty cents apiece, and i couldn't leave this 2006 grandstand st. lucie mets card of their trainer behind

although i won't be keeping it.

i will hold on to this 2003 grandstand vero beach dodgers card of willie aybar, though.

this wasn't all that i came away with from the shop - some of you will benefit from the haul by way of trade packages.  as for the shop itself, there's lots of good stuff there, and if you visit the twin cities i encourage you to check it out!

cards that should have been that really are, thanks to bob lemke

i noted a few days ago when i completed my 1955 bowman dodger team set that there were no jackie robinson, sandy koufax, or duke snider cards in the set to slow me down.  still, knowing that bob lemke had created cards that should have been for both koufax and the duke, i couldn't resist tracking those down, too.

i was happy to read that bob had decided to sell copies of his cards after taking a break.  in addition to the '55 bowman style cards, i ordered a few more.

the 1956 topps tommy lasorda card that should have been

now i just need a 1957 style lasorda final tribute.  tommy was included in the 1954 topps set, of course, and topps created a 1955 style card of the future dodger skipper for the 1995 brooklyn dodgers archives set.

i also picked up a hard copy of this 1956 topps bill mazeroski card that should have been

it fits nicely into my double play binder

last but not least are the 1969 topps steve garvey card that should have been

(one of them, anyway), and a 1955 topps football garvey as well.

thanks bob!

did i really just do that?

i had a hard time believing that i completed the dodgers' 1956 topps team set.  now, i am in a state of disbelief about doing the same for the 1955 bowman team set.

the last two cards i needed were carl furillo

and billy loes

i was helped in my endeavor by the fact that sandy koufax, jackie robinson, and duke snider were nowhere to be found on the checklist.  still, roy campanella, gil hodges, and pee wee reese were.  i count this as no small feat, and as the team set it took me the longest to finish - i got my first 1955 bowman card in 1979 from a collector in the neighborhood who gave me don hoak's card in exchange for some 1979 giants.  one of my favorite trades ever.

some beauties of a bowman

not too long ago, i posted about dodger double dipper clyde king.  i used a 1952 bowman card of his in the post - a card that i had purchased but not yet received.  i figured i might as well show the card again once it was in my possession, and i will, but first let's see this 1952 bowman cal abrams card that accompanied king on his journey.

abrams' card is superior to king's

but any 1950's bowman card is a fantastic add to my collection.  here are some other ones that i have picked up over the past few months.

1951 bowman carl furillo

and a 1951 bowman charlie dressen

i picked up the dressen at the most recent card show i attended.  i like how the card is cropped.  it looks like dressen is poking at the boundary of his two-dimensional cage.  kind of a-ha-ish.

here's a 1954 bowman george shuba

according to baseball reference, george 'shotgun' shuba was earning $13k in 1954.  i wonder if that's why he made his s look like a dollar sign.

i prefer his 1954 bowman card to his 1955 bowman card, but i bought one anyway at the same show i found the dressen

it's somewhat distressed, but that's ok.  1955 was a magical year for the dodgers, and i am very close to completing this team set.  1955 was shuba's last year in the majors, so he went out on top - making his final big league appearance in game 4 of the world series.

chico fernandez's rookie card is in much better shape

fernandez didn't debut for the dodgers until 1956, and his dodger career included only 34 apperances. he was traded to the phillies in 1957.

walt moryn

was traded after the 1955 season to the cubs, but still didn't appear in the 1955 fall classic.

charlie neal

like fernandez, made his debut in 1956. he stayed with the dodgers until he was traded to the expansion mets in december of 1961.  he also missed the 1955 world series, but he did stay with the dodgers long enough to play in the 1959 world series.

ken lehman

didn't pitch for the dodgers in 1955 (he spent the year in the minors), and the orioles purchased his contract in 1957.  he debuted in 1952, however, and got to pitch two innings in that year's world series against the yankees.

i was somewhat dismissive of early bowman during my formative collecting years.  now i recognize that these cards are pretty f'n cool.

the evolution of the shortstop - from reese to russell

only three positions left to address in these evolutionary posts - first, second, and short.  let's check the 6 in dodger history.

for me, dodger shortstops begin with…

pee wee reese (1941-42, 1946-56).  aside from the time he spent serving our country in world war ii, pee wee was a mainstay at short for the dodgers.  here's his 1954 bowman card

pee wee came over from the red sox organization in 1939, but only appeared in the majors as a dodger. during his time as the team's primary shortstop, he appeared in over 2000 games, scored over 1200 runs, had over 2000 hits, and reached base another 1100 or so times by walks.  he helped lead the team to 7 world series (all against the yankees), and hit .272 in 44 postseason games, the most by any dodger.  pee wee went with the team to los angeles, but shifted to third base in 1957, opening up the shortstop position for

charlie neal (1957)

i know that's neal's 1955 bowman card, but i hadn't shown it yet on the blog.  neal played shortstop in 100 games during the dodgers' final season in brooklyn.  he hit .270 with 12 homers, but was moved to second base when the team went west.  that means that neal replaced two dodger legends in the field in two consecutive years.  it also meant that the team had a new primary shortstop in los angeles...

don zimmer (1958-59)

yes, i know that's don zimmer's 1955 topps rookie card that i am using to mark the los angeles dodgers' first primary shortstop.  actually, pee wee reese was the first dodger to play shortstop in la, but zimmer replaced him in the team's second game and wound up playing in 114 games at the position in 1958.  the following year, zimmer appeared in 88 games (70 starts) at short so he gets the positional nod here over the other dodger to start 70 games at the position in '59, maury wills.

maury wills (1960-66)

how awesome is that 1962 bell brand maury wills card, by the way?  wills actually took over at short in june of 1959 and helped the dodgers get to the world series (and win) for the first time since 1955.  he manned the position for 7 and a half seasons before he was dealt away to the pirates.  during those years, wills earned an mvp award and led the league in steals six straight years.  he also set a record that will never be broken (unless the owners get really greedy and expand the season) by playing in 165 regular season games in 1962.  with wills traded to the pirates after the 1966 season, the door was opened for one of the players obtained in return to be the dodgers' shortstop

gene michael (1967)

although he only appeared in 83 games (66 starts) as the dodgers' shortstop in 1967, michael gets the nod over nate oliver, dick schofield, bob bailey, and tommy dean as the most used shortstop on the dodger roster in 1967.  he hit just .246 with 7 rbi, and his contract was purchased by the yankees after the season ended.  michael went on to be their primary shortstop for several years, while the dodgers went out and picked up someone else to fill the void.

zoilo versalles (1968)

i guess versalles had impressed the dodgers in the 1965 world series, as they traded bob miller, ron perranoski, and john roseboro to the twins to get him and mudcat grant.  unfortunately, versalles hit only .196 as the dodgers' everyday shortstop in 1968, and was taken by the san diego padres in the expansion draft after the season.  time for the dodgers to right the wrong that they had done a couple years earlier

maury wills (1969-1971)

yes, maurice morning wills returned to the fold by way of trade during the 1969 season.  an honorable mention goes out to ted sizemore, who started the season as the dodgers' shortstop, but moved to second base when wills was acquired, and wound up winning the nl rookie of the year.  wills was able to secure his spot as the team's primary shortstop in '69 by appearing in 104 games at the position, about 60 more than sizemore.  wills held on to the spot through the 1971 season in which he finished 6th in the league mvp voting.  while he was still with the dodgers in 1972, he was no longer the everyday shortstop, giving way to a converted outfielder...

bill russell (1972-1983)

ropes brought stability back to the shortstop position, holding on to the spot for 12 seasons.  he was named to three all-star teams during that run, and helped the dodgers win 4 pennants and 1 world series.  he was the shortstop of the team of my youth.  but, all good things must come to an end, and russell was eventually replaced as the everyday shortstop in 1984.  i'll get to that next time.

1955 type collection

i was lucky (yes, oh so lucky) enough to win the fifth anniversary giveaway contest at number 5 type collection.  if you read that blog, and you should, you know that matthew appreciates the fifth card from a set and vintage.  here's most of what my winnings included

1955 bowman gil hodges

hodges' face is framed by the creases nicely, and i am one card closer to finishing the 1955 bowman dodger team set

staying in 1955, here's a '55 topps bert hamric

wonderfully rounded corners and miscut top to bottom. i will leave it to more curious minds which player hamric is sharing space with.  whenever i see the green bottom on a '55, i think of ted williams, but he had appeared in more than 200 games.

a few interesting things to note here.  first, we have firearms on the back of the card.  second, we have a full name of 'odbert'.  you may have noticed the facsimile auto on the front also showing that bert was short for odbert.  hamric is, to date, the sole big leaguer to have been named odbert.

enough about the name - the text on the back brings us to the conclusion that hamric can hit.  if i had been a brooklyn youngster in 1955, i would have been excited to see this minor league success story with the big club.  well, hamric made it to brooklyn, but was given just one at bat - as a pinch hitter - and he struck out.  his only other appearance that year was as a pinch runner.  three years later, hamric resurfaced in baltimore where he struck out in 5 of his 7 at bats.  he did get a base hit, however, so all was not lost.  add in a pop out, and you have hamric's big league career - 8 at bats, each of which came as a pinch hitter.

oh, i couldn't resist.  it's joe coleman who is creeping on to hamric's card.

unibrow alert!  here's a 1961 post wally moon card

the card is shaped more like a backwards nebraska than a colorado, but i'm not complaining. it's got character!  and again, it's another card crossed off of the want list.

here's a 1977 tcma renata galasso burleigh grimes card

grimes played for the dodgers when they were known as the robins, but he did manage the dodgers for a couple of seasons in the 1930's.  his hall of fame plaque has a 'b' on the cap, but i don't know if the dodgers have any sort of acknowledgement of grimes at the stadium like they do for the other dodger hall of famers.  the most obvious recognition are the retired numbers, but grimes played for the franchise before numbers were worn.  i suppose they could do something like the giants have done for the likes of john mcgraw and just put the 'b' logo in a circle for him.  same goes for zach wheat and others, now that i think about it.  in a similar vein, number 2 is retired for tom lasorda, of course, but i suppose supporters of leo durocher could see that as his number as well.  kind of a yankees/bill dickey/yogi berra number 8 thing.

and, while we are on the topic of numbers, here is the back of a card numbered 4 in its set - a 1981 topps squirt steve garvey card

so close to being a part of the number 5 type collection!  instead, matthew is stuck with a reggie jackson card.  man - look at those stats from 1974 through 1980.  i really thought that we would see number 6 in the rafters at dodger stadium.

thanks for the cards matthew! and here's to many more years of number 5's!

card show recap - the final dealer

i went back to the vintage bargain bin dealer to end my time at the show.  he had tried to tempt me earlier with his '90% off bowman box'.  here's what i picked up before hitting the road.

1976 shakey's roy campanella

yay oddballs
1974 topps hank aaron special #3
1959 topps baseball thrills rocky colavito

somebody collects catches at the wall, i believe.
1955 bowman smoky burgess - because somebody else collects catchers in gear
1951 bowman dan bankhead

i did not realize that dan bankhead was the first african american pitcher in big league history.  he debuted in august of 1947, just a few months after jackie robinson.  he hit a home run in his first big league at bat, and his only appearance in the 1947 world series was as a pinch runner.

1951 bowman billy cox

1952 bowman preacher roe

1953 topps clem labine

1955 bowman don newcombe

the bowmans all have some paper loss on the back, but the fronts look good.  i took a long, hard look at a 1951 bowman campanella but couldn't pull the trigger.  i would say maybe next time, but this dealer informed me that he is relocating to north carolina and is not sure how often he will return to the twin cities.  of all the bowmans, i think i like the 1952 cards the best.  the colors seem to pop a bit more, at least on the dodger cards i have from that set.

so, how much do you think i spent on these cards? make your guess in the comments.  i'll have the answers (and winners) tomorrow.