how about a blog bat around challenge? the subject: cards that i (you) used to own

i have been buying packs (and sometimes boxes) of baseball cards since 1978.  some years, i bought more than others, but it's been a constant thing in my life since i was handed my first pack in 1977.  throughout that time, i've traded some cards away, and sold others, to further my collection.  there is one card, however, that i regret having dismissed from my hands, and that is the subject of this post. the card that i used to own that i wish i still did.

the very first card i felt remorse over trading was a 1978 topps steve garvey.  i had a double, but i was planning to start my dodger team set collection.  however, i needed a mickey rivers card for the full set, and my neighbor offered to give me rivers for garvey.  i made the deal, and my regret didn't last too long as i was able to get another garvey card fairly easily not too long thereafter.  before i get too far along, i'll show some cards that i used to own that i am ok with having sold or traded.

first up is this 2003 upper deck legendary cuts bill dickey cut auto numbered 09/25

i bought a box of legendary cuts that year for $60 and found this card in one of the packs.  i have no regrets about putting this up on ebay and taking the $200-ish that it commanded. still, i kept a photo of it for posterity.

similarly, i pulled this 1/1 mickey mantle magenta printing plate from a box of 2006 topps chrome

and sold it on ebay.  no regrets.

i've owned some non-gimmick cards that were pretty cool, but for one reason or another didn't fit into my collection.  like this 1909-1911 t206 jack egan card

and this 1951 topps luke easter card

both are nice and were cool to have, but likely fit better in the collections of some random ohioans.

there have been some other, even less spectacular cards that i've traded away yet felt the need to scan first and show here now, like this 1960 topps mound magicians card

this 2011 topps josh hamilton commemorative patch card

this 2012 topps carl yastrzemski facsimile auto stitch card

2011 topps diamond dig contest kelly johnson diamond die-cut black #/60

why did that have to be a d-back instead of a dodger?  obviously, i had no problem ejecting that card from my collection.

but now we come to the card that i do regret letting go of.  almost.  first, another story.  back in 2000, a friend and i split a box of upper deck legends.  one of my packs contained a mickey mantle jersey card with a pinstripe.  i shortly thereafter put it on ebay with a pretty high reserve, and while it was sitting there, my friend questioned why i would want to sell that card - "isn't that why you collect?", he asked. "to have a card like that?"  he was right, of course, and i was secretly happy that the card did not reach the reserve (it came within $15, as i recall).  i still have that mantle card, plus a couple of ruth bat cards that i've pulled from tribute packs, and several other non-dodger, non-double play, non-any of my mini collections that are just cool cards to own.

now, seriously, on to the whole point of this post.  i used to own this card:

well, not exactly that card, but another of the only 30 versions of the 2001 topps tribute walter alston patch cards that exist.  i could not find a photo of the card (i know i took one), but it featured a portion of the 100th anniversary of the national league patch worn by teams in 1976 (and visible on the 1977 topps manny mota card), which means that the uniform it was taken from was worn by smokey in his final season as the dodgers' manager.

i found the card in a local card/comic store.  it was on the 'markdown' wall, and was listed on sale for $49.99.  that was about the cost of a pack of 2001 topps tribute, if i recall correctly, and i knew that it was worth more than that.  now, i was not fully entrenched in collecting at this time (i bought cards more so out of habit and tradition), and really hadn't thought about what my collection was beyond maintaining my yearly dodger team sets from the topps flagship and traded sets, as well as my run of complete sets of those releases (a habit i abandoned a few years ago).  so, i bought the card with the full intent to sell it for a profit.  let me repeat that.  i, a dodger fan and collector of dodger cards, bought a 2001 topps tribute walter alston patch card with the intent to sell it.  and i did.  i made about $160, which was great, but future gcrl would become very disappointed in that past gcrl.

so disappointed, in fact, that i have kept my eye out for another version (or the same one) ever since.  i did find one on ebay (hence the picture of the card above), but it was already gone by the time i saw it.  my card sold to someone in alabama or arkansas - i do not remember which - so folks down that way, please keep an eye out.

in the meantime, i have added a different dodger manager's 2001 topps tribute patch card to my collection

that's alston's successor, tom lasorda, and his card features the red number patch that i enjoy so much.  i also own another patch from this set, one i pulled from a pack from a box i purchased in 2004 or so.

it's been about 11 years, and it may not neatly fit in my collection, but i'm not sure that i'm ready to part with eddie mathews yet.

so, what do you say?  what cards have you owned that you regret are no longer in your collection?  i'd like to read about it - either in the comments or as a bat around - because i feel your pain.

let's bat around with pete rose, steve garvey and rich (not dick) allen

i've got three stories for the fifth installment, which i loosely interpret to be about memorable card or memorabilia acquisitions.


first, i am an unabashed fan of pete rose. during my formative fan years, there were several offseasons when a group of major leaguers would descend on our fair city for a fundraising dinner. local guys like roy howell and good players like tim wallach, rick burleson, and bobby bonds, and even some hall of fame caliber guys like robin yount and pete rose. joe dimaggio even showed up one year, but i was off at college.


the dinners were held at the local elks lodge, and you could mingle with the players before dinner. during dinner, they sat at a head table, and each took turns speaking for a few minutes. i recall one year it turned into a pete rose roast. anyway, every year i got rose's autograph. i still have a ball (pretty faded) with yount and rose and a bunch of other guys. one year, though, i had a hard time finding him. i finally saw him heading into the bar area. i remember he was wearing what i would now consider some sort of cheap leather/naugahyde jacket. there was a hockey game on the tv in the bar, and when i asked him for his autograph, rose snapped at the bartender: 'so now you're letting kids into the bar!?' i just smiled and held out my autograph book, which he took and signed.


the only in person steve garvey autograph i have is in that same book, and how i got it is story number 2. the cool thing about it is that i got it at dodger stadium on april 16, 1983. that was the day garvey broke billy williams' national league consecutive games played streak. i waited down by the padres' dugout along with a ton of other people to get the auto. it was garvey's first trip back to chavez ravine after signing with the padres in the offseason. i remember some older teens pushing their way toward the railing, sticking their items out closer to garvey, beyond my reach. as he took my book he waved their stuff away and said 'maybe next time'. i thought that was pretty cool.


but probably the best experience i have had acquiring something in this hobby, which i will use for story number 3, has to do with my personal white whale: the 1971 topps rich allen (cue the sunbeams and singing angels). i think it was around 1980 when i decided to collect the dodger team sets back to 1970, not really knowing how difficult it would be. i quickly discovered that ron cey happened to be on mike schmidt's rookie card, that steve garvey's 1972 topps card was a high number, and that ron cey and frank robinson also had high number cards in that set. those were the cards that i figured would give me the most trouble. i was wrong.


my dad came through one birthday with the schmidt/cey card, and the others were obtained over the years at card shows in anaheim and la. soon, the only hole in my dodger team collection was the second pocket of my 1971 team set. right between the team card and walter alston, sat a spot for rich allen.


at every show i went to, i would ask; just about every time i went into the local card shop, i would ask. but i didn't even know what the card looked like - i had never seen one. finally, at one of the shows, a dealer had a complete 1971 set. i saw the card for the first time - allen kneeling, pointing the bat, the left field pavilion of dodger stadium in the background, the photographer's knee (or was it someone else's) in the foreground. i remember telling the guy i would kill for that card - he had the decency to correct me, and i confessed that i would not actually kill. maim, maybe.


but so it went, no allen for me. in 1988 i went off to college and drifted from the hobby to some extent. once in a while, i would head to shops around orange county or go to anaheim or the oc fairgrounds for a show and look around, but never found the card. one day in 1995, i went into a local hobby store for some reason - i forget why. this wasn't a card shop. it was a hobbytown usa type store - models, remote control cars, that kind of stuff. i had never been in it before, even though i had been to that shopping center hundreds of times over the previous 7 years. as i wandered around the store, i saw a display case on one wall. right in the middle of the case was the 1971 topps rich allen card.


i was in shock. i literally began to shake. $25 was all that separated me from that card. i had to run back out to my car to get my checkbook (yes, i used to write checks for things). i remember running, worrying that someone was going to ask for that card while i was outside. i made it back in to the store and flagged down an employee to open the case and hand me the card. as i stood in line to pay, i struck up a nervous conversation with the woman in front of me. i told her i had been searching for that card for most of my life. she said that it must be important if i were willing to pay $25 for it. she had no idea.

let's bat around with make believe cards

i am going to take a very narrow approach to the third bat around, and just address one set i would like to see issued next year or someday.

i went crazy for topps heritage in 2001. i pre-ordered a box as soon as i heard about it and waited not so patiently for the release date. long story short - the guy i pre-ordered from went out of business or worse, and i never got my box. i still bought a lot of packs, though. then i went crazy for topps archives when they came out. same with topps fan favorites. upper deck vintage. fleer tradition. i have always believed very strongly in the strength of baseball's connection with the past, so seeing current players on vintage style cards was almost as cool as seeing some of my favorite retired players in different poses on those same style cards.

couple all of that with my love for the final tributes - cards that include a player's complete career statistics issued the year after they retire - and you get what would be my favorite set. a set that would include a 1970 don drysdale, a 1977 hank aaron, a 1988 topps steve garvey, a 2007 todd hollandsworth, a 1976 juan marichal and a 1973 jim lefebvre.

now, i understand that there are limits to the number of retired players that can be included in a base set, so you could include current players on cards in the style of the year they were born. how about a 1972 topps manny ramirez or a 1985 topps evan longoria?

given the appreciation i and others have for the digital work of punk rock paint, goose joak, the writer's journey, white sox cards, and others, i think this set would be awesome. i would even pre-order it.

oh, and i would also like to see documentary done correctly. and sold in team sets. thank you.

let's bat around with jim lefebvre

in my short time posting on this blog, i have already shown my favorite card (1978 opc/topps steve garvey) and what is probably the centerpiece of my garvey collection (2001 leaf certified jersey number patch 6/6). now i want to write about the card that may just be the most important to me. it’s a 1966 topps jim lefebvre.lefebvre was an infielder for the dodgers in the late 60s and early 70s. the national league’s rookie of the year in 1965, “frenchy” had his best season in 1966 with career highs in almost every category. he was part of the dodgers’ switch hitting infield, along with maury wills, wes parker and jim gilliam, and like many of his teammates, he appeared on various television shows, including batman, gilligan’s island and mash. after being released following the 1972 season, he played in japan before returning to coach and eventually manage several teams in the majors. most recently, lefebvre managed china’s olympic team in 2008.

it was in 1980 when i first learned about lefebvre. at that point, i collected current year topps by buying what would have been retail packs, trading with my neighbors and buying singles at the local card and comic shop. anyway, i noticed when we would play catch that my dad used a rawlings jim lefebvre model glove. i asked him about lefebvre, and while i don’t really remember what my dad said, i got the impression that he was my dad’s favorite player. i asked my dad what lefebvre’s rookie year was and that was that. the next time i went to the shop, i asked to look through the 1966 singles. i figured he wouldn’t have a 1965 card since he hadn’t played in the majors, so i didn’t know about lefebvre’s actual rookie card. about two-thirds of the way through the box, i found the lefebvre. i bought it and gave it to my dad for father’s day.

almost immediately after that, my dad took an interest in the hobby. he began collecting lefebvre and other players and teams. he started to help me put together sets by buying boxes (boxes!) of wax. we would open the packs together and sort the cards as we went, winding up with a need list and a stack of doubles that could go to my dodger team set or individual player collections. we did this a few times a year, every year. we started going to the annual conventions in orange county (a 3 hour drive each way). i could give him my want list at christmas or my birthday, and he knew what it all meant. of course, we did other things together – the two of us and as a family – but card collecting with him was special. it was awesome to have him involved in this endeavor with me, and i like to think that it was all because i gave him a card of his own.

i should point out that the 1966 topps jim lefebvre card in my collection is not the same one i gave to my dad. he still has it, with his other cards, and i’m in no hurry to get it back.

let's bat around with steve garvey

i won’t go into the history and back story now, but know that i went from a set collector (topps) to a set (topps, fleer, donruss) and team collector (dodgers) and then/now a set (topps and other sets as they caught my eye), team (dodgers), and player collector. my main player target was and is steve garvey, and i had all of the topps, fleer, and donruss issues, along with a kellogg’s or two. life was good.

then came ebay. this was and is the single most significant thing that has happened, for me, in the hobby since i started collecting. in late 1998 i saw (in beckett, i believe) a 1995 upper deck sp championship card featuring kirk gibson commemorating his 1988 world series game 1 homer (i posted about this here). the local card store didn’t have it but suggested something called ebay. i looked and there it was. awesome. what would happen if i typed in ‘steve garvey’? wow. i had no idea there were so many cards made after he retired, and even while he was playing. i went crazy. the first card i bought on ebay was a 1999 upper deck retro incredible auto, which i wrote about here.

so, using ebay, i started buying garvey cards left and right – competing with the 4 or 5 other garvey collectors. book value? meaningless. our mutual desires drove the prices way up, and manufacturers began issuing more cards of former players like garvey, including relics, autos, parallels. i wanted them all and darn near bought them all. i spent $250 on a 2001 leaf certified garvey jersey # 6/6 (his jersey number!).yes, i was one of those collectors. while this card remains one of my jewels – (i think it is perfection on cardboard. i mean, just look at the red wool! it’s from an early 70s jersey, and from the red number on the front of the dodgers jerseys, which has always been my favorite part of their uniform) it is also one of the cards that reminds me of what is bad about the hobby. why do we need parallels? especially ones that are exactly the same as the base except for a serial number and maybe the color of the border? well, the answer is we don’t. but i thought i did.

i also bought other cards i liked, whether they were dodgers or not. the sheer volume of cards that existed, and being able to access so many of them was intoxicating. it got to be ridiculous, though. even just focusing on steve garvey was difficult. there was the base. base parallel. jersey. jersey/bat. jersey/bat auto. patch. patch/auto.and then the signatures were different. some were just ‘steve garvey’. some were ‘steve garvey #6’. some were ‘steve garvey 1974 mvp’ and so on and so on. i even have one he signed 'popeye'.pretty soon, my favorite player was driving me away from the hobby.

after a self imposed hiatus, i returned. wiser. i realized that it wasn’t steve garvey driving me from the hobby, obviously. it wasn’t even the manufacturers who were making all these cards. it was me and my collecting habits. i decided to be more focused. more selective. i have all the topps sets from 1978 on, with the exception of the 2003 and 2007 sets i am still working on. i still collect dodgers – i have all the topps team sets from 1970 on, and many many more from every conceivable manufacturer (i think). i have over 500 different steve garvey cards, and just bought the latest – 2008 donruss threads.i no longer go after all the parallels. i buy a few packs or a blaster here and there, and will collect a set or two if they strike me as being worthwhile (like 2008 allen & ginter). i am trying to streamline my collection to only the cards that i enjoy – all the others are available for someone else to enjoy. so feel free to contact me for a specific team, set, or player and i will see what i can do.

i won’t stop collecting again, because i understand that i can collect on my terms and not those of the manufacturers’. even with ebay - the best and worst thing to happen to the collector in me.