Mark Kaz is Awesome

Finally found some time this evening to scan in the great package of cards I received a week or two ago from my good buddy Mark Kaz of "This Way to the Clubhouse...".  Mark has quickly shot up the ranks as one of my favorite and most frequent trade partners.  Any time I send him a package, a new stack of cards begins on my card desk, and as soon as it gets big enough to justify the couple bucks it takes to ship a bubble mailer, off go they go again.  By the same token, Mark has inflated my Red Sox collection over and over again in recent months.  So, when I pulled a Matt Harvey futures game variation from a hanger box of 2014 Topps Series 2 I knew where to send it!

In return, some more great Sox...

Manuel Margot is apparently still down in A-ball, but he's having a very good season with 8 homers and 30 stolen bases so far.  This card made me realize how bad my scanner bed had gotten.  I immediately grabbed Windex and a paper towel, and you'll notice much cleaner scans from here on out.

I got my first taste of 2014 Bowman in this package.  It goes against every fiber of my collecting being to say this but...I think...I actually like this Bowman set.

I know I like Xander Bogaerts rookie cards, regardless of the brand!  This represents just my fifth Bogaerts card, but there's one coming at the end of the post that's better than any of the others I have.

Koji is another guy who's sadly under-represented in my Sox collection.  He was one of only two Boston players to make the AL All-Star team this year.

I saw something during the All-Star game broadcast this past week that was illustrating the number of shortstops the Red Sox have had in the years since Jeter's been entrenched in New York.  I think it was in the mid-'50s (don't hold me to that) or some crazy high number like that.  Scutaro, though he wasn't here long, filled in very well in that spot from what I recall.

This package had not one...

...not two...

...but three gold parallels from 2010 Topps Update!  I'm a sucker for a good parallel.  I don't know where Mark finds all these!

How about some 2012 Topps Opening Day?

These three (what a pair of horizontal action photos on the last two!) put me within just a couple of cards of knocking out this team set.

I have very few cards of Mark Loretta with the Sox.  Though he's depicted with the Padres, the OCD side of me is totally good with this one because he's designated as a Red Sox player on the card.  If it were the other way around, Sox uniform but Padres team listed, no way!

My very first card of reliever Rudy Seanez in a Red Sox uniform.

I've picked up a couple of 2014 Series 2 hanger boxes, but was not fortunate enough to land this Jackie Bradley Jr. Future Stars card.  I am one collector who's grateful that Topps brought back the Future Stars to this year's flagship release.

I hadn't pulled Felix Doubront either, and I don't see myself picking up any more 2014 Topps, so these two were definitely appreciated.

Another great Uehara card.  I don't think anyone could have possibly foreseen how dominant this guy would be for such a long stretch of time at his late age.  Unreal.

This one was on my Zistle want list before Mark sent it my way!

This package arrived either the very day, or the next day after, A.J. Pierzynski was designated for assignment.  He certainly wasn't the biggest problem with this year's team, but he wasn't exactly clubbing the ball out of the park either.  Plus he just seemed like a total pain in the ass (apparently a common opinion among players as well).  Nonetheless, what was it I just said about a good parallel?

I may not be a big Clemens fan, but I do love the many varieties of subsets in the 1991 Score set.  This is everything an obnoxious, early-'90s baseball card should be!

Wow!  I know relic cards may not carry as much weight in the hobby as they did a few years back, but this one is cool for a number of reasons.  First of all, I don't have a ton of Ortiz relics (this would make four).  More importantly though, this card is from 2007, which happens to be the year I returned to collecting.  Oh, and Red Sox won the World Series that year as well.

And now, for my favorite card in the entire package, and probably my favorite card of 2014 so far...

I am definitely glad I cleaned my scanner!  This beauty, which hails from 2014 Bowman, pays tribute to the 1989 Bowman set, one I remember fondly.  It looks just as great in person as it does in the scan, just a beautiful card.  Bogaerts has a really unique signature too, making for a fantastic card all around.  I nearly picked this up on eBay multiple times, but was hesitant to pay a few bucks just to have it shipped.  What a beauty!

Here's the back, which will look familiar (though not exact) to those of you who were collecting 25 years ago.

Mark, you've outdone yourself once again!  I hope to repay the favor soon, and I've already picked up a few cards specifically destined for your mailbox!

1953 Topps Project - Bob Kennedy

Just a quick post tonight, creeping one card closer towards my lifelong collecting goal of completing the 1953 Topps baseball set...

I don't have too much to say about Bob Kennedy.  He began his MLB career at a very young age (playing as a regular at age 19).  Bob played for a few different franchises, most notably a member of the World Series champion Cleveland Indians team in 1948 (the last Indians team to win it!).  He'd move into managing with the Cubs and A's organizations in the '60s.

If you're a child of the '80s like myself, you might be more familiar with Bob's son Terry Kennedy, who was a four-time All Star at the MLB level and played on the '84 Padres and '89 Giants World Series teams.

Set Progress:  71 of 274 (26%)

The Best Hitting Pitcher of All-Time?

One of the vintage team sets that I began working on earlier this year is the 1934-36 Diamond Stars set.  There are a few different Red Sox cards to be found on the checklist, and what makes these even more unique as a Sox fan is that they were printed in Cambridge, MA, just down the road from Fenway park!

Here's the second card I've been able to land towards my team set.  It's in nowhere near as good a condition as my first one from the set, but the creases, rounded corners and fact that the card is off-center don't detract too much from the overall look in my opinion.

Although Wes' brother Rick (who is a HOFer) is probably more well-known among baseball fans, Wes himself was a very reliable player for a good number of years.  He began his career with the Cleveland Indians, where he was an effective pitcher.  During those first few years of his career with Cleveland you could pretty much count on him to give you 20+ wins, and being near the top of the leader board in that category.  He even tossed a no-hitter in 1931 against the St. Louis Browns!  Ferrell could really swing the bat too, something he would continue to improve upon throughout his career.  As his career went on, he proved so adept at swinging the bat that he was used in a pinch hitting role on more than one occasion.

A perceived decline in his pitching arm, along with some behavioral issues, resulted in him being dealt to the Red Sox in the early part of the 1934 season (just in time to be depicted with the Sox for this Diamond Stars set).  Wes' brother Rick was already playing with Boston at that time, kind of cool to see two brothers on the same club, and as battery mates nonetheless!  He had his career year with Boston in 1935, as the back of the card indicates:

As you can see from the write-up on the card back, Wes paced the AL in '35 with 25 wins.  He led the league that year not just in wins, but in innings pitched, games started and games completed as well.  He was right up near the top in terms of shutouts, walks per 9 innings, and strikeouts.  Add to that a .347 year at the plate and 7 home runs (more than one of them of the walk-off variety) and you've got a mammoth season!  Enough so that he placed second in AL MVP voting behind some guy named Hank Greenberg.

After leaving Boston he dealt with some health issues, and retired after making very few appearances for the Yankees, Dodgers and Braves.  In researching for this post I learned that he's definitely got his backers in terms of the Hall of Fame.  The infamous Bill James, and numerous other well-respected baseball minds, feel that he deserves some consideration when you factor in the era (and hitter's parks) he played in, the bad teams he played for, and his offensive prowess.  He finished in the top 20 in MVP voting on four occasions, and is still the only pitcher since the start of the 20th century to win 20 or more games in each of his first four full seasons.

As it stands, he's probably the best hitting pitcher in baseball history (Ruth was long done with pitching by the time he did most of his damage at the plate).  For now though, his brother Rick is the only member of the Ferrell family to be enshrined in Cooperstown...

Signature Sundays - Foote, Tocchet & Juneau

Three more Panini Classics Signatures autographs that were issued as part of the 2013-14 Contenders release arrived in the mail this past week to join the Valeri Bure and Stu Barnes autos I posted last Sunday...

Adam was a very steady defenseman who won multiple Cups with the Avalanche.  I was glad to acquire his autograph because the Avs were huge during my earlier days as a hockey fan.  Other than a short (and forgettable) 2+ year stint with the Blue Jackets following the lockout in the mid-2000s, Foote was a career Nordiques/Avalance player.  He retired after the 2011 season as the last former Nordique to play an NHL game.

Rick Tocchet was what you'd classify as a "power forward" I guess.  His toughness got him into the league, but he really developed his skill set and became a guy who could bury a puck or two on any given night as well.  400+ career goals and 2,000+ PIM is nothing to scoff at.  He's been involved in the game as a coach for over a decade now, and it was just announced a couple of weeks back that he'll be behind the bench as an assistant in Pittsburgh this season.

Finally, a guy I remember watching a lot of back in the early '90s, Joe Juneau of the Bruins.  I have to say that I never realized that Joe was apparently a super intelligent guy off the ice.  I always think that he played way more games for the Bruins than he did, just because of the number of cards that exist depicting him in B's gear.  In reality it was less than 2 total seasons worth.  His one full season was a beast though, as he took advantage of playing on a line with HOFers Adam Oates and Cam Neely to the tune of 32 goals and 102 points!

Another week, another trio.  Not the most exciting signatures themselves, although Juneau's is kind of unique.  I'll definitely have some more of these to show next Sunday.

The Ultimate Hockey Card Set - Card #44

Wow, has it really been nearly two years since I last selected a card for my Ultimate Hockey Card Set?  Since it's been a while, I'll give you the quick breakdown on what this is.  The rules are simple, I'm building a virtual franken-set of all the best cards in my collection by number.  Today I'm going to look at all the card #44s in my hockey collection and pick just one for inclusion in the set.

Since 44 is a relatively low number, I had quite a few cards to choose from.  There were probably 5-6 that I think could easily have been selected, this Scotty Bowman Masterpieces card among them.  Boy do I wish Masterpieces lasted for more than one hockey release!

There were definitely a wide variety of #44s to be found within my boxes and binders, over 50 of them out of the 15,000+ hockey cards I have inventoried and cataloged.  In addition to standard cards there were autographs, like this fantastic Paul MacLean card...

...and even inserts.  20 years ago I wouldn't have imagined that we'd see insert sets with over 50 cards in them.  I'm not sure it's a good thing, actually.

Here's a #44 that I can't even read since it's Swedish.  This came from a pack I posted nearly five years ago now.

When I think of Brian Rolston I don't associate him with the Wild, but I like this celebration shot nonetheless.  The Wild logo has kind of grown on me over the years I think.

A nice mid-'80s Topps release of Joe Mullen, a very under-rated Hall of Fame player.  I like that the red Flames logo is almost the same size as the white logo on Joe's sweater in the photo.  It almost looks like Mullen was wearing a solid red sweater in the photo when the Flames logo up and left for the lower right corner, leaving him with a corresponding bare white patch on the front of his jersey.  I'm starting to think that I spend way too much time staring at hockey cards...

I like Mike Liut, but his only chance of making this set is wearing a Whalers sweater.  Next!

I have not one...

...but two Fedorov #44s.  Nice enough cards, but not quite up to par for The Ultimate Hockey Card Set.

I've only got one or two cards of Dit Clapper.  As a player he's certainly worthy of inclusion in my set, but this isn't going to be the card that gets him there...

Now we're getting to the really tough choices.  This '95-96 Upper Deck Claude Lemieux got some serious consideration.  It's one of those perfect "moment in time" photos; thanks to this card I'll never forget who won the Conn Smythe award in '95.  There's just something about seeing Lemieux, who I remember as a fairly tough customer, apparently crying as he hoists the trophy.

This one kind of hurt, one of the better cards that I've had to pass on since starting this series of posts.  It's from the set that most feel is the best looking of all the O-Pee-Chee WHA sets, and also features a forgotten franchise and a fantastic photograph.  I love me a good Nordiques card, whether it be WHA or NHL.

Here's the runner-up, a card I featured earlier this year.  I had wanted one of these original 1933 Ice Kings cards for a while and finally found Normie here at a decent price.  Unfortunately he was beaten out by a card that is worth much less (both sentimentally and monetarily), a junk wax card even!  Here's the winner for card #44:

 1990-91 Upper Deck - #44 - Mark Messier

Right now you might be asking yourself how someone who professes his love of vintage cardboard so often could actually choose a '90-91 Upper Deck card over an 80-year-old beauty.  Well, hear me out...

Even though I didn't particularly like or dislike Mark as a player, I really felt that Messier deserved to be included in this franken-set.  I mean the guy played for 25 years at the NHL level (and in the WHA before that!), was a 15-time All-Star (including 4 First Team selections), Conn Smythe, Hart and Lester B Pearson award winner, and captured 6 Stanley Cups!  Mark amassed more career points than anyone not named Gretzky!  Yes, I know longevity was a factor there, but you don't end up #2 on the all-time scoring list by chance.

As far as what Messier card would make the cut for my set, it wasn't the easiest decision.  I mainly collect Topps hockey and not O-Pee-Chee when it comes to the older stuff, and Topps inexplicably ignored Messier for the first few years of his career.  In '80-81 he was included on the O-Pee-Chee checklist (his true rookie card), but not Topps.  '81-82?  Same thing.  The next two years Topps did not release a hockey set, but when they returned for '84-85 they still left him off the checklist (other than a card in the All Star subset).  The following year, '85-86, same thing, no Topps card!

I decided on this particular card for two reasons.  First of all, the '90-91 Upper Deck set was a game changer in terms of the hockey card landscape, just like their '89 release was for baseball.  I hadn't selected a 1990-91 Upper Deck card yet so it was high time I did so. 

Secondly, and most importantly, this card depicts what I find to be the most impressive aspect of Messier's career.  After winning four Stanley Cups with Gretzky, I'm sure fans in Edmonton doubted whether they'd ever win another once he was dealt to Los Angeles.  Well it only took Messier and the boys two seasons to bring another Cup to Edmonton, this time sans Gretzky.  Not only that, but he went on to capture another one with New York in '94, and we all know the drama related to that one, including the famous guarantee in the Eastern Conference Finals.

All his points, trophies, All-Star selections and other accolades aside, those two Stanley Cups after the Gretzky days are what impress me the most about Mark.  I couldn't think of a better card to represent this than card #44 from Upper Deck's inaugural hockey release, which shows a smiling Messier in the locker room after that 1990 Cup win.

So, there's my choice.  If you want to view all 18 cards that I've selected so far you can see that here.  What do you think?  Should I have picked the Brodeur, Ice Kings, or any of the other cards over the Upper Deck Messier?  I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Signature Sundays - "Just When I Thought I Was Out...They Pull Me Back In!"

If you check in here even occasionally, it should be no secret to you that the Panini Classics Signatures autographs were my absolute favorite hockey cards released during the 2012-13 collecting season.  They were really my number one overall collecting focus last year, and I've been showing off the autographs nearly every Sunday for what feels like forever now.

Last week I showed three more Hall-of-Famers, which left me with just four cards to go for the non-short-printed autograph set.  I could see the end in the finish line, just a couple more posts to go.  Then, this past week, a funny thing happened.  One of my saved eBay searches for the Classics Signatures set turned up a card I was sure wasn't on the autograph checklist:

Valeri Bure?  Could I have had a bad checklist and overlooked this card for nearly two years?  It didn't take me long to find out what had happened...Panini went ahead and released a bunch of (previously unreleased) autographs from the 2012-13 Panini Classics Signatures set within their 2013-14 Contenders product!  Some might see this as a cheap ploy, but I don't care, I'm just excited that I've got more (on card!) autographs to chase.  When I finally found the checklist I discovered that there are 23 of these included in the Contenders release.  One of them, Anders Hedberg, was on the original Classics Signatures autograph checklist, which means 22 new autographs for me to chase.

I won't grab them all, especially since some appear to be short printed.  I watched the only copy of Glenn Anderson's card I've seen hit eBay climb north of $80 if you can believe that.  Valeri here was had for the opening bid of 99 cents, which is more in my ballpark.

I guess the best Panini could come up with for Valeri's write-up was to mention his "stout legs" and some celebrity figure skating contest.  I would have gone with the obvious Candace Cameron/Full House reference.

Here's one more from the Contenders checklist to kick things off, Stu Barnes.  Originally a #4 overall pick (Winnipeg Jets), Stu would end up playing with Florida, Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Dallas before hanging up his skates.

Very clever Panini, very clever.  Thanks to 2013-14 Contenders you can definitely expect to see some more of these autographs on future Sundays...