Ever Closer.... 1956 Edition...

Okay, so it's ONLY one card. I'm not really getting any closer to my set. But one card IS one card. And it's a beauty.

Big Bill set me back $1.13 shipped. It's been a looooong time since I found a good deal like that.

This particular version is a grey back, if you're into that kind of thing. It doesn't much matter to me.

This addition leaves me wanting #'s 10, 31, 95, 107, 172, 219, 254, 257, 278

Six relatively easy ones and three not so much. Some dudes named Aaron, Matthews and Spahn.

Pfffft. For now, I'm happy with Mr. Bruton.

More stuff for the burn pile.... or maybe not.

In my latest efforts to acquire actual cardboard, not that stuff they use today that is pretty much water proof, I have three more goodies to show off today.

from the 1955 Topps set, two cards. For some reason the 1955 set is very under rated among collectors. Almost the red headed stepchild of the '50's sets if you will.
Sure, there's no Mantle or Ford.... but it's still a great set. Anyone who thinks otherwise is more than welcome to send me their unwanted '55's to me, where they will be very much welcomed and appreciated.

David Jolly
paid - $2.10 (COMC)

I didn't know a lot about Jolly, so I went looking. He played in the bigs for five seasons. ('53-'57) All but one of his appearances were as a reliever. This card shows him coming off of his best year. In 1954 he went 11-6 with a 2.43 era. His finished in the top ten for winning percentage, appearances, games finished and saves.
In his five seasons (all with the Braves) he was second on the team in total appearances.
Dave passed away in 1963 at the age of 38.

Jim Pendleton
paid - $2.95 (COMC)

Jim was an outstanding shortstop in the Negro Leagues during the late '40's. By the time he got his shot as a rookie with the Braves, he was thirty years old. He hit seven homers that rookie year, eight in his last year as a pro, but only four in the six years between.
He was out of pro ball at the end of the 1959 season, but came back for one last season with the new expansion Houston Colt .45's.
Jim passed away in 1996 at the age of 72.

Now we move away from one of the least admired sets, to one of the most admired. Some call it the best. I certainly think it is. Definitely top two.

1953 Topps Sid Gordon.
paid - $4.00 (COMC)

There is nothing not to like about that card.

Sid was a damn good player, playing from 1941 through 1955. (save for taking a two year "vacation" in 1944-45 to travel Europe.)
1953 was Sid's last or four years with the Braves. In those four years, he hit 100 homers, 362 RBI's and batted .289

Sid passed on in 1975 at the age of 57.

Look! Actual cardboard! The kind that will actually burn!

another comc post. Yeah, I know. But hey! It's vintage! Everyone loves da vintage!

*ahem* Anyways... I managed to acquire six more 1956 Topps cards.

want to see them? Of course you do...

Gene Conley. All 6'8" of him. That's fairly commonplace now, but can you imagine seeing a 6'8" pitcher in 1956?
paid - $1.25

 by the way, Gene's cartoon mentions that he was a great basketball player in college. No doubt.

Chuck Tanner. Yeah the guy who managed the Pirates in the seventies. Oh, and Chuck is a #69 (giggity) and a gray back. According to the interwebs, #1-100 are more desirable in gray back form.
paid - $1.00

Ray Crone. Did you know that Ray had the game winning hit in the 10th inning to win his very first start? How many managers today would leave a rookie pitcher in his first start in that long?
paid - $2.30

Bob Roselli. ROOKIE CARD! You can tell by the monstrous rookie logo slapped willy nilly all over the front and back of the card.
Wait. What? There's no logo? Well then how did kids tell it was a valuable rookie card? Kinda like how did americans follow a black hockey puck on white ice before the Glowing Fox puck.
paid - $1.50

heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere's Johnny Logan!
paid $1.00

Danny O'Connell. Here we see second baseman O'Connell making the play at......... third? Huh?
Oh! That's actually Danny face down in the dirt. Looks like he's safe!
paid - $1.00

not a bad $8.05 if I do say so. I have no idea why I don't focus my entire comc sales money on buying the old stuff. Instead I grab all the shinies from the current players...... ah well. Every once in awhile I come to my senses and grab some old cardboard.

There's no such thing as Poor Old Warren Spahn.

I'm sure most of you have read Poor Old Baseball Cards. It's a blog that gives love to older cards that may have been cast aside by others for aesthetic reasons.

 

I do not understand how anyone could not love and appreciate older cards..... but there are some out there that insist on collecting cards from the 50's that are razor sharp and encased in plastic.

 

I don't get it... but to each their own. That's what makes this hobby great.

 

Me? I need to feel the cardboard. Some of you right now are nodding... you know what I mean.

 

Going back a little bit, Anthony at Poor Old Baseball Cards decided to give some of his treasures away. Standard fare around the blogging world... all of us do it at some point. But a name caught my eye.

 

Warren Spahn.

 

Huh?

 

Giving away Warren Spahn? So I read further. Yep. Anthony was giving away a 1958 Topps All Star Warren Spahn card.

 

Sweet Mamma Jamma.

 

What do I have to do?

 

And to be honest, I have no idea what I had to do.... I left a comment about being willing to give up a kidney for that card.... and *BAM* it's in my mailbox a couple of weeks later.

 

Okay, so it's corners aren't razor sharp anymore. It has a wee crease. And someone added a couple of pen marks.

IT'S WARREN SPAHN!!! THE GREATEST LEFT HANDED PITCHER EVAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am awestruck at it's beauty.

And it fits nicely on the same page as my '58 Eddie Matthews All Star. Now to fill the space between them with some guy named Hank.