CLOSED...1961 Topps $15 Auction...Day 36

[HercDriver]

I’m too tired to say much. My alarm goes off in a couple hours, so min run today. But I’ll give you Billy Martin to make it fair. Good night, my friends!!

[HercDriver]

OK, back at hime with the 'ol scanner, so here's five more cards with my morning Joe! A bit of a batting helmet theme with Cash and Gonzalez, as Cash was one of the last guys not required to wear a helmet, and Gonzalez was the first one to wear one with an ear flap. I love that card of Cash, I have to admit. I was too young to see him play, but anybody who would bring a table leg up to the plate to hit against Nolan Ryan, is my kind of guy. He did that, coming to bat as the last out during one of Ryan's no-hitters, but the ump turned him around to get a bat, with which he promptly popped out. He was also famous for coming back to a base ahead of where he left, during rain delays, trying to catch the umps off guard. Reading about him, he seemed like somebody that everybody enjoyed in the clubhouse. His 1961 card, showing his strong forearms, just make him look like a ball player. In a set of heads, this is one of the best. Enjoy!

[HercDriver]

Well...I guess I could tell you that Johnny Blanchard probably wish he would have dropped another finger or two when he called the pitch that Mazeroski hit to win the World Series, but that's just not obscure enough. So I'll tell you that another Johnny, Johnny Damon, became the 2nd MLBer in history to collect three hits in an inning, during a game in 2003. The Red Sox plated 10 runs that inning, with Damon just a homer short of the cycle in that first inning. The 2nd MLBer, you ask?!? Yes, the first is here today...Gene Stephens, who accomplished the feat, also for Boston, in 1953 during a 17-run inning. He spent most of his career backing up Ted Williams, but for one inning, one day, he did something The Splinter never accomplished.

[edhans]

Originally Posted by HercDriver

Johnny Damon, became the 2nd MLBer in history to collect three hits in an inning, during a game in 2003. The Red Sox plated 10 runs that inning

There's something amiss with that math. If at least 19 men came to the plate, at least 13 runs must have scored; no?

[HercDriver]

Very astute!! You’re right...14 runs. Damon went 5-7 that day, while the Sox scored 25 runs.

[edhans]

Not sure that qualifies as astute; but thanks and good luck with the sale.

[HercDriver]

Today I give you the 'traded" version of Carl Willey, courtesy of a young lad in the early sixties. Willey was traded to the Mets in 1963, so we know this card hung around in a shoebox for a couple years, at least. I wonder how many other places it's been. Seth Morehead is aptly named, since he looks to have the largest head in the 1961 Topps issue. Does he still have more head under that giant cap, or is he going to pull Freddie Patek from out of there? Morehead's first big league win was memorable, as he shut out Brooklyn on the last day of 1957, making him the last guy to throw a pitch in that borough. Unfortunately, that made him the last pitcher to pitch to Roy Campanella. Don't have much to say about Dan Dobbek, other than he reminds me of Eddie Haskell from Leave it to Beaver. Have an awesome day!