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

[HercDriver]

Yep...I have a platform to ramble on about nothing, under the guise of an auction! Maybe the next one I do, I'll do it at night, after beers, instead of in the morning, with coffee. And yes, that is one of the best books ever. Somebody in OBC was trying to get every card from that book, but not sure if it was ever finished.

[Ricky]

This thread has become the first one I go to on this site every day... very entertaining! I hate to say it, Geno, but I almost hope no one ever bids just so we can keep getting these stories...

[HercDriver]

Ricky...thanks for the thumbs up! I had done one like this a long time ago, and after enjoying Frank's auctions for so long, I thought it was time to try it again! I told somebody else, it makes it fun to take the cards out of the binder and actually look at them again. I sold/traded a couple of the big cards, so this is a great way to go through the commons and get a little cash for my Sovereign collection. Anyway, tomorrow might be the last installment until the Super Bowl, since I'll be out and about, nowhere near my cards for a bit. Cheers!

[HercDriver]

Today I'm adding two pretty solid players, Johnny Podres and Vada Pinson. A few people used to pull for Pinson to get in the HOF, but it never happened. Podres did get in, sort of. He, of course, shut out the Yankees in Game 7 of the 1955 World Series, thus ending the drought in Brooklyn in their fight for supremacy over the Bronx. If you haven't been to the HOF, there is a statue to commemorate that event, or two statues, I guess. I borrowed this photo of somebody's travel blog, so you can see it. It's Podres pitching to Campanella, so Johnny did get in:



When the Dodgers went west, Podres pitched the first night game in the LA Coliseum, and also threw the first shutout. The fact that he recorded the first shutout is actually pretty amazing, considering not just his competition in Koufax and Drysdale, but mostly because he was a lefty, facing right handers. If you don't appreciate that fact, look at this picture of the Coliseum:



I'm pretty sure there's people on this forum that could homer to left field there...it's only 250 feet! So good on ya, Johnny, for mowing down the Reds that day!

[AGuinness]

Originally Posted by Ricky

This thread has become the first one I go to on this site every day... very entertaining! I hate to say it, Geno, but I almost hope no one ever bids just so we can keep getting these stories...

I'll second this ^^

[HercDriver]

An early start for Day 18, and expect a late start to Day 19, as I’ll be out of pocket for a couple days, but will do my best to post when I can.

A bit of a sad story today, or maybe a wasted career, whatever you want to call it. Jack Meyer was one of three Phillies pitchers who tried to live up to the Mantle-Ford-Martin tradition of baseball by day, lunacy by night. From the Seamheads.com website, I found some good stuff on them. The three, with Turk Farrell and Jim Owens, were just as disorderly and drunk, but not nearly as good the next day as the famed Yankees were. They were known as the Dalton Gang, and tended to end their inebriated nights with a fight or two, either with strangers or teammates. They usually left bar tabs, bloodied noses, and shattered mirrors in their wake. Sometimes they had fun on the field, like when Farrell got into the game balls and left messages on them for the opposing pitcher to read, which resulted in Lew Burdette yelling into the Phillies dugout after he received each ball, with it's not so nice message on it. After one particularly long night, Farrell poured ice water on Meyer, resulting in a fight that left Meyer on the DL for an injured back. The Phillies were not pleased about that, so they fined Meyer $1200. That might not sound like much, but he only made $14,000, so it was almost 10% of his salary. That may have been the largest proportion fine for a player, until today’s long PED suspensions. All that hard living didn't do Jack much good, as he was dead of a heart attack, six years after a kid pulled this card out of a Topps pack. Farrell only made it to age 43, before a car accident got him.

[jimmysuitcase]

Originally Posted by HercDriver

And yes, that is one of the best books ever. Somebody in OBC was trying to get every card from that book, but not sure if it was ever finished.

I'm not sure that I am/was the only one, Geno, but getting everyone from Boyd & Harris's epic book was one of the first set quests I KO'd in OBC. From the T206s up through the late 60s, I acquired everyone. My last card was the 52T hi# Crosetti...and I even got a good deal on it!

Good night, Sibby Sisti, wherever you are...

[HercDriver]

Well, my airplane is broken, so I have a few seconds to post a few more cards, starting with Mike Fornieles, and a theme of “that would never happen today.” In 1960, he won the first Fireman of the Year award, for the AL, with a whopping 14 saves. Since I’m stuck at JFK, it seems appropriate that I post the Original Met, Hobie Landrith. He was plucked from San Fran, who also supplied the #1 pick to Houston, with Eddie Bressoud. The Mets then offered him a contract worth $4K less than he was making with the Giants, which he was forced to accept. Speaking of money, Johnny Antonelli was a $50K bonus baby, so had to remain on the big league roster for the Braves in 1948. He only appeared in four games that year, but the Braves won the pennant. Because his salary was so much higher than everybody else’s, the players did not vote him a share of the World Series pot...wow, that makes you feel wanted! So the players could complain about cheap owners, but they weren’t much better, themselves...

[HercDriver]

Three more today, starting with Dale Long, who was obviously aptly named, since he managed to hit homers in eight straight games. It was a long time until that feat was matched, by Don Mattingly, and Ken Griffey, Jr. Long also caught in two games as a lefty, making him one of only 23 guys to catch multiple games, as a lefty. Speaking of catchers, here’s Chris Cannizzaro, who managed to be picked in two expansion drafts. He was picked by the Mets in 1961, and then the Padres in 1969, where he became their first All- Star representative. Hmmm...what to say about Joe DeMaestri? Other than those sixties windbreakers are hideous. It always made me think their mothers made them wear it to leave the house. DeMaestri took over for Tony Kubek in the 1960 World Series, Game 7, after Kubek took that ball in the throat. But he didn’t get to watch Mazeroski’s homer sail over his head, because he was pinch hit for, in the top of the ninth. By Dale Long. Wow...that’s almost Kevin Bacon spooky. Have a great one!!

[HercDriver]

I have a couple minutes between flights, so here’s four more cards for your viewing pleasure. Another multi-player gem, another first pick expansion player in Grba, and finally, Steve Barber. If you go back and read Day 8, you can see why this gives me closure. I have no idea if that’s the proper use of that word, I just hear it a lot from my wife and nod like I know what she’s talking about. It generally works, at least in the short term. Enjoy the game tonight!

New feature...card counter!!
77 cards, so 65 cents per card, shipped

[HercDriver]

Day 22 brings two more gems to the party...Ron Kline and Rip Repulski. I was going to write something about cool baseball nicknames, like Johnny "Ugly" Dickshot. But when I looked up Repulski, I noticed that he was born and died in Sauk Rapids, MN. Going to Google Maps, it's a town of about 12,000 people by St Cloud, MN. That must have been cool, having a big leaguer in a small town, where kids could listen to his stories at the diner after church on Sunday. I looked up my hometown of Freeport, IL, and only found one guy, who pitched in four games, in 2002-03. For those four games, he earned $500K. I'm guessing Rip didn't make $500K and had way better stories to tell. My dad grew up near Quincy, IL, where the Reuschel brothers were baseball kings. He was about the same age, and played against them in high school, if I remember right. My brothers and I always watched Cubs games, and we'd tell our friends that my dad was pals with the Reuschel boys. That was pretty cool, until this card came out in 1977:



Seriously? Could there be a worse card than that? Those uniforms the Cubs had back then were appalling. They couldn't even get the names with the right brother. And it looks like two N54 members just signed up for Cubs Fantasy Camp. Ugghhh...I hate that card. Anyway, we stopped telling people our dad was friends with them after that. I'm not sure how I got onto that this morning, but then again, my mind is not too clear, after waking up to the sound of the dog barfing next to my bed. Somehow it got me here. Oh yeah...Sauk Rapids, MN. RIP, Rip. Time for more coffee...have a great day!

Card Tracker:
79 cards, at 63 cents each, shipped.

[xplainer]

Originally Posted by HercDriver

Day 22 brings two more gems to the party...Ron Kline and Rip Repulski. I was going to write something about cool baseball nicknames, like Johnny "Ugly" Dickshot. But when I looked up Repulski, I noticed that he was born and died in Sauk Rapids, MN. Going to Google Maps, it's a town of about 12,000 people by St Cloud, MN. That must have been cool, having a big leaguer in a small town, where kids could listen to his stories at the diner after church on Sunday. I looked up my hometown of Freeport, IL, and only found one guy, who pitched in four games, in 2002-03. For those four games, he earned $500K. I'm guessing Rip didn't make $500K and had way better stories to tell. My dad grew up near Quincy, IL, where the Reuschel brothers were baseball kings. He was about the same age, and played against them in high school, if I remember right. My brothers and I always watched Cubs games, and we'd tell our friends that my dad was pals with the Reuschel boys. That was pretty cool, until this card came out in 1977:



Seriously? Could there be a worse card than that? Those uniforms the Cubs had back then were appalling. They couldn't even get the names with the right brother. And it looks like two N54 members just signed up for Cubs Fantasy Camp. Ugghhh...I hate that card. Anyway, we stopped telling people our dad was friends with them after that. I'm not sure how I got onto that this morning, but the again, my mind is not too clear, after waking up to the sound of the dog barfing next to my bed. Somehow it got me here. Oh yeah...Sauk Rapids, MN. RIP, Rip. Time for more coffee...have a great day!

Card Tracker:
79 cards, at 63 cents each, shipped.

I too, am enjoying the stories. But, if you throw in the Reuschel card, I might pull the trigger.
That is my golden era. Mid 70s to mid 80’s.
Born 1963.
And, yeah, it does look like a fantasy camp photo.
-Jimmy

[obcmac]

Pointing out that in addition to Rip, St.Cloud also boasts t206 subject Jake thielman as well as two fine obc'ers...t.elliot and myself (though I no longer live there). Ted Williams also dated a girl from Sauk rapids I believe. In more modern times...Jim Eisenreich also hailed from there....the more you know.

Mac



QUOTE=HercDriver;1851887]Day 22 brings two more
gems to the party...Ron Kline and Rip Repulski. I was going to write something about cool baseball nicknames, like Johnny "Ugly" Dickshot. But when I looked up Repulski, I noticed that he was born and died in Sauk Rapids, MN. Going to Google Maps, it's a town of about 12,000 people by St Cloud, MN. That must have been cool, having a big leaguer in a small town, where kids could listen to his stories at the diner after church on Sunday. I looked up my hometown of Freeport, IL, and only found one guy, who pitched in four games, in 2002-03. For those four games, he earned $500K. I'm guessing Rip didn't make $500K and had way better stories to tell. My dad grew up near Quincy, IL, where the Reuschel brothers were baseball kings. He was about the same age, and played against them in high school, if I remember right. My brothers and I always watched Cubs games, and we'd tell our friends that my dad was pals with the Reuschel boys. That was pretty cool, until this card came out in 1977:



Seriously? Could there be a worse card than that? Those uniforms the Cubs had back then were appalling. They couldn't even get the names with the right brother. And it looks like two N54 members just signed up for Cubs Fantasy Camp. Ugghhh...I hate that card. Anyway, we stopped telling people our dad was friends with them after that. I'm not sure how I got onto that this morning, but then again, my mind is not too clear, after waking up to the sound of the dog barfing next to my bed. Somehow it got me here. Oh yeah...Sauk Rapids, MN. RIP, Rip. Time for more coffee...have a great day!

Card Tracker:
79 cards, at 63 cents each, shipped.[/QUOTE]