Thursday, October 30, 2014

TTM Goodness - Todd Frazier

Yeah, I feel the Toddfather deserves his own TTM post. I'm sure he was buried in auto requests this year, but since he's a general badass, he chose not to ignore them. Or I'm just special. Probably the first thing.

Frazier was drafted by the Reds in 2007 and debuted in 2011. In his first full year, 2012, he finished 3rd in Rookie of the Year voting behind Bryce Harper and Wade Miley. He had an off year in 2013, then broke out in 2014, nabbing his first All Star bid on his way to a sexy 5.34 WAR. Signed is a 2012 Topps Heritage #133.

Go Reds.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

TTM Goodness: Tekulve, Redus, Foster

Kent Tekulve was signed by the Pirates in 1969 then debuted for them in 1974. He made a name for himself as a near-everyday reliever, pitching in 90 games in three separate seasons. He held, or holds, a dozen records, most notably most innings in relief for an NL pitcher, most consecutive games pitched, and most relief appearances in all of baseball. Not bad. Slick shades, to boot. A few years in Philly, then a season in Cincy in 1989, and he'd call it a career. Signed is a 1989 Topps Traded #116.

Gary Redus was drafted by the Reds in 1978 and debuted for them in 1982. He would spend four seasons in Cincy, followed by time in Philadelphia, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Texas. He fit for the cycle for the Pirates, fittingly against the Reds. He would retire in 1994, with a solid 322 stolen bases. Signed is a 1984 Topps #475.

Steve Foster was drafted by Cincy and debuted for them in 1991. He would spend his entire three-year big-league career in Red, pitching in 59 games from 1991 to 1993, compiling a lifetime 2.41 ERA. He's currently the bullpen coach for the Royals. Signed is a 1992 Stadium Club #826.

Go Reds. And Royals.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Completely Red: 1987 Topps/Topps Traded

The rare example of a set I did not like as a kid, but like now. I think I didn't like it because I had too many. And inexplicable, at that. I didn't even start collecting until 1991, and this set just had too many people that weren't around anymore by the time I was heavy into collecting. I don't even know how I acquired so many. Flea markets, I suppose. Or possibly this was the era when cards just materialized in all of our homes.

As far as the design... it smells of rich mahogany (MOVIE REFERENCE). Love the wood grain. Didn't love it as a kid. Love it now. Bring it back, Topps. You could still have parallels. Cherry, cedar, oak. Particle board. We'll still buy it. We promise.

Oh. And there's a Barry Larkin rookie card, or something.

STATS:

Cards -  35

RC's - 3 (Carl Willis, Scott Terry, Barry Larkin)

All Stars - 11 (Bo Diaz, Tom Browning, Pete Rose, John Franco, Eric Davis, Mario Soto, Buddy Bell, Dave Parker, Kurt Stillwell, Barry Larkin, Dave Concepcion)

Hall of Famers - 1 (Barry Larkin)

Reds Hall of Famers - 7 (Dave Concepcion, Mario Soto, Eric Davis, Tom Browning, Barry Larkin, Dave Parker, Ron Oester)

Three and a Half Inches of Wood? - You know it, babe

Checklist:

13 Nick Esasky
41 Bo Diaz
65 Tom Browning
82 Rob Murphy
101 Carl Willis
119 Ron Robinson
146 Tracy Jones
172 Ron Oester
200 Pete Rose
226 Max Venable
253 Eddie Milner
281 Reds TL/Rose
305 John Franco
332 Joe Price
358 Sal Butera
393 Pete Rose MG/TC
412 Eric Davis
437 Ted Power
453 Scott Terry
466 Kal Daniels
489 Bill Gullickson
517 Mario Soto
545 Buddy Bell
569 Wade Rowdon
592 Chris Welsh
600 Dave Parker AS
623 Kurt Stillwell
644 John Denny
648 Barry Larkin
691 Dave Parker
731 Dave Concepcion

34T Terry Francona
48T Guy Hoffman
93T Pat Pacillo
128T Frank Williams


Go Reds.

Friday, October 24, 2014

Completely Red: 1965 Topps Embossed

We all know these, yes? Inserted into packs of the regular Topps flagship, these cards are near impossible to find in mint condition. Lucky for me, I hate mint condition. The gold-foil-eruption suffers from chips and cracks. The embossing gets smooshed. Being narrower than regular cards, they slide around in card pages, so the corners and edges get dinged. They apparently attract a six-decade-long coating of grime. But hey. This is a completed team set from the 60's. So I have no choice but to love it.

The Reds in the set are top notch. Not only are all three All Stars, all three are in the Reds Hall of Fame. And with Frank Robinson, we have a Cooperstown inductee as well. These were all acquired from a brick-and-mortar card shop that either sells things for suspiciously cheap or ridiculously expensive. You can guess which end of that spectrum I live on.

STATS:

Cards - 3

RC's - 0

All Stars - 3

Hall of Famers - 1 (Robinson)

Reds Hall of Famers - 3


Checklist:

 22 Frank Robinson 
 42 Vada Pinson 
 68 Jim Maloney 

Go Reds.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Vintage Oddball Week, Part 4: No Subtitle

A pile of miscellany this day. Roll 'em.

1947-1966 Exhibits Ted Kluszewksi. This particular one has been narrowed down to 1954-1956. I choose to believe 1954.

1947-1966 Exhibits Ed Bailey. This version was only made in 1961, and much less cool than the Klu.

1968 Atlantic Oil Play Ball Contest Cards Milt Pappas. Nice airbrush job.

1976 Linnett Superstars Cesar Geronimo. These are huge. 5x7 huge.

1976-1979 Hostess. I have miles to go finishing the Reds Hostess series. Too many megastars.

1969 Globe Imports Playing Cards Chico Cardenas, Jim Maloney. These may be the easiest-to-forge cards of all time. They're on regular thickness printer paper. And printed only with black ink. Perhaps that's why they're so cheap. I'm only missing Pete Rose for the team set. Never even seen it.

1969 Milton Bradley Tommy Harper, Lee May. You can buy the game these came in, including the complete card run, for $955 on eBay. Yeah, I'll get right on that.

1976 Greyhound Heroes of the Base Paths Joe Morgan. I love this card very much.

1978 Player Patches Joe Morgan, Tom Seaver. I don't know who made these, but the interwebs tells me they were made in '78. So I believe it. These are Dick Perez-level portraits, boy.

I have indeed run out of suitable oddballs from prior to my birth. I suppose a 1980's oddball series could be in store, but my goodness that would take months.

Go Reds.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Vintage Oddball Week, Part 3: Three Inch Discs

Careful now.

Today is a big pile of discs. 1970's discs.

1977 Pepsi Glove Discs Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Ken Griffey. Love these. Love that they were never punched out of their gloves. And I'm totally gonna order that shirt. Oh damn. The offer expired. Nerts. I also have the Ken Griffey, but the scan was blurry and you all aren't worth a second trip to the scanner.

1977 Chilly Willee Discs Dave Concepcion. Three inch Willee. Huh huh. Huh huh.

1977 Burger Chef Finmeal Discs Ken Griffey. Jeff is a southpaw. Good to know.

1977 Burger Chef Funmeal Discs Dan Driessen. Eye on the ball, Burgerini. Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals.


1976 Isaly's/Sweet William Discs Tony Perez, Ken Griffey. 155 Locations To Serve... You.

Go Reds.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Vintage Oddball Week, Part 2: Cereal Killing

Yeah, that pun has never been used before by anyone ever. 

VOW continues with some cards fought over at the breakfast table many decades ago, only to fall into my lap in the past couple years. Post and Kellogg's. One of each will suffice. And I'm breaking my vintage classification at the end, as the Kellogg's run went into the 80's.

In terms of set completion, for the 1961-1963 Post run, I'm sitting at 24/39 (not counting Canadian versions). For the 1970-1983 Kellogg's run, I'm sitting at 29/57, though sadly none from the 1971 set.

1961 Post Billy Martin.

1962 Post Frank Robinson.

1962 Post Canadian Vada Pinson. C'est magnifique.

1963 Post Jim O'Toole.

1970 Kellogg's Jim Maloney.
1972 Kellogg's Lee May.

1973 Kellogg's Joe Morgan.

1974 Kellogg's Johnny Bench.

1975 Kellogg's Cesar Geronimo.

1976 Kellogg's Clay Carroll.

1977 Kellogg's George Foster.

1978 Kellogg's George Foster.

1979 Kellogg's Dan Driessen.

1980 Kellogg's Johnny Bench.

1981 Kellogg's Johnny Bench
1982 Kellogg's Dave Concepcion.

1983 Kellogg's Dave Concepcion.

Go Reds.