T206 Tuesdays: "Sleepy" Bill Burns

"Sleepy" Bill Burns was a below average pitcher for about 5 years in the Major Leagues.  For all of you historians out there, or readers of the excellent book "Eight Men Out", (or watchers of the excellent movie "Eight Men Out,") you know Burns more for his role in the fixing of the 1919 World Series.  

I have to say, it's hard to reconcile this picture of Burns compared to Christopher Lloyd's portrayal of  him.

I have no idea how many liberties the movie took with the facts, but one of the court room scenes with Burns seems like it was pretty historically accurate.  I found a great site that documented all of Burns' actual court testimony.  Fans of the movie will remember the cross examination scene well.  Here is part the actual transcript:

Q:  The players double-crossed you, didn't they?
A:  Yes.
A:  Well, you double-crossed them.
A:  Not until they crossed me.
Q:  : Is that a reason for testifying?
A:  One of them.
Q:  Then it is not for the purity of baseball?
A:  Well, they double-crossed me and I would have been the fall guy for the whole outfit.
Q:  If the players had really been crooked, you would have been satisfied!  Do you think you are even with the boys now?
A:  I am liable to be before I leave here! [Laughter.]
Q:  You don't like me much, do you, Bill?
A:  Sure I think you're a smart fellow, and I wish we had someone like you at the head of this deal; we'd all be rich, now. . . .

Gypsy Queen Life Vest: Courtesy Reader Adam

I now have a passing C grade (70% complete) on my Gypsy Queen Green Border set thanks to a nice little trade with reader Adam:

That Tris Speaker card is a tiny work of art.  I wish Gypsy Queen had made large cabinet cards of these.  I would have been all over them.

70 down, 30 to go!  Thanks  for the trade Adam!

Piddly Card Show Post

Almost once a month there is a "card show" in Northwest Arkansas, either in Fayetteville or Rogers.  It's almost always pretty weak, with 3-5 dealers at the most.   One dealer sells mostly DVDs so I shouldn't count him.  These shows are usually so uninteresting, I skip going altogether much less posting about them.   Today's show was nothing less than ho-hum, but I did find a few things from one dealer.  He had a chunk of Gypsy Queen base cards in a dime box.  I went to the show unprepared with my checklist so I wasn't sure what I needed.  Since they were only a dime each, I just bought them all and hopefully will be able to make some headway on my Gypsy Queen set.  There were also a few Gypsy Queen minis that I thought I should grab at $.10 each:

 
 The same seller had a $.25 box for vintage stuff, and I found a few things that I liked:

These will either go to my sampler album, or hopefully to Cardboard Catastrophes.  I know he is collecting the 1976 set, so maybe I can help out now.

I also got a couple of 1975 Topps Minis and  a Kelloggs all star card of Larry Bowa.  Again, the minis will be part of the sampler album unless the Night Owl can use them.  The reason I picked up the Bowa escapes me at the moment.  Surely I had a reason....

Sweet Razorback Card and a PSA Mystery

I bought a pretty slick Eric Hinske graded relic card off eBay the other day.  Hinske is a former Razorback and American League Rookie of the Year.  He's had a solid career and does pretty well when given playing time.   I remember him being the sh*t while he was at the U of A.   I got this for about $3 shipped:

I thought this looked a little different than other PSA cards I've purchased before, but this thing is huge.  Look at it compared to a typical PSA card:

It also has some sort of ridge on the back which sort of gives it a lift off of whatever it is sitting on.  Here is the back, although it's hard to see what I'm talking about:

Since the card is raised up a bit due to the ridge around the card, the scan of the back is blurry.  I'm certainly no graded card expert, but I've never seen this kind of PSA slab before.  Is it because it's a relic card?  Or is it because PSA wants to give former Razorbacks extra special slabs?

Frittering The Day Away

In my professional life, I wear many hats.  Multi-tasking and being able to “kill two birds with one stone” are critical to my success.   I tell you this because this morning I really wanted an apple fritter.  But I was in the office and had tons of work to do.  But once I had it in my mind that I needed an apple fritter, I couldn’t concentrate on much else, even looking at baseball card blogs or my beautiful checklist.  So I went and got an apple fritter.  I justified it by deciding that I wasn’t just buying an apple fritter for myself, I was grabbing the first contestant in my next food tournament.  Still not a good excuse to duck out of work, but I went with it.

Some of you may be wondering what apple fritters have to do with baseball cards, or baseball at all.  A quick Google search will show you:  nothing.  But I’ll tell you what I told the lovely wife when she asked why I would choose apple fritters over other foods that may be more baseball related:  “It’s my blog and I’ll do what I want.”  Surprisingly, I was able to think of 8 places locally that sell apple fritters, so here we go!

Our first match up will be between Apple Fritters from Olde Tyme Donuts and Krispy Kreme.  This is a true heavy weight match up.

First Krispy Kreme:

To the degree that I love Krispy Kreme’s standard glazed donust, especially when they are hot off the press, I have that same level of disinterest in their other donuts.  They just don’t do much for me.  But the glazed….oh baby.  Did you know I can shove a whole glazed donut in my mouth at once?    My six year old boy thinks it’s a riot when I do it.  The lovely wife does not.    Maybe because the six year old then tries to do it himself and makes a huge mess.

But the tournament is about Apple Fritters, not donuts, so here is the Krispy Kreme apple fritter:

 The fritter is the one without a hole.  The other donuts were for the lovely wife and kids.  And me.

 It was certainly lovely to look at.  And the outer crust was very good.  But the dough was way too dense for me.  And it had too much cinnamon flavor.    So while I doubt I would refuse one if it was given to me, I certainly won’t be replacing the glazed with this when I venture into Krispy Kreme.

Next, a local place- Olde Tyme Donuts:

 I forgot to take a picture of the building, so this logo will have to do.

This was the real deal though.

I would marry this if it would be socially acceptable.    You can totally tell this bad boy was deep fried with authority.  I love the almost crunchy texture of it.    The glaze was solid, and there was no hint of any sugar liquification at all.  ( I don’t have a lot of pet peeves, but when donuts sit out and the glaze starts to melt and the donut gets “wet” I get completely disgusted and enraged.)

Oh my goodness, my knees are weak.   I don’t want to exaggerate, but this is the best thing to eat in all of Northwest Arkansas, nay, the world!

Tournament is over, we have a winner!

Cleve's Auction Night: The Hobby Is Thriving In Northwest Arkansas...

...and it sucks for me.  There were about 30 people at Cleve's auction tonight, which is the most I've seen not including the Holiday auction.   What was most concerning was that there were several people in attendance I've never seen before, and they all were aggressive bidders.  If they get a Cleve auction in their veins, they'll be back.  Of course I'm happy to see Cleve get a good turnout, and I want the hobby to be healthy.  But these dudes are making it harder for me to sneak home some cheap pickups.  These new guys weren't married either, which is not a good sign.  They don't have to answer to anyone on how they spend their money like us married folk.  Single dudes with jobs are the toughest competitors at auctions for guys like me.

There were a few kids there too, and they're also tough to deal with.  A 1983 Fleer Tony Gwynn came up for bid that I wanted.  I bid $3 and some kid bid $4.  No one else bid, and I probably could have got it for $5, or at least made the kid pay $6.   I can't drive up the price on a kid without looking like a jerk now can I?   So kids are the second toughest competitors at these things.    Actually, the toughest competitor is this doctor that sits in the back and lays down a few grand every time he comes in.  Tonight he picked up an unreal complete 1966 Topps set in a binder (every card was pristine), with the Mantle card PSA graded separately.   I think he spent $950 on it.  He also picked up a few American Caramel cards that were ridiculously cool.  Maybe I should just start posting his wins each week.  They would be much more interesting than mine.

Speaking of competitors, my nemesis has not been to an auction in a while.  I would like to believe I scared him off, but something tells me he's out there, lurking, up to no good.

Even though the place was packed tonight, and I didn't get everything I wanted, I did manage a few wins.  They were modest, but decent:

I found this card of Robin Roberts interesting just for the fact that it lists the Yankees as his team.  Roberts started all of 0 games for the Yankees in his career.  They acquired him at the end of the 61 season when it looked like he was at the end of his rope.  He pitched for them during Spring Training, and they released him in May.  He then signed with the Orioles, sort of got a second wind and went on to have a few more good years. 

I didn't have any Rocky Colavito cards, so I decided to make a grab of this pair for $4.  Colavito is not in the Hall of Fame like Roberts, but he was very good, with almost 400 home runs and 6 all star game appearances.  Both cards are in great shape, and the 1960 on top is really superb.  Again, these will be great adds to my sampler album.

Not so superb was this lot of 1960 Fleer cards.  There are some good names here, but they are not in great shape.   I blew it on this one even though I only spent $2.

I also picked up 3 1961 Fleers for $4.  I bought these because for some reason I had it in my head that Jeff from Cardboard Catastrophes was collecting this set and I was going to help him out.  I've been trying to find something good to send him because he has always been so generous with me.   After looking back over his blog I think I was wrong about him collecting these.  Who was I thinking of?  Eh, I'm glad to get the Hubbell at least.

Grades:

1962 Topps Robin Roberts $2:  A  Good HOF pickup for my sampler album.
2 Rocky Colavitos $4:   A   Not a HOFer, but these cards are purdy.
1960 Fleer Lot $2:  D    If I'd spent a dollar more, I'd give myself an F.  Didn't need them, and they're not in good shape.
1961 Fleer Lot  $4:  B-   My target trade recipeint was off on this one, but I don't have any of these and they're in good shape.

Wooooo Pig Sooie!!! Razorback Baseball Is Here!

Today the Razorbacks kick off the start of their college baseball season.  This should be a fun year for the Hogs who are ranked in the top 10 in most college baseball polls.  The pitching should be steller, led by Team USA member DJ Baxendale:

This is not my card, but I would like one.  If anyone has one of these, please let me know if you are willing to trade it.

The offense is good, and could be very good if some of the hitters progress as the coaches think they will.  This guy is very good:

 

This is my card, and it’s my second nice Ficociello card.  It’s cool to be able to get cards of these guys while they are still in college.  

If the weather is decent today or tomorrow, we’re going to venture out for a few innings.  When I come back I’ll bring pictures and we can all "Call the Hogs".  For those not in the know, you call the hogs by saying and doing the following:

Raise your hands in the air and wiggle your hands as you slowly say “Woooooooooooo” then bring your elbows  down as you emphatically say “Pig!” and then pump your right fist in the air as you say “Sooie!”

Do that 3 times.   On the third “Woooooo… PIG! Soooie!”  you keep continue to pump your fist in the air and say “Razorbacks!”    Practice it a few times and you’ll get the hang of it. 

Cleve’s Auction Night: My Absentee Pickups

Should I get credit for skipping Cleve's auction this Tuesday and instead spending Valentines night with the lovely wife?  Or did I technically “attend” the auction since I put in write in bids beforehand and may or may not have been thinking the whole night about what I may or may not have won rather than listen to her yammer about whatever she was yammering about? I kid of course!  We had a lovely dinner together sans children, and as I mentioned, she gave me a swell Valentines gift. 

But there was a lot of good stuff at the auction this week, and I put in bids on about a dozen items, hoping that most of the other guys would be in the same boat as me and skip the auction to be with their significant others.   My hopes were dashed when I found that I only one two auctions.  They were solid pickups, so I’m not too disappointed. Here was the first purchase for $5:

What you see is a lot of 61 vintage Topps cards anywhere from so-so to ultra-crappy condition.  I bought this assortment to fill out my sampler album.  For those that don’t remember every word of every one of my posts, one of my goals this year was to build a sampler album of one 9 card page for every Topps base set from 1952 to today.  I will deliberately and systematically trade out and upgrade the "starness" of the players and the condition of the cards over the years.  But for now I at least have a full page of 1959 Topps, and a good start on my 1964 page, including Rusty Staub's 2nd year card. 

Again, these cards are not in great shape in general, but I would love to be able to send the ones that don't make the sampler album to good homes if anyone is interested or needs some set fillers. 

I also got this 1967 Al Kaline for $3.  It’s in good shape, and a neat looking card.  It too will go in the sampler album. 

Grades:

Vintage Assortment  $5  A-:   That's $.08 a card, people.   Not a lot of stars and many cards are in bad shape, but this was a cheap way to fill in my sampler album. 

1967 Kaline $3  B+:  Nice card of a HOFer.  Can’t complain about that.

1999 Skybox E-X Century- The Whole Stinkin' Set Part 4

And we're done...

1999 Skybox E-X Century- The Whole Stinkin' Set Part 3

Yes, I'm still mailing it in with these posts.  Here's part 3 of the 1999 EX Century Set:

Baseball Card Box Of Chocolates

As if I needed any more reason to worship the lovely wife...

I have often been tempted to purchase one of these value packs at Target.  10 packs for $10 is a great deal, and at a minimum, you get a pack of 206 and 2010 Heritage.  I've always passed because I felt I should spend my money on packs I "needed."  I came home today to find a value pack, plus a rack pack of 2011 Topps Series 2 on my night stand with a sweet Valentine card that I will keep to myself.

This is a perfect gift for card collectors on Valentines Day because of the assorted nature of it.  I opened it with more of a sense of fun than anything I've opened in a long time.  There was no feeling of hoping to avoid doubles, hoping to get a big hit, or hoping to not get the "wrong" thing.  It was so much fun to open because it was a little of this, and a little of that.  Kind of like going to a wine tasting.
Here was what was inside:

 I haven't opened Upper Deck Wax since forever, so this was a great excuse to do so.

That's such a pretty picture.

And I was very happy with what I got in the packs:

I've received a few of these UD StarQuest cards in trades.  Very nice insert set.  Getting Jeter and Griffey cards turns any pack rip into a win.

The Kinsler at the top of this pic came from a 2007 Topps pack.  The bottom 2 are from the 206.  I love the Queensboro Bridge mini card.  The Munson is a beaut too.

The Heritage pack yielded probably my favorite assortment.  I got Vlad as a Ranger and two of my favorite non-Rangers, Ichiro and Halladay.

I may have mentioned this in the past, but there is something about this Fleer Ultra set that I really like.  It's on the short list of sets to add to my master checklist.

Finally, I mentioned the 2011 Topps rack pack.  Can't complain about these pulls, with the Kimball Champion Aaron leading the way.

That was just fun!  It was a nice reminder of what opening wax is supposed to feel like.  Thank you so much lovely wife.  I'm a lucky dude!

1999 Skybox E-X Century- The Whole Stinkin' Set Part 2

Part 2 of the EX Century Set:

1999 Skybox E-X Century- The Whole Stinkin' Set Part 1

I wasn't kidding when I said I would show every single card from my recently completed 1999 Skybox E-X Century Set.  I am doing this for two reasons: 1) I really love this set and think the cards are worthy of display and 2) I am insanely busy at work right now and I need a few more auto pilot posts that don't require a lot of thought on my part.  So here is part one of this set, pages 1-4:

 I wish they could have found a better pose for the Piazza card.

Checklist Chipaway: 2005 Topps Gallery Artists Proof

I apologize for 4 days of posts about my checklist progress.  I actually have bought some 2012 Topps, but didn't hit anything interesting and don't have much to say about them that hasn't already been said.  So think of me as a boring oasis of pictures of cards of which you have no interest.

Or perhaps you are interested?  I know I was certainly interested in this big lot of 2005 Topps Gallery Artist Proofs that I got this week off of sportlots.com.    Just when I think I've picked through everything on sportlots.com, a new batch of stuff will show up that I have to have.  That was the case here, as I got a nice chunk of 15 artist proof cards, taking my set to 63%.  The scans don't nearly convey the slickness of these cards: