I'm Back?

After taking a few weeks away from the blog, and the computer overall, to celebrate the holidays with my family and friends, I've come back to to re-join the blogosphere. For the first time in a few years, I didn't get too many autograph or baseball card related presents for Christmas, at least in part because I don't currently have any autographs that are easy to find that I need. I did get a few packs of 2012 Topps Update, but that was about the extent of it, and I'm fine with that. I'm currently in the process of moving, and the sheer volume of baseball cards that I have to move has made me somewhat reconsider the amount of new cards I need, at least until I get rid of/sell/trade some of the cards that I'm not collecting for any real purpose. I'm sure that some of you have gone through similar issues. And it turns out that thousands of baseball cards and supplies are fairly heavy.

To commemorate my holiday break (and one of my good friends named Howard), here is an autographed card of former Orioles pitcher, Bruce Howard.

This post will hopefully mark my return to at least semi-regular posting! I hope that everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year's.

An Overdue Christmas Thank You

I've somehow neglected to display all of the autographs I received for Christmas, so it seems like I better do it now that as it's already been two and a half weeks since the holiday. So here we go... (Don't worry, Paul, I haven't forgotten about you!)

I've already displayed two of the three unpossible autographs that my dad gave to me, but he also gave me a few other autographs.

I have a small-scale collection of signed Hall of Fame plaque cards, and I specifically try to collect the players and/or executives that have any connection to the Orioles. I don't have them all yet, but I have a majority of the HOFers who have ties to Baltimore.

The only player enshrined as an Oriole who was missing from my collection was Frank Robinson. You might remember that he's not my favorite person, but he was a great player who had some of his greatest years with the Orioles. My dad knew I was still trying to add this plaque card to my collection; it's pretty impressive how he can keep up with my need lists!

He also gave me a few assorted Orioles autographs to add to my collection or trade for something else I need. He knows that it's pretty hard to find any Orioles autographs that I still need. (Bert Hamric anyone?)

There are a very few collectors/bloggers who I have exchanged Christmas cards with over the past few years. Fellow Orioles autograph collector, Pol, is one of those people. This year, I sent him a card with no autographs or cards in it. Big mistake! Because in my card, I found these three signatures. 

The highlight of the three was definitely this Bob Feller signed HOF plaque card. I had a similar one of these but this one seems to be a different version or issue of the plaque card, so it's staying in the collection.

 He also included a cool Jack Fisher signed black and white photo/postcard deal. 

AND an autograph of Tommy John, who I mostly know for having the arm surgery named after him. But it turns that he pitched in the Majors for 26 seasons for six different teams. It certainly seems like the surgery worked for him!

Thank you so much Dad and Pol, I really appreciate the awesome additions to my collection! Merry belated Christmas!

Hi Everybody

Hello out there, sorry I've been away for a few days, but I've been on vacation and away from a computer. I should be back to regularly posting this week. I know that I have a few Christmas autographs to show off, if nothing else!

Also, I've been recruited to write for the FanSided Orioles blog "Birds Watcher", so I will be splitting time here and there from now on. I don't anticipate that cutting into my time here too much since it's currently a part-time thing, but check out the other site if you're interested. 

I hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

It seems like I'm in the minority on this one, but I love Christmas and the entire holiday season. So Merry Christmas to all of you out there. I hope you all got baseball cards in your stockings and/or under the tree this year.

Image borrowed from Amazon

Thanks to all of you who helped make collecting fun and enjoyable in 2011.

Unpossible Autograph Friday- An Early Christmas Present

(Every Friday, I profile a former Oriole who has passed away. I've substituted the word unpossible for impossible as an homage to a line from "The Simpsons". Young Ralph Wiggum, who is a few pennies short of a dollar, says "Me fail English? That's unpossible.")

My dad gave me a Christmas present a little early this year; he has been one of the very few people who have regularly gifted me baseball cards over the years and I always look forward to what he has for me. I was blown away when I opened my gift and it contained three of the four remaining Orioles autographs that I needed for my collection. My need list is down to only 1! I have to spread these bad boys out since I've been searching for them for so long, and I will feature one each week over the next three weeks to savor their awesomeness.

Up first is Lou Jackson since this is only the second example of his autograph I've ever seen and the first I've seen in person. I also think that his signature is the most rare of the trio. The previous autograph of Lou's that I had seen was a signed 1959 Topps Cubs card on ebay that the seller wanted $1000 for, which is significantly out of my price range. If it was his 1964 Topps Orioles card (the only Orioles card of his that was released during his lifetime) I might have considered taking out a second mortgage, but not for the Cubs card.

Lou played in only 34 MLB games over three seasons. 30 of those appearances came with the Cubs in 1958-59, and the other four came for the Orioles in 1964. Lou bounced around the minors after his time in Chicago and he came to Baltimore after the O's selected him from the Milwaukee Braves in the 1963 Rule 5 draft. Following Spring Training, he broke camp with the O's but wasn't able to regularly crack the lineup, so was sent to the AAA Rochester Red Wings in mid-May, spending the ensuing season and a half with them. After the 1965 season ended, Lou signed a deal to play professionally in the Japan for the Sankei Atoms (now the Tokyo Yakult Swallows) and spent the 1966-68 seasons there. He developed some serious health problems while in Japan, possibly due to his alcohol abuse, and died in Tokyo in May 1969 of pancreatitis. He was only 33 years old when he passed away.  

Obviously, Lou's passing away at such a young age in a foreign country over forty years ago is the main reason his autograph is so hard to track down. Adding to that issue is that he was only featured on the two cards I mentioned above during his lifetime. He was posthumously featured as an Oriole in this TCMA set and the Orioles Crown set, but he quite obviously, never signed either of them.

RIP Lou.

Thank you dad for this amazing autograph to add to my collection.

The Christmas Season

 

I don't know about everyone else out there, but I'm a big fan of Christmas. I like the music, I like shopping for presents, I like getting presents, and I enjoy being with my family and friends. Yeah, some of it can be stressful and the month seems to fly by every year, but it makes me think how lucky am I. Things are good in my life: I'm getting married to an amazing woman in April, my parents have always been there for me, I've got a bunch of great friends, my two dogs seem to behave better each year, and somehow this little blog has kept rolling for almost two years thanks to all of you readers. Some days I might only have a few people stop by, but the conversations and interactions with many of my fellow bloggers and readers has kept me interested in the hobby and my collection. Thank you all. I hope that everyone gets cards in their stocking tomorrow. Merry Christmas everyone!