cards as i see them: December 2019

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

pee wee reese is in my hall of famer collection

joe black, while eulogizing pee wee reese in 1999, noted that "with pee wee, it was number one on his uniform and number one in our hearts". the dodgers had retired that number 1 in 1984 when reese was elected to the hall of fame by the veterans' committee, which paved the way for the card that represents reese in my hall of famer collection:

that is, of course, a card from 2001 topps tribute which featured solely players who had their number retired by one or more team (no steve garvey in the set, unfortunately, even though his was just one of three numbers retired by the padres at the time).

here's the back of the card:

i heard that quote about pee wee repeated by vin scully many times, as it refers to reese's acceptance of jackie robinson as a teammate which was a story told often on the air. unlike some of the other dodger legends, reese was no longer coaching or broadcasting during my early fandom years. he also didn't seem to attend many team events - he lived out east - and so he wasn't quite as visible as his former teammates duke snider or sandy koufax or don drysdale or don newcombe were. as a result, i really only learned about reese from stories told by scully and reading about the history of the dodger franchise and its players.

there was lots to learn about pee wee, as you couldn't look at the franchise leader board without seeing his name. he remains to this day the franchise's all-time leader in runs scored and bases on balls. he is second to zach wheat in hits, and third behind wheat and bill russell in games played as a dodger.

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425

honus wagner - 2001 topps tribute relics

dizzy dean - 2001 topps tribute relics

bob feller - 2001 topps archives

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relics

roberto clemente - 2005 donruss greats hall of fame souvenirs relic

warren spahn - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

mickey mantle - 2000 upper deck legends legendary game jerseys relic

willie mays - 1997 topps willie mays reprints autograph

al kaline - 2001 fleer greats of the game autographs

duke snider - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 144/250

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32

frank robinson - 1995 upper deck autographs

harmon killebrew - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures

pee wee reese - 2001 topps tribute relics

rollie fingers - 2018 topps archives signature series 1978 topps buyback 1/3

reggie jackson - 2018 topps tier one tier one talent autographs 19/60

steve carlton - 2018 topps five star career year autographs

mike schmidt - 2002 topps archives autoproof 1980 topps buyback

don sutton - 2001 fleer greats of the game

tony perez - 2004 fleer national pastime 2002 fleer greats authentic autograph buyback 30/59

dave winfield - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 121/350

gary carter - 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game autograph collection

paul molitor - 2016 topps museum collection archival autographs 021/125

bruce sutter - 2003 topps all-time fan favorites

jim rice - 2005 upper deck past time pennants past time signatures

andre dawson - 2000 fleer greats of the game autographs

pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25

barry bonds* - 2001 bowman heritage autographs

you can find the full list of hall of famers (and some not - yet) that i aim to include in this collection at my want list site.

*not currently a member of the hall of fame

Thursday, December 26, 2019

could it be my favorite card of 2019?

i know p-town tom is not hosting the 'favorite card of the year' bat around this year, but i still wanted to show a card that would be on my short list for that title:

it's a short print 'rally time' card from 2019 topps opening day. it's technically a clayton kershaw card, but it features just as much manny machado, matt kemp, and chase utley as it does kershaw. plus, there's most of alex verdugo and a bit of a blurry camera man.

these guys are waiting for chris taylor to reach home plate after a walk-off home run hit on september 18, 2018. i think the card would be a little bit better if taylor were in the frame, but it's still a card i sought out due to the photo and the fact that old-man utley made an appearance. i was disappointed that he didn't get any final tribute cards this year, along with joe mauer. i'm hoping ichiro isn't forgotten in the 2020 sets. in fact, an ichiro final tribute has the potential to be my favorite card of next year.

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

tony perez is in my hall of famer collection

it's christmas eve, so here's a post featuring a card of that old man in the red and white uniform. no, not santa claus. i'm talking about tony perez, who is in my hall of famer collection with this card:

here's the back:

this card is pretty confusing. it is a 2002 fleer greats autographed card, yes, but it is actually the buyback version from 2004 fleer national pastime. that's why there is the hand-numbering on the card. it is even more confusing when you consider that, according to baseballcardpedia, the perez auto from 2002 fleer greats was not a redemption. makes you wonder how or why fleer had an extra 59 copies sitting around. or did they buy a bunch back? it boggles the mind.

as for perez, i wouldn't say that i put anyone in my hall of famer collection reluctantly, but, then again, tony perez is in my hall of famer collection. i wasn't really a fan, and he definitely falls within the scope of the collection featuring players who were in the 1978 topps set as i first became aware of perez when he was with montreal. his 1978 topps card struck me as melancholy given his demeanor on the card, and i soon learned that he had been part of the big red machine but was now relegated to the national league east, so i thought maybe that was why he was looking glum.

in a perfect world, his entry in my collection would be as an expo, but a phillies or even a red sox card would have worked, too. in the end, i opted for a card showing old man perez during his second stint as a red since i was too young to remember his early years in cincy.

perez deserves to be in the hall of fame, but being a steve garvey fan, i was jealous back in 2000 that perez got the call while the garv did not. keep in mind that perez was in serious decline by the time i started following baseball, while garvey was at the peak of his career. in the end, an objective look at the stats shows that perez had a great career and a pretty good peak 10-year run with the reds from 1967-76.

merry christmas everybody!