pitchers perfect

not too long after i mentioned i was working on the 1961 topps baseball thrills subset, i received an envelope from friend of the blogosphere mr. haverkamp. in it, he sent me this card to help me on my quest:

that is the harvey haddix card from the subset that documents his 12 innings of perfection thrown in 1959 in a game that ended in defeat and non-perfection. here's the back:

this card conjures up memories of armando galarraga and rich hill as far as near perfection goes. receiving this card in the mail was a thrill, and put me at only three cards away from completing the subset.

thanks jim!

of course, being three cards away made me look for the others i needed with a bit more fervor. i wound up adding the other card in the subset that deals with perfection:

that would be don larsen who was able to complete his perfect game in the 1956 world series. here's the back with the full scoop:

and not to be overlooked, i also picked up walter johnson's card from the subset:

he wasn't perfect, but he did pitch three shutouts in four days as the back explains:

with these cards, i am now down to needing only babe ruth's card. it has something to do with hitting 60 home runs in a season. it may be a while before i add that one to the collection.