i can't leaf stuff like this alone

i have several saved searches on ebay, and sometimes these searches lead me down a rabbit hole and i wind up with cards that i wouldn't normally be seeking out. a few months ago, my saved "garvey" search brought up an odd mix of 57 cards from a seller. the main photo included a 1972 topps steve garvey card, 

which is why the lot hit my saved search.

there were other cards shown, and i think you will agree that the buy it now was reasonable with an all-in total cost of about $59. these are some of the other cards that were shown in the main photo for the lot:

strangely enough, the title only mentioned garvey and don money. 

once i saw the 1981 o-pee-chee alan trammell card

and the 1985 leaf greg luzinski card, i began to wonder if the 1975 george brett or 1976 ron guidry rookie cards might be o-pee-chee? obviously the garvey (no o-pee-chee high numbers in 1972) and the 1975 mini gary carter rookie are topps, and the 1977 rod carew card is topps (no all-star banners on o-pee-chee cards in '77), but the brett and guidry cards could be.

here's a closer look at that gary carter rookie

and the carew

which was in pretty good condition.

unfortunately, neither the guidry

nor the brett

were canadian varieties. however, the 1970 larry bowa rookie card

was!

there was another photo that showed delino deshields' fantastic 1988 o-pee-chee exclusive card

being included as part of the set, but what really sold me on making the purchase was this photo

more leaf and o-pee-chee cards were shown, and this bunch wound up including a 1987 leaf rafael palmeiro rookie card

but what got my attention was the card showing in the lower left of the photo. that's a 1989 fleer billy ripken card, and i figured it was worth taking a shot at getting the "f-ck face" version. i do not own, nor have i ever owned, any variation of the card, and i had minor regret after passing up a black box variation in a dollar bin at a card show last year. so, i paid my money and crossed my fingers, just as i had with the brett and the guidry.

it turned out to be the black box version

still, i was not disappointed with the lot even though, in the end, this is the only card that has (so far) found its way into my permanent collection:

and that's because of the dodger stadium background on jerry koosman's 1985 leaf card

harvey you're a star

in my ongoing quest to complete the 1955 bowman set, i purchased a few singles recently, including one of harvey kuenn

unfortunately, i failed to notice that one of the previous owners of the card had given kuenn a gold star, and another owner (or the older version of the same owner) tried to peel it off to no avail. 

i am by no means working to put together a high end set, but i would rather my cards not have things like that on them. i am totally ok with marks on the back, which this one also has

i wonder if it was "j.b." who affixed the gold star to the card? i can't fault whomever it was, as kuenn followed up his 1953 rookie of the year campaign with a very solid 1954 season and continued to perform at a star level for the rest of the 1950's as a tiger.

i wasn't around while kuenn was playing, so to me, he will always be the guy who struck out to end sandy koufax's perfect game in 1965 thanks to the recording of the final inning that i have listened to dozens of times. in fact, i can hear vin scully's call now - "2 and 2 to harvey kuenn. swung on and missed! a perfect game!" of course, kuenn also went on to manage the brewers to their only american league pennant to date, with the help of his "wallbangers".

as for the card, i will probably try the hairdryer to see if i can loosen the star. if not, it's ok, as i need to track down another one of these to really complete the set. this one is the "corrected" version, and there is an error version that has his last name misspelled on the back. hopefully i can find one without any decals!

my retired number collection - 36

this is the 36th post in a series that shares the cards i have in my retired number mini-collection. you can find the links to the previous posts down at the bottom of this post. if you're eager to learn more right now, you can check out the full list of retired numbers along with what this collection will entail over at my want list site.

without further ado, here are the four people for whom number 36 has been retired:

robin roberts (retired by the phillies in 1962) 2003 topps all-time fan favorites

having played when he played, there aren't too many cards of roberts showing his torso let alone his number, which back then only appeared on the back of phillie jerseys. 2003 topps all-time fan favorites comes to the rescue, sort of, as only half of roberts' 36 is visible. at any rate, the phillies retired the number in his honor on march 21, 1962 when roberts faced his old club in spring training as a member of the yankees. he had been with the phillies from 1948 through 1961, and so was the last phillie to wear the number. 

the yankees released roberts in april of 1962, but he wound up joining the orioles, and he pitched for another few years before retiring and getting the call to cooperstown in 1976 on his fourth ballot. with the phillies, roberts was a workhorse who won 20 or more games six seasons in a row. he led the league in wins four years in a row, and also led in strikeouts for two of those seasons. those years - his best years - occurred prior to the introduction of the cy young award, and he surely would have won the award multiple times had it existed. for example, he missed out on the pitching triple crown in 1953 by a few runs, finishing second in era to warren spahn, and finished second in the 1952 mvp voting to hank sauer.

roberts remains a fixture on the phillies' all-time franchise leaderboard, sitting at the top in games pitched, shutouts, and a few other categories. his 234 wins is second only to steve carlton's 241, and he trails only "lefty" in strikeouts, but by a much higher margin.

gaylord perry (retired by the giants in 2005) 2002 fleer greats of the game

perry spent the first ten seasons of his career with the giants, from 1962 through 1981. he racked up 134 wins and 1,606 strikeouts as a giant, leading the league in wins in 1970 - the same year he placed in the cy young voting for the first time (he finished second). those numbers were enough for the giants to retire his number on july 23, 2005, making aj pierzynski in 2004 the last giant to wear the number.

perry went on to pitch for a number of other teams after leaving san francisco in a trade, winning a cy young in each league along the way, and was voted into the hall of fame in 1991 on his third ballot. perry's number is fully visible on his 2002 fleer greats of the game card, making it a solid choice for this collection.

jerry koosman (retired by the mets in 2021) 1979 topps

it's hard to believe that just about three years ago, on august 28, 2021, koosman became only the third met player to have their number retired in a ceremony that was delayed from the 2020 season due to the pandemic. since then, the mets have retired four more players' numbers in what may be an attempt to catch up to other franchises in terms of honoring their all-time greats. koosman was definitely one of those for the amazins', winning 140 games and striking out 1,799 batters over the course of his 12 seasons in queens, although his career was not quite that of a hall of famer.

koosman was a huge part of the mets' 1969 world championship team, as well as their 1973 pennant winning club. in fact, the mets won all six of koosman's final six starts in 1969, with the lefty throwing complete games in five of them, and shutouts in three. he remains high on the mets' all-time leader board, behind only his teammate tom seaver in some categories, and behind seaver and dwight gooden in a few others.

koosman wasn't a met when his 1979 topps card was released - he was resurrecting his career in minnesota - but it shows his number 36 clearly and is a good fit for the collection. the last player to wear number 36 for the mets was sean gilmartin 2017, but it was worn after that by the team's former manager mickey callaway through the 2019 season, making callaway the last met to wear the number on the field. 

jim kaat (retired by the twins in 2022) 2005 upper deck artifacts mlb apparel

that 2005 upper deck artifacts card is the only relic card in this collection, and it is the only card of kaat that i could find that gives even the slightest glimpse at his number as a twin. it's a number that was retired by the franchise on july 16, 2022 in recognition of kaat's election to the hall of fame that same year by the eras committee - a vote that caused tommy john fans everywhere to get excited. 

kaat debuted with the washington senators in 1959 and moved to minnesota with the franchise in 1961, remaining a fixture in their rotation until he was claimed on waivers by the white sox during the 1973 season. as a senator/twin, kaat won 190 games and won 11 consecutive gold gloves (he won a 12th straight in 1973 so maybe he won 11.5 as a twin). he finished in the top five in league mvp voting in 1966, the season after he helped the twins win their first pennant in minnesota.

kaat is the twins' all-time leader in wins, and is second only to walter johnson in franchise history. same goes for innings pitched and games started (and losses, too). in between kaat's departure and the retirement of the number, many players sported 36 for the twins (including koosman) but tyler clippard in 2020 became the last twin to do so.

i am tracking a few things as we go, even though the information is already available elsewhere.

retired numbers by team (through the 36 posts so far):

yankees - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 20, 21, 23, 32, 42

giants - 3, 4, 11, 20, 22, 24, 25, 27, 30, 36, 42

pirates - 1, 4, 8, 9, 11, 20, 21, 33, 42

guardians - 3, 5, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 42, 455

red sox - 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 14, 26, 27, 34, 42

phillies - 1, 14, 15, 20, 32, 34, 36, 42

cardinals - 1, 2, 6, 9, 10, 14, 17, 20, 23, 24, 42, 85

reds - 1, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 18, 20, 24, 42

braves - 3, 6, 10, 21, 25, 31, 35, 42

astros - 5, 7, 24, 25, 32, 33, 34, 42

mets - 14, 16, 17, 18, 24, 31, 36, 42

orioles - 4, 5, 8, 20, 22, 33, 42

dodgers - 1, 2, 4, 14, 19, 20, 24, 32, 34, 42

twins - 3, 6, 7, 10, 14, 28, 34, 36, 42

white sox - 2, 3, 4, 9, 11, 14, 16, 19, 35, 42, 72

brewers - 1, 4, 19, 34, 42

tigers - 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 11, 16, 23, 42

cubs - 10, 14, 23, 26, 31, 42

royals - 5, 10, 20, 42

padres - 6, 19, 31, 35, 42

athletics - 9, 24, 27, 34, 42

angels - 11, 26, 30, 42

expos - 8, 10, 30, 42

rangers - 7, 10, 26, 34, 42

major league baseball - 42

rays - 12, 42, 66

diamondbacks - 20, 42

blue jays - 32, 42

rockies - 17, 33, 42

mariners - 11, 24, 42

nationals - 11, 42

marlins - 42

retired number frequency:

1 - retired by 9 teams

2 - retired by 5 teams

3 - retired by 7 teams

4 - retired by 8 teams

5 - retired by 7 teams

6 - retired by 7 teams

7 - retired by 4 teams

8 - retired by 6 teams (retired by yankees for two players)

9 - retired by 6 teams

10 - retired by 9 teams (retired by expos for two players)

11 - retired by 8 teams

12 - retired by 1 team

13 - retired by 1 team

14 - retired by 10 teams (retired by mets and dodgers for same person)

15 - retired by 2 teams

16 - retired by 4 teams

17 - retired by 3 teams

18 - retired by 3 teams (includes mets who will formally retire the number in 2024) 

19 - retired by 5 teams

20 - retired by 11 teams (retired by orioles, reds, and guardians for same person)

21 - retired by 4 teams

22 - retired by 2 teams

23 - retired by 4 teams

24 - retired by 8 teams (retired by giants and mets for same person)

25 - retired by 4 teams

26 - retired by 4 teams

27 - retired by 3 teams

28 - retired by 1 team

29 - retired by 4 teams (retired by twins and angels for same person)

30 - retired by 3 teams

31 - retired by 4 teams (retired by cubs and braves for same person; retired by cubs for two players)

32 - retired by 5 teams

33 - retired by 4 teams

34 - retired by 8 teams (retired by astros and rangers for same person; retired by brewers and a's for same person; retired by a's for two players)

35 - retired by 3 teams

36 - retired by 4 teams

42 - retired by 30 teams (retired by cardinals and yankees for individuals in addition to jackie robinson)

66 - retired by 1 team

72 - retired by 1 team

85 - retired by 1 team

455 - retired by 1 team

unnumbered players - 12 players recognized by 4 teams

running total of unique hall of famers (including those without numbers): 145

running total of non-hall of famers: 51

i could use some help with 2024 topps series 2

i've finally gone through my 2024 topps series 2 purchases and have found that i am missing 86 cards from the set. a couple of these i have, but i've already put them in team or mini-collections. i am hoping that i can finish the set the old fashioned way - through trades - rather than a $30 sportlots purchase.

here's one card that i had a duplicate of, so i put one in my name/number on the back collection

i've kind of softened on carlos correa, i guess. in truth, i am more of a fan of these cards that feature players approaching home plate.

here are the cards i am in need of (also posted at my want list site)

352 trea turner  

357 rhys hoskins  

360 steven cruz  

361 myles straw  

369 brenan hanifee  

375 matt vierling  

380 sean manaea  

381 michael brantley  

385 touki toussaint  

390 jack suwinski  

396 raisel iglesias  

398 enrique hernandez  

399 jonathan bowlan  

400 carlos correa  

403 casey schmitt  

406 andrew saalfrank  

407 pete crow-armstrong  

410 jose abreu  

415 rob refsnyder  

417 washington nationals  

418 nick lodolo  

420 eloy jimenez  

429 michael king  

432 hunter goodman  

441 dylan moore  

449 triston mckenzie  

452 alexander canario  

460 blake snell  

466 sonny gray  

472 jeremy pena  

473 brayan rocchio  

484 chris sale  

493 darius vines  

494 allan winans  

495 jose caballero  

504 michael conforto  

507 jose miranda  

513 triston casas  

514 kansas city royals  

523 jackson wolf  

527 edward olivares  

529 ian happ  

533 milwaukee brewers  

534 t.j. friedl  

536 kerry carpenter  

537 owen miller  

545 zach neto  

546 luke little  

547 drew smyly  

564 jake meyers  

566 andrew mccutchen  

567 kyle hendricks  

568 trevor larnach  

571 john mcmillon  

576 tommy kahnle  

577 joey wendle  

601 trevor story  

602 tyler fitzgerald  

604 toronto blue jays  

605 kenta maeda  

610 zack greinke  

613 jordan wicks  

615 yoendrys gomez  

616 sawyer gipson-long  

624 austin wells  

625 paul dejong  

629 gavin sheets  

632 giancarlo stanton  

635 jt brubaker  

638 cal quantrill  

639 harrison bader  

643 taijuan walker  

647 paul blackburn  

648 anthony santander  

659 ken waldichuk  

666 logan porter  

667 kyle harrison  

673 stuart fairchild  

675 alek manoah  

676 lawrence butler  

677 lourdes gurriel jr.  

681 ivan herrera  

687 nicky lopez  

690 brett baty  

693 carlos carrasco  

700 jose altuve  

i have many doubles (and other cards to trade) so hopefully we can help each other out. leave a comment or send me an email - gcrl AT comcast DOT net.

and now, here are some inserts from the second hanger box i purchased, which was a bit of a snoozer.

jazz chisholm 1989 all-star blue parallel

cleveland guardians royal blue parallel

tommy edman yellow parallel

john mcmillon yellow parallel

alex bregman 1989 

aaron judge significant statistics

bryce harper home run challenge

and a bunch of "stars" of mlb - sal frelick

manny machado

cedanne rafaela

and clayton kershaw

thanks in advance for helping a blogger out!

spot the difference!

with series 2 out, we are at the point in the year where i can post the annual "spot the difference" writeup comparing the topps factory team set to the flagship releases. i suppose there was a chance that i would have to wait for update again this year, but topps was not averse to getting a shohei ohtani card on to the mainstream series 2 checklist and so here we are.

first, i want to show you how the sets are packaged this year

same sort of hanger/blister packaging, but look at how large the plastic blister is! plenty of room to shake things up if you like!

they also stopped printing the checklist on the back, but i think it's been like that for at least a couple of years.

speaking of backs, the guaranteed difference between these cards and their flagship counterparts is the numbering on the back

and away we go, with flagship on the left and the team set on the right!

lad-1 freddie freeman

same. i don't consider the non-foil logo on the team set cards to be a difference. the team set cards also lack the foil that makes the neon look great on the flagship cards in hand, but they do scan more neon-y if you catch my drift.

lad-2 mookie betts

same

lad-3 shohei ohtani

same. when these sets were first released i saw these cards going for more than the price of the set itself.

lad-4 walker buehler

same

lad-5 tony gonsolin

same

lad-6 chris taylor

same [edit - night owl noticed the difference in positions on taylor's cards. this is a truly bizarre variation, as you would think topps would be set on positions from day one. in 2023, taylor played more games and innings in left field than anywhere else. next in both categories was shortstop, and third base followed. he also played a handful of games at second base]

lad-7 max muncy

same

lad-8 austin barnes

same. i thought that barnes was an interesting choice for the team set checklist, especially since that meant that will smith was not included. i am happy, however, that the dodgers have two catchers in flagship. they don't currently have a third catcher on their roster, but my early collecting days brought me to expect cards for three dodger catchers (steve yeager, johnny oates, and jerry grote each got cards in 1978 and 1979 topps).

lad-9 brusdar graterol

same

lad-10 bobby miller

so here the team set does not to with the "future stars" moniker which makes sense because the focus is on the team. not sure i consider this to be a real difference, but i suppose it is.

lad-11 emmet sheehan

same

lad-12 jonny deluca

same. i am sure we will see deluca in update as a ray.

lad-13 james outman

same

lad-14 clayton kershaw

ah! a true difference here with the team set kershaw changing it's orientation and using a photo from a completely different game! i wish the team set would have done something similar with the buehler card

lad-15 miguel vargas

here we have the same "future stars" difference as bobby miller's card

lad-16 michael busch

the team set gives us one last michael busch dodger card to enjoy. unlike deluca, topps left busch off the series 1 checklist, and 'shopped him into cubs gear for series 2. i appreciate that they used a different photo - i assume because it's easier to go from a dodger to a cub when you are wearing the away grays.

lad-17 gavin lux

same

so, really just one significant difference in terms of dodger cards (kershaw) plus what turned out to be a bonus dodger card (busch). not sure if two cards make the set worth it for the casual collector, but for a team collector like me, you bet it does - especially with kershaw involved.

i remembered that i put together a running list of these posts a couple of years ago, and have now updated the list below. 2016 and 2018 are partial set posts, and i realize now i don't even own the team sets from 2017 or 2019. there was no team set issued in 2021. otherwise, click and enjoy!

2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2018

2020

2022

2023

i will probably seek out those last two sets and get a proper 2018 post at some point. stay tuned!