the triumphant return of the mall show

i don't recall all of the details as it's been about four months, but back in february i went to a card show held in one of the many suburban twin cities malls. these locations have largely become depressing shells of their past glory, so i don't get to malls too often. the last time i was in a mall before this show, it was the mall of america in october for dinner at the twin city grill. that's good stuff and i highly recommend it if you ever venture to bloomington and the site of the twins' former ballpark.

i had been to shows at this particular mall before over the years, including recent incarnations even though the last few years have been disappointing as there seems to be more of a focus on other types of collectables (sport and non-sport) from the vendors who set up. this time, it was like the days of yore with a lot of card dealers from near and far. i recognized a couple of them and they admitted that they hadn't been to this location for a while, but they thought timing was right and they had hoped that the current status of the hobby would bring out the customers. 

one of these sellers i recognized had a nickel box of vintage-ish commons, including a bunch of miscuts. i remember buying a gloriously miscut 1977 topps davey lopes card from him several years ago. this time, i took this 1975 topps mini ken mcmullen card

that is slightly miscut and diamond cut. i will note that the mcmullen was the least miscut of the 15 miscuts i grabbed! 

the 1975 topps mini bob oliver

and 1975 topps (regular?) joe lis

are progressively worse, and then there is the star of the show - a 1980 topps larry biittner and kent tekulve mashup card

that is just ridiculous. i get vertigo just looking at that thing.

i even grabbed four football cards - three from 1973 and one from my lost love 1978 - that were fantastically miscut

the charley young card shares space with a checklist, while ed budde has the bills' dick cunningham encroaching in his neutral zone. bruce gossett's card features another kicker, or punter, actually, in bobby walden from the steelers. it's charlie harraway's card that really gets me, because that's jack younblood showing up. as a rams fan growing up, youngblood was one of my three favorite players. stud.

just before i found the seller with the miscuts, i visited a dealer who stuck to his guns and charged me $9 for 9 cards from his dollar box.

i asked him, "even austin barnes?", and he shrugged. i suggested that i should stop buying gavin lux cards and he agreed with me, but i persisted.

dollar boxes were the theme for the most part, but at least there was the opportunity to haggle, or in the case of one of the dealers the dollar (and two dollar) boxes were proactively marked as "50% off". i found some decent dodger parallels including a prism refractor

and a regular refractor

of mookie betts from the two most recent topps chrome platinum anniversary releases. i wonder if topps decided to take a break in 2024 and restart this set in 2025 with a true 70 year anniversary for the 1955 design.

these shows are a good way to pick up cards left over (i assume?) from card shop activities, like a couple of hobby rip night dodgers - yoshinobu yamamoto and shohei ohtani

this would have been one of ohtani's first dodger cards? or maybe these were series 2 rip night cards. i don't follow these sorts of things anymore.

my favorite pick up from this dealer was this 2008 upper deck yankee stadium legacy card

it's not just a roger maris 1961 season card from that expansive set, it's from his 61st home run game!

imagine the odds of pulling the card for this specific game from a pack. and then throwing the card in a $2 box and selling it for a buck.

the next seller was a guy whose tables were straining under the weight of a massive number of monster boxes with all sorts of cards jammed in them. i grabbed mostly cheap autos and relics like these four dodger autos

(that came from 2017 bowman high tek, 2017 topps finest, 2020 panini prizm, and 2023 bowman platinum, respectively), and this yankee relic from 2021 topps allen & ginter

yankee relics with a pinstripe will always make me take notice. as for luke voit, he's currently playing in mexico.

now we've made our way to cards from the first dealer i stopped at (and spent most of my time with). he had a couple of 1 and 2 dollar boxes in a corner of the second level walkway. the boxes had some good variety, and i wound up buying my very first 1965 topps embossed insert.

is that tommy davis? who knows. i had always avoided these things, even as i built the 1965 set. i may now look to track down the other dodgers now that i have a start.

2020 topps chrome dustin may refractor parallels

are sort of boring, but team collectors are slaves to the machine.

i like seeing shiny cards of players from my youth, so i picked out this 2022 panini mosaic george brett

green mosaic prizm and this 2023 panini prizm green ice prizm card

of willie stargell.

i will also happily purchase legend variation cards, such as this 2022 topps update christy mathewson

i tell you what, i would collect the heck out of a set that looked like this in its entirety. the simple 2022 flagship design works really well with tobacco card type images.

from clean and sharp to cluttered and nonsense, here are some 2024 topps parallels that i bought. this first one is the aforementioned (and recently released) austin barnes

he's got beach chairs and umbrellas behind him (reminds me of a day i spent at siesta key a couple of years ago). this series 2 holiday foil design is numbered to 50. here's the back:

jackie robinson number sighting!

i found three other, non-numbered holiday parallels, too

hot dog!

beach chairs and umbrellas, plus hot dogs? sounds like a summer cookout, and with the fourth of july in a couple of days now is the time!

happy (2021 panini donruss bo jackson) independence day (parallel)!

be safe!

a moment for jerry grote

i want to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of jerry grote.  because he was a member of the 1978 topps dodgers, i was automatically a fan of his.

as i did with vic davalillo a few months ago, here's a look at grote's career in topps cards thanks to my evolution of the 1978 topps dodgers collection:

grote was famously left on the cutting room floor by topps in 1977, and he didn't receive a card when he returned to the majors in 1981. i, of course, made customs for him to fill in the blanks as i did for other members of the 1978 topps dodgers. the 1977 topps test card showed grote as a met, but i showed him as a dodger in 1977

as a royal in a 1981 topps traded style card

and back as a dodger in 1982 for a final tribute

however, my favorite custom i made featuring the veteran catcher was this 1979 topps 1978 nlcs card

grote was on deck when bill russell singled to drive home ron cey and secure the pennant for the dodgers in game 4 of the 1978 nlcs, and so he was there to greet the penguin as he scored. pure joy.

grote will be best remembered as a met, as he helped the mets to two pennants and the 1969 world series title in addition to being a part of the dodgers' back-to-back pennant winning teams in the late 70's. to me, he is number 9. when i go through numbers, i associate 9 with grote because i was a dodger fan in 1978 and because gordie howe didn't play baseball.

with grote's death yesterday, seven members of the 1978 topps dodgers have now passed away, and it is a reminder that time waits for no man. rest in peace number 9!

my retired number collection - dressed to the 9s

this is the tenth 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 six people for whom the number 9 has been retired:

ted williams (retired by the red sox in 1960) 1996 topps ted williams tunnel opening day commemorative

i bought this card directly from topps through the mail back in 1996, and now it finally has a set place in my collection thanks to its display of the splendid splinter's number. the central artery tunnel in boston that opened in late 1995 is also the ted williams tunnel. williams also has a highway named after him in san diego, for what it's worth.

the red sox retired number 9 for williams in may of 1984 (along with joe cronin's number 4), making them the first red sox players to be so honored. unlike cronin, the red sox did not issue williams' number to anyone after he retired in 1960, making him the last member of the franchise to wear the number.

as a player, few were better than williams. he is currently the last person to hit over .400 in a season and he won six batting titles and two mvp awards while accomplishing the triple crown twice. elected to the hall of fame in 1966 in his first year of eligibility, i would submit his name as a candidate for the person who had the greatest american life. 

minnie minoso (retired by the white sox in 1983) 2001 topps archives

minoso had five different stints with the white sox, if you include his two "stunt" returns in 1976 and 1980. while he was not elected to the hall of fame until 2022, the white sox retired his number on may 8, 1983. the 2001 topps archives card i chose is, of course, a reprint of his 1964 topps card, and shows his number prominently on his sleeve. the white sox did not immediately retire his number, but with his final appearances in 1976 and 1980, he was officially the last player to wear the number for the team.

1964 was the final season of his "initial" major league career, and he only appeared in 30 games for chicago. however, in his previous 11 years on the southside, minoso had four top-4 mvp finishes and was the runner up to gil mcdougald in the 1951 american league rookie of the year voting. in all, he posted over 1,500 hits and had a .304 average as a member of the white sox.

roger maris (retired by the yankees in 1984) 2001 topps archives

the yankees retired number 9 for maris during their oldtimers game on july 21, 1984 (the same day the retired number 32 for elston howard - more on that in a future post). the timing for maris' number retirement is curious to me - is it because graig nettles, who had worn number 9 for the previous 11 seasons (and so became the final yankee to wear it) had left for san diego? in fact, one could argue that a dual retirement for both maris and nettles would make sense for the yankees.

anyway, i chose the 2001 topps archives card reprint of maris' 1961 topps in action card not just because it shows his number 9 clearly, but because home run number 61 was a huge thing for me as a young fan learning about the game.

maris' claim to fame is his 61 home runs in 1961, but he was a two-time mvp winner (one of two eligible players not in the hall of fame). as a yankee, maris hit just over 200 home runs in seven seasons, but helped them to five pennants and two world series titles during his tenure. 

bill mazeroski (retired by the pirates in 1987) 1965 topps

bill mazeroski was largely responsible for denying maris a third world series ring, thanks to his series ending home run in game 7 of the 1960 fall classic. a heralded defender, maz may be best known for that home run. i think it certainly kept him in the baseball conversations until the veteran's committee voted him in to the hall of fame in 2001. his 1965 topps card displays his number nicely.

his reputation as an elite defender is supported by the fact that he won eight gold gloves as a second baseman and at one time held the modern day all-time assist record for the position, as well as by modern metrics such as total zone fielding runs for which he sits atop the all-time leader board for second basemen. following his playing career which was spent solely with the pirates, maz coached for the pirates in 1973 and then served mainly as a spring training instructor. he was the last pirate to wear number 9, although the club did not officially retire the number until august 7, 1987. 

enos slaughter (retired by the cardinals in 1996) 2005 upper deck pastime pennants

slaughter's number 9 is mostly visible on his 2005 upper deck pastime pennants card, which was the best example i could find. i tend to think of enos slaughter as an old-timey player like tris speaker, but then i see him in the late 1950's topps sets and am reminded that he's a peer of ted williams'. speaker's career began in 1938 and ended in 1959, and although he played for four different franchises, he left his mark in st. louis cardinals history.

it was his "mad dash" in game 7 of the 1946 world series - he scored from first on harry walker's two-out double in the top of the ninth inning to give the cardinals a one-run lead - that is probably most well remembered. he never led the league in any category, but amassed some big numbers in his 13 years with st. louis - over 1,000 runs scored; more than 2,000 hits and over 1,100 rbi with a .305 batting average - that are worthy of his number being retired by the franchise.

thirteen cardinals wore number 9 after slaughter was traded to the yankees in 1954, including minnie minoso, roger maris, and terry pendleton (the last cardinal to wear the number) before the cardinals finally retired it on september 6, 1996. this was a full 11 years after the veteran's committee elected slaughter to the hall of fame, and it seems like the club was doing some catching up with retired numbers as they honored red schoendienst, slaughter, and the newly retired ozzie smith all during the '96 campaign.

reggie jackson (retired by the athletics in 2004) 1973 topps

this particular 1973 topps reggie jackson card of mine is not in the best shape, but i've had it for about 40 years. the one in my 1973 complete set is much nicer, so this one was available to represent reggie in this collection thanks to the prominence of his number on the front of the colorful a's vest jerseys. 

while the a's didn't retire reggie's number until may 22, 2004 (making olmedo saenz the last oakland player to wear the number), he was elected to the hall of fame in 1993 based on a stellar career that began with the franchise in kansas city. chosen second in the 1966 draft after the mets did mets things and took steven chilcott first overall, reggie joined the a's in 1967 and was an all-star earning mvp votes two years later. he won his lone mvp award in 1973, and twice led the american league in home runs, runs scored, and ops as a member of the a's.

he helped them to five straight postseason appearances, including three consecutive american league pennants and world series titles from 1972 through 1974, although he was injured in the 1972 alcs and did not appear in that year's fall classic. when he left the a's for baltimore after the 1975 season, reggie was the franchise's modern era leader in home runs and rbi. of course, the notoriety that he brought to his career following his time with the a's contributed to his status as a hall of famer, and i'll cover some of that later on, as graig nettles did not relinquish number 9 to jackson when he joined the yankees in 1977, and reggie settled for his third choice - 44. and, while jackson wore number 44 during his final season which came as a member of the a's, only number 9 is retired for mr. october in oakland.

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

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

yankees - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

giants - 3, 4

pirates - 1, 4, 8, 9

guardians - 3, 5

red sox - 1, 4, 6, 8, 9

phillies - 1

cardinals - 1, 2, 6, 9

reds - 1, 5, 8

braves - 3, 6

astros - 5, 7

mets

orioles - 4, 5, 8

dodgers - 1, 2, 4

twins - 3, 6, 7

white sox - 2, 3, 4, 9

brewers - 1, 4

tigers - 1, 2, 3, 5, 6

cubs

royals - 5

padres - 6

athletics - 9

angels

expos - 8

rangers - 7

major league baseball

rays

diamondbacks

blue jays

rockies

mariners

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

unnumbered players - 12 players recognized by 4 teams

running total of unique hall of famers (including those without numbers): 64

running total of non-hall of famers: 8

a moment for vic davalillo, players from my youth, and the new dodger dh

i read last wednesday that vic davalillo passed away, and it made me pause.

thanks to his incredible, rally starting, two-out bunt in the 9th inning of game 3 of the 1977 nlcs and his inclusion in the 1978 topps set as a dodger, i got to know davalillo at the very beginning of my fandom and collecting days. he didn't play a lot, but he was a dodger and there was cardboard evidence of that fact, so he was respected and celebrated in my collection.

i have all of davalillo's major manufacturer cards (issued in the us, anyway), as his entire topps flagship run 

is encapsulated in my "evolution of the 1978 topps dodgers" mini-collection, and his 1981 fleer offering

is in my dodger collection. there are one or two venezuelan releases that i wouldn't mind adding to the collection, but i haven't ever made it a priority.

davalillo is the sixth member of the 1978 topps dodgers to pass away. preceding him were glenn burke (1995), johnny oates (2004), lance rautzhan (2016), tom lasorda (2021), and don sutton (2021). time marches on, but it is still a bit of a thing to see these players whose cardboard i coveted back then pass away.

shifting to another way of looking at the 1978 topps set, i get excited when i can complete the immaculate grid using only players who appeared in that set. it is always my goal to use as many as i can, and there was a two day stretch last week where i was able to do so:

with davalillo getting center square in saturday's grid! as of now, that second one has a score of 8, which would be my second lowest ever.

finally, i would be remiss if i didn't mention the 700 million dollar man, shohei ohtani. i feel for angel fans who will now see ohtani suit up for the dodgers, but not enough to not be excited about ohtani joining the dodgers. here are some 2018 topps update cards i have of ohtani

with the last one being the most valuable, i guess, since it's a rainbow foil parallel. the dodgers still need pitching for the 2024 season (ohtani can't help them there), but it's a good start to a longer term benefit. i suppose my team break costs for 2024 just went up. way up.

bad trades never die

i was looking through some vintage dodger dupes recently, and i stopped when i got to the 1965

and 1966 

topps cards of well traveled reliever bob miller.  not only does miller look like he aged several years between the times that those photos were taken, i also noticed on the back of each card, topps mentions that the dodgers acquired miller for two players. here's the back of his 1965 card:

and here's the back of his 1966 card:

it is true that the dodgers gave up two players, but i found it interesting that topps repeated that fact on cards that were issued two and three years after the deal was done. of course, they also mention miller's 74 appearances in 1964 on both cards. i also find it interesting that the 1966 card mentions saves in the cartoon even though they weren't an official stat until 1969. curious.  anyway, these are the two guys that the dodgers sent to the mets for miller:

larry burright

and tim harkness

both played for the mets in 1963 and 1964, but did not appear in the majors after that. harkness had more success than burright, but he was traded to the reds after the 1964 season for bobby klaus. klaus was later traded away for dick stuart, and in 1966, stuart was released by the mets and signed by the dodgers for whom miller was still playing.

this all means that the two players the dodgers gave up to acquire miller were no longer major leaguers when topps put that information on the backs of the two cards up top. you might be relieved to know that the two-for-one trade was not mentioned on the back of miller's 1967 topps card, although his 1964 appearances were referenced in one of the cartoons on that card - incorrectly as 71 instead of 74. regardless, at least topps was finally able to come up with some new copy for the guy.