it's good to know a guy

i had been occasionally checking the local card collector club's website to see when the next church show was going to be held. they are typically held once in the spring and once in the fall. however, there was just a glaring "tbd" on the site for months. running into brian at the monthly club show in august had me thinking about the church show again, and thankfully i got an email from him letting me know that the church show was happening on september 21. better yet, brian and a couple friends were setting up as a vendor.

it turns out that the reason the club website wasn't being updated is that the church show was scheduled for the same day as the monthly club show and they didn't want to publicize the competition. for me, with brian selling, it was a nobrainer to eschew the club show and head to church!

brian had told me that he was going to have two 5000 count monster dime boxes, and when i approached the table, he put the first one down. there in the second row was this card in front

i told brian that having a 1982 donruss steve garvey diamond king in front was a smart move. he said it was all about knowing his customer. of course, i couldn't leave the garv behind.

the first block of cards that i looked at included a bunch of 2024 topps aqua parallels, and i told brian that i was a sucker for those sorts of parallels, too. here's a "color match" fernando tatis jr card

to represent the stack of these that i added to my pile. there were a host of other parallel types that i took, including a 2017 topps fire brooks robinson flame parallel

there were a boatload of straight up inserts, too. here's a 2022 panini prizm vladimir guerrero jr illumination insert

i suspect that the holo version is more "illuminated" than this base insert version.

here are a couple of topps heritage inserts that caught my eye - a nolan ryan card from 2015

and an ernie banks card from 2020

there were some attractive base cards, too. this 1994 upper deck ken griffey jr card

is one of my favorite base cards of all-time so i had to grab one of the two that brian had for sale. and i am not sure that i had seen this 2014 topps stadium club roberto clemente card before

so i took it, too.

i felt that it was worth a dime to acquire this 1974 topps hank aaron card

even though it is in rough shape. as brian noted, "it's 96% intact!"

as for dodgers, there were plenty even though brian has provided me with a steady stream of cards featuring the boys in blue over the years. here's a 2017 topps gypsy queen jackie robinson short print

that i needed, and here's a 2021 topps chrome max muncy all-star game refractor insert

that was also a need. these seem to be less prevalent than the 2022 counterparts, but that may not actually be the case.

back to some cards that i didn't really need but bought nonetheless, here's a 1970 topps dodger team card

and a 1987 topps bill russell card

that i chose to take with me.

one player specific card that was new to me was this 2022 panini donruss vladimir guerrero orange holo

parallel.

i found a lot of cards for my various mini-collections, too.

double play cards like a 2002 donruss originals jeff kent 

and a couple of 2022 panini donruss ryne sandberg cards

the base version is a dupe of one i already had, so it goes into my lurker collection thanks to tony gwynn showing up.

here's another one for the lurker collection - a 2016 topps stadium club manny machado card

featuring cal ripken jr.

brian was wise to have this 2012 topps gypsy queen willie mays glove stories insert in one of the boxes

because i will purchase pretty much any card showing "the catch" for my name/number on the back collection. that's where this 1992 leaf jon olerud card is headed

as is this 1998 donruss collections leaf eric davis card

and this 2019 topps stadium club mookie betts card

i have kind of shied away from adding too many tatooine cards lately, but i did choose this electric blue parallel of jazz chisholm's 2021 topps big league card

as well as this 2021 topps stadium club jose ramirez card

that photo really should have been saved for 2022 topps heritage, as it has 1973 topps written all over it. i see the first base coach's head, the first baseman's arm, the second baseman's leg, and the umpire's arm all disembodied. it's chaos!

at some point while i was digging through the boxes, brian laid out a couple of cards he had set aside for me specifically. this is a 2001 pacific private stock shawn green game gear card

and this is a 1998 topps interleague matchups mystery finest card

that hasn't been peeled. here's the back:

so, does the card front feature mike piazza, eric karros, jim edmonds, or tim salmon? i didn't peel it, but based on the comparison of the impression underneath and images online, i believe this to be jim edmonds' card.

brian also had somehow acquired duplicates of a baseball card breakdown 1975 hostess clayton kershaw custom

so he handed one over to me.

after all was said and done, i had pulled around 460 cards from the two dime boxes. after settling up, brian handed over this 2015 topps stadium club yasiel puig gold foil parallel

it is a beaut of a card.

finally, i had added an unopened pack of 2003 topps opening day to my pile

of course, i opened it when i got home. the mini insert was mike piazza

and the cards were your standard early 2000's variety of guys -todd helton, carlos lee, cliff floyd, and mike sweeney. the floyd card offered a nice view of the ted williams memorial that the red sox wore. i thought it appropriate that the last card in the pack was this one

a sweet minky card from a fellow twin cities card collector. thanks brian!

and, if anyone out there is looking for a pair of john candy's pants, i know a guy who knows a guy.

my retired number collection - gimme 5!

this is the sixth 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 seven people for whom the number 5 has been retired:

5 joe dimaggio (retired by the yankees in 1952) 2001 upper deck pinstripe exclusives

joltin' joe was the third yankee to have his number retired when the club honored him on april 18, 1952 - their first home opener following his retirement from the game. dimaggio, of course, is best remembered by casual baseball fans for his 56-game hit streak but he was one of the best all-around players of his generation. he played in only 13 seasons (three years were spent in military service) but appeared in 10 world series, winning nine. he retired with a .325 lifetime batting average, and only hit below .300 twice. three times he was the american league's most valuable player, and he finished second twice. he was a teammate of both lou gehrig and mickey mantle, which kind of blows my mind.

i think the card that i chose to represent dimaggio in this collection is a great choice, with the number 5 centered as he completes his swing. i just now learned that dimaggio was given number 9 when he first came up with the yankees, but switched to 5 starting in his sophomore year. the last yankee to wear that number, he was also a first ballot hall of famer, entering the hall in 1955. 

5 lou boudreau (retired by the guardians in 1970) 2001 upper deck sp legendary cuts

boudreau was a shortstop who played most of his career in cleveland, beginning in 1938. he finished his playing career with two seasons with the red sox in 1951 and 1952. in between, he also managed cleveland as a player manager from 1942 through 1950. in 1948, he was named the american league's most valuable player while guiding the club to the pennant and the world series championship. he was elected to the hall of fame as a player in 1970, which was ten years after his managerial career ended.

number 5 was retired by the indians franchise on july 9 of that same year. the 2001 sp legendary cuts care above was the best one i could find showing boudreau's number.

5 brooks robinson (retired by the orioles in  1978) 2002 fleer greats of the game

there's no problem seeing robinson's number on that 2002 fleer greats of the game card, that's for sure! the orioles retired the number on april 14, 1978 which, as it was with the yankees and dimaggio, was the first home opener for the orioles following robinson's retirement. robinson had played for the orioles for 23 years, including partial seasons in 1955 and 1977, and led the club to four pennants and two world series championships.

he was best known for his glove, winning the gold glove a record 16 consecutive seasons - a feat that jim kaat matched a couple of years after robinson had achieved it. he was also the 1964 american league mvp and the mvp of the world series in 1970. he entered the hall of fame in 1983 on the first ballot with 92% of the vote and was obviously the last oriole to wear number 5.

5 hank greenberg (retired by the tigers in 1983) 2002 topps tribute

i am thankful for the photographer who took this photo of greenberg and also to topps for using it on that 2002 topps tribute card. most photos of greenberg in uniform show him from the front, and so his number is not visible at all. anyway, the tigers were late to the number retirement game and didn't get to greenberg's number 5 until june 12, 1983. by that time, greenberg had been retired for almost 36 years, and had been in the hall of fame for 30.

like dimaggio, greenberg spent three years in the military which reduced his career to just 13 years although it was really only nine full seasons. during that time, he led the american league in home runs four times (hitting 58 in 1938 to tie jimmie foxx for the most (at that time) by a right-handed hitter) and rbi four times as well, maxing out at 184 in 1937 which was one short of lou gehrig's league record. he won two american league mvp awards, and two world series titles with detroit, but was nowhere near the last tiger to wear number 5. that honor goes to howard johnson who wore it in 1982. as i said, the tigers were late to the number retirement game.

5 johnny bench (retired by the reds in 1984) 1982 donruss

1982 donruss is not the fanciest of sets, but i had a dupe and it shows bench's number 5 pretty well so here we are. the reds had at one time retired number 5 for willard hershberger, a player who committed suicide while with the team in 1940. they eventually put the number back in circulation, and bench became the last red to wear it prior to its final retirement on august 11, 1984.

bench was the 1968 rookie of the year in the national league, and a two-time most valuable player. he was part of the "big red machine" in the 1970's, leading the team to back-to-back world series titles in 1975 and 1976, the latter of which he was named mvp. he is considered by many to be the greatest catcher in baseball history, and his first ballot induction in to the hall of fame in 1989 with 96.4% of the vote is a good indication of that widely held opinion. i just watched the yogi berra documentary on netflix and recognize that berra also has a claim to that title, and i will let historians who are better suited for the debate to hash it out.

5 george brett (retired by the royals in  1994) 1986 fleer all-star team

one of the first insert sets i ever found in packs, this 1986 fleer all-star team card of george brett is bold and i like it very much. it gives a great look at his number, too. the royals retired number 5 for brett on may 14, 1994 following his retirement at the end of the 1993 season. while not the first number retired by the franchise, he was the first player to be honored in that way by royals. over the course of his 20-plus year career, brett amassed 3,154 hits, three batting titles, an mvp award, and led the club to the first two pennants and first world series championship in club history.

brett was the fifth and last royal to wear number 5, and in 1999 he was inducted in to the hall of fame on the first ballot.

5 jeff bagwell (retired by the astros in 2007) 2002 upper deck diamond connection

bagwell was around for three different uniforms worn by the astros, and the 2002 upper deck diamond connection card i am using for this collection shows the third iteration. it's a largely forgettable uniform, but the card shows the number 5 displayed well. as you might expect, bagwell was the last astro to wear the number.

bagwell was the 1991 national league rookie of the year - the last non-dodger to win that award until 1997. he was also the 1994 national league mvp and an offensive force for pretty much the entirety of his career. he hit 449 home runs, drove in 1,529 runs, and scored 1,517 times. he also stole 202 bases which puts him in a small group of players to have over 400 homers and 200 steals. he is also a two-time member of the 30/30 club which sort of blows my mind since i think of him as more of a slugger.

injuries impacted his career over the last couple of seasons, but he was able to help the astros get to the world series in 2005 where he made the final appearance of his career. bagwell didn't formally retire, however, until after the 2006 season, and the club retired his number 5 on august 26, 2007 - about ten years before he was inducted in to the hall of fame.

[edit - the mets retired number 5 for david wright in 2025. this retirement is not reflected in the tracking below]

i should have noted that the marlins had retired number 5 in 1993 for their executive carl barger (joe d was his favorite player) who passed away before the team's inaugural season. they unretired it in 2012 and it is currently worn by jon berti.

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

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

yankees - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

giants - 3, 4

pirates - 1, 4

guardians - 3, 5

red sox - 1, 4

phillies - 1

cardinals - 1, 2

reds - 1, 5

braves - 3

astros - 5

mets

orioles - 4, 5

dodgers - 1, 2, 4

twins - 3

white sox - 2, 3, 4

brewers - 1, 4

tigers - 1, 2, 3, 5

cubs

royals - 5

padres

athletics

angels

expos

rangers

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

unnumbered players - 12 players recognized by 4 teams

running total of unique hall of famers (including those without numbers): 43

running total of non-hall of famers: 5

all that glitters is not gold

just another cardboard abomination from 2008 tristar signa cuts

that i had to add to my steve garvey collection. this one is a gold parallel, and features a mutilated 1985 fleer superstar special card of the garv and goose gossage. this is fool's gold, but i can't resist.

i have saved a few signed cards from potentially becoming tristar fodder in the past few months as well, adding these cards to my non-certified autograph collection:

1983 fleer rick monday

1986 topps pedro guerrero

1981 fleer don stanhouse, 1989 upper deck ricky horton, 1990 topps debut mike munoz, and 1992 fleer ultra brett butler

1982 topps kmart maury wills

1982 topps kmart steve garvey

1982 donruss steve garvey (diamond kings)

1975 topps jeff burroughs/steve garvey (1974 mvps)

1984 fleer steve garvey

1984 topps ralston purina steve garvey

1985 leaf steve garvey

1986 topps quaker steve garvey

1990 pacific legends steve garvey

and finally, a 2015 theautographcard.com steve garvey

that is upside down, no matter how you look at it

that last one might actually look better as a tristar signa cut!