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 - this post goes to 11

this is the 12th 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 eight people for whom the number 11 has been retired:

carl hubbell (retired by the giants in 1944) 1999 upper deck century legends

i am a big fan of the 1999 upper deck century legends set, and am very happy that they photo used for hubbell's card in that set shows his number clearly, especially since he pitched for a few years before numbers were a thing. when the giants did first distribute numbers to players, carl hubbell was assigned number 10. the following year, 1933, hubbell took number 11 and wore it for the remainder of his career. his teammate freddie fitzsimmons had worn 11 in 1932 but switched to number 12 in 1933. it turns out that those two were the only ones who would ever wear the number for the giants.

hubbell is a two-time national league mvp (one of only three pitchers with multiple mvp awards) and was a key part of the giants' 1930 world series championship team. hubbell is second to christy mathewson in terms of all-time franchise wins and war for pitchers. while not a strikeout pitcher per se, hubbell famously used his screwball to strike out five consecutive hall of famers - babe ruth, lou gehrig, jimmie foxx, al simmons, and joe cronin - in the 1934 all-star game.

when hubbell's number was retired in 1944 following his retirement at the end of the previous season, he became only the second player in major league history to be so honored, and the first national leaguer. he was voted in to the hall of fame in 1947.

luis aparicio (retired by the white sox in 1984) 2023 topps allen & ginter

this is the newest card in my collection (it replaced a 2002 topps tribute card), and it is the best example i could find showing aparicio's number worn while with the white sox. he played in chicago for the first seven years of his career, winning the 1956 american league rookie of the year award, and then returned to the white sox for three years later in his career.

aparacio was a seven time gold glove winner in his ten seasons with the white sox, and was the runner up to teammate nellie fox in the 1959 mvp voting. he was voted in to the hall of fame as part of the 1984 class, and the white sox retired his number on august 14 of that same year, just a couple of days following the induction ceremony in cooperstown. rudy law had to switch to number 23 to accommodate the retirement of the number, but aparacio allowed fellow venezuelan omar vizquel to wear the number in the 2010 and 2011 seasons, making vizquel the last white sox player to wear 11.

jim fregosi (retired by the angels in 1998) 1989 smokey bear california angels all-stars

this card shows just a very small amount of fregosi's number 11, but it was the best standard card i could find after his 1971 topps card of which i did not have a duplicate. that card shows about the same amount of his number, but there is an oddball card that shows the number fully - it's a 1969 nabisco team flakes card - but i am sticking to standard sized cards for the collection. i suppose i could use the angels' team card from 1979 that shows fregosi in the team photo with his number 11 fully visible, but for now the team issue card gets the slot.

he is probably best remembered as the main player traded by the angels to get nolan ryan from the mets after the 1971 season, but before that, fregosi had established himself as a team leader and face of the los angeles/california angel franchise. fregosi made his debut at the age of 19 in the angels' inaugural season of 1961, and wore number 17 (which shows up on his 1963 topps card). he received mvp votes every year from 1963 through 1970, and was a six-time all-star for the halos during that same stretch. angel owner gene autry convinced fregosi to retire as a player (he was with the pirates at the time) during the 1978 season and made him the team's manager a few days later. in his first full season as the angels' manager, fregosi led the club to their first postseason berth, winning the american league west by three games.

fregosi reclaimed number 11 when he returned as manager, and the team reissued immediately after he was relieved of his duties during the 1981 season. it wasn't retired until august 1, 1998, making justin baughman, who debuted in may of 1998, the last angel player to wear the number.

paul waner (retired by the pirates in 2007) 2001 upper deck sp legendary cuts

like hubbell, waner (big poison to brother lloyd's little poison) was well in to his career when the pirates began wearing numbers. he was the first pirate to wear number 11, which he wore from 1933 through 1939, and he was also the first to wear number 9, which he donned for his final year in pittsburgh - 1940. while 9 is also retired (for bill mazeroski), the pirates later retired number 11 for waner on july 21, 2007. the number was not necessarily revered, however, as humberto cota was wearing that number up until memorial day of that same season.

as a pirate, waner had 2,868 hits, three batting titles, and was the 1927 national league mvp. he hit .333 in the world series that season, but the pirates were up against the yankees' murderers row and lost in four games. i find it interesting that paul waner's number 11 is retired by the pirates, but his brother's number 10 is not. both are in the hall of fame - paul was elected in 1952 and lloyd in 1967. maybe someday. 

sparky anderson (retired by the tigers in 2011) 2017 topps tribute

i was happy to find this 2017 topps tribute card as i think it is the only one out there that shows sparky's number 11 that he wore with the tigers (he wore 10 with the reds, which is also retired). sparky spent 17 years as the manager in detroit, leading the team to two division titles, one pennant, and one world series title.

that title, of course, came in the 1984 season when the tigers led their division from wire to wire, winning a total of 104 games before steamrolling steve garvey and the padres in the fall classic. in total, he won 1,331 games in detroit, and was voted in to the hall of fame in 2000.

longtime tiger fans may associate number 11 with bill freehan, but it was sparky's from the time he joined the tigers in 1979 and was never worn by anyone else. it is worth noting that number 10 was being worn by rusty staub when sparky arrived in detroit, but he was dealt to the expos a few weeks later. i guess sparky decided to stick with number 11, and as a result he is one of just a few people to have different numbers retired by different teams.

barry larkin (retired by the reds in 2012) 1998 topps minted in cooperstown

i like this 1998 topps card of larkin as it shows not only his number 11, but also his captain "c" and the jackie robinson patch worn during the 1997 season. the minted in cooperstown stamp is just a gimmick, but it's the first version of the card i came across in my monster boxes of non-dodger, non-mini collection cards in my basement.

larkin was the first round pick of the reds in 1985 and he made his debut for the club the following season. 19 seasons later, he had put up a hall of fame career despite never having led the league in any major category. he was the 1995 national league mvp and a three time gold glove winner, and was a big part of the reds' surprising 1990 world championship club.  no red wore number 11 after larkin retired following the 2004 season, and the club formally retired it on august 25, 2012 following his induction in to the hall of fame.

edgar martinez (retired by the mariners in 2017) 2016 topps archives

like larkin, martinez's number 11 was held out of rotation by the mariners after martinez retired following the 2004 season, but it was formally retired on august 12, 2017 - a couple of years before martinez was inducted in cooperstown. this 2016 topps archives card features an early career photo of martinez, with his number fully visible.

martinez didn't become a full-time player until his age 27 season in 1990, but from that point through the end of his career, he hit .313 with 500 doubles and over 300 home runs. primarily a designated hitter, martinez won two batting titles and led the league in rbi in 2000. he was a big part of the dominant 2001 mariner team, but is probably best remembered for his walk-off double ("the" double) in the 1995 american league division series that sent the mariners on to the alcs for the fist time in their history.

ryan zimmerman (retired by the nationals in 2022) 2015 topps

you can't miss the number 11 on this 2015 topps card, making it a solid choice for the collection. since the nationals do not recognize the expos' retired numbers, zimmerman's number retirement on june 8, 2022 became the franchise's first for one of their players. he retired after the 2021 season, and so was the last national to wear the number.

zimmerman was a lifelong national. he was their first ever draft pick, taken in the first round of the 2005 draft. in all, he played for them in 16 seasons over 17 years (he sat out the 2020 season) and helped the team to the 2019 world series championship. given his longevity, zimmerman is atop the nationals' all-time leader board in many offensive categories and was considered the face of the franchise later in his career.

it is worth noting that the nationals do have a way of recognizing expo greats and nationals players of note, along with players from the first two iterations of the washington senators and the homestead grays. certain notable players from these teams are recognized in the nationals' "ring of honor".

there was a time when i thought that the dodgers would retire number 11 in honor of manny mota given his lengthy tenure with the club as a player and a coach, but they returned his number to the pool pretty much immediately after he finally retired. he did get a spot in the "legends of dodger baseball", so at least he has that going for him.

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

retired numbers by team (through the 12 posts so far):

yankees - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

giants - 3, 4, 11

pirates - 1, 4, 8, 9, 11

guardians - 3, 5

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

phillies - 1

cardinals - 1, 2, 6, 9, 10

reds - 1, 5, 8, 10, 11

braves - 3, 6, 10

astros - 5, 7

mets

orioles - 4, 5, 8

dodgers - 1, 2, 4

twins - 3, 6, 7, 10

white sox - 2, 3, 4, 9, 11

brewers - 1, 4

tigers - 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 11

cubs - 10

royals - 5, 10

padres - 6

athletics - 9

angels - 11

expos - 8, 10

rangers - 7, 10

major league baseball

rays

diamondbacks

blue jays

rockies

mariners - 11

nationals - 11

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

unnumbered players - 12 players recognized by 4 teams

running total of unique hall of famers (including those without numbers): 75

running total of non-hall of famers: 15

get back

if you are looking for beatles content, this is not the post for you, although i did start watching the beatles documentary on disney+ a while back but haven't got back to it, no pun intended. no, today is the day that i share most of the cards that are in my often mentioned "name/number on the back" mini-collection.

i'll start by showing a card that would fit in to the collection, but it's not there (yet).

that's a 2013 panini hometown heroes yasiel puig short printed card. it's a fairly recent addition to my collection, and sits in my dodger collection. i don't really plan to track down another one for the mini-collection, but who knows.

the idea for this mini-collection was spurred by the existence of some cards that i liked aesthetically, but didn't necessarily "fit" anywhere in my collection. i have always liked photographs that show a subject from behind, giving viewers a glance at what they are looking at. another reason for this mini-collection is that when one goes to a baseball game in person, players have their backs to you much of the time, especially if you sit in the outfield seats or behind home plate. as a result, these cards often mimic the views that i enjoy at the ballpark. 

the first card that struck me in this way was paul molitor's 1998 topps card

molly was my favorite non-dodger for awhile, but what drew me to this card was the vantage point of the photographer. i was playing baseball in an adult league when the card was issued, and i saw similar scenes every time i was in the on deck circle. i really really like this card.

the second card that made me consider starting this mini-collection was vladimir guerrero's 1999 topps gallery card

i had a vladdy pc going at the time this card came out, so it fit in my collection, but again, the point of view of the photographer put me on the field or in the dugout. two years later, i found this 2001 topps stadium club mo vaughn card

and i knew i had to start a specific mini-collection. i even referred to this card as "perfect" in this post. still, it took me a long time to commit, and in the meantime, more cards were produced that fit the bill. i also found some older cards that i added to the collection. 

i've listed out all of the cards that currently sit in this collection here (there are over 90), and i'll show about half of them below:

there are some historic baseball moments that resulted in cards that fit this collection. like this 2007 upper deck masterpieces babe ruth card

and from the same set, a carlton fisk card

fisk's home run "trot" was also featured on a 1999 upper deck century legends memorable shots card

and a year later, upper deck included a card of "the catch" 

in the defining moments insert set to their 2000 legends release. "the catch" may have been the first baseball highlight that i took a strong liking to. i remember coming home from little league practice after catching a fly ball in the outfield with my back to the infield and telling my parents that my catch was just like willie mays'. so, i am always looking for cards that feature the play for this collection, and nick sent me one awhile back - this one is from 2016 topps

the vladdy up above is one of the rare baserunner cards in this collection, but there are a few others, like this 2015 topps evan longoria 'til it's over insert

and rickey henderson's 1999 upper deck century legends card

sometimes the baserunner makes it to home plate, as on this 1999 topps gallery mark mcgwire card

sometimes fielders make the cut as is the case with andy van slyke's simply fantastic 1992 topps stadium club card

this is one of my favorite cards thanks in a large part to the third base coach cameo.

matt williams' 2001 topps stadium club card 

is another "fielder" example.

on denard span's 2014 topps card (target red parallel)

we get the rare on-field camera man view as opposed to the specator view, but i like it! this card shows span tipping his hat to the crowd after making a game saving and game ending catch against the giants in 2013.

sometimes, there are pitchers that make the cut for the collection, such as jeff lahti's 1984 donruss card

david cone's 1993 upper deck card

and hideo nomo's 2001 topps card

pregame lineups also provide an opportunity for images to be used for cards that fit in this collection. such is the case with this 2002 topps card

and this 2018 topps update card

this 2017 topps stadium club willie mccovey card

features a photo i absolutely would have taken had i been there at the giants' spring training venue to do so.

there are a couple of "on deck" cards in the collection, including this one of david dahl

from 2019 topps stadium club. by far, however, the greatest number of cards in this collection feature players at bat.

2021 topps heritage dick allen baseball flashbacks

2007 topps moments & milestones joe mauer black parallel

2001 upper deck rickey henderson

sometimes, the vantage point shifts closer to the seats behind home plate, which is great. here are a few of those types of cards

1985 topps stickers steve garvey

1994 topps george brett gold parallel

2009 upper deck o-pee-chee chone figgins

2017 topps stadium club nolan arenado

2007 upper deck first edition vladimir guerrero

2002 upper deck vintage sammy sosa/cubs checklist

1992 topps stadium club tom pagnozzi

here's one that features the scene as it appears from behind the batting cage

that's a 2003 topps stadium club j.d. drew card and darn if it doesn't make me feel like a batting coach.

most of these batter cards use photos from the camera wells near the dugouts. here are some more:

1995 select mark mcgwire

mcgwire's 1993 select card features a centerfield camera shot of him at the plate - i've thought about creating a mini-collection of those cards, too, but so far i've resisted.

2000 upper deck gary sheffield

love this card!

1982 donruss duane kuiper

1999 upper deck ultimate victory shawn green

1999 upper deck victory ken griffey jr sweepstakes

2000 upper deck and upper deck gold reserve magglio ordonez

2002 topps total jeff bagwell

2012 topps frank robinson 1987 mini

sometimes it's a nickname on the back

but the card still fits, like this 2019 topps big league juan soto card

the camera well next to the visitor's dugout at target field is a great place for photographers to capture aesthetically pleasing images. joe mauer's 2011 topps chrome (and refractor parallel) cards

are a great example of this, however, the wider shot used for his factory team card

is all kinds of fantastic.  from the same set, we get denard span's card

with a similar image used.

and then there is the 2008 upper deck manny ramirez card

which tells the story from behind the subject. great card!

this 2010 topps allen & ginter nick markakis card

features a shot from a higher vantage point in the stands, which is fairly uncommon i would say.

the most recent card to enter this collection actually hasn't arrived yet. i ordered three of this 2022 topps now freddie freeman card

one for the dodger collection, one for the dodger stadium collection, and one for this one.

i'll finish with this 2016 topps gypsy queen jackie robinson walk-off winners insert

i love seeing number 42 on cardboard.

it is a bit subjective as far as what card makes it in to the collection, but if it makes me feel present i am all too happy to add it. this is for sure one of the odder mini-collections i have, but i really do like seeing all the cards together.