[mgruber2]

Nice! That Bombers card is one of the favorites of my collection.

[DrMitchJ]

Nice! That Bombers card is one of the favorites of my collection.

It is an awesome card!

[zeprock]

The "Baby Bull" was Rookie of the Year in 1958 and went on to become a 7-time All-star, Home Run leader, RBI leader twice, two-time World Champion and a National League MVP all while batting .297 for his career. So why did it take the Veterans Committee to eventually elect him to the Hall? Perhaps it was a 1978 drug conviction that may have been held against him. Orlando Cepeda was the first player to win the Designated Hitter of the Year Award, winning it in 1973 with the Oakland A's. As of this post I have 169 different Beckett recognized cards of Cepeda. Although he played for six different Major League teams in his career here are nine all depicting him with his first team, the Giants, showcasing his rookie along with a couple other vintage, a couple autos and a few game-used pieces.


1958 Topps #343 Orlando Cepeda RC
1959 Topps #390 Orlando Cepeda
1960 Topps #450 Orlando Cepeda


1999 Sports Illustrated Greats of the Game Autographs #17 Orlando Cepeda
2001 Donruss Classics Legendary Lumberjacks #LL36 Orlando Cepeda
2001 Fleer Legacy Tailor Made #5 Orlando Cepeda


2001 Upper Deck Hall of Famers Game Bat #BOC Orlando Cepeda
2005 Donruss Greats Hall of Fame Souvenirs Signature Material Jersey #22 O.Cepeda
2005 Sweet Spot Classic Materials #CMOC Orlando Cepeda Jsy

[zeprock]

Heading back to the grocery store for today's post and checking out the cookies and crackers aisle. Here are nine food issues from my collection that were originally found there.


1984 Padres Mother's #9 Tony Gwynn (Mother's Cookies was a company based in Los Angeles and they issued 28 card team sets of several teams throughout the years. Partial sets were distributed to fans at that team's respective stadium along with a redemption card that the fan could send in for more cards.)
1989 Topps Ritz Mattingly #5 Don Mattingly/1986 (I got this set by sending in two proof of purchase seals from Ritz Crackers and received this complete set in a large sheet which I immediately put in the paper cutter. It included 8 standard size cards like this one and one jumbo card.)
1991 Homers Cookies Classics #9 Lou Gehrig (This card was pulled from a box of Homers Baseball Cookies sponsored by Legend Food Products.)


1992 Brewers Police #15 Paul Molitor (This card was sponsored by the Waukesha Police Department in Wisconsin in conjunction with Delicious Brand Cookies and Crackers. Both logos appear on the back. Many other municipalities presented these cards. This one by the Chilton Food Mart and the Valley Bank Chilton.)
1993 Rangers Keebler #428 Ivan Rodriguez (This card is one of a 468 card set depicting every player who ever wore a Texas Rangers uniform. The cards were distributed free in booklets of perforated sheets as an in-stadium giveaway and sponsored by Keebler and Albertsons food stores.)
2000 Fleer Oreo #1 Ken Griffey Jr. (This card, produced by Fleer, was given away to contestants participating in the Oreo Stacking Contest of 2000 in which each person attempted to pile Oreo cookies as high as they could.)


2000 Fleer Oreo #2 Derek Jeter (This is from the same two card set as the previous Griffey card but is so aesthetically pleasing that I pictured it as well. I just bought this out of a dollar box at a card show this past December.)
2001 Nabisco America's Favorites #NNO Ken Griffey/Ken Griffey Jr. (This card is not recognized by Beckett but I believe it was distributed in packages of Oreo cookies as there is an Oreo logo on the back. I pulled it out of a 10 for a dollar box at a card show several years ago. I bought so many cards that the dealer charged me half price for all of my cards essentially making them all 20 for a dollar. I remember not being able to find any info on this card but was certain it was worth at least the five cents I paid for it.)
2001 Oreo/Ritz #DJ2 Derek Jeter (This card came in either a box of Ritz Crackers or a package of Oreo cookies. I can't remember. There were two Jeter cards both produced by Fleer and two Griffey Jr. cards both produced by Upper Deck.)

[zeprock]

The next player I am featuring is HOFer Lefty Grove. Grove was a dominant pitcher through the '20s and '30s leading the AL in wins four seasons, strikeouts seven years in a row and ERA a record nine times while winning the pitching triple crown two of those years. He also led the Philadelphia Athletics to three straight World Championships. I never have any duplicates of Lefty as a distant relative of his in Maryland contacted me years ago through my website and has taken every Lefty Grove card I can get my hands on. We struck up a friendship and he even stopped by my house several years ago while on vacation to Maine with his wife and son and we enjoyed burgers on the grill. I only have 66 Beckett recognized cards of Lefty including these nine from my collection.


1960 Fleer #60 Lefty Grove
1961 Fleer #38 Lefty Grove
1961 Golden Press #17 Lefty Grove


1970 Rold Gold ATG #7 Lefty Grove (This card came out of a package of pretzels and was given to me by my aforementioned Maryland friend.)
2005 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes Red #147 Lefty Grove A's
2005 Upper Deck Hall of Fame #46 Lefty Grove


2006 Ultimate Collection #76 Lefty Grove
2013 Panini Cooperstown Green Crystal #25 Lefty Grove
2014 Panini Golden Age Mini Mono Brand Blue Back #36 Lefty Grove

[rjcj2017]

Heading back to the grocery store for today's post and checking out the cookies and crackers aisle. Here are nine food issues from my collection that were originally found there.


1984 Padres Mother's #9 Tony Gwynn (Mother's Cookies was a company based in Los Angeles and they issued 28 card team sets of several teams throughout the years. Partial sets were distributed to fans at that team's respective stadium along with a redemption card that the fan could send in for more cards.)
1989 Topps Ritz Mattingly #5 Don Mattingly/1986 (I got this set by sending in two proof of purchase seals from Ritz Crackers and received this complete set in a large sheet which I immediately put in the paper cutter. It included 8 standard size cards like this one and one jumbo card.)
1991 Homers Cookies Classics #9 Lou Gehrig (This card was pulled from a box of Homers Baseball Cookies sponsored by Legend Food Products.)


1992 Brewers Police #15 Paul Molitor (This card was sponsored by the Waukesha Police Department in Wisconsin in conjunction with Delicious Brand Cookies and Crackers. Both logos appear on the back. Many other municipalities presented these cards. This one by the Chilton Food Mart and the Valley Bank Chilton.)
1993 Rangers Keebler #428 Ivan Rodriguez (This card is one of a 468 card set depicting every player who ever wore a Texas Rangers uniform. The cards were distributed free in booklets of perforated sheets as an in-stadium giveaway and sponsored by Keebler and Albertsons food stores.)
2000 Fleer Oreo #1 Ken Griffey Jr. (This card, produced by Fleer, was given away to contestants participating in the Oreo Stacking Contest of 2000 in which each person attempted to pile Oreo cookies as high as they could.)


2000 Fleer Oreo #2 Derek Jeter (This is from the same two card set as the previous Griffey card but is so aesthetically pleasing that I pictured it as well. I just bought this out of a dollar box at a card show this past December.)
2001 Nabisco America's Favorites #NNO Ken Griffey/Ken Griffey Jr. (This card is not recognized by Beckett but I believe it was distributed in packages of Oreo cookies as there is an Oreo logo on the back. I pulled it out of a 10 for a dollar box at a card show several years ago. I bought so many cards that the dealer charged me half price for all of my cards essentially making them all 20 for a dollar. I remember not being able to find any info on this card but was certain it was worth at least the five cents I paid for it.)
2001 Oreo/Ritz #DJ2 Derek Jeter (This card came in either a box of Ritz Crackers or a package of Oreo cookies. I can't remember. There were two Jeter cards both produced by Fleer and two Griffey Jr. cards both produced by Upper Deck.)

Love that Griffey dual, I don't remember too many of them with both of them in their Cincy uniforms.

[zeprock]

Well, the Beckett glitch wiped out my most recent posts including this one so I am re-posting it today. Here are nine more cards from my collection, all from 1965.


1965 Topps #16 Rookie Stars/Joe Morgan RC/Sonny Jackson RC DP
1965 Topps #160 Roberto Clemente UER/1960 Pittsburfh (Roberto was offended that Topps listed him as "Bob" on their cards of him. "My name is Roberto!")
1965 Topps #170 Hank Aaron


1965 Topps #207 Pete Rose
1965 Topps #250 Willie Mays
1965 Topps #300 Sandy Koufax


1965 Topps #350 Mickey Mantle
1965 Topps #477 Rookie Stars/Fritz Ackley/Steve Carlton RC (Fritz Ackley's MLB career lasted just five games with the White Sox and other than sporting this unibrow and a 1-0 win/loss record he was all done by the time this card was released, yet his rookie card is just as valuable as HOFer Steve Carlton's. Here it is!)
1965 Topps Embossed #11 Mickey Mantle

[DrMitchJ]

THAT is one serious unibrow on Fritz!
The only player that comes to my mind that can rival the above-the-eye-mustache sported by Fritz is the incomparable Wally Moon. The first time I saw the Moon Unibrow I became a believer that he is truly a close cro magnon descendent.

[zeprock]

Mr. Torre, as Derek Jeter respectfully referred to him, was a borderline Hall of Fame player long before he cemented his legacy as a Hall of Fame manager. I currently have 102 unique Beckett recognized cards of Joe Torre. I featured his rookie card a couple weeks ago on my 1962 post but here are eight more items from his playing days plus a bat chip.


1964 Topps #70 Joe Torre
1964 Topps Coins #155 Joe Torre AS
1965 Topps #200 Joe Torre


1965 Topps Embossed #12 Joe Torre
1966 Topps #130 Joe Torre
1967 Topps #350 Joe Torre


1968 Topps #30 Joe Torre
1971 Topps #370 Joe Torre
2014 Panini National Treasures #92 Joe Torre JSY/99 (Beckett lists this card as a jersey swatch. They clearly couldn't be more wrong.)

[zeprock]

Today I'm showcasing another facet of my collection, magnets. If they're baseball related and small enough to fit in a pocket of my nine pocket pages, I collect them. Here are nine from my collection.


Magnet #NNO Wade Boggs (I know nothing about this magnet other than I received it in a collection I picked up back in 1988 or 1989. It may have been cut from a schedule. If anyone has any helpful info please fill me in.)
1990 Collect the Stars Baseball Magnetables #114 Fred McGriff (These were issued by Phoenix Industries of Festus, Missouri.)
1994 Pro Mags #5 Greg Maddux (Produced by Chris Martin Enterprises, these were distributed via rack packs including six magnets each, five players and one team magnet.)


1996 Pro Mags #82 Ken Griffey Jr. (Also produced by Chris Martin Enterprises and issued in five magnet packs.)
1996 Pro Mags #SS5 Ken Griffey Jr. (Superstar version)
1996 Pro Mags All-Stars #13 Jeff Bagwell (An All-Star insert.)


1997 Pro Magnets #S1 Frank Thomas (These are not recognized by Beckett.)
1999 Wincraft Sports Magnet #NNO Mark McGwire (Also not recognized by Beckett, these magnets were produced by Wincraft, a leading manufacturer of licensed and promotional products for retailers, professional sports teams, concessionaires, colleges, businesses, distributors, and schools. I saw this in a shop called Collector's Corner in Brewer, Maine during the home run race of 1998. I picked up a Clemens and a Griffey to go with this Big Mac.)
2013 Topps Chipz Magnets #EL Evan Longoria (This is a magnetized poker chip issued by Topps. It is the only magnet pictured here that does not have a blank black back.)