[DrMitchJ]

1970 Sparky ... obviously not in a Reds Uni. Any idea what Uni was airbrushed over?

[zeprock]

1970 Sparky ... obviously not in a Reds Uni. Any idea what Uni was airbrushed over?

The man they called "Captain Hook" spent the 1964 to 1968 seasons as a minor-league manager, before taking a coaching job with the expansion San Diego Padres in 1969. Sparky may be the first person airbrushed OUT of a Padres uniform.

[DrMitchJ]

The man they called "Captain Hook" spent the 1964 to 1968 seasons as a minor-league manager, before taking a coaching job with the expansion San Diego Padres in 1969. Sparky may be the first person airbrushed OUT of a Padres uniform.

LOL ... although I am sure in 1970 that the rest of the players on the Padres wished for the same thing!

[garrisc]

LOL ... although I am sure in 1970 that the rest of the players on the Padres wished for the same thing!

When I read something on the 70's Padres I think of Randy Jones.

[zeprock]

I collect anything baseball related the size of a 1989 Bowman card or smaller. I do not actively collect anything larger such as oversize cards, tins or memorabilia. Nor do I collect other sports. I decided early on that there would still be plenty of cards to collect if I limited myself to that criteria and so I have. However, as you've seen by my postage stamps, pocket schedules and phone cards, I do collect other small baseball related items. Today's post is along those lines.

I never really was a coin collector although I do have a penny, nickel, dime and quarter from each year stashed away and I have a can that I throw all my wheat cents into but I don't actively search and collect coins. Unless they are baseball coins. Here are a few from my collection.


1990 Sports Stars Collector Coins #NNO Ryne Sandberg (These coins were sculpted in bronze and issued by the Japanese toy maker, Bandai.)
1991 Kenner Starting Lineup Coins #19 Ken Griffey Jr. (This coin came packaged with a collector card and figurine of Junior. I believe some of the coins released are bronze in color although this one happens to be silver in color.)
1992 Sports Stars Collector Coins #20 Ken Griffey Jr. (Also produced by Bandai.)


1992-S Proof Olympic Silver Dollar (This 1992 United States Mint Olympic 90% Fine Silver Dollar Proof was minted in San Francisco. When it was released, a hot controversy exploded. It is against an 1866 Act of Congress to depict a living person on a U.S. coin, and the design on this silver dollar is a near exact copy of the image of Nolan Ryan from his 1991 Fleer baseball card. The mint denies that it is Ryan, but these silver dollars became an instant collectible and they are rather hard to find today. My best friend, who collected coins, found this and gave it to me many years ago.)
1994 Highland Mint Mint-Coins #42 Ken Griffey Jr. B/25000 (These coins or medallions were produced by the Highland Mint in Melbourne, Florida. Each coin contains an ounce of silver with a bronze or gold plate, is individually numbered and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.)
1997 Pinnacle Mint Coins Brass #18 Barry Bonds (In 1997 Pinnacle debuted packs of Pinnacle Mint. Each pack contained two coins, either brass, nickel or gold plated and were made to be matched with the die-cut card version of the same player.)


1998 Pinnacle Mint Coins Brass #18 Cal Ripken (For the second year in a row, Pinnacle released the Pinnacle Mint line, two in every hobby pack and one in every retail pack.)
1998 Pinnacle Mint Coins Gold Plated #12 Greg Maddux (This is the gold plated version of Pinnacle's 1998 coin. It looks similar to the color of the Ripken coin in this scan but in person it does appear shinier.)
1998 Pinnacle Mint Gems Coins #3 Roger Clemens (These coins were randomly inserted in hobby packs only at the rate of one in every 31 packs and were meant to be matched up with the Gems insert set cards.)


2005 Merrick Mint Quarters #CH11 Greg Maddux (This is an actual U.S. quarter that has been colorized using a technique created by the Merrick Mint. These coins, were issued exclusively at Walgreen's stores. I have a Clemens and an ARod as well as this Maddux.)
2018 Blackbeards Family Fun Park Tokens (This is actually a batting cage token from my local family fun park, Blackbeards. I get six of them for $5 and each token is good for 12 swings in the batting cage. My health has prevented me from taking any swings since the summer of 2018 but I am proud to say that even then, at the age of 59, I could still make contact with about half of the 90 mph pitches and even drove a couple into what were sure to be base hits.)

[zeprock]

Bill Dickey was a solid catcher for the Yankees and played with them for 19 seasons alongside Ruth, Gehrig and DiMaggio. An 11-time All-star, he went to the World Series 9 times coming away a champion 8 of those times. He is widely credited with teaching Yogi Berra the finer points of catching and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1954. I only have 60 Beckett recognized unique cards of Dickey in my collection. Here are nine of them including a couple vintage oddballs, a reprint, an insert, a parallel and a jersey swatch.


1968 Sports Memorabilia All-Time Greats #8 Bill Dickey
1976 Shakey's Pizza #71 Bill Dickey
1983 Topps 1952 Reprint #400 Bill Dickey CO


2002 Greats of the Game #78 Bill Dickey
2002 Topps Tribute #74 Bill Dickey
2008 Upper Deck Yankee Stadium Legacy Collection Memorabilia #BD Bill Dickey (This beauty made its way into my collection thanks to bamyanks.)


2013 Panini Cooperstown Blue Crystal #36 Bill Dickey
2013 Panini Cooperstown Colgan's Chips #37 Bill Dickey
2017 Diamond Kings #2B Bill Dickey VAR/Catchers equipment

[zeprock]

Moving along, here are nine cards from my collection all from the year 1962.


1962 Post #5B Mickey Mantle Ad Back (Life Magazine) (This card actually came out of Life Magazine promoting the 1962 Post set. Instead of a blank back, the back on this card has a red Post logo and an advertisement to collect the 200 card set.)
1962 Post #173A Roberto Clemente Red Lines (This card was cut off the back of a Post cereal box.)
1962 Topps #1 Roger Maris (Maris got the honor of being card #1 in the '62 set after having a really good year in '61.)


1962 Topps #5 Sandy Koufax UER
1962 Topps #10 Roberto Clemente
1962 Topps #199 Gaylord Perry RC


1962 Topps #200 Mickey Mantle
1962 Topps #218 Joe Torre RC (Long before he became an All-Star, a MVP, a HOF manager and a MLB executive, Mr. Torre started out his career as a catcher for the Milwaukee Braves. This is his rookie card.)
1962 Topps #300 Willie Mays

[zeprock]

Ralph Kiner was a true slugger who burst into the Majors in 1946 and then proceeded to lead the National League in home runs the next seven years in a row. SEVEN YEARS IN A ROW!!! A back injury forced him to retire at the age of 32 and he went on to more fame as a broadcaster for the Mets for 53 seasons. Kiner was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975. I currently have 124 Beckett recognized cards of Ralph. Here are nine from my Kiner collection including some vintage, some relics and an auto.


1952 Bowman #11 Ralph Kiner
1954 Bowman #45 Ralph Kiner
1955 Bowman #197 Ralph Kiner


1991 Topps Archives '53 #191 Ralph Kiner Autographed (A beautiful in-person autograph not obtained by me.)
2001 Bowman Heritage '48 Reprints Relics #BHMRK Ralph Kiner Seat B (This card has a chunk of wood from a seat from Pittsburgh's Forbes Field.)
2005 Donruss Classics Timeless Tributes Silver #227 Ralph Kiner LGD


2006 SP Legendary Cuts Legendary Materials Gold #RK Ralph Kiner Bat/225
2012 Panini National Treasures #44 Ralph Kiner/99
2016 Topps Tribute Purple #31 Ralph Kiner (Serial numbered 50/50.)

[elberson]

Moving along, here are nine cards from my collection all from the year 1962.


1962 Post #5B Mickey Mantle Ad Back (Life Magazine) (This card actually came out of Life Magazine promoting the 1962 Post set. Instead of a blank back, the back on this card has a red Post logo and an advertisement to collect the 200 card set.)
1962 Post #173A Roberto Clemente Red Lines (This card was cut off the back of a Post cereal box.)
1962 Topps #1 Roger Maris (Maris got the honor of being card #1 in the '62 set after having a really good year in '61.)


1962 Topps #5 Sandy Koufax UER
1962 Topps #10 Roberto Clemente
1962 Topps #199 Gaylord Perry RC


1962 Topps #200 Mickey Mantle
1962 Topps #218 Joe Torre RC (Long before he became an All-Star, a MVP, a HOF manager and a MLB executive, Mr. Torre started out his career as a catcher for the Milwaukee Braves. This is his rookie card.)
1962 Topps #300 Willie Mays

1962 was a beautiful set to me, love the wood grain boarders. i finished this set last September with mantle being the last card needed. card OCD gets expensive when putting older sets together lol

[cweiland]

The Topps Archives is super nice. The Panini National Treasures is none too shabby either. I always look forward to you posts Mark. Thank you for sharing.