[zeprock]

Tommy LaSorda was the first HOF casualty of 2021. The man who "bled Dodger blue" made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955 and promptly tied a Major League record by throwing three wild pitches in one inning. He was spiked covering home on the third wild pitch, removed from the game and never played for the Dodgers again. He began coaching in 1960 and took over the helm of the Dodgers in 1976 and was their manager for the next twenty years winning two World Championships and twice being named Manager of the Year. I have 108 different cards of Tommy in my collection. Here are nine of them.


1978 Topps #189 Tom Lasorda MG DP
2003 SP Legendary Cuts Blue #53 Tommy Lasorda
2005 Donruss Greats Dodger Blues LA Material #4 Tommy Lasorda Jsy T5

       
2005 Upper Deck Classics Silver #92 Tommy Lasorda
2013 Hometown Heroes States #192 Tommy Lasorda
2013 USA Baseball Champions Legends Certified Die-Cuts #33 Tommy Lasorda

         
2014 Panini Golden Age Mini Hindu Brown Back #66 Tommy Lasorda
2018 Topps Tribute Green #33 Tommy Lasorda
2019 Topps Allen and Ginter Mini Black Border #396 Tommy Lasorda SP

[zeprock]

Back in post #276 of this thread I showed you nine playing cards from my collection. Card games are not the only games that contain playing cards. Today I am showing you nine more cards that are affiliated with games.


1968 Topps Game #2 Mickey Mantle (Ok. So this one is a card game. Cards were obtained in 3rd Series packs of Topps cards or as a complete box set. The cards are shuffled and stacked face down and players take turns drawing from the stack of cards scoring runs until they've acquired three outs. The game is also known as "Batter Up".)
1977 Gamecraft 1933 All-Stars #4 Lou Gehrig (This set of 36 cards are not recognized by Beckett but they depict members of the very first All-Star game in 1933. The cards are used to play a statistical replay board game produced by the Gamecraft Company and there are codes on the back of the cards related to play.)
1984 Milton Bradley #20 Cal Ripken (These cards are used to play a board game produced by game maker Milton Bradley. The game is entitled Championship Baseball and player cards have dice rolls on the back that are used to play the game.)

       
1987 Classic Update Yellow/Green Backs #113 Barry Bonds (Cards from this set were an update to the 1987 trivia board game produced by Game Time, Ltd. which were sold in toy stores as well as from card dealers.)
1995 Leaf Thomas Akklaim #1 Frank Thomas (This card promotes "Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball" a multi-platform baseball simulation game featuring the likeness and motion captured movements of Thomas released by Acclaim Entertainment.)
1996 Griffey Nintendo #1 Ken Griffey Jr. (This card was inserted in packages of Nintendo's video game, Ken Griffey Jr. Presents: Major League Baseball.)

       
1997 Strat-O-Matic All-Stars #25 Ken Griffey Jr. (Strat-O-Matic has been around 60 years producing sports-related board games. Cards in this set feature all the players from the 1997 All-Star Game and unlike most Strat-O-Matic cards, these have pictures of the players on them.)
2000 APBA Superstars #13 Tony Gwynn (This card was inserted into the 2000 APBA Superstars board game. The American Professional Baseball Association has been making sports simulation games since the 1930s.)
2005 Upper Deck Flyball #8 Mariano Rivera (I found one of these games in a second hand store and bought it for a couple of bucks just for the cards. It's an interactive baseball game played with a FLY Pentop Computer which is a pen with a computer inside manufactured by LeapFrog Enterprises.)

[zeprock]

Robin Roberts was a basketball star at Michigan State College leading his team in field goal percentage, lettering three years and being named team captain. After his third season he tried out for the baseball team as a pitcher and soon after was signed by the Phillies. He would become a Hall of Famer and a member of seven All-star squads who led his league in Victories four times and Strikeouts twice. Here's a trivia fact. He is the only pitcher in history to beat the Braves in all three cities that the team has been based in: Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta. I have 133 different Beckett recognized cards of Robin including these nine.

         
1955 Bowman #171 Robin Roberts
1956 Topps #180 Robin Roberts
1957 Topps #15 Robin Roberts

       
1958 Topps #90 Robin Roberts
1959 Topps #352 Robin Roberts
1961 Topps #20 Robin Roberts

       
1966 Topps #530 Robin Roberts
2003 Donruss Team Heroes #393 Robin Roberts (I sent this card to Robin and he signed it for me and sent it back.)
2004 Greats of the Game Autographs #RR Robin Roberts E2

[zeprock]

Getting closer to the present as today I move up to the year 2016. I finally took a job with a subcontractor who provided drivers for FedEx. Basically all the work without the great pay and benefits but I had to take something. That fall the local ABC and FOX affiliate contacted me and asked me to work for them. I was fortunate to find another job doing what I enjoy doing. I am a one-man department servicing both the ABC and FOX stations with commercial production. I write the scripts, shoot the video, create the graphics, edit the ads together and do the voice on the majority of them. Better yet, it paid several grand more than the job I had lost after nearly 30 years. Here's nine of my cards from 2016.

       
2016 Bowman Chrome Draft Draft Pick Autographs Blue Refractors #CDAHS Hudson Potts (I would mark this card for trade if anyone has interest in it. I don't collect Mr. Potts.)
2016 Panini National Treasures Leagues Best Jerseys #LLKP Kirby Puckett/49 (Thanks to Kerry for this beauty.)
2016 Panini Pantheon Class and Rank Dual Materials Gold #18 Mark McGwire/25

       
2016 Topps Factory Set Mike Trout Chrome Refractors #MT3 Mike Trout/Hits for Cycle (This one came with my 2016 factory set.)
2016 Topps Gypsy Queen #133B Mike Trout SP/w/Glove
2016 Topps Heritage #683 Whit Merrifield RC (Found this in a starter set of commons that was given to me a couple years ago.)

       
2016 Topps Heritage Bazooka #67BMT Mike Trout (Traded my 2020 Topps Opening Day Luis Robert rookie short print to RJ for this card. I'd pulled the Robert last March from the last retail pack I've seen.)
2016 Topps Opening Day Toys R Us Purple Foil #OD1 Mike Trout
2016 Topps Update 3000 Hits Club Autographs #3000ARC Rod Carew (This was another "throw in" from my LA trading partner.)

[zeprock]

Gaylord Perry came up next on the randomized list of players that I collect. He pitched for eight different teams during a 22-year career and compiled 314 wins, 3534 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.11. He was the first pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in each league. He was known for making batters think he was doctoring the ball but was never ejected for doing so until his 21st season. He was also known for putting so much rosin on his hand that a puff of dust exploded out of his hand when he released the ball. That pitch was determined to be illegal due to Perry's antics. Nowadays there is lots of talk of pitchers doctoring balls to get an edge but Perry was the master at it. He even approached the makers of Vasoline to endorse their product but they turned him down. I remember reading someone's autobiography where they mentioned traveling with Perry and the trip took forever because Gaylord wanted to stop at every yard sale they came across. I currently have 182 unique Gaylord Perry cards. Here are nine from my collection including a few vintage, several autos and a couple of relics.

       
1963 Topps #169 Rookie Stars/Dick Egan RC/Julio Navarro/Tommie Sisk RC/Gaylord Perry (I received this one from Toploader1976. This card was released the year after his rookie card.)
1964 Topps #468 Gaylord Perry
1971 Kellogg's #6A Gaylord Perry 2014 IP

       
1999 Sports Illustrated Greats of the Game Autographs #56 Gaylord Perry
2001 Greats of the Game Autographs #67 Gaylord Perry
2004 Donruss Classics Significant Signatures Green #169 Gaylord Perry LGD/50

       
2005 SP Legendary Cuts Lasting Legends Autograph Material #GP Gaylord Perry Jsy
2006 SP Legendary Cuts Legendary Materials Silver #GP Gaylord Perry Jsy/199
2015 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autographs #FFAGP Gaylord Perry

[Phillies_Joe]

Appropriate to include Gaylord Perry at this time due to MLB's crackdown on pitchers using stuff to doctor the ball. Always love the Kellogg's 3D cards! Brings back fond memories of fighting with my siblings as to who was getting to open the new cereal box and retrieve a new card - hopefully a Phillies or an A's card.

[zeprock]

For an oddball post today I went digging through my collection and tried to come up with nine items that you may have never seen before. These are truly oddballs.

       
198? Shoe Tag #NNO 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings (The 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings were baseball's first professional team featuring ten salaried players. This is a tag that came attached to a new pair of sneakers I received back in the 1980s. The tag is the size of a standard baseball card so obviously I saved it in my collection. There are two Hall of Famers pictured in the group, founder, manager and center-fielder Harry Wright and his brother George.)
1990 Glove Tag #NNO Bo Jackson (I paid 50 cents for this at a yard sale. This originally came attached to a Franklin baseball glove. This tag was printed in Taiwan.)
1997 Cardwon Time People #NNO Ichiro Suzuki (This Taiwan card is the size of a credit card and made of hard plastic. It is a promotional item for the Taiwanese company Cardwon. I really don't know much else about it.)

       
1997 Topps MTA Metrocard #NNO Jackie Robinson (This is a New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority MetroCard, issued in 1997 featuring Jackie Robinson. It was issued by Topps to commemorate Jackie's 50th anniversary in the Major Leagues. I remember seeing an offer to send away for this, which I did.)
1998 Morris Printing $70 Bill McGwire #NNO Mark McGwire (Morris Printing Company issued this bill to commemmorate McGwire's 70 home run season. It features the facsimile autographs of Mack A. Tack on the left and Vice President Sammy Salsa on the right.)
2003 Nantucket Nectars Bottle Cap (One summer day in 2003, my weightlifting partner and I took advantage of the nice day and blew off our lift, as we occasionally did, and went bass fishing. We'd put his small boat and trolling motor and our gear in the bed of his pickup and drive several miles north to Plymouth Pond in hopes of snagging some largemouth bass. We'd stop at a convenience store on the way for drinks and snacks and this one day, I bought a Nantucket Nectars fruit drink. When I pulled off the cap, there was this sentence underneath. In New England we'd heard that the Sox would win the World Series "next year" a lot so I didn't think much about it but did decide to save the cap. I'll be damned if the Sox didn't incredibly win it all in 2004. I'm sure it was only because I'd saved this cap the year before.)

       
2004 Dunkin' Donuts Red Sox Gift Cards #NNO Fenway Park (Dunkin Donuts issued gift cards in 2004, some featuring the Red Sox logo and others featuring a shot of Fenway Park. I had a friend who owned one of the franchises and in 2005 I ran into him at my kid's school and asked him if he had any expired cards left over. He left a stack of them in my mailbox one day.)
2004 New Jersey Lottery Tickets #NNO New York Mets (This is a used lottery ticket from the New Jersey State Lottery. I also have one of these featuring the New York Yankees and another of the Philadelphia Phillies.)
2009 Enterplay Fan Pak Headliners #1 Derek Jeter (I believe these Fan Paks were sold in big box stores near the toy section. There are several different types of cards. Some can be folded so the players stand up. There were also tattoos and trivia cards as well as more standard cards in the set.)

[zeprock]

Gordon Stanley "Mickey" Cochrane, also known as "Black Mike" was a Hall of Fame catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Detroit Tigers from the mid-20s to mid-30s. A two-time MVP with three World Championships on his resume, his playing career was tragically cut short after suffering a near fatal head injury due to a pitch that struck him in the head. Mickey Mantle was named after him. I currently have 66 different Beckett recognized cards of Mr. Cochrane. Here are nine from my collection.

       
1960 Fleer #24 Mickey Cochrane
1961 Golden Press #12 Mickey Cochrane
1961 Nu-Card Scoops #419 Mickey Cochrane

       
1968 Sports Memorabilia All-Time Greats #7 Mickey Cochrane
1970 Rold Gold ATG #4 Mickey Cochrane
2005 Ultimate Signature #29 Mickey Cochrane

       
2005 Upper Deck Hall of Fame #51 Mickey Cochrane
2006 Greats of the Game Decade Greats #MC Mickey Cochrane
2013 Panini Cooperstown Orange #38 Mickey Cochrane

[zeprock]

Stepping up to 2017 today. Here are nine cards from my collection that were issued that year.

       
2017 Bowman Prospects #BP127 Ronald Acuna
2017 Diamond Kings Bat Kings Signatures Holo Gold #BKSCB Craig Biggio/10 (Courtesy of my LA trading partner. Numbered 1/10.)
2017 Finest Autographs Blue Wave Refractors #FAOV Omar Vizquel (Thanks to Kerry O. for this beauty.)

       
2017 Stadium Club Sepia #163 Don Mattingly
2017 Topps Archives Derek Jeter Retrospective Green Foil #DJ23 Derek Jeter SP/'15
2017 Topps Bunt Autographs #AUCS Chris Sale/5 (Another gift from my LA trading partner. Numbered 3/5.)

       
2017 Topps Gypsy Queen Green #168A Aaron Judge (Pack pulled.)
2017 Topps Triple Threads Legend Relics Gold #RLCFT Frank Thomas (Another from Kerry I believe. Numbered 1/9.)
2017 Topps Update #US50A Cody Bellinger RC

[zeprock]

Carlton Fisk broke into the Majors to stay in 1972, won a Gold Glove Award, unanimous Rookie of the Year honors, the first player to ever do that, and his first of 11 All-star selections. He was known for being an outspoken tough-as-nails ballplayer, his rivalry with Thurman Munson and his arm-waving 1975 home run. I have 534 different Beckett recognized cards of Pudge in my collection. Here are nine.

       
1973 Topps #193 Carlton Fisk
1975 Topps #80 Carlton Fisk
2001 Upper Deck Pros and Prospects Legends Game Bat #PLRF Manny Ramirez/Carlton Fisk


2002 Fleer Classic Cuts Game Used #CFJ Carlton Fisk Jsy/150
2002 Topps Tribute Memorable Materials #CF Carlton Fisk Bat B (Depicting one of the most memorable events in Red Sox history.)
2004 Greats of the Game Autographs #CF2 Carlton Fisk W.Sox D2


2004 Greats of the Game Glory of Their Time Game Used #CF1 Carlton Fisk Jsy
2005 Classic Clippings Cut of History Single Jersey Blue #CF Carlton Fisk
2005 SP Legendary Cuts Lasting Legends Patch #CF Carlton Fisk