2014 Topps All Star Rookies announced!

Yesterday (14Nov14), Topps made the announcement of its 2014 Topps All Star Rookies.

The 2015 Topps cards of these players will have the gold rookie cup on them.

Here is the list:

1B Jose Abreu, White Sox
2B Kolten Wong, Cardinals
SS Xander Bogaerts, Red Sox
3B Nick Castellanos, Tigers
OF Danny Santana, Twins
OF Billy Hamilton, Reds
OF George Springer, Astros
C Travis d’Arnaud, Mets
LHP Roenis Elias, Mariners
RHP Masahiro Tanaka, Yankees
RP Dellin Betances, Yankees

Since 1959, Topps has selected players for their annual All-Star Rookie Team.  The team usually consists of a player from every position, along with 3 pitchers (right hander, left hander, and reliever).  With each card set  the following year, Topps would put a trophy symbol on that players card.

Click here :       COMPLETE ROSTERS SINCE 1959

(remember, they put the trophy cup on the cards the following year) 

KEEP ON COLLECTING !!
Jeff 

We're Talkin Baseball ..... CONTEST..

Robert over at $30 a week habit is running a contest ending this Thursday...
 

Giving away DUKE SNIDER!!!!

Talkin Baseball ...  Willie, Mickey and THE DUKE..

KEEP ON COLLECTING !!

Jeff

WORLD SERIES TIME ......

It's time for the World Series.  KC Royals   -vs-   SF Giants.

The first time the SF Giants were in the World Series..  1962 and they lost to the Yankees.

The first time the KC Royals were in the World Series.. 1980 and they lost to the Phillies.

SF Giants won their first WS  ...  2010 against the Rangers.

KC Royals won their first WS .. 1985 against the Cardinals.

Good Luck to both teams, BUT I am cheering on the ROYALS !!!!!!

LETS BRING BACK 1985.....

 

 

 

GO ROYALS!!!!!!!


Keep On Collecting !!

Jeff

World Series Contest

Visit Collectors Crack.....

Almost the Easiest World Series Contest on the Web 4!!!

I went wild and picked KC Royals over Pirates in 7games with 5 HRs.

GO ROYALS........................

KEEP ON COLLECTING !!
Jeff

Royals Return To The Playoffs !!!

For us Royals fans, it has been a long time coming.  The Royals are in the Playoffs for the first time since 1985. They also won the World Series in '85 against the Cardinals.

TWENTY NINE long years.....

In 1985....

I was in my last year of college at NDSU
Ronald Reagan had been sworn in to his second term as president
The Berlin Wall was still standing
a stamp cost 20 cents


Your computer in 1985

 

The first Nintendo system was released in America, and we played Super Mario for the first time.

Top Songs:

Top Movies:

1	Back to the Future		$210,609,762
2	Rambo: First Blood Part II		$150,415,432
3	Rocky IV		$127,873,716
4	The Color Purple		$94,175,854
5	Out of Africa		$87,071,205
6	Cocoon		$76,113,124
7	The Jewel of the Nile		$75,973,200
8	Witness		$68,706,993
9	The Goonies		$61,389,680
10	Spies Like Us

1985 Kansas City Royals roster
Roster
Pitchers 27 Joe Beckwith 40 Bud Black 26 Steve Farr 41 Tony Ferreira 23 Mark Gubicza 32 Larry Gura 38 Mark Huismann 25 Danny Jackson 17 Mike Jones 30 Mike LaCoss 37 Charlie Leibrandt 22 Dennis Leonard 29 Dan Quisenberry 31 Bret Saberhagen		Catchers  9 Jamie Quirk  8 Jim Sundberg 12 John Wathan Infielders 45 Steve Balboni  1 Buddy Biancalana  5 George Brett  2 Onix Concepcion 61 Bob Hegman  4 Greg Pryor 16 Jim Scranton 20 Frank White		Outfielders  9 Dane Iorg 35 Lynn Jones 36 Dave Leeper 28 Omar Moreno 24 Darryl Motley 15 Pat Sheridan 21 Lonnie Smith  6 Willie Wilson Other batters 11 Hal McRae  3 Jorge Orta		Manager 10 Dick Howser Coaches 43 Gary Blaylock 41 Mike Ferraro 42 José Martínez 14 Lee May 44 Jimmie Schaffer

Season standings 1985

AL West	Wins	Losses	Win %	GB
Kansas City Royals	91	71	.562	--
California Angels	90	72	.556	1.0
Chicago White Sox	85	77	.525	6.0
Minnesota Twins	77	85	.475	14.0
Oakland Athletics	77	85	.475	14.0
Seattle Mariners	74	88	.457	17.0
Texas Rangers	62	99	.385	28.5

Hoping 2014 KC Royals can join the 1985 KC Royals as World Series Champions!!!

GO ROYALS !!!!!

KEEP ON COLLECTING !!
Jeff




All Star Festivities...

As everyone knows, we have All Star Weekend and Game here in the Great State of Minnesota.   As we were getting into the later parts of spring, I was wondering if this could possibly be the first MLB All Star Game to be played with a chance of snow.  The way the weather has been around here, it could have been possible. The weather is to be perfect, high of 72 and low humidity.

I was really hoping to go to the game (still hoping), but the prices were well out of my range.  Keeping my eye open on StubHub.

 

 

 

My Gem Mint 10 wife and I did partake in Fan Fast.  We had a great time.  She now remembers why she will not attend card shows with me though.  I would get caught up looking at something and try to determine whether to buy or let it go. (Lets Go Jeffrey!!)

Here are some of the things we saw / did / and bought...(will not bore you with food)..

I got my chance to be Co-Host on the MLB Network...


Here I am getting my jacket on to look professional

I am on the set, but wait....

SOMEONE

IS

MISSING !!

!
!
!
!



Oh there you are Harold....

 

Harold Reynolds and my Debut on MLB Network

Really!!!!  (wink)



We also visited the Topps booth.  I knew before we went to Fan Fest, if I made a Topps purchase at Target and brought in the receipt to the booth, I would get this for free....

 Nice looking card of Miguel Cabrera.

We also each got one of these....

 

Did you know, according to Linus, Charlie Brown had a perfect record one year 0 - 40.

For over 50 seasons his ERA was north of 16.50

and has never struck anyone out with is famous "straight ball".

 

Also met some players that played in the late 40's and early 50's.

They played in a league that lasted for 10years.

It was A League Of Their Own......     The AAGPBL ......

 

     All-American Girls Professional Baseball League

(read about the league here)

 

Here are the players I met, and got their autographs:

 

Lou "Erickson" Sauer  -   Pitcher

 

She played under they name of Lou Erickson.  She played for the Racine Belles in '48 and the Rockford Peaches in '49 and '50.  On the All Star Team all 3 years.  Won 37 and lost 17 with ERA of 2.52 along with a BA of .303.

 

Toni Palermo    -   SS

 

She played for the Chicago Colleens in '49 and '50 ( I believe she said she was 15) and the Springfield Sallies in '50.  Lead off hitter batting .311.  Had the most double plays in a season, and most stolen bases in a season.

 

Jean Havlish    -   SS

 

She tried out for the Kalamazoo Lassies in '51, but heard nothing from them.  Then in '52 tried out for the Fort Wayne Daisies and played for them through the '54 season.  Nicknamed "Grasshopper", she remembers a triple play in which she snagged a line drive, threw to Jean Gessinger at 2nd, who threw to Fuss at 1st.

They were fabulous to talk to.  (wish I would have had a ball for them to autograph, maybe next time).

 

 

 

   

 They also had a Hall of Fame section and a Trophy room with all the different award trophies players could win. Here I am with the World Series Trophy..

 

 

 

Saw some fabulous art work as well.  The two that hit me as the best there are ..

Victory Fine Art   

and my fav....

                  

Mike Kupka - Illustrator 

 

Yankee Proud

can be seen at his site along with other great art work.

If I remember right, he said there are approx. 45 Yankee Stars in this painting.

(Dugout and Stands)

Whether you a Yankee fan or not, this is a COOL piece.  A lot of baseball history took place in NY and the Yankee organization.

He had this piece at Fan Fest autographed by Jeter.  ($$$$$$$$$$)

I found this :

closed

open

Stat-Pins ???  Bronze 2005 ???

# 121

still looking in to this one.

There was lots to do and see, but the last piece I will share is this .......

Met Rollie Fingers and got his autograph !!!!!

 

 

 

KEEP ON COLLECTING !!

 

Jeff

HOF Goodness Plus Some...

Here is a look at a lot of 1967 Topps that I won on eBay.....

All Great looking cards for less than $2.50 per cards.

SWEET!!!!!!!

KEEP ON COLLECTING !!

Jeff

75th Anniversary - Lou's Speech

It is coming up on the 75th anniversary of one of the saddest days in baseball history.

 

LOU GEHRIG'S FAREWELL SPEECH

(from The Official Website of Lou Gehrig) 

 

 

(you tube video)

 

 

 

 

THIS IS A MUST SEE VIDEO-- 

 

                          MLB FIRST BASEMEN HONOR 75TH ANNIVERSARY

 

 

Wish I could have seen him play.

 

DID YOU KNOW !!!!!!!

Gehrig is the only Yankee player to ever wear the number 4 !!! 

 

 

KEEP ON COLLECTING !!

Jeff

 

Baseball Rules...

This is a great must read from Night Owl....

Thems The Rules

GREAT !!!!!

KEEP ON COLLECTING !!

Jeff

(I put this here so I have easy access to these rules!!)

SO CLOSE.......

This is what Tim Lincecum did against the Padres 25Jun14.

  IP 9   /    H 0   /   R 0   /   ER 0   /   BB 1   /   SO 6   /   Pitches 113   /   Strikes 73 

He pitched a complete game no hit shut out.  (second time against the Padres) 

So Close to a perfect game!

His lone blemish was a one-out walk issued to Chase Headley (Batting .199) in the second inning.

He became the second pitcher to twice no-hit the same team, joining Hall of Famer Addie Joss, and is the fourth active pitcher with multiple no-hitters, joining Mark Buehrle, Justin Verlander and Homer Bailey.

Not to bad a game for someone who is struggling, with being 5-5 with a 4.90 ERA.

 

 

 Rookie Cards !!!!

 

 

 

2007 Topps Update # UH158

2007 Topps Turkey Red # 88

2007 Upper Deck High Series  # 918

KEEP ON COLLECTING !!

 

Jeff

Tony Gwynn

This past week we lost one of the great ones.. Tony Gwynn.
I was at work that day, and when I heard about his passing I took a few moments to reflect.

He will be missed by all........................

Fab Contest.....

WOW...  go over and see blog  RED CARDBOARD

for another blog - o - sphere contest.

Fabulous prizes....  let him know you saw it here at Fan-Attic Sports Cards...

I can tell you already....  I am going for PRIZE #1  ---SWEET---

Good Luck to all..

KEEP ON COLLECTING !!

Jeff

Farewell Don Zimmer

The Baseball world lost another iconic member.  Don Zimmer past yesterday.

Read about Don (Popeye) Zimmer at MLB.com  article.







Goodbye Don .......  The game will miss you ....

BESTEST CONTEST >>>>>>

Play at the Plate is celebrating blog post #2000. 

With the help from Topps, he is giving away a box of 2014 Bowman.

                       CLICK HERE  .......

          PLAY AT THE PLAY 2000 GIVE AWAY



Keep On Collecting !!

Jeff

MUST SEE ----

This was posted on youtube last week.

Footage from the 1919 World Series Game(s).

Black Sox Scandal---

1919 World Series footage

 

Seeing the old players is great, along with seeing the fans in New York "watching" the

game on the score board.

 

Shoeless Joe throwing the game..... "Say It Ain't So Joe" .......

  He played in all 8 games - 12 hits  /  1 HR   /  3 Doubles  /  6 RBIs  /  2 K  / 5 runs

        and a batting average  ---  .375

(I think he was on the take..... to maybe WIN )

 

see    Shoeless Joes Stats 

 

Joe belongs in HALL OF FAME !!!!!!

 

Wish I could afford some of his cards from his playing days.

 

KEEP ON COLLECTING !!

Jeff

2014 Heritage -OR- VINTAGE.....

Over the past couple of weeks, Topps Heritage has been hitting the store shelves rather slowly.  So I decided to wait on purchasing Heritage and went looking for deals on vintage.

Here is what I found..

1972 Topps Ed Sprague
 

1969 Topps Glenn Beckert
3 time All Star (69, 70, 71, 72)
On the HOF ballot in 81 but only got .2%

1965 Topps Bill Spanswick
Not a very clean card, but a keeper until something better comes along.
 

1961 Topps Joe Ginsberg
NMMT condition!!!!

1960 Topps Rocky Nelson
Not the best of shape, but collectible. 

1958 Topps Bob Rush
Not the cleanest, but still a collectible.
2 time All Star (50, 52) 

 As you can see, some were not the best of shape, but still collectible to me.
Total spent including s/h ======    $4.00  !!!!
Less than a rack pack of Heritage.

Purchase was made at The WebStore, from sportcardsplus2.
I also run   my webstore   there as well, along with others.  So if you are looking for another place to shop or sell cards, check out WebStore.

My wife did purchase me a pack of Heritage a few days ago for me, and I purchased a rack pack today.  NOTHING exciting at all.........NOT A SINGLE ROOKIE TROPHY CUP CARD....
bummer..

That means the show I plan on hitting April 5, I'll be looking for the Cup Cards.  Hope not to spend to much.  ALSO will be getting KENT HRBEK's  autograph there.  Deciding whether to have him sign the base set 82 rookie card or the 82 update card.  (any thoughts)
Will show later the one that gets the auto.

KEEP ON COLLECTING !!
Jeff

WOW !! A few FIRSTs ..

After 30 years, this is the FIRST time weather has prohibited me from making it into work.  The snow drifts across the driveway were higher than anticipated, and YES I got stuck!! Another FIRST.
I really got it wedged because it took a couple of hours to get it out. 
The highways are a mess!! They are ice covered and than 4 to 8 inch of snow on top of that.
Semis are jackknifed and people aren't getting up the inclines.  MN DOT, even at 1130am, are telling people to stay off the roads.  (like if anyone listens)
Maybe getting stuck in my driveway wasn't so bad.  At least I was home.  Even though Friday is my regular day off, I was going in on overtime.  RATS!! Lost overtime $$$$$$.

Now I get to write a blog entry, and try to update my webstore. 

I realized that I just past the FIRST anniversary of my blog.  WOW, were does the time go.
During this first year of blogging, I picked up 21 followers (hoping they haven't gotten bored).
I'm not the bestest (:ob) writer, but I try.
My objective: To help collectors expand their collections.  I had some great trades; some super buyers through my webstore, eBay, and just filling want lists.


NOW TO SOME CARDS!!

I got my FIRST..

I did not know how much I would actually like these cards until I owned one.
Man, they are not going cheap.  Hopefully, over time, prices will come down, or get lucky to snag a few cheap. 

My FIRST ring..

I will be limiting my collection of these to just the HOFer's (for now).
Also have the Reggie Jackson one coming.

Even as I look outside at all the snow and blowing snow, things are starting to go right with the world once again.  BASEBALL IS BACK !!!
Spring training is underway... view some Dodgers action ( PUIG??)

Dodgers Spring Training --------------------- 69 years ago

KEEP ON COLLECTING !!

Jeff

My Thoughts on 14's

Overall, I like the base set.  Photos are great.  Lots of action shots.
I do agree with most that the Future Stars card should not have used the silver foil, and should have been Star not Stars.
One thing I wish Topps would cut back on is all the PARALLEL issues (though I do like the yellow, like someone said it reminds me of the 91 Fleer).
I have seen many sets from Topps and I would rate this one a B+.

While flipping through the cards (looking for that darn sparkle)
I pulled a few cards that stood out to me....

 

Who's uniform is dirtier??  

I give this one to Pedroia due he has grass stains..

 

 

 

2 Future Hall of Famer's

 

 

 

McCann knows an out when he sees one.

Great play at the plate view.

 

 

Love the Old Style Uniforms

Anyone out there in Blog-os land an Indians fan?

Who is Lonnie Chisenhall???

According to the back of the card, he was rated in the top25 prospects in 2011

by Baseball America. 

 

 

 

Than there was this card. (I think someone else might have

commented on this one)

 

Is the grass at Wrigley Field that long???

What happen to Nate's right hand??

 

Take a closer look......

 

What was Topps doing with this one????

 

KEEP ON COLLECTING !!

Jeff

2014 Pack Breaks / Card Show..

Well, I opened the hanger box and the three jumbo rack packs this past weekend.  I also HAD to get three HOBBY packs from the card show.  Not a bad way to start.  I don't think I'm to far from a complete base set.  Not many dupes. 

I did get a few of the parallel cards: Red (Target) / Green (Retail Rack Pack) / Yellow (Retail Hanger Box) / Red Hot Foil / Gold.

In addition I also got :

1989 Topps Mini Die Cut # TM39 Joe Morgan.

50 Years of the Draft #50YD5 Adrian Gonzalez

All Rookie Cup Team #RCT3 Joe Morgan

Super Vets  Pujols and Pettitte

The Future is Now (Love photography on this Set)

Upper Class

75th anniversary rookie buy back

SOLD on eBay!!!

Nothing really to exciting.

BUT..... I also pulled this...(which is pretty exciting for me since I rarely get any BIG pulls)

Yasiel Puig #331 Variation Future Stars.

(already sold it on ebay)

Now for a little card show action..

I was able to get the base cards of the Topps Rookie Trophy Cup, for my collection .

The football side of me had to pick up 3 different Eddie Lacy RC's.  (Go Packers!)

I also picked this beauty up for $10 .....

1952 Topps #31 Gus Zernial..

Has some staining going on, but the corners and the rest of the card are really nice !!!!!!!

In 1951 he lead the American League in HR (33) RBI (129) and Strike Outs (101).
Was an All Star in '53 and only Mantle hit more HR from '51-'57.
Check out more about Ozark Ike with Norma Jean and Joe DiMaggio.

Here is a interview between Gus and Chris Terrence..(30 min)

 

 

 

KEEP ON COLLECTING !!
Jeff