What Caused Me to Stop Organizing My Kellogg's Cards - Part 2?

After being frustrated sorting the 1980 Kellogg's cards I decided to switch gears.  I went with the 1981 cards.  Organizing them wasn't a problem even if the card numbers are a bit small.

Since the cards aren't really worth much I decided to forgo putting them in top loaders.  For damaged cards and the cheaper sets (1979+) I tend to just put them in 9-pocket sheets.  That was my plan for the 1981s.

My problem with the 1981?  Just like regular baseball cards, some of the 1981s don't fit well into pages since Kellogg's made them 2.5 by 3.5 inches just like standard cards.  The thinner stock on the Kellogg's cards can make them difficult to slide into some of the pages.  They cards aren't valuable enough to track and search which pages to use.  I've been going with recycled pages that are from all different brands and years.

The cards in yellow on the right of each picture are the 1981s.  See how they compare to other years.

What Caused Me to Stop Organizing My Kellogg's Cards?

Since I'm still kind of incapacitated I spent the last few days organizing my Kellogg's cards.  I haven't done this since the Spring, so there was lots to do.

I tried to see if I could make duplicate sets.  I also tried to make sets from my stacks of damaged cards.  Things were going well until something derailed me.

The 1980 set is one of my favorites in terms of player selection.  I don't like the size of the cards or the backs either.  The backs were the real problem for me and probably everyone else over the age of 40.  Since I can't see the numbers well it is painful to put them in number order.  This is even worse that the Sportscaster card numbers.

So, I lost my energy for this and gave up.  Tomorrow is my last day off so I hope that I get motivated to suffer through the small numbers.  Yes, I have a magnifying glass, but that is slow to use as well.

For earlier Kellogg's sets I am pretty good at knowing everyone's card number or at least their approximate number.  For the 1980-1983 sets I ended up buying lots of complete sets since they were so cheap.  That didn't force me to learn the card numbers.  Maybe I will try that.

How Does One Become a Player to Be Named Later?

When I think back to all of the baseball that I watched as a kid I can't really remember Mario Guerrero.  Do I only remember him from his Topps and Kellogg's cards?

From 1973-1980 he had seven homers, eight stolen bases and eight intentional walks.  How did he get eight intentional walks, seven of them when he played in the AL?

BaseballReference.com likes to list similar players.  They come up with a bunch of names that are not very well known either.

All of this adds up to no one really knew him well.  He seemed to be the ultimate player to be named later.  Twice he was traded as the player to be named later to complete an earlier trade.

His anonymity continued as twice he was actually traded for a player to be named later.  Those players named later - Ed Kurpiel and Jim Willoughby.  Kurpiel didn't even make it to the big leagues.

Another Kellogg's Proof Sheet That I Will Never Get

As I mentioned before, Beckett Auctions had some of these proof sheets up for auction a few months ago.  Unfortunately for me they auctioned of all of them at once.  That limited me so I ended up with just one.

The 1972 sheet shown below is one of my favorites.  Clemente, Billy Williams, Wilbur Wood,  Palmer, McCovey and Seaver.

The only smart thing I did was get a picture of all of the proof sheets that were offered.  More of them will appear later.

Are There Any Kellogg's Cards More Commonly Cracked Than These Ones?

Today I've been sorting cards sine I'm nursing an injury at home.   I've seen comments about the 1975 Roy White being a challenge to find but today I'm looking at 1974s.

I was sorting the 1974 Kellogg's cards and I consistently found the first nine cards to be cracked.  To make matters worse, there are lots of stars and Cubs in this group.

The cards are Bob Gibson, Rick Monday, Joe Coleman, Bert Campaneris, Carlton Fisk, Jim Palmer, Ron Santo, Nolan Ryan and Greg Luzinski.

Most other cards in the set seem to be okay.  If you've got nice ones I'd like to trade something for them.

No, I don't have this sheet.  It is another one that went past my funds.

My Favorite Kellogg's Set - How Does 1978 Rank?

I didn't get  a lot of 1978 Kellogg's cards from Frosted Flakes.  I don't know why since I bought lots of 1978 Topps packs that year.  Recently I've had no problems getting these cards online.  

It seems like more 1978s show up unopened than some of the other years.  I had no problem completing an unopened set and I'm working on another one.

They made sure to include the late 70s Pirates uniforms.

Hooton had a great start to his career as a Cub.

The cards from 1977 and 1978 seem to be the perfect size.  Being a bit wider seems to keep them from curling so much.  

The color scheme is a bit boring after the orange experiment from 1977.  

Most of the cards I see seem to keep their color well.

Cracking seems to be a bit less of an issue than a few of the worst years.

Player selection was strong.  Lots of stars and the players that they took a chance on worked out well.  Eddie Murray was one of those players.  This is the only Kellogg's set to not include Pete Rose.   How did that happen?

The unopened cards look good through the paper wrapper.

A nice group of Cubs in the set too.

Overall I'd rank this set in the top six of the Kellogg's sets.  Once I review each set I will then provide rankings.  Those rankings will change over time depending on how my collecting changes.

My Favorite Kellogg's Set - How Does 1976 Rank?

Just like the Hostess cards from 1976, Kellogg's managed to get the red, white and blue color scheme for the USA's bicentennial.

I really liked how the color scheme accentuated the red, white and blue combo.  It really allows the uniform colors to stand out.  I prefer this to the blue borders.

The Red in the White Sox uniform looked great in 1976.

I remember getting the Madlock card from a box of Frosted Flakes.  It is one of my favorites.

Simmons played well for the Cardinals and Brewers.

Marty Perez - I was surprised to see him included in this set.

Morgan was at the height of his career.  Not, that wasn't a short joke.

Eckersley was one of those chances that Kellogg's took.  This one worked out well, but I certainly wasn't excited to see this card in 1976.

That's a great helmet too.

Player selection in 1976 was good, not great.  The great design makes up for that a bit.  Stars include Pete Rose, Reggie Jackson, Tom Seaver, Jim Palmer, Gary Carter, Lou Brock, Rod Carew and Thurman Munson.

It would have been great had they included Robin Yount, George Brett and Hank Aaron as a Brewer.

This set is one of my three favorite Kellogg's sets.

Is There A Better Kellogg's Proof Sheet Than This One From 1971?

I didn't win this in an auction earlier in the year.   Why?  My funds are limited and I imagine that this one went for some obscene amount.  

Check out the cards on this 1971 Proof Sheet.  15 cards include Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, Frank Robinson, Ernie Banks, Harmon Killebrew, Jim Palmer and Pete Rose.  That's quite a sheet!

Boog Powell, Paul Blair, Carlos May (because I'm a Chicago guy) and the others make for a great sheet.

If anyone knows where to get stuff like this let me know.  I must have some of these.  

Kennedy vs. Nixon - A Kellogg's Card Perspective

John F. Kennedy died on this day in 1963.  I don't remember the event but I've heard about it frequently from older relatives.

As of 2014, only six players named Nixon played in the majors - Otis, Donell and Trot played most recently.  22 players named Kennedy managed to make the big leagues including two named John.  One John Kennedy was an active big leaguer when the president died.

There have been 718 players who appeared in the majors for only one day.  Three of them are named Johnson.  Millers lead the list with eight players appearing only one day.

No players named Kennedy or Nixon appeared on a Kellogg's card.  So, who wins.  Let's go to the vice presidential candidates.  Kennedy had Johnson running with him while Nixon's sidekick was Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.

No MLB players have had the last name of either Cabot or Lodge.  There have been 110 named Johnson.  Five of them found themselves on a Kellogg's card - Alex, Davey, John Henry, Tom and Walter.

Winner - Kennedy and Johnson

Comparing a Kellogg's Proof Card to the Card Actually Issued

A while back I showed a Pete Rose proof card from 1977 - Pete Rose Proof.  I promised to show the two cards together to see if there was any difference.  Well, here they are.

Without even magnifying the cards, it is easy to see that the infield has been lightened on the regular-issue 1977 Kellogg's Pete Rose. 

The border colors also changed before putting the card into cereal boxes.  I will be on the lookout for more differences once I get a closer look at the cards.

My Favorite Kellogg's Card Sets - Why I Love the 1977 Set

I was putting a set of Kellogg's cards from 1977 into top loaders today.  I don't get cards from this year very often.  

I like the color scheme.  It's great to get away from the blue colors that were used in most years.

I like the Campaneris card for the uniform color the pose and everything else about it.

The classic baseball card pose demonstrated by Garvey works really well with the 3-D cards.  

I've seen far too many of the 1977s with cracks.  Not as many as seen in 1971 and 1975.  The 1977s have a lot of white border like the 1970 set, so they don't look good if the bright white is faded.

I'm going to assume that Garvey was just trying to be more like Pete Rose.

We all wanted this card of Fidrych in 1977.  He was fun to watch.  

1977 was not Kellogg's best year for player selection.  They didn't even manage to get 10 Hall of Famers in this set.

Missing in 1977 - I'm sure there are more

1976 Strikeout Leaders - Nolan Ryan and Tom Seaver

1976 Home Run Leader - Mike Schmidt

1976 Wins Leader - Jim Palmer

Others - Joe Morgan, Jim Rice, Willie Stargell, Carl Yastrzemski, Robin Yount

Overall I like the layout, but I'm not too happy that they took so many chances on unproven players.  More stars would have been better.

Moving Past Some Kellogg's Stars Next Year?

Albert Pujols is currently 14th on the all-time home run list.  Another decent season of 27 homers will move him up to 9th place.  

When I was a kid the order became Aaron, Ruth, Mays, Robinson and Killebrew.  Robinson is now 9th and Killebrew is now 11th.  

Reggie Jackson is 13th with 563 homers.

Pujols can pass Jackson, Palmeiro, Killebrew, McGwire and Robinson in 2016 with just 27 homers.

Why Can't All 1975s Look Like This One

On this day 12 years ago former pitcher Ken Brett died.  Ken was known for being a great-hitting pitcher and the brother of George Brett.

I've already mentioned Ken in previous posts but I'll add this one because my family consists of some big fans of both Bretts.

My first PSA card.  If all 1975s had these bright colors it might be one of my favorite sets.

I know that I've been repeating pictures, but I like this one with both Brett and Yount.  Besides, my cards are so disorganized that it is hard to find new cards for pictures.  I will have new pictures next week.

A Sad Day for Kellogg's Cards

The following players are among those who passed away while still in their playing careers.  I remember all of these sad stories since they were well-known players and I was a kid who followed baseball way too much.  Those listed below all have appeared on on Kellogg's card.

Roberto Clemente in 1972

Don Wilson in 1975

Bob Moose in 1976



Danny Thompson in 1976



Lyman Bostock in 1978

Thurman Munson in 1979

No-Hitters Certain Make Someone Memorable - So Do Kellogg's Cards

I remember Don Wilson being a really good pitcher when I was a kid.  Let's see why I thought that.  

He played nine seasons with the Astros from 1966 - 1974.  In 1966 he played one game, so it was really eight years.  He recorded 104 wins and 92 losses.  During those years the Astros were 51 games less than .500.

He was an all-star once.  Like many pitchers of his time, he finished what he started.  He recorded 78 complete games in 245 starts.

I really like the how baseball-reference (http://www.baseball-reference.com/) compares players to others.  It's nice to talk to different generations about players and see how this site compares them.  Wilson is compared to Mario Soto, Tim Lincecum, Alex Fernandez and J.R. Richard.

He threw a no-hitter in the Astrodome in 1967 against the Braves.  It was the first no-hitter indoors and the first one on Astroturf.   He struck out Hank Aaron for the final out.  The 15 strikeouts included Aaron three times, Rico Carty, Bob Uecker, losing pitcher Phil Niekro twice and hitting guru Charlie Lau.  Wilson walked Denis Menke twice and Aaron once.  

Jimmy Wynn and Eddie Mathews drove in the runs for Houston.

In 1969 Wilson no-hit the Reds moving the Astros W-L record up to 5-20.  Ouch.  Denis Menke, now an Astro, drove in two runs in the 4-0 win.  Doug Rader added a homer and Wilson drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.  Pete Rose, Tony Perez and Johnny Bench were among Wilson's 13 strikeouts.

More on Don Wilson tomorrow.

Cookies and Kellogg's Baseball Cards

I remember Cookie Rojas for a few things.  The best memory is that of my brother pronouncing his last name - Ro-jazz.  So, that's what he's always been called.

On the baseball reference database (http://www.baseball-reference.com/) they list 549 players named Bill from 1871 - 2014.  That doesn't even count Wills, Williams, Billy, etc.  There is not a single player named Cookie.

From my card collecting I knew that his first name was Octavio.  Cookie would have been a first on the database and it turns out he's the only player named Octavio anyway.

I didn't realize that he was a five-time all-star and I didn't know he was Cuban.  Since we didn't have constant cable coverage of sports, only a few players were seen in interviews and I don't remember seeing Cookie do interviews.

He was good enough to earn MVP votes in three different seasons.  He also appeared in the lineup at all ten positions during his career.

He led the league in one category and only one time - sacrifice bunts.

He was signed by the Cubs in late 1978 but he didn't appear in a game.  So, he retired as a Cub?  Yes, with no games played for them.

Kellogg' Autographed Cards and My First Autographed Kellogg's Card - A Football Player

Too bad my name isn't Scott.  I like this card because of the story.  In an earlier post I mentioned a videotape that I have of a Kellogg's commercial (Butkus Commercial).

The card was part of this purchase.  I don't mind having a card signed to Scott because it was packaged with the videotape.  I still have yet to get it converted to DVD.  Stay tuned.

This is my first autograph on a Kellogg's card other than the ones that were distributed with the autographs on them.  I don't have a plan to get more but we'll see.

Speaking of autographed Kellogg's cards, does anyone have a complete list of players offered?  I guess I need to add Yamaguchi to my list even though that is a bit outside of the sports that I collect.

The missing letter in the first name gives him a great name "Ick Butkus".

Brock and Santo Linked Together Again

Ron Santo was a lifelong diabetic.  His health was certainly compromised for his entire 70 years on Earth.  I didn't realize that Lou Brock was diagnosed with diabetes over 15 years ago.  Let's hope that Brock recovers quickly from his recent surgery.

Brock and Santo played together for three years with the Cubs.  I'm glad to be too young to remember the track that sent Brock to St. Louis.  There is already enough to suffer through for Cub fans.

The players were in the same Kellogg's sets twice - 1970 and 1973.

Brock stole 938 bases, leading the league 10 times in that category.  Santo stole 35 bases in his career while being caught 41 times.

Ron Santo, Billy Williams, Ernie Banks, Fergie Jenkins and Lou Brock?   I need to never think about that again.

Only Two Players Led the League (1969 - 1982) With the Least At-Bats Per Homer and Got a Kellogg's Card

Did you know that from 1969 to 1982 the major league annual leader in AB per HR only appeared on a Kellogg's twice?

Sure, I didn't follow the normal rules to search for players who had a minimum number of plate appearances.  That's part of the fun.

In 1969 Ken Brett had 10 at-bats per home run.  He had 1 homer and 10 at-bats.

In 1976 Craig Reynolds did even better.  He had four at-bats per homer.  Yes, he had one home run in four at-bats that season.

Duane Kuiper had the worst starts of any player during the Kellogg's years.  He hit one homer in 3083 at-bats during this time.  That big hit came off of Steve Stone.  He had 3379 official at-bats in his career.   Kuiper is from Racine, Wisconsin where I will be in a few weeks.

Among regular players in the 1970s, Hank Aaron, Dave Kingman and Mike Schmidt led in this category.  Each had a homer in just over every 14 at-bats from 1969 - 1982.