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Use the menu below if you'd like to search for posts that relate to your interests. Note - this was just created on 12-30-20 so I will need to link the posts in the coming weeks. Until then, you can scroll down to the labels on the right to find the same information.


Sunday, December 31, 2017

1970 - 1975 Kellogg's Cards With Collars

I don't always finish what I start on this blog but I will with the collars.  I needed to check 1970 - 1975 Kellogg's cards.  I found lots of pictures from the side where I couldn't determine if there was a collar or a turtleneck shirt.  I ignored all of those.  Here is what I found.

Seven cards in six years.  Four Hall of Fame members, and one who appears twice.  No, not Fergie Jenkins this time even though he's in sets from this time range.

1971, 1974 and 1975 had none that were 100% confirmed from the images shown.

1970 - Juan Marichal and Al Kaline.



I think that there are more cracks in this Marichal card than he had wins in 1969 - 21.  What is the record for most cracks in a Kellogg's card?



Al was a favorite of my freshman biology teacher.  And a favorite of me when I was six since we both played the same position.  My brother even convinced me that being in right field was a good thing. 


1972 - Juan Marichal.  Unlike Topps, who used the same photo sometimes, Juan sported a collar again in a different pose.  I like the completely different uniforms too.



1972 All-Time Greats - Cy Young's certainly looks like part of the uniform.  Some of my students and my own children would be quick to ask "didn't you play Little League with him?"



1973 - Joe Coleman and Manny Sanguillen.  Sanguillen has the collar popped up, but I will count it.




Update - the 1973 Gaylord Perry card also shows him with a collared shirt under his uniform.


Thursday, December 28, 2017

One Week Down...

and I'm already hating this winter weather.  It is having quite an impact on my training.

How about my Kellogg's cards.  Do they do okay in cold weather? 

One of my closet walls shares a wall with an unheated garage.  Can I leave cards in that closet?

I never considered this with old baseball cards, but since the early 1990s some of cards stick together in the wrong weather conditions.  Luckily, I don't collect many cards from the early 1990s and beyond.  Now I just worry about my Kellogg's cards getting damaged by being in the wrong room.

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Collars on Kellogg's Cards?

If you are my age, you might remember that the White Sox wore softball style uniforms in the late 1970s.  Kellogg's cards from 1977 - 1982 feature these uniforms.  That makes sense since I checked and found that they wore those uniforms from 1976 - 1981.  

Everyone talked about the softball shorts that the White Sox sometimes wore during this time, but the shirts were odd since they incorporated a collar.  That can clearly be seen on Kellogg's cards from 1977 to 1981.  The same jerseys are shown on the 1982 cards, but the poses make it difficult to see the collar.

The last card with an obvious collar in the 1970 - 1983 Kellogg's set is probably Chet Lemon from the 1981 set.  I'd have to look closely or zoom in to see the collar on Lemon or Carlton Fisk.

 


The White Sox had uniforms with a built-in collar.  Who else could be wearing a collar on a Kellogg's card?  Probably some old-timers, but I will check the cards from 1970 - 1975 tomorrow.  Today I started with 1976 and found at least five other non-White Sox cards that feature a collar prominently.  I don't know if a few of them were built into the jersey, but here they are.  Can you name any of them without looking?

Hints --

1.  This Hall of Fame inductee shows up twice with a collared shirt. 

2.  Another Hall of Famer is shown with a collar.  If his poses were different I might have seen a collar on more than one of his cards.

3.  A third Hall of Famer isn't even a veteran yet when he showed the collar under his jersey.

4.  The fourth player made some big plays in the World Series during a 16-year career.  



As I mentioned before, I still use a Chet Lemon model glove.






Fergie Jenkins is sporting a prominent collar on this card as well as on his 1977 card, which game me the idea for this post.



Willie Stargell might be wearing a collar in other years, but the poses didn't make it obvious.



The collar on Gary Carter is hard to figure out.  Does he have two shirts under the jersey?

Long ago I checked out batting gloves on Kellogg's cards.  I guess I should check out batting gloves used by fielders as Carter is demonstrating here.



Joe Rudi's got the batting glove too.


Tuesday, December 26, 2017

1983 Kellogg's Baseball Card Questions

I've written about the color differences with the 1979 Kellogg's baseball cards.  Lee had lots of great information to add regarding the two printers and three print runs for those sets. 

Today, I was sorting through a stack of 1983s and I noticed two distinct printings like the 1979s.  I haven't read anything, but were two printers used for this set as well?  Check out the two Valenzuela cards.  The one of the right is has the word Kellogg's in a reddish color.  It also has a bright, white border.  The card on the left reminded me of the 1979s with a more orange Kellogg's title and a border with a more washed-out white.

Unlike the 1979s, where I have more of the orange versions, I have mostly the red versions of the 1983s.  What does everyone else have?



I checked out about a dozen cards and noticed no differences on any of the card fronts except Valenzuela's.  On Fernando's card it looks like there is a base on the mound behind him.  It switches sides on the two cards.  Check out inside the "V" in Fernando's signature.  



The card backs feature different alignment as can easily be seen by the differences in the bottom border.  Like the 1979s, one version has a bright, white color on the back and the other is washed out a bit. 

Monday, December 25, 2017

Another SportsCollectorsDaily.com Article

This article on sportscollectorsdaily.com discusses 10 of the most sought-after Roberto Clemente cards.  The 1968 3-D card made the list.  



I had one of these in my hand at the National a few years ago, but I don't think that will happen again unless I win the lottery.  

Sunday, December 24, 2017

Proofs and Other Production Versions of Kellogg's Cards

Recently I've seen a few different types of items that were used in the production process of Kellogg's cards.  Is there any information or guide to what types of items have shown up in the marketplace?

Here are three items currently on ebay.  They are probably all outside of my budget and I know nothing about them.  The Sutter item appeals to me since he was a Cub.  Would I find a way to make one of these work if my favorite player were Sutter, Simmons or Colbert?  Only time will tell.





Does anyone have anything resembling this stuff?  Can someone tell me more about the source of these type of items?

Saturday, December 23, 2017

Which Kellogg's Card Keeps Finding Your Collection?

As I tried to make the 1978 Topps Baseball card set during the summer of 1978 I didn't know anything about short prints or double prints.  I was certainly learning about it since I kept getting Mike Lum and Pete Rose cards.  I ended up with 22 Mike Lums before making the set.  I certainly had at least 10 Pete Rose cards as well.

Collecting Hostess cards was just as challenging.  The boxes that were delivered seemed to have the same to have heavy duplication at my local stores.  Does anyone remember getting stuck with the same Kellogg's cards from boxes in their area?

Other than buying a player lot of cards like I did with George Brett, which Kellogg's card keeps finding its way into your collection?  When I go to a card show if the cards are in a $0.10 or $0.25 box I tend to buy them.  Do you?  Which players keep showing up?

I see 1981 cards most frequently even though they are the only ones that don't stand out since they are the same size as standard baseball cards of today.  So, I've got a lot of Rich Gossage, Bruce Sutter, George Foster, Fred Lynn, Jim Rice, Ron Guidry and Paul Molitor.  These guys aren't good enough to put on display at a card show, but I will keep buying them when they are cheap.

As far as older cards that just seem to be around, it usually seems like the seller had a set so the cards are distributed evenly.  If I get done sorting my cards before I retire maybe I will get more details on which older ones keep ending up in my possession.


 


Friday, December 22, 2017

A Good Article About the Kellogg's Company and 1980s 3-D Cards

http://1980sbaseballcards.blogspot.com/2017/07/1980-1983-kelloggs-3-d-super-stars.html

I found this to be an interesting read, even if it is PG-13 in one paragraph.  Please don't comment as to what they hoped to accomplish with their patented cereal. 

The article mentions the 1983s being available in cereal boxes.  The cereal box confirms that, but I haven't seen any of these.  Has anyone seen 1983 Kellogg's individual card packs?  Can you send them all to me?

Thursday, December 21, 2017

1968 Topps 3-D Style Used Recently

I've got some of these cards modeled after the 1968s.  The can be found in the 2011 Topps Lineage set and  the 2012 Topps Archives.  Are there other issues that contained these type of cards?

Does anyone collect these as well?

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

1979 Kellogg's Variations

I haven't picked up any 1979 Kellogg's cards in a long time.  I'm still searching for variations on the back with the trademark and team logos.  This sets comes in two slightly different border colors - one is white and the other is somewhere between white and yellow.  The latter seems to be the factory set cards - I have all of those variations. 

The sharp, white bordered cards seem to have the variations.  I really like the Phillies variation since the logo changed from the two guys to a boring "P".  Check out the older logo below.

I'm glad this lot was not just from a factory set since it had this Carlton.  Unfortunately, the other Phillies were the more common version with the scripted "P" on the back. 




The Grimsley on the left is what I seem with those cards that come from factory sets.   Does anyone have factory sets with the example from the right?  I know that there were three printings, but I'm not sure about the details of each printing.


The back of the card shown above matches the card on the right above.

Sunday, December 17, 2017

I Skipped a Card Show Today

I've been somewhat of a steady card collector since I was about six years old.  Today I decided to skip a card show even though I went running about three miles from the show site. 

Why?  Last time there the show had lots of empty tables. 

Sure, I'm spoiled with options for a show at least a few weekends a month.  For those with no options you probably won't like my reason for not attending lots of shows near me.  My problem - almost every show has the same dealers in the same locations with the same items for sale. 

The big shows near O'Hare are certainly enjoyable, but other than the National, these shows tend to focus on the autographs, which is something I don't spend money on at all.  I still go to these since there are at least different dealers than I see around town.

How about you?  Do you have card shows nearby?  Do you attend them always, sometimes or never?

Saturday, December 16, 2017

MLB Players Who Spent Time in Prison and Time on a Kellogg's Card

My daughter went to prison today.  Luckily, it was with a school group, not as a new inmate.  Somehow, she had a good time interacting with the teens being reformed.

Here is a list of guys who were served with Kellogg's cereal in the morning and also served time in jail. 

Pete Rose

Vida Blue

Denny McLain

Jerry Koosman

John Odom

Willie Wilson

Who else do you got? 

Friday, December 15, 2017

Another Reason I Need My Macbook

I want to compile the list of NL East players who got a Kellogg's card but not All-Star recognition.  Since I don't have my new Macbook yet this isn't easy to do. 

On the Macbook I used the Sean Lahman database, which contains all things MLB, and added a few Kellogg's files to it.  That would make it easy to determine these players.  I have the files backed up, but I want to keep using the Macbook version of the Lahman databases because I use them to teach as well.

So, the NL East answers will wait until at least Sunday.

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Kellogg's Cards of Players Who Never Made an All-Star Team

Back in the 1970s there were four divisions in baseball.  The Cubs played in the NL East with the Mets, Cardinals, Pirates, Phillies and Expos.  In the Ron Santo story that I mentioned recently, Steve Swisher was one of the guys traded by the White Sox to obtain Santo.

Swisher was one of my favorite Cubs.  He was even an all-star in 1976.  He was one of the few NL players to not appear in the All-Star game that year. 

How did he become and all-star?  Each team got an all-star and the Cubs weren't having a great season. 

Can you think of other NL East players who got a Kellogg's card and never made an All-Star Game?

Monday, December 11, 2017

I Learned Something New About Ron Santo Today

On this day in 1973 Ron Santo was traded from the Cubs to the White Sox.  I knew that since it was big news even though Santo played only one season with the White Sox.

What I didn't know was that Santo became the first player to use the 10-5 rule when he vetoed a potential trade to the Angels.  The rule states that a player with 10-years of MLB experience, including five years with his current team, can veto any trade. 

Baseball was a lot different in 1973 since free agency wasn't in the picture yet.  There don't seem to be a lot of 10-5 guys today. 


Sunday, December 10, 2017

PSA Packs - Kellogg's 1970 and 1971

Here is what I found under PSA packs.  Not many 1970 six-card packs have been graded by PSA.  Only 26 of them.  None have been graded higher than '9'.

Ernie Banks leads the way with three packs graded having his card on top. 

They only show eight one-card packs being graded.  All Hall of Famers in this group.

There are only two 1970 Rold Gold packs graded - Ruth and Gehrig.

I thought that there would be more 1971s since they are so much more valuable.  Only 24 baseball one-card packs and two football packs have been graded.  No more than two of any baseball player are reported. 

Does PSA still do this grading?

Saturday, December 9, 2017

What Do You Do With The Fronts of Boxes?

Normally I will only buy the back panel of a Kellogg's box, or the entire box if I am lucky enough to find one.  The back displays well and it is all about the cards.  The front isn't what I memorized while eating Frosted Flakes as a kid.

I did pick up a front panel recently.   Here it is.



I was thinking about what to do with it.  I could simply use it on the cover of one of my Kellogg's card albums.  I might just display it home or at work where it might spark conversation.  

Am I going to try to collect all of them?  Absolutely.  Add this to the list of things that I won't spend much energy on any time soon.  

Does anyone do anything else with these panels?

Friday, December 8, 2017

I Really Did Buy a Figuring Skating Card

I finally got the Hank Aaron card that I'd wanted.  I was surprised to finally get this Aaron along with the other two shown below - Robinson and Yamaguchi.  




I previously mentioned being on the living room floor when Hank Aaron hit number 715.  I don't think that I was on the floor because the room was full.  Instead, I remember recording the game on my cheap, hand-held tape recorder.  If one wanted to record a song from the radio this was how it was done.

I don't ever remember listening to the tape again and I've long since lost that tape.  The memory of the moment is quite clear even though I can't remember which family members were watching with me and my parents.   

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Things I Never Thought I'd Say

Collecting Kellogg's cards has been a lot of fun since I first got Mel Farr and Lem Barney in 1970.

When the upcoming holidays arrive, will/should I say this to relatives when they ask if I still collect baseball cards?

Since I'm a teacher, I will give you multiple choice selections for the answer.

(a) The first step is admitting that I have a problem.
(b) When am I a collector and when am I a hoarder?
(c)  Does buying a card of a figure skater count?  What if it is autographed?
(d)  How many 1983 George Brett cards is too many for me to own?
(e) All of the above.


Yes, I did buy a Kristi Yamaguchi card since I am now attempting to complete that Kellogg's set.

I think that I might only need the Kyle Busch card now.  At least I have some history of buying NASCAR cards.  I did some of that with my son when he was interested in buying cards. 








Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Steve Hargan, Claudell Washington and Don Gullett - Like You've Not Seen Before

Hey, check out these three unopened packs that I didn't have before today.

The first two are Claudell Washington. I made no extra effort to determine how well the front would appear in the photo.  Sorry about that.



The next two are Don Gullett.



I did my best work with the Steve Hargan photos.  It is easy to see through the wrapper on both sides.




Where did I get them?  I made them in my lab, I mean the kitchen table. 

Over the years I've purchased a bunch of Kellogg's cards that were opened but placed back in their original wrappers.  What a great idea.  Almost every one of those cards displays incredible color that isn't always seen in these cards. 

I intentionally trimmed the above photos so it wouldn't be obvious, but here is the real picture of what they look like in the used wrappers.  I am making no attempt to pass these off as unopened.  I just want to complete the set so I will use these.




I would never be able to do this for the 1981 to 1983 cards because I don't have many wrappers, but I think I will attempt this with some of my favorites.  Look for them in the future.  

I imagine that someone would try to figure out a way to repackage an old Clemente, Mays or other players.  Luckily, the older Kellogg's wrappers are one piece.  Doing this has made me wonder about expensive unopened cards.  

I would be skeptical of any 1980 stars in their original wrappers because the two-piece wrapper easily separates into front and back.  1979s might also separate that way.  

As always, more information on this topic is appreciated.  

Sunday, December 3, 2017

I Never Heard of Kellogg's Pep Cereal

I saw this article on Sports Collectors Daily - 1937 Kellogg's Pep Cereal Stamps.  The article mentioned that this cereal was sold until the 1970s, but I don't remember it at all.  It was said to be a rival of Wheaties, so the stamps promotion makes sense since Wheaties was using sports giveaways to sell cereal during the 1930s.

I've seen these items on ebay but I never clicked to learn any more about these stamps.

This article was worth reading.  Will I ever attempt to get these?  I don't know how much I am going to branch out into other Kellogg's sports-related items.  That might work if I end up getting all of the 1970 - 1983 cards.

Here is more information.  https://prewarcards.com/2016/09/28/1937-kelloggs-pep-stamps-football-set-and-checklist/

I was disappointed to find out that there were few golfers and no track and field athletes.

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Different Conditions of Unopened Packs

I've finally got pictures, but it still isn't going well with my loaner MacBook. 

Here are some 1978 Kellogg's unopened packs. 

I've got some, like the Sutter below, that have cereal stains.  These stains are only on the front, but I've got some with the stain going all they way through to the back.



Is anyone concerned when the front of the card has wrinkles on the wrapper?




The Foster below looks great on both sides.  I hope the photos show that.  It is clean and not discolored.  





Below is a Foster with lots of discoloration and a few odd stains.  I have no problem with some discoloration, which I see on the edges of lots of these packs.



There are always a few ugly ones.  The Dent card below is totally discolored.  It doesn't look good at all.  This is how lots of the 1979 and 1980 packs look.  Whatever material was used didn't keep the color at all. 


To make matters worse, Dent's card is cut wrong.  I assume that this is a factory reject, but then why is it so discolored?

Friday, December 1, 2017

Sorting 1976 Kellogg's Unopened Was Better....

...than paying attention to the movie Baby Driver that we got from the library. 

On top of that, I at least found out which cards I need.

#1 - #3 were only found in the factory set, right?  So I can't get unopened versions of them I guess.

I'm also missing Montefusco, Brett, Garr, Manning, Bostock, Cey, Rose, Garland, LeFlore, Fidrych, Lezcano, Winfield, Koosman, Johnstone, McBride, Reitz, Remy, Oliver, Carew, Griffey and Messersmith. 

Luckily I've got most of the star players.

I expect to be adding pictures tomorrow. 

Thursday, November 30, 2017

Does Anyone Buy From the Big e-bay Sellers?

Does anyone buy Kellogg's from the large ebay seller sites?  I've seen lots of items ending with really high values and Buy It Now items that are quite high.

Is it worth my time?  A few years ago I bought a few large Kellogg's lots from one of these sellers and it worked out well, but I haven't done that since.


Tuesday, November 28, 2017

New Kellogg's Article online

Check this out at the thenationalpastimemuseum.com.

TheNationalPastimeMusuem.com Article About Kellogg's Cards

It's a nice look at some things that happened with Kellogg's cards.  It also mentions some odd things about players featured on these cards.

Monday, November 27, 2017

Is There a Kellogg's Expert Somewhere?

I don't pretend to know everything about Kellogg's cards.  I would love to find someone who does.  I started this blog to put information in a central location primarily for my own use.

Once my learning about these cards slows I am planning to create an ibook on the topic.  Does anyone see that being a worthwhile effort? 

Saturday, November 25, 2017

1972 Kellogg's All-Time Greats Unopened Packs / Factory Sets?

I've got the 1970 Rold Gold factory set and I think I have all of the individual packs except one of the Babe Ruths.  When I sorted through them this week I was surprised to see that I have no unopened cards from the 1972 Kellogg's All-Time Greats set.

Does anyone have a factory set from 1972?  Does anyone have an unopened pack?  Please send along a photo so that I can post it here.  I'd like to see if the 1972 pack looks different than the 1970 pack.

Are there any cards from 1972 in individual packs that have the 1972 date or did they only change the date for the 1972 mail-in offers?

Friday, November 24, 2017

To Open or Not to Open?

I'm getting close to an extra set of 1972 Kellogg's cards.  I got lucky at a card show with this lot so now I want to finish the set.  The set is in really nice condition, something that I usually don't care much about.  Since 52 cards are nice, I might as well get a Mays and a Torre that match - nice, bright, white borders that are sharp on these flat cards.

Mays won't be cheap of course so I will probably take my time getting that one, but Torre should be easy to obtain.  I could probably go online now and get one for a few bucks. 

I have two unopened packs with Torre inside.  If either pack were discolored or flawed in any way I would just open it.  Of course that isn't the case with these nice packs.  Should I open one and risk that the card might not be as nice as the other 52?

If you have opened a pack how has that worked out? 


Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Questions For Collectors of Unopened Packs

I've got a few days off so I've been trying to sort my unopened packs and put them in Card Saver IVs.  I needed to order more of these holders; I should have done that last week so that I could use my time effectively this week, but I didn't plan to spend time on these cards this week. 

Here are my questions regarding the unopened packs. 

1.  I've seen some, not many, that are curled like regular cards.  Have any of you seen lots of them that are curled in the envelope?

2.  What do you think of condition?  I have packs that have tears, stains, writing, and total discoloration. 

3.  Would you play less for packs where the envelope wasn't perfect? 

4.  Would you even collect packs with flaws?

5.  Which years do you find the most flawed unopened packs/envelopes?

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Finally Updated the Sidebar - 1972 Kellogg's Unopened Needed

I'm still down one Macbook.  On a positive side, I've gotten my 1972 Kellogg's unopened needs down to 10 cards.  I think that I mentioned this before, but I finally got around to updating my blog list.

No commons in this group.  I hope I can get at least a few of them before the National next year. 

I am hoping to get going on the unopened 1977 set as well.  I've picked up some recently and I might have around 40 different from the 57-card set.  These should be a lot easier to obtain, especially since the set has very few big stars.  I will try to put a list on the blog.

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Two Weeks Goes By Fast

I've been so busy and without my Macbook that I didn't even realize that I hadn't posted in a while. 

Today I went to a card show in Rosemont, IL.  I almost went to one in Ohio yesterday, but the timing didn't work out while I was in town. 

I picked up a nice 1972 Kellogg's Clemente, a 1974 Gibson and a bunch of 1971 cards in VG-EX(?) condition.  I don't have a great skill at grading cards, but these were not cracked, had decent corner and decent, but not great colors.  Alas, no new variations but at least I got two upgrades.

Over Thanksgiving I will try to combine two broken Macbooks into a functional one while I await a new one from work.

Back to the show.  The highlight was talking to a dealer from Wisconsin who was more collector than dealer.  He had lots of Kellogg's cards including a 1970 Unopened football set and a large stack of unopened Kellogg's baseball cards from 1970 and 1975.  He has been mentioned in a few articles on Kellogg's cards a dozen years ago.  I will try to track them down and add those articles here.   

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

A Rough Day with My Macbook

The Macbook is school-issued, so I had them check it out today.  No luck fixing it.  I was able to get the data from the hard drive, but the Macbook is done.  I will need to check to see if they can get me another one because I certainly can't afford something that nice.

Stay tuned. 

Sunday, November 5, 2017

1975 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs #34 - 36

Coaching has kept me busy but today is my first day of the off-season.  I'm ready to read more Kellogg's card backs to see what they've got to add.  I've read all of these as a kid, but I haven't read them in years. 

Back for a few more 1975 Kellogg's baseball card backs.  I started this a while back.


#36 - Mike Marshall


For younger readers, this is Mike Marshall the pitcher.  The Dodgers also had a slugger named Mike Marshall beginning in 1981.  Their careers overlapped by about four weeks.  The pitcher was a Met at this point.  In the old two-division format, teams only played division foes in the last month, so these two didn't face each other. 

Enough of that, let's see what the card mentioned.

He won the 1974 Cy Young Award, setting records for most games and innings for a relief pitcher.  He was originally a shortstop and he spent four minor league seasons at that position.  I didn't know that.

He is seeking his doctorate and he teaches at Michigan State in the off-season.  Not surprisingly, his hobby is chess.

Not on the card - he got that Ph.D. in kinesiology from Michigan State. 


#35 - Ralph Garr


He won two minor league batting titles.  He won the 1974 NL batting title. 

Not on the card - He hit .306 during his 13-year career.

He attending Grambling College and the card mentions that he's "One of the few Grambling College athletes not to the enter the National Football League.

Not on the card - that is certainly written poorly.  Since I'm not much of a writer, I can usually spot stuff like this. 

His nickname - The Road Runner - is one of my favorites.

Not on the card - when he was on the White Sox they'd always play the cartoon sound from the Bugs Bunny Show - meep-meep. 


#34 - Lou Piniella


His picture on the back shows his grumpy, managerial face.  

A great trade brought Lou to the Yankees in 1974.  He hit over .300, had 70 RBIs and was strong in the outfield.

He was drafted by the Pilots in the Expansion Draft.  The card doesn't show him playing for them.

He was traded by the Pilots to the Royals just before the Pilots played their first game in 1969.  He was the 1969 Rookie of the Year for the Royals.  

Here's something you won't see on the backs of other cards - "He currently operates a motorcycle shop in Kansas."

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Kellogg's Venezuelan Cards - MLB Players - #5 - Last One

Here's the remainder of the set and where they ended up.  I will be glad to be done trying to confirm birthdays. 

A few days ago I saw a set for sale on ebay. 


37 - Omar Malave / Carlos Moreno
Malave - played 25 seasons; never in the majors
Moreno - something doesn't match on the card with signing date and date-of-birth.  I think he played in the minors for four seasons.

38 - Kelvin Escobar / David Davalillo
Escobar -  12 years in MLB; 101-91 record.  Baseball-reference calls him "Kelvim". So does everyone else.
Davalilo - five seasons in the minors

39 - Jackson Melian / Ronald Caridad
Melian - 20 seasons, none in MLB
Caridad - eight seasons in the minors

40 - Pedro Castellano / Daniel Agli
Castellano - 51 games with Colorado over three years; birthday is a day different from baseball-reference.com.
Agli - eight seasons in the Italian League

41 - Edwin Hurtado /  Igor Oropeza
Hurtado - 8-9 record in three MLB seasons;  birth year is off by six years
Oropeza - four seasons in the minors

42 - Tomas Perez / Jairo Ramos
Perez - .240 average over 12 MLB seasons
Ramos - played 16 seasons in the minors and other leagues over 25 years

43 - Oswaldo Olivares / Cesar Vargas
Olivares - 16 minor league seasons
Vargas - not found on baseball-reference.com

44 - Carlos Lopez / Temis Liendo
Lopez - two minor league seasons
Liendo - one year in the minors

Sunday, October 29, 2017

Kellogg's Venezuelan Cards - MLB Players - #4

I'm checking the next nine cards to see who played in the majors.  So far I've been surprised how many of these guys actually got to the majors at some point.

As I'm finding out, their first names/birthdays don't always correlate with the name on baseball-reference.com.  I'm not working that hard if I don't find a match, so I probably will screw up a few of these.

28 - Eddy Diaz / Marcos Manrique
Diaz -played 16 games for Milwaukee in 1997.
Manrique - four minor league seasons;  baseball-reference lists him as "Marco".


29 - Melvin Mora / Ifrain Linares
Mora - the birthday doesn't match, but being signed by Houston in 1990 and his hometown match the well-known player;  1,503 career hits; two-time all-star
Linares -  cannot find him on baseball-reference.com; card mentions Cincinnati Reds; maybe he goes by another first name but I don't feel like checking the list to match him up

30 - Melchor Pacheco / Leonaldo Olivero
Pacheco - "Alex" pitched in five games for Montreal in 1996
Olivero - four seasons in the minors

31 - Oscar Henriquez / Jean Morillo
Henriquez - pitched in three seasons; 49 games; 1 win and two saves
Morillo - cannot find him on baseball-reference.com; card mentions team - Leones de Caracas

32 - Juan Fco. Castillo / Pedro Belmonte
Castillo - cannot find him on baseball-reference.com; card mentions team - Boston Red Sox
Belmonte - three seasons in the minors

33 - Jose Fco. Malave / Hector Ugueto
Malave - two seasons with Boston; 4 homers in 49 games
Ugueto - six seasons in the minors

34 - Alejandro Freire / Luis Colmenares
Freire - played 25 games in 2005 for Baltimore; hit one homer
Colmenares - seven years in the minors

35 - Jorge Velandia / Andres Espinoza
Velandia - eight MLB seasons; two homers in 174 games;
Espinoza - two seasons in the minors

36 - Edgar Caceres / Carlos Alvarez
Caceres - played 55 games with the 1995 Royals; one HR
Alvarez - two seasons in the minors.

Maybe in the future I will check out the guys with 1 - 2 career wins, homers, etc.  Maybe they hit the homer or a HOF pitcher?  Most likely they hit it off Jamie Moyer.  

Friday, October 27, 2017

50 Years is a Long Time for Anything

Unlike lots of people, I don't remember the first baseball card that I saw.  I do know that it was about 50 years ago.

It certainly wasn't the card below.

I do remember getting Mel Farr and Lem Barney Kellogg's cards in 1970.

I've mentioned this before.  Why am I mentioning this again?  My aunt died this week after living well into her 80s.  I knew that she was really close to her sister - my mother.  What I didn't know was they talked daily for at least 50 years.  That is quite impressive.

I thought that I was doing a good job calling my parents weekly.  I tried to post every day on this blog.  I've failed on both of these things.



Thursday, October 26, 2017

A Wilkens Auto is Available on ebay

It is listed as Buy It Now.  The cost is $13 including shipping.  I know that someone mentioned that they were looking for this card. 

Wilkens Kellogg's Auto


If I could only get the ones I need that cheap - Aaron especially.

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Kellogg's Venezuelan Cards - MLB Players - #3

Back to check out more of the players from the 2007 Kellogg's Venezuelan set.  A few of these could be wrong since birthdays didn't match exactly but the card mentioned the teams that I found on baseball-reference.com.


19 - Jose Alguacil / Wilmer Montoya
Alguacil - 9 seasons; didn't make it to the majors
Montoya - 4 seasons; didn't make it to the majors

20 - Alexis Infante / William Martinez
Infante - he played 60 games in 4 years
Martinez - pitched 3 innings in 1 game in 2000

21 - Luis Sojo / Alexander Portillo
Sojo - played 13 years; 848 games
Portillo - 2 seasons; didn't make it to the majors

22 - Robert Perez / Juan Querecuto
Perez - played 221 games in six seasons
Querecuto - a long minor league career from 1990 to 2003

23 - Jose Monzon / Freddy Gonzalez
Monzon - 11 seasons in the minors
Gonzalez - 14 minor league games in 1996

24 - Marlon Roche / Jesus Lugo
Roche - minors only - 1994 to 2003
Lugo - 4 minor league seasons

25 - Clemente Alvarez/ Jesus Mendoza
Alvarez - 1-5 in two games with the Phillies
Mendoza - 2 minor league seasons with the White Sox? b-days don't exactly match

26 - Edgar Ramos / Jose Luiz Ramos
Ramos - 0-2 as a pitcher for the 1997 Phillies
Ramos - 6 minor league seasons

27 - Carlos Hernandez  / Luis Gonzalez
Hernandez - 2 hits in 18 MLB games in 1999 and 2000
Gonzalez - played for Colorado from 2004 to 2006 --- not Arizona


Sunday, October 22, 2017

Kellogg's Venezuelan Cards - MLB Players - #2


I can't believe that the entire week went by without getting a post done.  Hosting a lousy cross country meet ended up taking five days out of my life.  Setup, rain-outs and incorrect results kept me quite busy.  My regular job also kept me going each day.

I don't know most of these guys well since many played from 1994 - 2005 when I boycotted baseball.  I haven't followed baseball as closely since 2005 as I did from the late 1960s until 1994.

Back to the countdown. 

10 - Alex Gonzalez  / Alex Cabrera
Gonzalez - played from 1998 - 2014; he was the Marlins infielder in the 2003 NLCS, not the Cub
Cabrera - one season with Arizona; five homers

11 - Roberto Petagine / Gabriel Luckert
Petagine - seven MLB seasons and 10 homers
Luckert - played in three different minor league seasons.

12 - Antonio Armas Jr./ Jose Centeno
Armas - Tony Jr.  was 53-65 in 10 years of MLB play.  Dad led the league in HR twice and RBIs once.
Centeno - minors for four years

13 - William Oropeza / Johan Lopez
Oropeza - 10 years in the minors
Lopez - played from 1992 to 2009 without making the majors

14 - Bob Abreu / Miguel Nieves
Abreu - that's Bobby; 288 homers in 18 years
Nieves - not found on baseball-reference.com

15 - Eduardo Perez / Wlfredo Romero
Perez - MLB player known as Eddie (Eduardo is a different guy); played 11 years
Romero - he doesn't match the two players listed on baseball-reference.com - based on birthday

16 - Edgar Naveda / Dan Urbina
Naveda - 11 years without making the majors
Urbina - 3 years in the minors

17 - Giovanni Carrara / Jesus Hernandez
Carrara - pitched 10 year; over 300 games; 29 wins
Hernandez - lots of minor league players by this name; I didn't match him; card says he played for Caracas.

18 - Miguel Cairo / Carlos Valderrama
Cairo - 17 years; lots of teams; over 1,000 hits. 
Valderrama - he was 1-7 for the Giants in 2003.  He played nine years in the minors.


Sunday, October 15, 2017

2007 Kellogg's Venezuelan Cards - MLB Players?

The cards mention teams that these guys were on up to 2006.  I checked to see what teams these guys played for.  I'll also add anything else of note.

Card #  /  Player on Front  /  Player on Back

02 - Gus Polidor / Angel Vargas
Polidor - 1985 - 90, 1993 - Cal. Mil, Fla. -- 229 games; 459 ABs
Vargas - minors only

03 - Andres Galarraga / Marlon Nava
Galarraga - 19 years; 399 homers - 7 teams; MVP votes in 7 seasons
Nava - the card mentioned the Twins but I don't see anything on baseball-reference.com

04 - Omar Vizquel / Carlos Tovar Trillo
Vizquel - 24 years!  2,877 hits; 11 Gold Gloves
Trillo - Toronto is mentioned on the back but I don't see anything on baseball-reference.com

05 - Carlos Hernandez / Fernando Lunar
Hernandez - three MLB players had this name; he played 10 years - 488 games, mainly at Catcher
Lunar - played 97 games in three seasons with Atl. and Balt. - all at Catcher

06 - Urbano Lugo / Jesus Azuaje
Lugo - pitched for six years; 6-7 W-L record
Azuaje - listed as Cleve.; he played in the minors for a long time

07 - Henry Blanco / Jesus Marquez
Blanco - I didn't realize that he played 16 MLB seasons.  He wore 12 different numbers on 11 teams.
Marquez - listed as Seattle; he played in the minors

08 - Roger Cedeno / Omar Sanchez
Cedeno - played exactly 1100 games in 11 years with five teams.
Sanchez - Toronto is listed on the card but I didn't find stats for him

09 - Dilson Torres / Hector Ortega
Torres - played 5 games with the 1995 Royals winning 1 game and losing 2.
Ortega - played for a while in the minors

I didn't watch baseball for a long time after the 1994 baseball strike so some of these guys I missed.  I also didn't buy any new cards so I don't remember their names from collecting. 

More next time.

Saturday, October 14, 2017

2007 Kellogg's Venezuelan Baseball Card Checklist

Since I don't see this anywhere I guess I will list the cards in the 2007 Kellogg's Venezuelan Baseball Card Set.  There are 45 cards, but each card depicts one player on the front and another player on the back.

Card #  /  Player on Front  /  Player on Back

01 - Header Card
02 - Gus Polidor / Angel Vargas
03 - Andres Galarraga / Marlon Nava
04 - Omar Vizquel / Carlos Tovar Trillo
05 - Carlos Hernandez / Fernando Lunar
06 - Urbano Lugo / Jesus Azuaje
07 - Henry Blanco / Jesus Marquez
08 - Roger Cedeno / Omar Sanchez
09 - Dilson Torres / Hector Ortega
10 - Alex Gonzalez  / Alex Cabrera
11 - Roberto Petagine / Gabriel Luckert
12 - Antonio Armas Jr./ Jose Centeno
13 - William Oropeza / Johan Lopez
14 - Bob Abreu / Miguel Nieves
15 - Eduardo Perez / Wlfredo Romero
16 - Edgar Naveda / Dan Urbina
17 - Giovanni Carrara / Jesus Hernandez
18 - Miguel Cairo / Carlos Valderrama
19 - Jose Alguacil / Wilmer Montoya
20 - Alexis Infante / William Martinez
21 - Luis Sojo / Alexander Portillo
22 - Robert Perez / Juan Querecuto
23 - Jose Monzon / Freddy Gonzalez
24 - Marlon Roche / Jesus Lugo
25 - Clemente Alvarez/ Jesus Mendoza
26 - Edgar Ramos / Jose Luiz Ramos
27 - Carlos Hernandez  / Luis Gonzalez
28 - Eddy Diaz / Marcos Manrique
29 - Melvin Mora / Ifrain Linares
30 - Melchor Pacheco / Leonaldo Olivero
31 - Oscar Henriquez / Jean Morillo
32 - Juan Fco. Castillo / Pedro Belmonte
33 - Jose Fco. Malave / Hector Ugueto
34 - Alejandro Freire / Luis Colmenares
35 - Jorge Velandia / Andres Espinoza
36 - Edgar Caceres / Carlos Alvarez
37 - Omar Malave / Carlos Moreno
38 - Kelvin Escobar / David Davalillo
39 - Jackson Melian / Ronald Caridad
40 - Pedro Castellano / Daniel Agli
41 - Edwin Hurtado /  Igor Oropeza
42 - Tomas Perez / Jairo Ramos
43 - Oswaldo Olivares / Cesar Vargas
44 - Carlos Lopez / Temis Liendo
45 - Checklist

I will check to see how many of these guys played in the majors.   I recognize some of the names.

Fco. was listed as a name on two cards.  That is short for Francisco.  I guess it didn't fit but they needed it as part of his name?

Friday, October 13, 2017

Anyone Want to Trade for These?

I recently picked up a second 2007 Kellogg's Venezuelan baseball card set.  There are 45 cards in the set.  I'm willing to trade them for those of you who are type collectors, team set collectors or player collectors.

Can I help anyone?  Any interest?


Wednesday, October 11, 2017

1975 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs #37 - 39

Back for a few more 1975 Kellogg's baseball card backs.

#39 - Lou Brock

There isn't much room to say stuff on the card back since he broke into the majors in 1961...with the Cubs.  Ouch.  I'm glad I'm too young to remember that.

The card does mention that he stole a record 118 bases in 1974.  It also suggests that he is now a lock for enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.  It's hard to argue with that.

Not on the card - he already had 2,388 career hits on his way to 3,023 and 938 steals.  Either of those two stats would probably have been enough to get him to Cooperstown.


#38 - Dwight Evans

He's already cemented in right field for the Red Sox after a strong full season, his first.

Not on the card - he played 19 seasons with Boston and his final season with Baltimore.

He was MVP of the International League in 1972.

Not on the card - when I was younger I would confuse Dewey with Darrell Evans.  Dwight had a great career with 2,446 hits and 85 homers.  Darrell had 2,243 hits and 414 homers.  I didn't know that Darrell was drafted by the Cubs.


#37 - Garry Maddox

Lingering injuries to his back and legs slowed him in 1974.

Not on the card - lots of NL players had issues with the type of Astroturf used on field in the 1960s and 1970s.  It seemed to be closer to cement than grass.

He was out of baseball in 1969 and 1970.  Why?  He was in the military serving in Viet Nam for some of that time

Not on the card - in English, Vietnam is usually listed as being one word.  Two words ("Viet Nam) was once more common - maybe in 1974 when this bio was written?  The two-word country name is still used by the United Nations and the Vietnamese government.  I'm not going to try to figure out if the word "Vietnamese" should be two words. 

During the off-season he does speaking engagements for the Giants and the San Fran Convention and Visitors Bureau. 

Not on the card - I wonder how that worked out since he was traded in May of 1975 to the Phillies for Willie Montanez.




Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Maybe I Shouldn't Be Checking the Tracking of My Purchase

I bought something recently that I've been waiting to see on my doorstep.  I decided to check the tracking and I found a few interesting comments.

Uncontrollable Clearance Delay

Uncontrollable Clearance Delay

Two days in a row in two different places.  

Has anyone seen that before?  Are there rain delays with shipping like the one today in Chicago?

Monday, October 9, 2017

Pictures of the Corn Flakes Box

Here are the pictures that I've been trying to load.  Maybe I've got this back on track?  We'll see if these pictures are imported properly.





Yeah, I don't like the quality of these from phone.  I will try going back to using the ipad, which doesn't consistently interact with my PC.

I do like seeing these pictures even if they are not great.  Does anyone ever see these boxes unopened?

I just noticed that I hadn't posted in five days.  I think that's the longest I've gone since I started this blog.  I'm not giving up, it is just a busy time with lots of school stuff - teacher conferences at three schools, hosting cross country meets, visiting colleges and actually going to work.  One more busy week and I hope to be back in business.

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Gratis Una Carta De Pelota De..............

Roberto Clemente


Dentro De Esta Caja!


Should I open it?

Should I get a picture uploaded?  Si!

Monday, October 2, 2017

1975 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs #40 - 42

Still no pictures!  Sorry, but I will tell the entire story about the back of the cards.

#42 - Dick Allen

I was surprised to learn that he was only 5-11.  He seemed huge out on the field. 

"Even Richie's famed independent attitude didn't deter him from again leading the American League in home runs last year".  I couldn't have phrased it any better.

Not on the card - they don't say these things on baseball cards anymore. 

"AL pitchers hoped his December '74 move to Atlanta would be permanent".

Not on the card - he never played for Atlanta, who traded him to Philadelphia in May of 1974.  He did play for Oakland in the AL in 1977.


#41 - Steve Braun


Steve Braun 3d?  I guess that he's Steve Braun III. 

He's an outfielder after starting his career at 2B, 3B and SS.  Lots of space on the card back details his minor league stops.

Uncle Sam called in September of 1967 and Braun served two years in the military. 



#40 - Ken Singleton


6-4.  Unlike Allen, I don't remember him as being taller than others. 

He was an "all-round" athlete at Hofstra.  When promoted to the Mets in June of 1970 he had a minor league average of .388. 

He replaced Rusty Staub when traded to Montreal.  His late 1974 trade to Baltimore is mentioned on the card back.  He was traded on 12-04-74, a day after Dick Allen was traded.  I guess Kellogg's finished making changes to their first print run at this point since Catfish Hunter's signing with the Yankees on 12-31-74 isn't mentioned until a later print run.



Sunday, October 1, 2017

1975 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs #43 - 45

Back for three more cards from 1975.  Hardly any of mine have nice bright colors.

#45 - Gaylord Perry


He's still one of baseball's best pitchers even at the ripe old age of 36. 

Not on the card - he played until he was 45 years old, winning 116 more games.

His career ERA is among the lowest for pitchers with at least 3,000 innings.  His ERA was 2.85 after the 1974 season. 

Not on the card - he ended up pitching 5,350 innings with an ERA of 3.11.  He stands sixth all time in innings pitched. 


#44 - Catfish Hunter


I've seen lots of this card with nice coloring.  It looks great when you see a nice one of these. 

The 1974 AL ERA leader and winner of 20 games for the fourth straight season, Hunter won the Cy Young Award. 

Not on the card - he had been second and fourth in the Cy Young voting during the previous two seasons. 

He is one of the best control pitchers in baseball. 

Not on the card - he is 50th for career walks plus hits per nine innings.

Original version of this card - the A's won their third straight World Series title.

Second version of this card - "The Yankees hooked Hunter with a reported record-breaking multi-million dollar five-year package after he was declared a free agent."   

How did they manage to get three hyphenated words into one sentence? Is that a record? 

Not on the card - he signed with the Yankees on 12-31-74 so this information is fairly new and there was no daily cable news to report salaries immediately. 


#43 - Johnny Grubb


Hobbies - Golf, Guitar, Collecting Baseball Cards.  That's great to see. 

Not on the card - he played until 1987 so there were certainly plenty of chances for him to get lots of his 1980s cards. 

Lots of text on this card because he's only had three seasons in the majors up to this point.  The paragraph even calls him the "bespectacled outfielder".  Did kids know what that meant in 1975?  How about today?

A natural right-handed hitter, he learned to switch-hit to mimic his idol, Mickey Mantle.  Darn, only two hyphens.  The next sentence reminds the 10-year-old kids reading this card that Grubb doesn't have Mantle's power.

Not on the card - Mantle hit 536 homers in 2,401 games and Grubb hit 99 in 1,424 games. 

There's a lot more.  "John, who collects baseball cards such as this one, ...". 

Not on the card -  Now they've given kids two chances to find that information on the back of the card.  That's information that kids of 1975 want to know.   Not that he made the All-Tournament team in 1970 somewhere. 






Saturday, September 30, 2017

1975 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs - #46 - 48

Time to check out three more 1975 Kellogg's baseball card backs.

#48 - Dave Cash


In his first full season, 1974, he recorded 206 hits.  

Not on the card - why didn't Pittsburgh get him a full season during his five years there?  He was traded to the Phillies for Ken Brett after the 1973 season.  

He was a top basketball prospect as a high school athlete in Utica, New York.  Most of his minor league seasons were interrupted by time in the Marine Reserves.  


#47 - Sparky Lyle


It is mentioned that all of his 436 pitching appearances have come in relief.  He had a stellar ERA of 1.66 in 1974.  

Not on the card - he ended his career with 899 games, none of which he started.  

His 15 saves from 1974 are mentioned in the text since they are not listed on the stats lines.  

Not on the card - he had more than 15 saves seven times in a season including a career-high 35 in 1972.  


#46 - George Hendrick


I didn't remember at all that he got to the majors with Oakland.  Injuries slowed the end of his 1973 and 1974 seasons.

He "refrained from playing baseball while attending high school in Los Angeles" and "he had some problems with Indians management" in 1974.  It is expected that those problems will disappear now that Frank Robinson has been named manager.  

None of that sounds like good news.  





Thursday, September 28, 2017

1975 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs - #49 - 51

Back for three more.  I'm not working on pictures until at least after coaching on Saturday.


#51 - Carl Yastrzemski

There isn't much room on the card back since every year of stats is shown.  Yaz isn't letting age slow him down.  In 1974 he led the Red Sox in batting, RBIs, doubles and run.  

Not on the card - Yaz played until 1983, surpassing 100 RBIs twice more.  He led the team in RBIs in 1976 with 102.  I would have thought that Jim Rice or someone else would have led the team.

#50 - Cesar Geronimo

The Reds expect big things from him in 1975 after an injury slowed him in past seasons.  

Not on the card - like Yaz, Geronimo played until 1983.  His stats in 1975 and beyond didn't seem to change much from previous years.


#49 - Luis Tiant

I didn't know that Tiant was released by the Twins in 1971.  Kellogg's said that the Twins thought that his bad back was a chronic condition.  He won 58 games for Boston in the last 3 1/2 years including at least 20 during 1973 and 1974. 

Not on the card - Tiant ruined my 1983 theme by playing his last game in 1982.

Not on the card - he finished in the top six in the Cy Young voting in 1972, 1974 and 1976.  He received MVP votes in all three seasons.

Not on the card - he won 147 games after being released by Minnesota.



Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Still Having Issues with Pictures for the 1975 Kellogg's Card Backs - #52 - 54

The look at 1975 Kellogg's baseball is being delayed by my problems with getting pictures.  Ugh!  Maybe I'm also less motivated because I really dislike the 1975 set? 


#54 - Reggie Jackson


The card mentions that Reggie finished second in the AL in homers to "Rich Allen".  I don't remember him being called Rich Allen much. 

Among the things that make Jackson one of best players - power hitting, stolen bases, RBIs and great outfield play. 

Not on the card - he stole 226 bases in 21 seasons.  Only 40 of those steals came in his last 10 years. 


#53 - Hal McRae


McRae was "never really satisfied with his assignments in Cincinnati".  What does that mean?  Maybe he just wanted to be a DH. 

He finished third in batting average to Rod Carew and Jorge Orta. 

He was signed as a shortstop. 

Not on the card - he played no games at shortstop even though he played in 1,837 career games.  He played a few games at 2B and 3B, but most of those games were played in the outfield or as a DH.  In fact he played the field in only 17 games in his last 10 years.  In his last five years he didn't ever play in the field.


#52 - Ken Brett


He was born in Brooklyn.  Brother George was born in West Virginia. 

He has nine career homers including homering in a record four consecutive starts.  He batted .310 in 1974 to lead all NL pitchers.

Not on the card - he hit .262 for his career.  He was mostly a relief pitcher so he didn't bat much.  In two seasons as a starter he had 15 and 16 RBIs.

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Nice Card Gallery For Whatever You Collect


http://www.footballcardgallery.com/set/1970_Kelloggs/

I like this site even if it is trying to sell cards.  It not only shows a picture of the card, it includes the card number, player name, position, college attended, honors won and other notes.

I also like their set descriptions.  I was surprised to find their note that only five players appeared in both the 1970 and 1971 Kellogg's football card sets.


Saturday, September 23, 2017

PSA Details on 1975 Kellogg's Cards # 55 - 57

I think that the Ken Brett card that I've shown previously might be the only 1975 PSA card I have from Kellogg's.  Wait, I might have a few proof cards too.  I don't really track the few PSA cards I have so I'm not sure.  Maybe I have 15 proof cards and 15 other PSA-graded cards.

#57 Richie Hebner -- the last card in the set

number of cards graded by PSA - 51
10s - 3
09s - 10
08s - 17
07s- - 11
4-6 - 10

#57 Mike Schmidt

number of cards graded by PSA - 122
10s - 8
09s - 29
08s - 54
07s- - 14
4-6 - 17

#55 Rollie Fingers

number of cards graded by PSA - 55
10s - 9
09s - 15
08s - 17
07s- - 7
4-6 - 7

Even though people bought factory sets in 1975, the last card still got some abuse - Only three Hebners graded as 10s.

Thursday, September 21, 2017

I Finally Have Pictures - and 1975 Kellogg's Card Backs - #55 - 57

I've got a PC working now and I can easily move pictures from my iPad to the PC.  Back to work on some Kellogg's card backs.  It's time to start looking at the 1975 Kellogg's baseball card backs.


 #57 - Richie Hebner



I like the drawings of the players that appear on the top left of the card.  They included the birthday, which I always liked to see.  

His stats weren't all better, but he fared better than most NL third basemen.  

He chose baseball over his hometown Boston Bruins after being a high school all-american in hockey.  He has worked in Pittsburgh as a skating instructor in the off-seasons.

Not on the card - no mention of his nickname "Grave Digger".  




#56 - Mike Schmidt



He led the league with 36 homers.  Yes, youngsters that was close to leading the league for a number of years.  Not a big deal to hit 36 homers in 2017.  10 guys have already done that this season and a total of 30 guys have hit at least 30 homers with a week and a half remaining in the season. 

He became the first Phillie since Cliff Cravath in 1915 to lead the majors in homers.  It was odd for me to see this card and find a name that I didn't know.  Cliff Cravath isn't a familiar name to fans but i recognize the name Gavvy Cravath, probably from some of those Strat-o-matic games.  

Cravath led the league in homers five times with his highest total being 24.  

Not on the card - Schmidt led the NL in homers eight times.  




#55 Rollie Fingers



Fingers won the World Series MVP in 1974.  His "elegantly twirled" mustache seemed to be as well-known as his success on the mound.

His career W-L record at this point was 44-44.

Not on the card - he ended up 114-118 with 341 career saves.  He started 37 games early in his career, but none after 1973.  He played until 1985.