My Favorite Find in the 1973 Pile

Here is a great card from the 1973 Kellogg's baseball card set.  

I've seen old cards from Topps, Bowman, etc. where someone scratches off the team name or position to accurately reflect any changes.  On this card, all that was cut off was the line of blue stars on the top that look just like the ones on the bottom.

Was someone trying to match the size of some other card or binder?

Did they not see Kline as a star?  If so, why not cut off the stars on the bottom?

Was this the work of a sibling of a collector trying to get revenge?  If so, why did the sibling choose Kline when lots of other stars would have been better revenge?  I think this way since I've got lots of siblings and some wouldn't know any of the players.

I Like 1973s - If You Don't Then Send Them to Me Please

I read lots of negatives about the 1973 Kellogg's baseball card set.  It's 2-D, it wasn't printed by Xograph, the cards are red...

I was sorting through these cards on my day off today.  It is nice not to worry about cards that I put in a top loader now being cracked.

These cards also seem to keep their color well.  That is not always the case with these 3-D cards.

Sure, they do seem more like regular baseball cards than Kellogg's 3-D cards, but that's a nice diversion when I'm organizing the cards.

Since they don't crack, their prices also don't seem to be as high as comparable cards from other years.

So, if you don't like them, I certainly will take them off your hands.  I've decided to make a few extra sets.  I'm missing the usual three (Rose, Ryan, Jackson) and a variety of others (Blyleven, Blass, Brock, Seaver, Gibson, Carew, Kaline, Stargell).

1980 Kellogg's Unopened Packs

I've mentioned before how the 1980 Kellogg's unopened packs are not secured well.  The top pieces can easily separate.  I've got a lot of them that have separated but I keep them as a sealed pack for no real reason.  Here is one of the worst ones.

The wrapper is so loose that one can even notice that the card shifted positions between the two pictures.  I also made sure to show one that had as much Raisin Bran on the card as possible.  The only thing good going on for this card is that the card is Eddie Murray.  I haven't taken the card out yet to check its condition, but that wouldn't be difficult to do.

A few of these cards have fallen out of the wrappers and the color has been great.  I guess that is reason enough to keep these in the wrappers for now.

Is This Collection Still at the Smithsonian?

I found this by accident today. 

Smithsonian Card Collection

This collection was given to the Smithsonian in 1996.  Has anyone ever seen it?  It's great to see that Kellogg's cards were included. 

Standard Catalog of Vintage Football Cards

This is how the Standard Catalog of Vintage Football Cards described the early Kellogg's football card sets.

1970 Kellogg's Set

1971 Kellogg's Set

1982 Kellogg's Set

I don't remember these cards being on the boxes.  I do remember them being displayed in three-card panels near the Raisin Bran.  Does anyone else remember that?

1972 Kellogg's Baseball Card Backs #37 - 38

Since I already covered #39, Cookie Rojas, I've only got two cards to check out today. 

#38 - Mickey Lolich

Before I knew much about Lolich, I figured he must be a great player.  Why?  He had a World Series game seven card in the 1969 Topps set.  Those were some great cards.  

A rare switch-hitting pitcher.  I need to check out his stats on that even though I might have done that before.  He was the 1968 World Series MVP with three hits in three games including a homer.  Maybe three wins, all in complete games, with an ERA of 1.67 helped.

He hit a post-season homer without ever hitting one in his 16-year career.  I think that puts him on  a really short list.  He batted .110 for his career but he managed to get walks in 10% of his plate appearances.  Why didn't they just throw him strikes?

Back to the card.  He led the league in losses in 1970 and then led the league in wins in 1971.  He pitched 376 innings in 1971 which was the highest total in 54 years.  They didn't mention who achieved that mark.

Not on the card - Grove Alexander pitched in 388 innings in 1917.

Finally, something unique.  He wasn't really left-handed but a shoulder injury in a childhood accident forced him to become a lefty.  

#37 - Lee May

Lee May or Lee Maye?  Topps kept me confused as a kid on this one.  Luckily, both played in the NL so I had a chance to figure it out.

Lee May - played from 1965 to 1982.  He started with Cincinnati and then went to Houston before heading to the AL.  

Lee Maye - played from 1959 to 1971.  He spent a lot of time with Milwaukee Braves.  He also played for Houston which didn't help me to figure this out.  He was also a well-known R&B singer?

Lee May is shown as a Red on the front and back, but it is mentioned that he was traded to Houston in the text.  I guess it is more difficult to air brush a 3-D card than a Topps card.  With the technology of the times I'm glad they made no attempt to do that.

He is the brother of Carlos May, who is also featured in this set.

The card mentions that the 1970 World Series was disastrous for the Reds.  They loss two one-run games and two games by a score of 9-3.  May's homer gave the Reds their only win in the five-game series.  

May is no liability in the field.  If he were a good fielder, wouldn't they just say he is a good fielder?  He didn't win any Gold Gloves, but neither did I. 

Why was May traded after so many good seasons?  They were able to move Tony Perez to first base full time and the Astros sent Joe Morgan over to Cincinnati.  They were on their way to becoming the Big Red Machine.  Ugh!

More About the Basketball Cards

I was planning to write about the Kellogg's basketball cards again today if I could find a way.  It became easy to do when I got this item in the mail today. 

These look like they were packaged for a discount store.  Does anyone know where they were sold with this packaging?  According to the packaging, the cards had a value of $7.00 when sold in this format.  The back also mentions that the cards were randomly inserted into Raisin Bran boxes. 

Why was I thinking about basketball?  For the second time this week I decided to spend a few minutes before school shooting around in the gym since the basketball coach was there.  The first day was uneventful, but today was quite different.

Why was today different?  Three of my runners walked through the gym and laughed at me, before even watching me do anything.  I would have been okay with their behavior if they at least waited until I missed 12 shots in a row, but no.  They just chucked and went on their way.  Ouch.