It was 10 years ago this week.......

dude

.......that the National came to Houston, Texas at the George R. Brown Convention Center. (Or at least as best as I can recall that is was sometime in early August 1994).

Sadly for Houston, this event occurred during the 1994 Baseball Strike and needless to say, the sportscard market was soft and many dealers vowed never to have a National in Houston ever again as a result.

Here are a few pictures I took at the show. First of all, who is this guy?





One of most intriging items I can across was Jackie Robinson's hat that he wore in his early years with the Brooklyn Dodgers that was for sale by Lelands. What made this cap so special is that it was custom made and had a specially made steel plate installed in the front part of the cap. This was before batting helmets and the purpose was of course to prevent him from getting beaned by a bigoted opposing pitcher. The cap came with a letter of authenticity from Robinson's wife. They wanted $12,000 for it and I seriously considered scraping the money together to buy it since it seemed like an item that should have been in Coopertown. Looking back it now, I wish I would have. I'm sure it would go for mucho dinero these days.





This was another interesting sighting. She was selling Marilyn Monroe trading cards.

Basilone

Why is Charles Nelson Reilly holding Robinson's cap?

xbaggypants

Was Mr.Mint signing the cards in front of him???

dude

Was Mr.Mint signing the cards in front of him???

I can't recall, but it looks like it, doesn't it?

mikeschmidt

Silly me assumed helmet were required after Ray Chapman was killed - but it wasn't until the 1970s!

And now: body armor everywhere

wildcat05

nice set

CON40

Funny thing... Minty signed one of those little brochures for me... last year I submitted it to PSA/DNA for Spence to authenticate... I got it back with an attached "assessment" of the autograph that read, "Alan Rosen, Not Authentic."

BugOnTheRug

OK........I'll take a guess.........

Pik #1 - Martha Steward about to autograph her remaining stocks.
Pik #2 - Old man from the 1887 Cin. Reds complete with rock sitting atop his head.
Pik #3 - Mr. Mint in his evening attire.

BOTR

purelyPSA

That cap would be worth a TON of money now. Just imagine if that popped up in a Mastro auction.

Mikeschmidt - Maybe the rule wasn't in place until the '70s, but it's been longer than that since anyone hit without one. Wasn't Rizzuto either the last to hit without one, or the man responsible for helmets in the first place? I can't remember which. Of course, maybe I'm thinking of something else entirely. Anyone know?

Stone193

<< <i>First of all, who is this guy? >>


Ben Kingley?



Stone

CON40

The helmet rules were slowly introduced to the point they are at today... I think it was post WWII when the protective inserts for hats were introduced, but I don't think required... the Pirates were the first team to wear helmets full time, starting in '54 I think, but it didn't last too long... most '50s and '60s guys wore protective inserts in their hats and required no more than that for the duration of their careers. The last guy I remember being "grandfathered" with the insert was Red Sox catcher Bob Montgomery who lasted until 1981, I think... the next phase was the helmet cap with no ear flaps which were very poular throughout the '60s and '70s and some guys were grandfathered with those well into the '90s... but after a certain year in the 80s, any new players were required to wear helmets with ear flaps as they all do today.

Hope this helps!

dude

the Pirates were the first team to wear helmets full time,

Yep, that's true and they wore them on the field too. Branch Rickey was their GM at the time and that was his brainchild.

Also, my father told me that when he watch ML baseball as a kid (in the '30's), the fielders left their gloves on the field.

goodriddance189

that was the first and only National i went to. it didn't impress me much. the GRB convention center was just too large to ever make the floors look packed

RepublicaninMass

Hey stone, I know you have all the pictures stockpiled. I could swear there is a picture of that Mr. Mint Card, but caption reads Mr. VG-EX?

Fabfrank

What made this cap so special is that it was custom made and had a specially made steel plate installed in the front part of the cap. This was before batting helmets and the purpose was of course to prevent him from getting beaned by a bigoted opposing pitcher.

Hey Dude, turns out this item (or one very similar to it) has made it to Cooperstown. I saw it 2 years ago??? at the Hall of Fames traveling exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. The description said that the whole cap had an insert. This was due to the fact that beer was sold in bottles and many bigoted fans would throw bottles from the stands when he was on base. Regardless, this was a unique piece of baseball history.

dude

Fabfrank -- Thanks for the cool story. I wonder if it's the same or there was more than one? I sure wish I would have bought it.

Fabfrank

I would bet that there were a few (1/2 dozen???). The major difference I remember is that the cap I saw seemed to have a "glazed" finish over it. I assumed this was done after his playing days to "preserve" the item. Similar to when collectors used to shellack autograph baseballs.

Cubfan

I believe the players left their gloves on the field until at least the late 40's if not early 50's. Its pretty neat to see old game films where the last out is made at first and the first baseman frisbees his glove in foul territory and everyone else in the infield tosses theirs just off the infield grass.

I also remember reading a book by an old timer (maybe Leo Durocher) who noted that in the 20+ years he played, he only remembered seeing a ball hit one of the gloves maybe 5 times. Members of the opposite team could always pull pranks such as leaving their tobacco wad in the other persons glove too.



Keith

Cubfan

I believe the players left their gloves on the field until at least the late 40's if not early 50's. Its pretty neat to see old game films where the last out is made at first and the first baseman frisbees his glove in foul territory and everyone else in the infield tosses theirs just off the infield grass.

I also remember reading a book by an old timer (maybe Leo Durocher) who noted that in the 20+ years he played, he only remembered seeing a ball hit one of the gloves maybe 5 times. Members of the opposite team could always pull pranks such as leaving their tobacco wad in the other persons glove too.



Keith

Scumbi

Did they ever auction off the wood spear that almost decapitated Steve Yeager? He actually made more money from the subsequent neck protector than he did from playing.

S.

Fuzz

Sorry to change the direction here but the three things that I remember most about the convention that year were:
1) That rain storm before the opening on the first day. I've lived in the desert for a while and it had been a while since I had seen on like that. It was in the mid90's when it started, probably rained a couple of inches in a half an hour and was in the mid 90's with a lot of humidity. The only other place I have seen something like that was Thailand.
2) The neighborhood around the convention center. It was awful. I had about twenty five large in cash driving through those places. A rather un-nerving feeling.
3) I got my Len Dawson milk card there. I believe it was a 66 Homoginized milk card. Hadn't seen one since I was a kid.HAven;t ever seen another one. I sold it a few years back when I stopped collecting. Big mistake. Lenny, if your out there, all is forgiven........... come home.
Fuzz

SKINSFAN

I just thought it was cool to see a post started by Dude AND THEN THE LAST POST BY fUZZ.

Tought I WAS SEEING THINGS FOR A SEC AND MY OLD PAL FUZZDUDE HAD REVERESED HIS NAME

dude

Fuzz wrote: "The neighborhood around the convention center. It was awful. I had about twenty five large in cash driving through those places. A rather un-nerving feeling"

Yeah, it sure was a bad area. That's where most of the soup kitchens and public mission housings were for the homeless. It's changed a lot now. Minute Made Park and Toyota Center are both a stones throw away and lot of eateries, shops and upscale high rise apartments have sprung up. If you would have bought some of that property back then and held onto it, you would probably be set for life.

marz

OK, that's Paul Moss before the hair transplant!

Fuzz

Dan,
Where were you 10 years ago with that advice. With the cash I had on me, I could have bought several of those whoe neighborhoods.
Art,
Out of respect for Dan (who I have done business with off and on for probably 15 years -- but I'm sure he doesn't remember it), I left the "Dude" off my moniker to eliminate confusion. He was here first.
Correction:
The Len Dawson card was a 1967 Fairmost Dairies according to the book. Ugly red toned cards.
Fuzz