This month I made my first ever purchase at Heritage Auctions. I was very pleased with the Paypal option for payment and the very fast shipment. I was able to snag 2 Topps Cardinals autographs that I didn't have. They were both from 1952 Topps.
1952 Topps Eddie Stanky. Mr Stanky passed away June 6, 1999, which, ironically, was our 1st wedding anniversary. Mr Stanky actually contributed to baseball breaking the color barrier. While a member of the Dodgers in 1947, Stanky was silent at first to the harsh treatment of Jackie Robinson. He finally had enough of it and spoke out. Other Dodgers soon followed Stanky's lead in taking up for Jackie Robinson.
1952 Topps Steve Bilko. Mr Bilko passed away in 1978. I was really pleased that this card did not go higher than it did due to him passing away so long ago. Although, he played for the Cardinals from 1949 - 1954, and got traded to the Cubs in 1954, his greatest baseball achievement came in 1956. In 1956, he played for the LA Angels of the Pacific Coast League and won the league's triple crown with a .360 batting mark, 55 HR's, and 164 RBI's. I don't care what league that is in....that is some fantastic year!
I am making a big dent in this set. I now only need one low number, Del Rice (d. 1983), and the four high numbers, Wilmer Mizell (d. 1999), Les Fusselman (d. 1970, ouch!), Eddie Yuhas (d. 1986), and Hal Rice (d. 1997).
I have added another long deceased Cardinals player. I just picked up a 1957 Topps Herm Wehmeier. He passed away in 1973. This card beats out my 1952 Topps Al Brazle for the longest decease player that I have signed. He died of a heart attack at the age of 46.
Just picked up a 1961 Topps Chris Cannizzaro. Mr Cannizzaro passed away in December of 2016 at the age of 78. In 1969, he became the first San Diego Padre selected to play in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
He signed his name and then added "Eph 1:18". Ephesians 1:18 says - "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints"
Being a Sunday School teacher and the Bible being my favorite book, I couldn't resist posting the scripture verse.
I was able to add 4 more recently. Two of these are long deceased.
1959 Topps Gene Green. Mr Green passed away in 1981.
1964 Topps Carl Sawatski. Mr Sawatski passed away in 1991.
1968 Topps Mike Shannon. I quite possibly gave listened to Mike Shannon's voice more than any one voice outside of friends and family. I have heard hundreds of Cardinals games on the radio throughout my 43 years, and most have been broadcast by Mike Shannon.
1990 Topps Tom Pagnozzi. I am a lifelong Cardinals fan, I did not remember Pagnozzi winning 3 gold gloves...but he did. He won in 1991, 1992, and 1994.
This next one is a very tough one. This 1954 Topps Mike Ryba is the longest deceased person I have in my collection. Mr Ryba passed away in 1971. There are only 2 other future possibilities to be longer deceased (1962, 1963, and 1964 Topps Johnny Keane d. 1967 and a 1956 Topps Ellis Kinder d. 1968).
The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) states the following: Ryba was working at his home in Springfield, Missouri, on December 13, 1971, trimming tree limbs, when the footing of the ladder slipped and he grabbed a tree limb, which broke. He fell to the ground, landing on his back, and was fatally injured. He crawled about 40 feet and that is where his wife Thelma found him on her return home from teaching at Hillcrest High School. The coroner in the case was Greene County Sheriff Mickey Owen, who'd been a teammate of Ryba's in Columbus in 1936 and then with the Cardinals in 1937 and 1938.
Next up is a 1954 Topps Steve Bilko. As stated above in the 1952 Topps post, Mr Bilko passed away in 1978. So, that means this is a really tough one. I now only need a Bill Sarni (d. 1983) to complete a 1954 Topps signed team set.
Up next is a tough high number. This 1962 Topps Curt Flood is not only tough because he died in 1997, but it is a high number. So glad to get this one!
collecting RAW Topps baseball cards 1952 Highs to 1972. looking for collector grade (somewhere between psa 4-7 condition). let me know what you have, I'll take it, I want to finish sets, I must have something you can use for trade.
looking for Topps 71-72 hi's-62-53-54-55-59, I have these sets started
So, a few months ago, I switched from Photobucket to Postimage.org since Photo bucket hijacked everybody. I loved Postimage. It was great! Now, they have switched to Postimage.cc....which, of course, messes up every single link to my pictures. It took over 8 hours to change everything a few months ago.
Ok......I am now back up and running. Every picture link had to be edited. It didn't take as long as the last time, but it still took a couple of hours. I had to copy and paste "cc" in the place of "org".
@frankhardy said:
Ok......I am now back up and running. Every picture link had to be edited. It didn't take as long as the last time, but it still took a couple of hours. I had to copy and paste "cc" in the place of "org".
Happy to hear it wasn't as bad as you thought Shane.
I have an old thread that's devoid of pics - plus because it's from the old PSA format - when you go to edit? It looks weird and had to separate the pics from the narrative.
I was thinking of starting the whole thing over since we have so many new members anyway.
Congratulations on the Flood.
If memory serves - he challenged the reserve clause which killed his career?
@frankhardy said:
Ok......I am now back up and running. Every picture link had to be edited. It didn't take as long as the last time, but it still took a couple of hours. I had to copy and paste "cc" in the place of "org".
Happy to hear it wasn't as bad as you thought Shane.
I have an old thread that's devoid of pics - plus because it's from the old PSA format - when you go to edit? It looks weird and had to separate the pics from the narrative.
I was thinking of starting the whole thing over since we have so many new members anyway.
Congratulations on the Flood.
If memory serves - he challenged the reserve clause which killed his career?
Thanks Mike. Which thread was it? Was it the mailday thread?
I recently added this 2002 Topps #719 Albert Pujols PSA/DNA. I already have a regular 2002. I couldn't pass on this one as well since it is in the regular 2002 Topps set.
Next up is a very tough one - a 1956 Topps Ellis Kinder. Mr Kinder passed away in 1968. This card beats out my 1957 Topps Herm Wehmeier for the longest deceased, who passed away in 1973. The only one that I still need that would surpass the Kinder is a 1962 and 1963 Johnny Keane, who passed away in 1967. I'm sure those will be very tough.
According to Wikipedia, Ellis Kinder is one of few pitchers in baseball history who won or saved a combined total of at least 200 games, and who were primarily starters for at least a third of their career.
This raises the total to 1,230.
Edited to say - I replaced this one with a Beckett Authentic one. Posted 8/7/21.
After some good teams in the 40s, the Cards were sure lousy in the 50s. You can tell just by looking through their Topps and Bowman cards. It was a shame they did not turn things around until after Musial retired. They were lousy again in the 70s. Their cards tell the same story. Then good in the 80s again, down in 90s and up in the 2000s, but maybe on downward trend again now.
Hemus was one of the few players for whom Topps was unable to get permission to include in it's 1983 reprint of the 1952 set. For some reason his family would not give the ok.
@bishop said:
After some good teams in the 40s, the Cards were sure lousy in the 50s. You can tell just by looking through their Topps and Bowman cards. It was a shame they did not turn things around until after Musial retired. They were lousy again in the 70s. Their cards tell the same story. Then good in the 80s again, down in 90s and up in the 2000s, but maybe on downward trend again now.
Hemus was one of the few players for whom Topps was unable to get permission to include in it's 1983 reprint of the 1952 set. For some reason his family would not give the ok.
Great ongoing project Shane
Thanks, Al.
I agree with the ups and downs of the Cardinals franchise. I especially agree to right now. I was doing some updating to my team set spreadsheet this morning and I noticed something very interesting. When Pujols was with the Cardinals, there are many Topps League Leaders cards in my team sets. There has not been one single offensive League Leaders card since Pujols left in 2012. They are definitely a mediocre team right now.
Up next is a 1957 Topps Eddie Miksis. Mr Miksis passed away in 2005. Miksis made his MLB debut at the ripe old age of 17. His main claim to fame as a Cub was lending his glove to Ernie Banks in Banks' first-ever major league game.
I recently came across this 1958 Topps Don Blasingame. I did not have this one, so I picked it up. Mr Blasingame died in 2005.
I found this little tidbit on Wikipedia. I thought this was funny! Don Blasingame married the daughter of St. Louis Cardinal teammate Walker Cooper Sara (Miss Missouri 1957), to which Cooper responded, "You know you are getting too old when your daughter marries one of your teammates." Cooper was kidded by old friend George Munger, "The only way that Sara could have ever become Miss Missouri is because she takes after her mom and not you."
Well, this guy is no stranger to the baseball world. I have added this one to my 1972 Topps Signed Cardinals Set. I have every base card completed....now, I am working on league leaders and a multi-player rookie that is hard to come by. This Joe Torre LL card also has Ralph Garr and Glenn Beckert signatures.
I just picked up this 1959 Topps Sal Maglie. Mr Maglie passed away in 1992. In 1956, he was second on the balloting for MLB's first Cy Young Award. He lost out to Don Newcombe. He also was second in MVP votes that year to Newcombe.
Up next is a really tough one! I now have a 1960 Topps Rival All Stars Mickey Mantle / Ken Boyer signed by Mr Boyer. I could only wish it had Mantle on it as well. Mr Boyer passed away in 1982, so this cards is not easy to find signed.
This one is a tough one....a 1953 Topps Harry Peanuts Lowrey. Mr Lowrey passed away in 1986. He set an MLB record with seven consecutive pinch hits in 1952. In 1953 he had 21 pinch hits to fall one shy of the MLB record at the time.
I recently acquired a super tough 1967 Topps Mike Shannon high number signed. This card is tough to find WITHOUT a signature. As a Cardinals fan growing up in the 1980's listening to Cardinals games on WCBL, I have probably heard Mike Shannon's voice more than any human being outside of my family.
I recently added a 1984 Topps Ozzie Smith. This signature is authenticated by JSA and has a sticker on the back. I now only need 3 cards to finish an entire 1984 Topps signed team set.
This 1958 Topps Gene Green does not increase the total because it is a replacement. I got this BGS Authenticated card recently cheap enough to justify replacing my unauthenticated one. He passed away in 1981, so his autographs are kind of hard to come by.
Up next is a couple of a nice ones for Cardinals fans. I have here a 2001 Topps and 2007 Topps Jim Edmonds. This is from the same seller that I have gotten all of my other Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen, and Mark McGwire signed cards. He does private signings with both. I am 2 out of 2 on getting the McGwires authenticated by JSA. Were I to try for the rest of my McGwires, Edmonds, or Rolen cards, I am sure they would pass as well.
Comments
This month I made my first ever purchase at Heritage Auctions. I was very pleased with the Paypal option for payment and the very fast shipment. I was able to snag 2 Topps Cardinals autographs that I didn't have. They were both from 1952 Topps.
1952 Topps Eddie Stanky. Mr Stanky passed away June 6, 1999, which, ironically, was our 1st wedding anniversary. Mr Stanky actually contributed to baseball breaking the color barrier. While a member of the Dodgers in 1947, Stanky was silent at first to the harsh treatment of Jackie Robinson. He finally had enough of it and spoke out. Other Dodgers soon followed Stanky's lead in taking up for Jackie Robinson.
1952 Topps Steve Bilko. Mr Bilko passed away in 1978. I was really pleased that this card did not go higher than it did due to him passing away so long ago. Although, he played for the Cardinals from 1949 - 1954, and got traded to the Cubs in 1954, his greatest baseball achievement came in 1956. In 1956, he played for the LA Angels of the Pacific Coast League and won the league's triple crown with a .360 batting mark, 55 HR's, and 164 RBI's. I don't care what league that is in....that is some fantastic year!
I am making a big dent in this set. I now only need one low number, Del Rice (d. 1983), and the four high numbers, Wilmer Mizell (d. 1999), Les Fusselman (d. 1970, ouch!), Eddie Yuhas (d. 1986), and Hal Rice (d. 1997).
This raises the total to 1,217.
Shane
Nice pick ups, 2 pretty tough ones, bilko more so.
I have added another long deceased Cardinals player. I just picked up a 1957 Topps Herm Wehmeier. He passed away in 1973. This card beats out my 1952 Topps Al Brazle for the longest decease player that I have signed. He died of a heart attack at the age of 46.
This raises the total to 1,218.
Shane
Tough one!
I just added a 1958 Topps Gene Green. Mr Green passed away in 1981 at the young age of 47.
This increases my total to 1,219.
Shane
It would have fun had he signed some cards Green Jeans.
Bowman Baseball -1948-1955
Fleer Baseball-1923, 1959-2007
Al
Lol!
Shane
Just picked up a 1961 Topps Chris Cannizzaro. Mr Cannizzaro passed away in December of 2016 at the age of 78. In 1969, he became the first San Diego Padre selected to play in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
He signed his name and then added "Eph 1:18". Ephesians 1:18 says - "The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints"
Being a Sunday School teacher and the Bible being my favorite book, I couldn't resist posting the scripture verse.
This raises the total to 1,220.
Shane
Like seeing your additions to the collection.
Thanx for the update Shane.
Ya know it's interesting how little Eddie Stanky's sig has changed over the past 5 or so decades. He's been gone since 1999?
I was able to add 4 more recently. Two of these are long deceased.
1959 Topps Gene Green. Mr Green passed away in 1981.
1964 Topps Carl Sawatski. Mr Sawatski passed away in 1991.
1968 Topps Mike Shannon. I quite possibly gave listened to Mike Shannon's voice more than any one voice outside of friends and family. I have heard hundreds of Cardinals games on the radio throughout my 43 years, and most have been broadcast by Mike Shannon.
1990 Topps Tom Pagnozzi. I am a lifelong Cardinals fan, I did not remember Pagnozzi winning 3 gold gloves...but he did. He won in 1991, 1992, and 1994.
This raises the total to 1,224.
Shane
This next one is a very tough one. This 1954 Topps Mike Ryba is the longest deceased person I have in my collection. Mr Ryba passed away in 1971. There are only 2 other future possibilities to be longer deceased (1962, 1963, and 1964 Topps Johnny Keane d. 1967 and a 1956 Topps Ellis Kinder d. 1968).
The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) states the following: Ryba was working at his home in Springfield, Missouri, on December 13, 1971, trimming tree limbs, when the footing of the ladder slipped and he grabbed a tree limb, which broke. He fell to the ground, landing on his back, and was fatally injured. He crawled about 40 feet and that is where his wife Thelma found him on her return home from teaching at Hillcrest High School. The coroner in the case was Greene County Sheriff Mickey Owen, who'd been a teammate of Ryba's in Columbus in 1936 and then with the Cardinals in 1937 and 1938.
I thought that was very sad...but interesting.
This raises the total to 1,225.
Shane
Up next is a 1963 Topps Carl Sawatski. Mr Sawatski passed away in 1991.
This raises the total to 1,226.
Shane
Shane,
You are making such great progress on your set.
Congrats on your pickups.
Donato
Donato's Complete US Type Set ---- Donato's Dansco 7070 Modified Type Set ---- Donato's Basic U.S. Coin Design Set
Successful transactions: Shrub68 (Jim), MWallace (Mike)
Congratulations Shane.
It's been fun to watch your progress over these many moons.
Like the latest additions.
Next up is a 1954 Topps Steve Bilko. As stated above in the 1952 Topps post, Mr Bilko passed away in 1978. So, that means this is a really tough one. I now only need a Bill Sarni (d. 1983) to complete a 1954 Topps signed team set.
This raises the total to 1,127.
Shane
Up next is a tough high number. This 1962 Topps Curt Flood is not only tough because he died in 1997, but it is a high number. So glad to get this one!
This raises the total to 1,228.
Shane
that's a sharp card
collecting RAW Topps baseball cards 1952 Highs to 1972. looking for collector grade (somewhere between psa 4-7 condition). let me know what you have, I'll take it, I want to finish sets, I must have something you can use for trade.
looking for Topps 71-72 hi's-62-53-54-55-59, I have these sets started
THIS...IS...NOT.....GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, a few months ago, I switched from Photobucket to Postimage.org since Photo bucket hijacked everybody. I loved Postimage. It was great! Now, they have switched to Postimage.cc....which, of course, messes up every single link to my pictures. It took over 8 hours to change everything a few months ago.
Shane
Shane, doesn't photo bucket now offer something really sane to allow us to post the pics?
Haven't done anything with it personally. Still have really good old threads sans the scans.
I did not know that about Photobucket. But, even if they did, I would still have to spend 8+ hours copying the links.
Shane
Ok......I am now back up and running. Every picture link had to be edited. It didn't take as long as the last time, but it still took a couple of hours. I had to copy and paste "cc" in the place of "org".
Shane
Happy to hear it wasn't as bad as you thought Shane.
I have an old thread that's devoid of pics - plus because it's from the old PSA format - when you go to edit? It looks weird and had to separate the pics from the narrative.
I was thinking of starting the whole thing over since we have so many new members anyway.
Congratulations on the Flood.
If memory serves - he challenged the reserve clause which killed his career?
Thanks Mike. Which thread was it? Was it the mailday thread?
Shane
No Shane - it was this one: LINK
I recently added this 2002 Topps #719 Albert Pujols PSA/DNA. I already have a regular 2002. I couldn't pass on this one as well since it is in the regular 2002 Topps set.
This raises the total to 1,229.
Shane
I need to get caught up on some of my additions.
Next up is a very tough one - a 1956 Topps Ellis Kinder. Mr Kinder passed away in 1968. This card beats out my 1957 Topps Herm Wehmeier for the longest deceased, who passed away in 1973. The only one that I still need that would surpass the Kinder is a 1962 and 1963 Johnny Keane, who passed away in 1967. I'm sure those will be very tough.
According to Wikipedia, Ellis Kinder is one of few pitchers in baseball history who won or saved a combined total of at least 200 games, and who were primarily starters for at least a third of their career.
This raises the total to 1,230.
Edited to say - I replaced this one with a Beckett Authentic one. Posted 8/7/21.
Shane
After some good teams in the 40s, the Cards were sure lousy in the 50s. You can tell just by looking through their Topps and Bowman cards. It was a shame they did not turn things around until after Musial retired. They were lousy again in the 70s. Their cards tell the same story. Then good in the 80s again, down in 90s and up in the 2000s, but maybe on downward trend again now.
Hemus was one of the few players for whom Topps was unable to get permission to include in it's 1983 reprint of the 1952 set. For some reason his family would not give the ok.
Great ongoing project Shane
Bowman Baseball -1948-1955
Fleer Baseball-1923, 1959-2007
Al
Thanks, Al.
I agree with the ups and downs of the Cardinals franchise. I especially agree to right now. I was doing some updating to my team set spreadsheet this morning and I noticed something very interesting. When Pujols was with the Cardinals, there are many Topps League Leaders cards in my team sets. There has not been one single offensive League Leaders card since Pujols left in 2012. They are definitely a mediocre team right now.
Shane
Up next is a 1957 Topps Eddie Miksis. Mr Miksis passed away in 2005. Miksis made his MLB debut at the ripe old age of 17. His main claim to fame as a Cub was lending his glove to Ernie Banks in Banks' first-ever major league game.
This increases the total to 1,231.
Shane
1231 - wow!
Was Miksis tough to find? Don't recognize the name at all.
I've enjoyed watching you add autos Shane.
I can't say for sure if he was tough. I don't think he is particularly tough. He passed away in 2005, but ran across this one recently.
Shane
I recently came across this 1958 Topps Don Blasingame. I did not have this one, so I picked it up. Mr Blasingame died in 2005.
I found this little tidbit on Wikipedia. I thought this was funny! Don Blasingame married the daughter of St. Louis Cardinal teammate Walker Cooper Sara (Miss Missouri 1957), to which Cooper responded, "You know you are getting too old when your daughter marries one of your teammates." Cooper was kidded by old friend George Munger, "The only way that Sara could have ever become Miss Missouri is because she takes after her mom and not you."
This increases the total to 1,232.
Shane
Well, this guy is no stranger to the baseball world. I have added this one to my 1972 Topps Signed Cardinals Set. I have every base card completed....now, I am working on league leaders and a multi-player rookie that is hard to come by. This Joe Torre LL card also has Ralph Garr and Glenn Beckert signatures.
This raises the total to 1,233.
Shane
I also added a 1970 Topps Joe Torre recently.
This increases the total to 1,234.
Shane
Nice collection.
I collect hall of fame rookie cards, https://www.instagram.com/stwainfan/
+1
http://www.unisquare.com/store/brick/
Ralph
I just picked up this 1959 Topps Sal Maglie. Mr Maglie passed away in 1992. In 1956, he was second on the balloting for MLB's first Cy Young Award. He lost out to Don Newcombe. He also was second in MVP votes that year to Newcombe.
This increases the total to 1,235.
Shane
Up next is a really tough one! I now have a 1960 Topps Rival All Stars Mickey Mantle / Ken Boyer signed by Mr Boyer. I could only wish it had Mantle on it as well. Mr Boyer passed away in 1982, so this cards is not easy to find signed.
This increases the total to 1,236.
Shane
This one is a tough one....a 1953 Topps Harry Peanuts Lowrey. Mr Lowrey passed away in 1986. He set an MLB record with seven consecutive pinch hits in 1952. In 1953 he had 21 pinch hits to fall one shy of the MLB record at the time.
This raises the total to 1,237.
Shane
Cool card Shane.
I like how he signed it P-nuts.
I recently acquired a super tough 1967 Topps Mike Shannon high number signed. This card is tough to find WITHOUT a signature. As a Cardinals fan growing up in the 1980's listening to Cardinals games on WCBL, I have probably heard Mike Shannon's voice more than any human being outside of my family.
This increases the total to 1,238.
Shane
I recently added a 1981 Topps Leon Durham. Being a Cardinals fan starting in 1982, I did not realize that Durham was traded for Bruce Sutter.
This increases the total to 1,239.
Shane
Very nice Shane.
Always like seeing you adding - especially - a "tough" auto.
Good show buddy.
Thanks, Mike!
I recently added a 1984 Topps Ozzie Smith. This signature is authenticated by JSA and has a sticker on the back. I now only need 3 cards to finish an entire 1984 Topps signed team set.
This increases the total to 1,240.
Shane
Up next is a 1957 Topps Ken Boyer. As stated before, Mr Boyer passed away in 1982. His signed cards are always in high demand and they are not cheap.
This increases the total to 1,241.
Shane
Wow that's really nice Shane.
From NY, I kind of identified him with the Mets.
This 1958 Topps Gene Green does not increase the total because it is a replacement. I got this BGS Authenticated card recently cheap enough to justify replacing my unauthenticated one. He passed away in 1981, so his autographs are kind of hard to come by.
The total remains at 1,241.
Shane
Up next is a couple of a nice ones for Cardinals fans. I have here a 2001 Topps and 2007 Topps Jim Edmonds. This is from the same seller that I have gotten all of my other Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen, and Mark McGwire signed cards. He does private signings with both. I am 2 out of 2 on getting the McGwires authenticated by JSA. Were I to try for the rest of my McGwires, Edmonds, or Rolen cards, I am sure they would pass as well.
This raises the total to 1,243.
Shane