Trading Baseball Cards With Another Baseball Blogger
The best part of being a Baseball Bloggers Alliance member is the chance it offers its members to connect with each other. Over the past several months I have been working my way through the 350+ member blogs, taking a long look at many of them. They all offer something of value, but some resonate with me more than others. Among these is Broken Bats, where baseball and other topics are addressed through poetry by a gifted writer and all-around Montreal Expos guy, Steven Myers. Not too long ago we started to correspond. One email lead to another and we recently completed our first baseball card trade. How cool is that?
I sent my new friend in Canada a nice batch of Expos cards. It included a 1989 Donruss Randy Johnson RATED ROOKIE, a 1991 Topps Stadium Club Andres Galarraga, two 1984 Topps Gary Carters (one for trading with another collector later), a 1990 Bowman Larry Walker, a 1990 Fleer Tim Raines, a 1984 Ted Williams Card Company Steve Rogers and a host of other players ranging from commons to minor stars. I requested cards from the Twins, Giants and Mets in return.
Here are some of the Twins cards I received. I always liked Roy Smalley, who appears below left on his 1980 Topps card. He spent most of his career with the Twins but had a few innings with the Yankees, too. Manager Tom Kelly, shown in the middle, steered the Twins from 1987 through 2001. He was at the helm when the Twinkies won World Series titles in 1987 and 1991. The Pat Neshek card on the right, signed by the pitcher, is a 2009 Allen & Ginter issue. The back listed his career statistics.
Outstanding San Francisco Giants cards, many thirty years old or older, were also included. John Montefusco is a name that will forever resonate with Giants fans. That’s his 1981 Fleer card below on the left. The tall right-hander won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1975. His seven-year long stay in the city by the bay was highlighted by a no-hitter thrown against the Atlanta Braves. He would pitch for the Giants through the 1980 season.
Another right hander, Jim Barr, is shown on his 1976 O Pee Chee card. You don’t see this issue here very often because Topps releases it for the Canadian market. On its back, the card boldly lists his “fiche comme landeur dans les majeures.” In any language, this “complete major league pitching record” looks pretty good, especially that 3.15 ERA. Giants fans were thrilled when Joe Morgan reported for duty with the team in 1981. His 1982 Fleer card appears above right. The ten-time All Star was an integral member of the 1982 team that went 87-75, exciting the fan base in the process.
Here are some of the Mets. On the lower left is Alay Soler, a Cuban pitcher who pitched for the team in 2006. He got roughed up in his eight starts and never pitched in the major leagues again. His Fleer Tradition Rookie Card from the same year is noticeable for its bold colors.
Expressions on baseball cards rarely capture a player’s inner fire the way Ron Darling’s 1990 Upper Deck card, above center, does. He’s now the color commentator on the Mets television broadcasts on Sports New York. Lastings Milledge, shown on the right on his 2006 Topps Rookie Card, brought an expectation of stardom when he arrived at in the major leagues. In addition to the Metropolitans, he’s played for the Nationals, Pirates and White Sox. I still think he can be a very good major league player.
**********************************************************************************************************After I removed the cards and examined them at length, I double checked the mailing envelope and saw there was something else inside. Much to my surprise and delight, Steven had included several baseball related postcards! I now have postcards of stadiums in Japan and Texas. The below postcard captures action from a 1935 boys softball game in Sara D. Roosevelt Park, New York City. This cool shot caught the ball midstream, halfway between the pitcher and the hitter.
So there you have it. I consider this trade a dazzling success. Steven, thank you very much for my outstanding selection of baseball cards, and postcards. I will tuck away any Expos cards that come my way, for what I hope will be another trade down the line. I hope you’re as happy with your haul as I am with mine. Thanks again!
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Here is a post from Steven’s Broken Bats blog that spoke to me:
http://brokenbats.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/learning-a-new-sacres-tongue/
Michael, I share your excitement with our first trade
and look forward to more.
By the way, I think Lastings Millidge is playing in Japan this year,
Hope you have a great week!
I’ll look into your comment about Lastings Milliedge, Steven. I hope he has a good year there and can come back to the states in ’13. Enjoy your week as well.
– Michael/Grubby Glove
I had that 1980 Smalley. I only bought one pack from that year (though I bought it in ’81) and I loved that card because he was an All-Star. I’m pretty sure I still have that card laying around somewhere… it’s in solid VG-Ex condition now, but a prize, nonetheless.
I’m happy to have that card in any condition, Jimmy. I too was happy to see him on an All-Star card; he was hard working and deserving, and it’s cool to have that card now. I always liked Roy Smalley. I saw him play as a Twin in either ’76 or ’77. That night my Mom, Dad, sister Nancy + I saw the Twinkies play the Yankees in the Bronx. I saw him later playing for the Yankees against the A’s in Oakland. That was probably in ’82 or ’83.