This card comes from the 2004 Donruss Playoff Honors subset titled ‘Prime Signatures’. Serial numbered 2452/2500, I have to imagine that there was a shorter print run of cards actually featuring Andre’s beautiful autograph.
This card design is perfect and works very well with the Montreal Expos color scheme. Donruss did a great job of using the team’s colors to add life to the card.
Something tells me that Andre’s signature in Blue Sharpie would be the perfect final touch for this one!!!
Pitcher Randy Johnson holds the lifetime record for average number of strikeouts per nine innings with 10.8.
**factoid courtesy of ‘Armchair Reader – Grand Slam Baseball’
My take – This book was printed in 2007 so I verified that Johnson is still the leader but his average has dropped to 10.6 since the book was published. Amazingly, second place is owned by Kerry Wood(yep, that Kerry Wood) with a 10.4 average.
Posted in Did You Know....
Tagged 2001 world series, 300 wins, 5000 strikeouts, all-star, arizona diamondbacks, astros, baseball, baseball cards, baseball history, baseball trivia, big unit, countdown to 300 wins, cy young, cy young award, diamondbacks, Did You Know...., Expos, giants, houston astros, mariners, montreal expos, new york yankees, no hitter, perfect game, randy johnson, san francisco giants, seattle mariners, sports trivia, the big unit, world series, world series MVP, yankees
1988 Score’s Salute To Reggie Jackson – The Complete Set!!
This is one heck of a subset and 1 that I am happy to have pieced together.
Reggie had an amazing, incomparable baseball career and is certainly worthy of being honored by Score with this amazing tribute!!
A true baseball icon worthy of all of the praise he received during and after his playing days, Reggie Jackson will always be remembered as much for his personality as his ability to launch home runs deep into the night!!!
And then there are his 4 World Series Championship rings – that doesn’t hurt either!!
Posted in Reggie Jackson - Mr. October, Stars from the 80's
Tagged 500 home run club, 500 home runs, 500 HR, 500 HR club, 500 hrs, A’s, all-star, angels, Athletics, baseball cards, california angels, collection, Hall Of Fame, HOF, mustache, new york yankees, oakland A’s, Oakland Athletics, reggie jackson, Reggie Jackson – Mr. October, world series, world series MVP, yankees
Obviously the person who stated that ‘Size Doesn’t Matter’ was not an autographed baseball collector!!!
My collection has grown to 15 signed baseballs now and as the quantity increases, the quality continues to soar as well.
I still have a few tricks up my sleeve in obtaining more, but for now I am very pleased with how this has turned out. Collecting these baseballs has been a ton of fun, and I look forward to adding a few more quality pieces during this off-season.
A breakdown:
Billy Williams, Andre Dawson w/89 NL MVP inscription, Fergie Jenkins w/HOF 91 inscription, Tim Raines w/#30, Mark Grace, Pete Rose w/#4256 inscription, Jim Palmer personalized w/1973,74,76 CY and HOF 90 inscription, Jim Abbott w/9/4/93 No Hitter! inscription, Ron Santo, Lee Smith w/478 saves inscription, Ryne Sandberg, Cameron Maybin w/#24, Jeff Conine, Tony Perez, and Dan Uggla w/#6.
If you like this, just wait. I am hoping to add some great stuff in the coming months!!
Posted in Andre Dawson Collection, Autographs, Billy Williams Collection, Chicago Cubs, Fergie Jenkins Collection, Jim Palmer Collection, Ron Santo Collection, Stars from the 80's, Tim Raines Collection
Tagged Andre Dawson, authentic, autograph collecting, autograph hunting, autographed baseball collection, autographed baseballs, Autographs, autographs through the mail, baseball, baseball cards, Billy Williams, cameron maybin, collection, Dan Uggla, Fergie Jenkins, hobby, jeff conine, jim abbott, jim palmer, lee smith, mark grace, pete rose, Ron Santo, ryne sandberg, sports autographs, tim raines, tony perez, TTM, ttm autographs, ttm success
Another game down, and another round of great starting pitching!! The Yankees emerged victorious as they evened up the series 1-1 and made this championship match-up a best of 5 games series.
Both AJ Burnett and Pedro Martinez were on their game. Continuing the trend established in Game 1, both starting pitchers looked great but this time it was a few timely hits that helped the Yankees squeak by the Phillies…
AJ Burnett pitched the best game of his post-season career as he went 7 innings, allowing just 4 hits while striking out 9 batters. Pedro Martinez was equally effective going 6 innings and allowing 6 hits and striking out 8. The big difference was the long ball. 2 of the 6 hits Pedro allowed were solo home runs. Mark Teixeira connected for the first shot and then Hideki Matsui hit the go-ahead homer to give the Yankees a lead that they would not relinquish.
2 games down, and 2 classic pitching match-ups are in the books. We’ll see what happens Saturday night when Andy Pettitte and Cole Hamels take the mound.
Something tells me that round three may be just as good!!!
Posted in Random Baseball Thoughts
Tagged 2009 baseball season, 2009 world series, A-Rod, AJ Burnett, alex rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, baseball, baseball cards, brad lidge, bronx bombers, C.C. Sabathia, chase utley, cliff lee, cole hamels, derek jeter, hideki matsui, jamie moyer, jason werth, jimmy rollins, joba chamberlain, jorge posada, mark teixeira, new york yankees, pedro martinez, philadelphia phillies, phillies, ryan howard, shane victorino, world series, yankee stadium, yankees
1983 Fleer Eddie Murray
Ewww, ’83 Fleer!!!
But wait a minute, this card doesn’t look too bad. In fact, it’s actually pretty nice!!! I cannot believe that I am saying this, but I like this card. I don’t think that the worst border color in baseball card history works well for most teams and their corresponding colors, but for this Orioles card it’s not bad at all. The muted tone allows for the Orioles’ Orange to jump off of the card.
Eddie had a monster year in 1983. He was an All-star, Gold Glove winner, Silver Slugger winner, and finished second in the MVP race. During the season, he compiled a .306 batting average while collecting 178 hits. Among his many impressive numbers are his 30 doubles, 30 home runs, 115 runs scored, 110 RBI, and just 90 strikeouts in 680 plate appearances.
1988 Score’s Salute To Reggie Jackson – Card #5
Ah, the circle of life is completed. The 5th and final card of this subset brings us back to where it all started and ended, Oakland. Reggie debuted with the A’s in 1968 and finished his amazing career there in 1987.
At the age of 41, Reggie was still able to produce solid numbers as he played in 115 games during his final year. While his batting average was a pretty low .220, he still managed to thrill fans as he smacked 15 home runs and collected 43 RBI. And just to prove that he still had his wheels, Reggie stole 2 bases in his final season too.
Posted in Reggie Jackson - Mr. October, Stars from the 80's
Tagged 500 home run club, 500 home runs, 500 HR, 500 HR club, 500 hrs, A’s, all-star, angels, Athletics, baseball cards, california angels, collection, Hall Of Fame, HOF, mustache, new york yankees, oakland A’s, Oakland Athletics, reggie jackson, Reggie Jackson – Mr. October, world series, world series MVP, yankees
Without showing an ounce of stress due to the high profile situation, Cliff Lee put on a pitching clinic against the Yankees in Game 1 of the World Series.
Going the distance, Lee threw a complete game while allowing just 6 hits, 3 of which went to Derek Jeter. It wa san amazing performance as he kept New York’s power hitters at bay while striking them each out numerour times. For the night, Lee struck out 10 total batters with the Yankee power-trio of Teixeira, Rodriguez, and Posada striking out 7 times.
Not to be outdone was Chase Utley who extended his post-season hit streak to 26 consecutive games. Utley provided all of the fire-power that the Phillies would need as he connected for 2 solo home runs early in the game.
The Phillies never looked back, and now they have a 1-0 lead in this best of 7 games series.
Tonight we get to see what AJ Burnett and Pedro Martinez can do. This will be the highest profile game of Burnett’s career so far; it will be interesting to see how he defends the Yankees’ home filed advantage. Meanwhile, Pedro has been in similar circumstances before and he usually shined brightly.
Plain and simple, the Yankees must pull out all stops and win tonight if they want a chance to get back into this. And if the Phillies win tonight, this could be their last road trip of the year!!
I’m ready for Game #2!!!
Posted in Random Baseball Thoughts
Tagged 2009 baseball season, 2009 world series, A-Rod, AJ Burnett, alex rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, baseball, baseball cards, brad lidge, bronx bombers, C.C. Sabathia, chase utley, cliff lee, cole hamels, derek jeter, hideki matsui, jamie moyer, jason werth, jimmy rollins, joba chamberlain, jorge posada, mark teixeira, new york yankees, pedro martinez, philadelphia phillies, phillies, ryan howard, shane victorino, world series, yankee stadium, yankees
Any fan of Andre Dawson is alright by me!!!
In the 15 months that I have been writing for ’30-Year Old Cardboard’ I have encountered several people who admire Andre and how he played the game. The overall consensus is that he is worthy of induction into baseball’s Hall of Fame, and there are more than a few of us that think 2010 might be the year.
I have enjoyed meeting Dawson’s casual fans, but what has really brought me enjoyment is meeting some of his ‘Super Fans’. To date, I have found 3 more people who hold Dawson in the same esteem that I do. And all three of them collect him and have websites dedicated to our favorite right fielder.
One of them, Charley, writes the blog titled Andre Dawson For The Baseball Hall Of Fame. I think the title says it all. Charley is a frequent contributor to ’30-YOC’ and we have shared many thoughts ans stories via email and comments about our admiration for ‘The Hawk’.
While rummaging through his cards, Charley found a 1976 Topps Baltimore Orioles checklist card featuring one of my favorite pitchers of all-time – Mr. Jim Palmer! He quickly sent it over to me and now I have another great addition to my Jim Palmer player collection.
Thank you again Charley!!!
And if anyone wants to take a few minutes and check out a dedicated fans desire to pay homage to his favorite player, check out Andre Dawson For The Baseball Hall Of Fame.
1989 Fleer Greg Maddux – For The Record
This is a very interesting card.
There are design elements that I like, and then are ones that I don’t…
First, the positives. I love the scoreboard background that Fleer used for this card. It works well and instantly adds a great baseball feel to the design. Adding this player’s image on top of the scoreboard really makes them pop, and this action shot of Maddux looks great!!
And now the negatives. I really don’t care for the font used for the headline of this card. It screams bubble gum card to me, and seems very childish. The Red, White, and Yellow coloring really doesn’t do anything for the card – Fleer should have tried to continue with the scoreboard theme and maybe put the player’s name and card headline in similar color and font styles to make the card gel.
Overall, I like this card. It looks very nice and will instantly make a nice addition to my Greg Maddux player collection!!
