It’s Halloween, Have Yourself A Reggie Bar. I Know That I Will!!!!

It’s Halloween, Have Yourself A Reggie Bar.  I Know That I Will!!!!

Tonight is a fun night – and for me it is all about the kids.

Almost, all about the kids…

You see, for the longest time, I wanted to try a Reggie bar.  Made famous during his playing days with the Yankees, the Reggie bar was a phenomenal promotion back in the 1970’s – that teamed Reggie Jackson and a chocolate and peanut candy bar.

Well, almost 15 years later, Clark and Upper Deck teamed up in 1993 to re-issue the Reggie bar and I have finally scored one for myself – thanks to Ebay!!

Paying a lot more than I would for anything on the shelf at the local gas station, this candy bar will remain in my memorabilia collection for now.  But if I get really hungry one of these nights, it may take a lot of willpower to keep it wrapped…

Happy Halloween everybody!!!

Reggie Jackson 2005 Leaf Certified ‘Fabric Of The Game’ #6/25

Reggie Jackson 2005 Leaf Certified ‘Fabric Of The Game’ #6/25

Simply stated, this is a beautiful baseball card, that happens to feature some amazing design elements.

From the swatch of Green Oakland A’s jersey to the vintage image of Reggie from his early days in Oakland to the perfect use of the A’s Green & Yellow color scheme – no matter how you slice it or dice it, this card is SWEET!!!

I really like how Leaf (Donruss) took their time with this one.  It may have taken several rounds of proofing to get to this finished state, but I have to say that as a collector of all things Reggie, this card is a gem!!!

And it certainly does not hurt that this card was limited to just 25 issues.  Thankfully, I am the owner of one of them!!!

Enjoy.

Lou Whitaker 2001 Topps Archives – I Love Cards That Capture Players Signing Autographs

Lou Whitaker 2001 Topps Archives – I Love Cards That Capture Players Signing Autographs

I swear, one of these days I am going to pull all of the cards that I own that show players signing autographs and build a set out of them.

For some reason I find these cards fantastic – and this one of ‘Sweet’ Lou Whitaker fits the bill too…

Here is the card:

Very cool, very cool indeed!!

Issued as part of the 2001 Topps Archives set, this card is a re-print of Whitaker’s 1995 Topps card.  And it is just proof that cards featuring player’s signing autographs are very, very cool!!!!

Tony LaRussa Retires!!!!

Fresh off his third World Series title — and second with the Cardinals — skipper Tony La Russa announced his retirement on Monday after 33 seasons as a big league manager, including the past 16 seasons with St. Louis.

The announcement was made during a Monday morning news conference at Busch Stadium.

La Russa, 67, most assuredly a future Hall of Famer, ranks third in baseball history in managerial victories with 2,728, behind only Connie Mack (3,731) and John McGraw (2,763). Only Mack has managed in more ballgames. The Cardinals skipper is also the only manager in Major League Baseball history to win multiple pennants in both leagues and the second to win a World Series title in each, as well. La Russa’s Oakland A’s won the World Series in 1989. Hall of Famer Sparky Anderson won World Series titles with Cincinnati and Detroit.

More than half of his victories — 1,408 — have come in a St. Louis uniform, making him the franchise’s winningest manager, after having led the Cardinals to a surprising World Series title this season. The championship was the Cardinals’ second in the past six seasons.

St. Louis — which lost starting pitcher Adam Wainwright for the season before Spring Training and played without key players, such as Matt Holliday, Albert Pujols and NLCS and World Series MVP David Freese, for significant stretches of the regular season — climbed out of a 10 1/2-game NL Wild Card hole in late August to make the playoffs.

Dwight Gooden 1986 Fleer All-Star Team – A Lesson In Graphic Design

Dwight Gooden 1986 Fleer All-Star Team – A Lesson In Graphic Design

Amazingly enough, this card and it’s components were part of ‘cutting edge’ technology back in the mid-1980’s.

Between the use of a completely different background, the addition of graphics and text, and the perfectly cut out image of ‘Doc’, this card would have netted you an A+ in design class.

25 years later, not so much…  Today, a D- at best.  And it is not an F simply because you turned it in on time!!!

The City Of St. Louis Celebrates The 11th World Series In Franchise History – A Pictoral Essay

The City Of St. Louis Celebrates The 11th World Series In Franchise History – A Pictoral Essay

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Fred McGriff!!!

Happy Birthday Fred McGriff!!!

That’s right, the ‘Crime Dog’ turns 48 today!!!

Fred McGriff is arguably one of the most underrated baseball players from the last 20 years.  An extremely consistent hitter over the course of his 19-year career, McGriff added solid hitting and amazing power to the line-up.

For his 48th birthday, I give him 7 more home runs – giving him an even 500 for his amazing career.

Happy Birthday to the ‘Crime Dog’!!!

Contest Time – ‘3rd Annual Pick The Award Winners Contest’

Contest Time – ‘3rd Annual Pick The Award Winners Contest’

Yep.  Another fun contest being held by your good friend at ’30-Year Old Cardboard’.

I did this contest at the end of the last three seasons and it was very fun to see who everyone was predicting to win the post-season awards.  So this year I’ll be holding a similar contest with just a slight change in how it will be played.

On to the rules.  To qualify for the contest all you have to do is select who you think will win the Rookie Of The Year awards, Cy Young Awards, and Most Valuable Player award in both leagues.  Each correct answer will earn you 2 points.  To make things interesting, I will also award an additional point if you correctly name the second place player for the 2 MVP awards.  In total you have to submit 8 players and designate who will finish in first and second place in the MVP race.

A correct entry will look something like this:

AL ROY –

NL ROY –

AL Cy –

NL Cy –

AL MVP Winner –

AL MVP 2^nd –

NL MVP Winner –

NL MVP 2^nd –

Entries are due by midnight on Wednesday so get your homework done and submit your picks quickly so you’re eligible to win.

And what is the prize, you ask?

How about this?  A 1983 Donruss Tony Gwynn Rookie Card!!!!

Great prize, huh??   Yeah, I thought you would like it!!!

Sound like fun?  Then submit your picks into the comments section of this post.  Good Luck!!!

Reggie Jackson 2001 Upper Deck Cooperstown Collection

Reggie Jackson 2001 Upper Deck Cooperstown Collection

Of all of the cards that I have captured and shown off to you during this month of October, this one ranks near the top of my favorites.

Beautifully done, this card features Reggie during his first stint with the Oakland A’s.  And I have to say that this was one of my favorite periods during Reggie’s career.  His talent was obvious, and even while not getting along with the team’s owner and management, he was able to become an All-Star, MVP, and multi-time World Series champion!!!

Here is the card:

Nice, huh?

I am especially digging the Gold accents peppered throughout!!!

Mike Schmidt 2011 Topps Lineage

Mike Schmidt 2011 Topps Lineage

Here is another beauty that I picked up from the 2011 Topps Lineage set.

This one happens to feature Hall of Famer, Mike Schmidt.  And it captures his mighty backswing…

Have a look:

I like how the colors of the frame Topps used works with the Maroon of Schmidt’s Phillies uniform.

Oh my, I cannot believe that I just said ‘like’ and ‘Phillies’ in the same uniform.  I need to get some rest!!!