Lee Smith ‘Fab Five’ – Card #1 – 1983 Topps

Lee Smith ‘Fab Five’ – Card #1 – 1983 Topps

Now that my Lee Smith collection is complete, it is time to show of my favorite five cards from the set.

Card #1 – 1983 Topps

Finally, I can reveal my favorite card from my Lee Smith PC.

And it should be no surprise that the card is from the 1983 Topps baseball card set.  After all, the 1983 set has been celebrated on this blog multiple times as being one of the greatest releases during my time collecting.

As for the card, it does what the 1983 Topps set is famous for – two great pictures (1 action, 1 posed).  And the action photo is G-R-E-A-T!!!  I love that the stands behind Smith are full – hopefully he was closing out a win for the Cubbies in this one.

Jim Palmer 2012 Topps Series 2 – ‘Mound Dominance’

Jim Palmer 2012 Topps Series 2 – ‘Mound Dominance’

I am really digging this ‘Mound Dominance’ subset from the 2012 Topps Series 2 release.  It’s another set that I will have to evaluate the checklist of and see if I have interest in putting the full set together.

Here is the cards that features one of my favorite pitchers of all-time, Jim Palmer:

Sweet, huh?

Yeah, I am really liking this card!!

As for the set, I have the card of Eckersley, and Phil Niekro too.  If I do decide to go after the full set, I will have to grab another card of Palmer as this one is staying put in my ‘Official Jim Palmer Player Collection’!!!

🙂

Did You Know…

Roy Halladay led all American League pitchers in wins from 2000-2009.  During that stretch, Halladay amassed 139 victories for the Toronto Blue Jays.  The player in second place behind Halladay was CC Sabathia, with 136.

Happy Birthday Willie Randolph!!!

Happy Birthday Willie Randolph!!!

Willie Randolph turns 58 years old today.

During his 18 year career as a player in major league baseball, Willie Randolph could be classified as an ‘Unsung Hero’ for the teams he played on.  13 of his 18 seasons were played as a member of the New York Yankees and it was very easy to be overshadowed by the many dominant personalities on their roster.  But Randolph handled the pressure of playing in New York very well and excelled as a second baseman for the ‘Bronx Bombers’.

As a 6-time All-star, Randolph finished his career with a .276 batting average along with 271 stolen bases and ,1239 runs scored.  He competed in 4 World Series match-ups and won the championship with the 1977 New York Yankees.

Happy Birthday Mr. Randolph!!!

Contest Time: Predict The All-Star Game MVP And WIN, WIN, WIN!!!!

Contest Time: Predict The All-Star Game MVP And WIN, WIN, WIN!!!!

The name of this contest says it all!!!

For this contest, I will be asking the readers to choose a player slated to play in Tuesday’s All-Star game that they feel will win the game’s Most Valuable Player award.  It’s really just that simple.

The rules are easy.  Each reader gets to select one player on either the American League roster to National League roster.  Once a player has been selected they cannot be chosen again.  I will close the selections at 11:59 on Sunday night so I can publish a final list of the readers participating in this contest and the player they’re pulling for prior to the start of the game Tuesday evening.

Sound like fun?  Then get going and pick your guy.  All you have to do is review the rosters and submit the name of the player you are picking into the comments section of this post.

That’s it – I told you it would be easy!!!

And the winner of this contest will get this:

Oh yeah, Baby!!!   A 4-card Game-Used Jersey and Bat lot featuring former All-Stars Barry Larkin, Joe Carter, Gaylord Perry, and Roberto Alomar!!!

Sound like a good prize to you???  I hope so!!!

So get going.  Make your pick and leave it in the comments section of this post.

From there, all you have to do is and sit back and enjoy the 2012 All-Star game!!!

Thanks for playing.

Andre Dawson 2012 Topps Series 2 ‘Historical Stitches’

Andre Dawson 2012 Topps Series 2 ‘Historical Stitches’

For classification purposes, I put these ‘manufactured’ cards into the ‘Game-Used’ portion of my player collections and checklists.

And while they are far from pieces of game-used memorabilia, they fit nicely amongst those kinds of cards.

I was very happy to see Andre Dawson’s name appear on the checklist for this subset of cards.  I like the theme and the style of the card.  If I had only one complaint, it would be that Topps could have used a team-themed color scheme for the actual stitching of the material and lettering.

Here is the card:

It’s nice, but just imagine if this were done in White with Cubby-Blue letters or even in Cubby-Blue material and White letters…

Nonetheless, it is a fantastic addition to my collection, and I am thrilled to bring it home!!

🙂