1955 HEADLINE: Brooks Robinson To Make His Debut For The Orioles

1955 HEADLINE: Brooks Robinson To Make His Debut For The Orioles

On this day in 1955, Brooks Robinson made his big-league debut.

At the age of 18, Robinson and his Baltimore Orioles teammates hosted the Washington Senators.  And in front of a crowd that barely crossed 5,000 spectators, Robinson performed like a veteran.

On the day, Brooks went 2-for-4, collecting two singles and an RBI.  His efforts helped lead the team to a 3-1 victory.

Welcome to the big leagues, Mr. Robinson.  Happy Anniversary!!!

Brooks Robinson 2013 Topps Triple Threads – Base

Brooks Robinson 2013 Topps Triple Threads – Base

Now this is one sweet-looking baseball card!!!

 

We’ve all seen brilliant images of Brooks Robinson playing masterful defense at third base for the Baltimore Orioles.  Not only was Brooks the best, but photographers knew that if they focused on him, they would get something beautiful – it was just a matter of time.

Many pictures of Mr. Robinson deserve to be framed – after all, they are art.  And what he did on the field was art.

Well, Topps helped us with that.  Their 2013 Triple Threads brand offers great images in a design that is reminiscent of a frame.

Take a look again above.  That’s how it is done!

Did You Know…

Brooks Robinson was the first player in Baltimore Orioles history to hit for the cycle.  He accomplished the impressive offensive feat on July 15, 1960.

Happy Birthday Brooks Robinson!!!

Happy Birthday Brooks Robinson!!!

The man considered to be the greatest defensive third baseman in baseball history turns 77 years old today!!

The resume of Brooks Robinson is more incredible each and every time I take a peek at it. I’ve always known him to be a great defensive ball player, but his offensive and team success during his 23-year career cannot be denied. While Mike Schmidt may be the more explosive, and Chipper Jones may be the better pure hitter of the bunch, Brooks can certainly hold his own in the conversation ranking the best third basemen in baseball history.

Robinson is known for his glove first, and with 16 consecutive years of Gold Glove level performance it is clear to see why. On offense he has collected 2,848 hits, 268 home runs, 1,357 RBI, 1,232 runs scored, and a lifetime average of .267. And the Orioles teams he played for did well too. He is a member of the 1966 and 1970 World Series championship teams.

Happy Birthday Mr. Robinson!!!

The Evolution Of My Collection – Part 16

The Evolution Of My Collection – Part 16

It has been a long time since I did one of these ‘Evolution’ posts, so I thought it would be a good time to get back and take a peek at my full collection with one single, solitary picture.

The growth of my collection over the last few months has stalled a bit as I have focused more time, energy, and funds into my modern player collections and the start of my 1975 Topps set build.

Still, while the growth in terms of size is not what it has been in the past, the growth of these player collections has been phenomenally fun!!

Between my Dustin Pedroia, Andrew McCutchen, Jose Fernandez, Bryce Harper and Giancarlo Stanton collections, each has grown by leaps and bounds.  And while I never thought that I would truly get ‘into’ collecting modern players, I am happy about how rewarding this has been thus far.  And I look forward to seeing how much I can grow each of them in the coming collecting year.

Also, as you can see in the below picture, the three albums that I have dedicated to my Marlins teams sets have filled up nicely.  I don’t yet need to expand to a fourth album, but that may be my reality by the end of 2014.

Lastly, you will also see the binder I am using for my 1975 Topps set build in the lower right corner of the picture.  I have all of the pages pre-loaded, and I am trying to keep it as organized as possible so as I add new cards to my set, I can quickly drop them into the spots reserved for them.

 

Next time around I will not wait this long to show of the full collection.  It has been too long and I truly enjoy keeping this process rolling as it is a nice way to celebrate the growth and progress of ’30-YOC’.

Oh, and someday soon I see my ‘Ultimate Dawson’ expanding to a fourth box…

Thanks for reading.  Have a nice night.

Taking Cards From Peter To Share Them With Paul…

Taking Cards From Peter To Share Them With Paul…

After thinking about the best way to approach the start of my 1975 Topps Set Build, I settled in on pulling cards from existing player collections I have worked on that really showed no signs of being completed.

So, I started digging.  And I only had 1 rule to follow – DO NOT PULL CARDS FROM COMPLETED COLLECTIONS.

And then I got to work.  And I did rather well.

While I did not rescue cards of Fergie Jenkins, Billy Williams, Joe Morgan, Ron Santo, or Jim Palmer from my player collections, I did secure a very nice stack of cards to get my set build off and rolling.

In total, I pulled 11 cards.  And now I am 1.6% done with the Set!!

Here are the cards that I will begin my journey with:

Card #2 – Lou Brock, 1974 Highlights

Card #50 – Brooks Robinson

Card #150 – Bob Gibson

Card #165 – Steve Carlton

Card #193, 1955 Most Valuable Players

Card #199, 1961 Most Valuable Players

Card #202, 1964 Most Valuable Players

Card #450 – Willie McCovey

Card #540 – Lou Brock

Card #600 – Rod Carew

Card # 640 – Harmon Killebrew

Not a bad start, huh?  The cards look great and they are all in pretty sharp condition.

And now with this final step complete, I am ready to shop.

Progress: 11/660

1983 HEADLINE: Brooks Robinson & Juan Marichal Elected To Baseball Hall Of Fame

1983 HEADLINE: Brooks Robinson & Juan Marichal Elected To Baseball Hall Of Fame

On this day in 1983, both Brooks Robinson and Marichal were voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Brooks Robinson is known for his glove first, and with 16 consecutive years of Gold Glove level performance it is clear to see why. On offense he has collected 2,848 hits, 268 home runs, 1,357 RBI, 1,232 runs scored, and a lifetime average of .267.  And the Orioles teams he played for did well too.  He is a member of the 1966 and 1970 World Series championship teams.

Juan Marichal is one of the many pitchers that defined the fantastic pitching era of the 1960s and 1970s.  Known for his famous leg-kick, Marichal dazzled while on the mound.  His efforts landed him 243 wins with 52 shutouts to his credit.  Marichal was a 9-time All-Star which says a lot of the respect he had around the league considering that he was fighting for roster spots with Seaver, Carlton, Ryan, Jenkins, and others.

Brooks Robinson was voted into the Hall of Fame on his first ballot.  He captured 344 of 374 votes case, good for 92%.

Juan Marichal was voted into the Hall of Fame on his third ballot.  He captured 313 of 374 votes cast, good for 83.7%.

Brooks Robinson 2013 Panini Golden Age

Brooks Robinson 2013 Panini Golden Age

These cards from the 2013 Panini Golden Age set continue to impress me.  At least the baseball player cards from the set…

And this one of Brooks Robinson is fantastic.

Have a peek:

 

I don’t know about you, but I can see a 36×24 print of this card hanging in the ‘Man Cave’ of an Orioles fans home.  Or along an inner hallway at Camden Yards!!

Between the vintage uniform and the #5 proudly displayed on this card, you almost forget that you cannot see an Orioles name or logo on Brooks’ jersey or cap.

I LOVE IT!!!  Great work by Panini.

1955 HEADLINE: Brooks Robinson To Make His Debut For The Orioles

1955 HEADLINE: Brooks Robinson To Make His Debut For The Orioles

On this day in 1955, Brooks Robinson made his big-league debut.

At the age of 18, Robinson and his Baltimore Orioles teammates hosted the Washington Senators.  And in front of a crowd that barely crossed 5,000 spectators, Robinson performed like a veteran.

On the day, Brooks went 2-for-4, collecting two singles and an RBI.  His efforts helped lead the team to a 3-1 victory.

Welcome to the big leagues, Mr. Robinson.  Happy Anniversary!!!

The Evolution Of ’30-Year Old Cardboard’ – A Pictorial Essay

The Evolution Of ’30-Year Old Cardboard’ – A Pictorial Essay

When I celebrated this blog’s 5th birthday a few weeks ago, I did one of my routine ‘Evolution’ posts to show off how my collection has grown in the lat few months.  Typically, I try to do a ‘Evolution’ post 3 times a year to show the growth and progress I have made towards my collecting goals as the year progresses.  My collection is still small enough to work with this format, though that may change if I maintain this pace over the next 1-2 years.

The feedback on that post was great, and I had several emails from the great readers of ’30-YOC’ asking how I maintain such an organized collection.  It’s nice to see that my hard work is admired at some level, so I wanted to try something similar to my standard ‘Evolution’ series, but amped up a bit.

Here is a look at my collection, from Day 1 to Year 5 – all done in pictures.

Enjoy!!!

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And there you have it – The Evolution of ’30-Year Old Cardboard’.

Thanks for reading!!