1971 World Series

This was in my draft folder for several years. I probably got these from a dime box at my LCS. Looks like I still need the cards for Game No. 4, 6, and 7. If you want to send them my way, let me know.

TTM Tuesday

I haven't gotten a lot of ttms recently, but I am really happy with the two that have come in over the past few weeks.

I sent Brooks Robinson two cards and a few index cards as well as a donation.

He signed both cards and added the "HOF 83" inscription.

The turned out great!

I asked that he personalize each index card to my boys and add his nickname "Human Vacuum Cleaner" and he did! 

My second return was a 4 x 6 photo that I had gotten signed earlier this year by Buck Showalter. I sent it to Jason Alexander (George from Seinfeld) and he signed it as well. If you remember, George worked for the Yankees during a couple of seasons of the hit tv show.

HOF Class of 2017: Tim "Rock" Raines

Tim Raines was recently elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and will be inducted this summer and so I thought I would organize my Raines collection.

I have 34 different Tim "Rock" Raines cards.

Here is a breakdown by year. In parenthesis are the number of different cards I have from that year.

1981 (1)

1982 (0)

1983 (0)

1984 (0)

1985 (0)

1986 (1)

1987 (1)

1988 (2)

1989 (4)

1990 (6)

1991 (6)

1992 (3)

1993 (1)

1994 (1)

1995 (1)

1996 (2)

1997 (1)

1998 (1)

1999 (0)

2000 (1)

2001 (0)

2002 (2)

Raines played for the Montreal Expos (1979 - 1990), Chicago White Sox (1991 - 1995), New York Yankees (1995 - 1998), Oakland Athletics (1999), Montreal Expos (2001), Baltimore Orioles (2001), and Florida Marlins (2002).

When I look at my Time Raines collection I have a few thoughts.

1) I was surprised to see how few Raines cards I currently have. In addition to no rookie cards, I don't have any game used or autographs. I will try to add some cards to my collection: including a rookie card. I'd like to have 100 different cards.

2) I didn't realize Raines played for the Expos twice during his career and I don't remember his time with the A's, Orioles, or Marlins even though I have cards featuring him on the A's and Marlins.

3) Raines first 12 full seasons were amazing and his last 9 seasons were below average for the most part, partly due to illness and injuries. Raines didn't play in 2000 at all as he was signed by the Yankees but was released during Spring Training. I know I might ruffle some feathers, but I don't think he had a Hall of Fame career. I understand why it took him 10 years to get voted in.

4) I never realized until now that Raines has lupus. He was diagnosed in 1999. My mother has had lupus for many years.

5) I don't have any cards of Tim that feature him on the Orioles. I didn't realize until now that Raines played with his son at the major league level in 2001 with the Orioles. That is pretty cool. There has to be a card or two commemorating that. 

Let's take a quick look at some card backs and see what we can find out about Tim Raines.

And there you have it. A look at my Tim "Rock" Raines collection.

July 13, 1991 - Orioles pitchers combine to throw no-hitter against A's!

On July 13, 1991 Bob Milacki, Mike Flanagan, Mark Williamson, and Greg Olsen teamed up to pitch a no-hitter against the Oakland Athletics. Milacki pitched the first six innings while Flanagan, Williamson, and Gregg each pitched one inning in that order. The Orioles won the game 2 -0.

All Time Orioles Set

I've noticed that there are quite a few Orioles fans out there in the blogosphere, so when I came accross this All Time Orioles set today, I thought I would offer it up for trade. I don't know much about it other than on the back it says 1986 TCMA Ltd. I'm not sure where I got it from, but I think I have the Yankees and Red Sox sets as well. Anyways if you interested in this 12 card All Time Orioles set let me know. I'll trade it for any 3 Brandon Webb cards that I don't already have (click on my Brandon Webb Collection link). Thanks!

Jim Palmer, Hank Bauer, and Hoyt Wilhelm

Gus Triandos, Paul Blair, and Dave McNally

Luis Aparicio, Ken Singleton, and Frank Robinson

Dave Johnson, John "Boog" Powell, and Brooks Robinson

The same fans on two different cards from two different years

Earlier this week I did a post on how Topps removes umpires and blurs fans faces on their cards while Upper Deck does not. The Topps card that I scanned for the post was a 2004 Topps card of Baltimore Oriole Larry Bigbie #453. I was going through some other cards and I came accross another Topps card that not only had the umpire removed but the catcher was also removed. This card is a 2005 Topps card of Baltimore Oriole Jay Gibbons #103.



Something that I found even more interesting than no umpire and no catcher is the fact that the same fan is featured on both cards. But wait, if Topps blurs out the faces of fans then how do I know its the same fan? Well the fan is wearing the exact same clothes on both cards.

When you look at the cards, the fan is to the right of the batter wearing a white t-shirt and shorts. He has a hat on and is drinking a beer. Seated to his right is a boy wearing a bright orange t-shirt. So how can this be explained? Topps must have used a photo taken in 2004 for both the 2004 and 2005 cards. Maybe? But if you look at the rest of the fans on both cards, they are all different. So the photos must be from two different games right? Well what are the odds of these two fans wearing the exact same clothes to two different games? I really don't know how to explain this. I did find it really interesting though. I would love to hear any other theories about how these two fans wearing the same clothes ended up on Topps cards from 2004 and 2005 on photos taken during what appears to be two different games.