A Vintage Set Build - 1973

I'm not sure what specifically sparked the idea, but I decided within the last couple of months to try to build the 1973 Topps set. This despite the high number beast that is the Mike Schmidt/Ron Cey rookie card. My chase has been aided significantly by my decision to trade on TCDB.com. I've been able to jettison some of my unwanted vintage and turn it into some 1973 needs. But it was good old reliable Bo over at Baseball Cards Come to Life that came through and put me over the halfway mark for the set. Bo has helped me with many different collections over the past couple of years with his fantastic want list and trade list, which make it really easy to match up for each side. He's also super easy to work with, unlike a few of the folks over on TCDB (though most are fairly reasonable). 

So, let's cut to the chase. What did Bo send? Over 150 cards - just from 1973 Topps! He included a bunch of high numbers and some star players, too. Here's the glorious spread:

Here are some of the more notable names of the group:

And some of my favorite cards from this trade. First up are some great posed shots. 

And one of my favorite features of the set, some memorable action shots. 

Thanks Bo! 

Bill Clemens, We Hardly Knew Ye

One thing I always liked about the early Donruss baseball cards was the full player's name appearing on the backs of the cards. It was just a quirky detail that someone like me enjoys. It was always interesting to see a player's full name, especially if their first name was a nickname or if they went by their middle name. A couple of my favorite players, Ryne Sandberg and Mark Grace, have the middle names Dee and Eugene respectively. I wouldn't know that without the Donruss cards. These cards also told us that Kirby Puckett was the Twins star's full legal name, as is the case for the now infamous Jose Canseco.

But back to those guys who went by something other than their first name. Did you know there are actually a lot of them? And not just random scrub players, but some of the biggest stars of the 80s and 90s. I looked through some 1990 Donruss cards to appreciate the beautiful design (sarcasm, of course) and to see if I could find some players who went by their middle name. I didn't even look at that many and still found several examples. So I'll present those here, in quiz format, because the former teacher in me can't help himself. But if you can't stand the quiz format, just scroll down to see the players/cards in question.

I also had some 88 and 91 Donruss nearby, so I found a couple of the examples from those sets. And now, the quiz:

1) Which member of the 1998 NL Champion Padres went by his middle name?

A) Tony Gwynn

B) Ken Caminiti

C) Greg Vaughn

D) Kevin Brown

2) Which Twins ace preferred his middle name?

A) Jim Kaat

B) Bert Blyleven

C) Johan Santana

D) Frank Viola

3) Which member of the 1993 World Series Champion Toronto Blue Jays went by a version of his middle name?

A) Rickey Henderson

B) Tony Fernandez

C) John Olerud

D) Joe Carter

4) Which Hall of Fame pitcher was known by his middle name?

A) Nolan Ryan

B) Phil Niekro

C) Don Sutton

D) Greg Maddux

5) Which pitcher who debuted in the 1980s preferred his middle name?

A) Orel Hershiser

B) Tom Glavine

C) Fernando Valenzuela

D) Roger Clemens

6) Which long-time Mariners slugger goes by his middle name?

A) Ken Griffey Jr.

B) Jay Buhner

C) Alvin Davis

D) Edgar Martinez

I think you'll be surprised by some of these. I know I was, and I'm sure I had seen them all at some point in my life. There are undoubtedly more examples than these (I'm looking at you George Thomas Seaver!), so feel free to leave your examples in the comments below. Anyway, many thanks to our favorite cards of the Overproduction Era, 1988, 1990, and 1991 Donruss. 

1) Which member of the 1998 NL Champion Padres went by his middle name?

A) Tony Gwynn

B) Ken Caminiti

C) Greg Vaughn

D) Kevin Brown

1990 Donruss #343 James "Kevin" Brown

Easy to understand Kevin's decision to go with the middle name. He could have gone with James Brown, risking confusion with the Godfather of Soul. He could have been Jim Brown, knowing he'd be associated with arguably the best football player of all time. He could have been Jimmy Brown, but that just doesn't seem to fit. So Kevin it is!

2) Which Twins ace preferred his middle name?

A) Jim Kaat

B) Bert Blyleven

C) Johan Santana

D) Frank Viola

1990 Donruss #331 Rik ("Bert") Aalbert Blyleven

It worked out alright for 7'4" NBAer Rik Smits to go by his given name when he entered the NBA in the 1980s. Fellow Dutchman Blyleven, however, came to America with his family in the mid-50s, so maybe America wasn't ready for a Rik at that time. 

Additional notes:

1) I think that mark on the card is Donruss puzzle glue stain or something. So the Donruss equivalent to a gum stain.

2) Blyleven was traded to the Angels with Kevin Trudeau. Wonder if it's the same Kevin Trudeau who went to jail after peddling those "Cures THEY Don't Want You to Know About" books.

3) Which member of the 1993 World Series Champion Toronto Blue Jays went by a version of his middle name?

A) Rickey Henderson

B) Tony Fernandez

C) John Olerud

D) Joe Carter

1988 Donruss #319 Octavio Antonio "Tony" Fernandez

Tony, who in my mind is quite underrated, passed away in February. If you ask me, Octavio is pretty cool. Certainly worked for Octavio Dotel. That guy played for 13 teams! 

4) Which Hall of Fame pitcher was known by his middle name?

A) Nolan Ryan

B) Phil Niekro

C) Don Sutton

D) Greg Maddux

1990 Donruss #166 Nolan Ryan

Can you imagine Nolan Ryan going by Lynn? Neither can I.

5) Which pitcher who debuted in the 1980s preferred his middle name?

A) Orel Hershiser

B) Tom Glavine

C) Fernando Valenzuela

D) Roger Clemens

1991 Donruss #81 William "Roger" Clemens

I wonder if Clemens was the guy Sheryl Crow was singing about in "All I Wanna Do." In the song, she meets a William whom she is sure went by "Bill or Billy or Mack or Buddy." No Sheryl, he went by Roger. Which works, I think, because Bill Clemens just doesn't have the same ring to it. 

6) Which long-time Mariners slugger goes by his middle name?

A) Ken Griffey Jr.

B) Jay Buhner

C) Alvin Davis

D) Edgar Martinez

1990 Donruss #365 George (Ken) Kenneth Griffey Jr.

Let's let this one sink in for a minute. 

George Griffey Jr... 

GEORGE. 

If the most marketable baseball player of the last half century would have gone by his given name, would he have been as marketable? I don't think so. I guess we have the original George Kenneth Griffey (Sr.) to thank for that, since he's the guy who went by Ken to begin with. 

Really, these guys all had pretty normal first names, but apparently just chose to go with their middle name, probably for a variety of reasons. But I don't think that was to case for everyone. Why, you ask? Because of Andy Hawkins. Who is Andy Hawkins? A middle of the road pitcher with a couple good seasons who spent 10 seasons in the bigs. Win/loss of 84-91, 4.22 ERA, 1.3 WAR. Pretty much your run of the mill major leaguer. I don't really have a great grasp on how it's calculated, but I feel like going by this first name would somehow drop you like 10 points in the WAR formula.

1989 Donruss Traded #T-52 Melton (Andy) Andrew Hawkins

Poor Melton. 

More of the Same or Double the Fun? ... Plus Trading Updates

I have to start by saying thank you for clicking on this post despite the thumbnail for the post displaying a 1988 Donruss common. I hope you aren't disappointed. 

I have an odd fascination with duplicate cards. I'm not entirely sure why. Now before you say I'm nuts, I do have to provide context. First, I must say that when opening a pack of cards, NO ONE, including myself, wants to keep pulling ones like this:

1988 Donruss #514, Bob Walk

And that's how it happens when opening packs. Instead of duplicates of a player you like or a valuable card or even an interesting card, you get the same dud over and over. If I had kept every one of Mr. Walk's mustachioed face I ever owned, I could have created a wall mural for the Pittsburgh Municipal Library. Instead, they were purged long ago. At least I thought they were. I just found one. Like a weed in the garden. Just when you thought you got them all. 

Anyway, though I have yet to open a pack of 2020 cards (blasted quarantine), I believe I can still provide you with the equivalent card from this year's Topps base offering.

2020 Topps #116, Daniel Murphy

I don't want duplicates of that card. No one wants duplicates of that card.

But if it's a card I like, I say, bring on the duplicates!

In a bizarre sequence of events, I ended up with duplicates of a card I featured in a recent post just days after it was posted. The cards came from a USPS medium flat rate box full of cards I bought on eBay. I got about 2500 cards for $20 (including shipping). I've done this before when I just want some variety to look through and hope there is a gem or two graciously thrown in by the seller, who only makes a couple of bucks on the sale. I was pleasantly surprised to find 8 copies of this legendary card.

1988 Fleer #7, Steve Carlton (just 7 pictured - because one is in my Frankenset)

It's neat to have eight copies of a card when the first time you saw that card, you had trouble believing it even existed. I also enjoy seeing a player's long career spelled out in stats on the back of a card so that's another reason I enjoy this particular card. Speaking of a long statistical chronology, that reminds me of the card in this box with easily the biggest number of duplicates. Sometimes when you buy these boxes, you get several of the same card, though sellers try to limit this to a few or several of the same. So the most I found of any card before I got to the big stack was probably 10 or so. And then these came, all together.

1987 Topps #673 Don Sutton (x 45)

45 cards. As I flipped through them, it seemed like the never ending pile. And remember my liking of long statistical records? Here's the back of this card:

Nine shutouts in 1972. NINE!

These duplicates made my day. Weird, I know. 

These late-career duplicates of players with long careers seem to just find me (not in the same box referenced above, however). If you don't believe me, behold the greatness of the following:

More 1987 Topps! More Carltons! (x 11! Card #718)

Lefty strikes again! 1987 Fleer #490 (Base card x 5) and #635 (4,000 Strikeouts x 4)

The return of Tommy John (1989 Topps #359 x 20!)

Tom Terrific! 1987 Topps #425 (x 8!)

1990 Upper Deck Fred Lynn #771 (x 10)

You had to know Knucksie was coming! - 1986 Topps #790 (x 7)

 

These were easier to find because I keep a bunch of players' cards sorted for trades and such, but I knew these were there. Because they find me. And I keep them for some reason. But I would trade all of them away for duplicates of this next card. As a kid, I opened a fair amount of 1989 Donruss and developed an affinity for the set that continues today. Besides the Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card (of course) there was another card in the set that I was always thrilled to find in a pack. And unlike Bob Walk, I kept them. At some point I ran across a bigger stack of them, and so, at 58 cards, this is my favorite big stash:

1989 Donruss #105 Ryne Sandberg (x 58)

I will gladly accept an unreasonable number of this card in trades.

I have no use or need for all of these duplicate cards. Does anyone? Probably not. But card collecting is a hobby where not everything needs an explanation. We like what we like and sometimes can't even really explain why. And I think that's just fine.

Trading Updates!

Just finished a few trades and got some neat stuff. I'll highlight my favorite card from each trade. Besides these cards, I got some help with my 81 and 85 Topps sets.

Brian from Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary would have had no way of knowing one of the cards he sent was on my unofficial Sandberg wish list, but there it was! 

Great series and a great nickname. Thanks Brian!

Tom from The Angels, In Order sent me this sweet auto after we did our original trade. I owe him! 

Coste is from my hometown here in Fargo and I watched him growing up as he started his career with the independent minor league team in town, the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks. He didn't make the major leagues until age 33, and he wrote a book about his journey, which I recommend. He's a nice guy and a class act.

Finally, Jay from Card Hemorrhage sent some nice Cubbie cards, but this one was my favorite (as a long-suffering fan, the reason is obvious).

Check these guys out. They do good work on their blogs and their trades! Thanks for welcoming me into the card blogging community!