May 18, 2012

This is our 37th Year of hobby columns

Ted Taylor’s Collector’s Corner

 Bowman Retail Baseball buries me in duplicates

Topps endlessly hyped the 2012 Bowman Baseball card offering (it just released late last week) and, because I like to get these columns out in a timely manner, I finally tired of waiting for my review box and went to Walmart and bought some there.

Actually I bought a 24-pack retail box ($76.32), a 7-pack box ($19.98) and three rack packs ($9.48 each).  That purchase produced loads of cards and a disturbing number of duplicates.  It did not produce a single relic or autograph card, though thanks to the packaging, I know what a signed card looks like.

Bryce (Spoiled Brat) Harper and Pirate #1 pick Gerrit Cole adorn the box and the packages.  All those gazillion packs did produce three Harper cards (all the same, different borders) and two Cole cards (same deal). I also got my first Yu Darvish card, that was a good thing, and two Mike Trout cards (same cards, different borders).

Lots of “1st Cards” in there and that’s what Bowman has always been about since Topps resurrected the brand name some two-plus decades ago. Some of the rookies are recognizable, many more are not. I got a card of Kyrell Hudson labeled a Phillies outfielder – and maybe one day he’ll be that. But I’m a pretty rabid Phillies fan and I never heard of the guy and maybe that’s because after two seasons in the very low minors he’s the owner of a .232 lifetime batting average.  It’s his first card, odds are strongly in favor of it also being his last.

The rest of the Phillies, like most of the team assortments, are the usual suspects Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Doc Halliday, Cole Hamels, Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino and the rest. Why not some of the real young guns like Freddy Galvis,Trevor May, Jake Deikman, Sebastian Valle?

The cards are very nice looking – two Bowman Chromes in every pack – and informative. There are gold border versions of the base set as well as six purple bordered ones that were special inserts in the rack packs. But in analyzing the product and the promotion that preceded it, I just think that fewer of the same old guys and more of the future stars would make this a more compelling buy. I still haven’t seen a hobby box – and maybe that will have a better assortment and even a goodie or two. But until then, did I get my money’s worth? The jury will remain out for awhile on that one.

2012 TOPPS U.S. OLYMPIC PRODUCT LOADED WITH AUTOGRAPHS

Topps has issued its all-new 2012 U.S. Olympics Team & Hopefuls product and it now features an additional autograph every other hobby box.

The company originally solicited that every hobby box would guarantee 1 Autograph, 1 Relic and 1 Commemorative Relic.  Now every other hobby box includes 2 Autographs, 1 Relic and 1 Commemorative Relic.

With the upcoming summer games, Topps has captured all of the country’s brightest Olympians and hopefuls.  From autographs and commemorative relics (Olympic medals, pins, coins and patches) to inserts featuring the disciplines, venues and heritage of the game, the product is a true celebration of the Olympic spirit.

The Martians are coming !

The Martians return as Topps unleashes Mars Attacks Heritage! Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the original release, this base set includes all 55 of the original cards from 1962 on Heritage card stock. Unopened boxes also give you a chance for insert cards including Parallel Cards, Printing Plates, Deleted Scene Cards, New Universe Cards by IDW comic artist John McCrea, 3-D Lenticular cards, and Mars Attacks Sketch Cards from guest artists! Available in complete sets or in unopened boxes designed to look the same as they did 50 years ago. The original cards from this issue (and the reprint set) remain very popular today.

 Whatever became of ?

           The 1950 Bowman baseball card was the first of the modern era – unlike 1949 which was pretty much touched up black-and-white photos and 1948 which was just black-and-white – this one had colorful pictures (paintings, really) of 240 players. In 1950 there were 16 teams so 240 players (out of 400) was not bad.

             I loved these cards but one thing really bothered me, six of the cards came out with the player’s position on the back, but where the team name was supposed to be, they were blank.  I’ve decided to find out a little more about those poor team-less players and in this column and the next we’ll take a look at three-at-a-time.

 #145 Jack Graham (Browns uniform) – He was a first baseman, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he played in two big league seasons, 1946 and 1949 with the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants and St. Louis Browns. He died at age 82 in Los Alamitos, California. His 1950 card shows him with the Browns and one would have expected him to make the lowly St. Louis ball club on the strength of his ’49 season when he based 24 homeruns, drove in 79 and batted .238. But, instead, he went back to the minors with the San Diego Padres of the PCL where he bashed 33 homers, drove in 136 and batted .293. A career minor leaguer, over 15 seasons and 1887 games, Jack owned a .289 lifetime mark with 384 homeruns. Jack died at age 82 in 1998.

The 1950 Bowman card was Jack’s only appearance on cardboard.

 His father, George “Peaches” Graham, also played in the majors spending seven years between 1901 and 1912, with the Indians, Cubs, Braves and Phillies. He played in the big leagues as an infielder and a catcher.

 #150 George Vico (Tigers uniform) - He was a first baseman, nicknamed “Sam” and, at times, “Steve”. Before reaching the major leagues, Vico played for Fulton, Muskegon, and Winston-Salem in 1941 and 1942. His career was interrupted for three seasons (1943–1945) as he served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. After the war, Vico played for Salem and Portland.

  In 1948, Vico made it to the major leagues with the Detroit Tigers. In his first at bat on April 20, Vico hit a home run off Joe Haynes on the first pitch he faced. Vico had another impressive game on August 14, when he collected 7 RBIs, 2 doubles, a triple and a home run. Vico was the Tigers' starting first baseman in 1948, playing in 144 games and batting .267 with 139 hits, 23 doubles, 9 triples and 8 home runs. As a rookie, Vico was among the 1948 American League leaders with 9 triples (9), 7 times hit by a pitch (2nd), 17 sacrifice hits (4th), and 23 times grounded into a double play (2nd). Vico also had a good season as a fielder in 1948. He had 1,165 putouts, 85 assists, and 112 double plays.

  In 1949, Vico's batting average dropped by 77 points to .190. In 67 games, he had only 15 hits. He was sent to the minor league Toledo Mud Hens after the 1949 season. Though on a big league card, Vico did not play in a single big league game in 1950. He continued to play in the minor leagues until 1957 with the Toledo Mud Hens, Seattle Rainiers, Indianapolis Indians, San Francisco Seals, Sacramento Solons and Hollywood Stars.

  Vico had a small uncredited acting part in the 1949 movie The Stratton Story playing the part of the "Detroit Ball Player." He was the son of Serbian immigrants and died at age 70 in 1994 at Redondo Beach, California, and is buried in East Los Angeles, California.

  Vico appeared in both the 1949 Bowman and 1949 Leaf sets and, as a minor leaguer in the 1953 Mother’s Cookies set among others.

 #155 Frank Shea (Yankees uniform) - a Major League pitcher from 1947-1955. He played for the New York Yankees from 1947–1951 and the Washington Senators from 1952-1955. He was known as "The Naugatuck Nugget" as a result of him being from Naugatuck, Connecticut and was named by Yankees broadcaster Mel Allen, and was nicknamed "Spec" because of his freckles.

 Shea originally signed with the Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1940. He served in World War II for three years, where he, unlike many of his fellow big leaguers, was strictly a soldier and did not play baseball.

 He was promoted to the Yankees' at the start of the 1947 season, and made his debut on April 19, 1947. As a rookie, Shea played in his first and only All-Star Game, in 1947. In the World Series that year, Shea pitched in games one and seven, winning both en route to the Yankees' World Series victory.

 From 1948 to 1951, however, Shea had a combined 15-16 record, continuing to pitch in pain due to a nagging neck injury suffered in 1947. In 1950 Frank was sent to the minors going just 6-11 at Kansas City, never appearing in a big league game.  -Instead of it being arm trouble as the Yankees believed, it was an issue that was solved by Shea visiting a chiropractor during the winter before the 1951 season. (He went 5-5 for then Yankees that year.) On May 3, 1952, Shea was traded by the Yankees with Jackie Jensen, Jerry Snyder, and Archie Wilson to the Washington Senators for Irv Noren and Tom Upton. He was used in his final two seasons primarily as a relief pitcher, and pitched his final major league game on August 27, 1955. He was released during the off-season and never pitched again.

 Robert Redford called Shea during production of the film The Natural for pitching consultation, where he taught Redford how to pitch in an old-time style. Shea died in 2002 at the age of 81 after having heart valve replacement surgery.

 Shea’s other baseball card appearances included 1948, 49, 52, 53, 54, 55 Bowman, 1952, 53 Topps and other regional and food issues such as 1948 Blue Tint.

  What’s on your mind ????  Don’t’ be bashful. Drop us a line (ted@tedtaylor.com) and let us know what you think. Any ideas for a “Whatever became of” player? Thanks for reading the column.  Your feed-back is important.