So I was in Target during lunch yesterday, stocking up my “work pantry”, and I decided to check out the 100-card repacks on the way out. I know these repacks aren’t worth the money I’m putting into them, but they can be a fun diversion… or a Junk Wax Festival. You pays your money and you takes your chances.
My attention was caught by one repack which had this card on the back:
I thought “What the devil is that?”
Yeah, right. I really thought “What the @#%&*! is that?”, but I like writing “What the devil…” because it makes me sound like a scientist from a low-budget 1960’s science fiction movie. And there are worse things to be.
“I was a mathematician before I became a bad actor… That number is pi!”
(Let’s see if anyone gets THAT extremely obscure reference)
I kinda like the card, even if it is book-value worthless… as opposed to any other 1990 base card which has a book value only because Beckett has to give it SOME value. The card sort of has a 1966 Topps bottom and a 1969 Topps circle.
Here’s the back to the esteemed Mr. Sheffield’s card:
“The Shanks Collection”, eh? All right, if you say so. I did some Googling on “1990 Shanks Collection” and all I got were some eBay listings. I think this can be safely classified as a Broder. You know, it’s been many years that I’ve been using the term “Broder” for an unlicensed-by-anybody card, but I’ve never seen an actual Broder. Maybe someday…
Update: By “actual Broder”, I mean the original Broders, as opposed to cards which fall under the generic term “Broders”.
Wait a second, I hear a truck… Crap, I’ve got to put the recycling out by the curb. I’ll be right back…
OK, sorry about that.
Well, you’re here and I’m here… Did you want to see what else I got in the repack?
I figure that, on the whole I got 10 dime-b0x needs for my $4, but I did well in terms of cards I actually want. Here, let me show you…
I got this lovely George Foster Diamond King that’s been on my want list for… Oh, thirty years.
George Foster is one of a line of big-name players that the Mets brought in past their prime and who did just fine for the Mets but not anywhere close to the expectations of the fans who foolishly thought the Mets were acquiring a star player in his prime.
Moving right along…
Ahh… The elusive 1984 Donruss! And it’s Shlabotnik favorite Benny Ayala!
In 1974, Benny hit a homer in his first Major League at bat for the Mets. This young Mets fan’s expectations of Benny were based on that random occurrence. Silly me. Anyway, Benny had a 10-year career as a 4th outfielder, mainly with the Orioles.
Jerry Willard! A player I collect! Wooooooooo!
I saw Jerry play in the minor leagues, just in case you were wondering why someone would collect Jerry Willard cards. I saw Jerry when he was in the Phillies system, but he traded to the Indians before he made it to the Majors. This is why you shouldn’t get hung up on the fact that your local minor league team isn’t affiliated with a team you like… There’s always a decent chance that the guys you’re watching will make it with some other team.
Moving along… “Captain Kirk” McCaskill! Another player I collect, even if it’s from the tremendously drab 1989 Fleer.
I know we were meant to think “pinstripes”, but I’ve always thought “jail cell”.
Attica! Attica!
Finally, I got this interesting TCMA “Baseball History” card of Jim DePalo.
Who is Jim DePalo? If Baseball America had existed in the 1950’s, he might’ve been on the Yankees’ Top 10 Prospects list. He peaked at AAA in 1956, going 13-5 for the Denver Bears. I’m guessing that the TCMA guys found this photo and said “Hey, let’s add it to the set!”
Aw, hell, look at the time! I spent too much time on this, I’ve got to go shower.
…And thus ends my early morning free-form blog odyssey… “On the bass: Derek Smalls, he wrote this…”
Later…
The Shlabotnik Report 