As I mentioned in my last post, I am closing the lid on this blog after 12+ years, 314 posts, and over 452,000 blog views (many probably my own - lol). I remember these boxes vividly. (The pack wrappers, not so much. We threw them out as soon as they were opened.) This particular box includes a reference to the pin-ups that were inserted into packs in some (but not all) series.  1967 was the first year I collected baseball (and football) cards.  Prior to that, my brother and I collected non-sports issues like Batman, Beatles, Green Berets, McHale's Navy, Munsters, and especially War ..read more

What, has it been 11 months already?  I have come to the realization that I no longer enjoy blogging. A year ago, I shut down 3 of my baseball set blogs, and now the remaining dominoes will fall.  But what better way to go out than with this Tommy John card?  After completing all the low numbers in 1967 (and all but 5 high numbers in the 1980s), last week I picked up one of the last three cards I needed - and at a steal for $5.00! There's a slight crease on the left side, and ever-so-slightly rounded corners, but last week I found this at an antique store near me, where the de ..read more

I feel bad for the Houston Astros. Not only did that weasel of a commissioner Bud Selig pack them off to the American League after 50 years in the National League (instead of doing the right thing and returning his own Milwaukee Brewers to AL), but Topps did not make any team cards for the Astros until 1970.    Selig was quoted as saying “Milwaukee is a National League town. They should remain in the NL.” Yeah Bud, the NL Braves were in Milwaukee for all of 13 years, while the Colts/Astros were in the NL for 50+ years. He must have been picking his nose while his classmates were lea ..read more

Today we look at the rookie stars cards - all in one place. Why did Topps only have 1 card for some teams, and as many as 3 for others? Topps made some major omissions, but some 1-card teams were probably bereft of minor-league talent. (And with the low bar set by some of the so-called "stars" that appear on these cards, that's really embarrassing for those 1-rookie-card teams.)    In team-name order (NL first): Astros: Norm Miller and especially Doug Rader were contributors for the next few seasons.  The others? Not so much. Braves: Cecil Upshaw became the team's closer after ..read more

I started collecting baseball cards in 1967 - not at the start of the season, but sometime in May as I recall. I think Topps was into their 2nd or 3rd series by that time, but through trading with other kids, I was able to play catch-up and get all the earlier cards I missed (except for the Cardinals team).   Before I started collecting cards in 1967, I only knew who 3 of the players were: Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Harmon Killebrew. I had heard the name "Johnny Callison", but didn't know who he was. I don't think I had ever heard of Willie Mays though.   As best as I can rememb ..read more

Earlier this week, FleerFan posted a video and some photos of the Topps 1967 cards on his Fleer Sticker Project blog. I wanted to also loop it into my blog. Although the video was corny, it was a great find, and showed a bunch of kids playing with their 1967 Topps high numbers. (In the factory scene, the cards passing through the machine for packaging are from an earlier series, as evidenced by the Bill White card).    This photo is just great. Imagine holding bunches of '67 high numbers in your hand - fresh out of the pack! Although I collected series 1 to 6 in 1967, the high numbe ..read more

The Angels finished in 5th place in 1967, with a record of 84-77. They also hosted the All-Star game that summer.  They were loaded with aging veterans, with Jack Sanford, Curt Simmons, Lou Burdette, Jim Coates, Bill Skowron, Jim Piersall, and John Werhas all in their final seasons.  The much-traveled George Brunet (9 teams in 15 seasons) headed up the Angels’ rotation, despite leading the AL with 19 losses. Jim McGlothlin posted a 12-8 record and was named to the All-Star team. Rule 5 draftee Rickey Clark posted a 12-11 record in his rookie season. It would be his best year. Jack H ..read more

Today’s lesson is on the 7th series "high numbers".  For decades we have been told that these cards are rare, and therefore are required to be expensive. But recently I found a photo of a full sheet of these 7th series cards. The sheet is 12 rows of 11 cards per row for a total of 132 cards per sheet. Looking at the sheet, you can see that the first 5 rows are repeated on rows 6, 9, 10, 11, and 12, so that makes for 7 unique rows (rows 1-5, 7, 8) of cards (77 cards).  The checklist only shows 76 cards. The discrepancy between the 77 unique cards and the 76 cards on the checklist is ..read more

Well, it's been eleven years (yesterday) since I started blogging here, with the 1967 set being my first blog. That set included 490 individual player cards, and for 11 years I have featured 486 of those players on one set blog or another. The 4 remaining are Bob Barton, Jim Beauchamp, Aurelio Monteagudo, and Carroll Sembera. I’m not sure why Jim Beauchamp even has a card in this set. Since the Braves acquired him in May 1965, his major-league action consisted of 4 games in 1965, no games in 1966, and 4 games (all pinch-hitting appearances prior to May 6) in 1967. I guess somebody at Topps l ..read more

Next-to-last alphabetically (and almost next-to-last on this blog) is Chris Zachary, who pitched for the Astros, Royals, Cardinals, and Tigers. Zachary was signed by the Houston Colt .45s in 1962, but did not play that season. In 1963, he started his pro career at the top, appearing in 22 games (7 starts) for the Colts, and fashioning a 2-2 record in 57 innings. From 1964-67, he spent most of his time with the club’s AAA team in Oklahoma City, but also saw some action in Houston each season. After playing all of 1968 in triple-A, he was purchased by the Royals shortly after the expansion ..read more