Marichal and the Pilots

A few weeks ago, you may recall, I went to the monthly card show at the Nutter Center in Dayton. Well, after showing off my wares from that show, I received an email a few days later from one Mr. Haverkamp proposing a trade.

You see, he'd been in search of the 1962 Post Juan Marichal card I picked up for a while now in order to help complete his team set. He graciously offered another vintage Marichal and some 1969 Pilots cards in return. I figured why not. It'd be a nice to do a quick trade with a new trading buddy.

Here's the vintage Marichal as promised to replace the Post Marichal I'm trading. I'd picked up a 1969 Marichal at the show so this will compliment it nicely. 

The rest of the PWE was filled with 1969 Topps Seattle Pilots cards, which is one of my currently active collecting pursuits. I'm trying to get all Pilots cards from the 1969 and 1970 Topps sets.

Jose Vidal only appeared in 18 games early in the season for the Pilots as a backup outfielder after being purchased from the Indians. He was swapped to the Yankees in May for another outfielder in Dick Simpson but never again appeared in a major league game after the trade. He spent 1969 and 1970 at Triple-A Syracuse and then bounced around to first Toledo, then to the Japan Pacific League for Nishitetsu and finally a few years in the Mexican League.

Roland (Rollie) Sheldon is a curiosity. Not only is this a Pilots card but it's also a zero year card as Sheldon never appeared in a single game for the Pilots. His last major league appearance was in 1966 where he made it into 23 games with Boston. After that season, he was sent to the Reds to complete an earlier trade between the two teams. As for his association with the Pilots, it was a brief 5 game run with the Vancouver Triple-A club in 1969.

Mike Marshall is indeed that Mike Marshall. The same iron-armed hurler who had a stellar four-year run with the Expos and Dodgers in the early 70s and would win the 1974 NL Cy Young Award, spent the 1969 season with the Pilots, who'd selected him from the Tigers in the expansion draft. Marshall posted a 5.13 ERA with a 3-10 record over 20 appearances for the 1969 club.

Ray Oyler was the everyday shortstop for the woeful Pilots in 1969 and was also a fellow expansion draftee from the Tigers like Mike Marshall. He would be out of MLB after the 1970 season with a meager .175 career average. 

And finally the man who captained the club from the dugout, Joe Schultz. His playing career was mainly as a backup during the during the 1940s with both the Pirates and the Browns. 1969 was the only full season Schultz managed in the majors. His only other managerial stint was 28 games with the Tigers at the end of the 1973 season after Billy Martin was canned. 

That's five more cards I can knock off my Pilots want list and a nice Marichal to add to my collection. Thanks for the trade Mr Haverkamp! You're return card is going out this weekend.

The Yard Sale Cards: Vintage & Early 80s

Finally, after much sorting, organizing, picture taking, and organizing said pictures, it's time to reveal some of the contents of my gigantic yard sale find from a few weeks ago. I decided to start with baseball and work from there and what better way to start than with some vintage!

One of my favorite sets from the 70s is the 1973 version. I always liked the white borders, the player silhouette, and the clean look at the bottom. I was pleasantly surprised when I found not one, but two 1973 cards in the miscellaneous boxes. The Reds in 1973 finished 1st in the NL West with a 99-63 record but were upset in five games by the Yogi Berra led Mets who won a rather weak NL East division that season with an 82-79 record. 

Here's something I definitely wasn't expecting to find, that being this 1968 Ron Santo. At first, I thought maybe it was a reprint, but nope it's the real thing. Aside from the 1967 set, I can't think of a set in the 60s that I don't actively like. In terms of favorites from that decade though, this particular set is right up there with 69, 62, and 63. 

I keep having this thought that I'm going to start collecting team cards, just because they're so unique. Now, I'm talking cards that actually have team photos on them, like this one, not any old team card. The Braves didn't exactly blow the doors off anything in 1977 with a 61-101 record, including one game where Ted Turner managed them.

Here are a couple random 1976 cards that showed themselves amongst the sorting. I'm not familiar with either of these players but a quick search on Baseball Reference shows them nearing the tail end of their respective careers in the late 70s. By the early 80s, both guys would be gone from the majors.

There were a few early 80s cards included as well and I figured I'd throw them in with this batch as well so they really don't get lost in the shuffle. 1981 Topps I think really gets overlooked as it's sandwiched between two really fun sets in 1980 and 1982, plus the rookie class isn't loaded with hall of famers but has some notable "fan favorite" type players. Doug Bair, pictured here, was not one of them.

Speaking of rookies, the "rookie set" if you will of Donruss was 1981. Sure it's not the best looking set ever but it's a set I really enjoy and have considered putting together a time or two. I love the variety of the players in this lot with notable players from Cecil Cooper, Mario Soto, and Pete Vukovich to people like Joe Charboneru, who won the AL Rookie of the Year in 1980 and then flamed out.

There's the first batch of stuff from the yard sale. It'll be a slow process putting some of these together as there is a ton of stuff to write about.