The Legend

The Legend

Sunday, July 5, 2015

Doing His Homework

It feels weird when I leave the blog dormant for consecutive days. My wife and I hosted a 4th of July party so between grilling and being social I just ran out of day for the blog. The good thing about this party was the selection of beer. My friend who stayed with me is from the DC area so he is able to pickup a lot of beer I can't get here. West Virginia has a lot old laws so many of the more well known craft brewers don't distribute in the state. 

Now for blog business. 

Brian from HSCA is one of my favorite trade partners. He is always hooking me with cards he finds at his area card shows. Thankfully since he collects the Twins I was able to hit him back several times as I don't trade with any other Twins collectors. This time around Brian killed it with his return package. It was a two envelope Pirate/WVU monster package. 


One thing that made this trade so awesome is that Brian really researched guys from West Virginia. What makes this card extra special is that Jim Fridley is from the same small town in as me, Philippi West Virginia. With a population of only 3500, well known athletes are few are far between. Little did Brian know he hit this one out of the park.  
 I was happy to see Jedd get called back up the other day. Gyorko is the highest profile WVU baseball player in quite sometime.
Rod Thorn was a basketball legend in WV. He was an All American at WVU and was the second overall pick in 1963. While his pro career was a disappointment he has been very successful in front office jobs and the league executive office.

 Slaton was an absolute best for WVU his three years here.
 Famous Amos!
 Hot Rod just passed away recently. Injuries derailed his career, but like Rod Thorn he stayed in the game as an announcer.
 Sam Huff number is retired by WVU and had probably the best career of any WVU football alum. Love this card!


 Ron Williams was one of the first African American players at WVU. Love the tall vintage cards.
 So much WVU! Darrell Whitmore was a two sport star and made it to the major leagues with the Marlins. WVU has had good luck with kickers over the years, but Todd Sauerbrun probably had the strongest leg of them all. He could absolutely pulverize a football with his leg.
 More WVU baseball love!
 I love this card! Steve Kline had a long successful career as a left handed specialist with most of his success with the Cardinals. While with the Cards my friends and I were able to get his autograph by yelling that we were WVU guys too.




Now the Pirate portion of the program.
Mathisen was a decent catching prospect, but the Pirates were pretty set behind the plate and converted him to a third baseman.

 Now this is an awesome card! The gold parallel is /50!!!!
 Chase D'arnaud looked to be the Pirate shortstop of the future, but he could not handle the bat. Good baseball genes in that family as hits brother is Mets catcher Travis D'arnaud.
 Love the Cole Train!
Lambo kind of reminds me of Steve Pearce. A guy that just tore up the minor leagues, but injuries killed any chance of playing time at the big league level. Lambo might be a good player down the road, but it is unlikely that it will be in Pittsburgh.

 One of my all time favorites. Plus I love this set!


 I love getting the TCMA cards in the mail.
 Stadium Club!
 Popovich is from West Virginia and played for the Pirates. Bonus points for Brian!
 
You really outdid yourself with this one Brian. It was a blast looking through these. That Fridley card really made me smile. I remember my grandfather telling me stories about him.  Looking forward to our next deal! 

Thanks for reading. 

20 comments:

  1. Very nice bunch of stuff! I'm especially digging the TCMAs.

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    1. Those are always nice to get in trade. Before blogging I didn't have any, now I have a ton.

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  2. "But the Pirates were pretty set behind the plate and converted him to a third baseman."

    Guess scooping up former Yankee catchers has it's benefits. Nice cards :).

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    1. Those Yankees have been awesome this year. Cervelli has a legitimate case to be an All Star.

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  3. Dang Brian really did his research on WVU guys. That Parker ain't too bad either.

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    1. I was impressed. WVU doesn't have much of a baseball tradition so you have to really dig to find major leaguers.

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  4. All trade packages are great, but trade packages with a little research are even better. Nice stuff! (And that Steve Kline card is one of my personal favorites.)

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    1. Kline was very outspoken as a player, but he was one of the nicest guys I've interacted with.

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  5. Brian is a very dedicated trader, this is impressive ! and the Parker is amazing

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  6. I pulled that Dave Parker from a discounted blaster about a month ago. I knew I would send it your way eventually, once I saw the Killebrew I knew I would be putting it in the next package heading your way.
    It was a lot of fun to put this one together! That Tom Woodeshick card was just sitting in a discount vintage box. I had been looking at WVU alums and hadn't seen any cards for him at all, so it was a nice surprise that he had that oddball issue (maybe it's not an oddball, I don't really know vintage football).

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    1. What a great pull from a blaster!

      I'm hoping since WVU put a ton of money into the baseball program that we start developing more high end talent. The new stadium is beautiful.

      I know next to nothing about football too, but it seems like an oddball. Maybe I should do some research.

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    2. to me it looks a little like the Topps Deckle Edge cards (on the back) - so I thought it was probably an insert from a Topps Set from the late 60s or early 70s

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    3. That is a good point. They do look similar.

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    4. After a little google searching, my vote is for the 1970 Topps Super Glossy. The Topps Super set are oversized cards, but the "Glossy" set is smaller than standard...

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  7. Giving you a bit of love on my 1988 Topps blog!
    http://1988topps.blogspot.com/2015/07/642nd-place-bob-walk_6.html

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    1. Awesome! We may have to discuss that ranking..... :)

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  8. That Parker autograph is awesome! One of my all-time favorite Pirates. Those TCMA are sweet too.

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