2018 Sportlots purchases: the (mostly) new guys

Here we are in the middle of January 19 and I still have lots of 2018 purchases to show off!  Get ready for a bunch of Sportlots posts as I catch up on those over the next week or two, both here and on TMM (there's even one of those already up this evening).

Today I'll be looking at a bunch of guys who are making their debut among my PCs, with the exception of two I added late last year.  These are all guys that I eventually found out were Michigan Baseball alumni and therefore started chasing.  If that's not interesting enough for you, well, you might like the fact that just about every card in this post is of the vintage variety.

We'll start off with pitcher Jim Burton.  A Rochester Hills, Michigan, native, Burton was originally drafted by Detroit in '67 but headed to Ann Arbor, then went to the Red Sox in the first round four years later.  Good choice.  He appeared in just 30 games over the 1975 and '77 seasons and was out of pro ball after spending 1978 in the Mets' system.  I was able to find both of his regular issues from OPC and Topps produced in 1976 so he's done as far as those are concerned, though I have a couple optional SSPC issues I can chase.

John Herrnstein was one of a number of multi-sport athletes to star for the Wolverines.  In his case football was a family affair, and he did quite well for the team as a FB and LB in the late 50s before a knee injury steered him towards the diamond full time.  He spent most of his five-year Major League career with the Phillies before being traded twice in 1966 (Cubs, then Braves), once as part of the deal that brought HOFer Fergie Jenkins to the Cubs.  You can see his final issue from 1966 Topps above, and he appeared in that set the three previous years as well.  It'll be tough to track down his first two and final two cards, though:  the former are multi-player RCs with Willie Stargell and Dick Allen and the latter are 2015 Topps Heritage Real One autographs!

Here comes a player to spur Jeff's interest:  a Wolverine/White Sox combo.  Pitcher Mike Joyce is a Detroit native from around the same time as Herrnstein that signed with the South-siders after his college career.  And like Burton he pitched in just 31 games over a couple seasons (1962-63).  Card-wise you can find him on his 1963 Topps RC, seen above, another from that brand the following year, then once again, a couple versions of Topps Heritage's Real One autos, this time out of the 2013 product.

Meanwhile, Frank Kostro actually debuted here last month when I found a buyback of the very card you see above, his '68 Topps base.  I have four others of his to track down, including a '63 Topps multi-player RC, though fortunately that won't be quite as expensive as Hernnstein's.

Catcher Tom Lundstedt is the player of interest here on the four-player RC you see from '74 Topps, though the Brewers' Charlie Moore definitely had the best career of the bunch.  Like Foote to his left, Lundstedt was a first round choice in 1970, selected by the Cubs.  The Iowa native saw his career fizzle out after spending 1973 and '74 on the North Side and 1975 with the Twins.  Like Burton above his cards are limited to OPC and Topps issues from the same year, 1974, so I'm a card away from completing his "run".

If Bob Reed's name sounds familiar that's because the Topps version of the 1970 OPC card you see up there was included in a Fuji trade package that made me realize there were way more Michigan guys for me to collect.  Yet another Wolverine/Tiger, he was a Detroit second-rounder in 1966 and would pitch in 24 games for the team between 1969 and '70.  Aside from the two 1970 cards I now own he also appears in both sets made the following year, and I plan to track those down before long.

Getting back to the newbies, Dick Wakefield, who can be seen on oddballs from '79 TCMA and '89 Score Rookies to Remember (the mini hologram) was apparently quite a character.  After just a year with the Wolverines he eventually signed with the Tigers (!) in 1941.  In the years before the draft you could garner a huge bonus if you were good enough, and Wakefield had plenty of interest, becoming a "bonus baby", a title bestowed upon others such as Sandy Koufax.  He got to play a bit that year, came back up in '43 with an excellent campaign, served in the military, and spent 1944 and 1946-49 with Detroit.  His wartime bet that he'd beat Ted Williams in multiple batting categories...didn't go well at all for him.  Three games each for the Yankees (1950) and Giants ('52) concluded his career.  I have an interesting challenge on my hands as I need to chase his 1949 RCs from Bowman and Leaf!

Here's the back of the hologram card in case you're interested.

This comprehensive post goes from "B" to "Z", as in pitcher Bill Zepp.  Another Detroit-born guy, Zepp didn't sign after he was taken by Boston in 1967 (7th round), plus Detroit failed to sign him in '66, and he landed with Minnesota the following year.  After pitching in just four contests in 1969 he went a solid 9-4 in 1970, then was included in a deal that found him in Detroit for the final 16 games of his career in '71.  As you can see above I landed his Topps base from that year, and once I buy his OPC version plus his '70 Topps three-player RC I'll own his run.

I hope you enjoyed this vintage-y look at a bunch of new baseball PCs I'm chasing, and I'll be back to more familiar territory soon so stay tuned!

2018 trade package #20: Chronicles of Fuji

I'm back again and maintaining my never-ending quest to keep you guessing if/when I'm going to post.  Today I'm showing off a bountiful trade package from everyone's favorite San Jose-an, Mark of the Chronicles of Fuji!

This is already the tenth time I'm posting cards from Fuji here, and he really made this one count with a generous flat rate box stuffed with items for a ton of my various collections.  Naturally that means that this will explode into a two-part post with the rest of the goods over on Too Many Manninghams this evening.  Please make sure to head over there as well!

Here's the cardboard feast the hard-working collector/teacher sent my way this time:

We'll start with a great page of Tigers vintage.  Italian-American IF Reno Bertoia appears on a sweet '58 Topps card, adding to my very small collection from that set.  As all great vintage cards are, this one's well-loved, especially on the back:

Meanwhile Tigers/Senators pitcher Howie Koplitz's is from 1962 Topps and appears to be the green tint version of his RC.  The '70 Topps dual RC of Norm McRae and Bob Reed was a revelation because I managed to catch on the back that Reed is a Michigan Baseball alum.  That spurred me to do another check of guys from my school on Baseball Reference (while cross-checking with Wikipedia since BBR has a lot of false positives, such as Bertoia above!).  I came up with eight other new guys to chase and eventually add to my PCs along with Reed and his four-card checklist, so that's super exciting for me!

Getting back to the action here, Freehan's second appearance in '70 Topps is a dupe but I'm more than happy to get extras of one of my all-time favorites.  Lopez's '82 Donruss base is new to me, as is my first Rediscover Topps buyback, this one an '84 Topps base of Wilcox.  And the one horizontal card was another one of those multiplayer RCs I love so much starring a Tigers trio.

And now a sextet of Tigers from Panini's very cool 2013 Hometown Heroes.  I believe I have the team set at this point but I should check.

Derek Hill and Ross Kivett are seen here in another Panini product, Prizm Draft Picks.  Hill was Detroit's #1 choice in 2014 but has lost some luster as a prospect, mostly due to injuries.  Kivett has since hung up his spikes and joined Tennessee's coaching staff, apparently.

And now we get into the Detroit guys I have sorted by player in my Tigers box.  Bonderman, Castellanos, and Clark were all first-rounders (Oakland took Bonderman, of course) while Cabrera and Encarnacion likely would have been as well if they'd been subject to the draft.  There's some very nice stuff here, especially a numbered Refractor of Castellanos and Topps Gallery base of Clark, not to mention a sweet pair of Encarnacions.

Call this scan "Five for Fielder" if you want, and I love that '95 Bowman's Best makes another appearance.  A&G and GQ cards of Fulmer remind me that I hope surgery and rest this offseason gets him back on track in 2019.  Infante and Jackson are both quality former Tigers, and I still miss the latter's fun play in the outfield.

Kinsler and J.D. are guys whose bats I definitely missed this year, though I won't be rooting for their Sox to spend their way to another title this year.  V-Mart had a nice overall career though I've been missing his bat for a couple years now.  McCann is still a decent catcher though his power has been missing for a while too.  Ordonez was a great pickup as Detroit returned to prominence and I miss his playoff heroics.  Sanchez has done quite well for the Braves this year after the Tigers' pitching coaches whiffed on getting him back to productivity.  And of course I miss Scherzer and the Tigers' overall success during his tenure in Detroit.

And some horizontal Tigers.  We already saw everyone in this group except for Fryman (Topps Laser!) but there's some good lookers again, especially Castellanos's Stadium Club base.

Unlike the 2018 Tigers there were plenty of hits to be had here (and that doesn't even include what you'll see over on TMM!).  Pudge's jersey is from 2008 SP Legendary Cuts' Destined for History Memorabilia set, and it looks nice as is typical of anything from that product.  I now count eight hits of the HOF catcher in my collection.

Fuji obviously didn't forget the name of my blog when he sent me a Justin Verlander relic too!  The Astros stud who's looking to repeat last year's title appears here on a jersey hit from 2017 A&G, giving me a lucky 13 hits of the former Tiger.

And finally, on a card that may have been worth more years ago, it's former top-10 pick Jacob Turner on a 2012 Triple Threads Gold jersey/auto.  The #9 overall pick in '09, Turner was useful to the Tigers as he was part of the deal that brought Omar Infante and Anibal Sanchez to Detroit.  The Fish got 0.3 bWAR out of Turner while Detroit enjoyed 7.1 and 8.1 Tigers tenures for those two, respectively, not to mention the 2012 A.L. pennant.

We'll finish things up today with a couple scans worth of my PC guys.  Fuji hit my Jim Abbott collection twice with new additions in the form of a 1990 Topps Sticker (shared with Andy Hawkins) and '95 Stadium Club Virtual Reality parallel.  While the Gibby Stadium Club base is a dupe, four of the five Griffey cards are new to me, including a '91 Ultra insert, a phone card from a set called 1992 Alrak Griffey Ace Auto Supply, a National Baseball Card Day issue from UD in 2006, and a 2008 Topps Dick Perez sketch card done by one of the guys who made the Diamond Kings name famous.  Is there anything more 90s than a phone card, fellow 80s/90s kids?

The final group begins with a quartet of Chris Sabo cards, and I was excited to find that the last three were new to me:  a '91 trio of Topps Glossy All-Stars (a checklist need!), Woolworth's Topps, and U.S. Playing Cards All-Stars.  Nicely done, Fuji!

Mark also sent a nice pair of cards of both Tram and Sweet Lou, which is the right way to do it and definitely the mark of a trading pro.  None were needs but there's no such thing as a card of either I don't want.  However, I did need the 2013 Triple Play base of JV, my second new addition of him in this package, so that was a win.

Fuji, thanks again for what was a well put together package in terms of both quality and quantity!  I look forward to piling up new stuff for you, especially at an upcoming show or two, and returning the favor as soon as I can.  Until then, good luck with another year of teaching!