June Vintage Show Top Ten #7

Tonight we have some 1954 Topps action for the price of a 2011 retail pack.

1954 Topps #226 Jeshosie Heard

The little green dot on the card sleeve means it was two bucks. Yes, this is Orioles Day on the blog. Here's a '54 rookie card of pitcher Jehosie "Jay" Heard. I think it was the only Topps card Jay ever got, as he made two appearances for the O's in '54 before being sent back to the Pacific Coast League. Those two games were significant ones as Jehosie was the first black player on the Baltimore Orioles.

The Orioles had technically integrated seven years earlier when the St. Louis Browns called up Hank Thompson and Willard Brown to the club in 1947. Jehosie was still the first for the franchise to wear a Baltimore uniform. Despite never playing baseball until playing on an Army team during World War Two, Jay went on to win a pennant with his hometown Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues and pitched well in the minors and Pacific Coast League. The 'toons on the back of the card feature his 20-win season and no-hitter in 1952. I actually passed this card up at least once at previous shows but I'm glad I finally picked it up. There's some real gems in the bargain box if you just look...

They're at it again

Topps is suing Upper Deck again. Something about UD having players Topps owns in Legendary Cuts. So now all the stuff has to be recalled even though half of it has already shipped and "prices are skyrocketing" blah blah blah.

I saw it first on Cardboard Mania, you can also get more details in The Daily, The Propaganda, and The Fantastic.

Topps and Upper Deck: A pox on both your houses. Quit fighting like you're Tweedledum and Tweedledee and put out better cards instead of shortprinting and pulling from production and recalling and all this crap designed to inflate prices. Somebody please give Donruss their license back already. *sigh*

To bring us back up from this bummer, here's some happy news from the world of memorabilia. Geddy Lee just donated over 200 autographed baseballs to the Negro Leagues Museum in Kansas City. MLB.com hilariously calls him "A Canadian punk rocker" in the article. I heard Geddy did it of his own Free Will too. Ha! I kill me. Good Job Geddy!

Extremely Last Minute Gift Idea For All You Fellow Procrastinators

Not for other people, for you. You deserve a nice present, right? No coal for my readers, I'll put a good word in for you all with the Fat Man. Sometimes it's hard to convince people that what you'd really like for a gift is a box of cards. Most people are bewildered that anyone would want such a thing, especially when you tell them there's no gum anymore. But no one, absolutely no one, will argue with giving a book for a present. Well, do I have a book for you. It's like three presents in one!

Heroes of the Negro Leagues is a baseball book created by a couple of comic book veterans, Jack Morelli and Mark Chiarello. This beautiful Aaron painting above is by Chiarello, who has previously worked on Star Wars projects and was the first colorist on Mike Mignola's Hellboy. This book features 60 different paintings by Mark all featuring prominent Negro League stars. The book description states that the watercolors were first used for a trading card set in 1990. They all look very much like old Goudey cards, although so far I haven't been able to find the original set online or in any price guide. Rare as it is, It's a great looking set that is blown up to 6 by 4 1/2 inches for this book and has new painting created for the book. The paintings aren't all there is, as you can see from this spread of Rome, Georgia's own "Dr. Cyclops", Max Manning:

Jack Morelli writes a brief biography of each player that is filled with interesting facts and anecdotes of his playing days. The write ups, while not incredibly detailed, are a good introduction to the players especially those that are not as well known. The effect is like a giant trading card of these Negro Leaguers, it's almost a shame the bio is on the page facing the card. You almost want to take apart all the pages and put them in card sheets. This is a really neat book for baseball card fans and people interested in the Negro Leagues. That's not all there is though.


You also get a DVD of the PBS documentary Only The Ball Was White narrated by Paul Winfield, based on the landmark book that details the oral history of black baseball. It's a book, a card set and DVD all in the same package. I got this for my birthday this year and I've really enjoyed it. If anyone else out there has procrastinated too long on buying a gift for a baseball fan this is a really nice gift (and cheap - you can pick it up for under 20 bucks). Or just let it kind of slip in your basket while you're buying presents for others. Hey, Christmas shopping is hard work, you could use a treat.

Card of the Week 7/30

The Simpsons just raked in 75 million bucks at the box office, so what better choice then the greatest Simpson (sorry, Joe) to play in the majors for card of the week?

Born in Dalton, GA, Harry Simpson was known as 'Goody' in his hometown for his helpfulness. He later was stuck with the nickname 'Suitcase' after a character in the popular comic strip Toonerville Folks who had feet the size of suitcases. Harry started his career in 1946 in the Negro League with the Philadelphia Stars where he was a teammate of Satchel Paige and Bill Cash. He raked the ball in the minor leagues in 1949 and 1950, earning him a call up to the Cleveland Indians in '51. Harry had a great glove, but didn't produce much at the plate as a rookie. Harry showed some promise in '52 with 10 homers and a .266 average, but a regression in '53 sent him back to the minors. The Kansas City A's purchased his contract from Cleveland in 1955, and Goody went on to have a career year in '56, hitting 293 with 105 RBI's and 21 homers. Harry went to the Yankees in '57 in the Billy Martin trade and played in the World Series against the Braves. Harry just missed out on a championship when he was shipped back to the A's in '58 at the trading deadline a year to the day of his last trade. Harry ended his major league run (and earned the 'Suitcase' moniker) in 1959 as he started the year with the A's, got flipped to the White Sox for Ray Boone and finally sent to the Pirates for Ted Kluszewski.

Harry wound up his career bouncing around the minors before finishing up in the Mexican League. Despite putting up good numbers in the minors, he never got another shot in The Show. Harry was one of the first black players to be called up to the major leagues. Only a dozen had made the majors before 1951, and only 5 teams had even integrated by the time of his debut. #150 is one of the first cards I ever had from my favorite set, 1953 Topps, and it shows a great smile from Goody after his breakout season of '52.