Nitty Gritty Old vs New-or the Clairvoyance of Topps

Welcome to the Nitty Gritty Old vs. New. Today’s pairing is card # 291 from 1960 Topps of Bob Keegan going head to head against #291 from 2009 Topps Heritage of Ubaldo Jimenez. Last year this card pairing didn’t make so much sense to me. Bob Keegan of the 1960 St. Louis Cardinals and Ubaldo Jimenez of the 2009 Colorado Rockies. Both are right handed pitchers for National League teams, but that was about it. Actually it didn’t even go that far. Keegan spent two seasons playing for the Rochester Red Wings (AAA) at the tail end of his career. They were the Cards AAA affiliate but he never threw a pitch for the Cardinals. There are more differences between the two. Keegan was an All Star in 1954 when he went 16-9 for the White Sox.
Jimenez had never been to an All Star game. Bob Keegan was most famous for his no-hitter against the Washington Senators in 1957. Last year Jimenez was most known for helping the Rockies to the World Series in 2007. Keegan never made it to the Series. Bob Keegan spent time in the Army Air Corps before hitting the big leagues. He was a rookie at 32. Jimenez began playing pro ball as a teenager and made his MLB debut at 22.
The pairing seemed odder at the end of last season when Jimenez struck out as many batters in 2009 as Keegan did in his entire career.
Now it makes more sense. The folks at Topps are clairvoyant. With his 7 wins Jimenez leads the National League and will probably start this year’s All Star game, so they have something else in common. Earlier this season Jimenez no-hit the Atlanta Braves to give them another thing in common. It all makes sense now. These righties have completely parallel careers. I don’t know how Topps knew that it would turn out this way, but it has. At just 26 years old, I think Jimenez is just getting warmed up. 1960 was Keegan’s final year in pro baseball. He was 38 and he spent the year in the minors. I think that Jimenez will outgrow the connection, but for now it makes perfect sense. Vintage always wins in this game, but I think that Jimenez will win out historically. His star is definitely shining bright right now, but you never know where the next pitch will end up. I love this game, I love its history. I really love this hobby! Thanks for reading! LATER.

1964 Topps Giants-An Update

I have not been able to scan them yet, but I have recieved a number of brandy new 1964 Topps Giants for my collection. My list of Hall of Famers now includes Mickey Mantle, Al Kaline, Juan Marichal and ROBERTO CLEMENTE!!! I am very psyched about that last one. There will be posts of all of these giant cards, but there is now an official want list. You can check it out HERE. I am gonna get to work on getting some more list together right now. Thanks for reading. I love this hobby. 46 years later!

The Nitty Gritty is Back and It's GIANT!!!

Greetings Nitty Gritty card collectors! Has anyone noticed that it has been a few months since I have posted here? I don’t think I have added a post here since early to mid-December. The reason is VERY simple. On this blog I am showing every card in the 1978 Topps set, one card at a time, starting at #1 and working up. Well… I took the next 9 cards I needed to scan out of the set’s binder to scan them AND I HAVEN’T SEEN THEM SINCE! Who knows where they are. Somewhere in my house I am sure. I have sorted through several thousand cards this month and they haven’t turned up yet. When they do, the 1978 Topps blog will return. Until then I want to write about other sets I am building. My newest obsession is the 1964 Topps Giants set. It is a small set (in quantity), it only has 60 cards in it (1-60). It was made by Topps in 1965 and the cards are oversized, hence the name Giants. They are the same size as 1969/70 Topps Basketball Cards. That was a set I used to obsess over. It took me over a decade to finish it in near mint condition and I started out with a gem copy of Lew Alcindor. Divorce sucks. Anyway, I am pretty obsessed with this set at the moment. I have lucked out in a major way that a lot of folks out there had one or two of these laying around. Out of 60 cards I need 26 more to finish the set, meaning I am at 57% completion. I have some of the big names in the set like Mantle, Clemente, Whitey Ford, Killebrew, Kaline, Bob Gibson, Brooks, Frank Robinson, Yaz, Juan Marichal and Warren Spahn, BUT I am still lacking Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Sandy Koufax along with 23 other slightly less legendary players. Anyway, once I get a scanner I intend on posting ’64 Giants as I get them on this blog. I put Milt Pappas at the top of this post and the card’s back here to give you an idea of how amazing these cards are… For now, here are the cards I need to finish off the set. If you have any of these OR if you have sleeves or top-loaders that fit these cards, please get in touch.
1964 Topss Giants Needs List
Gary Peters Chicago White Sox #1
Sandy Koufax LA Dodgers #3
Ron Hunt NY Mets #6
Roy McMillon New York Mets #8
Nellie Fox Houston Colt 45s #13
Tony Gonzalez Philadelphia Phillies #14
Dean Chance California Angels #16
Dick Ellsworth Chicago Cubs #17
Chuck Hinton Washington Senators #20
Elston Howard New York Yankees #21
Joe Torre Atlanta Braves #26
Eddie Brinkman Washington Senators #27
Bob Friend Pittsburgh Pirates #28
Bill Freehan Detroit Tigers #30
Camilo Pasquel Minnesota Twins #32
Jim Maloney Cincinnati Reds #34
Dave Wickersham Detroit Tigers #35
Luis Aparacio Baltimore Orioles #39
Dick Stuart Boston Red Sox #42
Wayne Causey Kansas City A’s #45
Galen Cisco New York Mets #47
Hank Aaron Atlanta Braves #49
Willie Mays San Francisco Giants #51
Juan Pizzarro Chicago White Sox #53
Leon Wagner Cleveland Indians #54
Orlando Cepeda San Francisco Giants #55
Bill Skowron Washington Senators #60
Thanks for checking out my list! 45 years, LATER!

New Name, New Format, Totally Not A Drag Man...

This blog is obviously all about the great set produced by Topps Chewing Gum Inc. in the year of 1978. Here are some facts about the set that you should know before we get any farther along in our card a day journey to the ends of the earth and the set. After 5 years of issuing a 660 card set, Topps increased the number of cards to 726 in 1978. It was the most since the 787 card set of 1972. Unlike ’72, the ’78 set didn’t include “In Action” cards. This 726 card format would last for 4 years until they bumped it up to 792 cards in 1982. It was also the second consecutive year that Topps didn’t offer a regular traded set-this would return again in 1981. Of the 726 cards in the set, the first 7 are “Record Breakers”, cards 201-208 are duel player league leader cards and cards number 411-413 chronicle the playoffs. The set also includes 6 double sided checklist cards and cards #ed 701-711 were 4 player rookie cards that were separated by position. There are 4 rookie pitchers cards and two cards each for catchers and outfielders. All the other infield positions received one card each. This set has an incredible crop of stars and represents 33 different Hall of Fame players and managers. It also includes 26 manager cards with a current photo and a picture of the skipper as a player. There are 26 different team cards as well, most often with a team photo on the front and a complete checklist of cards depicted from that team on the back. These team cards are difficult to find properly cut and centered. Taking away these aforementioned cards, the set includes a total of 639 different single player cards, including the first ever Topps card of Eddie Murray and the final card of Lyman Bostock. This blog will show each and every one of the 726 cards of this amazing set in numerical order. The blog now has a new name and will follow a very strict, yet groovy format as we journey to the end of the set in 5 cards per week intervals. It will be a long and strange trip indeed. Aside from showing a new card every day (or so) there will be a number of special additional and reoccurring features that may or may not include: “Where were you in 1977?”, “Saturday Night Special ‘Staches”, “The Oscar Gamble Hair Watch”, “Jive Turkeys”, “1978 Season Rewind”, the “Sounds of ‘78”, “This Date in History”-a 1977 and ’78 version, “Wednesday Morning Upgraydez” and features on players with ties to this great and groovy year. You’ll have to trust me when I say that it will in fact be far out. We will, on rare occasion, showcase cards that aren’t from 1978, but have close ties and significance to that year. Just like on the Collective Troll, there will be contests. The first one will occur when this blog nabs its 50th follower and it will not be a drag, trust me… It won’t be corduroy, but the contests will have a 1978 feel and appeal to them. Hop on the “Nitty Gritty” card blog train and enjoy the ride! Mike Sadek is on deck… 31 years, LATER!