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Baseball Cards

Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. These are kind of fun; it’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get. (Actually, I never understood […]

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NEW STUFF: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So… […]

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Kind of weird: it’s almost June and still no baseball book reviews in The New York Times? I know space is precious on those pages, but still. There are any number of worthy candidates. Get on it, Times. In the meantime: From the Rockford, Ill., Rock River Times, this piece on Steven K.  Wagner’s Perfect: The […]

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Since I posted the first of these last Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. As a reminder, I highly recommend Pocket as a way to hold onto links you come that you want to keep. Unlike bookmarks, Pocket […]

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I highly recommend Pocket as a way to hold onto links you come that you want to keep. Unlike bookmarks, Pocket keeps the entire page and makes it relative easy for you to find stuff you “pocketed.” I have keepers going back six years — more than 5,000 links — and I’ve decided it’s time […]

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Bob, a distant relative of my wife, passed away recently. He lived in Hoboken with his wife, who died several years ago. I didn’t know him well. He was a very quiet fellow who kept to himself during the biennial family reunions. I can’t even recall his last name on my own. It turns out […]

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Lest we forget: Sy Berger

December 15, 2014

The baseball card scion died yesterday at the age of 91. If you were a red-blooded American boy, you probably collected some form of “sports cards” as a kid. Most likely, they were the offspring of Berger, who created Topps back in the early 1950s. Although trading cards have been around for more than 100 […]

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I get the Poynt

June 11, 2014

I am signed up for a bunch of daily Google alerts which inform me about various sports topics, including baseball stuff and Jewish-related items for my other blog. Sometimes I even read them. After the death last week of baseball lifer Don Zimmer, I received a GA for a story appearing on the very serious-yet-entertaining […]

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From the Associated Press: Advanced Stats Find Way Onto Baseball Cards The advanced-stats movement is making headway in another area: baseball cards. Topps added WAR (wins above replacement) to its cards last year in a sign that the oft-debated metric is becoming more accepted by the mainstream. As a company that’s been making baseball cards […]

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Looking over the overlooked in baseball books stuff. In honor of Mothers’ Day, this piece by David Seideman in Forbes urges you to “Forgive Your Mom For Throwing Out Your Baseball Cards.” Is it my imagination or are Mookie Wilson and Bill Buckner turning into Ralph Branca and Bobby Thomson? MLB.com described Mookie’s new memoir […]

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(As opposed to this; you can stop watching at about the one minute mark.) What else can you say about the new set of Jewish Major Leaguers cards? The updated edition, the first since the 2010 “Deck of the Decade,” features all-new photography for the players who appeared during the 2010-13 seasons (including a clean-shaven […]

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Sure, we all know how rare the Honus Wagner and Mickey Mantle rookie cards are. And how valuable if they’re in pristine condition. How many times have we denied ourselves the pleasure of just handling the cardboard, worried about bending the corners or leaving finger prints? Back in the seventh grade, I did a project […]

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Brought to you by the folks at Mental Floss, the magazine that gave me my first national exposure and cover story (right). Have these World Series matchups ever happened? (Not to brag but I aced it.) The Baseball Card Brand Quiz (a lot tougher; ugh, I only scored 64%, which was slightly higher than the […]

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Josh Levin of Slate’s Hang Up and Listen podcast posted this educational piece on “The Worst Baseball Card of All Time.” Spoiler alert: It’s Bob Hamlin in the 1996 Pinnacle Foil set (card no. 289). Levin’s essay makes some very good arguments and offers a mini-history lesson on the industry, full of links to examples […]

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Every time I see a baseball-related story in a newspaper section or magazine that’s not specifically sports-related, I feel “vindicated,” that, as I maintain in my book, baseball touches so many aspects of American culture. In this case, it’s this piece by Dan Barry in today’s NY Times (my, he’s been a busy boy lately) […]

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Speaking about the topic some more, the Sabermetric Research blog posted these pieces about pitchers and hitters who, for whatever reason, missed out on having a baseball card printed. Now I’m not marketing expert, but I would have to imagine there would be some interest by hard-core collectors to have such players represented. As a […]

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A Cracker Jack idea

June 27, 2013

Tom Zappala & Ellen Zappala, who previously released The T206 Collection: The Players & Their Stories, a wonderful coffee-table edition about the the Holy Grail of baseball card sets, have done it again with their forthcoming book, The Cracker Jack Collection: Baseball’s Prized Players. The new book, scheduled for an August 1 release, follows the […]

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Bits and pieces, June 12

June 12, 2013

John  Rosengren was recently interviewed in Prime Time Radio to discuss his new bio on Hank Greenberg (audio). BlueJaysBanter, a “subsidiary” of Baseball Nation, posted this review of Jeff Blair’s Full Count: Four Decades of Blue Jays Baseball. David King will sign copies of his new book, Ross Youngs: In Search of a San Antonio Baseball […]

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Long gone are the days when Topps would post tiny cartoons talking about a player’s unique skill, accomplishment or hobby.       But fear not; as long as there are Jumbotrons, we’ll still be able to enjoy these gems.

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Investing in Dandy Sandy

November 21, 2012

BaseballCardInvestment.comt posted this piece on “Sandy Koufax Baseball Cards: A Short but Solid List.” I’m guessing it applies to at least a few of you out there.

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