Saturday is NOT Card Show Day

I myself first realized that this was not a card show day when I arrived at the strip mall that hosts the monthly show and no one else was there... Oh well, always nice to take in the lovely weather. So, instead of showing more of my 1959 Topps set build (didn't add any new cards today), here are the other cards I added from the last couple shows.

Jerry Kindall knows a thing or two about Minnesota winter weather - he was a St. Paul kid and a University of MN standout. He hit for the cycle in the College World Series in 1956 and after his MLB career returned as the coach of the Golden Gophers in the 1970s. He was the first person to win the College World Series as a player and then win again as a manager.

Hey, Let's Add Two Cubs!

I don't like to show the price tags for the most part, but for this card is was an integral part of the story. I have said it enough times now that I'm not a big fan of the 1953 Topps set. I don't have any cards on my want list because I don't have any intention of adding any more to my collection. But here we are, talking about another new card added from the set. I am fairly certain I will not be able to afford a copy of Hoyt's 1952 Topps card, so when I found a copy of his 1953 card for just $10, I had to add it. If it was closer to the book value, I think I would have passed on it.

There you go - less tacky this way.

1952 Topps Horizontal cards, on the other hand, will always be on the list for me! This card has two good corners and two missing corners, which made the Hall of Famer an affordable addition!

Some more random finds included this Doc Gooden Leaf Rookie Card. The Gooden box bottom from the 1985 Donruss card is one of my favorite cards of the 80s, so it was fun to add this card as well.

Along with the French translation on the back, the Leaf card also has a "Rookie Of The Year" stamp over the stat block. When I first saw this, I thought someone added this after the fact, but looking at some other examples on COMC, it looks like it appears on all of them.

The rest of the haul included some more recent releases, There was a decent deal to be had buying all of these together from the same vendor.

The same vendor also had some relic and autographs for sale, and I picked up a pair of Adrian Beltre cards, who just has to wait a few more years before he can be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

This looks like a bat relic, but the disclaimer on the back doesn't use the word bat at all, and is keen to point out that this "game-used memorabilia" is not from any specific game, season, or event.... It could be from an Adrian Beltre bat, but I guess we'll never know for sure! 

NOW, More Than Ever

What a moment! I am unabashedly a Twins fan, and part of me was disappointed that Cleveland won this game, but there's no denying the excitement that Lindor brought to the crowd in San Juan, Puerto Rico last month. Topps Now of course was there to capitalize.

But Topps decided to do something special for this card, donating a portion of the proceeds to Puerto Rico hurricane relief efforts. Normally I would have skipped this card, but it tangentially involved the Twins, and directly benefited people in need. Topps would also add donations to two Stephen Piscotty cards, who lost his mother to ALS in May.

Topps found that there are still more ways to get me to shell out some cash with a new Topps Now feature called "Moment of the Week."

Ohtani has been every bit as good as advertised, and I couldn't pass up a chance to get in on the fun. I was unaware of the voting period this first time around, so I missed out on the gold parallel of this card, given out to collectors that voted for Ohtani to be the first moment of the week.

Last but not least, I still collect the Twins when they manage to make it on Topps Now cards. I was fortunate enough to be in attendance for this game, in which the Twins nearly gave away a 10 run lead to the defending champs. Kepler's homer was an absolute laser beam out to right field, and the whole ballpark knew it was gone the moment he connected with it.

I was able to see this game in person as well, as Mauer collected both hit # 1,999 and hit # 2,000 on the same night. The 2 run single for 2,000 was vintage Joe Mauer, a screaming grounder up the middle past the pitcher and into center field. His first hit of that night was greeted with a big roar from the crowd and the team played Prince's "1999" over the PA. It was good timing by Mauer, as the rest of the Chicago series was postponed due to snow and rain, meaning it would be some time before he would play in front of his home fans again. He's up to 2,025 hits now, though he just landed on the DL with a neck injury.

Bringing it full circle - the night after Lindor's homer, it was the Puerto Rican Twins players that put on a show. Jose Berrios pitched 7 shutout innings, and the winning run was scored by Eddie Rosario. This is the first appearance for Ryan LaMarre on a Twins card. He was a journeyman AAA outfielder and tore up spring training. Given the opportunity to start in the big leagues, LaMarre played very well for the Twins in April.

It seemed to me to be the very best outcome for the fans in P.R., with the heroes each night being from Puerto Rico.