King of the 6-for-5 Bin
May 19th, 2010 by slangon
It had been quite a spell since I made my way over to the local card shop. I trying to give them time to refill the good old 6-4-5 bin. I think it worked because as I was looking through it there was only a small handful of cards that I remember seeing in there during my last trip. There was a whole gaggle of new cards in there though, and by new I mean old cards that weren’t there last time I checked.
(Also, I’m sure I don’t need to point this out, but all the titles of these posts dealing with cards I’ve pulled out of this bargain vintage box are all loosely based on B-Movie titles. Over the weekend, I stumbled across a couple of books that I had, and completely forgot about, that are all about the incredibly awesome looking posters for all those crazy sci-fi and horror flicks. It struck me that it would be fun to use those posters for headers on these posts, in slightly modified form.)
So without further ado, here’s todays 6 for 5.
2005 Topps #330 David Wright / Craig Brazell Future Stars
2007 Topps Heritage #436 David Wright / Ryan Howard
I don’t mean to throw you off by starting this post about cards I got from the vintage bargain box with a couple of cards that are only a few years old. You see, in addition to the vintage 6-for-5 box, the shop also has a bunch of other themed boxes including a Mets 6-for-5 box which I also occasionally delve through. I wanted to get these cards out of the way early because I’m a little peeved at Mr. Wright at the moment. Coincidentally, just yesterday I posted about a 2002 Bowman David Wright card that I picked up and proceeded to spend a goodly amount of the post complaining about how I was confused about whether or not that was actually his rookie card and blah blah blah. Obviously since that 2002 card was fresh in my head, I knew damn well that a 2005 card wouldn’t be David’s rookie, but I can see how someone could easily be duped into thinking that that top card might be his RC. Confusing, yes? Once again, I’m very much starting to appreciate that stupid Rookie Card logo. By the way, is anyone else obsessed with rookie/future star/prospect cards that pair up guys who go on to become stars with guys who make you say “Who the hell is that”?*
That ’07 Heritage card is just incredibly nice looking. I’m not sure if this has to do with present day Topps slipping a bit, or if the designs that the Heritage cards are based on slipped a little as the years went on, but I think the retro sets are going down a little. I’m not just talking about design either. I feel like the actual card quality has been dipping as well. I could be wrong though. I would love to play Name the Stadium with this card since I don’t think that that background is a modern day stadium, but I don’t have the energy right now.
1971 Topps #91 Bob Lemon
Another day, another manager card. Also another Hall of Famer card. Bob here was a 7x All-Star, 2x World Series Champ (1 as a player, 1 as a manager), 3x Sporting News Pitcher of the Year, 200 game winner, no-hitter thrower and 1976 HOF inductee. One complaint I often read about with this 1971 set is that it’s really hard to find nice copies of the cards due to that black border being so susceptible to chipping and dinging. Considering the condition of all my other 71’s, I’d be inclined to agree. This one is pretty sharp looking though. By the way, that stadium is pretty obviously Yankee Stadium, which happens to be the team that Bob managed to a World Series Championship.
1977 Topps #277 N.L. Championship
Among the myriad types of cards that I really love are cards that highlight specific games, such as World Series cards and Championship Series cards. One point for this card. I also love photographs that really capture what a particular player is all about, such as showing Charlie Hustle hustling. Two points for this card. I also really don’t like the Philles so any card that calls attention to a low point in their history is aces in my book. 1,000,000 points for this card. Every time I look at this card I’m immediately draw to the fact that Pete has lost his helmet, but I always imagined his skull being way harder than any plastic helmet that could be produced by man.
1981 Topps #479 Tim Raines / Roberto Ramos / Bobby Pate Future Stars
Grabbing the rookie card of a borderline Hall of Famer seemed like a no brainer to me. I always liked Rock as player and he getting further points for being the manager of the Newark Bears, who are one of the local minor league teams around these parts. I kept meaning to try and get to one of their games last year to try and get his autograph, but having a 1 year old son makes that a bit hard. There’s always this year, though. Tick tock, BBWAA.
1977 Topps #390 Dave Winfield
I think this is my first card from when Dave worked at McDonalds. It takes a lot to wear that uniform and still look like a bad-ass mofo. Did you know that Winfield was also drafted by the Minnesota Vikings, the Utah Stars and the Atlanta Hawks? Shortly after this card came out, he bagan his amazing run of 12 straight All-Star appearances, sprinkled with 7 Gold Gloves and 6 Silver Sluggers. No wonder he seems to be looking ahead on this card.
* I had a bitch of a time trying to figure out how to punctuate that sentence. I’m still not sure I did it right. Does anyone know how to punctuate a sentence that’s a question that ends in a quote that is also a question?
I love me brown & yellow Padres cards!
As for your punctuation question, unless it is a direct quote from a specific person the quotation marks are not necessary. Perhaps a single ‘quote’ with the question mark inside would have been better.
I promise not to call the grammar police on you.