It Came from the 6-for-5 Bin
June 12th, 2010 by slangon
A couple of weekends ago I was playing poker with some buddies and ended up with $50 more than I started out with. I needed some binder pages from the card shop, so I perused the 6-for-5 bin while I was there. I was able to hit a few cards from the ’73 set this go-round.
1973 Topps #208 World Series Game 6
I don’t know if this was just coincidence or what, but 3 out of the 4 1973 cards I snagged this go-round were from The Big Red Machine. I suppose it’s not really coincidence. I guess it more has to do with the fact that the 6-for-5 box is mostly Hall of Famers and other stars, and since I was consciously trying to grab 73’s, that pretty much sums up the Reds that year. I guess it is a little ironic however that the card that I chose to point out how many stars were on the Reds back then features Bobby Tolan and Denis Menke (who was on deck at the time) greeting Johnny Bench after Cesar Geronimo drove in Tolan and Johnny Bench with a single. (Or at least that’s the play I assume this is, as that’s the only play in Game 6 that I can find that would explain why Menke and Tolan would be at home as Bench came in.) I guess that’s at least 1 star.
1973 Topps #275 Tony Perez
Normally, I much prefer action shots on my 70’s baseball cards, but I do also enjoy the old Spring Training sideline shot. As long as there’s stuff going on. I find that there’s something slightly disturbing about seeing a picture of a dude on a baseball field when there isn’t one single soul around him.
1973 Topps #230 Joe Morgan
It’s funny. Looking at this card, I can almost see that chicken wing flapping. It’s also funny that I like this card despite how much I hate him as an announcer.
1973 Topps #64 Lou Brock / Bert Camaneris
I’ve always been a pretty big fan of League Leader cards and for whatever reason, I’ve always liked the stolen base as an offensive weapon. This card, therefore is a pretty sweet one in my book. A Stolen Bases League Leader card that features the #2 and the #14 All-Time Leaders in that category.
1975 Topps #150 Bob Gibson
You know how cards that are off-center are graded as far as how off-center they are? Like a card may be graded 60/40, meaning 60% of the border is on one side while only 40% is on the other. Would you say this one is 95/5?
1980 Topps #720 Carl Yastrzemski
Finally, we have a 1980 Yaz. It’s funny. I think 2 months ago I didn’t own a single Yaz card. Now I think I have quite a few. I feel like I also had no idea how to spell Yastrzemski 2 months ago. Now I can do it without even looking. I like his red batting glove. It looks like a bloody hand.
Nice group of cards! They really make “red” look good and I always liked the swooping Yaz signature.