Random eBay Goodness, 1964 Style
November 29th, 2010 by slangon
It seems that my new modus operandi when it comes to buying cards is finding specific cards that I want / need for one of my various want lists, be it on eBay or Sportlots. Then look over whatever seller’s other inventory for other cards I need, or cards that I don’t necessarily need, but are cool none the less. This is obviously to justify the shipping charges and has nothing whatsoever to do with justifying buying more cards.
Anyway, a while ago, I was able to score a particular 1964 Met that I needed and it turned out the same seller had a bunch of other really cool ’64s for cheap and was willing to combine shipping. First off, here’s the Met that started the whole thing.
#324 Casey Stengel
Not only is this my second favorite Casey Stengel card, it marks the last Casey Stengel card that I needed for my Mets team sets. A small victory, I know, but a victory none the less. If you’re wondering, my favorite Casey Stengel card is his 1965 card, and it looks as if the photo from this card and that one were shot at the same time, which probably explains why they’re my first and second favorites. I think it’s because that jacket is awesome. Also, his posture really captures what it must’ve been like to manage those terrible Mets teams of the early 60’s. I think I like the ’65 better though because I like his facial expression more, and I like that it shows more of the stadium in the background.
One particular thing that I really like about these older manager cards is that the back is dedicated to talking about the actual manager, rather than newer manager cards that have team stats, or team leaders, or checklists or what have you on the back. I had no idea, for example, that Casey was actually a pretty good player. A batting average of .284 lifetime won’t get you in the Hall, but that’s a hell of a lot better than I thought.
#137 Willie Davis World Series Game #2
It’s a funny thing about the 1964 set. I never really think about it when I’m thinking about my favorite sets of the 60’s, but it really is a good looking set. This World Series card is an especially nice example, if you can overlook the very slight off centering. It’s a nice simple design, but the colorized photo really makes it pop, especially the red, white and blue bunting that pulls your eye right into the center of the action. It just screams baseball.
I also love these old World Series cards for the box scores and game recaps on the back, although it does kind of throw me off a little that they combine the offensive and defensive stats into 1 line. It’s also threw me off a bit looking at the Dodgers box score and seeing Moose Skowron, knowing that they were playing the Yankees.
#29 Lou Brock
I always find it interesting that certain players in my mind are so attached to certain teams that it comes as a physical shock to see them in another uniform. I mean, I’m well aware that Lou Brock played 3 and half seasons for the Cubs, but it still looks really weird to me to see him in that uniform. I also kind of feel like that seeing Fergie Jenkins as a Phillie, or Seaver as anything other than a Met.
#7 National League Batting Leaders
Lastly, I scored a pretty well used copy of the National League batting leaders featuring Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente and Hank Aaron. I had initially thought that this was my first and only vintage Roberto Clemente card, but now that I think about it, I’m 99.9% sure that this is actually my first and only Roberto Clemente card, period. Can you imagine that? With all the cards that have come out in the last 10-15 years that feature retired and legendary players, I have never owned one showing Clemente? I particularly like his expression on this card, especially when coupled with him hauling around about 100 bats on his shoulder.
I also love that the older League Leader cards show not only the numbers for the guys pictured on the front, but also the top 50 guys in whatever statistical category on the back. I find it very amusing that guys whose batting averages are barely over the Mendoza Line show up on the back of the batting leaders card.
I’m not sure how true this is, but from my experience is would seem that for whatever reason old league leader cards for pitching stats are a little easier to track down on the cheap than any of the offensive stats. I’m not sure why that would be, but it’s just something that I’ve noticed.
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