Aside from collecting baseball cards, another of my hobbies is reading. Specifically, books about history or books about baseball. Sometimes, I like to mush both of those together and read a book about the history of baseball. A while back I had read Cobb: A Biography by Al Stump. You might be more familiar with the kind of terrible movie Cobb, staring Tommy Lee Jones that was based off this book. Anyway, even before I read this book, I was slightly infatuated with Ty Cobb. Something about the way people would talk about him with a slight sense of awe in their voice intrigued me ever since I was young. I was really hooked after reading the book, though. I can’t say I condone everything that Cobb did, but I sort of admire him for being such a son-of-a-bitch and treating baseball like he was fighting a war.

I’ve always wanted to own a vintage Ty Cobb card, but until I start lighting $50 cigars with $100 bills (Which by the way, don’t you have to light a match to set the $100 bill on fire? Why don’t you just use that to light your cigar? I swear, rich people are dumb.) there’s no way I’ll be getting my grubby mitts on a T205 or T206 or even a Goudey Sports King. I always figured that the closest I would get might be something like this:

I mean, it’s a vintage card. Of Ty Cobb. So it’s a vintage Ty Cobb, right?

I had actually been meaning to get this card for a while, but something would always come up to prevent it. I saw it for a reasonable $0.50 and decided that today was as good a day as any to welcome Tyrus to the collection. One thing I especially like about this particular card of him is that you can really feel the nastiness of the man. In my mind I know that it’s impossible for a baseball card to kick your ass, but in my heart, I’m not so sure.

Although I was able to score Ty for only half a buck, there was the little matter of the $3.00 shipping and handling fee. I just can’t justify paying $3.50 for a card that I won for $0.50. Luckily this particular seller combines shipping, and happened to have a gaggle of other 1973 Topps cards for sale, all for $0.50. Let’s see if we can’t make this a little bit more worth while.

If I’m going to have The Peach hanging around, I might as well have a few of his contemporaries to keep him company.

The Killebrew card is really awesome. It just looks like he’s licking his chops, waiting to demolish whatever that pitch coming at him is. The Alomar card I picked up because I always find it interesting to get cards of current coaches from their playing days. I mean, can you connect the strapping young man on this card with the laid-back old man who’s the Mets bench coach now-a-days?

I’ve always been a sucker for baseball nicknames. “Catfish” may not be the best one, but it’s pretty damn cool. Not to mention at the time this card came out, he was in the middle of 5 years in a row of 20+ wins. He went 21-5 in 1973. Jeez. As for the two gentlemen flanking Mr. Hunter, as a Mets fan, theres just a soft spot in my heart for these fellers.

Tags: 1973 Topps, Bill Buckner, Catfish Hunter, Cy Young, Dave Kingman, Harmon Killebrew, Sandy Alomar, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson
Filed Under: It Came from the 'Bay by slangon
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