Connecting through collecting

 

(The giveaway results for the 2008 Heritage black back cards are at the end of this post).

I mentioned yesterday that I added the 1970 Topps Tommy Davis card to my collection at the card show on the day that he passed.

It sometimes takes the death of a ballplayer for me to realize how many connections I've made to that player through my collection. Although Tommy Davis' best days as a player were with the Dodgers, that was before my time, and I'm pretty sure I never saw him play a single game even though he lasted well into the 1970s.

 

But those connections are still there, it was never more apparent yesterday.

 

For example, I walked into my card room last night and looked to the far wall where some binders are stacked on the floor. On top of those binders are some Jay Publishing Dodgers photos that I received a couple of years ago. I've been recently getting those photos into a binder. But the ones that have been mounted I still need to decide what to do.

 

At the top of the stack, staring at me were these three:

 

Three of the same photo of Tommy Davis in Dodger Stadium, but with different-size signatures.

Right there, as plain as day, the connection I've made to Tommy Davis with my collection.

There are others, too.

This was the last card that I needed to complete the 1960 Topps Dodgers team set. I acquired it last September.

 

This is the first 1964 Topps Giant card I ever acquired. It arrived in a trade at this time eight years ago. It introduced me to how wonderful Topps Giants cards are and I am now part of a growing group that considers them one of the greatest sneaky finds in card collecting. Tommy Davis introduced me to that.

Tommy Davis also introduced me to another oddball set from 1964, the Topps Stand-Ups.

These cards left intact go for a fair amount and since Sandy Koufax is also in the set, this is likely the only Dodger that I'll own from it. But I like that idea quite a bit right now, Tommy Davis as my lone '64 Stand-Up.

 

Tommy Davis was even instrumental during my very first year of collecting baseball cards.

This card was one of the first minis that I owned back in 1975. I don't have that card anymore, although I still have a number of other original minis. I wish I did still have it. It means more now. And it's nice to have that 1975 Topps blog to go back to and relive the memories of those 1975 days. This is what I wrote about that wonderful mini back then:

It was indeed one of the most prominent minis at that time, that card and the Steve Garvey mini. I can't tell you why. I just really liked it.

There's a mini-size comparison with another notable Tommy Davis card. The '61 Topps card was the one I saw displayed the most yesterday in Davis tributes. Everyone loves the rookie trophy.

But Tommy has other notable cards:

This is a powerful a cardboard testament to Davis' abilities as a hitter. Tommy Davis beat out them all in 1963.

Probably my favorite Tommy Davis card from that very memorable year of 1963.

I'm not accustomed to saying goodbye to players from the '60s (or that matter, the '70s). I'm just getting used to players from the '50s departing.

But if you look at the 1963 Dodgers World Series team, Davis, John Roseboro, Ron Fairly, Jim Gilliam, Willie Davis, Don Drysdale, Wally Moon, Bill Skowron, Johnny Podres, Ron Perranoski and Larry Sherry are all gone.

 

Card collections help you stay connected to those players even after they're gone. I've been fortunate enough to meet a few major league players and I can say for a fact that when those players depart, those cards and artifacts mean more than ever.

 

I never met Tommy Davis, but all of the cards I just showed have just risen in stature.

 

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OK, it's time to give away the Heritage black backs!

 

This is what you're playing for:

 

Colorful, huh?

Now you know why I was suckered into collecting 2008 Heritage, including all the black backs.

I thought I had accumulated all of the non-High Numbers black back cards, but when I just counted them now, I came up with 106 and there are 109 in total. I've messed up the order of the cards, but when I send them to the winner, I'll note if any of the cards are missing. You're definitely getting most of them anyway.

The few cards at the very top of the picture are the smattering of black backs I have from the high numbers series.

All right, randomizing time.

There were eight people who signed up for the giveaway. Sometimes when I do these randomizer giveaways, someone notes that the person listed first always gets shafted in the three-randomization format.

So, I decided to randomize the order first. Here is the order I went with after three clicks:

So with that new order, here is the list:

1, jafronius

2. AndyNY2

3. Fuji

4. Kevin Bradley

5. Brett Allen

6. Derek

7. Nachos Grande

8. RunForeKelloggs

(sorry, jafronius, I guess you're No. 1 now).

And now, after randomizing that list three times, the winner!:

(Don't tell me what to do, randomizer!)

Congratulations, Derek! You are the winner!!!

Please send me your address. (email: nightlite77@yahoo.com)

You should expect some nifty 14-year-old Heritage cards ... uuuuummmmm, by June.