History in a box

 

If I ever start to think that the blogs aren't the way they used to be, and isn't that a shame and all that, Rod from Padrographs will set me straight.

He's done it so many times. He did it just four months ago. And he's doing it now.

Rod is responsible for so much goodness in my card room, probably more visible examples than anyone else. Let's take a look around:

The fantastic Ron Cey poster Rod sent to me hangs from a wall just as you enter the card room. It used to be on a far wall next to one of my two card shelving units but I upgraded the unit, which obscured The Penguin, so I moved the poster to a more prominent spot.

This wonderful poster hangs behind the door of the card room. I study it all the time.

Rod once sent me an interactive children's book on Sandy Koufax, it is very cool. It is displayed high on a shelf and, yes, that clean baseball on the left was sent by Rod, too.

On the same shelf is the birthday card that Rod got Ron Cey to sign for me a couple of years ago.

So that's quite an impact. And you have to have talent to do that, not only find wonderfully random, obscure stuff, but also wonderfully random, obscure stuff that connects with me.

So this is what arrived this time in a big ol' box. Prepare for a picture-heavy post.

Rod said it all started with these 1978 TCMA cards from the 1941 Dodgers set. I love '70s TCMA more than almost anything card-related. I've owned only a handful of these and this gets me to more than half of the set! Such an overlooked team, beyond Mickey Owen's flub.

There was more TCMA ... and Laughlin ... and Shakey's Pizza! Love it. Those Galasso Glossy Greats are eternal favorites.

The bottom two cards are just a fraction of the Negro League cards that Rod sent.

These are from the mid-1980s Fritsch Negro League set. These are familiar to me because Fritsch used to send a sample Negro League card with your order, for the longest time that's all I knew about these cards, that there were samples.

 

How about this? This is the full limited edition Negro League Legends 100th Anniversary set, issued in 2020. All of the cards feature paintings by Graig Kreindler, who is the best baseball artist I have ever seen.

There are 184 cards in the set, these are some of the stars. There are multiple versions of many of the star players, featured in different uniforms.

Jackie Robinson card from his days with the Monarchs.

A card to represent the many unknown, undocumented players to compete in the Negro Leagues. Very awesome.

 

These are some cards from the 1990 Stars of the Negro Leagues set. I've long admired the look of these. Also, it's Turkey Stearnes birthday today!

A handful of other retro cards. There were quite a few of these cards, some of which I have already, but I think all these are new. 

These are not retro, they are actual vintage! Two of them, Fox and Cepeda, are new to my collection! I bet I can upgrade that Bunning, too.

Rod sent a stack of Pawtucket Red Sox cards from the 1987 TCMA set. Every last one of them! The cards are slightly taller than your average card, not sure why TCMA did that, it's gonna create storing issues.

But it's fun getting these notables from the late 1980s. I much prefer these kinds of minor league sets, from the '70s and '80s to what came along in the '90s, the Classic and Fleer stuff.

 

Rod never forgets Dodgers in his sends and all of these are needs. Love the James Outman card on the day after his extra-inning heroics against the Padres. Two-out-of-three, baby! 

 

More new-to-me 2023 Big League Dodgers. 

You saw the 2023 Bowman pack last week that I received from Rod. He also sent some other 2023 Bowman Dodgers! Yay! Send that stuff I will never open! Michael Busch is another hero from last night!

This card is freaky. It's not Max Muncy from his time with the A's. It is not a relative of Max Muncy weirdly using the same name. It is a totally new Max Muncy. The back says he shares the same birthday with Dodgers' Max. 🤯.

 

Rod also sent his creations of the recent Hall of Fame class members between 2018-2020. I like how these look.

Also, all but the Jeter and Walker are 1/1s! (The other two are 1/2).

 

Let's finish it off with a baseball magazine from 1985. Cool. I was kind of out of it on baseball during this period but it will be fun to leaf through. I need to get a handle on my periodicals though, starting to run out of room.

I'm going to end it there, although it's not everything Rod sent. Some I still need to find a home for and some you could see in trade packages.

But anyway, it's nice to get a variety-packed box like this, it's very generous and it's heart-warming, too. I will always love baseball history and it's good that there's someone on the blogs who knows that.