I put on my winter coat this season for the first time Friday. As always when returning to a coat that has hung in your closet for months, the pockets can yield forgotten mundanes from the past. The best: cash; the worst: gum wrappers or discarded tissues.
What would it be this time? Well, it was just a grocery store receipt. I looked at the date: March 23. I remembered buying the items on the list. It didn't seem long ago at all, like that happened last month. The year 2024 has gone by in a flash, the fastest year on record, I'm sure.
Today is day 337 of 2024 with just 29 days left. It's a nice time to pause for a moment and see what cards I can unearth that were numbered 337 in their respective sets! I haven't played this game in a year and a half so let's get to it.
As a reminder, this is a riff on the old idea that stars got numbers that ended in '0' or '5' and common players received the number scraps. I select five notable cards from my collection that are No. 337. Then I show five 337 cards that are not in my collection but I would appreciate them kindly finding their way there.
Let's see five cool ones that I own (sorry, 1980 Carney Lansford, you just missed the cut, I really love you though).
Pat Mahomes, 1993 Upper Deck
A former Cardboard Appreciation subject. Back then we were marveling over a rookie named Patrick Mahomes and I was going in the other direction discussing his dad. His dad has struggled with legal DWI issues this year and was sentenced to five years probation a few months ago. But I still like this card.
Joe Morgan, 1967 Topps
I am endlessly amused by Hall of Famers who received common card numbers early in their career, especially during the era of hero numbers. During an earlier edition of this series, I brought up Fergie Jenkins from this same set, which is card No. 333 -- just four cards away from Morgan.
Morgan finished second in ROY voting in 1965 and had a pretty good season in '66, being named an All-Star. He deserved at least a "5".
Keith Comstock, 1991 Topps
One of the biggest errors in the 1991 Topps set occurs at No. 337. Keith Comstock is shown with the Cubs even though he didn't pitch for them. The card was later corrected to show him with his actual team, the Mariners. The error card is somewhat rarer. The last time I wrote about this card I said I still didn't have the corrected one. Still don't. What am I even doing?
Jesus Alou, 1971 Topps
One of the finer batting action shots in the '71 Topps set. I gravitated toward these photos when I was first seeing some of the '71 set's cards while sitting on the porch of a friend's house. What tremendous cards, I thought. It was easily the biggest revelation while sitting on a porch I have ever had.
Rene Valdes, 1957 Topps
Rene Valdes' MLB career was five games and 13 innings for the 1957 Brooklyn Dodgers, but he is well-known in collecting history as he is a Brooklyn Dodger card existing in the rarer middle numbers in the 1957 set.
All right, that's five cards of my own. Here are five I do not own:
Willie Banks, 1995 Pinnacle
Mid-1990s Pinnacle shows up a lot in this series in the "don't have" segment. That's because I wasn't collecting then and also because there are so many interesting photos. Per usual with '95 and '96 Pinnacle, I could do without the random gold shapes that hog a lot of the picture. Not as bad as the '96 triangles though.
Art Howe, 2001 Topps
I think you know how much I like manager cards. Getting a 2001 card of Art Howe though is particularly cool as he was at the helm when the A's won 20 straight games in 2002. I suppose that would make Howe's 2002 card cooler, but that will have to wait for when I cover No. 299 on Card Numbers for Commons.
Al's Aces, 1961 Topps
More manager fun. 1960s combo card fun! The back tells the tale of how the White Sox are "relying heavily" on Early Wynn and Herb Score for the 1961 season, adding that Wynn is in his 20th season and Score -- just a reminder, guys -- is still recovering from being hit by a line drive four years prior. The two would combine to win 9 games (Wynn eight of them) and finish fourth.
Kirt Manwaring, 1993 Topps
It's a Cardboard Legend at No. 337 in the '93 set. I've discussed Kirt Manwaring's many great cards in a post previously. I showed a lot of his cards. Amazingly this one did not make the cut.
Tim Naehring, 1994 Upper Deck
It's another mid-1990s gem to close things out. I don't know how the ump feels about getting in the way of a play being caught on cardboard, but it does make for a great photo.
Will I add these five to my collection in the future? It's possible. Sometimes it's happened. Maybe I'll show those cards off the next time I update this series.
Enjoy the last 29 days of 2024.
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