Birthdate cards, Part 2

 

Last week Diamond Jesters celebrated his milestone birthday with a week's worth of posts featuring cards with a number that matches his birth date. He invited others to do so as a blog bat-around.

 

I love a good blog bat-around. But I had already written a post with this theme two years ago on my birthday. So I weighed not participating at all with having to come up with a post of original material and ... sequel it is!

 

Here are 10 more cards with 716 on the back. I guess these are the second-best, though it would be tough to tell as it's not a number where Topps or anybody else was stashing their stars. Just like the last time I did this, I'll mention whether I have the card or not and if I don't, I'll add whether I'd like to own it.

 

 

2006 Topps Update Barry Bonds HR History, 716th HR

 

Do I have this card? No. I may have had it at one point, when I was including the massive HR History insert set in my quest to have everything related to 2006 Topps. But I gave that up, because what the hell is a Dodger fan doing collecting Barry Bonds cards? Almost all of those cards I had are gone now.

 

This is the home run that pushed Bonds past Hank Aaron's record-breaking homer, although that wasn't the record any longer. Still significant among those who were around in the '70s though.

 

 

Bob Ferris, 1981 TCMA Minor League, Salt Lake City Gulls

 

Do I have this card? No, but all of the TCMA minor league cards from this period appeal to me. Bleachers AND folding chairs!

 

Bob Ferris played seven games for the Angels in 1979 and 1980 but wasn't lucky enough to get a Topps card, not even one of those multi-player rookie stars things. 

1978 Topps Clarence Gaston

 

Do I have this card? Yes. A nifty shadow shot of the future MLB manager known as "Cito". Probably was "Cito" as a player, too, but Topps had to be so formal -- except when it wasn't.

 

 

1988 Topps Lenn Sakata

 

Do I have this card? Yes. I like the shot here and the background with the bullpen guys in the distance.

 

I've mentioned before that my brother and I found Sakata amusing in that "he's not very good, he won't last" kind of way. This was in the late '70s. Turns out Sakata lasted all the way into the late '80s, past the time both me and my brother stopped caring about baseball cards. He lasted longer than we did.

 

 

2006 Upper Deck Andy Phillips

 

Do I have this card? No. It's a nice shot and you don't see this kind of close-up often, but the only reason I'd want it is the same reason I'd want any of the 2006 Upper Deck cards -- I collected this set almost as much as Topps in 2006. They remind me of getting back into the modern hobby.

 

 

1984 Topps Active American League Strikeout Leaders

 

Do I have this card? Yes.

 

This card looks impressive by itself. But if you've completed 1984 Topps, you know how many cards are in this subset, that they are consecutively numbered, and it's pretty mind-numbing to see them all together in a binder. This is the first set I bought as a complete set at the start of the year. These cards struck me as filler right away.

 

 

1970 Topps Cards Rookie Stars (They could have fit "Cardinals" on this!)

 

Do I have this card? Woo! Yes!

 

This is one of the final cards in the 1970 set, meaning it's a tricky high-number, as you can see by the condition of my copy. Reggie Cleveland is the only player here who had a long MLB career. 

 

1993 Fleer Super Star Special Edgar Martinez and Robin Ventura

 

Do I have this card? No. Sure, I'd take it, I wouldn't mind having all the Super Star Specials.

 

The back of this card is titled "Hot Corner Hammers" and I would've liked to see that on the front.

 

 

 

2018 Topps Heritage High Numbers Ichiro 

Do I have this card? No. I'd definitely like to own it. It would fit nicely in my night card binder, especially since I don't have many of the higher numbers filled.

 

Ichiro is the only player to feature two 716 cards that have both shown up in my countdowns.

 

 

1986 Topps Rickey Henderson All-Star

 

Do I have this card? Yes.

 

I should have found a spot for this card in the previous Birthdate post. All of the '80s All-Star cards are cool, though there are some cooler than others and the 1986 ones definitely qualify. I prefer my Rickey cards with the A's (or Dodgers) but it's a minor inconvenience.

 

So there's 10 more for ya. I think that'll be it. Hollywood can come up with five or six or 14 sequels but some of us have standards. Though nobody's paying to read this like they are to watch movies, so I probably could do this until I ran out of 716 cards. 

Oh ... and since I'm mentioning Diamond Jesters, here are the cards I received in the last Time Travel Trade round:

 

 None of them are numbered 716, sorry. They don't add up to 716 either.