My Jim Kaat Statue

On a recent trip up to Minnesota and to my favorite card shop, 3 Stars Sportscards, I came upon this statue of Jim Kaat in the racks of miscellaneous baseball stuff. 

Kaat played for 15 seasons with the Twins (and the Senators for two seasons before moving to Minnesota) from 1959 through 1973 and he is the statistical leader for pitchers who played as a Twin, winning 190 games. He can't keep up with Walter Johnson's pitching records if you include the Senators history with the Twins...which just doesn't feel right to me when discussing the best Twins pitchers. 

Here's a closer look at the box, which features a black-and-white photo from one of Kaat's early seasons with the Twins. 

The other two sides feature career stats and a nice write up on Kaat's career. Kaat is probably most famous for winning 16 Glove Glove awards at pitcher which was the record until Greg Maddux topped it with 18 career awards. 

And here is a closer look at the statue. Kaat's statue was a giveaway at a Twins game on September 12th which was against the Oakland A's. In total there were 11 statues given out from 2005-2009 and here is a look at all of them. Five dollars brought this one back to central Illinois with me!

The Original 1973 Topps George Scott Card

I've been a huge George Scott fan and I've been building a nice personal collection of his appearances. I finally tracked down his 1966 Topps rookie card last summer and back in 2010 I featured his second-year card from 1967 Topps in my Heartbreaking Damage series as someone had corrected Scott's weight on his card, adding 25 pounds.  Some of his 1970's cards are known for their airbrushing, including his 1977 O-Pee-Chee card which features an airbrushed Red Sox batting helmet.

His 1973 Topps card also has that look that something isn't quite right with the photo. The player images seem to be superimposed over the crowd photo and I thought it was so interesting I used the card as a part of a contest giveaway back in 2011.

Night Owl Cards brought up the '73 Topps card in honor of Scott's birthday on March 23rd and Bobbie of Detroit Tigers Cards and Stuff commented the the original background probably included a row of cars, just like this gem from 1973 Topps.

This inspired me to show the original George Scott card without the airbrushing..and sure enough, the action was taking place in front of a row a cars in a dirt parking lot!

Scott's original 1973 Topps #263.

My Retail Pack Success In 2017 Topps Heritage

I've been pretty interested in 2017 Topps Heritage but not enough to buy a box or blaster. So I have been exclusively buying retail packs, one or two at a time each time I stop at my local Target. And so far I've had some amazing results.

I've pulled three Rediscover Topps card in each of my first three packs. And for some reason I'm hitting a vein of Pittsburgh Pirates bronze and silver stamped cards including two 1987 Topps cards and one from 2014 Topps featuring a Future Stars card of Pirates outfielder Starling Marte.

While those are nice, they don't compare to this MOJO that I pulled in my third retail pack. A rookie autograph of Astros prospect Alex Bregman! These blue-ink autographs have gone for more than $150 on eBay and as I don't rookie prospect or particularly care about the Astros, the question is if I should sell it now or hold onto it and see what Bregman does in the season that might push things up. This is certainly my best retail pack pull in many years!

I also pulled one of the 1968 Topps Game rookies which are only available in Target retail packs.

And then there is a card of the year contender...or at least beard of the year contender! Jason Heyward's Cubs card which just makes me happy to look at.

Episode #15 Of The Trading Card Preservation Society Is Available For Download

The Trading Card Preservation Society has returned for a new episode a day before the release of 2017 Topps Heritage and Opening Day. Dave the Cardboard Junkie and I discuss other 2017 Topps releases including NOW, Throwback Thursdays, and Allen & Ginter. We also talk about the announced release date of the new season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 on Netflix and also recommend some binge-worthy shows to catch up on until Opening Day. 

Colligere Omnia!

Episode #15 - Direct Download