Pimpage - Jaybarker's Junk

Head on over to Jaybarker's Junk for a weekly recurring Free Card Friday contest  Free Card Friday.  It's really easy to enter (and I even won a few weeks back)!!

Better Late Than Never....Community Gum Group Break

Community gum is offering an all Upper Deck group break.  Teams still available and a special discount if you act tonight.  Break is located here community gum group break.

Kermit Washington - American University's Favorite Son

While many college sports programs regularly send numerous athletes to the professional ranks in multiple sports year after year, such is not the case for my alma mater - American University.  American is a small school in Washington DC with no football program and no baseball program.

A member of the Patriot League, American University competes in Division 1 NCAA basketball and has since 1966, but it wasn't until 2008 that AU finally earned a trip to the "Big Dance" (losing to Tennessee in the first round).  AU would return to the tourney in 2009 ultimately losing to Villanova (despite having a double digit lead into the second half).

While AU has had its share of big name coaches (Gary Williams who would go on to win a national championship with Maryland and Jim Lynam who would coach the Philadelphia 76ers) only one AU player would make it to the NBA - Kermit Washington.  Unfortunately Kermit Washington is best know for "the punch" - an unfortunate brawl where he punched  Rudy Tomjonovich - which largely defined and derailed both men's careers.

Before that incident Kermit looked to have a bright future in the NBA - earning All American honors while at American and a first round selection by the Lakers in the 1973 draft.  As you can see from the back of Kermit's rookie card, he became the 7th player in NCAA history to average 20 points and 20 rebounds for his collegiate career, joining Dr. J, Bill Russell, Artis Gilmore and Elgin Baylor.  In fact, he needed 39 points in his last college game to accomplish the 20/20 average - and he scored 40.

As an AU grad, one of my main goals at this year's national sports card convention was to obtain Kermit's rookie card (and a few other samples from his playing days).  They are not expensive and I managed to land all of these for less than the price of a can of soda.  

Shameless Pimping for All About Cards Contest

All About Cards is hosting a Panini America NFL Player of the Day Promotion where you can win a number of great prizes - check out the details here All About Cards - Contest.   There are a number of prizes available and a number of ways you can enter!!

Greatest Overachievers: 1993 Phillies

I make no attempt to conceal that I am a lifelong fan of the Fightin Phils.

I grew up during the glory years watching some really solid teams from 1976 through 1983 (including two trips to the World Series and a world championship).  Those were great teams...then stars of my youth got old and retired and we had some not so great teams (from the mid 1980's through the early 1990's).

We hit bottom in 1992 -  the Phillies lost 92 games and finished in dead last in the NL East.  There was not a great deal of optimism that the Phils would do much better in 1993.  But 1993 was a magical season - a worst to first Cinderella story - a season that included 97 wins, a playoff victory over the 104 win and heavily favored Braves, and a trip to the World Series.

What made this possible?  Certainly luck had something to do with it.  But more important was a sense of team - an unselfish style of play that allowed the Phils to platoon 3 positions (second base, right field and left field) with fantastic success.  I was recently reminded of the incredible statistics these platoons generated by Mitch "the Wild Thing" Williams on MLB Tonight as he fondly remembered the 1993 team and compared it to this year's A's team.

Let's take a look at the platoons -

2nd Base - Mickey Morandini/Mariano Duncan

Although Duncan played several positions for the Phil's in 1993, he is primarily known as a secondbaseman. Between Duncan and Morandini they accounted for 106 RBI and scored 125 runs.

RF - Jim Eisenreich/Wes Chamberlain

A true platoon in right field, Chambelain hit .282 and Eisenreich batted .318 and between them they knocked in 99 runs.

LF - Milt "the Stilt" Thompson /Pete Incaviglia

Another true platoon (Inky only played against lefties), this platoon managed 28 homers and 133 RBI and scored 102 times.

Although perhaps not as well remembered as Dykstra, Daulton, Kruk, Schilling and the Wild Thing, these 6 platooners were truly the key to the Phillies 1993 magical season.

My Collecting History Part 2 (the 1990's)

After a decade long hiatus from trading cards during the 1980's, I jumped back into the hobby in the early 1990's.  The hobby had changed quite a bit (more brands, more sets, nicer card stock, better photography) and cards were everywhere  - CVS, Rite Aid, hobby shops, and card shows just about every weekend in hotels and shopping malls.

Another thing I discovered around this time was the existence of price guides - Beckett, Tuff Stuff and a host of other magazines that charted the "book value" of cards.  Since Ebay was still a number of years away, there was no practical way to gauge the market and I, like many other collectors, just assumed "book value" was the same as "fair market value."

Like many collectors from this period, I have lots and lots of cards that look this

and this....

and this....

Notwithstanding the fact that these cards are "worthless" from a monetary perspective, they are (in many cases) beautifully designed and photographed cards.   The fact that these sets and singles, many of which include fantastic cards of hall of famers, can be obtained for next to nothing makes them extremely "valuable" in the sense that they are an extreme "value" to purchase.

For a fraction of the price of any current hot or even marginally hot "prospect" who may or may not ever make a major league roster, you can obtain dozens of hall of famers and future hall of famers from their playing days.

What you prefer in your collection -

This card

or a shiny, flashy card of some 16 year old kid you've never heard of who will probably never make it out of AA ball?  What if I told you the shiny card would cost you a $1 out of a 4 card pack at Target and would probably be warped and chipped right out of the pack?


 

The Kindness of Bloggers

As I look back on my various phases of collecting  - (from the 70's, the early 90's, the early aughts, and over the last several years) - the hobby has never been more accessible or enjoyable.

One of the aspects that has energized me to renew my interest in collecting over the last couple of years is the blogosphere and the community of collectors that resides in it.  I've enjoyed reading, commenting, participating in contests and group breaks...and I've really enjoyed the community (both as an observer and as a participant).

I recently participated on one of Kyle's group breaks at Juuuuust A Bit Outside.  Kyle hosts a group break every month and I regularly participate - usually selecting the Phillies.  Kyle recently sent me a card accidentally that was intended for another Phillies Phan.   Realizing his error, he emailed me and asked me to forward the card to another participant.  Kyle was very apologetic and offered to reimburse me for the postage - but the amount was minimal and he has always been great with his breaks - so I was more than happy to make sure the card made it to its rightful home.  

Fast forward a couple of weeks and, after the last group break, Kyle sent the following (in addition to my haul from the group break) -

As a Phillies phan I was thrilled with all 4 cards - thanks Kyle!!

The rest of the break was pretty kind to me as well.  It included a box of 1990 Leaf and 1998 Bowman's Best and I took the White Sox largely because I never owned a Frank Thomas rookie (too expensive in "the day").  Well - I no longer have that problem....

I now have these two...AAANNNND

These two!!

Plus a Sosa:

And a Pair of Maglios: