Background Noise - 1987 Topps Ed Olwine

I am up against a deadline at work tomorrow, so I am going to take a different approach this week with this classy 1987 Topps card of Ed Olwine.  Instead of me dissecting this card for your entertainment, I am going to open up the commentary to you, the reader.  Just at a glance, there is a veritable cornucopia of noise going on in that peanut gallery behind Mr. Ed, so I am eagerly anticipating when I have the time to read your comments.

Please use the comment box to share your Background Noise observations!

Have fun, and bonus points to whoever can figure out the stadium!

Captured! - 1987 Topps

On the run for 43 days.  Brought to justice by Chunter and my Local Card Shop!

My Local Card Shop is Dead

BREAKING NEWS

I am interrupting tonight’s scheduled post about the 2013 MLB Tournament Prizes to announce that my Local Card Shop is dead.

I had to run to the post office during lunch today, and just around the corner is my Local Card Shop.  Having some free time, I dropped in and was immediately taken aback.  There were people in the shop.  A lot of people…I counted five.  The store was packed! 

I waved at the co-owner and she waved back since she was on the phone.  I surveyed the crowd again and wondered what was happening.  Is the 2013 Topps release that popular?  Maybe, I thought.  Then I saw one of the men had a camera.  Odd.

I glanced at another man and he had a measuring tape.  Strange.  A third man caught my eye because he was pointing around the room and talking on the phone in Arabic.  Surreal.  

The co-owner put down the phone and said to one gentleman, “No, I need the register until next week.”  Then it dawned on me, my Local Card Shop was dying.  “$50,” hollered one guy while pointing at the display case.  The co-owner bowed her head, seemingly studying her shoes, and then she acquiesced, “Alright,” she mumbled.

This is a nightmare, I thought.  I stood by the singles box, fingering the stacks in a daze, half-heartedly searching for a 1987 Topps Eric Davis to complete my set.  Before long, the co-owner was in front of me.  “I guess you figured out we’re going out of business,” she said.  I looked at her, and she had a tear in her eye.  Oh, no.  “Yes, I gathered as much,” I mumbled, motioning at the kettle of vultures.  

“He got a full-time job,” she said referring to the other co-owner, “An extra dollar and a quarter an hour.” “That’s great!,” I replied while thinking that wasn’t much, not near enough to cover the loss of the store.  She was called away to succumb to another insulting offer.

A few minutes later, she came back to me and said she’d miss my monthly visits.  From 2004 until last year, I worked one block away from the shop.  I’d stop by once a month, mainly just to talk cards with the owners and sometimes I’d buy a pack, or a couple Gwynn singles.

We made more small talk, knowing this was the end, until the moment teetered on uncomfortable.  She put up her index finger and walked away.  She came back with three empty 3,200 count boxes.  “Here,” she said, handing me the boxes.  “Fill them up with whatever you want, and I’ll charge you $10 a box.”

I paused.

“Go on,” she prodded, “We’ve got to get rid of the cards, and I would rather you get what you want,” while she eyed the vultures.  Hesitantly I took a box and stood there like a confused puppy.  “Anything I want?” I asked.  “Anything,” she said.

I spent the rest of my lunch hour completely overwhelmed.  I thumbed through countless boxes, and eventually filled all three 3,200 count boxes to the gills.  I could have been more thorough, I could have been greedy, but I just went for what I needed to complete sets.  

“Is that all you need?” she asked, as I left the store for the last time.  “It’s more than I could have hoped for,” I said.  As I was getting into my car, I heard the familiar chime on the shop's door, looked up and saw the co-owner coming out.  “Here you go,” she said, “I think you needed this.”

She handed me a 1987 Topps Eric Davis.

Background Noise - 1987 Topps Steve Carltons

It’s the little things that catch my eye when looking at a baseball card.  Whether it’s facial expressions, hand gestures, dated apparel, scenery, etc., there is almost always something special pictured on a card.  Nearly every card tells a story if you are willing to read it.

While thumbing through my 1987 Topps Traded set for the last Joy of Sets post, I noticed the Steve Carlton card.  Originally, I thought it may have been an airbrush because the scenery is so similar to the base release.  Here is a side by side comparison.

Both cards feature Lefty warming up on the sidelines prior to the game.  Both cards appear to be photographed at Tiger Stadium.  Both cards have fans in the background, and both backgrounds tell a different story.  

In the White Sox version, the background is drab, dreary and lifeless.  The card shows what can be assumed as the father leaning on the railing, looking off into the distance.  Behind him is his presumed son, wearing a jean jacket, shoulders slouched, and looking blankly at Steve Carlton.  In brief, this card breathes angst.

Conversely, the Indians version is vibrant and alive.  The colors are sharp, and what’s happening in the crowd is priceless.  LOOK AT HOW THAT YOUNG BOY IS GRIPPING THE RAILING AND ABSORBED IN STEVE CARLTON.  This card does not reek of the dysfunction of a father/teenage son relationship.  In fact, the father is immediately behind his son, and they are both engrossed in watching Lefty warm up.  What could quite possibly be the icing on this cake, but impossible to prove, is that I think the older gentleman in the newsboy cap is the grandfather. If so, I hope the boy has this card as a keepsake.

Three generations caught in the background of a baseball card, intently watching an all time great warm up.  That may not be the case, but it’s my story.

Name the Game - 1987 Topps Kevin Mitchell

This is an epic baseball card.  It was huge back in 1987, and unlike most of the junk wax era, I dare say this card has aged well.  Before we delve into Naming the Game, let’s dissect this card.

It is obviously a play at home given that the Expos catcher Mike Fitzgerald is in the frame.  What else do we see? 

1.    Catcher’s mask in the foreground.
2.    Fitzgerald with his head turned looking for a passed ball.
3.    Kevin Mitchell rising like a Phoenix out of a swirling, cloud of dust.
4.    Mitchell’s blue batting gloves, orange wristbands and orange undershirt.
5.    Kevin’s huge pack of chaw and accompanying “woooooo” look.
6.    The crowd is on their feet!

I bet 100 cards that PlayatthePlate has this card in his collection!  Now own to why we are here…

In 1986, Kevin Mitchell played in six home games against The ‘Spos in 1986.  A three game set in late June and a three game set at the beginning of August.  Of those games, Fitzgerald appeared in four, the entire June series and the first game of the August series.  Three of those four games were at night, so, easily enough, we are left with the June 25, 1986 game as the one shown on the card.

Let’s try and figure out what play this is!  In this game, Mitchell was 3 for 4, but only made it to home plate in the Bottom of the 4th.  To get on base, Mitchell lined a double to left field off of Andy McGaffigan, scoring Daryl Strawberry.  The next batter, Ray Knight, singled to Tim Raines in left, who then tried to nab Mitchell at home.  The throw made it passed Fitzgerald, allowing Knight to advance…The Mets went on to beat the Expos 5 to 2.

So, the play depicted on this card was during a June 25th 1986 day game at Shea Stadium between the New York Mets and Montreal Expos.  Specifically, the play at the plate was in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Quick Fact – Mike Fitzgerald began his career as a catcher for the New York Mets and was latter part of a trade that brought Gary Carter from the Expos to the Mets in December of 1984.

Wanted! - 1987 Topps

Completed January 30, 2013!

Re-Defining the Design - 1987 Topps Jose Canseco

I must say that I quite enjoyed my little tinkering with the 1981 Topps design, and I thought I'd give it another go.  

Next stop for the Delorean Time Machine is the fall of 1986 during a Topps design meeting for the upcoming '87 release.  I won't bore you with made up dialogue about how the 87 set was designed, but I imagine (obviously) it was an homage to the 1962 release.  A 25th anniversary homage.  And that can only mean two words, wood grain.  

The 1962 set is okay in my book.  Not terribly exciting, but I do like the peeled back photo look.  Makes it feel like a scrapbook to me.

Anyways, 1987 rolls around and we are bombarded with what must be the most overproduced set in the history of humanity.  There were even 17 cards per pack, instead of the standard 15 at the time.  Which meant each wax box doled out 612 cards, a 72 card increase per boxes from years past.  

I for one am dead tired of the 87 wood grain.  I have a 5,000 count box full of these cards, plus an unopened wax box (612), two sets in boxes (1,584) and another set in a binder (792) for a whopping approximate of 8,000 1987 Topps.  Ugh.  As my wife would say, it would make good kindling.

After staring at a mind numbing 8,000 1987 Topps, I needed to change the design.  First off would be sending that wood grain pattern to the lumber mill.  Good riddance.  Next up was expanding the picture to be more like a 1991 Topps.  Photos to the border, or balls to the wall for you Little John fans.  Move the Topps logo to the upper right, add a thicker boarder, and voila.  A new cleaner take on a super stale design. 

BEFORE

AFTER