CLOSED...1961 Topps $15 Auction...Day 36

[HercDriver]

So...who won the first game in Mets franchise history? I’ll give you a hint. It was’t Cal McLish. He would have been the answer to “ who has the greatest name in baseball history?” I’m not talking nicknames, I’m talking what’s on the birth certificate. And if you can beat Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tuskahoma McLish, I just might buy you a beer. Look at the card...his name was so long, that he fell asleep, trying to spout it off for the Topps guy. Or maybe he’s just concentrating to get it all, in the right order. And if you guessed that Jay Hook took the first Mets victory, raising their record to 1-9, then you just might get another beer. It did raise their night game record to 1-1, which made them a more formidable franchise as the sun set. Roger Craig got the first win in the sunshine, in game #14. If that comes up today at the water cooler, you’ll now be prepared. Have a great one!

Card Tracker:
105 cards, at 48 cents each, shippped

[HercDriver]

Hmmm...Team cards, or Felix Mantilla? As a Cubs fan, team cards were always disappointing, because while everybody else had an actual team photo, the Cubs had those ridiculous heads. And then there was 1979, when I sent away for a sheet of team cards from an offer on the wax packs. The sheets came, but they were this horrible, thin cardboard, with a cream colored back, that didn't match the rest of the cards. And then they looked even worse when I cut them all apart. The jury is still out on team cards for me. As for Felix Mantilla...did you know he's the guy who broke up Harvey Haddix's perfect game in the 13th inning? He led off by getting on base on an error. Of course, Haddix ended up losing the game, 1-0. But did you know it should have been 3-0? With Mantilla on second, and Hank Aaron on first, Joe Adcock hit a homer to win the game. Aaron didn't realize the ball had cleared the fence, so when Mantilla crossed the plate, he headed for the dugout. Adcock rounded the bases, passing Aaron. The result was that Adcock was credited with only a double, and Haddix lost his perfect game, 1-0, instead of 3-0. Have a great day!

Card Tracker:
110 cards, averaging 45 cents each, shipped

[HercDriver]

Remember in the way back days, during rain delays, when they would play the old World Series films? I loved those! It was like watching your old baseball cards move. I hadn't seen a lot of those guys play in the sixties, and by the time I did, they were at the tail end of their careers. That's where I got to see Clemente, Mantle, Aaron as a kid, and more. But I remember watching the 1959 World Series film, and seeing the AL Smith beer shower, and just thinking it was awesome! Here's the famous pic, and below that, you can see the video, at the 7:50 point in the film. Poor Al. Evidently, the man that spilled it was asked to be on "I've Got a Secret," but didn't want the attention. Enjoy...and have a great day!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U7v4YeyZcY

Card Tracker:
112 cards, 45 cents each, shipped

[HercDriver]

Jackie Jensen is certainly a guy who could have been so much more. He won the MVP, then was out of the league, just three years later. And it wasn’t for production. He led the league in RBIs in 1959, and finished 10th in the MVP voting, then retired. He tried to comeback in 1961, but then left again. If you didn’t know, he had a crippling fear of flying, and as the league started to expand, he just couldn’t handle the panic attacks anymore. I looked up other athletes that were afraid to fly, and was surprised the Wayne Gretzky was one of them. His roommate, Ace Bailey, was a huge part of calming him down and allowing him to become the best ever. In a horribly tragic coincidence, Bailey died on UAL 175, when it hit the South Tower on Sept 11. RIP, Ace...and everyone else from that horrific day.

Card Tracker:
116 cards, at 43 cents each, shipped

[HercDriver]

Don Larsen...wow. Could you have picked an unlikelier hero for the Yankees? The one guy to throw a perfect game on the biggest stage? He had been shelled in his previous WS outing, and would be in his next one. Not only that, but according to his SABR bio, he had a court order in his locker for not paying support to his wife and child. The court was looking to seize his WS share to pay his debts to his family. His teammates didn’t even know he had a family, they thought he was a hard-drinking bachelor. Mantle was quoted as saying “Don had a startling capacity for liquor. Larsen was easily the greatest drinker I’ve known and I’ve known some pretty good ones in my time.” He was a below .500 career pitcher, but was 4-2 in the post season, and won the NL tiebreaker game to send the Giants to the 1962 World Series, when he met his old mates. He won Game 4 of that WS, despite only pitching 1/3 of an inning and walking Yogi Berra, whom he was hugging six years earlier in that iconic photo. He got Kubek, and the Giants took the lead, giving him his fourth WS win. Larsen was a bit of an anomaly, who showed us that even those of us who are imperfect, can still have perfect days. Guys like Sully, landing in the Hudson. Who knows, maybe yours is today. Here’s a song for you to listen to, while you scroll through the rest of the board today:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bsYp9q3QNaQ

Card Tracker:
120 cards, at 42 cents each, shipped

[62corvette]

FWIW, Larsen and David Wells, the first two Yankees to pitch perfect games, graduated from the same high school. David Cone messed up that string.

[HercDriver]

Here’s a few more for your viewing pleasure! Probably the most intriguing is Dave Nicholson, who set an MLB record for strikeouts, with 175, while hitting majestic homers in the process. The crazy thing is, that when he set that record in 1963, you would have thought that, sure, it will be broken some day. Well, the style of the game is different, I suppose, because in that category, with his 175 K’s, he is now in 78th place. Bobby Bonds broke the record in 1969, then again in 1970. So Nicholson was 3rd, until Rob Deer and Pete Incaviglia passed him in 1986. Then the flood gates opened at the turn of the century, with players striking out 200 times with regularity. Nicholson was before my time, but I bet he wasn’t unlike a guy I used to like watching in Wrigley Field, Dave Kingman. Talk about majestic blasts!! He used to hit the highest, longest homers of anybody I ever saw. It was like the old days of football when they timed hang time. Do they still do that? I don’t know, don’t watch the NFL. But Kingman had hang time. No liners into the seats for him. They didn’t have that northern runway at O’Hare back then, I don’t think, which was probably a good thing, with Kingman up. Anyway, Nicholson seems like a 60s Kingman to me, and that makes him pretty cool in my book. Have a great one today!

Card Tracker:
123 cards, at 41 cents each, shipped

[HercDriver]

A trio today, that includes Jim Marshall, the first Cubs manager I remember as a kid. Also, Elmer Valo, one of two Slovaks to appear in MLB history. And of the 1809 games played by Slovakians, Valo played 1806 of them. And then there is a Herb Score. Score struck out 245 batters as a rookie, a record that stood until Dwight Gooden topped it. He was on his way to stardom, going 20-9, with 263 K’s in his sophomore season. And then came the fateful day that Gil McDougald lined a ball into his face, shattering his nose and eye socket. He was never able to return to the form that earned him the respect of many players, which makes you wonder how good he could have been. Mantle said he was the greatest lefty he ever faced, and Berra picked him for his All-Time Great team. That tells you how great he could have been, if he just could have got the glove up a bit quicker. Have an awesome day!!


Card Tracker
126 cards, at 40 cents each, shipped

[jimmysuitcase]

After watching Despicable Me with my kids, I couldn't help but notice the resemblance - in spite of the hair - between Steve Bilko & Gru.

[HercDriver]

Haha!! That's pretty good! I was wondering who he reminded me of. I always think he should be called Sgt Bilko.

[HercDriver]

Another trio before I head to the hills to ski the day away! I had no idea who Dick Brown was, but turns out to be a rather sad story. He played nine seasons, finishing up in 1965. He was projected to be a starter in 1966, but was diagnosed with a brain tumor, had surgery, and it came back a few months later. He died at the age of 35. That's just hard to hear, because we all know somebody like that. I was an Air Force pilot for twenty years and saw three good friends die, way too young. When you are having a crappy day, and then you think about guys like that, it puts it all into a bit of perspective, because their loved ones would have loved to have them around, even if they were having a crappy day. So a toast to Dick Brown. And David Wyatt, Aaron George, and Dave Cooley. A catcher and three military pilots who died way too young...

Card Tracker:
129 cards, 39 cents each, shipped

[HercDriver]

Three more in the mix for today! Jerry Casale ended up in the restaurant business in NYC after he got out of baseball. He opened a couple places, one of which I think is still around, in Murray Hill, in Manhattan. Wikipedia says it was called Pino's on 34th St, but there is a Pino on 33rd, so I'm guessing that may be it. I'll have to swing by there, next time I'm in town. Next week, as a matter of fact. Geno Conley, who died recently, was an interesting athlete. He was one of only two guys to win championships in two major sports, with Otto Graham being the other, about ten years prior. Conley won the World Series with the Braves, and three titles with the Celtics. He also won the 1955 All-Star Game. The book, Red Sox Nation, tells a story of Conley and Pumpsie Green getting out of the team bus in NYC traffic to find a bathroom. When they came out of the bar, the bus was gone, so they checked into a hotel. Green rejoined the team the next day, but Conley decided he had to go see Jerusalem, so he disappeared for a bit. He was fined, but eventually made his way back. I wonder if they ran into to Pino's to use the facility...they could have said hello to Jerry! Have a great one!!

Card Tracker:
132 cards (22% of set), averaging 38 cents each, shipped

[HercDriver]

Thank goodness for Bob Boyd! I really didn't want to write too much about Ed Bouchee and his problems. I'm guessing most of you know that Bouchee's 1958 card was pulled after he exposed his bits to young girls. I've actually got two of him, one autographed. I have no idea who autographed it, and it may have been him, but I have no Bouchee authentication skills. Anyway, Bob Boyd is way more interesting. He was the first black player to sign with the White Sox, after a career in the Negro Leagues. For a guy you've never heard of, he was a pretty decent hitter, finishing fourth in BA in 1957, behind Williams, Mantle, and Woodling. His .318 average made him the Oriole's first .300 hitter since coming to Baltimore. By the time he appeared on this card, "El Ropo," as they called hime for his line drives, was on his way out of Baltimore to make room for Jim Gentile, one of the Topps trophy boys in this set. Have a great day!

Card Tracker:
136 cards (23% of set), 11 cents each, shipped

[HercDriver]

OK...I need to drop the bid, in order to get all the cards in one pre-paid envelope. So new rules are a $15 minimum bid, and an eight hour window to bid after the initial bid. I upped it two hours, since I changed the rules and want to give anybody who was watching, a chance to see it. Thanks for playing!!

Take Care,
Geno

[TiedGame]

25

[bigtrain]

35

[Cowboy Fan]

$40

[toback]

$45

Originally Posted by HercDriver

OK, here's a different sort of auction. I have a bunch of 1961 Topps hanging around, so I'm offering them up this way, to keep me entertained. I already know the final price...$15 (edited from $50). But I don't know how many cards that will take. I'm going to start with these ones. Assuming I don't get a bid today, I'll add a few more tomorrow. I'll keep adding cards until I get a $50 bid. I'll pay shipping, in one of those $7.35 flat rate envelopes, so keep that cost savings in mind when bidding. Here's the one extra caveat to the bidding...once I get a $15 bid, the auction isn't quite over. Since all those big guys have extended bidding, so will I. The auction will end exactly eight hours later, based on the time stamp of the initial bid. Please bid in whole dollar increments. Since scans are hard to decipher, I've added a list with my sharp-eyed grade, which is good to +/- one grade, I suppose. If you have any questions, just ask.

BTW, you may be asking yourself, why the big jump from #40 to #225. I know it's killing you to know. Is it because these guys need a manager? Adult supervision? The lure of Candlestick Park's first Giants manager will trigger an early bid? An Angels fan won't be able to resist their initial, expansion manager? Actually none of those. I knocked the stack over when getting ready to scan my first lot. I picked them all up, but when I went to scan, Rigney was still on the floor, looking lonely, so I included him.

Have fun!
Geno

21 Zorro Versalles Vg
22 Clem Labine Ex
23 Don Demeter Vg
24 Ken Johnson ExMt
26 Wes Stock Ex
27 Jerry Kindall Vg
29 Don Nottebart NrMt
31 Bob Schmidt Vg
32 Ray Sadecki NrMt
33 Gary Geiger Ex
34 Wynn Hawkins Vg
36 Jack Kralick Vg
37 Charley Maxwell Ex
38 Bob Lillis Vg
39 Leo Posada NrMt
40 Bob Turley Vg
45 NL ERA Leaders Ex
46 AL ERA Leaders ExMt
48 AL Pitching Leaders ExMt
50 AL Strikeout Leaders Ex
52 George Crowe NrMt
53 Russ Nixon ExMt
54 Earl Francis NrMt
55 Jim Davenport NrMt
56 Russ Kemmerer Vg
58 Joe Schaffernoth Ex
59 Jim Woods ExMt
61 Ron Piche Ex
62 Al Pilarcik Pr
63 Jim Kaat Gd
66 Bill Henry Ex
67 Ossie Virgil Gd
70 Bill Virdon NrMt
71 Jerry Adair ExMt
72 Stu Miller Vg
73 Al Spangler Vg
74 Joe Pignatano ExMt
75 Lindy Shows Larry ExMt
76 Harry Anderson NrMt
77 Dick Stigman ExMt
78 Lee Walls Vg
79 Joe Ginsberg Vg
81 Tracy Stallard ExMt
82 Joe Christopher NrMt
83 Bob Bruce Gd
84 Lee Maye Ex
85 Jerry Walker NrMt
87 Joe Amalfitano Vg
89 Billy Martin ExMt
90 Gerry Staley Vg
91 Walt Moryn ExMt
92 Hal Naragon ExMt
93 Tony Gonzalez Ex
94 Johnny Kucks Vg
95 Norm Cash Vg
101 Bubba Phillips Vg
102 Gene Stephens ExMt
103 Ruben Amaro Vg
104 John Blanchard Vg
105 Carl Willey Pr
107 Seth Morehead Ex
108 Dan Dobbek NrMt
109 Johnny Podres ExMt
110 Vada Pinson Ex
111 Jack Meyer ExMt
112 Chico Fernandez NrMt
113 Mike Fornieles ExMt
114 Hobie Landrith Ex
115 Johnny Antonelli ExMt
116 Joe DeMaestri Vg
117 Dale Long ExMt
118 Chris Cannizzaro NrMt
119 A's Big Armor Ex
121 Eli Grba Ex
123 Billy Gardner Vg
125 Steve Barber ExMt
127 Ron Kline NrMt
128 Rip Repulski Vg
129 Ed Hobaugh Gd
130 Norm Larker Gd
131 Paul Richards Vg
132 Al Lopez Ex
134 Mickey Vernon Fr
135 Fred Hutchinson Fr
137 Chuck Dressen Vg
138 Danny Murtaugh Vg
139 Solly Hemus Vg
140 Gus Triandos ExMt
142 Luis Arroyo ExMt
143 Russ Snyder NrMt
144 Jim Coker ExMt
144 Jim Coker ExMt
145 Bob Buhl Vg
146 Marty Keough NrMt
147 Ed Rakow ExMt
149 Bob Oldis Vg
151 Jim Donohue NrMt
152 Earl Torgeson Ex
153 Don Lee Vg
154 Bobby Del Greco Fr
155 Johnny Temple Ex
157 Cal McLish Ex
158 Pete Daley Ex
161 Sherman Jones Vg
162 Jay Hook ExMt
163 Ed Sadowski Ex
164 Felix Mantilla Vg
165 Gino Cimoli Vg
166 Danny Kravitz Vg
167 Giants Team ExMt
169 Don Elston NrMt
170 Al Smith ExMt
172 Don Dilliard Vg
173 Beantown Bombers Ex
174 Ray Semproch Vg
175 Gene Freese ExMt
176 Ken Aspromonte Vg
177 Don Larsen Ex
179 Joe Koppe ExMt
181 Fred Green Ex
182 Dave Nicholson ExMt
183 Andre Rogers NrMt
184 Steve Bilko Ex
185 Herb Score Ex
186 Elmer Valo ExMt
188 Jim Marshall Ex
190 Stan Williams Vg
191 Mike De La Hoz Ex
192 Dick Brown NrMt
193 Gene Conley Vg
194 Gordy Coleman Ex
195 Jerry Casale Fr
196 Ed Bouchee Ex
196 Ed Bouchee - autographed Vg
198 Carl Sawatski Vg
199 Bob Boyd NrMt
225 Bill Rigney ExMt

[ChiefBeef]

50

[scottglevy]

51

[HercDriver]

Just to clarify...a 5:56 EST time stamp is a good bid, a 5:57 bid is too late.

Cheers,
Geno

[baseballfan]

52.00

[Noy]

Dang, done in by my weird sleep schedule. Great daily write-ups, this was a fun one to follow!

[scottglevy]

Really cool auction. Nice job beating me by a buck, Fred

Do another lot soon Geno

Best
Scott

[obcbobd]

Geno, you should write a book!

Great Job

Bob

[Ricky]

I'm kind of depressed that this is over...

[obcmac]

Originally Posted by Ricky

I'm kind of depressed that this is over...

Me too. I hear if you buy Geno beer, he will fly to wherever you're at and tell you more stories. Thanks for the entertainment Geno!

Mac

[HercDriver]

Haha!! I hear Mac is actually flying here to ski and buy me beer in a few days! I warmed up the double blacks at Vail for you today, so just stay in my tracks. See you soon! And I'm glad guys liked my auction...I may do another one soon. It was fun putting stories to faces.

Take Care,
Geno