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

[HercDriver]

Today is the day we hit the century mark, with 100 cards! Looking at Bob Oldis and Jim Donahue, takes me back to high school cut day for the varsity baseball team. We would tryout all week, then Friday, you would show up for practice with the cut list taped to the locker room door. So all day at school, it’s all you thought about. Some guys had the Jim Donahue look, knowing they were going to be the starting CF, or a starting pitcher. Then there were the guys like me, always battling for a lineup spot. We had the Bob Oldis look all day at school. Once you made the team, you got this orange jacket with your name on it. We would wear that jacket everywhere, no matter how hot it was. I found mine a couple years ago, when we finally unpacked boxes that hadn’t been opened in 20 years of military moving. Man, that brought back some memories! My best friend, Buddy, was a brawler when he got mad, a bit like Earl Torgeson was, as a matter of fact. He struck out a couple times one day and just came storming back to the dugout, smoke coming out of his nostrils. We also had a guy named Joe, who almost never played, and just yapped a lot. Well, Buddy walks in the dugout to get his glove and can’t find his hat. He’s so pissed, that everyone just moves out of the way. Except Joe. Buddy yells at him, “where’s my damn cap?!?” Joe just looks back, feigning a concerned sort of look, and says “what color is it?” That was the only bench clearing brawl I ever saw, involving only one bench, as Joe took off towards the outfield. I wonder where I put my orange jacket now...I might wear that tomorrow. Have a great one!!

Card Tracker:
100 cards, at 50 cents each, shipped

[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.