Brooks Robinson and the Baltimore Orioles

[BaltOrioles]

Originally Posted by Mark70Z

Day 153 (June 1, 2020 – 153)

Today we have the Michael Schechter Associates (MSA) discs. The MSA discs were used for advertising by several different companies by having their logo on the back of the baseball discs. Below are the Brooks Robinson MSA discs for 1976. I guess I should have pictured the fronts as well, but they look “almost” all the same…

1976 Buckmans Discs
1976 Carousel Discs
1976 Crane Potato Chips Discs
1976 Dairy Isle Discs
1976 Isalys/Sweet William Discs
1976 MSA Sports Blank Back Discs
1976 Orbackers Discs
1976 Red Barn Discs
1976 Safelon Discs
1976 Towne Club Discs

Attachment 402814

Mark,

I've always been a fan of the items MSA produced over the years. I don't know how important variations are to you, but here are a few from the 1976 discs.

First, here's the front of the Brooks Robinson. Like Mark mentioned, they are are pretty much the same.

1976 MSA Discs #2A.JPG


The Carousel discs were nothing more than blank discs, that each store could stamp with their own address. Thus, you will find a variety of different stamped backs. I also have one with Circus Wagon stamped on the back. I'm not sure if they are related to Carousel or a different company altogether.

1976 MSA Discs #5B.JPG 1976 MSA Discs #1B.JPG


The Red Barn discs can be found with or without the address line

1976 MSA Discs #3B.JPG

[BaltOrioles]

I have discussed co-op teams in the past, but one in particular is very interesting.

In 1985 the Daytona Beach Astros were renamed the Daytona Beach Islanders after the Astros moved to Kissimmee, FL. Owned by Texas Rangers VP Larry Schmittou, the Daytona Beach team was a co-op with players from the Rangers and Baltimore Orioles. The Islanders were managed by former Oriole Jim Hutto. It was a weak club, like most co-ops, finishing 53-87, last in the Florida State League. The Islanders had no All-Stars and were outscored 649-474. Hitting only 14 homers in 140 games, led by Jeff Melrose's 3 HRs.

Since co-op teams don't usually receive a teams top prospects, it's interesting to note that four players on the team wore Oriole uniforms.
Allan Ramirez , Bob Milacki, Jeff Tackett and a young Billy Ripken.

Manager Jim Hutto

Hutto, Jim 1.jpg

Program and schedule

1985 Daytona Beach Islanders.jpg 1985 Daytona Beach Islanders (On the River Restaurant).jpg

Team Issued Card set

Bill probably knows, but I believe this is Billy's first card (middle row, 4 cards down). It's the earliest in my collection. Another oddity in the set is the card of Ron Johnson (not the former Tides manager). He has a card in the set, but is shown as "Picture not Available". I hope that wasn't his only baseball card .

1985 Team Daytona Beach Islanders #1.jpg 1985 Team Daytona Beach Islanders #2.jpg
1985 Team Daytona Beach Islanders #3.jpg 1985 Team Daytona Beach Islanders #4.jpg

[roarfrom34]

Alan....

Great collection on that '85 Daytona Beach Islanders club (you're correct that it was Bill's first card)!

I have a page from the scorebook of the Official Scorer of a game on 05/28/85 vs Winter Haven...Note Bill Ripken was batting cleanup:



Here is Bill's game used Islanders jersey from that season as well:

[BaltOrioles]

Originally Posted by roarfrom34

I have a page from the scorebook of the Official Scorer of a game on 05/28/85 vs Winter Haven...Note Bill Ripken was batting cleanup:



Here is Bill's game used Islanders jersey from that season as well:

Bill,

Great looking jersey. I have to know how you were able to acquire it. It has to be an interesting story.

[roarfrom34]

Originally Posted by BaltOrioles

Bill,

Great looking jersey. I have to know how you were able to acquire it. It has to be an interesting story.

Alan....Back in the fall of '95, Sports Illustrated's 2131 Special Edition magazine hit the newsstands and there was an article in it about my collection. Fortunately, someone associated with the DB club (might have been the GM) read it and reached out to tell me he had this jersey (and pants which I didn't show) and asked if I would like to add it to my collection.

Got a lot of nice publicity from that article (and picked up some neat pieces along the way)!

[BaltOrioles]

Originally Posted by roarfrom34

Alan....Back in the fall of '95, Sports Illustrated's 2131 Special Edition magazine hit the newsstands and there was an article in it about my collection. Fortunately, someone associated with the DB club (might have been the GM) read it and reached out to tell me he had this jersey (and pants which I didn't show) and asked if I would like to add it to my collection.

Got a lot of nice publicity from that article (and picked up some neat pieces along the way)!

Bill,

Great story. I've found most minor league teams have limited space for storage and a don't have a good handle on the significance of their history within an organization. It's amazing what teams will give you if you ask them. I was at a Frederick Keys game and the Keys GM, Dave Ziedelis, was talking to me about my collection. I mentioned missing a few years of media guides. He said only a few were printed those years for internal use and opened up his desk and handed me the missing years. He said he was getting ready to clean out his desk anyway. They are priceless to me.

2005 - 2009 Frederick Keys Media Guides

2005 Frederick Keys PressMedia Guide.jpg

2006 Frederick Keys PressMedia Guide.jpg

2007 Frederick Keys PressMedia Guide.jpg

2008 Frederick Keys PressMedia Guide.jpg

2009 Frederick Keys PressMedia Guide.jpg

[ripfan008]

Nice article with quotes by someone we may recognize.

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...ball-card-set/

[Mark70Z]

[QUOTE=roarfrom34;1986291]I have a page from the scorebook of the Official Scorer of a game on 05/28/85 vs Winter Haven...Note Bill Ripken was batting cleanup:

Here is Bill's game used Islanders jersey from that season as well:/QUOTE]

Again AWESOME!

[Mark70Z]

Originally Posted by BaltOrioles

Mark,

I've always been a fan of the items MSA produced over the years. I don't know how important variations are to you, but here are a few from the 1976 discs.

First, here's the front of the Brooks Robinson. Like Mark mentioned, they are are pretty much the same.

The Carousel discs were nothing more than blank discs, that each store could stamp with their own address. Thus, you will find a variety of different stamped backs. I also have one with Circus Wagon stamped on the back. I'm not sure if they are related to Carousel or a different company altogether.

The Red Barn discs can be found with or without the address line

Alan,

I'm with you; I'm a fan. Well, especially with Brooks I really like the variations and with the MSA discs all the different stores advertised.

On the Carousel discs I have several different stamps, but don't actively seek them out. Do you happen to have listing of the known stamps?

I do have both Red Barn discs; address and no address.

Never seen a Circus Wagon one... Wonder what that is?