Card Spotlight: 4-2-10

2001 Donruss Classics #93 - Carlos Lee

This card is Tracey's choice. I asked her to grab a binder off the shelf and pick a card that looked good. Chances were good that she wouldn't pick a card that has already been spotlighted. My hunch was correct.

I asked her why she picked this one out of all the cards in the binder. It was of a player that she hadn't heard about in awhile and no other reason was given.

This is like many cards that I tried to play catch up with, when I started to buy White Sox team sets off of eBay early last decade. I knew nothing but the Donruss name, so I purchased many of the Donruss Classics Sox sets, but strangely enough, not this particular set.

I'm not sure exactly how or when I acquired this card, but I'm sure it was through a trade. Sometimes a card just doesn't have an interesting story attached to it. No memory that recalls the joy or frustration of collecting. Sometimes it's just random. Sometimes it takes someone else to point out a card in your collection that you overlook. Other times, I'm just lazy and feel like putting my faith in someone I love to choose a card wisely, completely at random.

My one thought of Carlos Lee, just days before Opening Day, is one of happiness and neglect. If it wasn't for Carlos Lee leaving the Sox through trade, the White Sox may not have won the World Series in 2005. Many other deals made that dream a reality, but this was one of the big ones.

I see a similar path during this past offseason. The Sox are taking chances on a number of guys and have cut ties with many fan favorite players. Will it work out the same way? Only time will tell on that one. We shall find out in October.

Mackowiak Is Back

Recognize this smiling face? I sure do! I was a classmate with him for three years in high school. Then, I saw him in a less than stellar stint with the White Sox.

Tempting fate, Rob is back in Chicago, this time with the Cubs. Mackowiak is the Cubs new utility outfielder. Injuries to Tyler Colvin and Xavier Nady made this a necessity.

"Soriano might not last 162 games. Fukudome can't play in April and Byrd can't carry the load of three outfielders. Robby was our obvious choice", said Lou Piniella.

"Adduci is not ready yet and the less said about Fuld, the better", chimed bench coach Alan Trammell.

Veteran Derrek Lee has been impressed. "I hated going to Pittsburgh, when I was with Florida. Mack would find a way to beat us. I'm glad I never had to face a team of Macks."

Upon hearing the news of his former whipping boy being back in Chicago, Ozzie Guillen (never at a loss for words) said, "Mackowiak a good kid. He play pretty s****y for me, but the kid has heart. I take him over Anderson."

It looks like there will be a redemption of sorts for Rob Mackowiak in Chicago. Not bad for someone who couldn't make Cleveland's roster last year. In baseball, they take care of their own and Rob has his second chance.

OK, I couldn't think of anything to top the Zambrano to the White Sox post from last year. So to make it up to you, here's Rob Mackowiak's Junior year yearbook photo, from back in 1993.

Happy April Fool's Day!

Don't Try To Buy My Vote

Over the past few days, I have seen the ugly side of this hobby. My e-mail inbox is stuffed with many different requests to vote for so and so's blog because they have been honored by a nomination in the Upper Deck Awards.

What exactly does this mean to everyone? Is an award by a card company that important to the winner? Will fame and fortune be yours for the taking? Does anyone honestly think that everyone who voted for the winners will all be getting fantastic prizes? I don't believe that. There is not enough in the prize package to make it worthwhile.

That's not really the point though. In the United States, it's illegal to stand outside the poll places and try to influence an individual's vote with shiny trinkets. Not that anyone who e-mailed me influenced my vote. By the time I had gotten my first of many e-mails trying to bribe me into voting their way, I had already voted.

I'm not going to reveal who I voted for, but I was disappointed with some of the finalists. I was also pleasantly surprised by a few, so it did balance out. If someone really wants to know who I voted for, hack into the contest system and pick out my address. I have no doubt it can be done, but I have no idea why anyone would go to all that trouble.

In the end, is anyone really going to be impressed with an award or an affiliation? Only the most casual reader will base their opinion on those types of associations. Content should be the main criteria for voting. Most importantly, do you enjoy going to the sites you are voting for? I would imagine that those thoughts would trump any bribe. Some of us still have integrity. Those who are trying to buy votes have no scruples, in my opinion.

I should mention that I have also received a few e-mails of blogs stating their case why you should vote for them. I have absolutely no problem with that. There is no bribing, only someone informing why you should vote for them. That's where the line should be drawn.

1990 Kay-Bee

In the fifth set release from the toy chain store Kay-Bee, the store went back to the drawing board. The old design was out. The "superstar" name was out. In came a bold red border and the "kings" name.

Apparently, Kay-Bee had gone as far as they could with changing the color on the same design. The result is eye-catching, experimental and gaudy, all at the same time. There is something both refreshing and off-putting to this design. It's almost as the designers meant to rip odd 1990 Donruss without the grounding black paint splatters or the elementary school penmanship practice lines.

Kay-Bee chose wisely with Fisk, but also chose safely. Jack McDowell, Bobby Thigpen, Robin Ventura and Frank Thomas would be the buzz names. Even Sammy Sosa created his own little buzz with his speed, not his bat.

The White Sox have one card in this set.

12 - Carlton Fisk

This set marked the last set for Kay-Bee. For whatever reason, the company chose not to continue releasing 33 card sets. It is odd that a company that started in 1922, only produced 5 sets. As of early 2009, Kay-Bee closed it's last remaining stores, after two bankruptcies and a final liquidation. In September 2009, Toys R Us, acquired the Kay-Bee name, logo and website.

Toys R Us is no stranger to producing baseball card sets. Could the recent resurgence of cards produce more Kay-Bee sets through Toys R Us stores? It's doubtful, but anything is possible.

1989 Kay-Bee

After the Sox missing the 1988 set, Kay-Bee decided that Carlton Fisk was worthy enough for a spot in the 1989 set.

The design has not changed, but the green border of the '88 set has changed to a pinkish color. With the lousy teams the White Sox were trotting out in the late eighties, I'm not surprised Kay-Bee skipped the '88 set. Although with the 1989 set being Fisk's first card, I wonder why they didn't choose to put him in the 1988 set. The Sox teams just got lousier as the decade drew to a close.

The White Sox have one card in this set.

11 - Carlton Fisk

With a 33 card set, there were some teams with multiple representatives, but never the White Sox. It was either one or none. I'm glad to have a few cards in these sets over the years, rather than none at all.

1987 Kay-Bee

Not much has changed from the previous year's set. The same type of "quality" photographs were used. The same basic design was used. The red border changed to blue and the player list was mostly different.

Why mess with set success? The cheap sets at Kay-Bee were certainly popular, so there wasn't a need to mess with the formula.

The White Sox have one card in this set.

1 - Harold Baines

There would be a set in 1988, with the same design. The blue border would turn green, but the White Sox would not have a representative in that set.

1986 Kay-Bee

In 1986, Kay-Bee toy stores put out its first baseball set. It featured 33 cards of young "superstar" players. While the definition of superstar is debatable in sets like these, this set did feature a decent selection of talent or what was considered talent at the time.

In hindsight, was Brian Fisher really that much of a superstar? How about a Yankee-clad Dan Pasqua? Besides chain store sets, did anyone equate Jeff Stone with superstar?

The White Sox had one card in this set.

16 - Ozzie Guillen

This set is typical of chain store card sets of the eighties. A minimal design. Leftover early Fleer type photography and a glossy front. While the card itself will win no prizes for originality or design, there is something unique to these cards.

It brings me back to a simpler time, where cards were everywhere. You could supplement your collection with fringe sets, after collecting the big three sets each year.

Card Spotlight: 3-26-10

1967 Topps #506 - Smoky Burgess

Every time I run across this card, I think that Smoky is playing in a cemetery. It reminds me of a few of the views of the many cemeteries in Alsip, Illinois.

It doesn't help matters that Smoky, whose actual name is Forrest, looks much older than the 40 years old he actually was at the time of the photo. Smoky looks like he should be coaching instead of playing catcher, which is the most physically demanding position on the baseball diamond.

The 1967 set is one of my favorites from the sixties. It always seemed a little foreign to me. The only card I had from 1967 Topps as a young collector was Jesse Gonder on the Pirates. I always wanted more cards, but I could never find them. When I did find cards, they were well out of my comfortable price range for a passing fancy.

I am slowly getting the White Sox team set together, but it is a slow process. One that I am willing to wait for. The '67 set gets lost a lot within the context of the sixties sets. It is starting to get the type of recognition that it deserves with a blog devoted to the set.

This is the final card for Smoky and deservedly so. His part time status on the White Sox in 1967 was pretty pitiful at 77 games with a .133 average. Smoky might have been the difference between a championship in 1967 and where they ended up, three games back, in fourth place in a very tight American League race for the crown. It could have been the White Sox against the Cardinals in the World Series in 1967. Maybe the allusion to cemeteries in this card is apropos.

What You're Missing On Facebook

Just sayin'.

The Search For 1991 Classic Game

I really have a soft spot for Classic. The 1991 Classic Game set has eluded me every step of the way, until today. Arriving in my mailbox, for the grand total of 99 cents, was the entire 200 card set of 1991 Classic Game, still in it's original cellophane wrapped blocks.

I can find almost every other Classic release from 1991 at decent prices, but this was was different. I could find complete games for $20, which I was not going to pay for essentially 10 White Sox cards from the overproduction era that were readily available in 1991.

I did find a seller on eBay that had a good chunk of the cards individually for sale, but prices of nearly $5 a card seemed way too steep for my tastes. I'm a collector, but there was no way I was paying those inflated prices.

So I waited. And I waited. I waited some more. A few years went by and I saw a set for about $15 with free shipping. That would be my last refuge. If I didn't find anything, I was eventually going to pull the trigger on a purchase.

Then I saw the entire set without the game board and other bulky items that I would just throw away anyway. I put it in my watch list. I timed everything out. I waited for six days. When I went to place a bid, I had missed the set by 30 seconds.

I was mad at myself for not putting an earlier bid in. Then I saw that no one bid on it. I noticed that the seller was re-listing his unsold items a little later that evening. I checked and didn't see the Classic set.

Finally, I e-mailed the seller to re-list the set. It turned out that the seller did include it in a mass re-listing, but a glitch in the system left it out. The seller quickly re-listed the '91 Classic Game set and I put in a bid.

Usually, when I bid on something that has been re-listed, I lose out. This time, luck was on my side and I can finally scratch off this set for my White Sox collection. As a bonus, I gained a Baines card for my player collection. All I have left is one extra Fisk card to find, for that player collection. I think that should be a bit more manageable.

The White Sox, In Order

I'm a big believer in trading. It's the best way to gain cards your looking for (or cards that you didn't know that you needed). It's also the best way to get rid of cards that you don't want, but others need. The perfect solution!

This trade comes from Tom over at The Angels, In Order. If you've got oddball Angels without a good home, drop Tom a line.

I wasn't sure exactly what I would get, but Tom did not disappoint. There were cards that I have never heard of before, cards that I heard only rumors about, and cards that I never thought would see the light of my collection. How's that for not disappointing?

Let's see what Tom sent over!

1987 Kay-Bee
1 - Harold Baines

1988 Fleer MVP
4 - Ivan Calderon

1988 Fleer Record Setters
16 - Ozzie Guillen

1988 Starting Lineup Talking Baseball
15 - Steve Lyons
19 - Harold Baines
20 - Daryl Boston
21 - Gary Redus
22 - Ken Williams
25 - Floyd Bannister
26 - Jose DeLeon

1989 Fleer MVP
38 - Bobby Thigpen

1989 Fleer Superstars
2 - Harold Baines

1989 Kay-Bee
11 - Carlton Fisk

1989 K-Mart
7 - Dave Gallagher
22 - Harold Baines

1992 Confex Baseball Enquirer
1 - Bo Jackson

1992 Fleer All-Stars
19 - Robin Ventura

1992 Score '90s Impact Player
73 - Jack McDowell
84 - Ozzie Guillen

1993 Chicago National Prototype
Bo Jackson

1993 Panini
135 - Carlton Fisk

1994 Collector's Choice Crash The Game
Frank Thomas

1994 Upper Deck
25 - Scott Ruffcorn

1995 Emotion
25 - Jason Bere
27 - Ozzie Guillen

1995 Ultra All-Star
19 - Frank Thomas

1996 Collector's Choice Silver Signature
508 - Ron Karkovice

1996 Leaf Preferred
45 - Robin Ventura
107 - Ray Durham

1997 Collector's Choice All-Star
7 - Albert Belle

1997 Collector's Choice Big Show
15 - Albert Belle

1997 Collector's Choice Power Up
PP4 - Albert Belle

1997 Donruss
297 - Jaime Navarro

1998 Pinnacle Inside
123 - Jeff Abbott

1998 Upper Deck Tape Measure Titans
9 - Albert Belle

2000 Metal
11 - Chris Singleton

2003 MLB Showdown
77 - Jon Garland
78 - Tony Graffanino
80 - Carlos Lee
83 - Dan Wright

Thanks, Tom! Those are some great cards! I am looking for some oddball Angels to send along. A package should be in the mail by the end of the week.

1991 O-Pee-Chee Premier

In 1991, Topps was relying on the nostalgia of forty years to sell their cards and some top notch photography choices. It would be the last year for their flagship set to be made of the old cardboard. 1992 would see the change to a white card stock, which was smoother and a little more eye appealing.

Back then, Topps wasn't quick to change. It was resisted at all cost. Score and Upper Deck had changed the game and upped the ante. When 1991 came, everyone jumped on the bandwagon of premier cards. Topps jumped in with Stadium Club. Fleer countered with Ultra. Donruss went into its second year of Leaf as a premium card.

Then a surprising entry showed up in card shops and the grocery aisle. O-Pee-Chee Premier.

Even though it only hailed from the country that was separated from Illinois by one state, the product seemed foreign and exotic to my friends and I, at the time. I heard tales of my relatives driving down to Chicago from Manitoba in a straight shot, so it didn't seem like a world away. Yet, I had never been there, so I had no way of knowing what the trip actually involved. My relatives were exhausted by the end of their trip, so it made the miles appear even greater.

The set looked classy. It had a full color front and back, with detailed pictures on each side. The word premier impressed even the most cynical of us. Today, the word is so overused it has lost all meaning. Back then, it was something special.

The White Sox have six cards in the set.

42 - Alex Fernandez
45 - Carlton Fisk
97 - Rock Raines
113 - Cory Snyder
120 - Bobby Thigpen
121 - Frank Thomas

This set will always hold a special place in my collection. My friends and I went nuts over the cards in 1991. I always considered the White Sox to be one of the luckier teams in the set. The Pirates only had one card, Barry Bonds. The Astros had no one. Four teams had only two cards. So to have six was extremely fortunate.

I've recently seen these cards in a bargain bin for fifty cents a pack. Time has a way of making things lose their luster. Overproduction has a way of making things lose their value. At 132 cards, this is a very easy set to put together. One always should have room for Canadian cards. Especially, premier ones.

White Sox Cards Is On Facebook

As many of you are well aware, I've been on Facebook for awhile. Now, this blog has its own fan page on Facebook.

I will be creating an ongoing set of cards for the Facebook page. I haven't quite decided what will go on there, but so far, I have put up a few photo albums of card sets created by me, including the first seven cards in the WSC Facebook set.

If Twitter is not your style and you don't want such random tweets as learning that I've been considering purchasing a mandolin (where's Conan's Twitter Tracker for that one!!), maybe this will be more your style.

If for some odd reason the link won't take you there... no worries. Just type in "White Sox Cards" in the Facebook search feature and the fan page should pop right up.

Card Spotlight: 3-19-10

2010 Topps Heritage Clubhouse Collection Relics #CCR-ARA - Alexei Ramirez

I stumbled across my first blaster of Heritage yesterday, so naturally I picked it up. I knocked two more base Sox cards of my list and pulled this relic of Alexei Ramirez.

I seem to be running into Alexei Heritage relics lately. I acquired two from last year's set. One from a box break and one from a trade. This year, my first relic is of Alexei. I'm not sure whether that means he's due for a fantastic year or I've doomed him from the start.

I do like the retro feel to this card. Even though relics weren't even a thought in any Topps employee's head back in 1961, the current design team hits the right notes with this card. It's not too flashy. A little understated. The perfect feel for the set.

Recollecting Trade

Sometimes you get airbrushed.

So much has been going on in the real world, I haven't had too much time for the blogging world. I completely forgot about a package from Doc at Baseball Card Recollections that was on the way. I was reminded early yesterday morning about it and it magically appeared in my mailbox a few hours later. How did Doc do that?

Inside the package was a treasure trove of eighties and nineties goodness. Including some Fisk and Baines cards! And Sportflics too! One of my favorite cards of the eighties. I could not get enough of moving the card back and forth, when I was a kid. The sound that a fingernail makes scraping against the lenticular surface always takes me back to the eighties.

Let's see what Doc sent over!

1984 Milton Bradley
Carlton Fisk
Ron Kittle

1986 Sportflics
7 - Harold Baines
25 - Tom Seaver
134 - Tom Seaver (Sutcliffe, Denny)

1986 Topps Mini Leaders
9 - Floyd Bannister
11 - Carlton Fisk

1987 Fleer Star Stickers
3 - Floyd Bannister

1987 Sportflics
140 - Carlton Fisk
171 - Harold Baines
186 - Ozzie Guillen (2)
200 - Steve Carlton

1989 Swell
127 - Wilbur Wood

1989 Pacific Legends
217 - Joel Horlen

1990 Bazooka Shining Star
13 - Carlos Martinez

1990 Fleer
Logo Sticker

1992 Ultra
43 - Tim Raines

1993 Ultra
172 - Joey Cora
179 - Steve Sax

1995 Emotion
26 - Ray Durham

1995 Ultra
26 - Wilson Alvarez
32 - Kirk McCaskill

1996 Ultra
37 - Alex Fernandez
39 - Roberto Hernandez

1996 Ultra Gold Medallion
35 - Wilson Alvarez
42 - Lyle Mouton

Thanks, Doc! These were great choices! I think this may be the only time I see Milton Bradley's name beside something that says Championship Baseball.