Kin Kinsley
September 7, 2016
Any time Roger Neufeldt sets up at a show in our area, I make an effort to hit the show. He’s all vintage and always seems to have something new. I probably spent more time at his table this show than ever before, but with reason. I’ve discovered some new items that I am looking for.
A couple of weeks ago, I was told on Twitter that I needed to look into getting a particular T206 card. Come to find out, he played baseball at WVU. I did some research and found there was a second player in the set that was a Mountaineer as well. While I wasn’t able to pick either of those cards up, I was able to pick up a former Mountaineer that I just found out about in the last week.
I feel like he had probably 300-400 1953 Topps singles, but this was the only Jim Fridley that was in there. I would have likely bought every one of them. The only other mainstream set that Fridley is in is the 1952 Topps set. Unfortunately for me, he is a high number and the card is quite pricey. I will be patient and I’m sure I will find one in poor shape at a price that I am comfortable with.
I’m not a baseball guy anymore, but I did grow up as a huge baseball fan. I decided to take a look through the 1956 Topps cards, just to see if the one card I’d be interested in was there. It was, and at a good price.
I believe this is my third copy of this card. I will never pass up one at $5. Herb Score was on a Hall-of-Fame trajectory before fate intervened. For me, he is one of the voices of my youth, as the long-time Indians radio color man.
If you don’t know about his playing career, I found this nice blurb on the PSA site.
“Herbert Jude Score (1933-2008) was one of the hardest throwing left-handers during the 1950s and 1960s, considered the hardest pitcher to face by Yankees slugger Mickey Mantle and should be on the “Greatest Team of All Time” according to Yogi Berra. Though is was difficult to be a standout on a pitching staff that included Bob Feller, Early Wynn, Bob Lemon and Mike Garcia, Score was extremely dominant in his first season with the Indians as he led the American League in strikeouts (245), posted a record of 16-10 with a 2.85 ERA and won the 1955 American League Rookie of the Year award. He also earned his first of two consecutive All-Star selections. He continued his dominance in 1956, posting a 20-9 record, again leading the league in Ks with 263, completing 16 games with a 2.53 ERA. In May of 1957, his career took a drastic turn as he took a line drive to the face, off the bat of Gil McDougald. Herb made a full recovery, but was never the same as he suffered an arm injury and struggle dot return to his previous form. He was traded to the Chicago White Sox in 1959 and eventually retired after the 1962 season. He pitched eight years with Cleveland (1955-1959) and Chicago (1960-1962) earning two All-Star selections. Herb Score finished his career with a 54-46 record, completed 47 games, struck outs 837 batters and had 11 shutouts with a career 3.36 ERA. Herb joined the Cleveland Indians broadcasting crew in 1964, serving on both television and radio broadcasts until 1997.”
I picked up the card below, just to add to my small Herb Score collection.
All of the cards above were in boxes. I had looked at the T206 cards in the case earlier in the day, but then I saw a stack that I had missed. I asked to look through it and while I did not find any of the three players that I want to collect, I found these two, bought them and brought them home with me.
These are obviously in about as poor of shape as a card can be. However, I did not have any T206 cards in my collection and the price was obviously right on these. They are a piece of baseball card history and they are now in my collection.
I actually owned a T206 card before, but somewhere along the way I must have sold it. I wish I had sold off modern cards instead and kept it. It’s one of my hobby regrets.
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