1974 Topps Baseball

Anyone who knows me knows that one of my passions in life is baseball cards. I first was introduced to the hobby by my father in 1979 and have been hooked ever since... From time to time, I get into a phase where I become infatuated with one particular set from one particular year. My obsession right now is the 1974 set. Most people in the hobby will tell you that the '74 is a nice set but by no means anything legendary and they are correct. On the surface it isn't one of Topps steller offerings. It probably isn't even in the top five card sets of the 1970s. So then what is is about this set that has caught my fancy. I have narrowed it down to three possibilities....

1. This was the first year that Topps issued its set all at once making it easier to complete
2. In one of the most interesting moves, Topps produced a handful of San Diego Padres cards as Washington Nat'l (more in a moment)
3. This would be the last set to feature the 1923-1973 Yankee Stadium in the background of many American League players photos.

The explanations.....
1. Going all the way back to Topps first mass market set in 1952, the company issued the cards in a number of series during the baseball season. This would vary from 2 or 3 series in the early 50s to 5 series by the 1970s. There is an obvious problem with doing this. The cards from the later series are much more scarce. By the time Topps got around to releasing series 3, 4 or even 5, the season had turned to fall and most baseball card fans were now collecting football cards. Packs of these cards would sit on shelves and go unsold. This creates a serious problem for those interested in set building. So-called "high-number cards," have much higher price tags to them, making them impossible to acquire. 1974 resolved that problem. Topps decided that year to issue all of its cards at once, therefore eliminating the high-number problem and making the set much easier to collect and complete.

2. After the 1973 season, it was rumored that the San Diego Padres were going to be sold to new owners and moved to Washington, DC to replace the recently departed Senators. In an effort be ahead of the ballgame, Topps issued some of the Padres cards for 1974 with the Washington "NAT'L" logo on the card. The above Willie McCovey is a great example. Fortunatley for the people of San Diego, Ray Kroc of McDonald's fame, stepped in and purchased the teacm and kept them in San Diego. Topps then had to replace the Washington cards with San Diego ones, thus creating one of the most interesting variations in the history of the hobby. The Washington cards do tend to bring in a bit of a higher price as compared to the San Diego versions......

3. Topps has its headquarters in New York City. This made Yankee Stadium a natural selection for the backdrop of many of its American League cards. The above Don Baylor is a great example. The 1923-1973 Yankee Stadium served as a backdrop for many cards from 1955 through 1974. I view this set not just as a nice card set, but also as a piece of baseball history...This would be the final time that the Cathedral of Baseball would appear on a baseball card in its original, pre-renovated form......



Where did it go?

I just got back from a semi-relaxing trip to the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. I say semi-relaxing because it was the first trip to the House of Mouse for my two daughters, my eldest, Madelyn,  is four and my youngest, Jillian,  is two. You can now understand the "semi" part. Madelyn had the time of her life. I was initially concerned that she would be scared of and not go to any of the characters. Those fears were quickly erased when we saw Goofy outside of the Pirates of the Caribbean. She ran right over to him and got his autograph..... Jillian was a little unsure of what to do. If she was carried over to a character, she was ok. She wouldn't go by herself.. she is only two after all. Other than Animal Kingdom, the girls got to see all of the parks. Maddie surprised us again by going on all of the "big-kid rides" with no problem. She experienced the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Test Track, and Star Tours with no fear whatsoever... I am very proud of her... I could not however, get either one of my girls off of the Tea Cups.. They loved that ride for some reason.... I think that I spent more time this past weekend on the Tea Cups than I did at any other point in my Disney World history...... All in all, I am very glad that my little girls enjoyed there time at the Walt Disney World Resort.....

To my point, Saturday night my wife and I were looking forward to a "night out." We decided to leave the girsl with my mother at our resort and head out to the Downtown Disney area..... Ever since we had deided to take this trip, my heart was set on going to the Adventureres Club on Pleasure Island..... So we get to the island and guess what? No Adventurers Club.... Not only that, there was really no Pleasure Island left at all. All of the clubs were closed and replaced by performing arts stages and an artist village..... what the hell happened? Where did everything go? This was the place where everynight was supposed to be New Years Eve and now its gone? Apparently Disney shut all of this stuff down in 2008 and is in the process of redisigning the area...... oh well... what are you going to do.....

American Horror Story

Alright, here we go again. We are one day away from the next episode of what I think is one of the best shows on tv right now. In a market glutted by reality TV and nonsensical teen fluff, American Horror Story is an in your face, scare the crap out of you in a campy type way, tv show. The show revolves around the Harmon family (Vivian, Ben, and daughter, Violet). They move from Boston to California after a handful of struggles in Boston. The family moves into an old, faux-Victorian home that has a murderous past. The house is actually referred to in the neighborhood as "Murder House." Once moved in, the house begins to make itself known to we, the viewers. Ben, the husband on the show, is a psychologist and sees patients out of the home. He seems to be the most affected by whatever is in the house. Ben is routinely seen sleepwalking through the home, turning on the stove or the fireplace in an attempt to burn the house down maybe? Vivian, the wife, suffered a miscarriage in Boston and in essence blamed Ben for it. She pushed him away both physically and emotionally. How does Ben respond, by having an affair with a 21 year old student of his, named Hayden (more on her later). Apparently, nobody living in the hosue realizes that it is haunted.
We are introduced to a variety of characters right from the start. There is Constance, the neighbor, played with perfection by Jessica Lange in her first television role. Constance seems to know everything about the house and its past inhabitants. We also meet her daughter, Addie. Addie seems to have a connection to the house. In one episode, she tells us that all of her "friends" are there. Kurt Cobain-ish Tate is a troubled teenager who may or may not have committed a Columbine style attack on his high school. This week's episode is supposed to answer that question for us. It will also confirm or deny whether Tate is indeed amongst the land of the living or is a ghost himself.....Tate has taken a liking to Ben and Vivian's daughter Violet. Then there is Larry, or as I call him, "Half-burnt face guy." Larry is a previous owner of the house. According to a story that he tells, the house told him to burn his wife and daughters in their beds while they sleep... creepy. Larry appears to Ben and almost acts as his inner voice. Is Larry actually there or is he a figment of Ben's imagination. Hayden (see above) was a student of Ben's in Boston. Ben had an affair with Hayden after Vivian had a miscarriage. Hayden apparently makes her way to California to inform Ben that she is pregnant. Larry, in an effort to protect Ben, murders Hayden by cracking her inthe face with a shovel..... They bury her body in the backyard and then Ben builds a gazebo over the spot to cover the grave...... as I said, crazy but awesome show. There is much more going on in this show, but that would require me to be in front of this machine all day.... American Horror Story airs on Wednesday nights at 10PM on the FX network. Check it out if you have a chance....

Rock stars age too I guess

I came to a realization today. Our rock heroes get old just like we all do. While flipping through the channels earlier today, I came across a channel called Palladea.. RUSH: Time Machine 2011 was on. The Canadian trio was filmed in concert this past year in Cleveland and prior to this concerts release on CD/DVD/Blu-Ray this coming Tuesday, I guess the band was giving a sneak peek. Being a RUSH fan for almost 17 years now, this was the first of their tours since 1996 that I stayed away from..I decided to watch and then it happened, Geddy Lee started to sing. Geddy is famous for having a vocal range that takes him all the way up to Mickey Mouse..... Well.... now, not so much. It wasn't horrible, He has just lost some of his range. It got me thinking about some of the other bands that I listen to..... If they weren't rock stars, they's all be approaching retirement age!!!!!! Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, KISS, Def Leppard, Van Halen and such........ they are all approaching if not already there, there 60s...... Looking at Gene Simmons without his makeup on reveals the face of an old man..... Springsteen even has some grey showing around the temples....... I watched a movie two weeks ago called PJ20. This was a celebration of Pearl Jam's twentieth anniversary as a professional band.... Even Pearl Jam is getting up there.... Last I checked, Eddie Veder was 26.... now, he is 46. When did these guys get old..... These are all rock gods... These are the guys that would play 2 and 1/2 or 3 hours  on stage and not seem to be remotely tired..... what happened? They are not supposed to age, they are supposed to stay young forever......Paul Stanley can not even come close to hitting some of the notes that he hit 30+ years ago.... I guess it forces all of us to take a look in the mirror once and awhile and decide if we want to hide our grey's or not

Halloween-- A Bit delayed

Happy Halloween all!!!!! Even though it is Friday, November 4th..... Many towns in North Jersey delayed Halloween a few days this year because of the winter storm from this past weekend..... I guess downed trees and power lines is not in keeping with trick or treating.... My wife and I took our daughters around the neighborhood. My gosh did they clean up!!!!!! Lots and lots of treats for mommy and daddy to eat... I claim all of the Three Muskateers bars.... My eldest daughter was a Renaissance Princess this year and my youngest was Cinderella..... Taking the girls trick or treating got me thinking about trick or treating when I was growing up. Living in a small town, you could very easily canvas the entire town in one night if you planned it properly!!!! I didn't have any brothers or sisters, so all of the candy that I collected was mine... In no particular order, my favorite costumes that I have worn through the years are :

1. Darth Vader (homemade)
2. Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight)
3. Pirate (homemade)
4. Eric Carr (drummer for KISS from 1980-1991) (homemade)


Eric Carr (2000)

5. Cowardly Lion (homemade)
6. Anakin Skywalker
7. Gene Simmons (homemade)

Going to give it a try

After years of fighting it, I have decided to enter the world of blogging. I do not believe that I have anything that important to say, so I'll say it anyway. I have absolutely no idea how this is going to turn out. If anything, it will be used by me just to be completely and totally random.... If our elected officials can blog, so can I.