First Dime Box Card Show: Get a Grip, Bro!

I'm just now coming out of the fog from our last look at Nick's picks as my card show proxy shopper. Nick brought me out of my stupor by not only telling me to get a grip, but by picking up many a grip for me, as well...

2001 Upper Deck Decade 1970's Jon Matlack NYM #77
2007 Upper Deck Goudey Jason Isringhausen STL #194

Anyone who's been following things around here knows that I play favorites. Favorite team: Dodgers. Favorite players: Clayton Kershaw and A.J. Ellis. Favorite mini-collection: Getting a Grip.

2005 Topps Total Ramon Ortiz CIN #251
2003 Topps Total Wes Anderson FLA #606

So Nick loaded up the ol' Card Show shoppin' cart with some Total-y awesome Grips!

1992 O-Pee-Chee Rob Dibble CIN #757
1996 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Trevor Hoffman SDP #296

He Dibbled me with a Topps Gold as well as this OPC, and he Trevored me with this Collector's Choice in mini-collection hits.

1992 Bowman John Ericks STL #48
1992 Bowman Allen Watson STL #634

Whatcha got there kiddo? Look, Ma, we're Getting a Grip!

1992 Bowman Don Peters OAK #244
1992 Bowman Damon Buford BAL #224

Nick didn't ignore the other mini-collections. Don Peters doesn't care what him mom thinks (I mean, look at that hair). But Damon Buford was a good boy and put on the clothes his mom laid out for him. At least his mom knows I likes me some Turtlenecks.

1992 Bowman Lou Whitaker DET #630
1989 Upper Deck Brian Downing CAL #485

Mmmmmmm... Doughnuts! Doughnuts? Where were these when I was Trippin' on Oddballs!?

1992 Bowman John Roper CIN #528
1992 Topps Stadium Club Dave Burba SEA #348

Not sure where Burba's going with that grip, but wherever Roper's going his mommy dressed him up nice, too.

2008 Upper Deck Homer Bailey CIN #463
2013 Topps Heritage Gavin Floyd CHW #198

Now these two really know how to show that grip. In your face, people!

2007 Bowman Heritage Prospects Brad Knox OAK #BHP32
1996 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Bobby Ayala SEA #311
2005 Topps Turkey Red Bobby Livingston SEA #279
2011 Panini Donruss Elite Extra Edition Michael Pineda SEA #21

Grippy gripitty grip. (Hey, I'm not getting paid for my time, here, you know...) Oh, hey, remember that last guy? Good to have him back for my final year of rooting for the Yanks. Anything that might help The Captain get one more ring works for me (that is, in the unlikely event that the Dodgers aren't representing the National League in the World Series...).

2004 Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts Hoyt Wilhelm NYG #51
2004 Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts Phil Niekro ATL #89

Nick knows knucklers, especially the guy on the left. And he knows they're the kings of Getting a Grip. That's because the man is the king of the Dime Boxes. It's good to be in the good graces of the king.

Playing With My Dodgers: John Purdin

It couldn't really be as easy at it probably seemed. And, eventually, it wasn't. But the first taste of big-league action for 21-year-old John Purdin in 1964 had to be pretty heady stuff for the Ohio native.

The first batter he faced, coming out of the bullpen in the sixth inning on September 16, with the Dodgers trailing Pittsburgh by five, was Bill Mazeroski. He retired the future Hall-of-Famer on a grounder to third, and worked a scoreless inning. In the seventh, he retired Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell and Donn Clendenon in order. Not a bad debut.

But it would get even better. Purdin got the start his next time out, facing Larry Jackson and the Cubs at Dodger Stadium on September 30. Cubs catcher Dick Bertell singled in the third and fifth innings. Those would be the only two hits allowed by Purdin in a 2-0 complete-game victory. Purdin would get one more chance, starting the final game of the year for the Dodgers, at home against Houston on October 4. He would finally surrender a run on a fourth-inning leadoff homer by Jimmy Wynn. But he picked up the win with five solid innings in an 11-1 rout.

Purdin was never going to be able to sustain that kind of success. And he didn't. Another brief trial in 1965 wasn't pretty. He spent all of '66 and '67 in the minors, was effective out of the Dodger bullpen in '68, and then not so much in '69. And that was it for his major-league career.

1969 Topps John Purdin LAD #161

The Vintage Virtuoso, Mark "Harry" Hoyle comes through again, continuing to stake his claim as the biggest, baddest contributor to the PWMD collection. In this case, perseverance paid off, as Mark had sent me Purdin's only other solo Topps card in the very first package that he sent my way. Way to employ the process of elimination, Mark! Thanks again for being the Santa Clause of baseball cards. I have no idea how I managed to get on the "good" list, but I'm sure glad to be here.

The Vintage Virtuoso Strikes Again

There were a couple of weeks there when it looked like my budget wasn't going to allow me to enjoy much more than a few packs of this year's Topps Heritage for a while. Fortunately, my awesome Aunt Renie came through with a birthday gift that rectified that tragedy. But before that happened, the Vintage Virtuoso, Mark "Harry" Hoyle sent me something that made me forget all about 2014 Heritage for a while.

1965 Topps Tommy Davis LAD #370
1965 Topps Wally Moon LAD #247

He sent the real deal! Who needs Heritage that looks like '65 Topps when you can have '65 Topps!? How beautiful are these cards? Unbelievable.

2014 Topps Stickers Yasiel Puig LAD #274
2014 Topps Stickers Hanley Ramirez LAD #276

I may have dubbed Mark the "Vintage Virtuoso," but the fact is the man's not out of touch with what's hip and now. He knows we (middle-aged wannabe) kids love stickers. And he hooked me up with some Dodgers and some pitchers. I guess maybe I am an old man, after all, though. I don't plan to stick these on anything.

1969 Topps Stamps Don Drysdale LAD #42

And you certainly shouldn't be looking for this on any envelopes that I send out. That's a 1969 Topps Stamp of Hall-of-Famer, Big D! How awesome is that!? Let's take a closer look, shall we?

Sweet.

1963 Topps Johnny Podres LAD #150

Speaking of sweet, thanks to Nick's recent proxy shopping, and now this fabulous piece of vintage Topps goodness from Mark, my Johnny Podres collection is suddenly looking pretty darn good.

1959 Topps Don Bessent LAD #71
1969 Topps Hank Aguirre LAD #94

Mark has made his mark on this playground by supplying a steady stream of Playing With My Dodgers inductees. This package was no exception, as we'll see tomorrow. Even though this isn't the card of his that's been earmarked for the PWMD collection, I'm excited about this Bessent, as he's one of the select few world champion Brooklyn Dodgers. And with this Aguirre, I now have both of his Topps Dodgers cards, the altered cap here to go along with his capless '68 PWMD card. (Nick recently explained over on Dime Boxes why this card, among many others, doesn't sport a (then) current photo.)

1969 Topps Willie Crawford LAD #327

Mark has sent very few vintage Dodgers that I already had in my collection, and there was only one in this package that was technically not a need for me. But, as you can see from this side-by-side comparison with the card that was already in my collection, this Crawford was hardly superfluous.

Before the Vintage Virtuoso came along, the single biggest contribution of vintage cards to my collection came from the same place where I got that tattered Crawford when I was a young teen. I think it's safe to say that Mark is a better source of cards than a paper bag someone set out with the trash in my back alley. How's that for a compliment, Mark? Thanks, as always.

Johnny on the Clock; Ethan off His Ritalin

I have a very workmanlike trade relationship with John, of Johnny's Trading Spot. He sends me a handful of envelopes filled with eighteen cards each. And I spend the next few weeks setting aside Braves from his want/need list while I'm sorting, sending back an envelope at a time as they're filled. Then we repeat the process.

2005 Topps Cracker Jack Mark Mulder STL #147
2005 Donruss Billy Wagner PHI #291

We go about our business very differently, though. Of course, exactly how John does his thing can't be known to me. But the way he had, like, a gazillion envelopes ready to go for me days after our initial contact, as well as his relentlessly entertaining regularly-scheduled posts, gives me a mental picture of a man who can multitask and get the job done with the best of 'em. John knows how to get a Grip.

1994 Score Jon Ratliff Draft Pick CHC #454
1996 Topps Dustin Hermanson SDP #218
2000 Fleer Impact Kip Wells CHW #42

Meanwhile, over on my playground, it's Short Attention Span Theater. I'm like James Caan being lured into a trap by Homer Simpson. "Oooo... piece of candy!" "Oooo... piece of candy!" "Oooo... piece of candy!" Right now, baseball is that candy. And making sure that I keep sorting and posting is a lot more difficult than it should be.

1985 Topps Joe Morgan OAK #352
1987 Topps Barry Larkin CIN #648
1989 Topps Ryne Sandberg CHC #360
1981 Topps Bill Russell LAD #465

But John just keeps churning out mini-collection hits for me, eighteen cards at a time. His emphasis on efficiency has meant that he's sent some Topps base set specimens that I'd already had covered. But even with these, they're such great cards that I'm sure they'll be of use to someone. Anyone have a need for any of the great '80s Doughnut lovers above?

1991 Bowman Steve Finley HOU #561
1997 Score Marquis Grissom CLE #334

Turtlenecks have been John's specialty so far. (In fact, come to think of it, that Sandberg Doughnut is a Turtleneck, too!) You sport a little extra fabric in the neck region, you're gonna find yourself in an envelope headed my way. Not all of them meet my exacting (i.e., Random) standards for this mini-collection. But many do, like this Bowman Finley, which pairs nicely with the Topps Traded card that sealed the deal for me when it came to this mini-collection.

1993 Upper Deck Luis Alicea STL #605
1995 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Jason Jacome NYM #327

On any given night, you might find me in the card-sorting headquarters that used to be our dining room, getting through my third pass at sorting cards into the Ge-Gl region of the alphabet, for example. Setting aside a few Glavines to help slowly fill an envelope to send to the Trading Spot.

1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Mo Vaughn BOS #281
1998 Score Mo Vaughn BOS #227
1996 Topps AAA Stars: Eric Owens/Butch Huskey #104

While John fires envelopes onto this playground as though from a machine gun. He even forced me to add a new category to the 42 Collection, called the Grandfathers Gallery. The keen eye that John has shown for reading meaning in the shadows on his blog has definitely been employed to my mini-collecting advantage as well. For example, he didn't get duped by the 35 on Mo Vaughn's cap, zeroing in on the 42 on his sleeve. He even managed to spot another mini-collection hit with the other Vaughn... even though I haven't announced that collection yet! On top of his other talents, John appears to be psychic as well!

1998 Topps Opening Day Mariano Rivera NYY #7

My favorite part about John's Grandfathers Gallery has been his good taste in sending more Mo. It's cards like this that motivate me to go back on the (imaginary) meds long enough to to keep diggin' for Braves. (Plus you can't go wrong by sending just about any Opening Day cards from before 2012...)

2000 Upper Deck Victory Ultimate Johnny Damon KCR #30
2002 Donruss Fan Club Roy Oswalt HOU #12

Maybe 95% of the cards that John has sent have either been Dodgers or directed toward my min-collections. But he's also sent a few cards that are great just because they're great, like the two above. It's always a good day when an envelope arrives from the Trading Spot. Thanks, John! Keep up the good work. And I'll... wait, what was I doing, again? Oh yeah, I've still got to get these things onto their mini-collection pages...

Oooo... piece of candy!