Dennis Leonard

This showed up in my mailbox yesterday via a PWE trade on the TCDB.  And all it cost me was a few recent Topps cards and a stamp!

Career Stats on these guys:
Pat Darcy: 0 WAR
Hank Webb:  0 WAR
Tom Underwood: 10 WAR
Dennis Leonard:  25 WAR (and he had the best mustache, to boot!)

It was nice to add Dennis Leonard's rookie card to my Royals collection.  I don't think he is remembered much outside of Kansas City fans, but he played 12 seasons between 1974-1986, all with KC.  He is the team's all-time leader in Complete Games and is a member of the "Royals Hall of Fame".

 
He doesn't get much love in the hobby, either -- there have not been any new cards of him since a 2007 Stadium Giveaway set.  He's the perfect guy for a set like Hometown Heroes, and I hope he gets included in any future iterations of that. 

Does anyone else out there remember Dennis Leonard?

Listia Goodies from the Disco Era

Listia continues to be an excellent site for turning unwanted stuff into KC Royals cards.  (BTW, you can signup here and get 400-500 free credits.)  Earlier this summer I "sold" a bunch of basketball cards on there, and my wife has been getting rid of some unwanted coupons there, too.  All 5 of these cards came from the same seller.  It was a lady in Texas who just threw them all in a PWE, slapped a stamp on it, and they showed up at my door. 

1974 Topps Steve Busby and Nelson Briles (Traded)

1975 Topps Bruce Dal Canton, Steve Busby, Lindy McDaniel

All-in-all, these ran me just under 600 credits.

Next Stop: Backstop

If you're not making trades with Marcus over at Backstop Cards, you're missing out.  He's making trades fast and furious down there, and if you don't yet have an outlet for your Padres, that would be a good place to send them.

He just sent me another little package with some Royals goodness in it (after perusing my Zistle wantlist).  Here were a few of the highlights:

A couple of  Eric Hosmers to start  your day off right.  The Blue Opening Day parallel is #'d /2012.  The Archives Hosmer is based on the 1984 design, but feels the need to use bright pink on an otherwise great card.  Eric has struggled this season...he's had one of the lowest BABIP of any big leaguers, so hopefully a reversion to the mean on that next year will help him regain that rookie season form.

This is the 2012 Archives George Brett rookie.  The real version is on my Most Wanted list, and I already have a Chrome Reprint version, but this one is a plain reprint with the gold stamp.   It's not nearly as beat-up as Nick's version.  :-)

2012 Topps Archives George Brett

The BIG PILE Contest

 

Boom!  With the addition of Spiegel, I now have 25 followers to my blog.  That's including me...(yes, I follow my own blog -- I have to see what semi-clever things I come up with to write about).    Therefore I think that to thank you it's time to run my first-ever contest. So I am hereby announcing the kickoff of the:

ROYALS AND RANDOMS

BIG PILE CONTEST

Why are you calling it the "Big Pile Contest", you may ask?  Because I've got a big pile of cards that I want to be giving away to TWELVE WINNERS.  Each winner will come away with part of that pile -- at least 15 cards each.  There aren't any hits, but it will be lots of base/inserts/parallels of stars from the last 30 years in baseball, football, and basketball. 

Entries will be accepted through the end of Sunday, December 4th.  If you want to be WINNING like Charlie up at the top, here's how you enter.  To enter:

• Leave a comment on this blog post 
• For one entry: Name one player you would like to see as part of the giveaway pile.
• For a second entry: Promote this contest on your blog (please post the link)
• For a third entry:  State that you are a follower of my blog (if you are, in fact, a follower).

I will randomize all the entries and announce the winners next week.  After that, the contest will begin.  It will be a draft format, but with stealing allowed.  I will post the full rules/procedure in a later post.  I am hoping to show some of the cards that will be in the pile later this week as I get them scanned.

One card that will DEFINITELY be in the pile is Mr. Reggie Jackson - 1975 Topps #461.

  

My wife says "Tell them that they should expect more than 15 cards apiece.  You have so many cards -- you should give away more."  :-)

Enjoy!

Most Wanted #2 - George Brett

In Wednesday's post I introduced my new "Most Wanted List" with the Drew Brees card.  That card was not really one that anyone would consider to be "collectible" or "valuable" by the hobby at-large.  Card #2 on the list IS a valuable one.

1975 Topps # 228 George Brett (Rookie)

 

George Brett.

The #1 Royals player of all time.  The only KC Hall-of-Famer.  13-time All-Star.  1 MVP.  3 batting titles, each in a different decade.  Led the league in TRIPLES 3 times -- I didn't know that until I just looked it up.  The guy could play (obviously).

I saw my first professional baseball game in 1986.  It was on a church bus trip to Royals Stadium for Royals versus Yankees.  I remember seeing the fountains and my amazement that the grass was SO GREEN.  From my perch high above home plate in the top deck I watched George get 3 hits that day.  He was the best player on the best team in baseball (they were the defending champs) and immediately became my favorite.  Dave Winfield had a homer that day, but I didn't take to him like I did to Brett.

Even in the late 80's Brett's cards were expensive.  7-year-old me could barely scrounge together the 40 cents needed for a pack, let alone what it would have taken to buy one of his earlier cards.  However, I remember seeing this card in the "Baseball Cards Magazine" and knowing that it was considered THE card of Brett to get.  I never did get it.  My interest in cards waned as I got older and that was that.

This card now has a book value of $80, and goes for $25-$50 on COMC.  As I've returned to collecting as an adult, I still have never paid that much for a single card.  If anyone has one for trade, please let me know.  I might break down and buy one someday, but can't see myself spending that anytime soon.