30 YEARS LATER WE HAVE THE 1st INDUCTEE

 

                   This year marks the 30th Anniversary here in my hometown. It was 31 years ago when the Class 'A' Midwest League team the Springfield Sultans packed up & made their way to Michigan. They landed in the state's capital city known as Lansing, there they became the Lansing Lugnuts.  During the summer of 1996 its where this blogger was 3 years removed from High School graduation reading some scouting reports on the upcoming team to make their debut in the reports they listed the top 5 players that were stated to play for the Lugnuts who were at the time the Class 'A' affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. They were Gary Coffee,Mark Quinn,Carlos Febles,Jose Cepeda & Carlos Beltran.

Gary Coffee was stated to be the 1st Baseman/DH he was to hit like Cecil Fielder with more power though.

5 Stars that didn't result into not even a half a star with Coffee bad enough he never got a cup of coffee in the Majors. But Gary wasn't the first to be featured in a major set that had Lugnut collectors look for at shops at the time.

                       Mark Quinn was rated with 4 stars for a possible speed & arm to help the young outfield that Kansas City developed for the next millennium. Sadly Mark was a great prospect to watch that year & he even made the Midwest League All-Star game in 1996 however Kansas City gave up on him too quick cause he wasn't anything like another prospect Johnny Damon whom he was suppose to alternate with & Johnny was on the move by 2001 to Oakland.

               Carlos Febles the man was rated 4 stars & had tools like that of former Royals All-Star 2nd Baseman Frank White. Sadly Carlos lost the glove work & injuries caught up with him after being in the Majors for 6 seasons. Currently Carlos is the 3rd base Coach for the Toronto Blue Jays.  He made his MLB debut in 1998 the same day as a teammate of the 1996 Lugnuts made his debut we'll talk about that player a bit later.

                    Jose Cepeda he was rated 4 stars due to his blood line in the Majors he was the nephew of Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda. He was supposed to be the Royals replacement at 3rd base making Kevin Seitzer move to 1st base until Coffee was ready since legendary Hall of Famer George Brett was slowly heading to retirement in the next 3 seasons & was used as DH. Jose only made his debut in 1999 not with the Royals but made a short 10 game stint with the Atlanta Braves & not getting out of the shadow of his Uncle Orlando.
                     That leaves us with the man of the hour in 2026 the newest member of the Baseball Hall of Fame Carlos Beltran. Carlos was believe it or not had a 3 star rating according to this report.  As others were watching the previous 4 I quietly watched this upcoming outfielder. He was the 8th ranked prospect he only played in Lansing for 42 games before moving on to Eugene,Oregon before making his MLB debut the same day as his former teammate Carlos Febles back in 1998. After making his debut as a late season call-up in 1998 it was in 1999 Carlos showed everyone that he belonged in the Majors despite having a 3 star ranking on this report he was rewarded in 1999 as The American League Rookie of the Year winner. Carlos would eventually play for 8 teams & finally retired from the game in 2017. On Tuesday this week Carlos received a call saying by garnering 84.2% votes on only his 4th ballot he will be enshrined in Cooperstown to join the legends of the game. He goes into the Hall with Andruw Jones & Jeff Kent later this year. Even though when I type this post up in January I hope that later this year that the Lansing Lugnuts will do something to honor the 30th Anniversary team as well its 1st inductee to the baseball's Hall of Fame so stay tuned this blogger with my insights will let you know if anything should develop so in conclusion I say congrats to Carlos as well to Andruw & of course Jeff Kent who practically played the same era as these 2 gentlemen did in making to Cooperstown. It amazes me that after 30 years watching a young kid like Carlos making it to baseball ultimate goal in being a Hall of Famer despite what allegations he had when he was with the Astros the second time around when he was accused of cheating I just have to wonder what he will say come time for his speech in July in up state New York near Ostego Lake. Maybe he will have a quote like our favorite Hall of Fame member Rogers Hornsby once saying "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."

2 DAY SHOW REPORT

     

I didn't want to take a picture of the cold weather. I prefer to be at a ballpark in weather suited for a game. 

       Last week Friday & Saturday I was in the town called Midland which is located near the Flint & Saginaw area its also home of the Great Lakes Loons of the Class 'A' Midwest League team whose parent ballclub at the time of this posting is the Los Angeles Dodgers basically where Clayton Kershaw started his climb to the majors for a set up for a 2 day show. It was held at the Dow Chemical Ballpark in freezing temps outside we were under the cover a great concourse level inside the weird thing is this is the first show I have ever been to as a dealer setting up that had 2 different levels of dealers I was happy to be on the main level cause how slow the elevator would run & having to make multi-trips to the car to get all my boxes & without anyone assisting me either day & plus dealing with the weather snowfalling on the Friday my cart didn't want to budge rolling into the slushy snow. The show had 2 signers both didn't sign long only for an hour they were former Tigers Relief Specialist Mike Henneman & former New York Giants Running back Tyrone Wheatley they were there on Saturday.

That's Mike Henneman from my view of my table in the green hat.

Again a view from my table catching Tyrone Wheatley signing for some scabs of fans of his college.....I mean preschool. 

            I was all set to surprise a great friend in the blogging world Matt aka Cards Over Coffee by maybe if Tyrone wasn't too expensive to get his signature & razz him about this years THE GAME & see if he was retained to work next year at the preschool with the new coaching staff by getting his autograph.....well Matt sorry Tyrone was too much for this guy at $30 for a flat & $75 on a mini helmet which I would have gotten a Mini Giants helmet along with a card for your Giants collection even though I know ya prefer the Bulldog guy of a certain Mr. Rodney Hampton over Tyrone & plus his he would inscribed the Helmet saying something about coffee for you but the inscriptions were limited 3 words at an extra $45 add it all up & I know ya wouldn't been able to reinburst me right away for the surprise so I had to do a hard pass so I tried Matt again I need my money for my coffee. I wasn't sure how much Henneman was charging but I didn't want to risk it if he also was $30 as well so I had to time it right to get the pics for you my lovely readers. 

            On Friday I was limited to the main level of the show so I saw a few tables had some possibilities of getting things from my lists or make some trades with my stuff for newer stuff lucky for me I found 2 dealers that helped me with some of my `25/`26 Topps Basketball inserts leaving me with 3 cards to find still which is better than having nothing. I know I made 1 kid very happy with a box of 1991 Series I Donruss I had an unopened box that I got for free from a customer at work when he saw that the price was $3 he begged his dad for the money the father 1st told him oh that guy is asking too much for it until the son spoke up & said no dad he's asking $3 not $300 the father asked me if it was $3 I shook my head & said its his for $3  the father handed him the money which the kid relayed it to me I told the kid Good luck I hope ya can pull an exclusive Elite insert & if ya do you'll have better luck then I did back in 1991 when it was released. So the kid left happy & then another kid noticed I had a gravity feed box of 2023 Topps Series I for $20 & he too went home happy with a new box to crack open.  Then around 7pm I packed up my stuff back into my car for the cold ride in the winter night back home & get ready for Saturday.

                    On Saturday I finalized my deals for my inserts then made a few deals with the stuff I selling then around 2:30 packed up my stuff headed back toward home but made a slight detour to the local casino on the Indian Reservation to play video poker since I don't want to play regular card games cause I count cards & I don't want to be banned from the casino so I stick with the video poker & keno games after being there for an 1 hour headed home to catch the end of the Broncos Vs Bills game. Overall it was a good weekend however one thing I forgot to pick up was a dealer had a binder of `81/`82 Topps basketball singles labeled if not stickered $1 per card to whatever was labeled so I counted them & there was like 42 out of 66 cards needed unfortunately I didn't realize my mistake until I was loading the last of my boxes in the car when I went back to that dealer he was long gone well maybe next show I might get lucky again one can only hope.  Anyways I hate to leave ya fellow readers but I have yet to unload my boxes back into my Man Cave basement but I leave ya in words of the Great Rogers Horsnby once saying about signing autographs for little kids "Any ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."

NOT WANTED!!!!!!

                          

                                            On Monday I got a text from my new store manager at DG asking why I am asking people for their shifts well.......lately I have only been scheduled 1 night a week for a job that I hired in as full-time not getting full time hours & such. Sure I have griped about working a lot of hours without time off who hasn't but for me I need to work to pay my bills & to have some $$$$$ left over to maybe get a couple of cards if I have the time. All I am asking is to work Saturdays from 12pm to when ever a place closes the same on Sundays with a later start date on the 2nd Sunday of each month except July when there isn't a show that I like to help my friend out with & Monday to Wednesday from 3pm to close so I can continue to work my other job during the day unless I can get about $17 hour with benefits Ill quit my other job, & have Thursdays & Fridays free except when I request time off which is very rare for me cause I mainly want a week off to attend the NSCC Convention or have plans in which I will ask for it off in plenty of time to get coverage if needed.

                                  Lately I find myself not getting hours meanwhile others who are limited with their hours are getting scheduled more than me. Its hard for someone at the age 50 to find something when I should be slowing down cause I am not as young as I used to be. Plus some of the younger crowd they don't want to work long hours they feel like they're entitled to things instead. I am not a suit & tie type of a worker I am blue collar son. My dream job would to be working at a card shop sorting through boxes getting them in order or selling cards cause I know my cards in the sporting world get me on Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh Magic the Gathering forget it. I rather talk cards to people that come in claiming they have a million dollar top notched card only to be set down a peg or have me work a warehouse where if ya need commons sorted out from 3200ct to 5000ct boxes I am willing to do that for a paycheck. If I worked at a card company I would try to see what type of market is like so I can present to you a better product to produce.  

                         As usual I am turned down for those places cause I know too much or cause they don't want to hire someone that understands stuff or they say I am not motivated enough to do anything. I have some great ideas that I could see happening if a certain company would take the time to hear my pitch for another location for them to make it 2 times the business they could either send to the main headquarters or send to the 2nd location & it could just focus on a certain area of the country to make it easier on the main head building that's why ya see all these Amazons places across the USA so they can focus on that particular area & its just not the main Amazon building but alas this company doesn't want to do that they claim the main building is all they need. 

                   Anyways I know its not a typical card posting part but I just wanted to speak my mind on how I feel as of late cause its not a mid-life crisis for me its just upsetting that someone like me wants to work & yet I am like Milton shunned to the basement of work in hopes that someone doesn't take my red stapler.

Until then I am reminded of Rogers Hornsby once said about signing autographs for little kids "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign an autograph for a little kid ain't an American, He's a Communist."

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL...

                                       Mirror Mirror on the wall.......What will my avid readers say about this post to say my Man Cave will leave them in awe!!!!!!! You'll have to excuse me with the photos I took them on Wednesday night after acquiring one of these things you're about to see.  These mirrors were made by the Seagram's Whiskey Company to be showcased in bars in the 1990's. I am not sure how many of them are in the series but I think I have them all even though 1 of them I need to get replaced cause it has a crack on it & I am not in a rush to get just yet. 
                                       There's a total of 18 of these mirrors I have placed them in Alphabetical order cause that's how I want to place them within my Man Cave walls when I get a chance to hang them all up that's where you my avid reader of my blog can help me in figuring out where I should place a certain mirror at the beginning of them & the other 17 as like a header card like or do I put 9 of them then place the questionable one in the middle like a checklist one that is usually in the middle of sets like then continue where I left off or do I place it at the end again as a checklist that's at most sets. The 17 subjects are Ernie Banks,Roy Campanella,Roberto Clemente,Ty Cobb,Whitey Ford, Lou Gehrig,Bob Gibson (was the last subject I needed & picked up on Wednesday after working my school job.), Gil Hodges, Shoeless Joe Jackson,Willie Mays,Satchel Paige,Brooks Robinson,Pete Rose,Babe Ruth,Ozzie Smith, Willie Stargell, Cy Young, finally even though its cracked a 6 player collage that features 6 of these legends. 

                                      I have to start to thanking my father back in 1995 I believe he was on his way home from working he stopped at a liquor store when he brought home the Willie Stargell cause he knew his middle son was so into baseball & thought it would look nice hanging in his bedroom. There it stood in my bedroom for many years & I didn't think of it much until it cause I didn't know much like how many of these things are there?  Who were all the subjects? Was it just a fluke that 'Pops' Stargell had one made only for the fans of Pittsburgh to enjoy looking at their local watering holes? There were alot of questions to be asked about these mirrors & I still don't have any complete answers since I attempted to reach out to the Seagram's company only to have gone completely ignored. 
                                   Back in 2020 when my girlfriend & I moved from our 1 bedroom apartment to a new house I brought along 'Pops' figuring out where to place it upon my empty walls in my newly formed Man Cave. Then I had a thought maybe I should do a search on eBay just to see what I could find on them & just how much Willie might sell for should I decide to pass on the idea of doing them should it be a hassle to accomplish in finding them. Well.....as you can see I didn't give up on finding them, & its been fun trying to find out the numerous questions I have on them. 
                                   I started my search by typing Seagrams Baseball Mirrors on Google only to find about a few of the players so I thought that was it after making an initial listing & I even went as far to reach out to the Seagrams company to find out how many there is while I am certain there's about 17 subjects & 1 collages I mentioned before & there's even different colored frames from black to red & if you ask me the red frames really make it stand out plus its the same color as everlasting 7 Logo shown on the bottles. As I would acquire a new mirror in the last 6 years I would cross it off the list & there's even different sizes on some of them they measure 20"x 16" they were offered as a give away cause they were first advertised as a Baseball Fan Guide I don't have any of the guides themselves cause they even had matching glassware of the subject I have enclosed a photos of the 1992 guide that offered the Willie Mays mirror & you can see for yourself how to get one of these mirrors as well the matching glassware as well.  
                                Now would I like the guides part of me says yeah so I would know just about how many there are, as the other part that says no I don't want the guides is cause I am still hoping that maybe just maybe someone will reach out to me & give me news saying oh there's more than just those 17 individuals or yes that's all they produced was 17 players & 1 collage & you have a complete set. Now while I collected these mirrors I found out certain players are bit harder to find them most but as of late some of the rare ones are slowly appearing on eBay more frequently then when I first started I guess it was cause of how I went to finding them in the first place.

                                                  I don't need another factoid booklet to my collection when I am a walking/talking baseball encyclopedia according to most of my readers with my knowledge of the game.

As you can see there's the send away offer in this picture shown above as well as the glassware.

                     I mentioned there is was some rare ones those would be like Roy Campanella,Bob Gibson,Joe Jackson,Satchel Paige,Brooks Robinson,Pete Rose, & Ozzie Smith.  The others I didn't mention were frequently easy to obtain on eBay when I started to collect them. Most range in prices from $25 on up depending on who the player is & if it rarer to find that certain subject or not.             
                       I have many people I want to thank for helping me purchase them for me which I later paid back for their assistance. 1 is my friend Pat Mooney she was able to snag me off eBay once I saw them the Joe Jackson,Satchel Paige,Brooks Robinson,Pete Rose, & Roy Campanella  as well the first Ozzie Smith one I had before it cracked too. Another blogger friend from the blog Not Another Baseball Card Blog Mike Matson the nice Canadian friend helped me out in requiring Ozzie Smith again when I saw it pop up again on eBay I reached out to him seeing if he had a PayPal account so he could help me snag the Smith as well the Bob Gibson he was only able to afford the Smith because of his funds in money & I couldn't complain I just had to wait on the Gibson a little longer then I wanted the only complaint I had was when I got the Smith it too was cracked some but its fine. About a week after receiving the Smith I was at my monthly show in Livonia I was getting ready to say my farewell to my dealer friends I stopped at David Moore's table now usually we banter like Woody Hayes & Bo Schembechler on who's a better team either my THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY or his Ugly of Manure (Those who are regulars to my blog reading ya know I don't give a rats arse about the Universtity of Muchigan!!!!) & I mentioned about what Mike did I muttered I wish I could get the Bob Gibson one but I didn't have a PayPal account David said he be nice to get for me provided I could pay him for it once it arrived I told him if he got it before I left I pay him on the spot cause I had the amount on hand & all he had to do is let me know when I could pick it up well that was on Wednesday a day we both were free & was able to meet up & I could take Bob home to join with the others I have. Another person who helped me out was my yes readers you guessed it was my good friend Greg who helped me in getting some of them as well as the early ones including the collage before it got damaged. Otherwise the others came from going to antique stores,card shows & card shops friends who might have one after hearing about my quest in obtaining them all or they thought their mirror was the only one to me when I saw one I had to acquire it ASAP in fear that someone else would snatch it up before me.  
              Now my readers I like to present to you my collection of The Seagram's 7 Baseball Legends Mirrors. So sctoll down the page look at these great mirrors the last being the collage I didn't want to show my cracked version so I had to show you what I need but the others are shown as is that I have in my house at the moment I like to hear your feedback on this especially on how I should showcase them on my wall as I mentioned my dilemma that I talked about above. 

                                            

                                      Well thanks for taking the time to read this post if you have any information that I didn't cover please let me know or is there a particular one that your envy of me of having & ya wished you could find that player for your Man Cave I like to hear as well & also how should I show them, until then I reminded what Rogers Hornsby once said about signing autographs for little kids "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."

ITS STILL ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!! ⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️ LOL!!!!!!

               ⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️ WARNING ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️  What our about to read again might ruin your lunch.  Back on June 30,2025 I introduced to you a little science project that I created If you're not caught up on what I am referring to, I suggest you go back in my blog to reread the origins of this project & no I will not be denied again from comments from you my avid reader I want to hear what you think of this still especially after its first encounter on the 30th of June for as long as I have it in my possession my evilness won't be done *evil chuckles like a mad Doctor*. 

                Now hopefully you're caught up to date with the project. Let's take a look at this wonderful thing. I took the latest installment pictures when my friend from The Collective Mind Blog was visiting me just after Christmas & I wanted to wait until 2026 came along to reveal it again. I am also thinking of the next time if I go to a shop & they have inexpensive box from the "Junk Wax Era" that I could start fresh again & create another one & maybe just maybe someone would take note of my quirkiness or demented brain cells of a baseball know-it-all & write an article to a certain publication about how a weird a blogger like myself could create such a thing or things should I do it again as well do an article on what goes on in certain minds of a blogger when trying to find content for readers to read our posts do I need to mention that blogger's name nah!!!! I am sure that he's thinking about if his team will join the Yankees & the Athletics as his team enters the 2026 season in hopes to 3-peat as champions. 

⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️Its ALIVE!!!!!!⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️

⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️BEWARE IT MIGHT ATTACK YA ⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️

Until next time this is Evil Doctor of Mixology & baseball card knowledge is reminding you of the great Rogers Hornsby once saying about signing Autographs for little kids "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."

KING ME COMPLETED

 

    

On Friday after cashing in my paycheck I went to a shop in Ypsilanti in search for some 1968s I found a couple of them. As I was perusing the showcases my eyes zoomed in on card #221 of the `03/`04 Topps Basketball set

I had to rub my eyes to make sure I was not dreaming. There it was a raw version of King James himself RC the last card I needed for my set that I started 2 years ago after my friend Pat had a starter lot of 235/249 cards. I spent the last year whittleing the list down picking up the Shaq,Kobe,Dirk at a show for $5 then I got Dwayne Wade & Carmelo Anthony at shop for $20 then went to another shop just to see if I could locate the missing 2 as I was going through Pistons singles I got the redemption unreedemed for a $.25 unlike the Pistons who had the pick I didn't think of it until I figured what are my chances of finding a redeemed one not only thought it the card was Darko himself redeemed back to back total cost $.50 

Not bad for $.50 

That left me in finding King James to complete it. I tried to find it at the National last summer but wasn't lucky to find a raw version in my price range. So as I mentioned earlier my eyes zoomed on it & they wanted $200 for it needless to say I couldn't pass up on it after consulting 2 others about inquiring it the both gave good arguments to purchase it so with it said my `03/`04 Topps Basketball set is complete.  

I completed 1 set 2 days within new year as well picked up 1/3 of the top RCs I wanted to find this year so far I've been sticking to my resolutions lol. Now if ya excuse me I need to see where I stand on 1968s after picking up the few singles & do my report on a later post update so stay tuned as always I'm reminded of Rogers Hornsby once saying about signing autographs for little kids "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."

WHAT IF........PART VII

         

           Just recently the group sent me the latest installment of a case that takes place in the winter of 1969 after a long tenure broadcasting the St. Louis Cardinals & St. Louis Browns the voice of the man that you see up on top of this post was let go by the Busch Family due to fact that Harry was drinking too much of a rival beer as well recovering from a car accident that happened earlier in the 1969 season. During the 1970 season found Harry in an unfamiliar area not within the Midwest where you may ask, Oakland, California yes Oakland the former home of the Athletics who were gearing up for their 3rd season being removed from Kansas City. 

            Harry spent one season with the A's the entire 1970 then Charlie Finley let him go citing that "All those Midwestern Ideas that this announcer had won't do here in Oakland." Harry felt the same way he disliked how Charlie wanted him to change his infamous "Holy Cow" Expression to "Holy Mule!!!!" to put more focus on the Athletics unofficial mascot Charlie O instead. 

            At the Start of the 1971 season Harry moved back to the Midwestern area again this time he was calling the games for the South Side Sluggers known as the Chicago White Sox. It was Chicago the town he would stay until 1981 before joining the under the new management of the Tribute Company who recently acquired the Chicago Cubs from the Wrigley Family for the North Side staying until his death in 1998 on Valentines Day.  Harry has never been forgotten by fans his antics with the South Side Sluggers back in 1975 the owner of the White Sox Bill Veeck asked Harry if he would be interested in leading the crowd after secretively hiding a microphone to get a recording of Harry singing his signature song "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." At first Harry was against it but when Bill told him he had a recording of him doing it,Harry reconsidered the offer only if he could get organist Nancy Faust accompanying him on the song & the rest was history before Harry took his act to the North Side cause Bill Veeck sold the club after the 1981 season. 

          Now you're wondering thanks for the information about Harry but what is the "What If........." part of the story. Ahhhh!!!! patience my reader the group gave this synopsis they wanted to know had Harry & Charlie Finley not clash after the 1 season. Would Harry have been in the booth to call the call "Swinging A's" World Series Triumphs(1972,1973 & 1974) after all Harry wasn't a stranger of the post season after calling World Series games for the 1964,1967 & 1968 for NBC. Most of the group mentioned that knowing Harry being Harry they don't blame him for leaving for Chicago & without him coming back to the Midwest there wouldn't have been such a cult following & we wouldn't have a reason to sing during the 7th Inning stretch like we do now. So I now leave it to you my avid reader did we go off key in this presentation of Harry Caray or do we open up a can of Budweiser even though the choice for most Cubs fans is Old Style (In my Opinion I prefer a Labatt Blue cause I am 5th Generation of the Labatt Family over Budweiser though I did have an Old Style during my only trip to the "Friendly Confines" back in 2013.) & continue to sing praises to this legendary broadcaster every 7th inning we encounter & do our best rendition of the man himself.  As always I am reminded of what Rogers Hornsby once said about signing autographs "Any Ballplayer who doesn't sign autographs for little kids ain't an American, He's a Communist."