Completing a Team Set - 1962 Fleer Dallas Texans

Bill Miller completes m 1962 Fleer Dallas Texans team set.

I love the feeling of completing a page in the sports card binder - especially when it finishes the team set. I started building the '62 Fleer Texans team set a year or so ago. It didn't need to take that long, but I didn't want to over pay for cards on eBay or find some looked worn out.

The Bill Miller card looks very different than others in the set. Most of the cards have players with a odd face and different frozen actions. Miller's card actually looks like he was running a pattern to catch a pass.

Now it's on to the next team set to build. I'm one card a way from finishing my '52 Bowman Large Dallas Texans team set a few away from finishing my '87 Topps Mets set. 

Here Comes Cotton Davidson

Cotton Davidson, the quarterback of the 1962 Dallas Texans, nearly finishes my team set.

Cotton passed for 17 touchdowns in the 1961 season and is referred to on the back of the card as a "crackerjack short passer."

Jerry Mays Key to eBay Combined Shipping

Hello.... Jerry.

This 1962 Fleer Jerry Mays card is the latest add to my Dallas Texans team set.

I really lucked out with my last four cards of this set. I found one eBay seller listing the last four Texans cards that I needed and was combining the shipping. All four cards cost $3.00 to ship. Not a bad deal.

Oh That Shifty Abner Haynes

I'm down to my final four for this completed team set.

Abner Haynes, 1962 Fleer, Dallas Texans is the latest addition. Haynes was the AFL Player-of-the-Year in 1960.

Once again, the back of the card has the great description. "Fleet, shifty Haynes sprinted 841 yards in 179 carries for an average of 4.7."

Oh that shifty Haynes.

Does this Dallas Texan Look "Sneaky Fast?"

The back of this card describes Chris Burford as "Sneaky Fast!"

In 1961, Burford averaged 16.7 yards per reception and 51 catches for 850 yards and 5 touchdowns.

This 1962 Fleer is the latest Dallas Texans card I've picked up on eBay. I only have five more before completing the team set.

Great Action Shots from Dallas Texan E.J. Holub

The 1962 Fleer set I'm collecting is entertaining if nothing else.

I'm focusing on the Dallas Texans and some of these cards are pretty hilarious. This is E.J. Holub, a linebacker from Texas Tech.

As David commented on my previous blog post about the 1962 Texans, "Part of the reason for so many local collegiate guys was to help create an interest in the team by having the fans recognize the players. They were referred to as "Territorial Picks."

Great comment and thanks for the contribution.

Dallas Texans 1962 - Hometown Signings

This is another 1962 Fleer Dallas Texans card I picked up. Once again, the posed action shot of Sherrill Headrick is classic.

The stats on the back indicate that Headrick is from TCU. So far, 3 of the 4 '62 Texans that I've put on the blog came from Texas or Louisiana colleges.

Did they get local players due to easier scouting, public relations, lack of scouting budgets, or all of the above?

Spikes! Put Two Hands on that Football

The faux action shots of this 1962 Fleer set are pretty cool. This is full-back Jack Spikes demonstrating the proper technique to have two hands on the football.

If only I had this picture to show the football team I coached this fall!

Mel Branch 1962 Fleer Dallas Texans

My latest 1962 Fleer Dallas Texan is Mel Branch. It's another card from this fun set that looks Mel is dancing instead of playing football.

Branch was a defensive end for the Texans.

The Texans logo in the bottom right corner is pretty awesome too.

We Can't Have Bullets and Colt .45s, but Redskins are OK?

One of my Topps Million Card give-away is this 1962 Joe Amalfitano card of the Houston Colt .45s. After looking at the wiki page and some of their cool logos the story of the .45s seems really interesting to me.

In today's politically correct world, we could never have another Colt .45s team, just as we can't have a Washington Bullets team name. I get it, I'm not here to argue the name change, but I don't understand what appears to be a double-standard.

We can't have:
- Colt .45s
- Washington Bullets
- Eastern Michigan Hurons
- Miami (OH) Redskins

Why can we have the Washington Redskins and Chief Wahoo of the Cleveland Indians? Why are these images and stereotypes OK?

Billy Martin - The "Perky" Yankee

How would you describe Billy Martin? Aggressive? Competitor? Hot-tempered? Winner?

This Topps 1962 card describes Billy Martin as "perky." In the fourth line on the back of the card Topps writes, " . . . the perky second baseman set a World Series record . . ."

I don't know about you, but when I think "perky" I'm not thinking of Billy Martin!

What Would Casey Stengel Say?

I added to my '62 Topps Mets team set last week at the CSA Show. I picked up this Casey Stengel card for a couple of dollars.

I'm a huge Mets fan, but I'm not looking forward to this season - I think they could easily land in last place of the NL East with this team.

After getting this card, I began thinking, "What would Casey say" about this current Mets team.

Here are some great "Stengelese" quotes - the last one is my favorite:
- All right everyone, line up alphabetically according to your height.
- I've been in this game a 100 years, but I see new ways to lose I never knew existed before.
- Good pitching will always stop good hitting and vice-versa.
- I don't know if he throws a spitball but he sure spits on the ball.
- I was such a dangerous hitter I even got intentional walks during batting practice.
- Managing is getting paid for home runs someone else hits.
- Most people are dead at my age. You could look it up.
- Mr., that boy couldn't hit the ground if he fell out of an airplane.
- Son, we'd like to keep you around this season but we're going to try and win a pennant.
- The only thing worse than a Mets game is a Mets doubleheader.

Topps Colts .45s Work Every Time

After several delays and attempts, I finally was able to enter my Topps million card giveaway code today. My result: '62 Topps Joe Amalfitano.

I like the '62 set and anything Colts .45s, so I was pretty happy with this one.

Don Zimmer - 1962 Topps Mets

He's wearing a Mets hat, but has Cincinnati Reds listed for his team. Don Zimmer was an original Met before he was an army helmet wearing Yankee coach.

This 1962 Topps card was a bit more difficult to find. I was lucky enough to stumble upon a dealer at a show with a few 1962 cards to sell. Zimmer was the first, third-baseman in NY Mets history. He hit .390 in spring training in 1962 and appeared ready to hold the hot corner at the Polo Grounds (where the Mets played prior to Shea), but he started the season with five hits in 52 ABs. The Mets quickly traded him to Cincinnati in May.

Zimmer was traded to the Dodgers (the LA version this time) in Jan. 1963 and six months later was sent to the Washington Senators where he ended his playing career two seasons later.

Zim is living baseball history. He played with Jackie Robinson in Brooklyn, made the move with the team to LA, played on Stengel's expansion team in NY, and played on a Washington Senators team managed by Gil Hodges (Zim's former teammate in Brooklyn).

1962 Topps Mets: Hook and DeMerit

I picked up two more '62 Topps Mets for the team set I'm building: #4 John DeMerit and #94 Jay Hook. I found both at a local card show this weekend.

Jay Hook began his career in Cincinnati before joining the expansion Mets. In 1962 Hook lost 19 games which wasn't even good (or bad) enough to lead the team! Roger Craig lost 24 games that year. Hook spent 3 seasons in New York going 12-34 with a 5.22 ERA.

John DeMerit's first season with the Mets was his last season in MLB. DeMerit had three hits in 1962 - one of them a home run.