Card Grading/Authentication Company Files for Chapter 11

GAI - Global Authentication Services filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection.

I found the story on the SCD site, the GAI site didn't mention anything and was still promoting their services.

Elvis Presley Birthday - 74 Years Old Thursday

The King is 74 and living the life Kalamazoo, MI (or so I believe). Celebrate Elvis' birthday by eating one of his favorite dishes: fried peanut butter and banana sandwich.

There are some cool Elvis Is autograph cards on eBay, but I've only seen the autographs of his movie co-stars like Nancy Sinatra and Barbara Eden. McFarlane toys has some cool Elvis figures too.

If you're in Las Vegas, check out Big Elvis at Bill's Gamblin' Hall and Saloon (formerly known as Barbury Coast). Five Hundy by Midnight rocks!

Long live the King!

Pete Rose 1984 Topps #300

Pete ended the 1983 season with the Phillies a little dissapointed.

The "Wheeze Kids" lost to the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series 4 games to 1. Rose hit .375 in the NLCS against the Dodgers and .313 in the World Series despite getting benched in Game Three.

At the conclusion of that season, the Phils wanted to bring Rose back, but in a more limited role. Pete had a great post season, but during the year his average dipped to .245 (a career low).

In October, Rose (unwilling to take the limited role) was granted his release and signed a free agent contract with the Montreal Expos. Pete spent part of the 1984 season in Montreal before trading himself back to the Cincinnati Reds.

Sorry - This is a bad scan of the card I have, but those blue uniforms rock!

Baseball Hall of Fame Needs Help

When did the Baseball Hall of Fame become a CD Music Club?

On Monday, I received Inning #1 of the Ken Burns baseball documentary along with a postage paid return envelope. Basically, I can:
- Keep the DVD and pay the Hall of Fame to get more, or
- I can use the envelope provided and send it back.

Who is doing the marketing over there? Why are they following college CD club marketing tactics which only captured the guy who lived down the dorm hall from you because he actually believed he would received 100 CDs for a penny! In my dorm, that was the same guy who thought the Dorm RA was cool.

This is the worst marketing I've seen by the Baseball Hall of Fame. They are sitting on the greatest collection of sports history and memorabilia and they best they can do is send me one part of a 15 year old DVD! Are you kidding me? Hasn't every baseball fan on the planet seen this at least 100 times on PBS or already bought the DVD collection? I admit, I own it and I love it. I watch it every spring before the season begins.

The Baseball Hall of Fame can gain membership in better ways than following the Columbia House or BMG marketing playbook. Here are some of my ideas.

• How about a web cast with a Hall of Fame player. Have a host ask questions and then let participants over the internet ask questions via chat or audio.
• This is the 20 year anniversary of the Giants/A's Earthquake World Series. Let me hear some audio commentary from Roger Craig, Dave Stewart, Jose Canseco and Will Clark. Bring them to Cooperstown to talk about the World Series and acts of bravery that followed the Bay Area 6.9 earthquake.
• Let me participate in a baseball Hall of Fame blog.
• Run a baseball Hall of Fame online trivia tournament. Set it up like Jeopardy has the prescreening and run it all year. The winner gets two tickets to the World Series or something.
• YouTube some behind the scenes footage of the Hall of Fame. Imagine what is in the basement of that great place!?

I think every baseball fan would love to part of some of these activities.

Baseball Hall of Fame: You can do better than sending me part of a 15 year old documentary series and hoping I subscribe for more. I know someone at the Baseball Hall of Fame reads this blog - I love baseball, please take my suggestions and move the museum into the 21st century.

http://web.baseballhalloffame.org/index.jsp

Mets Jerry Koosman Day - Flea Market Photo

Its Jerry Koosman Day at Shea Stadium! Sept. 9, 1989.

In this photo (from my flea market collection) has Frank Cashen is at the microphone announcing to the Shea crowd that Jerry Koosman was entering the NY Mets Hall of Fame.

Jerry Koosman spent part of 12 seasons with the NY Mets before being traded to the Minnesota Twins (a trade that sent Jesse Orosco to the Mets). Koosman then moved to the Chicago White Sox, and the Philadelphia Phillies.

He won 140 games for the Mets including 17 during the Miracle '69 season and 21 in the 1976 season. Koosman is also the answer of great trivia question - he gave up Pete Rose's 4,000th career hit.

More importantly, I'd like to give Jerry Koosman a bottle of Purell!

New Yankee Stars Were Slow Starters in '08

It was all smiles in December when the contracts were signed, but what will the back of the NY Post look like this May?

The Yanks have opened up the checkbooks and bought Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia, and AJ Burnett for close to a half a billion dollars. As a Mets fan, I'm well aware that championships are won in September/October, but how will the media respond if the Yankees half billion dollar investment doesn't pay immediate dividends?



Based on last year's April and May statistics, the headline writer for the NY Post and NY Daily News could be busy.

Mark Teixiera
Through May, 2008 (54 games): Tex was hitting .271 with 7 home runs and 39 RBIs.

CC Sabathia
Through May, 2008 (12 starts): CC was 3-7 with a 4.73 ERA

AJ Burnett
Through May, 2008 (11 starts): AJ was 5-5 with a 4.56 ERA

Championships may be won in Sept/Oct, but the papers could get pretty interesting this spring. Seven home runs, and eight wins for three players worth half a billion dollars isn't what the Steinbrenner boys are expecting.

Bill Buckner Needs a Bailout

Who is next in line for a Federal Government bailout? How about Bill Buckner?

An Idaho car dealership, Bill Buckner Dodge Chrysler Jeep, has closed according to Buckner’s attorney.

From the Idaho Statesman: The dealership sold Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep vehicles. Buckner lent his name to the dealership, had a minority ownership, but according to his attorney did not have operational control.


This photo is from the Chicago Sun Times Autograph and Memorabilia show in November, 2008.

Source: http://www.idahostatesman.com/business/story/593923.html

Billy Cowan Halo 1972 Topps Card

Billy Cowan isn't the most well-known baseball player and didn't have a stellar professional career, but he left his legacy with his 1972 Angels "Halo" card.

Cowan and the photographer had some good fun with the giant Angels halo that marked the stadium. Thanks to the photographers' eye and Cowan's sense of humor, this card is one of the most popular TTM autograph cards.

Check out the entire article at the Bronx Banter blog. It's pretty interesting.



Thanks to the BronxBanter for writing this and the Baseball Think Factory for bringing it to my attention.