Sports Illustrated Cover: Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan

There is a great cover to this week's Sports Illustrated: Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan!

It is coming out at a perfect time for autographs too. Next month I'm going to an MAB show on Long Island where Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan will be signing. Tom Seaver is also signing this month at the National.

Twitter the National #NSCCShow

The hashtag #NSCCShow is being used for tweets about The National Sports Card Convention or "the National."

I sent tweets to quite a few card bloggers this weekend and this should build us a pretty good community for delivering, receiving, and getting the most out of this year's National in Cleveland.

If you're on Twitter and tweeting about "the National" use #NSCCShow in your tweet so others can join in the conversation. Sample tweet, "Topps just announced their promotion for the National. Check out the link to my latest blog post. #NSCCShow"

Hashtags allow both twitter users and non twitter users find conversations about different subjects. I had to use #NSCCShow because "#the National" and "#National" were already being used by different political and news groups.

Twitter and Non Twitter Users
To search for twitter conversations and information about the #NSCCShow:

• Go to search.twitter.com and type #NSCCShow.
• This will bring a list of tweets using the #NSCCShow hashtag. Another search is hashtags.org/tag/NSCCShow.

RSS #NSCCShow
Use any of the searches above and add it to your RSS reader. The hashtags.org URL to save the #NSCCShow feed is http://hashtags.org/feeds/tag/NSCCShow.

TweetDeck Users
What is Tweetdeck? Tweetdeck is a free and pretty cool application by Adobe AIR that you download for free to your desktop. There are other free Twitter applications for your PC, I personally like tweetdeck.

• Click the search icon in tweetdeck and type #NSCCShow.
• This open another column (if you have less than 10 columns) and continually refreshes as long as you keep it.

Twittering with a common hashtag, #NSCCShow, will also be helpful while you're at the The National. If you have mobile alerts. You can send and receive tweets about different booth contests or special autograph guests.

You can follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com/jamesryanj. I generally tweet more about internet and social media marketing than sports cards/memorabilia, but I will be tweeting about the #NSCCShow.

Studio Cards Were Like Awkward Family Photos

I never liked the '91 Studio Leaf cards. Why do I want an awkward family photo or high school graduation photo on my baseball card? It looks like the bat is stuck to Howard Johnson's face.

I want the photo of HoJo hitting or stealing a base... or triple clutching and throwing it in the dirt.

The only thing I found interesting about this card was the back: "Hobbies & Interests: Likes deep sea fishing...enjoys R&B and soul music...likes to watch Gilligan's Island reruns...collects fish. Hero Jesus.

How do you collect fish? You mean a fish tank? And who doesn't watch Gilligan's Island reruns - I thought they were all reruns at this point.

Mets Gary Carter is My New BFF!

Former Mets great Gary Carter is still taking my questions on his Long Island Ducks blog. I asked him in the comments section a few weeks ago who he would choose to run a young, up and coming team. Last week he responded.

A week earlier he responded to my criticism of his "Ultimate Team List."

I give Gary a ton of credit. He could be like other high ranking players who have (tried to) run blogs and never react to the questions or comments. [cough, Pete Rose, cough]

Gary Carter, or at least someone close to Gary Carter, reads the comments and responds. Gary is really using social media to be transparent and connect with the readers. He's using his blog to make a connection to me and other readers he's responded to.

Nice job Gary Carter... my BFF 4-Ever. Now if I can just get him to return my text messages..... :)

Carlton Fisk Autograph Cancellation - No Problem for CSA Shows

If you've attended an autograph show, then you know that anything can happen with the autograph guests. Players can be late for their own signings and sometimes they cancel at the last minute leaving you to scramble for a refund from the show promoter.

CSA Shows is taking guest canceling to a new level. Carlton Fisk recently canceled at the Chantily, VA based show for his July 12 appearance. If you ordered an advance ticket you can get a refund, an exchange or a special offer. For every one Carlton Fisk advanced ticket you purchased, you can 2 Jim Rice autograph tickets or 3 Andre Dawson tickets!

Fisk baseball autographs were $75 a piece. Rice autograph baseball tickets are $55 a piece and Andre Dawson autograph baseball tickets are $30 a piece. Obviously you are getting a real value for the exchange. This is a great job by CSA Shows.

The summer CSA Show is July 10, 11, and 12. You can also follow the show promoter on twitter: @CSAShows.

The National is Almost Here - Join the Facebook Group

I'm really starting to look forward to the National Sports Collectors Convention (the National) later this month. I usually go for the autographs, but I'm not thrilled with the Tri-Star autograph line-up this year. They have some big names, but not really players I'm chasing.

This year, I'm looking to get more cards than autographs. I'm hoping to add to my '62 Topps Mets team set and my '52 Bowman Small Texans team set.

Don't forget to join the National Facebook group I created in the winter. I've eliminated some recent spammers and posted some new information about events going on at the National. Hopefully we get a meet-up going too. If nothing else, share a beverage at the convention or some place nearby.

Comiskey Park Anniversary

White Sox Park, later named Comiskey Park, opened on this date in 1910.

At the time, White Sox park was the biggest and most expensive park in major league baseball. The Sox lost to the worst team in baseball at that time, the St. Louis Browns 2-0.

Ed Walsh was the best player on the White Sox that season, who weren't that far removed from the "Hitless Wonders" team that won the World Series. Walsh started 36 games and finished 33 of them going 18-20 with a 1.27 ERA!

In the park's final season (1990) Bobby Thigpen set a new major league saves record and two up-and-coming stars began to establish themselves: Frank Thomas and Sammy Sosa.

I wish I could have made it to the old park before it was taken down.

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.