1952 Bowman Small - Buddy Young

My 1952 Bowman Small Texans team set is coming together. This weekend I also picked up this Buddy Young card.

Buddy was the shortest player in pro football! He was 5' 4.5" inches tall. Despite his size, Young was a track star at the University of Illinois. He won the National Collegiate Championships in the 100 and 220-yard dash and tied the world record for the 45 and 60-yard dashes. An amazing accomplishment considering his size.

As a Texan in 1952, Young had 3TDs rushing and 2TDs receiving. He retired from football in 1955 with the Baltimore Colts.

Collecting Cards with Your Kids

This year my kids started getting involved in the sports cards hobby. How we became engaged may not be right for everyone and I don't want to pretend that it's the best way, but it is a method that worked for us.

My goals were are to have them enjoy the hobby like I did as a kid (and still to do today) and not worry about the high dollar card value and limited inserts. My twin boys are five, so I wanted to start slow, make it fun, and create a learning environment.

First Step: Get the Materials
I bought them each a binder and sleeves to hold the cards. I also let them flip through one of my binders to see all the cards and how they go in there.

Second Step: Choose a Product
I limited our focus to one product to find player cards on our favorite team. I think multiple products and teams for each sport is too much for little kids. My theory is to keep it simple. For baseball, we limited our focus to the Topps 2009 Series 1 & 2. The design is nice and the cards can be bought almost anywhere without breaking the bank. For football, we're collecting 2009 Upper Deck: Icons - our football team is the Dallas Cowboys and the "America's Team" subset is a great way for the boys to always get some Cowboys cards. My local card store has some limited hours, so I needed something I can pick up at Target, Walmart, etc.

Third Step: Create a Checklist
Paul at Paul's Random Stuff listed all the 2009 Topps Mets cards (our family's favorite baseball team) on his blog to start the season. I entered this information into a spreadsheet and created some drop down lists. I'm doing the same thing right now with the UD Icons football cards.

Last Step: Rip 'em
Once I had the first three steps completed, we started picking up some packs. Sometimes we stopped at the card store (when it was open), but most of the time we hit the big box retailers.

Results
So far my boys love it. I can see the excitement as they open each pack and when they find a player they recognize from watching the games on TV. We're still working on handling the cards with care (another reason to get the cheaper versions), but they add them to the binder each time. We're learning about the stats and about the players. Getting to use the computer is a ton of fun for them too. We're logging on to the PC, opening Excel, choosing their own spreadsheet, and clicking the arrows for their cards. This is teaching computer skills and reading while having fun with trading cards of your favorite team. Does it get better?!

Obviously, each child and circumstance is different. We all know that "one size does not fit all," but this approach worked with my kids. I narrowed the focus, found a product that fits our budget, and created a fun learning environment for them to get started. Watching my kids enjoy the hobby and learn about the players and team has been so much fun for me this year. This weekend I heard the words that can wet the eye of any card collecting parent, "Daddy, can we go get some cards today?" Sniff....

Searching for Dallas Texans' James Hammond

I had an eBay mail day last week. The first card in the mailing is this 1952 Bowman Small of James Hammond.

Hammond was drafted by the Texans from the University of Wisconsin in the 1951 draft and that's the only information I have on Hammond!

I've done wiki, google, football-reference, and everything I could think of to find more data. So far, I could only find this card and that he was drafted by the Texans. I can't find where he ran the ball or made a single tackle in the league for any team.

If anyone has more information on James Hammond, please post it.

Free Beckett Media Magazine

I have a few FREE Beckett Cheer! magazines to give-away. These are compliments of Beckett Media (disclosure for my FTC friends).

Last Wednesday I blogged about the newest Beckett Media magazine - Cheer! Tracy Hackler, from Beckett, responded to some of the comments and offered everyone a free copy. I accepted the offer and yesterday I received my box of Cheer!

Get Your Free Copy
If you want a free copy of Cheer!, just leave a comment and I'll send you an email to get your mailing address.

After you receive the magazine and review it, answer the following questions using a 1-5 scale where:
1 = Strongly Disagree,
2 = Slightly Disagree,
3 = Neither Agree nor Disagree,
4 = Slightly Agree
5 = Strongly Agree

Questions:
- The articles were well written.
- The photographs/images were well done.
- You would like to see more cheer leading collectible information in the next issue.
- You would buy the next issue.
- Give me your take - additional comments.

I'll post your answers and your comments. If you have a blog of your own, I can link to those here too.

The 1-5 scale is how I've done short marketing surveys at work. I think the scale will give some consistency and the the additional comments will give you the freedom to rip or praise. I don't have any affiliation with Beckett Media. I did the blog post after reading the announcement on their site.

Taking part in the survey so far are: Rob from VOTC, Laloosh, and Brian from Play at the Plate. They commented on the original blog post and have already agreed to take a look at the magazine.

Gary Carter Goes from Ducks to Sailfish

Gary Carter will not manage the NYMets or one of their minor league teams next season (sigh). Carter won't even be in the tri-state area to get a phone call. This explains why his Long Island Ducks Blog with Newsday has been out-of-order.

The Kid has resigned from managing the independent Long Island Ducks to be closer to home and manage the Division II Palm Beach Atlantic University Sailfish. Good thing Paul from Paul's Random Stuff picked up the Ducks autograph baseball for me this summer!

Carter may be criticized for jumping in front of any camera with a red light on the top, but he's wins everywhere he goes:

- Gulf Coast League and Florida State League Manager of the Year in 2005 and 2006.

- Port St. Lucie Mets 2006 League Champions

- Orange County (CA) Flyers 2008 Manager of the Year

- Orange County (CA) Flyers Golden Baseball League Champions

- Long Island Ducks playoffs in 2009.

Omar and Fred - are you hearing this?

Good luck to Gary Carter in south Florida. I hope an MLB team calls soon. He's good for the game and is widely regarded as an excellent manager.

Links announcing the Gary Carter Managing News:

Long Island Ducks

Palm Beach Atlantic University Sailfish

Wally Backman Baseball Reference Page

So he's no longer employed by the Joliet Jackhammers - I'm still sponsoring the Wally Backman Baseball Reference page!

Last week the Backman sponsorship became open and this week I jumped on it!

I'm hoping the Mets decide to bring Wally Backman into the Wilpon Circle of Trust or at least bring him in to help develop some of the young talent. Reports last week indicated that Omar was close to hiring him in some capacity.

I know Backman has made his mistakes - we all witnessed his rise and fall with Arizona in a 72 hour reality TV show. I think the Mets should move past his off-field issues. Backman's minor league resume (sans Joliet) are impressive and his style of play and coaching is what the Mets need.

This is my second Baseball-Reference sponsorship. The Sports Locker blog also sponsors the Howard Johnson page.

1962 Mets Topps Project: Thomas and Mantilla

I'm still working on the 1962 Mets Topps team set. I'm a little over half-way on completing the team set. These are the last two that I've recently picked up.

Frank Thomas was the slugging outfielder for the expansion Mets. In 1962 he hit 34 home runs and drove in close to 100 RBIs. It was the last year Thomas would hit over 20 home runs in a season. Thomas can be found on the autograph circuit throughout the east coast.

Felix Mantilla was the shortstop for the Mets in 1962 and played in 141 games. 1962 was his only year with the Mets. He was traded to Boston in the off-season. He finished his career in 1966 with Houston.

Finishing my 1962 Mets team set is one of my collecting goals for 2010.

1962 Project Topps Mets Project: Craig & Drake

I recently picked up two more cards for my 1962 Topps Mets team set project: Roger Craig and Sammy Drake.

Roger Craig was another Brooklyn Dodger to come back and play for the Mets in 1962. Craig lost 46 games in his two seasons with the Mets. He lost 24 during that fairly rough first year in 1962. In '63 he 22 games with an ERA under 4.00.

Sammy Drake's first year with the Mets was his last in baseball. In 1962, Sammy Drake hit .192 in 25 games for the Mets. He's listed as an infielder and outfielder on his card, but played his games at 2nd and 3rd for the Mets.