Card #39: Golden Great

Considering that this card is number 39 it seemed appropriate to show it off today.  I have a few more of these Golden Moments

This insert was from 2012.  Topps produced these to be inserted in Series 1.  The 75 card checklist featured 5 cards of 15 of the greatest ballplayers to put on a pair of cleats.  Besides Clemente, others included Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Nolan Ryan, Derek Jeter, Ty Cobb, Willie Mays, Cal Ripken Jr, Hank Aaron, Tom Seaver, Sandy Koufax, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Albert Pujols, Jackie Robinson.

This particular card discusses two games where Clemente amassed 10 hits.

Card #38: Help Me Piece This Together

Earlier in the month I mentioned that I am trying to put the 1986 Donruss Roberto Clemente puzzle together.  In order to do this I will need two copies of each "puzzle card"

When completed the puzzle will look like this beautiful painting by Dick Perez as seen below.

This card represents all the puzzle pieces inserted in the old wax packs.  The back talks about both Clemente and Perez.

Currently I only have this card which contains 3 puzzle pieces.

I do have the completed mini puzzle which as you can see by comparing to the puzzle card above features different pieces.

I am looking to get two of each "puzzle card" so if you come across any PLEASE send them my way.  I want one copy to put the puzzle together and glue it in a frame.  I want the other copy to put in the Clemente binder.

Any and all help would be appreciated especially since these sometimes end up in dime boxes.

Card #37 : Class of 73

We just watched six new former ball players have their names called for election into the Hall of Fame Class of 2018.  Two were selected by veterans committee last month and four more last week.  It looks to be a very long day for the Class of 2018.

Roberto Clemente was elected to the Class of 1973 following his untimely death earlier that year.  His only classmate was Warren Spahn.

Oddly enough both players wore number 21 in their careers.
The back of the card discusses the impact both these fine men had on the game.

Card #36: The Toys Made Us

I have been watching a lot of Netflix in my down time recently.

One show/documentary that I particularly like is a series called The Toys That Made Us.  It is a four episode web series discussing the origins of hit toy lines and the impact they had on pop culture.  So far Star Wars, Barbie, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and G.I. Joe have been featured.

Kenner of course not only made Star Wars figures, but in the late 80s went on to produce one of the most collectible lines of sports figures ever produced.

I doubt it would ever happen, but I would love to see one about Starting Lineups.  As a kid I had two small waste basket bins full of Starting Lineups.  I had so many of the stars and nonstars.  I would go to my friend's house and we would pretend to play a game using the figures.

My 1988 Cal Ripken Jr. figures lost both arms trying to hit a nerf ball, keep in mind he was a fielding figure.

I didn't have many of the legends figures as I didn't know much about them.  I remember having a twin pack of Willie Mays and a Willie McCovey.  I also had a Hank Aaron, which I used for my shoebox diorama I had to construct for my book project about a historical figure.  Yup, I chose Hank Aaron as a historical figure to write and present about.  Take that George Washington.

One figure I never had and still don't have is the twin pack of Roberto Clemente with Willie Stargell.

I did however manage to grab the card that came with the figures.

The Starting Lineup cards featured images of the players not usually seen in major releases and your standard offensive statistics on the back.

Card #35: Stroke of Inspiration

Today we look at the painting inspired design of the 2016 Diamond Kings release.

The lack of logos for "old timers" doesn't bother me so much. The card features a sleeveless jersey with a long sleeve undershirt worn by Clemente in their home uniform.  It appears that Clemente is wearing a wristband which I rarely seen him wear in other cardboard.

The back of the card features a neat fact about how Clemente switched to a heavier bat in 1961 which turned him from a career .288 hitter to winning the batting title that season with a .351 average.

Card #34: Welcome To the Hall Vlad

Yesterday it was announced that Vladimir Guerrero would be joining the likes of Ken Griffey Jr, Roberto Clemente,  Joe DiMaggio,  and many others in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The back makes mention not of their offensive abilities, but what they accomplish defensively.

The Hall of Fame class this year will consist of Vlad,  Chipper Jones, Trevor Hoffman, Alan Trammell, Jack Morris, and Jim Thome.   Congrats to the Class of 2018.

Cards #32 & 33: Triple Threads Pairings

I won a small lot of Pirates Triple Threads cards back in September 2017.  In addition to an emerald parallel of Cutch I also got two Roberto Clemente parallels.

The Emerald is numbered 232/250 and the gold is numbered 35/99.

Not only does the back include your standard counting stats (G, AB, R, H, RBI, and AVG) found on many older Topps cards there is also Total Bases, Slugging Percentage, and OPS.

It also has the standard 3 quick notes detailing facts about the player both on the field and off field.

Card #31: Welcome To 1992 Roberto

Roberto Clemente passed away twenty years prior to the 1992 Topps release.

2017 Archives gave us a nice What If? moment though by providing the greatest rightfielder in Pittsburgh history to be seen on a card design he unfortunately wasn't alive for.

The image used isn't an overused image by Topps so that was a nice surprise.  The colors match the same colors used on all other Pirates players from the original 1992 set.

My only gripe with the card is that it doesn't have an image of Forbes Field or Three Rivers Stadium on the back.

Card #30 : Fo' Rizzo

I've previously shown the 2016 recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award, Curtis Granderson.

Here is the 2017 recipient.

Anthony Rizzo

You may recall that I wrote a piece on Collecting Cutch how much I like Rizzo despite him being a player on a division rival.

Rizzo is a player I root for because of his off field actions.
Many players say that one of the best awards they can win is the Roberto Clemente Award because it reflects on them as a person, not an athlete.  Rizzo was similarly happy to win the award.

Card #29: 3 All-time Greats on 1 Card

Today's card is the 1966 Topps League Leaders card that features the top 3 hitters for the 1965 NL batting title.  It also happens to feature three of the all time greatest National League outfielders to play the game.

The amount of star power on this card is insane.
7 batting titles
66 All Star Games
27 Gold Gloves
4 MVP
10,034 hits
1,655 Hrs
5,505 RBI


The back features the averages for the top finishers.

I've previously shown this card on my other blog Collecting Cutch where I compared Clemente's 1965 season to Cutch's 2014 season.

Card #28: Legend

2017 brought us a bunch of Roberto Clemente inserts.

Among them was this Legends card.

Card #27: SP Legendary Cut

Here's another card that I got in my big COMC order back in October.

2001 SP Legendary Cuts was one of the best sets to collect at the time of it's release.  The hits from the series still hold their value well and the images used were all unique at the time of release.

The back talks about how Clemente was the first Latino player ever inducted into the Hall.  Much how Jackie Robinson was a trail blazer for African Americans, Clemente lead the Demographic change for MLB to scout more Latino players.

Card #26: Cooperstown

With the Hall of Fame results happening soon, I thought I would show off a card recognizing Roberto Clemente being in Cooperstown.

The front of the card features a nice image of Clemente following through with a swing.

The back of the card provides a really cool story about the Pirates vs Tigers Doubleday game.

I suspect that Vlad, Hoffman, Thome, and Chipper all get in this year.  That will make for a very large class of 2018.

Card #25: Rediscover Filler

Short on time today so here is a reprint card on the front
It is a reprint of the 1973 card.

And filler details about Topps on the back.

Card #24: A Better Picture

With yesterday's bad news about my car followed 30 minutes later by my favorite player being traded, I needed something more uplifting to brighten my day.

Hello Roberto Clemente.

Stadium Club always has provided great full bleed photos since the initial release.  Over the past few years Topps has only used Stadium Club for star players and legends.  It's unlikely that collectors will ever get the middle inning relief pitchers like the first few sets provided.

This image of Clemente signing for the fans shows the interaction that Clemente would have with the fans.  This version is just the base.  I need all the other versions.

The back of the 2016 Stadium Club  provides us with more information about the greatest Latin American to play our Nation's Pastime.

Card #23: Gotta put the pieces back together

So I just got some bad news.
My car is a total loss.

This really sucks.

I need to figure out how to put my life back together because right now I am at a loss for words.

This is the standard card size puzzle from 1986 Donruss.

Card #22: Broken Puzzle

Last week we had some really nasty ice storm that hit my town.  It made everything so slick.

I crashed my car and will find out tomorrow if it is totaled or not.  I still owe about $12K on it, but fear that due to the amount of mileage on it that they will claim it's not worth as much as they value.  If it is a total, it is going to hurt me significantly financially.

Praying for the car to be fixed.

I thought that this "card" would be good to show off as I await a decision.

I am in need of all the other 1986 Donruss puzzle pieces.  Many of them can be found for well under a $1 a piece.

Card #21: Retired Numbers

I have had this Clemente for a long time.  I think I got it shortly after release from a blogger named Trey and even showed it off on my old blog.

Roberto Clemente is one of the few numbers retired by the Pirates.  The others include
1-Billy Meyer
4 - Ralph Kiner
8-Willie Stargell
9-Bill Mazeroski
11 - Paul Waner
33 - Honus Wagner
42 - Jackie Robinson

The 2012 Topps Retired Number manupatches was a card set that featured 50 of the game's greatest players, all of which have had their number retired.

Card #20: Miggy Miggy Miggy can't ya see...

I have to admit I both love and hate the idea of posting 3,000 unique Roberto Clemente cards.  If I post one card each day it will take me nearly 8 years to show them off.  On top of it I will need to acquire Clemente cards at a rapid rate (similar to what I did with Cutch).

I still have over 200 cards to scan and post, but if anyone has any Clemente cards for trade please keep me in mind.

Today's card is a Topps Heritage Then & Now that compares the stat leaders of the original set's Year's leader and whoever lead the year the card was produced.

This particular card looks at the 2013 Batting Title Leaders compared to the 1965.  The 2014 Heritage set is based on the 1965 set.

Roberto Clemente lead the majors in hitting in 1965 with a .329 average.
Miguel Cabrera lead the majors in hitting in 2013 with a .348 average.

The back of the card is worth looking at as the 10th best hitter in baseball that year was Andrew McCutchen who batted .317.  That would have tied him with Willie Mays in 1965, good for 4th best.

Card #19: PWE from Once A Cub

Matt from Once A Cub hooked me up with two cards in a PWE.  In addition to the Holiday Snowflake Andrew McCutchen,  Matt sent this super awesome Hank Aaron/Roberto Clemente Throwback Thursday my way.

I love the #tbt cards.  Thanks for the awesome hookup Matt.

I'm going to send something out your way in next week.

Card #18: We are the Champions, my friends

The Pirates won the 1971 World Series
The MVP of the series was none other than Roberto Clemente.

Topps produced a series of manufactured pins for the World Series in 2012.

I have a few of these manufactured pins for the Pirates including a 1979 Willie Stargell and 1960 Bill Mazeroski.

Card #17: Ted Williams Etched In Stone

In the early 90s Ted Williams created a card company that produced some really nice looking classy cards of legendary players and fan favorites.

There was an insert set called Etched in Stone of which Clemente made the checklist.

This card was part of my COMC purchase I have talked about.  The front of the card features an action shot of Clemente that I haven't seen appear on any other forms of cardboard.  The nearly full bleed photo design has a stone design in the top right corner which adds to the classy look of the card.

The back features a lot of information about the 1960 season and the World Series Champions Pittsburgh Pirates.

There's a bunch more Clemente cards from the Ted Williams Company that I hope to chase down as the collection grows.

Card #15 & 16: Steel

My latest relic card might look familiar,  but in fact it's not.

Because of eBay's 10% bucks program plus a holiday bonus check I had some extra money to chase after this card.

Numbered to 36 copies and featuring 3 of the greatest Pirates of All-time (Yes Cutch belongs on that list) is a Triple Threads card with relics of Willie Stargell, Andrew McCutchen, and Roberto Clemente.

I've previously shown the /27 parallel on Collecting Cutch.