View My Accomplishment... My FIRST Completed Page from 1963 Topps Baseball, Oh the Joy!!!!! Plus a Shout-Out to Captain Canuck, Hell May Have Frozen..

...over. Apparently blogger limits the number of letters in a title. I can't believe I didn't figure this out sooner... The 1963 Tribe trade-bait cards I promised are being pushed back a day because of this breaking news... I finished a PAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My very first completed page of 1963 Topps!!! Cards numbered 46-54 are safe in the binder… It’s funny (to me) because my first page includes my first 1963 Topps card, #46 of Tommie Aaron. Although I have posted this one and said I wished it was a card of ANOTHER Aaron, I really like this card and this is the one that made me fall in love with the design of this set. I have of this card now, too if there is any interest in the other Aaron brother…

The second card I owned from 1963 is also on this page. It was the 10th card in my mini-super-collector Billy Pierce collection. Bill Pierce is my favorite pitcher from the 1950’s and somewhere along the line I decided to become a Billy Pierce collector. Maybe it’s because he ended his career with 1,999 strikeouts, maybe cuz I liked the blog that sponsors his BR page, maybe he was just an amazing pitcher…

Unlike the Tommie Aaron card that made me love this set, the Pierce card is my least favorite BP card ever. I can’t put my finger on it, but there is something I don’t like about this card. Anyway, like it or not it sets smack dab in the center of my first completed page! Also included in this page are card #47 of Senators outfielder Don Lock, #48 of Indians manager Birdie Tebbets, a card which I have a dupe of, and card #49 of Cardinals shortstop Dal Maxvill. Card 50 of Pierce comes next, followed by card #51 of George “Two Bats” Alusik, Boston second baseman Chuck Schilling (I have a dupe of this one, too) and card #53 of Dodgers pitcher Joe Moeller. The last card in the binder is number 54 of the Rookie Parade. It features Cubs outfielder Nelson Mathews, Cards pitcher Harry “Never Heard of Him” Fanok, Yankees pitcher Jack Cullen and White Sox pitcher and 2 sport star Dave DeBususschere. So there ya have it, my very first completed page!!!
My '63 Topps list is up-to-date, check it out! I have amassed about 20 duplicates from this set and I am looking for another ’63 Topps chaser to trade with, so get in touch with a Troll. I love this hobby! Vintage RULES! Oh, as an end note – should you glance out the window and see a pig fly by, don’t be afraid… After making him wait for two (yes 2!) YEARS, I am FINALLY shipping out a package to Captain Canuck, the King of the Great White North… The package isn’t sealed yet, just in case there are any vintage Braves he wants to add to the pile. With the Captain in mind I added a couple of cards to this post… A short printed team card, #509 featuring the Milwaukee Braves, card #46 of Tommie “Not Henry” Aaron and card #414 of Ty “I Misplaced My Hat” Cline. Ty Cline spent 5 seasons with the Braves; he played in 348 games and hit 1 home run for them. This is the same Ty Cline immortalized in the '71 Topps set for scoring the winning run in the NLCS for the Reds... Now like I said earlier, the Captain gets first dibs, then dayf, then it is a Braves free-for-all! Oh, just for the heck of it I am ending this post with a 2010 Topps card (WME-1) of a FORMER Brave, Mr. Babe Ruth. To the Captain… I know it is VERY hard to believe, BUT the package is somewhat ready, I bought the Canadian flat-rate-priority stamp and it is READY to go… I just feel like it needs a few more vintage cards in it…Captain, if you are reading this post, let me know if there are ANY cards I can add for you... If you are not the Captain, but are reading this post and somehow aren’t familiar with the Waxaholic, you can find him right here! His site is the official blog for insanely hot soccer chicks, need I say more? Oh, while I am pimping other blogs, you MUST read Play at the Plate tonight (and every night)!!! Less hot soccer chicks, but word on the street is that he has some pretty nice vintage cards posted up, so check it out and tell him the Troll sent ya... A huge thanks goes out to any and all who helped me out with cards to go towards this set and towards my first complete page! I REALLY love this hobby!!! Go Rays! Troll out.

Card of the Day-1963 Topps Tommie Aaron, Card #46

The card of the day today is from the 1963 Topps set-one of very few ’63 cards in my collection, this one is card #46 of Milwaukee Braves first baseman and leftfielder Tommie Aaron. I am not gonna lie and say that I didn’t wish this card depicted Tommie’s older brother, it doesn’t, but this card is pretty awesome in its own right. 1963 has never been one of my favorite Topps sets, but this card (and the Lou Brock from this year) is a near perfect example in color and composition. The purple sky behind the posed fielding shot with the black and white batting image set inside a green circle is awesome! Topps should make a Heritage set modeled after this in 2013 and it should look pretty amazing. 1962 was Tommie’s fullest season in the big leagues-he started 39 games at first base and also started 35 times in left field, in the same outfield of his older brother Hank Aaron. 1962 was a career year for the 22-year old slugger-he set career marks in every batting statistic for himself. He hit .231 with 8 homers and 38 RBI, while belting 20 doubles, 2 triples and scoring 54 runs. He also stole 6 bases with out being caught. Throughout the remainder of his career he split his time between the Braves and their AAA affiliates. Over 8 seasons in AAA he batted .290 with 79 homers, his best being in 1964 when he hit 21 for the Denver Bears in the Pacific Coast League. In 1967 he batted .309 with 11 homers and 56 RBI-he was named the International League MVP that season. The next 4 seasons he remained with the Braves for the entire year, but never saw full-time activity. In 1969 he hit .250 with 1 homer and 5 RBI primarily as a pinch hitter. The Braves were 93-69 that year and won the NL Western Division. The Braves lost to the Mets in the playoffs, but he and his brother made history when they became the first siblings to appear as teammates in a League Championship Series. The elder Aaron batted .357 with 3 homers and 7 RBI in the Series, but the Braves still fell to the Mets who went on to win the World Series. Tommie would play with the Braves as a utility player and pinch hitter until after the 1971 season. He played 2 more seasons in the Braves farm system, but retired as a player after the 1973 season. He immediately began managing in the Braves farm system and spent 6 seasons as a manager, 4 in AA and the last 2 in the International League (AAA). In 1979 he became a coach with the Major League Atlanta Braves. He held that position until his untimely death from Leukemia at age 45 in 1984.
Tommie and his brother Hank Aaron own the Major League Baseball record for most homeruns by brothers in the Majors with 768. Hank hit 755 and Tommie added another 13. The closest brother combination to them was Eddie and Rich Murray who combined for 508 long balls. This card is Tommie’s rookie, but he also appeared on 7 other Topps cards. The back of the card shows his major and minor league stats and says “The Braves are hoping that Tommie will attain the same stardom that his teammate and brother Hank has attained. The two Aaron brothers are exciting performers to watch. Tommie has good power”. It also shows a cartoon and says “Tommie is a whiz at billiards”. I had said at the top of this post that I wished this was a card of his brother-I take that back…The crazy colors, the great photo, the composition and layout all combine to make this one of the coolest cards in my collection. The contributions that Tommie Aaron made to the game and its history as a player, coach, manager, ambassador and instructor make it that much cooler. You can view Tommie’s career statistics here. Don’t forget there still is a little bit of time left to enter the CT Most Iconic (Baseball) Rookie Card of the 1980’s Contest. Rickey Henderson and Ken Griffey Jr. are in a dead heat. Troll out.