One of These Cards is Not Like the Other: Ernie Banks TTM

A while back I wrote about landing a 1959 Ernie Banks at a show in Fargo. Well, at the pre-Super Bowl show I grabbed another one:

In the meantime I'd sent the other one out after seeing that Mr. Banks was doing some ttm signing. The DAY before the show it came back.

For me, this card IS Ernie Banks. It's sunny out, he's playing catch, people are slowly filling out the stands. On a day like today where it's snowing outside and the temperature is dropping yet again it's the kind if card that reminds me spring (and then summer!) will get here. That baseball will be back.

And then of course the classic cartoons on the '59 back. ¡Cannot wait!

Have a good one everybody and goodnight Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

Headhunting Part II: Get Your Phillies Out

Here's the deal: A Phillies fan who is also in to prospect autos has a pretty awesome EJ. Sooo.... if you have a constellation of Phillies this guy will take, I'll trade you this card: 

I'll update with a better scan later today/tonight. It'll hurt to let this one go, but them's the breaks.

Make an offer in the comment section. Then I'll pass it along! 

Card Show Purchase #5: 1956 Ernie Banks

This card is the last one from the guy with the junk vintage box.

He was sharing a table with the guy next to him (the guy who sold me Eddie Moore) and, after I'd already made my original purchase, this dude points out the 1959 Banks to me. 

In fairness, I had NO intention of buying this. I a) already own a 1950s Banks, and b) didn't have near enough money left to purchase it. Anyway, just being polite, I asked how much. He asked his friend, the guy with the vintage junk box. Response: $7.

For $7 I could go over budget on a 1959 Banks. 

I really like the 1959s, cartoon, insightful text, and all. I know he'll always be Mr. Cub, but if he'd played in NY we'd talk about Banks being THE greatest shortstop of all-time. Imagine: a SS who with a high SLG % than Willie Mays!

Have a good one everybody and goodnight Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!

Ernie Banks: Fashion Icon

Among the greatest baseball bar debates out there, once you get past stat debates (obp vs avg vs woba) and greatest player debates (CC, duh), you finally get to the one that matters: hat straight or hat jauntily askew.

Ladies and gentlemen, if we look closely at 1956 Topps Ernie Banks, I think the issue is definitively settled in favor of "jauntily askew."

Other than being an early card of one of the greatest players of all-time and an all around great guy, this is also proof that Mr. Banks was way ahead of the fashion curve. Admittedly, his hat is on straighter than the headgears of guys like CC Sabathia or Juan Pierre, but his hat is at least 10 degrees from straight. Therefore we can put Mr. Banks at the forefront of a trend that annoys high school teachers and baseball purists everywhere.

We must give Mr. Banks his due and recognize his influence in ALL spheres of the game, from hard hitting shortstops to fashionable placement of one's haberdashery. Well done, sir.

And here's the back, because '56s are awesome.

Tomorrow night: a long post thanking folks for helping me with sets and the CC collection!