Project Durham Bulls Part 53 - Monte Weaver

1928 - 1929 Durham Bulls 

Background- One of the more interesting characters in the history of the Durham Bulls.  The "Prof" played for the team in the late 1920s on his way up to the Washington Senators for 8 seasons, along with one year with the Red Sox. In 1932, he enjoyed his best Major League season with 22 wins.  The rest of his career was fairly average, ending with a total of 71 wins and an ERA of 4.36.  Now, on to the interesting stuff.  

While he was playing in the Minors, he also was attending the University of Virginia as a grad student.  He taught class there, as a grad assistant, and earned the nickname "Prof" by the other players.  Weaver was supposedly in line to become a Rhodes Scholar, but a paperwork snafu prevented him from earning a spot.  

A few other oddities.  The Sporting News did a profile on him in 1933 after his best season where he pointed out that he liked spending time alone on beaches, or hanging out in his hotel room rather than being around other baseball players.  Weaver was also a hypochondriac and a vegetarian.  In another profile, the Sporting News made mention of his addiction to spinach.  The Washington Post noted that he ate too many peas and carrots. Weaver eventually started eating meat, and the D.C. press was apparently thrilled when he gained ten pounds during Spring Training.  

In the end, his baseball career did not last past the late 1930s, and he ended up in the Navy for World War II.  Eventually he would settle down in Florida and bought a bunch of orange groves.  

Card- How could you not want a card out of the 1933 Goudey set?  My copy of this Weaver card is a little rough, but these are pretty pricey cards.  Even the ones with creases and rounded corners.  The background colors are usually a lot brighter than this powder blue.  Yes, this copy has some fading, but it is still not as bright as many of the other cards in this set.  Happy to add this Pre-World War II card, tricky to track down the Durham Bulls players from this era.  Always a plus when you can find one in a great set like this one.  

Big Leagues

The scan is really crooked, but I found the last Tim Beckham autograph I needed from last year.  He was in a few different Topps products last year, but somehow I missed this card from Big Leagues.  It's a sticker autograph, but I still like the card.  There have been a few up on Ebay with "Buy It Now" listings, but I thought I could get it at a better price.  A little patience paid off. 

Which brings me to this year's Big League set.  I ended up picking up a few packs the other week at Target, the blaster boxes are dirt cheap.  I got something good out of the box too.  First off, the base set is a disaster. 

Not sure you could squeeze much more onto a card.  My ADD is kicked into overtime here.  There is a crooked photo, a wood grain background, a bar with the player name, a pennant, a ticket stub looking box with SEC, ROW, and SEAT, and the brand logo in the top right.  

It looks like the car that Homer Simpson designs in that one episode where he finds out he has a brother who runs a car company.......

Terrible.  I won't even find the single Cardinals or former Durham Bulls players in this set. 

My good card....

This design is a little better, but after a week in my collection I still do not know what is a "Rookie Republic"???? What is it?  Anyone at Topps?  

Seriously, I really like that I got a Willians Astudillo autographed card out of a box of cards from Target.  The picture on the card makes him look slender, and you cannot see the true volume of his hair on this card.  

Definitely one of the better personalities in baseball at the moment. 

A 1980s Card Part 3 - 1987 Topps Mike Laga

There are two things that I remember about Mike Laga.

First, he's the only player to have ever hit a ball out of Busch Stadium II.  That was the 1960s-early 2000s cookie cutter bowl.  The ball that was hit out of the stadium was a foul ball.

Laga was a terrific Minor League power hitter when the Cardinals picked him up in a trade for catcher Mike Heath.  While playing for the Tigers in the Minors Laga had posted home run totals of 31, 34, 16, 30, and 20.  Every year the Tigers seemed to bring him up for a few at bats, but the power never followed him to the Majors.  

The back of his baseball card shows that Mike Laga hit some home runs, and he struck out when the ball did not go over the fence.  

Luckily, the Cardinals also got Ken Hill in the Mike Heath trade.  He ended up being a decent starting pitcher.  

Second thing I remember Mike Laga for is this baseball card.  Yes, it's airbrushed.  Yes, it's airbrushed pink.  My wife says it's actually old lady pink.  

There is a player wearing a blue jacket over Laga's right shoulder, so I assume that this was a picture of him on the Tigers, rather than him in a Cardinals Minor League uniform.  Topps managed to get a blue Tigers hat airbrushed to red, but a white or gray Tigers jersey got turned pink?  Sometimes I wish there were documentaries on how baseball cards like this one were made.   There has to be a good story, right?   

A movie I like from 1987 is The Princess Bride.  Inconceivable.  

Weekend Countdown: My Top 10 College Baseball Cards

The NCAA Baseball tournament will be starting up this week, so I thought it would be fun to take a look at some college baseball cards this weekend.  Of course, the cards are going to be from predictable schools if you have followed along here for any length of time. 

Here are this week's rules:  

• Cards have to show the player in their college uniform, no airbrushed out logos from Leaf, or other non-licensed products

• No USA Baseball cards, or Perfect Game cards.

• No Tar Heels or Jayhawks. Both have had cards on my blog, not on this post.  

• The cards have to be currently in my collection.  Sorry, not sorry Buster Posey.  

Honorable Mention: The other dozen Donruss Elite Collegiate Patch cards that are in my collection, but not in this post.  

Let's Go.

10. 2008 Donruss Elite Collegiate Patches Sean Doolittle Autograph - My favorite relief pitcher who used to play first base at an ACC school, and also at USA Baseball.  I don't even remember him looking like that while he was at UVA.  Convinced the card designer went to Virginia Tech.  

9.  2008 Donruss Elite Collegiate Patches Alan Dykstra Autograph - He won the home run derby when the Durham Bulls hosted the Triple A All-Star Game.  He would later play for the Durham Bulls.  I like Alan Dykstra, but the Deacon is a tad bit creepy.  

9. 2015 Panini Contenders Michael Matuella Autograph - My favorite Duke player not named Marcus Stroman.  Matuella was a first round, pick one type of talent, but he had a bunch of injuries.  Still got drafted by the Rangers, and is currently playing for the Down East (Kinston, NC) Wood Ducks.  That's the Carolina League for those inquiring where a team named the Wood Ducks could be found.   

8. 2009 Donruss Elite Collegiate Patches Brad Boxberger Autograph - I saw him pitch the last two outs of a no hitter for the Durham Bulls.  Also attended my least favorite Pac 12 school, which is a two way tie if I am sitting next to a UCLA fan talking about basketball banners their school won fifty years ago.  

7. 2016 Panini Black Gold Trea Turner Autograph - It seems like Panini made a bunch of cards of Trea Turner that look really similar to this one.  Considered making this one the sixth best card.  

6. 2016 Panini Black Gold Trea Turner Autograph - because they did.  Considered making this one the seventh best card, but I will leave it at number six.  

5. 2010 Donruss Elite Jordan Swagerty/Magic Johnson Autograph - How did a Magic Johnson autograph get onto a Jordan Swagerty card?  I have seen some funny stories over the years, not sure if any of them are true.  Before you say, "but the stickers are just switched", remember that there is a patch version of this card with a Sun Devil on it. 

4. 2017 Panini National Treasures Max Scherzer Autograph - Pretty nice card of a pretty good pitcher.  I got this Mizzou card because there was not a Parkway Central card of him.  

3. 2007 Donruss Elite Collegiate Patches David Price Autograph - One of my favorite former Durham Bulls players.  This cards used to be a bigger deal than it is now.  Still a pretty nice card.  

2. 2007 Donruss Elite Collegiate Patches Max Scherzer Autograph - Last card from this set.  Promise.  

1. 2015 Panini Contenders Collegiate Connections Russell Wilson/Trea Turner Autograph - There are some really not great things about this card, but it is Russell Wilson and Trea Turner.  One of them is a starting NFL quarterback with a Super Bowl ring, the other is a starting shortstop on the Washington Nationals.  Awesome players.  What is wrong with the card?  See below.  

1. Turner and Wilson never played on the same team.  Wilson's final season in Raleigh was 2010, Turner was a freshman in 2011.  Russell Wilson did play baseball in 2011, but he was in the Rockies Minor League system.  

2. Russell Wilson appeared in 106 baseball games at NC State in three years.  He pitched in 10 games for a total of 12 innings, all during his junior season.  Somehow Panini has at least two cards of him playing for NC State and pitching.  

That's all I got.  

Buckets!!!

It has been almost two years since I have found a decent card of one of my favorite former NC State players, and current Phoenix Sun, T.J. Warren.  He was a lottery pick a few years ago, after scoring a ton of points while playing in Raleigh.  He scored at the rim, on jumpers, 3 pointers, and all sorts of runners and floaters.

All of which earned him the nickname Tony Buckets.  

I do not do much with basketball cards, I dabble here and there, but I have a nice little stack of T.J. Warren cards going.  I do not know much about basketball cards, but there has been a dramatic decrease in the number of T.J. Warren cards the past few years.  The last card I picked up was some sort of knight/castle inspired autographed card....

Since that time, averaging almost 20 points per game somehow gets you less cards made.  Go figure.  Maybe it's because the Suns are really bad.  Maybe it's because T.J. Warren has been injured a few times and missed some games.  Honestly, I do not know.  

So, magically it appears that there are some nice new cards of T.J. Warren that have popped up in the last year.  They are suddenly really cheap too.  I picked up one of them, and will likely add a few more in the coming weeks.  Here is my new card....

Pretty excited for a few more too.  

A Bulls Card I Missed

Topps does not make many Durham Bulls cards.  There are only two products that show Minor League players in their Minor League uniforms.  There is Pro Debut.....

and Heritage Minors......

and that is seemingly the end of the list.  Almost.  

There is actually another Topps card, outside of Pro Debut and Heritage, with a Durham Bulls card on the checklist.  I have seen the card several times over the years, but just never taken the time to buy the card.  Just kind of floating around out there, not in my collection, but I finally ended up with the card last week.....

The scan does not do the card justice....

This is out of eTopps.  It was Topps first attempt at selling single cards directly to collectors.  I do not buy any of them from Topps, but I have picked up a few over the years from Ebay and card shows.  I have long been a fan of Desmond Jennings.  Not the best Major Leaguer, but he was a great player in the Minors for the Bulls.

Back of the card.....

Slugging percentage of almost .500 out of the leadoff spot.  Pretty impressive.  You can also see the eTopps Minor League Prospectus label under the Bulls logo.  This card was from 2010, same time Topps was rolling out with Pro Debut.  Actually a really good set, if you're into Minor League cards.  

2019 Blake Snell Autograph Count: 5

I had this bad feeling that there were not going to be many Blake Snell autographs in this year's Topps products after I started this series of posts.  The feeling lingered for a few weeks, but then I went out and did some work on adding some new cards last week.  It appears that Topps is still making Blake Snell autographs. 

The new autograph.....

is from Tier One.

The design of the card feels like some sort of wallpaper pattern.  What are the little patterns on the side supposed to be, and how do they fit onto a baseball card?  I am not sure, but I like that there is a picture of Snell centered on the card, and an autograph in a clear space.  The usual Snell autograph, and the card has a print run of 299 copies. 

Back of the card. 

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! That's not very interesting.