The Junior Junkie is suggesting a task for us to showcase our Best Binder Pages - nine cards you would take with you if you knew beforehand that you would be marooned on a desert island.
I accepted the task and started searching and quickly piled up a stack of cards. A stack that was bigger than 9. Like most everyone else doing this post, I have a lot more than 9 cards that are my favorites. And looking over what I whittled the stack down to, I wouldn't even say these are my top 9. They are at the moment though. I guess.
Since I collect autographs, many of those type cards are more meaningful, especially if I got them in-person and there was some sort of conversation or interaction with the player.
I left out several vintage "T" and "W" cards, and a couple Red Man Tobacco because I haven't really been in a vintage "mood" lately. If given this task 3 months from now I might include the 1921 W551 Casey Stengel I have or my beat-up 1952 Red Man Ted Williams.
Regardless, it was a fun task to chose 9 cards to highlight, and here they are in no particular order:
As you can see, most of these are signed, making them a little more meaningful.
You can see a cereal card in there, and a couple customs as well.
There's even a Batman card.
I'll share a bit of background on each card.
Jim Abbott 1989 Topps #573
I was blown away when I first heard about Jim Abbott, and super stoked when I found out he would be an Angel. I was so captivated by him and amazed at all that he could do with only one hand.
He kinda became a hero to me.
I was jazzed when I pulled my first Jim Abbott rookie card.
I used to get Angels autographs on baseballs at Anaheim Stadium when I was a kid in the early seventies. Those balls all got used and lost in the local schoolyard. When I started collecting autographs again using baseball cards in the early nineties, Abbott's was the first I wanted to get.
Linus 1983 Dolly Madison Zingers
Zingers were a staple in the Tessier household, but with 8 kids to compete against you were lucky if you got one. It got so bad that my mom had to hide the box and only bust it out after dinner on Saturdays.
I started collecting cards in 1983 when I purchased a couple boxes each of 1983 Topps and Fleer from the small wholesale distributor I worked at, but I think it is safe to say that this may have been my first card. And by then there were only a few of us left living at home so I'm the one that got the prize.
Jimmie Reese 2009 PCL Angels Custom Cut Autograph
Frequently attending Angels games in the 70's and 80's I was able to watch Jimmie Reese hit a lot of fungo during BP and able to get his autograph a few times. He would often come over to the rail to talk with the fans, just a cool guy. My son and I were also able to attend his funeral services since we lived locally. I had a signed index card we had gotten in person to use for this custom series I made for guys that played on the Pacific Coast League Angels teams, and as a remembrance of Jimmie Reese.
Dick Enberg 1989 Pro Set Announcers #24
Next to Vin Scully, my most favorite announcer voice is Dick Enberg, and it helps that he called the Angels games I listened to and watched from 1969-1978.
"And the halo shines tonight."
Virgil Trucks 1956 Topps #117
I had the fortunate opportunity to correspond with Virgil Trucks several times through the mail.
I had ordered his book from him and had a few questions for him after I had read it. He wrote back. I had a few more questions, we talked about his tattoos and he ended up sending me photos of the tattoos he had gotten in the 40's. He kept sending me signed stuff. It was just an awesome experience and privilege getting to chat with an awesome ballplayer and an awesome man.
Joe Rudi 1969 Topps #587
When Joe Rudi came to the Angels in 1977, my buddy and I saw him play and then we wanted to BE Joe Rudi. We did our best impersonations making diving catches and running into walls to make the snag. When I first started doing TTM I had bought an address book and Joe Rudi was one of the first autographs I sent away for and one of the first I got back AND with a hand written personal note! Super thrilled to get open up that envelope. My buddy went berserk.
Tommy Tessier Custom Cut Jersey
Took a swatch from one of my son's old youth baseball jerseys from the mid 90's (I kept all of them) and created a custom card around it. I have another one I made with an Orioles jersey swatch, but being from Southern California I chose this one.
Mr. Freeze 1993 Topps #32
When Tommy was little we were hooked on Animated Batman (see wantlist tab above). We had all the figures and vehicles, and we watched every episode, even recorded them on VHS to watch later.
We are Animated Batman through-and-through.
A while ago I thought I would try to get some of the voice actor's autographs on the cards that I had been collecting.
Since Mr. Freeze is my favorite Animated Batman villain I thought I would get Michael Ansara to sign his card. Great memories watching the Batman with my boy. We still bust out the toys when he comes for a visit.
Nolan Ryan 1971 Topps #513
Another Angel Great I have fond memories of out at the Big A.
I like this card because it's my oldest regular card of Ryan and because it's beat to hell.
I like to imagine that if I had owned this card new back in 1971, that it would have ended up looking just like this.
And that wraps up my Best Binder Page.
Back in 2010 I did a birthday post showing 15 of my most favorite cards, you can see it
You can see how "9 best cards" can change over time.
