Angels We Lost In 2017

My least favorite post to do every year, but a tribute from my personal collection to those Angels we lost in 2017.

Dick Enberg

Angels Broadcaster 1969-1978

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 in my youth.

"And the halo shines tonight."

Bob Sadowski

Angels 1963

Morris Nettles

Angels 1974-1975

Ned Garver

Angels 1961

Todd Frohwirth

Angels 1996

Ruben Amaro

Angels 1969

Bob Cerv

Angels 1961

Jimmy Piersall

Angels 1963-1967

Bob Perry

Angels 1963-1964

Don Baylor

Angels 1977-1982

Paul Schaal

Angels 1964-1968, 1974

Jim Donohue

Angels 1961-1962

Rick Stelmaszek 

Angels 1973

Sad to lose all these great guys.

TTM Return From Diablo Joel Crisler

1980 TCMA El Paso Diablos #11

The Diablos were the Angels AA affiliate from 1974 thru 1980.

Joel Crisler was drafted by the Angels in 1976 out of South Georgia College, and played in the Angels system from 1977-1981 going 41-42 with a 4.22 ERA. He threw a no-hitter for the Quad Cities Angels in 1977, won 16 games for the Salinas Angels in 1978, and won the League Championship with the Salt Lake City Gulls in 1979.

Joel very graciously answered a few questions for me.

I received this back on December 18, after 13 days, sent to his home in Georgia.

The Simplest of PWEs

It's always great when someone sees a post and responds with an offer to help complete a goal. It was that way with Adam (Infield Fly Rule). He saw my post on the 1993 Triple Play wax box I ripped and asked if I needed a card.

That's right, he took the time to look through his stuff and found one card he could pull.

One card.

And he offered it up to me.

That's very thoughtful, and in return, very appreciated.

I'm one card closer to finishing the set, and that's awesome.

A PWE doesn't get much simpler than one card, but Adam threw in the sweet Garret Anderson card as well.

1996 Fleer Rising Star #1

I love Garret Anderson.

A Winter Wonderland of Snow and Salmon

J.T. Snow and Tim Salmon in a PWE from Johnny's Trading Spot.

Any Angel fan's Winter Wonderland.

Thanks John!

Cardboard Santa Has Landed In Texas

I am one of the recipients of a Cardboard Santa Christmas PWE from All Trade Bait All The Time.

SWEEEEET!

1994 and 1995 Donruss Checklists

Some of my favorite style of checklist cards, those that had a player photo AND checklist together on the front.

Traditional checklists are great too.

Probably my least favorite style is that like the 1993 Ted Williams with NO checklist on the front of the card.

And a couple 2012 Triple Play to round out the PWE.

Merry Christmas Oscar, thank you!

Secret Santa's A Fellow Fan

What were the chances that my Secret Santa would be another Angels fan? That’s how it worked out for me for this year’s Secret Santa, always hosted by Bob Walk The Plank (still my favorite blog title of all time). This was my first time participating in the Secret Santa so I really did not know what to expect. As it turns out, I am very pleased. Not that I would not have been pleased. I am appreciative of anything anyone ever wants to send me. I have always loved getting mail. I look forward to Saturdays and hearing the mail truck coming, watching him pass then going out to see what has come. Anyhow, I’ve drifted….

My name for the Secret Santa was drawn by Dion of Dion's IP Autographs. As I mentioned earlier, Dion is a fellow Angels fan, but he’s also a Baltimore Ravens fan and a Philadelphia Flyers fan. Wow, three distinctly different metro areas for his teams. I usually have to explain my love for two opposite-coasted teams: the Angels and the Patriots (family ties). I’ll have to ask Dion how his interests came about.

Regardless, Dion sent some great stuff in the Secret Santa gift, and here it all is:

10th Anniversary 2002 World Champions, World Series Ring Figurine

Kinda odd but kinda cool at the same time. I have the replica of the (actual size) Angels 2002 World Series ring somewhere, and a facsimile ticket stub. Might make a nice little grouping on a bookcase.

Hey there was also a $3 Bonus Bill for Extra Mile!

(Expired, and I don't think there are any Extra Miles in Texas) 

But it's cool anyhow and stays in the box the ring figurine came in.

I was pretty excited when I saw Dion's mailing address on the package; knowing that he’s an autograph guy meant that there was a chance there would be autographs in the box.

Oh yeah.

I especially like the Fleer Excel cards. I tend to lean towards minor league autographs.

There were Patriots as well,  including that sweet vintage 1980 Fleer Action sticker, and a 1996 Classic Pro Line Willie McGinest Certified Autograph.

There was a buttload of checklists, many complete checklist sets in there, like this set:

1982 Donruss Baseball

1995 Collectors Choice Team vs. Team

Dion even hit my needs for this scratch-off set, knocking out the last 6 cards I needed to complete the set.

So a great package Dion, lots of really cool stuff.

Merry Christmas.

Favorite Card of 2017

P-Town Tom is having a contest for your Favorite Card of 2017.

Here's mine.

2017 Topps #520 Andrelton Simmons

Flamethrowers and fireworks from the "California Spectacular", and pointing to Heaven makes this an awesome card. It also means runs, and hopefully a win, for the Angels in Simmons first season with the team.

I Had A Feeling, Ian

On Wednesday night the Angels traded for the Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler.

The Angels needed help at second.

I was glad to see the signing.

For some strange reason, I've always had a feeling Kinsler would make his way to the Angels at some point in his career.

It's interesting the Angels were one of the teams on Kinsler's no-trade clause.

I wonder why he labeled them as such...maybe he had some bad blood playing against them in the same division for the first 8 years of his career? I don't know, I'm speculating.

Kinsler was a great signer and signed a lot of stuff for me here in Texas, back when I went to a lot of games and was active at the ballpark. The Rangers did a lot of appearances back then too, and the Winter Caravan and Winter Carnival were always a great place to get autographs.

A couple years ago I starting thinning out my autograph collection; most of them going up for trade or for a buck a card (see tab).  I started focussing on All-Time Angels autographs so almost all of the non-Angels autographs went into the trade box, but Kinsler's cards I held on to, again, had a feeling that someday....

 ...he'd be turning two for the Angels, not against them.

I'm looking forward to seeing him play.

I think he still has some pop left in his bat too.

This is gonna be a good year!

Red Cardboard Cardboard Purge

Matt at Red Cardboard is cleaning house and offering up a lopsided trade for any takers. He's purging his collection and only asks a half trade in return. He's a giver and he means business.

Look at all the stuff he sent. I had picked out a few items he had shown on his blog, he asked if I'd like ALL of his Angels, I said yes and there's the result.

I picked out a few to highlight.

1964 Topps #255

The '64 Topps design is awesome in it's simplicity.

2014 Prizm Draft Picks Prospect Signatures #62

Verdugo is actually in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, which is always difficult to tell on these Panini cards because they refuse to differentiate between the N.L. Los Angeles team and the A.L. Los Angeles team. It's a sweet card though, so I'm going to hang on to it.

A great selection of Mike Trout cards.

I especially like the 2016 Celebrating 65 Years of Topps card.

There was also a sweet 2017 Topps Fire Fired Up! Gold card but I'm saving that for another post.

2012 Triple Play #275

I was so disappointed when Ryan went into the hall in 1999 as a Ranger.

I always felt he had better statistics, and more success with the Angels.

The HOF even lists his "Primary Team" as the California Angels.

But Ryan chose a Rangers hat. Ouch.

And now the Angels still don't have a HOFer.

Maybe Vladdy will change that soon?

2017 Topps Update #US109, Vintage Stock 48/99

I have so few of these Vintage Stock parallels in my collection it's always exciting to get one.

Fleer 1969-1971 Baseball Quiz Card

Hopefully you all know that I collect Fleer Team Logo Stickers, I've completed several sets already.

The precursor to those sticker cards were these Baseball Quiz Cards.

Besides those I have for the Angels, this Reds card gets me going on collecting these sets.

1987 Fleer Baseball Sticker

Yep Fleer Baseball Logo Stickers.

This Giants sticker was the last one I needed to complete the 1987 set.

Much appreciated Matt.

I hope you liked the return package.

Ohtani, Oh!

Just heard that the Angels won the sweepstakes for the services of Japanese sensation Shohei Ohtani. I'm excited for that, but I'm usually reserved on the excitement of how good he'll be. I'm looking at the signing as more of a wait and see.

One thing I do need to get on though, is trying to find some of his cards.

I imagine they are over-priced right now with all the hype.

Maybe I'll wait.

We'll see.

Completed Angels Team Set - 1992 Classic Best

Nice 18-card team set mix of the Midland Angels, Palm Springs Angels, Quad City River Bandits, and Boise Hawks.

Key cards would be Garret Anderson and Jim Edmonds.

I just noticed the "A" in the upper right, indicating Single A ball.

All the cards in the Angels set have either "A" or "AA" on them.

Boise Hawks A-

Quad Cities A

Palm Springs A+

Midland AA

The Edmonton Trappers were the Angels AAA team in 1991.

I'm not sure if 1992 Classic Best went to the AAA level for any teams in this set.

Sweepstakes Galore

Big box a while back, from Baseball Cards Come To Life, packed full of  lots of stuff but mostly Sweepstakes/Special Offer/Info/etc. cards that I love. Seriously like 200 cards in the long box. I pulled out a sampling to show off.

 1992 Donruss Triple Play Game Sweepstakes Rub-Off Card

I prefer “scratch-off” to “rub-off” because that’s what you do, that’s what we all know to do…take a coin and scratch off the flakey silver stuff. You cannot rub-off the flakey silver stuff.  Also note that the rules say there are 1,000,000 second place prizes of three packs of Triple Play Baseball Cards…one MILLION! I seriously think that has to be a typo. But I also have to assume that means Donruss was obligated to print 1,000,000 second-place winning cards. Doesn’t seem logical to me.

1984 Topps All-Star Baseball Game Sweepstakes Card

Oh how I love the 1983 and 1984 Topps All-Star Game cards. They go right to the core of my joy of collecting. That’s because 1983 and 1984 Topps were some of the first full wax boxes of cards I ever ripped. When I got back around to rebuilding those sets 25 years later, those game cards were some of the first I looked for.

 1996 Leaf Preferred Frank Thomas Charity Card Special Offer Order Form

Four special Frank Thomas numbered cards available for $20 a card with the proceeds going to charity. After Donruss took it's cut for taxes, production and licensing fees, I wonder how much remained to go to the charities. I didn’t see any of these cards on ebay, so I’m curious as to how many actually sold.

 2004 Topps The Topps Story Info Card

I imagine it takes a lot of money to pay a graphic designer and then print and distribute these useless info cards. This one is not even a stiffener, or relic decoy, so it's actually just an advertisement for Topps products.

 2010 Topps You Sketch It! Sketch Card

Pretty cool idea, except that Topps stipulates the sketch must be based on 2010 Topps or Bowman Baseball products. So, does that mean you’re supposed to copy from a photograph on another Topps card? It may then be your original artwork, but not your original concept. Artist are all about freedom of expression, Man! You’re handcuffing them.

 2001 Royal Rookies Todd Helton 5-Card Set Special Offer Card

I guess Todd Helton was a big deal in 2001, enough to warrant a special 5-card limited edition set. And at only $2.00 a set it seems like a great deal. Helton went on to have a great career. The $3.95 shipping/handling seems a bit excessive though for 2001.

 1991 Topps Magazine Subscription Card

I subscribed to the Topps Magazine the first year of publication in 1990. I still have a few of the awesome card sheets that came with each issue. That was the reason I subscribed, even though some of those sheets didn’t print so well. I still have the Nolan Ryan cover issue #2, as the only remaining complete magazine in my collection. I love these little Topps mini-sized cards.

2003 Bowman-The Pit.Com Promotion Card

I will let you read the back of this card to see how this promotion was supposed to work because it’s as confusing as all hell.

 1997 Pinnacle X-Press Swing For The Fences Sweepstakes Card

Wow, here’s another contest that seems near impossible to actually win, unless of course you’re a dealer ripping both retail and hobby cases of this product. This Carlos Delgado card is one of a set of 60 player cards. You just had to 1) find the PLAYER card of the home run champ at the end of the season in either league, 2) find a HOME RUNS game card, and then 3) find enough POINTS cards to add up to the home run total.  Catch is the HOME RUNS card can only be found in the expensive Home Plate-shaped Hobby version box. Sheesh.

 2002 Upper Deck Special Savings Scratcher Card

We’ve all used these thick cards as stiffeners in trade packages, that’s about all their good for. They’re more of a nuisance than anything else, and I've had a zillion of them at any one time. This one is a different though in that there is a scratch-off on the back to reveal a PIN you can use for a discount at the Upper Deck Store. First time I'd seen that on this card.

2002 Topps Opening Day Slam Derby Sweepstakes Card

It’s always funny when a card has to actually include “Please see back for details” on the front. Do they think that we are so completely clueless, that we don’t know to turn the card over and read the content there? But even though I am smart enough to turn the card over, there’s no way I can read that font without the help of a magnifier. Older guys collect cards too Man! Down at the bottom is a place to write in your personal information. I wonder when “Home Phone” became “Daytime Phone” which has become “Cell Phone”?

All great stuff Bo, thanks.