2011 Topps Inserts to Trade

I have added an "Items to Trade" page.  Right now, it only has the 2011 Topps Insert cards that I am willing to part with.  I will trade for any of the base cards on my "Wantlist" page which includes 1980, 2009, 2010, and 2011 Topps as well as the 2009 American Heritage and AH Heroes Sets.

EMAW #1 - Elden Aucker

Elden Auker graduated from Kansas State University in 1932.  Nicknamed “Big Six” because of his All Big Six League selections in football, basketball, and baseball, he signed his first professional contract with the Detroit Tigers for $450 even though he was offered a $6000 contract with the Chicago Bears football team.  After being hurt playing football at Kansas State, Auker developed his trademark underhand pitching delivery that caused havoc with major league hitters.  He spent the majority of his ten year major league career with the Tigers while also spending time with the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Browns.  Auker finished with a career record of 131-101 and a 4.42 E.R.A.  He played in the 1934 and 1935 World Series for the Tigers.  In 1934, Auker pitched a complete game victory in game 4 against the St. Louis Cardinals.  He also started game 7 but suffered the defeat after being knocked out of the game in the 3^rd inning.  Auker then received a no decision after starting game 3 of the 1935 Series against the Chicago Cubs.

1939 Play Ball #4

Auker was, perhaps, best known in his later years as being the last remaining pitcher to face Babe Ruth, strking him out on 4 pitches in 1933.   He also defeated the legendary Satchell Paige 2-1, stopping a 33 game Kansas City Monarchs winning streak while playing summer ball in 1931.  In his retirement, Auker and Ted Williams became close friends while living in Florida.  Williams and Auker would discuss pitching and hitting with Williams trying to get under Auker’s skin proclaiming, “Goddammit Elden, pitchers are dumb, dumb, dumb.”  Still, Auker considered Williams to be the finest hitter ever to play the game.

Elden Aucker was elected to the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1969 and was the first member of the Kansas State University Hall of Fame.  Former university president James McCain called him the greatest all-around athlete in Kansas State University history.  Aucker’s baseball and life stories can be found in his autobiography, Sleeper Cars and Flannel Uniforms.

EMAW Series - Coming Soon

So what the heck is an EMAW?  And what is it doing on a baseball card blog?  First of all, EMAW is an acronym for Every Man A Wildcat.  It has come to be a symbol of fans from my alma mater, Kansas State University.  After reading a number of  card blogs with many posts that are significant to those particular blogs, I decided that it was time for 26 Cent Summer to have something of its own.  Therefore, I will soon introduce to the blogging world the EMAW Series, a set of posts chronicling the players that have been an important part of Kansas State University athletics.  While this series will not be limited to baseball, I will focus on those former players that have made their way into the cardboard world.  I hope to include a mix of older and new K-Staters as this series progresses.  So may the blogging world beware, EMAW is coming to you!

1st Trade of the Year

Just got home and found the first package of the year from my first trade of the year.  The 2010 Topps Update cards came courtesy of Julie from Things Are Funner Here.  She is a huge Phillies fan, especially the Big Three of Halladay, Lee, and Oswalt.  I sent her a few recent Phillies cards in return.  Be sure to head over to her blog as she just rolled out a new design.  Thanks Julie!

1980 Topps Set Want List Updated

After sorting through my recent eBay purchase of over 900 1980 Topps cards I have narrowed my want list down to 26 cards from 100.  I guess spending $15.00 to get 74 cards checked off the list was worthwhile.  What is even better is that I can now go through my binder and replace some of my worn cards with ones in better condition.  While I honestly don't care what condition they are in, I will go ahead and upgrade as many as I ca.  I consider this eBay purchase to be one of my best.  I got many cards I didn't have plus I now am able to help others that may be working on this set so if that is you leave me a message.

One of the cards that I needed included 1997 Hall of Famer Phil Niekro.  The knuckleballer finished with over 300 career wins and over 3000 strikeouts.  Bobby Murcer once said, "trying to hit him is like trying to eat Jell-O with chopsticks.

Another card I needed is of Los Angeles Dodger shortstop Bill Russell.  Russell was one of my favorite non-Royal players when I was growing up since I played shortstop in Little League.  Bill is also a fellow Kansan, hailing from Pittsburg.  Bill was a 3-time All-Star and 2-time World Champion but may be most notable for taking over as the Dodger manager in 1996 until 1998 when he was let go along with GM Fred Claire.  This all followed the trade of Mike Piazza to the Florida Marlins which neither Russell nor Claire new anything about.

1st Card Purchase of the Spring

When eBay first started I quickly became addicted.  I love auctions but I hate sitting around waiting for the one thing you want.  I became a fan of sitting in my living room and only looking for the stuff I wanted.  That enthusiasm soon waned when people began charging extravagant prices for shipping and soon the fun was lost.  Occasionally, I will still get on and check to see if I can grab any bargains.  After having not purchased anything over the last year, I finally found something that should go a long way to filling some of my needs.  On top of that, the shipping charges were actually less than what the package cost to ship.  Happy Valentine's Day to me!

900 Cards from 1980 Topps Baseball for $15.00.  This was the first year that I collected cards and the reason for the name of this blog.  I will soon be updating my want list and that will ultimately tell me if I did get a bargain.  Regardless, getting to go through 900 cards from that set is worth the money that I spent and that is the joy of collecting.

Million Card Giveaway is Finished and Spring Training Trip is One the Way.

Now that the Million Card Giveaway is put to rest, I thought I would get back to this blog with a post of my three oldest cards.  One of which I unlocked myself and two of which I received in a trade for my 1977 Reggie Jackson.  Since I already have the Jackson in my collection I figured that I might as well as some 50s cards to the collection.

My 1954 Topps Tom Wright came courtesy of that trade.  Tom had a 9 year major league career from 1948 until 1956.  He was signed by the Boston Red Sox in 1942 and made his major league debut with them in 1948.  He also played for the St. Louis Browns and the Chicago White Sox.  He was a career .255 hitter with 6 home runs and 99 runs batted in.

My 1955 Ed McGhee was the second card in that trade.  Ed broke in with the Chicago White Sox in 1950.  He did not appear in another major league game until 1953 with the Philadelphia Athletics.  He rejoined the Chicago White Sox in the middle of the 1954 season before finishing his major league career in 1955.  He was a career .246 hitter with 3 home runs and 43 runs batted in.

While I had not heard of the previous two players, I had heard of Wayne Terwilliger prior to me unlocking his card.  Wayne signed with the Chicago Cubs in 1948 and made his major league debut during the 1949 season.  He went on to have a successful major league career with the Cubs as well as the Brooklyn Dodgers, Washington Senators, New York Giants, and Kansas City Athletics.  To current baseball fans he is probably most well known as a major league coach, most notably for handling the first base duties for the Minnesota Twins during their 1987 and 1991 World Series seasons.  Wayne is still in baseball as a coach for the independent Fort Worth Cats.

Now that baseball season is upon us, I hope to do a better job of keeping this blog updated.  The old excuse of work getting in the way would be true in my case, but honestly, this just got put on the pile and forgotten.  As I plan our trip to Phoenix for 2011 Spring Training, I am planning to use this blog to update everyone about the trip.  So if anyone has suggestions for can't miss places in the Phoenix area, just put them in the comments section.