It's St David's Day, celebrating the patron saint of Wales. David was a monk, preacher and reputed miracle-worker who lived in the 6th century. His earliest biography dates from the 11th Century. Much of that is apocryphal, but I really like one of the, perhaps legendary, tales about him.
Towards the end of his life, David gave some final instructions to his followers and friends and told them to "Do ye the little things in life" as a way of demonstrating they remained faithful to their religious beliefs. It's a phrase I find inspiring because it's often doing the little things that show how much we respect and care for people.
So in honour of St David, here are some "little things", that came in the big parcel of items that Richard (YoRicha) sent me several months back. They are stickers not cards, but they count here as cards! (Although they are about a quarter of the size of a regular baseball card.)
Red Foley stickers were included in the Red Foley Best Baseball Book Ever that was published for several years in the late 80s and early 90s. The books had spaces to stick the stickers in. These stickers don't seem to never got stuck into a book.
Card Number 976: Red Foley, 1992; #44
There's no sticker back to show. Not even a number on the little bit of paper.
There were only 130 stickers included with the book so it's pretty cool that Tony was on two of them.
Card Number 977: Red Foley, 1992; #116
That photo might look really familiar. I am reasonably certain that's a photo from the All Star game in 1991. Mainly because of this Upper Deck card.
The guy in the yellow backwards baseball cap is in the background of both cards. I hope whoever he is he knows he was on a baseball card and a baseball sticker!
Tony got two stickers the next year as well!
Card Number 978: Red Foley, 1993; #38
Tony is adjusting his gloves in the photo that also looks quite familiar, although I can't quite place it. Dug-out pictures are fairly common, after all.
And just to make it fun and confusing, Tony had the #116 sticker for the second successive year.
Card Number 979: Red Foley, 1993; #116
This is the same uniform and virtually the same pose as sticker #44 the previous year. It's a different background though, and Tony has sleeves on.
As a bonus Richard also included a little cameo picture cut from the cover of one of the Red Foley books.
I could have probably dated that photo by the colour of the batting helmet and the Van Dyck moustache and beard, but instead I used Google image search to locate it in the top right corner of the cover of the 1988 sticker book. Ironically, Tony wasn't on any of the stickers inside the book in 1988!
I really appreciate these little things from Richard - and thanks also for faithfully commenting on the blog along with other regular commenters. Your encouragement keeps me going!
Total: 979 cards (and stickers!)
It has to be my love for the oddball items, but I really like the Red Foley Stickers, and towards the mid 90s, cards. They are tiny and tend to have an excellent picture of Gwynn. I never owned any of the magazines but they are on my radar to add to my personal collection, at least the ones with Gwynn on the cover. Would also love to get my fingers on these in there uncut form.
ReplyDeleteA few weeks ago, I bought some cards at the flea market and was talking to the vendor who I've known for a few years now. He knows I like cheap relic cards, dime cards, and the Oakland A's... but wasn't sure if I collected specific players. When I mentioned Tony Gwynn, he said he was once featured on an Upper Deck card where Gwynn is signing. I'm about 70% sure it's the guy in the yellow hat. If that's the case, I wonder if he knows he's on a sticker too.
ReplyDeleteYou'll have to ask him :-)
DeleteAlthough he might be the kid in the A's hat.