Mr. Tiger and a pair of Babe's

This will be sort of a prequel to my previous post, I say prequel, because instead of featuring three cards from the '64 Topps, today's post will focus on three from the 1962 set.

And just like the previous post where I mentioned my difficulty trying to find a good '64 starter set/lot, the same holds true for the '62 set as well. The only difference being, that I have come much closer to getting a large lot or two of 1962 Topps than I have in my quest for the right '64 lot. In fact earlier this year, I was all but certain that I had a really nice 200+ card lot of 62's won on eBay, until some heartless monster (too strong?) stole it away from me with less than a second to go on the auction. I'd be lying if I said that that loss didn't sting a little, my disappointment was such, that I have only recently resumed searching for another lot to get started with.

Of course I have picked up few singles here and there, which brings me to today's cards. All three of these come courtesy of COMC, arriving in my accumulated stockpile after this year's spring sale.

Starting two posts in a row with the great Al Kaline, things could certainly be worse! Image wise, this is my all-time favorite card of Mr. Tiger.

Missing two months of action after breaking his collarbone while making a game saving catch against the Yankees early in the '62 season, Al still finished that year hitting .304 with 29 HR's and 94 RBI's.

Such a great image.

The back of this card references the famous "bellyache heard 'round the world", supposedly from binging on hot dogs and soda. An incident that, after he was rushed to the hospital, caused false reports of his death to start circulating in the papers. Some have speculated over the years that this episode was caused due to his large quantities of alcohol consumption. An even more tawdry rumor that has persisted over the years, chalks up the Bambino's hospital stay to an STD. Whatever the cause of his well guarded " health" issue was, he ended up missing the first 41 games of the 1925 season

Even late in life, the Babe never stopped enjoying the fact that wherever he went, he was always the center of attention.

As far as back of the card stats go, this might be one of my favorite's. It's always amazes me to see that gap between 1921 and 1930, and again in 1933. I don't know what the story is behind the Babe's return to pitching after such a long period, but I do know that those lone outings in '30 and '33 both resulted in complete game victories over the Red Sox.


Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.


Thanks for taking a moment to look at my page.