I was just able to crank out my contest before needing to take some time off. What's been going on, you ask? Actually, you probably don't, but you're going to find out.
I defended my dissertation, successfully, which was the final stage in a very long process, and now I'm officially a doctor. That is, a doctor of philosophy in English, which means don't come to me needing heart surgery or a broken leg or even the sniffles. All I can fix is your story. But I'm pretty damn good at that.
To celebrate my newest accomplishment, meet my oldest card:
That's some genuine tobacco right there. 1911 T205, the gold borders set. I'd been trying to snag a Tigers tobacco card for a good deal for a long time, almost as long as I've been trying to become a doctor. I ended up getting this one shipped for right around $7, which I consider an awesome deal, even with the creases and hole punched near the bottom right corner.
The 1911 T205 set is said to be the first baseball card to include player bios and stats. That's quite a piece of history to own, the genesis of stats on the back. And how cool to see Piedmont and know that this card was actually in a pack of Piedmont cigarettes. Wondering what those looked like? Me too.
Unfortunately, I could not find a picture of an actual cigarette from 1911. Nobody is slabbing those? By the way, I just passed my six month anniversary of quitting smoking myself. Big stuff this year: quit smoking, new baby, became a Dr. Vealtone. Yikes.
But I'm getting off track. Who was this Charles O'Leary? I'm just going to go and pick up a random Tiger from the turn of the century and not even know who he was? Well, yeah, um, I would probably do that.
A little spin over to Baseball Reference will fix my tobacco-era O'Leary ignorance. He was primarily a shortstop who played nine of his eleven MLB seasons with the Tigers. Nothing too impressive in his stats. Oh wait. What's this? He debuted in 1904 and played until 1913, but then, he also seems to have played one game with one at bat and one hit in 1934 for the St. Louis Browns. The story is he was a coach for many years after his playing career, and played one game at the age of 58, making him the second oldest man in baseball history, only surpassed in agedness by the great Mr. Paige. I cannot figure out, however, why he got called up to pinch hit at the age of 58. I did find out that he had a vaudeville act during the off-season with another one of his teammates.
Wild stuff. Have to love that history. I actually legally am required to love history now that I have my degree, as well as having to wear elbow patches on my tweed blazers.
Thanks for reading, and thanks, all of you, for keeping me sane during this process, whether you knew about it or not. Cardboard made all the stress of earning the Ph.D. a little easier.
I got a bit side-tracked this weekend, but now I'm ready to announce the winner for the Vealtones vintage contest.
First, I want to say thanks for all the congrats on my daughter, for all the new followers (I'm up to 101 now!), and for all you old, beloved followers. You guys are all awesome. And this marks my 200th post, so, cool.
OK, onto the randomizing.
First spin:
Number two:
Third and final:
Congratulations, Lost Collector. You win some Yankees vintage, and some stuff you collect. I have some neat Tinos I've been needing an excuse to send you.
Send me your address, and pick yourself out one of these Yankees '50s cards:
1951 Bowman Tommy Byrne
1951 Bowman Billly Johnson
1956 Topps Hank Bauer, with a bite out of it!
1952 Bowman Hank Bauer
Thanks for entering and reading, everyone.
Time for new trade bait. Here come the pants...and other such game used do-dads. Oh, and don't forget to enter my contest!
Jose Reyes: 2007 Upper Deck Premier Remnants Triple Jersey (#ed 59/75)
Roy Halladay: 2008 Topps Retail Relics
Carlos Quentin: 2012 Topps Golden Moments Relics
Tim Hudson: 2007 Sweet Spot Sweet Swatch Memorabilia
Hideo Nomo: Topps Cracker Jack 1-2-3 Strikers You're Out Relics
Manny Ramirez: 2007 Upper Deck Premier Remnants Triple Jersey (#ed 27/45)
Tom Gorzelanny: 2008 Allen & Ginter Relics
Derek Holland: Gypsy 2012 Queen Framed Mini Relics
Drew Storen: 2012 Topps Golden Moments Autographs
Todd Helton: 2002 Upper Deck Authentics Revers Negative Jerseys (#ed 091/350)
Eric Patterson: 2004 Upper Deck National Pride Jersey
Billy Butler: 2012 Topps Update All-Star Stitches
C.J. Wilson: 2012 Topps 2012 Topps Update All-Star Stitches
Daniel Cabrera: 2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Stroke of Genius Autograph
Rafael Furcal: 2007 Topps Heritage Clubhouse Collection Relics
Ryan Howard: 2006 Upper Deck Ovation Apparel
Brian Matusz: 2011 Topps Commemorative Patch
Tony Clark: 2002 Topps Traded Tools for the Trade Relics
Annie Duke: 2012 Allen & Ginter Relics
Ricky Romero: 2012 Gypsy Queen Relics
Nick Swisher: 2007 Artifacts Antiquity Authentic Materials
Send me an email (dustinhoff86 at gmail dot com) or leave a comment if you're interested and let me know what you have to offer. I tend to like to trade hits for hits, but I'll listen to any offer. Check out my want lists and player collections to see what I'm looking for. If you have something extra nice that I'd like, I'm often willing to do a group of my trade bait for one cool card. And don't forget to check out the trade bait archives.
