Blog Bat-Around

Night Owl and Fuji and a few others by now have done the Blog Bat-Around of collecting accomplishments that was started by Kenny, whom I don't know very well but based on what everyone else says, he's where it's it. I admire his commitment to Rainbows. I've kind of partially built two. It can be a lot of work; it can also be impossible. While a real rainbow has seven visible colors, they also say that there are infinite shades possible. And thinking about it gives me a headache.

I suppose my biggest achievement is in owning nearly 1350 unique Darryl Strawberry cards. And  counting! One of the ones that I hold with the most esteem is the 1988 Fleer card I got signed by him in person on the night that he was inducted into the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame a few years ago.

The two other accomplishments, if I can call them that, are infinity projects but they are largely up-to-date. But, per Kenny's suggestion for the bat-around, that the accomplishments have brought me joy, these are projects that have made me immensely happy* to work on, and will continue to do so year by year.

*you'll see why this is *'d in a moment

The first is to collect one example of a Topps card for every year since 1951. For that year I have both a red back and a blue back. I haven't got so crazy with 1956 to get a white back and a gray back, yet, but I'm thinking about it. (I need an example of a white back.) Here are two pages:

The third accomplishment is to be nearly "done", as it were, with the Last Topps Cards of Hall of Famers project. Of course this should never end because year by year at least one player is elected into the Hall of Fame. I say elected, but some are placed. I'm not pleased about some of the players that have "gotten the call." Baines, for example. But, since they are "in", they join my collection. I'm down to needing just three of the historical players. Two of them are HUGE and one qualifies as one that I think shouldn't be in (Red Schoendienst whose stats are the definition of average). Red shouldn't be in as a manager either, compiling .522 winning percentage and even having three ties. Winning a World Series (1967) is quite an accomplishment, but overall... Meh.

Here are two pages: 

I like having the year of induction in there as a placeholder, but it takes up a lot of space. I might have to re-imagine this. Maybe a small sticker to indicate the class year for the first card for that year? 

I picked a bad page to show on that first image because of 1971. I was going to go after the Satchel Paige, but I decided recently not to. His Hall of Fame career was for his time in the Negro Leagues, not for his time in MLB. His six years in MLB were unimpressive. So I will have to re-page everything. But I might have to wait until I decide how to distinguish class years. And I do believe class years is the only way to organize it that makes sense. Thoughts? Anyone? Bueller?

So... that's my Blog Bat Around. Who's on deck?

Thanks for stopping by.