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MTV Cribs Style Show Off of My Office!

Over the past couple of years, I found that I enjoy displaying pieces of my collection in my office nearly as much as the pieces themselves!  For the first time, I thought I'd show you my office in 360.  This was inspired by the 11/07/21 podcast episode I just did last night at www.tanmanbaseballfan.com/podcast  If you love baseball cards, transformers, comics, and voltron, I think you'll click with me ... otherwise, you will probably think I'm weird :)   This wall shows my game used / autographed bat of Canseco who hit home run #12 in 1997 with it.  On top

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O Bash Brother, Where Art Thou?

Have you ever been in this situation before?  You go on a collecting "purge" to move things you aren't in love with, only to find out you wished you never sold one or two of the pieces in the first place. That's what happened to me when I gave up what I now consider to be the ULTIMATE Bash Brothers baseball card. A little background ... As you probably know, Canseco & McGwire made waves during the 80s and early 90s as the premiere slugging teammates.  Depending upon what your favorite team was, they were either superheroes or supervillains, and

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An 1874 Woodcut of America’s longest continuously running sports franchise!

When you watch the game tonight and see the 150 patch on the Braves jerseys, this is why!     Pictured here is an original 1874 woodcut of America's longest continually operating sports franchise, ever. Shown are the champions from Boston, the Boston Red Stockings - who, after a number of name changes and moves, finally became known as the Atlanta Braves.     This original woodcut is from June 27th, 1874 - 3 years after the team was formed - nearly a century and a half ago! It features big names of baseball pioneers such as Harry Wright -

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Bird is the Word

Here is a custom I created of Mark The Bird Fidrych! The left shows the real card I made, the middle is the back, and the right is a photoshopped big bird patch I put in for fun :)      The story of Fidrych is a fascinating one. He was a national sensation, who was as attractively eccentric to crowds as he was skilled as a pitcher.   In 1976, when The Bird wasn't pitching, Detroit would have about 14k on hand. When he was pitching, the game attendance would swell on average to nearly 34k.   Fans would

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The Legend of Jim Creighton – 159 Years Ago TODAY

159 years ago TODAY, Jim Creighton, whom many consider baseball's first superstar reportedly had something strange happen to him. As the story goes, he hit a home run, and internally ruptured something, passing away four days later. The events of this fateful day will be argued until the end of time, but nevertheless, it is a great legend.   Creighton is credited as "weaponizing the ball" as a pitcher, that is, he developed a delivery that made it difficult for batters to hit, in a time when pitchers were supposed to pitch so balls could be hit. Creighton drew crowds

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YASSSS!!!! I Unexpectedly Captured a Unicorn!!!

Twenty years ago today, Jose took his last swing in the majors. It is hard to believe that two decades have passed since we have been able to enjoy his handiwork at the plate!  It also is crazy to think that he has been retired for longer than he played (1985-2001).   If you read this previous article, you know how special patch cards of Jose Canseco that were created during his playing career are to me.  There are very few - only two official releases.  The 2000 Upper Deck Game Jersey Patch (STILL gives me goose bumps!) ... ... and 2001

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Timothy Keefe – 19th Century Baseball Giant in more ways than one!

Tim Keefe is not well known by the average casual baseball fan of today since he died nearly a century ago, but he was a giant in 19th century baseball, in more ways than one. His storied career spanned a very formative time during baseball, with his first year being the last year pitchers pitched from 45 feet away, and his last year being the first year they pitched from 60 ft 6 inches away. His father Patrick was a POW in the Civil War, and all four of Patrick's brothers were killed during the war. Keefe was known by

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What is Your Favorite Multi Player Card?

What is YOUR favorite multi player card?   If I had to pick my favorite dual card, I'd say it is this one. I lost out on it a couple years ago, then bought out the guy who beat me. I had never seen one before or since.     Canseco and Clark were front and center for the Battle of the Bay (the 1989 Earthquake World Series) - it was a clash of the titans. If you were a California kid in the late 80s, this was likely your life for a while.   In 2005, the Battle of

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1915 Cracker Jack Ty Cobb – A Historical Art Piece from World War 1

"Buy me some peanuts and..." A year and a half ago, I picked up this beautiful 1915 Cracker Jack Ty Cobb. While we 80s babies had to deal with wax stains, World War 1 era collectors dealt with caramel stains from Cracker Jack packages. The staining on this copy is an unobtrusive reminder of its journey - a journey I can only dream about. Imagine a child over a century ago sitting in the stands at a Tigers game holding a package of Cracker Jacks with his favorite baseball player coming up to bat. Between pitches, he digs into the

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When a Grail Card of Your Favorite Player Doesn’t Exist

There are grail cards in the hobby that I'm halfway happy Canseco wasn't in for fear of how much it would cost, and halfway wish that he was because they are so beautiful. The 97 Finest Gold Refractor is a prime example of this. I finally decided to create one of my own. Here it is, complete with deckle edge, and atomic refractive properties!

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