Saturday, August 31, 2013

1960s' Players from the Philadelphia, PA Area


Mostly for my fellow Philly-area bloggers:

Recently, while composing my 1967 Lew Krausse post, I got sidetracked on other baseball players who were from my area. Here are those from the 1960s era:



The most famous is probably Reggie Jackson. Jax (his nickname before "Mr. October") was born in nearby Abington, and went to Cheltenham High School, just north of the border. (Also born in Abington, and attending Council Rock HS was Phillies' early-70s' SS Craig Robinson.) While I'm still north of the city, Pete Cimino (although born in Philly) attended Bristol High School, where he once scored 114 points in a basketball game (still a Pennsylvania state record).



Venturing into the city we come to Eddie Stanky and Pat Kelly. Stanky was from the Kensington area, and went to Edison HS. His nickname "The Brat from Kensington" was eventually shortened to "The Brat". Kelly (brother of Cleveland Browns' HOF running back Leroy Kelly) went to Simon Gratz HS, whose alumni included Roy Campanella.



Still in Philly, we have Al Spangler and Lee Elia. Besides both playing for the Cubs, they both went to Olney High School in Philadelphia. Neither one is the most accomplished baseball player from Olney High. (That would be ex-Phillies' outfielder Del Ennis.)



Moving southward into Delaware County, we have fellow Chester High School alumni Danny Murtaugh and Lew Krausse. Danny was born in Chester, while Lew was born in Media (which I assume means Riddle Hospital, across the street from Granite Run Mall - for you card-show buffs). Krausse was a high school phenom, which I described in his 1967 card post.



Northwest of the city is Pottstown, PA, the hometown of both Bobby Shantz and Dave Ricketts. They both went to Pottstown High School, and both had brothers who also played in the majors.



Over into New Jersey, Al Downing and Bill Dillman both hail from Trenton, the state capital.



Northern Delaware is the home of Dallas Green (Newport) and Dave May (New Castle).


Now, where is my EZ-Pass?

Saturday, August 10, 2013

1964 Topps Coins


I picked up these 1964 Topps coins while out on a recent antiques expedition with Mrs. Jim from Downingtown.

My only prior coin in this set is Phillies' 2nd baseman Tony Taylor. The 1964 coin set includes two types of coins - "regular", and all-stars, with some of the same players appearing on both. These are actually before my (childhood collecting) time, although I do have a few 1971 coins from back in the day.

I've now doubled my "Warren Spahn collection", having recently acquired his 1964 Topps giant card.


It occurs to me that the only sports "cards" I have bought since 2010 are oddballs like these coins, about a dozen 1964 Topps giant cards, and some early-1960s Philadelphia Eagles.

I've sworn off buying/collecting current-issue cards (for a variety of reasons), and only collect vintage stuff. My 1966 and 1970 baseball sets are about 85% complete, and someday I will resume finishing those sets.