Pee Wee Reese

Key Cards Of The 1984 Baseball Hall of Fame Class

January 12, 2025 by John

Between the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and the Veterans Committee selections, the 1984 Baseball Hall of Fame was among Baseball’s strongest. Luis Aparicio, Don Drysdale, and Harmon Killebrew were voted in, while the Veteran’s Committee added Rick Ferrell and Pee Wee Reese. A player had to be on 75% of ballots to be inducted to the Hall of Fame; Aparicio was on 84.6% of ballots, Killebrew on 83.1%, and Drysdale on 78.4%. Seven players received votes but failed to make the 75% cutoff but were elected in future elections: Hoyt Willhelm, Nellie Fox, Billy Williams, Jim Bunning, Orlando Cepeda, Bill Mazeroski, and Joe Torre.

Here are some standout cards celebrating the 1984 Hall of Fame inductees.

Luis Aparicio

Aparicio was the first Venezuelan inducted into the Hall of Fame. He was an excellent defensive shortstop who was a 13x All-Star, a 9x Golf Glove Award Winner, a 9x AL Stolen Base Leader, and a member of the 1966 World Series Champion Baltimore Orioles team. He finished his career with 2677 hits and 506 stolen bases.

Key Cards: 1956 Topps, 1964 Topps, and 1971 Topps

Don Drysdale

Don Drysdale played his entire career with the Dodgers organization. He was a 9x All-Star, 3x World Series Champion, and 1962 Cy Young Award Winner. He finished his career with 209 wins, 2486 strikeouts, and a 2.95 earned run average.

Key Cards: 1957 Topps and 1963 Topps

Harmon Killebrew

Over his 22-year career, Killebrew was a 13-time All-Star, 6-time AL home run leader, and 1969 AL MVP. He was a prolific home run hitter, finishing his career with 573.

Key Cards: 1955 Topps, 1963 Topps, and 1967 Topps

Rick Ferrell

Over his 18-year career, Ferrell was one of Baseball’s best catchers. He was an 8x All-Star and patient hitter, logging only 277 strikeouts over his career compared to 931 walks. He was super durable and, to this day, still ranks 12th all-time in games played as a catcher.

Key Cards: 1933 Goudey and 1940 Play Ball

Reese was a member of the loaded 40s/50s Dodgers teams. He played 16 seasons, making the All-Star Game 10 times while winning 2 World Series. Reese also made the top ten in MVP voting eight times over his career. He was consistently productive, scoring 1338 runs in his career while playing great defense.

Key Cards: 1952 Topps and 1953 Bowman Color

Happy Collecting!

The 10 Most Significant Action Photos Of All-Time

January 4, 2025 by John

Kit Kiefer was a former editor of Baseball Cards Magazine and the VP of Professional Hobby Consultants, so he knows a thing or two about sports cards. Here’s his list of the 10 most significant action photos of all time, in order of importance. Not bad, huh?

The list was part of a much longer article in the February 1997 issue of Sports Card Magazine, in which he mentioned that “action photos on sports cards were non existent for the first 100 years, but today they are as common as a new pack of cards.”

In terms of popularity, you have to consider adding the 1991 Topps Carlton Fisk card featuring Cecil Fielder barreling toward him; here’s the Desert Shield version (4 Sharp Corners was offering it on eBay for $759 in November 2024).

1940’s Pee Wee Reese Wheaties Advertising Sign

November 5, 2024 by John

Have you had your Wheaties today? I previously wrote about a 1940s Tommy Henrich Wheaties ad; Pee Wee Reese was a spokesman for the brand, too!

Ron Oser Enterprises offered the above-pictured piece in their April 2001 catalog. They described it as follows:

A particularly striking and extremely rare (only example seen!) trolley sign, an 11″ x 21″ heavy paper sign with a large photo of Reese in his Brooklyn Dodgers cap, and opposite, the familiar orange & blue Wheaties “Breakfast of Champions” cereal box. The photo has a crease at the upper left corner, and the other corners (which were “hinged” at one time) have been lightly retouched (virtually undetectable). Excellent condition and one of the best Brooklyn Dodger advertising pieces we have ever offered. Framed & matted to 17 x 27 inches.

While it may have been the only example they had seen then, I managed to find a few more online. In February 2016, All Sports Auctions sold a “Vintage Pee Wee Reese Wheaties Ad Broadside” for $133.

Also, a collector on the Net54 forums sold a copy with the following description around March of 2021:

This is a very nice cardboard advertising display from the 1940s, featuring Wheaties brand cereal and Pee Wee Reese of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Likely to have been displayed in a grocery/corner store at the time. Piece measures approximately 17 in. by 9 in. Made of a thicker stock paper with some creases throughout each of the corners/sides, small chip in upper left, and some slight toning along edges and back of piece. Printed graphics are still bright and fully intact. Overall, very solid piece that would make a great addition to one’s Brooklyn and/or advertising collection!

The 1982 New York City Superstar Baseball Card Show

June 23, 2024 by John

The following advertisement for the 1982 New York City Superstar Baseball card show is one of the best I’ve ever seen.

It was published in Trader Speaks’ March 1982 issue, and the handwritten style stood out among many mechanical-looking ads. Plus, Monte Irvin and Pee Wee Reese were signees!

I’ll also mention that dealer tables were $85, which is more than many regional shows charge today.

Happy collecting!

1953 Bowman Color #33 Pee Wee Reese PSA 10

May 16, 2024 by John

Collectors often describe the 1953 Bowman Color Pee Wee Reese as one of the prettiest cards ever made. And there’s just a single Gem Mt 10 in PSA’s Pop Report. I ran across it in a Mastro Fine Sports Auctions catalog from May 2000.

Would this card be a “10” today? Who knows? Judging the card’s condition from a small catalog photo is tough. But they wrote that the card has a very faint rough cut along the top and bottom edges and said the image is centered at 55/45.