Sports Card Tour 2018 - Baltimore

The Collector's Sports Card Tour 2018 is just getting started. Today the tour stops in Baltimore, birthplace of Babe Ruth.

Baltimore is home to two bird-themed pro sports teams - the Orioles and the Ravens.

The Orioles have won three World Series titles since relocating from St. Louis in 1954, but haven't appeared in the fall classic since their last title in 1983. The Ravens were victorious in Super Bowl 35 and won their second title a dozen years later.

Ray Lewis headlines this year's class of inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The legendary linebacker is the only member of both Ravens Super Bowl winning teams. Lewis was the franchise's first-ever draft pick after Art Moddell moved the original Cleveland Browns to Baltimore - but he nearly fell to the Packers with the next pick. This Bowman Chrome refractor isn't actually a rookie card; it's from a 2001 insert set of 1996 rookies.


The Orioles also have a Hall of Famer who contributed to each of their championships - pitcher Jim Palmer.

I have an album full of 8 x 10 photos, but only a few of them are autographed. Palmer signed this for me about eight years ago at the last card show I attended, the East Coast National in White Plains, NY. He was in his sixties at the time, but didn't look a day over 45.


When I was about 7 years old and my (much) older brother was teaching me about baseball, he named some of the great players the Orioles had in the 1960's and 70's. I don't remember if he mentioned Palmer, but I know he mentioned Brooks and Frank Robinson - because I immediately assumed they were brothers. 

I've had a few Frank Robinson cards pass through my fingers since then, but this is the only vintage issue currently in my collection. This 1967 Topps card cost me $4.15 on COMC.

I had a bit of a Brooks Robinson PC going at one point, and even planned to complete a run of his Topps cards - until I saw the price of his 1967 Topps card. Darn high numbers!

This dual relic was a blaster box pull from Dave & Adam's. I've offered it for trade, and I've considered selling it- mostly because it might lose half its appeal once Manny Machado signs with the Yankees. But I do love 2017 Topps Heritage, and the hand numbering is a nice touch.

I don't have any Ravens relics. I don't have many football relics at all, and I never really liked the Ravens. Ripping the Browns out of Cleveland is the main reason most fans dislike the team, but I was a 15 year-old baseball fan from New Haven when the Browns moved. I was so mad that they stole our name I called them the Baltimore Football Franchise until I was old enough to get over it.

Thanks to the generosity of one Jay Barker fan, I have an autographed item from the original Baltimore football franchise.

And, in a way, its presence in my collection helped me add one Moore auto.

I searched for Hall of Famer autographs during COMC's Black Friday sale, sorting by lowest price. Moore's auto was the cheapest card I recognized, this low-numbered card was only $8.25 due to a dinged corner. Buying slightly damaged cards on COMC is a great way to get the most out of a meager budget - if you don't mind a little flaw or two. Personally I’m more picky about condition flaws on vintage cards (which is admittedly a little backwards.)

While pulling out my football boxes for Ravens I flipped through my Indianapolis Colts cards to see if there were any Baltimore players tucked away within my boxes or binders. I only found one base card and one (half) insert card of the Baltimore era Colts:

I recently learned from CommishBob's blog that Alan Ameche owned a drive-in restaurant in Baltimore back in the day. When Johnny Unitas passed away in 2002, Peyton Manning wanted to wear high-top black sneakers to honor him. The NFL wouldn't allow it, citing some bs about how Unitas was a Baltimore Colt and only a Ravens player could do so. (That's why it's called the No Fun League, folks.)


Back to baseball... have I mentioned that I love color matching refractors? I love color matching refractors. Here are a pair I picked up while prospecting:

Chance Sisco had a strong cup of coffee with the O's last September. He's in line to be their catcher of the future. Hunter Harvey has been slowed by a slew of injuries over the past three seasons. He's still only 23 so the upside is there if he can stay healthy (famous last words.)


You may have noticed that I haven't mentioned Cal Ripken. That's because I don't have any special items of the Ironman. Just a couple inserts and a silver Sterling SP from 1996 Finest.

I've got plenty of Ripken base cards though. Here are my eight favorite base cards of number 8:

Both Baltimore teams have players with ties to New Jersey. My wife won a Pack War game by pulling a card of a player who attended the closest college.  

Unfortunately it was Rutgers alum Ray Rice.

Tony Siragusa played high school football in nearby Kenilworth; his mother went to school with my mother in-law. Jeffrey Hammonds was drafted higher than Derek Jeter in 1992 - and if you saw him play American Legion ball like my wife and father in-law did, you'd understand why.

Also, current Ravens receiver Jeremy Maclin lived in the same south Jersey development as my wife’s best friend when he was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.


Final thoughts...

Baltimore native (and Ravens fan) Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian of all-time. This should not be a question. His 28 total medals and 23 gold medals are by far the most of any Olympic competitor. So why do some ESPN talking heads insist that Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt is the greatest Olympian ever? Bolt is an incredible athlete, no doubt. I enjoy watching him run more than I enjoy watching Phelps swim - mostly because I prefer Bolt's flamboyant but fun personality over Phelps' stone cold killer shtick. But even my five year old knows that 23 gold medals is a lot more than 9.

Favorite Orioles player: Adam Jones
Favorite Ravens player: Maclin or Terrell Suggs

Orioles card I’d like to own: the 1989 Fleer Billy Ripken is a popular choice, but I’m going with this 1971 Topps World Series highlight card, with Brooks Robinson diving for a ground ball on Tatooine.

Ravens card I’d like to own: A Jeremy Maclin base card

Colts card I'd like to own: Any Johnny Unitas item, especially the Starting Lineup card/figure from 1989.

The next two tour stops are very exciting for me: Boston and Brooklyn.


Thanks for reading!


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