Digging Up Awesomeness at the Quarry

When he mailed my recent break results (see my last post), Johnny (hiflew) at Cards from the Quarry tossed in a massive number of cards as part of a to-be-named-later trade - 72 to be exact. In a spontaneous conversation one evening, I counted up several of the players who had large numbers of cards needed for the Awards/Leaders collection, and he pulled nearly all of them. If you have player needs, he's the way to go - he keeps all his cards sorted by player.

 Dusty Baker wasn't too bad of a player, and currently manages the Reds. He's a two-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger winner, MVP of the 1977 NLCS, and three-time Manager of the Year. But this card is going to represent his Gold Glove award. I still need six Dustys for all those other awards.

 Lance Parrish won several Silver Slugger awards; five of these cards go there. The other one goes for a Gold Glove win.

 Kenny Rogers used to be a good pitcher. He even threw a perfect game. He won five Gold Glove awards, and these cards represent three of those. I still need two more.

 Greg Maddux is one of the best-fielding pitchers of all time, and one of the best pitchers of his generation. I might add him to my player collection, but for now, this card completes my Maddux needs. It represents his being named to the All-Time Gold Glove team.

 Hammerin' Hank was a three-time Gold Glove winner, NL MVP in 1957, and was named to 25 all-star teams in his 23-year career (figure that one out - I know the answer, but do you without searching?). I think when we put this stack together I still needed one more Hank, but I don't anymore. I really like this card, though, so it goes in my "special card" collection.

 Pudge! This guy's been playing forever. He's won 13 Gold Gloves, and until now I needed 8 more cards. For those of you who can't do math, that means I still need four more.

 Dave Winfield has won several Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards in his career. I needed five more cards to represent those awards, but when the stack was made I needed six. The '89 Topps will sit out the season, just like Dave is doing in that picture, and he did all that season.

 Always smiling, Gary Carter also won several Gloves and Sluggers. I picked up a card somewhere along the way, so three of these four will finish my needs for him. I decided the '84 All-Star "mojo" would sit out the collection, because I bet someone else would love that card more than I will.

 Ryne Sandberg was known for his glove, and these five cards finish my needs for his awards in the field. I really liked Score when they had the 900-card sets with all the subsets and special cards, like that Man of the Year. Several of those subsets are in my TCIC collection. Nothing says All-Star like standing in front of a cinder block wall to get your picture taken.

 Phil Niekro retired when he reached 84 years old. I kid. But he was ooooooold. He pitched a no-hitter, won a couple awards, and is a leader in a few statistical categories (when you pitch for more than 20 years that happens). Five of these cards represent his five Gold Glove awards. The Record Breaker will represent his no-hitter.

 Bob Boone was a great defensive catcher, and seven of these cards will fill in for Gold Glove awards. The other card is an extra. I picked up a Boone last month at one of the shows.

 Frank White has been all but forgotten in the baseball world. He managed to make five all-star teams, won eight gold glove awards and a silver slugger (where these nine cards go), and was the 1980 ALCS MVP. His number has been retired by the Royals. But most people these days wouldn't know who Frank White was.

 Dale Murphy is a local legend in Atlanta. He won 2 MVP awards, the Clemente Award, Lou Gehrig Award, four Silver Sluggers, five Gold Gloves, and was selected for seven All-Star games. He was two home runs shy of 400, and batted only .265, but during his peak he was a leader - anyone who wins several Silver Sluggers and Gold Glove awards must stand out. He is one of only two players to win multiple MVP awards and not be elected to the Hall of Fame (Roger Maris is the other).

 Keith Hernandez won a couple Silver Slugger awards, was the 1979 NL MVP, a five-time All-Star, and won 11 consecutive Gold Glove awards. All eight of these cards finish up the Keith Hernandez needs by representing some of those Gold Gloves.

Last, the old man, Bobby Cox. He won Manager of the Year in the AL with the Blue Jays, and three NL Manager of the Year awards with the Braves. Cox was a coach on the 1977 World Series Champion Yankees, and won a World Series as manager of the Braves in 1995. He took the Braves to the playoffs fourteen years in a row, and ranks high on all-time lists for several "most" things as a manager. All four of these cards represent his Manager of the Year awards.

Well, there you have it! Johnny was a huge help towards finishing the Awards and Leaders collection. I need 1068 cards as of this writing, 148 of those being team cards. Some day I'll go through the list and see how man of those players actually have cards.

Thanks again, Johnny! I have a stack of cards ready to send your way, once I find a little something special.