Mail Day from Shane Katz

I received a fine mail day from Shane Katz (@shanekatz73 on twitter) and I have to share these additions to the PC.  Shane also has a blog that’s found at www.otwbbcards.wordpress.com  Shane is a Boston guy and collects Red Sox if you have any to deal.  He’s a great trade partner and responsible shipper.  Check him out!  My mail day was heavy on the Ron Gant cards, which is really the best kind of mail day.  Shane also tossed in some extras that are really cool that are worth sharing.  Shane sent 13 Gant’s and I needed 12 of them.  I am thin on Gant in the late 90’s-early 2000’s and that’s where he came through.  The stretch I received covered Gant in 6 uniforms.  I did not have any from his Rockies season so that was a nice addition.  I won’t discuss all of them but here are a few highlights.Of course, one for nostalgia was the 1989 Topps Glossy Rookies card #9.  Ronnie looks like they caught him right after BP.Then, representing the Reds, we have the 1996 Topps card #70.  He only played one full season with the Reds as he spent 1994 on the disabled list.  In ‘95, he hit .276 with 29 home runs and 23 stolen bases, good enough for his second National League Comeback Player of the Year award.  He looks a lot like Reggie Sanders in this picture.Next, he appeared twice in the 1999 Topps set.  Once in the base set in his St. Louis uniform and then in the traded set after his move to Philadelphia.  In St. Louis, he played 3 seasons with 73 total home runs and 35 stolen bases.  He endured a very tough stretch in batting average never topping .246 in that as a Cardinal.  He also had a career high 162 strikeouts in 1997.  In Philly, he rebounded a bit in the average department but the home runs dipped to 20 and 17.  Stolen bases had also reached a career low with 5 in ’99 and 1 in 2000.The next stop was Colorado for a partial season in 2001 as shown on the 2001 Topps here.  A forgettable stop in Colorado with a .257 average and 8 homeruns.  He would finish the season in Oakland, playing 34 games and compiling a .420 average and 2 home runs.Ronnie’s final full season in the majors was with San Diego in 2002.  The 2003 Topps would be his final of the set as an active player.  He would go on to appear in Archives and other products as a retired player.The last two cards are from the 2014 Topps Archives set and are a couple of my favorites.  The first is the ’69 Deckle Mini with the facsimile autograph.  There is a ’69 Deckle in the set with a true autograph and I have tried to snipe it from time to time on eBay.  The second card is the 1987 Topps Future Star and is hands down my favorite Gant.  First you have the 1987 Topps design and then you have the sweet Future Star logo that I have raved about in several blog posts.  You really can’t beat a card like this and it was the best card in the mail day!  Also, both in Braves uniforms.The extras included this sweet 1984 Ralston Purina Dan Quisenberry.  I have been eyeing this set for a future oddball set post.Next up are four awesome 1980-1981 Topps Basketball cards from Shane’s youth.  He even made sure they were all Atlanta Hawks.  I do not own enough early 80’s basketball.More oddballs with Steve Garvey and Don Mattingly from the 1987 Fleer Exciting Stars set.  Mattingly was exciting but Garvey was pretty bland for a set title like that.The final piece of the mail day was another oddball with the 1986 KayBee Young Superstars of Baseball, Alvin Davis. 

All of these cards are right up my alley and made for a very exciting early week mail day.  I need to get to work on another trade with Shane because he provides some sweet returns.  I will no doubt have to step up my game on the next mailing though.  Thanks Shane!

J-Dub