“Pin-Up” of the Week: 1996 National Baseball Hall of Fame Abner Doubleday 100th Anniversary

Here is another pin from my collection.  Its not one that you see very often.  This was an impulse buy while attending the National Sports Collectors Convention in 2009.  I’d never seen it before, and didn’t know that much about it.  I still don’t know that much about it.  The pin commemorates the 100th anniversary of when the first baseball game was played in 1839.  Its dated 1996 on the back, along with the National Baseball Hall of Fame name.

Abner Doubleday is the supposed inventor of baseball.  Most baseball historians don’t believe this though.  There simply just isn’t enough evidence to prove it.  I don’t think he did.  Doubleday was a cadet at West Point at the time he is said to have invented the game.  His family didn’t live in Cooperstown, New York anymore at that time either.  I think people were looking for the game’s origin, and decided to pin it on Doubleday.  They based it all on a lot of blurry-eyed loose stories.  Despite all this lack of credible evidence, the Baseball Hall of Fame was built in Cooperstown.  Doubleday Field was built on the cow pasture where Abner Doubleday is said to invented the game.  That’s where they play the Hall of Fame Game each year.  As long as the Baseball Hall of Fame is located in Cooperstown, the Doubleday myth will always be a subject fans will talk about.  I don’t see them moving it anytime soon.

“Pin-Up” of the Week: 2011 Indianapolis 500 100th Anniversary Silver Pit Pin

This year was the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500.  The pin pictured above was given to team members and certain sponsors.  As you can see, the front depicts Ray Haroun driving the Marmon Wasp just like he did in the first 1911 Indy 500.  If your looking to add one of these bad boys to your collection, be ready to open your wallet.  These can sell for $50.00 to $100.00.

Flashback Product of the Week: 2001 Fleer Red Sox 100th Anniversary Legacy

I think its safe to say that if your not a Red Sox fan, you won’t like this product.  Each box contains one jersey or autographed card, and collectors can also find an autographed baseball cap.  You can also find a collectible toy tractor trailer which in my opinion doesn’t really make sense to have.  This product covers the complete history of the Red Sox.

I’d really like to see a product like this be made for the Phillies.  That is one product that I would buy.  Philadelphia has one of the oldest teams in baseball, and they have a ton of history.  There are too many products dedicated to the Yankees and Red Sox.