“Pin-Up” of the Week: 1911 World’s Series Shibe Park Philadelphia Press Pin

Here it is folks.  The mother of all press pins.  Only a handful of these puppies are known to still be floating around.  I’ve used World Series press pins for this post before, but nothing as big as this one.  Why is this pin such a big deal?  Because 1911 was the first year they issued press pins to members of the media.

Baseball fans watched the Philadelphia A’s take on the New York Giants in 1911.  The Giants manager, John McGraw, would constantly invite his friends to big games.  It wasn’t uncommon for them to crowd-up the press box.  Between a local reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer named Stephen O. Grauley, and A’s manager Connie Mack, the press pin was born.  Only those people wearing this pin gained access to the press area.  And the rest is all history.  Press pins have been part of the World Series ever since.

The pin pictured above is from Grauley’s personal collection.  In February, Heritage Auctions plans to put it up for sale along with some other press pins Grauley collected over the years.  This pin alone is expected to fetch $40,000.  For it’s age, I can’t believe how great the condition is.  That fabric portion of the pin is a prime target for damage.

Card of the Day: Adam Vinatieri 1997 Pacific Philadelphia Collection #199

Card of the Day: Bob Brown 1966 Philadelphia RC #134

Card of the Day: Jerry Richardson 1967 Philadelphia #8

Card of the Day: Paul Hornung 1967 Philadelphia #123

“Pin-Up” of the Week: 2015 Philadelphia Phillies – Phillie Phanatic Opening Day Pin

Its becoming more and more difficult to watch the Phillies.  And I’m a big Phillies fan.  They’re experts at getting hits with two outs, and leaving men in scoring position.  They do it all the time.  Their starting pitchers constantly give up home runs early in the game.  Sometimes they do this with the very first pitch.  And Ryan Howard.  Don’t even get me started on him.  I can see why no team wanted to snatch him up.  I could very easily stand at the plate and do what he does.  He should be in the A.L. as a DH.  The Phillies have been in a steady decline ever since winning the 2008 World Series.  Signing these older players to such long contracts is one of the main reasons why the Phillies are in their current state.  I hate to tell you this Ruben, but players don’t get better with age.  We need this rebuilding phase to be over with ASAP.

As for this pin.  The Phillies had these for sale in the Majestic Clubhouse Store on Opening Day.  From what I’ve read, it was a Citizens Bank Park exclusive only made for Opening Day.  One pin sold for $33.00.

“Pin-Up” of the Week: 1948 Philadelphia Eagles World Championship Game Press Pin

The Eagles have been making moves all over the place this off season.  LeSean McCoy left for Buffalo in exchange for Kiko Alonso.  This past week they picked up Sam Bradford and Ryan Mathews.  I think Chip Kelly secretly just wants an Eagles team made up of all former Oregon Ducks players.  It wouldn’t surprise me if Marcus Mariota gets drafted by Philadelphia.

Known as the Philly Blizzard, the 1948 World Championship Game took place between the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Cardinals.  It snowed a lot.  The game was scoreless until the fourth quarter when Chicago fumbled and Philadelphia recovered.  Steve Van Buren ran it in for a touchdown and the Eagles won 7-0.

Merchandise from this game has a huge demand.  Its very difficult to find a lot of stuff from this era.  The Eagles press pin is quite condition sensitive.  This exact pin recently sold for $400.00.

Card of the Day: Tommy Mason 1964 Philadelphia #105

Card of the Day: Fran Tarkenton 1967 Philadelphia #106

Crosscutters Host 8th Annual Hot Stove Banquet

The Crosscutters held their 8th annual Hot Stove Banquet at the Genetti Hotel last evening.  It was a night filled with old friends, new friends, great food, stories, giveaways, and autographs.  Some of the guests included Philadelphia Phillies Manager Ryne Sandberg, Phillies third baseman Cody Asche, and Phillies broadcaster Greg Murphy.  Returning for a second year in a row was Montoursville native and former major league third baseman Tom O’Malley.

Whoever made the decision to hold the Chinese Auction out in the lobby is a genius.  This allowed for more tables in the ballroom and a lot more room to eat at your seat.  In the past things have been a bit cramped.  The only drawback to the evening was that everyone wasn’t able to get autographs from all the guests.  After obtaining signatures from Cody Asche and Greg Murphy, I went to get in line to see Ryne Sandberg.  Unfortunately they cut the line off for Sandberg right in front of me.  That’s alright.  I had never attempted to get three autographs during this sold out event before.  On a positive note though, when I returned to the table I discovered I had won a prize pack from the Chinese Auction.

Phillies Manager Ryne Sandberg

Phillies 3B Cody Asche

Phillies broadcaster Greg Murphy

The prize pack I won was donated by the State College Spikes.  It included a T-shirt, signed baseball, signed program, and a Stan Belinda mini bobblehead the Spikes gave away last year.