u/Strict_Process157

Today. I had a great TTM success from Mr. Steve Blass of the Pittsburgh Pirates. More details in the comments below.

I've been dipping my toe in the TTM game. I'm really only sending to Pirates that have had meaning to my life.

Steve Blass!!

What can I say about Mr. Blass? He had super HIGHS and deep LOWS in his Pirates career. However, he always stayed positive and had a great second career with the Pirates as a broadcaster. He was (just like the title of his book) a "PIRATE FOR LIFE".

I had the opportunity to cross paths with Mr. Blass a few times in the late 80s and early 90s. So nice.

For my TTM item, I sent a ticket from Game 7 of the 1971 World Series. In this game, Steve pitched a four hit, complete game allowing only one run as the Pirates defeated the Orioles 2-1.

Blass also pitched a complete Game 3, a Pirate 5-1 victory. Across Games 3 and 7, Blass threw 18 innings, allowed 2 runs, struck out 9, and allowed 7 Baltimore base hits. His 1.00 ERA placed him second in the WS MVP voting behind only Roberto Clemente.

Today, my TTM ticket arrived at my doorstep. He signed it! He also added a personal inscription that makes this a priceless part of my collection.

Joy! Joy! Joy!

How can you really top that?

Steve's personal inscription shows how special this game was to him, the team, and the city. Joy!

Damnit! I wish I could share this one with my grandparents. They thought the world of him.

Thank you, Mr Blass!

To celebrate what would have been Roberto's 50th birthday, the US Postal Service produced over 119 million 20-cent stamps beginning in August of 1984 to commemorate his life. The stamps were released on August 17, 1984.

I am posting two cool cards from my Roberto collection. These cards will always occupy a special place in my collection. They are the 1964 Topps Giants and 1972 Daily Juice Co. cards of Roberto. What makes these two cards special is that they contain the 20-cent Roberto stamp and are postmarked on the first day of issue, August 17, 1984 from a Post Office in Carolina, PR (Roberto's place of birth). I am unable to find any documentation for how many cards were stamped and postmarked in this fashion.

If anyone knows any more information about baseball cards being stamped and postmarked in PR, please let me know. I see tons of first day covers posted for sale on ebay, but never see cards.

Prior to today, I've never visited this sub, so please be gentile.

I am posting two cool cards from my Roberto Clemente collection. These cards will always occupy a special place in my collection. They are the 1964 Topps Giants and 1972 Daily Juice Co. cards of Roberto. What makes these two cards special is that they contain the 20-cent Roberto stamp and are postmarked on the first day of issue, August 17, 1984 from a Post Office in Carolina, PR (Roberto's place of birth). In addition to cards, the USPS also issued first day covers stamped and postmarked from Carolina, PR as well as Pittsburgh, PA and Cooperstown, NY.

I am unable to find any documentation for how many of the baseball cards were stamped and postmarked in this fashion. I am also unable to ascertain the provenance of the two Clemente cards. I do know that, over the years, the Clemente family has released their copies of Roberto's cards to the public through auction houses. I am the owner of one of the 1972 Daily Juice Co. cards from one of those releases. I guess one can speculate if the cards were provided by the family.

Can any of you collectors help to shed any light on numbers of cards (or even first day covers) were prepared in PR on that day?

I'll link my original post in the comments. There is more detail provided there if anyone is interested. Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

To celebrate what would have been Roberto's 50th birthday, the US Postal Service produced over 119 million 20-cent stamps beginning in August of 1984 to commemorate his life. The stamps were released on August 17, 1984. The Clemente stamp was part of a series of four baseball players immortalized on stamps in the 1980s. The other three players in this series were Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Clemente was also immortalized on a second US (33-cent) stamp in 2000. Several other nations have also issued stamps honoring Roberto.

Today, I am posting two cool cards from my Roberto collection. These cards will never be sent to a grading company or part of a set registry, but they will always occupy a special place in my collection. They are the 1964 Topps Giants and 1972 Daily Juice Co. cards of Roberto. What makes these two cards special is that they contain the 20-cent Roberto stamp and are postmarked on the first day of issue, August 17, 1984 from a Post Office in Carolina, PR (Roberto's place of birth). I am unable to find any documentation for how many cards were stamped and postmarked in this fashion. I am also unable to ascertain the provenance of the two Clemente cards. I do know that, over the years, the Clemente family has released their copies of Roberto's cards to the public through auction houses. I am the owner of one of the 1972 Daily Juice Co. cards from one of those releases. I guess one can speculate if the cards were provided by the family.

I am also posting photos of Roberto's Granada stamp, a set of 1989-issued USPS stamp cards, his stamps issued during his playing days, and my 1972 Daily Juice Co. card owned by the Clemente family.

Please enjoy my cards. Below is more info on the Clemente stamps.

This is a SABR article about the Clemente stamps.

https://sabr.org/journal/article/roberto-clemente-postage-stamps-across-the-world/

These are the Postal Museum web pages about the Clemente stamps.

https://postalmuseum.si.edu/roberto-clemente-walker

https://postalmuseum.si.edu/object/npm_1999.2004.365

First post on this sub, so be gentle. Please, I need some help!

Something is eating the leaves of my hardy hibiscus plants. I've had plants in pots near the pool for seven years. I've never had this happen and this year, they are being devoured by worms. Flowers are not being bothered by the worms.

So far, I have used soapy water spray, blasting with a stream of water, and a neem oil spray. I've tried these individually and in combos. What can I safely put on these plants and not be detrimental to pollinators?

Do I remove the damaged leaves? On some plants, there won't be much left.

I live in zone 5B. Thank in advance!!

I was sitting in section 107 today. I got to see one of my childhood heroes (The Candyman) throw the first pitch on the 50th anniversary of his no hitter. A beautiful day for baseball and an absolutely abysmal team took the field.

A few weeks back, I posted the ticket from the first game at Three Rivers Stadium. At the time, I didn't bother to post a photo of the back.

Today, I am posting the photo of the back!

PLEASE READ THE STATEMENT TO THE FANS ON THE BACK OF THIS TICKET!! In particular, read the the second paragraph. WE DESERVE BETTER!

Change needs to happen. Here is the text from the ticket back.

Dear Fans:

With the opening of THREE RIVERS STADIUM, a new era begins for the City of Pittsburgh and for the Pittsburgh Pirates. You have every reason to be proud of your new ballpark - the finest, most modern arena in the country. And we hope you will always have reason to be proud of your Pirates.

The Pirates have given you Major League Baseball in the City of Pittsburgh since 1887 and today's players are determined to make their own history. We hope that this team will always be worthy of your marvelous support, for a ballclub belongs to its fans.

Sincerely,

(Daniel Galbreath)

PRESIDENT

PITTSBURGH PIRATES

I was sitting in section 107 today. I got to see one of my childhood heroes (The Candyman) throw the first pitch on the 50th anniversary of his no hitter. A beautiful day for baseball and an absolutely abysmal team took the field.

A few weeks back, I posted the ticket from the first game at Three Rivers Stadium. At the time, I didn't bother to post a photo of the back.

Today, I am posting the photo of the back!

PLEASE READ THE STATEMENT TO THE FANS ON THE BACK OF THIS TICKET!! In particular, read the the second paragraph. WE DESERVE BETTER!

Change needs to happen. Here is the text from the ticket back.

Dear Fans:

With the opening of THREE RIVERS STADIUM, a new era begins for the City of Pittsburgh and for the Pittsburgh Pirates. You have every reason to be proud of your new ballpark - the finest, most modern arena in the country. And we hope you will always have reason to be proud of your Pirates.

The Pirates have given you Major League Baseball in the City of Pittsburgh since 1887 and today's players are determined to make their own history. We hope that this team will always be worthy of your marvelous support, for a ballclub belongs to its fans.

Sincerely,

(Daniel Galbreath)

PRESIDENT

PITTSBURGH PIRATES

I love watching u/madcapscards and others collect the four-eyed cards. I knew that if I went through some of my old cards I'd find at least one somewhere. Found it today. Two Pirates so technically eight-eyed.

Sorry I'm posting this a few days late.

On July 28, 1972, Dock Ellis threw a complete game against the Mets. He allowed seven hits and one run that evening while striking out seven. The victory upped his record to 9-4 while Tom Seaver fell to 12-8 with the loss.

I recently unearthed these tickets from that game. As you can see, the Gunner, Bob Prince signed these for some lucky person. The '25 years' inscription is a reference to the 1972 season being his 25th year broadcasting the Pirates. What a cool ticket x2!!!

Here is a link to the boxscore from that game.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT197207280.shtml

I've written about the influence of my Grandpap on my collecting in the early 80s. He thought that Mickey belonged in my collection. We found a vendor at one of our local flea markets that we trusted to get fair deals. He had sold us a few nice Clemente cards previously. From what I vaguely remember he had a LOT of Mantle cards. I had a very limited budget of tooth fairy money, birthday card money, and a small amount of money from allowance and odd snow shoveling jobs. The 53 Bowman card with Mick, Hank Bauer, and Yogi was much cheaper than most other cards. We zeroed in on that card and a deal was made. No idea what price was paid. What I do remember was that the 64 Mantle was a throw in with the deal. It ain't perfect (it is far from it), but the top half looks great. It was well loved before I became the owner. What a great gesture!!!

When I got back into collecting for the third time in the 2000s, I wanted the HR leaders card with Maris from the famous 61 Season. I snagged that at a local show to add to my Mick collection.

"Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don't, then you are wasting your time on Earth.” -Roberto Clemente

Today all of Major League Baseball celebrates the legend of Roberto Clemente on September 15th. This annual event also marks the start of Hispanic Heritage Month. However, Roberto was also celebrated by the city of Pittsburgh during his lifetime.

On July 24, 1970, the Pirates hosted Roberto Clemente Night at the brand new Three Rivers Stadium. This event was planned as an opportunity to give Clemente and his family awards and gifts. At Roberto's request, it was also a way for fans to make donations to the Childrens' Hospital of Pittsburgh.

This is the SABR write-up for Clemente Night.

https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/july-24-1970-roberto-clementes-defense-stands-out-on-his-night-in-pittsburgh/

Today, I'm posting photos of an original program from the evening and a poster that was given to celebrate the day. To the best of my research, there were three versions of this poster.

1. with a printed Clemente autograph

2. with a genuine Clemente autograph

3. with a Phil Dorsey signed Clemente autograph

My poster has version 3, the Dorsey version of the Clemente signature.

I've made a previous post sharing one of the coolest things that I own in my Clemente collection. An original award presented on the field to Roberto during the ceremony in his honor. Please also give that post a read.

https://www.reddit.com/r/baseballcards\_vintage/s/ULOygUdyO4

This is another interesting SABR article about Clemente. This article is well worth your time.

https://sabr.org/journal/article/roberto-clemente-baseball-rebel/

Enjoy.

I loved these cards when I was a kid. These were made by Laughlin and distributed by Fleer. The blue back cards were released in 1970 and the black back cards were released in 1971. The cards with stickers on the back were released around 1980. I bought packs of the 1980 release as a child.

These are the cards from the Pirates five World Series championships.

This is an interesting read about the Fleer/Laughlin collaboration.

https://sportscollectorsdigest.com/cards/fleer-world-series-cards

Enjoy my cards.

Recently found these in my old collection. About 15-20 years ago, I had better taste than I gave myself credit. Sadly, I know more about Mr. Kiner from seeing Kiner's Korner clips on YouTube than I know about him from his playing days.

The Leaf card is the oldest in my collection. It isn't as sweet as the ones that u/TheObviousAnswerls42 posts with regularly, but it is mine. Is it one of the infamous SP from that series? I don't know and to me, doesn't matter. Having this card now makes me want to pair his Bowman RC for my OCD collection. In due time.

I've always liked the 1953 Topps Kiner. I've recently been bidding on a few. Finding this one in a box that hadn't been opened in years was a great surprise.

Enjoy.

On this day in 1970, Three Rivers Stadium opened in Pittsburgh, PA. The Pirates debuted a new, more streamlined uniform, including a one piece top, for the opening game. The Reds beat Dock Ellis and the Pirates 3-2 to spoil the opening. Tony Perez hit the first Home Run and an inning later, Willie Stargell hit the first Pirates HR.

https://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=197007160PIT

On October 1, 2000, the Pirates played their final game at Three Rivers Stadium. The Cubs beat them 10-9.

Shown are the first and last game tickets.

Enjoy.

I was recently going through a forgotten part of my collection and I found a few Kelloggs one-card packs that I had stashed.

The package material is semi-transparent and you can obviously see who is packaged inside the wrapper. Can you just imagine pulling these from a box of Corn Flakes as a child?

PSA does grade and slab these packs. However, you need to submit them as unopened packs, not a regular card submission. Because of this, PSA does not recognize these on their Master set registries.

This is not a modern A&G card and it is not the 'post it, rip it' sub. No, I won't. It remains a sealed pack.

Thanks for looking.

A little over a year ago, I bought my first Al Oliver/Richie Hebner rookie card. The card showed up a couple of days before Oliver was announced as a 2026 Pirates Hall of Fame inductee. That card was the topic of my first Reddit post. Since then I've kept collecting this card. Last week, my O-Pee-Chee version returned from PSA and I was quite happy with the grade. I had some time this morning to put them all together for a family photo.

I have an extra O-Pee-Chee RC. Thinking of crossing my fingers, holding my breath and trying the TTM route.

Several great additions to multiple PSA master sets. I'm told that the brown borders on the 1972 OPC Rutherford are really tough and to be proud of receiving an 8. I'm over the moon with the 1977 Parker receiving a PSA 9. The OPC RCs of Tekulve and Oliver/Hebner are seldom seen in the PSA database. There are only 7 total Tekulve and 28 total Oliver/Hebner graded by PSA. The blue line 1962 Post Cereal Clemente is a tough card to find. There are only 95 total graded by PSA.

All six cards are 2026 ebay purchases (raw).

Enjoy!