General Forum

I am now tied for 10th place on TCDB for Elston Howard! 
 

I have a transaction in the works for his Bowman rookie that will put me in sole place, soon.

Back in the early 90's When I really started collecting I had his 1964 Topps #100 in my cards, I was never sure how I got it, it might have been from my dad when he was a kid but he said he didn't recognize it. I found another of his and made an effort to try and pick up his vintage cards whenever I saw them. He took over for Yogi Berra and the Yankees were in a great era.

Howard had a great career :

12 All-Star teams,

6 World Series winners,

2 Golden Gloves,

1963 AL MVP.

and his #32 is Retired in Monumemt Park. 

Why he is not in the Hall of Fame is a mystery to me. Fun fact- he invented the weighted donut players use while warming up in the on-deck circle!

Shameless plug but feel free to send me trade offers for any of his cards on my want list! Especially looking for cards from while he was an active player.

Howard isn't in the HOF for the same reason that Freehan isn't . They simply get overlooked because they don't have the gaudy stats that the Berra's / Campanella's etc of the catching world have .

I just picked up a 1955 Bowman of Elston Howard for my display of the first black player on every team. So now I have... two (?-- look at that, I actually have seven!) Howards. I'm guessing that doesn't put high on the list. 
Right on the edge of the Hall of Fame. Might get in someday. 
v3

Congrats from #36!

Add Smokey Burgess too.   Check out his stats.  As a kid in the 50s and 60s,  I thought he was simply a journeyman catcher.   His stats for a catcher are pretty amazing, especially for someone with the proverbial catcher's build

It’s kinda funny, when I started collecting his cards, the checklist I compiled was 19 cards. That was the total number of cards I had found between Tuff Stuff and Beckett and the occasional glance at the Baseball Card Encyclopedia. Those were pretty much just Bowman and Topps. It was 1991, and I was limited to what I would find at local card stores in Miami which was not much! The internet had better things to do than compile Trading Card Databases. There were some of the original message boards and some local shows that were essentially monthly meet ups for dealers to sell cases of 1989 Upper Deck and the big shake ups were 1991 Topps Stadium Club and 1992 Fleer Rookie Sensations. Vintage was there but the era of over production was in full swing. So table space was not given to stuff like Post Cerial issues. The commin refrain when asked about any Elston Howard was met with "I got some in storage, stop by next month" and of course when I did stop by next month they had a couple of the same 4 or 5 that I already had. eBay opened up a whole new way to get them and since starting here last October I have been made aware of 500+ of his "cards" stuff like team issued pictures and promotional items and new issues every year. Like most Hall of Fame players he has hundreds more cards issued of him after his playing days were over than while he was playing. 

Yes, I only have 35 or so cards of his but it feels like so much more as I learn about him, his career, and his impact on the Yankees and Baseball on the whole. He was the first black player for the Yankees, a time and situation that would probably make most people crack under pressure and scrutiny. The baseball field that sits where the original Yankee Stadium was and is across the street from the new stadium is named in his honor, not Ruth, not Mantle, not DiMaggio, not Maris. He should be in the Hall of Fame along side them. 

Big thanks to Ora and Dave Rizk for a couple Elston cards so I am now alone in 10th but always looking to move up!

Thanks!

Congrats!!! It does feel good when you move up the list on players you collect. i recently got to #2 on the Wes Chamberlain list. 

OraInPA sent me an 86’ Boston Globe card for free. They were right in thinking there weren’t many cards of him in a Red Sox uniform. His last card while a player was in a Red Sox uniform. He kinda has a scowl instead of the smile he had in his Yankees cards! His next card was as an assistant coach  in 1973 back with the Yankees so yes him in a Red Sox uniform is kinda rare. Many thanks again!