#314 Roy Campanella

 

#314 Roy Campanella
Progress: 1st of this card
310 of 407  76.2% complete
How acquired: Sent as an extremely generous gift from a reader
Condition: Poor

This Campanella was sent to me by a reader of this blog, who only asked for a few '73 Topps set build needs in return.  I'm a little blown away by the gesture.  It's also my first high number card from this set, even if you can't tell just by looking at it, due to the three in "314" no longer being visible on the back.  I'd be lying if I said I don't get a little bit of an extra thrill from having a high number in hand.  So a huge thank you to the individual who sent it.  I have been embarrassingly slow in getting out a package of '73 Topps to him, really a trivial return for a card like this, but still have a mounting stack that will eventually find their way into a mailbox.

I don't think "Campy," needs much of an introduction.  On the short list when it comes to the subject of "Greatest Catcher of All-Time," the three time MVP helped lead the Brooklyn Dodgers to five NL Pennants and a World Series title before having his career cut short by a tragic automobile accident.  While his career is pretty well documented, I was somewhat surprised to see that in his lone pitching appearance in the Negro League, Campanella threw a complete game and picked up a win.  Also worth noting for it's absurdity, "Campy" wasn't let into Cooperstown until his 7th year on the ballot.  Even when he finally was inducted along with Stan Musial in 1969, he barely squeaked in with just 79.4% of the vote.  That remains a blackeye for the BBWAA as far as I'm concerned.

I haven't posted anything new on this blog since April of 2018.  I am sitting on one more new addition, and it's a big one, but I've just been unsure how I want to post it, and what to do next as far as future post.  I hadn't intended to pursue the high numbers in this set orignally.  But two things have happened.  One, the low end high numbers in this set have dropped in price significantly over the last two years.  For a long time they never showed up for under a $100, no matter how beat up they were.  Now they're routinely going in the $40-60 range, which is still obscene, but I may be able to swing 2 or 3 a year.  And two, on the other end of my set building, 1970's high numbers have been going up in price.  While $40-60 for a single card isn't really something I can stomach, $5-10 a card for common '72 high numbers can also add up fast.  So I'm not sure which direction I'll go.  A third option is to focus on 1953 Topps (an effort I also have blog for, that despite a huge backlog of new pick-ups, hasn't been updated in over a year).  I'll probably just go scatter shot and not finish anything off.


Stats: 10 seasons, 3x NL MVP, 8x All-Star, 5x NL Pennants, 1954 World Series Ring

Inducted into The Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969