on June 18th, 2009 by Captain Canuck
Posted in Waxaholic
Comments Off
on June 18th, 2009 by chrisolds
Posted in Beckett Blog
Comments Off
on June 18th, 2009 by T.S.
I used to have a job where the whole year’s work would distill down to
the results of a four-day stretch in the middle of August and a week-long period in
February. Fifty weeks of work all directed toward the doings that would take place
in 11 days.
That was when I was public relations coordinator for the Empire State
Games in New York, and the 11 days, of course, were those involving the four days
of the summer games in Syracuse and the week’s worth of the winter festivities in
February in Lake Placid. For a guy who had worked primarily at a daily newspaper where
you were expected to come up with tangible results literally every work day, gearing
my efforts for two brief periods each year was a major change in the workday strategy.
(Shown is original artwork of Walter Johnson by acclaimed artist Darryl
Vlasak, one of three striking pieces he has consigned to the sale.)
I mention this because we find ourselves this morning in a similar kind of situation
with the closing of our first auction sometime this evening, or even better, sometime
early tomorrow morning. I know that the pressures of business put considerable demands
in terms of revenue generation and all that good stuff, but I find myself more taken
with the inner workings of the auction business, which I have always found fascinating.
I have always had enormous respect for the people who do auctions for
a living – much as I do for card and memorabilia dealers – because I have a real feeling
for how much is actually involved in doing all of those things successfully. Our sortie
into the auction arena has only increased those feelings.
In the same vein, the move into auctions also reminded me of something
else from another point in my journalism career, maybe 20 years ago. I had been the
editor of a weekly newspaper in Delaware for several years and was, for lack of a
better expression, getting pretty burned out on the job. And out of the blue, we started
developing our own black-and-white photography for the newspaper, and the process
of adding that new skill and chance for creative new tinkering promptly revitalized
me for a couple of more years.
And no, I am not suggesting I am burned out as editor of Sports Collectors
Digest, but merely noting that finding new avenues to learn and grown is important
even in a job where the creative opportunities ought to be virtually unlimited.
I had a lot of fun helping to write up the auction descriptions and I
hope to have a bit of fun this evening manning the telephones. There’s some really
cool stuff in this auction, and I’d like nothing better than to be running back and
forth from the vault to the telephone to describe the centering or corners on this
or that baseball card.
I always really enjoyed the electricity that surrounded some of the early
auctions I covered for SCD, and I’m hoping we’ll re-create some of that energy
tonite.
Because of the demands on getting SCD out the door on Friday morning,
I probably won’t be able to do any blogging about the auction until the weekend or
Monday morning. In the meantime, check it out by clicking on the auction button on
the home page.
And call me tonite if you have questions. As they say, operators will
be standing by.
Continue reading about With auction closing looming, this is exciting time … »
Posted in Infield Dirt
Comments Off
on June 18th, 2009 by chemgod
It’s hard to call last year’s fourth overall pick in the MLB draft a rough on the diamond, but he is afterall in the Baltimore Orioles farm system. Brian was drafted out of the University of San Diego last year after playing there for three seasons. His sophomore season he went 10-3/2.85/1.10 with 163 strikeouts [...]
Continue reading about Rough on the Diamond – Brian Matusz »
Posted in Bad Wax
Comments Off
on June 18th, 2009 by MMayes
Bill Freehan Bill was one of the AL’s best catchers in the era between Yogi Berra/Elston Howard and Thurman Munson/Carlton Fisk. He was good for a 20, 70, .265 season every year. He made 10 straight All-Star games (11 overall) and won 5 Gold Gloves. I …
Continue reading about #120 — Bill Freehan »
Tags:
catcher,
tigers
Posted in Baseball Cards
Comments Off
on June 18th, 2009 by 30-Year Old Cardboard
Lou Brock turns 70 years old today.
A classic player that has no equals in today’s game, Lou Brock was a player of extraordinary talents. A man that could run like the wind and hit like a machine, Brock was a baseball stud during his 19-season career.
With 5 top-10 finishes for the MVP award, Brock solidified himself [...]
Continue reading about Happy Birthday Lou Brock!!! »
Posted in 30 Year Old Cardboard
Comments Off
on June 18th, 2009 by Dan
Posted in OMGAutos
Comments Off
on June 18th, 2009 by chemgod
Name: BJ Wallace
Position: P
Team Drafted By: Montreal Expos
Draft Year / Draft Position: 1992 / 3rd pick
Signing Bonus: $550,000
The Hype: Flame thrower out of Mississippi State University, who struck out 271 batters in 269 innings in his college career. Played on the 1992 Olympic Baseball team for USA and struck out 14 batters in one game [...]
Continue reading about First Round Flops – BJ Wallace »
Posted in Bad Wax
Comments Off
