Dick "Turk" Farrell: Houston's 1st All-Star

I received several new signed cards yesterday, but I'll hold off posting those for now. Instead, I wanted to show a card that I already had. I was putting some cards I recently bought into my binders. I picked up some Bob Gibson and Larry Dierker rookies, Rusty Staub cards, and a few others from '67-67. As I was looking at my 1966 cards I noticed that I had two Dick Farrell cards. I noticed that the second card was signed. Now, I don' remember if I realized that when I bought a huge lot of older Colt .45s and Astros cards about 10 years ago that this card was signed or if I overlooked it and stored it away.

Turk was killed in a car wreck in 1977 in England. Sending Turk a card TTM is impossible, and I really wanted his sig. Looks like I might have it.

Turk was quite the practical jokester; he once slipped a baby alligator into a whirlpool at the Colts' clubhouse.

Dickie Thon

Considered at one time a possible Hall of Famer, a ball to the head resulted in an injury that shortened his career.

It appears Dickie is working on a mullet in this photo. Also, I don't believe I've ever seen this particular '84 Fleer that was centered.

Art Howe, part two

I stated in my previous post that I met Art...but I was not 100% sure. I went through my autograph album tonight and found proof that I did. Which proves that I'm not losing my mind, I just think I am.

Art Howe

I don't remember how I got this '90 Topps signed. I might have mailed it to Art about 5 years ago; then again, I could have had it signed when I met him in either '91 or '92.

I've always thought that this card looked nice signed...almost like a promo shot or something.

I've always liked this set for some strange reason. I guess it's because it's the first year I started collecting seriously. I bought some cards (or had them bought for me) in 1978 through 1982. I stopped collecting until '90 and bought a couple thousand from Topps
that year while trying to put together a hand collated set. A worthless set but one that has a lot of sentimental meaning. But isn't that what collecting should be about?

I bought new cards!

I bought some new cards today. Well, they may not be new being that they were released in 2008 but these were the first packs of cards that I have bought since about 1993. Wow...hard to believe that it has been around 16 years since I have bought and opened a pack of cards. I've been buying Astros cards in bulk the past 10 or 11 years (well, there was a huge gap during most of that time). I bought about 3,000 in 1999-2000 and about 7,000 during the past three months; yeah, I'm trying to catch up for lost time.

I went to Target today to see what was in stock. I bought one of those 2008 Topps Series One 5-pack boxes that normally sell for $9.99 for just $4.99. I decided that since I was in town I would stop in at K-Mart and see what they had. I picked up a 10-pack 2008 Upper Deck First Edition Update for $5.99 which normally sells for $5.99.

The first Topps pack I opened had a #40 Miguel Tejada card right on top. I was happy, not just because this was a card that I needed but I thought my luck was running good. Well, it turns out to be the only 'Stros in the box.

I turned to the Upper Deck box and started ripping packs open. Out of 100 cards from that box I pulled out three Houston cards: #367 Lance Berkman, #368 Miguel Tejada, and #370 Michael Bourn. I have no 2008 UD cards in my collection so all will be kept.

Four cards out of 150. Not very impressive, but it was fun to open packs again. I just wish they were the same price they were back when I was still buying a pack (50 cents, I believe).

Hal Lanier

I sent Hal a few cards about a month ago and got 'em back today. I really like the '88 Topps; it's a very nice portrait shot and the sig adds a lot to it.

He appears to be in deep thought here. I wonder what he's thinking about. "Should I pull Deshaies out and put in someone else?" --or--"I sure would like a taco. Yep, a taco would really hit the spot right about now." I guess we'll never know.



I can't say much for the '87 (looks grainy and slightly out of focus to me).



I sent Hal duplicates of each card in case he wanted to keep one for himself (I do this every time I send off for sigs; I'm not that generous...I just have a lot of extras that I need to get rid of). Hal signed all four cards and sent them back. I'd be glad to trade them for any Astros/Colts player that I do not have.

Fred Gladding, aka "Freddy Flintstone"

1973 Topps #17



For some strange reason I really like this card. I don't usually go for posed shots of players, preferring live action shots by far, but there's something about this picture that says something to me.

I like the background more than anything, I guess. The different colored seating sections/levels always looked pretty cool to me. On closer inspection it appears that a guy on the the left is trying to touch Fred under his armpit? Or is that just a group of folks hoping for a signature? And what about the cop on the right? Do you ever think they appreciate the fact that they get to stand around on the field and mingle with players while getting paid to watch games for free? Man, they should let probation officers get in on that gig!

Here's another Gladding card, the 1970 Topps #208. By the way, Mr. Gladding led the NL in saves in '69. Not too shabby!



I love this 1970 set. I've got about half of the '70 set completed so far....not all in mint condition but close enough for me. I was born in '70 and I'm not in mint condition anymore, either. Hell, I'd settle for a grading of VG+ these days!

Sent off TTM on 10/5/99; received 10/20/99