This card was part of a set of postcard-sized cards issued at every Friday home game throughout the 1983 season as part of "Nostalgia Nights" sponsored by Girard. Fans attending Friday home games received a postcard from the Greatest Moments set and a postcard from the Greatest Players set. In total, there are 26 postcards in both sets along with two header cards.
I must have attended a few Friday games that season, or at least my Dad or my Pop-Pop did, as I had several of these postcards (in their original Gerard envelopes) already in my collection. I've been adding cards I need from the set one at a time over the past decade, and I have very rarely seen complete sets available for sale.
The Ennis/Sisler card is part of the Great Moments set, celebrating the team's National League pennant in 1950. It's a cool card on its own, but the thing that clinched it for me that I absolutely had to have this very card was what was on the card's back. Both Ennis and Sisler have clearly signed the back of the card in easy to read black pen. Both men have since left us, with Ennis passing away in 1996 and Sisler following two years later in 1998. I'd love to know how the original owner of this card tracked down both signatures. Were both Ennis and Sisler at the same signing event somewhere? Or did the original owner procure one signature at some point in the mid-80s and then have to wait several years before getting the second signature?
One thing is for certain: This is now one of the most treasured cards in my Phillies collection and I know for certain that my Dad would have loved this card too.
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That is a great card. I cam across it on eBay and thought, "Why'd the guy have it signed on the back?" The seller had a bunch of others as well, all signed on the back. The whole set does show up on eBay (unsigned) several times a year, and it's generally a much better deal bidding on one of those than on the cards piecemeal, and I see from your wantlist, you do have a lot you still need.
ReplyDeleteThere's also a binder that they fit into nicely--that may have been a mail-away item that year. Anyway, I bought a set signed by about 15 of the players for $100 around 2005, and I've been trying to get the remaining players who are still alive to sign it--although I'm not all that interested in paying $65 for a Schmidt autograph! But I have added several over the years--Maddox, Bunning, Luzinski, Bowa, maybe a few more. It's a nice item to get signed.
Good luck with the rest of yours! I'll dig through my collection and see whether I can help you on your wantlist.
I'll admit I haven't been very diligent in trying to track down the complete set. I think to look for it every once in a while, but I've never gone ahead and saved it within my saved searches on eBay.
ReplyDeleteI vaguely remember the binder. Maybe there was an ad for it in the Phillies Magazines that year? I'll get there one day!
Jim,
ReplyDeleteDo you have the shortstops card (Bowa, Wine, Amaro, etc)?
Here's a link to a complete set (without the binder) that sold a few weeks ago for $36, including postage:
ReplyDeletehttp://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&item=120900064377
Here's a link to the binder that sold for $10.51, postage included:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1983-Phillies-100th-Anniversary-Dick-Perez-Art-Postcard-Display-Folder-/260999026743
Combined that's probably about the right price that the whole set sells for, in the $40 to $50 range.
I think maybe the binder was available through a mail order offer that was on an insert in each envelope--or maybe it was the whole set in the binder. And I'm sure Phillies Report had ads for it as well. I wish that publication would come back!
Jim - Nope, I don't have that one yet.
ReplyDeleteSteve - Thanks for the info. I'll definitely need to pick up one of those binders at some point too!