Old Phillies Baseball Cards and a Quilt Too! (#SBWTMABCTJ)

1949 Bowman #76

1949 Bowman #142

1951 Berk Ross #1-9

She did it again.

Before Christmas, my Ten Most Wanted - Vintage list on the sidebar looked like this:

Thanks to my Mom, and a now seven-year tradition, nine of those ten cards have been removed from my want lists and an updated Ten Most Wanted - Vintage list is needed.  On the day after Christmas, we visited my Mom's house so that her grandkids and kids could each open their stockings, unwrap their way too many thoughtful gifts and so that I could once again experience the annual phenomenon now known as Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim (SBWTMABCTJ, for short).

I don't remember a Christmas when I didn't receive one or two or dozens of amazing baseball cards from Santa.  Be it a card I needed to complete my 1975 Topps set (#638 Cubs Team Card) or a pricey card needed for the 1956 Topps set, I've always had the pleasure of adding great cards to my collection every Christmas.  This year was no different.

Presented here in chronological order are the cards I crossed off my list thanks to my Mom.

1949 Bowman #76 Bill Nicholson
1949 Bowman #142 Eddie Waitkus
Appearing in Cubs uniforms, both of these cards are technically Phillies cards.  The backs of both cards list the Phillies as the team designation, as Nicholson was acquired from the Cubs on October 4, 1948, and Waitkus was acquired a few months later on December 14th.  I now need six cards to complete the 1949 Bowman team set, including the rookie cards of Richie Ashburn and Robin Roberts.

1951 Berk Ross #1-9 Richie Ashburn
Speaking of Ashburn . . . This 1951 Berk Ross card came encased in a PSA graded slab but it's now been freed.  No offense to the other cards I received, but this may be my favorite of the lot.

1953 Bowman Color #113

1953 Bowman Color #131

1953 Bowman Color #113 Karl Drews
1953 Bowman Color #131 Connie Ryan
With the addition of these two cards, I'm now just one card away from a complete 1953 Bowman Color Phillies team set (#158 Howie Fox).  When I'm one day rich and famous, it would be tough to decide whether to collect this complete set or the complete 1955 Bowman set.  These cards are gorgeous.

1959 Topps #31 Ken Lehman
1959 Topps #352 Robin Roberts
These are the last two cards I needed to complete the 1959 Topps Phillies team set.  Together in nine-pocket pages, the team set looks incredible and I may need to feature all the cards in a gallery in a future post.

1961 Topps Topps #569 Frank Herrera AS
1962 Topps #534 Tony Gonzalez
Jumping ahead to the 1960s, I'm inching closer to complete Phillies team sets from 1961 and 1962 Topps.  These two high numbered cards have been difficult for me to find, but by Mom was able to track them both down.

1959 Topps #31

1959 Topps #352

1961 Topps #569

1962 Topps #534

2011 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim

Part 1 - Continuing a Tradition

Part 2 - 1971 Topps Set - 13 More Down

Part 3 - 1952 Topps Phillies

Part 4 - 1951 Bowman Phillies

Part 5 - Curt Simmons - Two New Bowman Cards

Part 6 - 1955 Bowman and Topps Phillies

2012 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Part 1 - 1941 Double Play Litwhiler & May
Part 2 - 1963 Topps John Herrnstein rookie card (featuring Willie Stargell)
Part 3 - 1940 Play Ball Phillies - Part 1
Part 4 - 1940 Play Ball Phillies - Part 2
Part 5 - 1950 Bowman Del Ennis

2013 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Part 1 - 1998 Upper Deck Scott Rolen
Part 2 - 1968 Topps Phillies Team Card
Part 3 - 1966 Topps Bob Uecker
Part 4 - 1955 Bowman Robin Roberts
Part 5 - 1965 Topps Johnny Callison
Part 6 - 1954 Bowman Richie Ashburn

2014 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Part 1 - 1952 Bowman and 1953 Bowman Color Richie Ashburn
Part 2 - 1950 Bowman Roberts, 1951 Topps Blue Backs Jones, 1955 Bowman Wyrostek
Part 3 - 1995 Collector's Choice Hayes and 1999 Fleer Mystique Burrell

2015 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Seven Phillies Cards from the 1950s Crossed Off the List

2016 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Part 1 - 10 vintage Phillies cards added to the collection
Part 2 - 2 modern oddball Phillies cards find a new home

2017 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Vintage cards crossed off the list, 1959 Topps Phillies team set completed!

Before ending this post, the post title promised a quilt as part of my annual Christmas summary.  Gathering old t-shirts and baseball uniforms, my Mom had a large quilt made that perfectly captures my formative years.  I hadn't seen some of these shirts in over 30 years, and I had no idea she had kept them.  The resulting quilt is a nostalgic reminder of my youth and a perfect gift.  (My sister got one too, featuring t-shirts from the many local and school plays in which she had appeared.)

If you're interested, and I can highly recommend them, please check out Keepsake Theme Quilts here.