CA: 1990 Topps Career Batting Leaders Keith Hernandez

(I have to watch four MLB -Playoff games yesterday – College Football, what is that? – And I have to say that I was pretty satisfied with the results across the board. No chance that that will continue, I think, anyway, the Blue Jays do their part. Let’s continue with cardboard valuation. This is the 357 in a series):

It always contains four rows of cards, which I think you would call a dollar box. Most cards are a dollar, although you will find more and some are less. It is a bit overwhelmed by football and basketball, so I don’t expect much when I am there (there is a glass cupboard with larger cards – where I have found the clement – but these are usually Yankees or signatures or otherwise uninteresting for me).

This time I found even less than normal. I pulled a Clayton Kershaw UK card from 2022. But I came home to realize that I already had it. I have found a Mets card that I have never seen before. That is reserved for a trading partner. And I drew this Keith Hernandez card. I immediately knew what it was.

So yes, Keith Hernandez as a Cleveland Indian for a dollar. Gimme.

Hernandez still looks strange as an Indian of Cleveland. He only played 43 games for them, but still has about a dozen different cards of his Cleveland days, thanks to how many cards were produced at the time. I am sure there are a number of collectors who first consider Hernandez as an Indian, which makes me extremely sad for them.

But yes, I thought this was a nice find. But it was located on that visit by something else that I brought home.

I am not about to become an audiophile. It’s too expensive and I don’t have the room – cards, you know.

But old records fascinate me, especially those from the seventies.

My album purchases were usually from 1980-85, and almost everything I bought were albums that were out in those years (probably Elo is the only exception). I didn’t care for it before that time – that was old things for me. Then Tapes and CDs took over and I bought tires and CDs. Then there was CD burning and mp3 players and streaming and, look, albums are back.

A few years ago I got a record player – only a small one. And I bought a few records here and there. And then there were several places with large stock of old records at this flea market. Usually when you find old discount records in places like this, you get what you pay for – painful compilations, “The hits as sung by …” records, country singers that you have never heard of, etc. But this was good things – albums from the 70s usually.

I consider rock albums from the 70s as the peak of record production. I am sure that jazz or heavy metal fans have a better argument, but I didn’t grow up with that. I heard every day of my life on the radio from the 70s on the radio – which is now called “Classic Rock” – but at that time the songs of Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Boston, etc. were only 3, 5 years old. There is something about the production of those albums from the 70s – the sound that nothing that has been made since then can replicate.

There was no Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith or Steely than in those rows and rows of records. But that’s okay. What I brought home is exciting enough:

1. Linda Ronstadt’s “Heart Like a Wheel”, the album with “You’re No Good” and “When Will I Be Loved”. I have a few Ronstadt LPS, but this one is probably her biggest.

2. Boz scaggs ‘Silk Degrees’, with ‘Lowdown’ and ‘Lido Shuffle’. I have always had only the hits of scaggs, so it’s cool to see what else is.

3. James Gang’s “Thirds”. The last James Gang -album with Joe Walsh. The album with “Walk Away” on it. I love country rock from the 70s.

4. “Eve” by Alan Parsons Project. I bought various app albums in the early 80s and then cassettes and CDs. But I missed some of the early. I’ve heard about this album for a long time.

Getting such albums – which in my mind were so large, was that much bigger than every album from the 80s on the record board – and with a discount is no less a huge Giller. The covers can be beaten up a bit (they look like some of my albums from the 80s that I bought as a teenager), but they sound great. That is always a risk when you buy old records and another reason is why I will not do this regularly.

So for this flea market trip was the coolest that I received no tickets. I know this is a card blog, but I always enjoy the Fuji flea market, and he shows everything he has, whether it is cards or not. I am not as interested in as many things as he is. But if I ever do one of my own “flea market finds” messages, you can be sure that a music purchase is involved.

Records of trade cards, 4-3 for this flea market visit.