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Bert Blyleven (and Improved Scans!)

 

Bert Blyleven (Rik Aalbert Blijleven) was born in Zeist, Holland, on April 6, 1951. Blyleven, who pitched from 1970 to 1992, was a renowned curveball pitcher. He was a two-time All-Star and World Series champion.

“It (his curveball) was nasty, I'll tell you that,” said Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson. “Enough to make your knees buckle. Bert (Blyleven) was a terrific pitcher – a dominating pitcher.” 

That's pretty high praise!

Improved scans! 

In some posts I'll place several cards on the scanner and then individually crop each one. I'm cool with that for a dozen or so cards. But for larger collections that's too time-consuming. In this post, you'll see some blue construction paper in the background which was placed there because scanner was frequently cutting borders off of some cards. I think the scanner lid white background confuses the, um, scanner (?). This seems to help.

2011 National Baseball Hall of Fame Postcard.

Top: 1971 O Pee Chee, Card #26; 1972/3 APBA Game Card; and 1973 Topps, Card #199.
Middle: 1974 Topps, Card #98; 1975 Topps, Card #30; and 1978 Topps, Card #131.
Bottom: 1980 Topps, Card #457; 1981 Donruss, Card #135; and 1980 Topps, Card #554.

Yep, that '71 OPC has a pen ink circle on it. I must have done that as a kid, and now I have no idea why - sheesh.

Top: 1982 Donruss, Card #111; 1982 Fleer, Card #361; and 1982 Topps, Card #685.
Middle: 1983 Topps, Card #280; 1984 Donruss, Card #129; and 1984 Fleer, Card #536.
Bottom: 1984 Topps, Card #789; 1986 Topps, Card #445; and 1987 Donruss, Card #71.

Top: 1987 Fleer, Card #536; 1987 Fleer Award Winner, Card #3 of 44; and 1987 Topps, Card #25.
Middle: 1988 Donruss, Card #71; 1988 Leaf, Card #52; and 1988 Fleer, Card #4.
Bottom: 1988 Topps, Card #295; 1988 Score, Card #90; and 1989 Donruss, Card #119.

Top: 1989 Fleer Update, Card #U-12; 1989 Topps, Card #555; and 1989 Tops Traded, Card #11T.
Middle: 1990 Fleer, Card #128; 1990 Topps, Card #130; and 1993 Fleer, Card #568.
Bottom: 1993 Topps, Card #48; and 2011 Topps Lineage, Card #190.

1984 Donruss Champions, Card #42.

My favorite card from this collection: 1975 Topps (I think I know someone else who likes to see a player blowing a bubble  😊). The '75 sets were released the 5th year I was collecting, and as my interests were changing, they didn't really excite me at the time; However, I have since grown to really like them. The 1982 Fleer, 1984 Donruss, and 1984 Donruss Champions are a close second. 

What's your favorite? 

Be well!

CinciCuse Bill

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Comments

  1. FujiDecember 13, 2020 at 12:54 AM

    The 1975 Topps bubble card is nice. I also like the 83 and 89 Topps cards with the well cropped action shots. As for the scanner... I'd like to buy a new (and faster) scanner... but I don't want to spend six months figuring it out like the last time I bought a new scanner.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ChrisDecember 13, 2020 at 11:13 AM

    Nice collection! I can tell why the '75 Blyleven is popular but I like the '73. I have a '82 Topps but it's not as nice as yours. I think I have an Archives Bert in the '82 design as well.

    My scanner is at least ten years old and I fight with it often.

    ReplyDelete
  3. CinciCuse BillDecember 13, 2020 at 1:30 PM

    Fuji and Chris, scanning technology is amazing and I probably wouldn’t be blogging without it. Although I need to look into the iPhone scan option a little more deeply. But man, they can be a pain in the arse!

    ReplyDelete
  4. JonDecember 14, 2020 at 8:40 AM

    Holland? Huh, learn something new every day :)

    ReplyDelete

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