Former White Sox pitcher Bob Shaw passed away this past Thursday.  I am deeply saddened by this news.  I had the good fortune of meeting Mr. Shaw on several occasions.  He was kind, warm, and engaging.  He was quick was to strike up a conversation about baseball, a topic that clearly meant the world to him.

He is probably best known for his masterpiece against the Dodgers in game 5 of the 1959 World Series.  92,706 fans were in attendance to see Bob Shaw face the unenviable task of matching up against Sandy Koufax.  Koufax was masterful, allowing only a single run in seven innings.  Shaw was even better, hurling 7.1 shutout innings.

Mr. Shaw was at Soxfest in 2009.  My wife looked at some of my cards and photos, and commented to me that she thought he was a very good looking man.  When we met him during his scheduled autograph signing, I relayed this bit of information to him.  He gave a warm smile and replied "That was a long time ago". 

RIP Mr. Shaw, you will truly be missed.

I have just added 53 names to the retired player address database.  This brings the total to 173 players listed, with more still to come!

Retired Player Addresses

I have finally added a section containing mailing addresses for retired White Sox players.  Right now, it only contains 121 addresses.  Every single one of these addresses is confirmed as a working address.

I will be adding many more addresses in the weeks to come, as well as updating existing addresses as needed.

Enjoy!

Retired Player Addresses

The latest addition to Project Rookie Card is this beauty from 2003 AL Cy Young runner-up Esteban Loaiza.  As you can see, it features a rookie-era signature from Mr. Loaiza.

Doug Keating of Cardboard Promotions held a public signing with Wilbur Wood over Labor Day weekend.  I sent in nine cards for the signing.  All nine turned out great.  Here are two of my favorites.

Today I received the 50/50 results from my other International League trader, Kevin (justcrazy from SG).  Derek, whom I mentioned in my previous post, and Kevin are friends that graph the Norfolk Tides together.  All the praise I heaped on Derek in my previous post would apply to Kevin as well.  They both help me out a lot when the Charlotte Knights are in town.  Here is the bounty I received today from Kevin.

Justin Cassel - 6 cards
Javier Castillo - 2 cards
Chris Chambliss - 1 card
Fernando Cortez - 1 card
Jordan Danks - 9 cards (like Derek, he also got one of the cards signed by Kyle Russell)
Richard Dotson - 19 cards
Tyler Flowers - 4 cards
Stefan Gartrell - 11 cards
Lucas Harrell - 7 cards
Robert Hudson - 2 cards
Josh Kroeger - 2 cards
Brent Lillibridge - 2 cards
Donny Lucy - 6 cards
Jeff Marquez - 10 cards
Kyle McCulloch - 10 cards
Brent Morel - 10 cards
Jhonny Nunez - 4 cards
Clevelan Santeliz - 3 cards
Carlos Torres - 2 cards
Dayan Viciedo - 3 cards
Gary Ward - 1 card
Wes Whisler - 1 card
Matt Zaleski - 1 card


That's quite a haul, thanks Kev!

Yesterday I received the results from another Charlotte Knights 50/50 with Derek (scoreset) from SportsGraphing.com.  Derek is one of my favorite people to work with, as he takes good care of my cards, and usually gets a majority of the cards signed.  This time was no exception.  Thanks Derek!

Jordan Danks - 4 cards (also got one of the cards signed by Kyle Russell)
Richard Dotson - 2 cards
Tyler Flowers - 1 card
Stefan Gartrell - 4 cards
Donny Lucy - 3 cards
Jeff Marquez - 2 cards
Kyle McCulloch - 2 cards
Brent Morel - 1 card

I received my 1998 Upper Deck card back from Chris Rifon's private signing with Ruben Sierra.  I have worked with Chris many times, mostly on 50/50s for the Atlantic League.  As expected, the card turned out great.  Thanks Chris!

I have spent a lot of time recently revamping the team set checklist section of the site.  Previously, the checklists were very plain... Let's face it, they were ugly!

I think the new template I'm using is a lot easier on the eyes.  Also, every checklist also has an image of one of the cards, for reference.  For certain sets, there will be a more advanced checklist which includes an image of every card.

I'm still adding checklists, so it isn't 100% complete.  However, there are a LOT of new ones that have been added.  You can browse by year or by brand.  Here are links to a few examples:

Sorted by year

Sorted by brand

Basic checklist template (2003 Topps Heritage)

Advanced checklist template (1993 Upper Deck)

There is a link to the Team Set Checklists section on the left side of the front page.  It can also be found by clicking the "Misc" button on the banner at the top of every page.

The next thing I will be working on is the address section.  I get many requests to complete this section, so it will be done!

Enjoy!

Chris Potter was kind enough to take a Bo Jackson card to the National for me.  He didn't ask for any kind of payment for the help, so I definitely appreciate the gesture.

Unfortunately, in what is beginning to look like a pattern, the card was signed with a Staedtler.  I did not request Sharpie, so I can't really complain.  The autograph isn't nearly as thin as the Thomas autographs in my last post, but it isn't quite as bold as I would have liked.

On top of that, Bo gave a very small autograph.  I guess I should be happy that Bo put his #8 on the card.

All in all, I'm happy to cross this off of my wantlist.  I still need Bo for the 1991 and 1992 Upper Deck sets, as well as a rookie card.  I just couldn't bring myself to pay $316 for 4 signed cards.  I think I might have an opportunity to get the other cards signed early next year for $40 a pop, which is a lot easier to stomach. 

In the meantime, I am one step closer to completing my favorite Upper Deck set of all time.  All I need now is Joey Cora, George Bell, Ellis Burks, Dave Stieb, and the Robin Ventura team checklist.