Book Reviews, Collectibles And More:

Books that tout a team’s “memorable games” usually are one-sided in nature. That is, only the victories are mentioned.

That’s not the case in the “The Most Memorable Games in Giants History: The Oral History of a Legendary Team” (Bloomsbury, $24) by Jim Baker and Bernard M. Corbett. And that’s beneficial to the reader.

Oh sure, the great wins are there — the Super Bowl XXV win at Tampa Stadium, and the Super Bowl XLII victory that denied a perfect season to the New England Patriots.

But so is the “Joe Pisarcik game” — the botched handoff late in the game against Philadelphia that Herman Edwards scooped up and ran in for a game-winning touchdown in 1978.

In fact, of the 13 games covered in this book, the Giants lost four of them.

And it is the format of this book — an oral history, with nuggets of dialogue from the players and coaches involved — that makes it so interesting. It is especially true in the 1978 game that immortalized Edwards. It takes Pisarcik to put the game — and life — into perspective.

“I think in life what counts is not the fumble or failing on a sales call, it’s how you react when that happens,” he said. “Do you get up and dust yourself off? Do you live and learn from that experience and get strong from it, or do you say, ‘Woe is me. It’s bad luck. Everything happens to me … ’”

There are other fascinating games in this book, like the Giants’ 28-point fourth quarter that enabled them to rally past Washington in 1970, or Pat Summerall’s game-winning 49-yard field goal in a blizzard in 1958 against Cleveland.

What is surprising is that one of the most memorable games in NFL history — the Colts’ sudden death victory against the Giants in 1958 — was omitted. The authors claim that particular game has been thoroughly analyzed already — “we didn’t think there was a pressing need to revisit a contest that has been so thoroughly and eloquently covered in the recent past.”

Perhaps. But it was still a memorable contest.

Despite the omission, this is a nice addition to the library of any Giants fan. It’s a blow-by-blow of some the most memorable games in the history of one of the NFL’s storied franchises.

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This is a book I should have read immediately when it first crossed my desk several weeks ago. Because once I finally began reading “The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran” (Citadel Press, $14.95 paperback), I realized I possessed a baseball gem.

Expanded diaries written by baseball players are not new. Jim Brosnan paved the way in the early 1960s with “The Long Season,” while 10 years later fellow major-league pitcher Jim Bouton published what I believe is the best baseball book of all time, “Ball Four.”

“The Bullpen Gospels” are the views and observations of pitcher Dirk Hayhurst, who documented the 2007 season he spent playing for three of the San Diego Padres’ minor-league affiliates.

Hayhurst is a gifted storyteller with a keen eye for detail. Although some of what he recounts smacks of bathroom humor and various bodily functions, there are some compelling stories. Starting with Hayhurst himself, who by 2007 had kicked around the minors for four seasons and was watching his window of opportunity to reach the majors shrink.

“This was not how I pictured my life as a professional baseball player,” Hayhurst writes. “Me shacking up with a withered old puppet of evil I called grandma, hanging on to a crumbling dream while the world passed me by, is not how things were supposed to go.”

The book bounces along at a fairly rapid clip. I’d read that Hayhurst’s narrative evoked memories of “The Catcher in the Rye.” Interesting concept, I thought. Was Hayhurst a modern Holden Caulfield, with an original and profound look at the world? And if so, who was his Ackley, the pimply, insecure next door neighbor with “mossy teeth”? Or his Stradlater, the handsome guy who was a “secret slob”?

Some of those characters do emerge in “The Bullpen Gospels,” but these are real men and not something out of the imagination of J.D. Salinger.

All that conjecture goes out the window, and Hayhurst really comes into his own when he describes a poignant encounter he had while doing volunteer work at a shelter in his hometown of Canton, Ohio. Hayhurst has a memorable exchange with a homeless man who is definitely not impressed with the baseball player’s career. This is the anecdote that really turned me into a Dirk Hayhurst fan. It was prickly and intense. Dirk (and the reader) learned a valuable lesson. Hayhurst’s spontaneous act of kindness that followed was the clincher and made me want to read the rest of the book.

There is another story covered later in the season when Hayhurst and his bullpen mates made a night special for a very young, cancer-stricken boy.
This is a book written from the viewpoint of a man who was struggling to deal with his personal life (his brother was an alcoholic and his father never seemed to give Hayhurst any indication that he was proud of his son) and his professional life (was he good enough to make it to the majors? — that question was answered when the Padres promoted Hayhurst to the majors during the 2008 season).

There are plenty of laughs, too. The clubhouse antics are as funny as anything Bouton ever wrote about in “Ball Four.” And Hayhurst’s descriptions of his teammates, coaches and managers are vivid and fresh. Bumpy bus rides, grimy locker rooms, obnoxious fans — all come to life in Hayhurst’s writing.

Hayhurst has blogged about life in the game for Baseball America since 2007. “The Bullpen Gospels” is a product of some of those blogs. His writing is easygoing and descriptive, and will give the reader a better perspective of what life away from major-league baseball’s multimillion dollar contracts is like.

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I continue to be impressed with the basketball product that Panini has issued in the past year. Since winning the licensing rights to issue NBA cards, Panini has continued to produce high quality products.

That high standard continues with the 2009-10 Court Kings set. It’s a high-end product for sure, costing in the neighborhood of $100 per box — and that box includes a pack of 11 cards and a box topper — but some of the hits certainly make the price worthwhile.

The card design depicts paintings of players in action, and is eerily similar to the Donruss Diamond Kings of the early 1990s. The same attention to detail is there, and when you tilt the card there is definitely a nice pattern to it, not a bland, smooth texture.

Panini promises four autograph or memorabilia cards per box, with at least one guaranteed autograph. The hobby box I sampled not only had those, but also every card was numbered to 649 or less. In fact, five of them were numbered to 149.

The biggest hit in the box was a 1/1 Hardwood Heroes card of Shaquille O’Neal. What made this card unique was the felt border around the card. And even though Shaq looks a bit cross-eyed in the artist’s rendition, it’s still a nice-looking card.

Two of the hits were dual relic cards numbered to 149 — Jason Williams and David West. The third relic is a black game-worn swatch, an Artistry insert card of Chris Bosh numbered to 299.

The guaranteed autograph card was a sticker signature of Clippers rookie Blake Griffin, numbered to 649. In addition to the three base cards, there were bronze parallel cards of Rodney Stuckey (numbered to 199) and Gerald Wallace and J.R. Smith (numbered to 149). There also was a Gallery of Stars insert card of Orlando’s Vince Carter.

The 5-by-7 inch box topper was a fabulous action shot of Sacramento’s Tyreke Evans, numbered to 349. Some of the box toppers are on-sticker autographs, too.

There are some on-card autograph cards, too — the 20-card Supreme Court subset, and the Il Bello Cinque cards, a five-card set that has the signature of Kobe Bryant.

Some particulars for set builders: there are 100 commons and 20 Legends in the set. There are also 30 rookie cards. Other insert sets include Masterpieces, Dribble Kings and Portraits.

But the beauty and thrill for this set will be the low-numbered run of cards, the excellent detail of the card fronts and the simple, easy-to-read information on the back of the card. There’s always the possibility of pulling a 1/1, and definitely a chance to find a Bryant.

This set is a nice capper to the 2009-10 NBA season.

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It’s what I look forward to each year — the new Allen & Ginter baseball card set issued by Topps.

It’s the kind of set that satisfies my love for history, variety and off-the-wall surprises.
This is the fifth version of A&G, and Topps continues its winning formula. The basic design and format remain the same, although the fronts of this year’s cards feature a color sketch of the player that is feathered into a surrounding background that has a light greenish tint. In previous years, the card fronts were white or off-white. This year’s cards also have a white border.

A hobby box consists of 24 packs, with eight cards to a pack. Baseball players remain the focus, but historical figures and world champions remain an intriguing part of the set. What other set can boast cards of Lucy, the skeletal remains of a woman who lived more than 3 million years ago? Or Disc dog champion Rory? Or even Hubertus Wawra, the fire-eating world record holder?

Other cards of interest include “Deadliest Catch” star Sig Hansen, Area 51 and world archery champion Randy Oitker.

The hobby box I sampled contained 136 of the 350-card base set. Each pack contained a This Day In History insert, along with a mini card. Some of those minis were parallels, with regular or Allen & Ginter ad backs (or there were even the more ornate black border parallels). Others were subsets like National Animals, Lords of Olympus, Monsters of the Mesozoix, Sailors of the Seven Seas and the World’s Greatest Wordsmiths.

Hobby boxes contain a boxloader. The one I sampled had an N43 card of Jimmy Rollins. Other boxes will have the larger Cabinet boxloaders, which includes several U.S. Presidents. My favorite would be the card including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt.
Each hobby box promises three “sizzle” cards, ranging from relics, autographs, printing plates, cut signatures or rip cards.

The rip cards (found only in hobby boxes and numbered 351 to 401) have created the most buzz, due to the late addition of card No. 401 — the card of Nationals pitching sensation Stephen Strasburg, which has been selling for simply ridiculously high amounts on eBay (up into four-figure territory) and other auction sites.

The hobby box I sampled contained three relics: a game-used jersey card of Rays third baseman Evan Longoria, and bat cards of the Orioles’ Brian Roberts and the Angels’ Kendry Morales. This year’s relic cards are brighter, with a red-orange hue surrounding the mini card.

A&G also continues its DNA series, with 1/1 framed cards of famous historical figures, including hair strands from people like Beethoven, Lincoln, John and Jackie Kennedy, Andrew Jackson, John Adams, Ronald Reagan, Charles Dickens, Alexander Hamilton and England’s King Edward VII.

A 20-card set of cut signature 1/1 autographs include eight U.S. presidents, including Barack Obama, Jefferson, Franklin Pierce, James Garfield and James Madison. The set also includes a cut autograph of Martin Luther King Jr.

The Strasburg mini has driven up the price of hobby boxes, but the boxes are still flying off the shelves. This year’s A&G set stacks up well against its predecessors, with some interesting, fascinating cards.

 

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Panini is not wasting any time jumping on the Tim Tebow bandwagon.

Can’t say I blame them, either, since he was box office as the University of Florida’s quarterback and has proven to be a marketing godsend to the Denver Broncos, who drafted him this spring.

So Tebow’s image graces the box top of Panini’s newest football issue, Donruss Elite 2010. He’a also the player on the wrapper of the 20 packs you will open in a hobby box.

But this set is just not about Tebow.

It’s a spiffy, 100-card base set that has an additional 100 rookie cards, plus each hobby box guarantees four memorabilia or autograph cards per box.

A hobby box contains 20 packs, with five cards to a pack. The box I sampled had 85 of the 100-card base set. On average, a box will yield four rookie cards numbered to 999. The box I saw had some local flavor, as I unwrapped a card of former University of South Florida defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, who was drafted by the New York Giants. There also was a numbered card (999) of Ndammukong Suh.

The base card design is shiny and relies heavily on red and silver as its color scheme. The player’s name is stenciled in white against a red bar, and there is a thicker red bar running down each side of the card (there also are parallel cards sporting different colors). The photographs are isolated and sharp.

There was one die-cut rookie Aspirations card of Charles Scott, numbered to 32.

The box also included a pair of NFL Shield insert cards of Dez Bryant and Taylor Price (Bucs first-round-draft pick Gerald McCoy is also included in this subset).

Passing the Torch is an interesting 15-card insert set that has a different player on each side. The front side commemorates an old-timer, while the back has a newer player. The box I sampled had Eagles tight end Pete Retzlaff (who played from 1956 to 1966 in Philadelphia) and Brent Celek , the Eagles’ fifth-round draft choice in 2007.

The box also contained one insert from each of these subsets — Zoning Commission, Stars, Chain Reaction, Prime Targets and Elite Series. The set also has Throwback Threads, Down and Distance and Super Bowl XLIV inserts.

This particular hobby box delivered as promised as far as sizzle cards, with two autographs and a pair of relics. Both autos were rookies — Golden Tate (numbered to 249) and Shay Hodge (numbered to 499).

The relics are jersey swatches — one is a Chain Reaction card of Giants quarterback Eli Manning, numbered to 299. The other is an Elite Series swatch from a Pro Bowl uniform worn by the Cowboys’ Jason Witten.

There are plenty of nice base cards and decent rookies to be had in this set. Even with a $6 price tag per pack, it’s not a bad deal at all.

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Many baseball books promise the reader the inside scoop about what goes on in the dugout and behind clubhouse doors. Disappointingly, few of them deliver true insights.

Doug Glanville is a refreshing exception to that rule.

A former outfielder for the Phillies, Cubs and Rangers from 1996 to 2004, Glanville shares his insights in “The Game From Where I Stand: A Ballplayer’s Inside View” (Times Books, $25).

With a career .277 average, Glanville had 1,100 hits in 1,115 games for the Phillies, Cubs and Rangers from 1996 to 2004. Glanville was no superstar, but he wasn’t a utility player, either. So we don’t see baseball from the perspective of a superstar, a la Alex Rodriguez; nor do we see the game from a journeyman, most famously advanced by Jim Bouton in his 1970 diary, “Ball Four.”

Much of Glanville’s observations revolve around how ballplayers act, particularly off the field. For example, he characterizes Montreal as “a never-ending bachelor party.”

He talks about his e-mail exchanges with model Tyra Banks, a relationship that began when Glanville made a flip comment about kissing home plate after a milestone hit. “If they put a picture of Tyra Banks on the plate, I might kiss it,” he originally said.

Glanville was always a level-headed player during his career, and he passes along that philosophy.

“Keeping it real can be a good thing,” he writes. “It allows us to stay grounded; it reminds us of where we came from, who we are; it keeps us centered.”

Glanville writes about being stalked by a female fan in Atlanta, and how his visit with a white woman (a friend, not a date) caused consternation among some of his teammates.

There are good baseball anecdotes in this book, too. Glanville writes about baseball’s true professionals, men like Ryne Sandberg and Cal Ripken Jr., and how they prepared for games. There also are funny stories involving Sammy Sosa. With an equally sharp eye, Glanville gives his perspective on the Steve Bartman incident at Wrigley Field in 2003 and writes about his encounters with basketball superstar Michael Jordan.

Through it all, Glanville shows that baseball players are just as human as the rest of us.

“Behind the bluster and bravado, they are as uncertain and fragile as any other human beings,” he writes.

This book should open quite a few eyes. The stories are rich and shows Glanville’s keen ability to sift through the romantic vision of how the public perceives baseball players, providing a more honest, balanced picture.

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After a solid showing with 2010 Series 1 baseball, Topps kept the bar high for Series 2.

Nothing flashy, but still some fun cards to collect and some new inserts to chase.

Likes its predecessor, Series 2 hobby boxes contain 36 packs with 10 cards to a pack. Each pack will contain a Topps Attax Toppstown code card, a set that allows younger collectors to redeem the cards on a website for some interactive fun.

The hobby box I sampled contained 247 of the 330 cards in the base set, or just a hair under 75 percent. There are pie-in-the-face variations (see card of Rays pitcher David Price as an example). There also are 21 short-printed variations; every card between 340 and 540 that ends in a zero is a variation card of a Hall of Famer.

And as always, there are gold parallel cards and Red Hot Rookies (10 of them to redeem in Series 2).

Several insert sets make a return appearance. Cards Your Mom Threw Out is a 58-card set that appears once in every three packs. The box I sampled had 12, including the variation of the original card back.

Also returning was another 50-card set of Turkey Red insert, seeded every four packs. And Legendary Lineage adds 30 more cards to the Series 1 collection, coming every four packs. Peak Performance is another 50-card insert set and can be found in every four packs on average.

The other returning promotion is Topps’ Million Card Giveaway is simple: an insert in every six packs of Topps Series 2 has a code on the back. Go to the website (http://www.toppsmillion.com), register and enter your code. At that point, the possibilities are endless. Every Topps card produced since 1952 is fair game, including a Mickey Mantle rookie card.

No such luck in the box I sampled — 1976 Larry Lintz, 1980 Vern Ruhle, 1994 Eddie Taubensee, 2001 Danny Patterson, 2002 Ted Lilly and a 2007 Orlando Hudson. Ouch.

However, Topps does have a special Stephen Strasburg card that can only be obtained by unlocking a specific Million Card Giveaway code. The Strasburg card will carry No. 661.

There are some new inserts in Series 2, too. The Vintage Legends Collection features 25 players a legend in a Topps card design he had never appeared in.  For example, Lou Gehrig is featured on a card with a 1958 design, while Christy Mathewson is displayed in a 1972 card design. What’s nice about these cards is the paragraph on the card back, which takes the player’s best statistical season and projects into an earlier season. So, Reggie Jackson’s 1980 stats are mentioned in the card that features him in a 1955 design; Jackson’s 41 homers in 1980 would have led the American League in 1955, for example.

Topps 2020 has a three-dimensional look to it and contains 20 cards. The History of the World Series set commemorates a defining moment during the Fall Classic.

One quirky insert is the You Sketch It card. It’s basically a card that has a border around a white surface. Collectors get to create their own card, and Topps will have contests to find the best ones.

Typically, there is not much sizzle in Topps’ signature product, usually one relic or autograph. This box was no exception, with one relic — a Peak Performance game-used card of Alexei Ramirez.

But overall, another solid effort from Topps. The design of the card is still crisp and sharp, and the backs of the cards contain good information (although sometimes the writer launches into some hyperbole — read the back of Jon Lester’s card, for an example).

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Baseball’s history is so diverse, and yet the sport itself caters to stat freaks. I confess, I love statistics and can recite plenty of them. But the game also had plenty of colorful characters, people who did not necessarily make the Hall of Fame but nevertheless had an impact on the game.

So an irreverent look at baseball, written by a member of the Society for Baseball Research, is a perfect marriage.
“The Underground Baseball Encyclopedia: Baseball Stuff You Never Needed to Know and Can Certainly Live Without,” (Triumph Books, paperback $14.95) was written by SABR member Robert Schnakenberg.

And if the information doesn’t draw you into the book, the cover certainly will. The top half of the cover is adorned with a pair of photos — and it looks like Rollie Fingers (on the left-hand side of the cover) is giving a long, hard look at Alyssa Milano. The television actress has a bat slung over her shoulder and is wearing a shirt that bears the slogan “Touch.”

It’s a provocative start. What’s inside the book is compelling, too.

There are famous fans, like Hilda Chester (Brooklyn Dodgers), Robert Szasz (Tropicana Field’s “Happy Heckler.”) and Krazy George Henderson (who called himself the World’s Sexiest Professional Cheerleader).

Ballparks have their share of colorful vendors, and they are included here: Houston vendor “Arnie the Peanut Dude,” Rockies vendor “Captain Earthman,” the Tigers’ Singing Hot Dog Man; and Minnesota’s “Wally the Beer Man.”
Wild promotions? Check out the listings for Disco Demolition Night and the Great Pierogie Race. Mascots like Raymond (Rays) and Chief Noc-A-Homa (Braves) are included, too.

What I enjoyed most about this book were some of the obscure entries. For example, Steve Hamilton’s Folly Floater, Strat-O-Matic Baseball (but where, oh where, is APBA Baseball, the best baseball dice board/strategy game ever invented? Sorry, Strat fans …). And even Jay Mazzone (Orioles bat boy who had metal claws for hands).

It’s 282 pages of pure fun. More fun than a smooch from Morganna the kissing bandit (Page 173), a mouthful of Big League Chew (page 28) or singing along to “The Curly Shuffle” (Page 76).

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Upper Deck has shuffled its management hierarchy a bit, naming Paul C. Meyer as its president on Tuesday.

Meyer was president, CEO and secretary of Shuffle Master, Inc., from 2003 to 2008. That company supplies the gaming industry with automatic card shufflers and proprietary table games.

Meyer has an extensive background in electronic video and gaming products. How that experience helps him at UD remains to be seen.

He stepped down from his position at Shuffle Master on Oct. 31, 2008. He also has worked for Coleco, Virgin Interactive Entertainment, PlayNet Technologies and Viacom New Media.

Meyer grew up in Hicksville, N.Y., and earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from C.W. Post College. A lifelong Yankees’ fan, his favorite collectible is an autographed Derek Jeter jersey.

UD’s new president takes over during a turbulent time at the Carlsbad, Calif., sports card company. Upper Deck was unable to renew its football card license with NFL Properties for the 2010 NFL season.

Upper Deck already lost its baseball card license, which was awarded to Topps. Panini pulled down the basketball card licensing, and now will share hockey card licensing with Upper Deck.

UD still has an exclusive deal with the Collegiate Licensing Company.

UD’s woes were not limited to product issues. In March, Upper Deck Company and Major League Baseball settled a lawsuit that had been filed in federal court on Feb. 1. That suit sought unspecified damages against Upper Deck for trademark infringement.

So, Upper Deck is much more limited in scope as far as product goes, a situation Meyer understands.
In a release issued by Upper Deck, Meyer targeted the economy and competition as major areas of concern.

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A baseball player like Al Kaline seemed too good to be true.

He never played a game in the minor leagues. He played his entire career with the Detroit Tigers, winning the American League batting title in his second full season. He was the Tigers’ first $100,000 player, but refused to take that salary the first time it was offered, claiming he did not have a good enough year to justify it. And, he never squawked when his salary was cut, and it was a few times.

Tell me a player who fits that description today. You can’t.

So expect a biography of Kaline to follow the same pattern of his storybook career in Detroit. “Al Kaline: The Biography of a Tigers Icon” (Triumph Books, $24.95) was written by Jim Hawkins, a veteran sportswriter in the Detroit area.

Hawkins paints a sentimental, positive picture of the Tigers’ Hall of Fame right fielder. But he doesn’t shy away from the rough parts of his career: the injuries, his desire to play right field exclusively, and his somewhat wary relationships with Manager Chuck Dressen and pitcher Denny McLain.

He traces Kaline’s blue collar family and his early years with the Tigers, when he shocked baseball by becoming the youngest player to win a batting title.

Hawkins then follows Kaline’s progression from star to Tigers’ icon, replaying the great pennant race of 1967 (a near miss) and the World Series year of 1968.

And finally, Kaline’s quest to reach 3,000 hits, and his career as a broadcaster.

The book’s foreword was written by longtime Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell, who died this month.

If there is a glitch in the book, it comes when Hawkins tries to draw the comparison of what Hall of Famers weren’t elected in their first year of eligibility. He erroneously includes Lou Gehrig, who was enshrined in 1939 by special election when the five-year waiting period was waived for the Yankees’ first baseman.

It’s a complete look at a player who was glorified by Tiger fans, but seemed to be unappreciated by fans away from Detroit. His election to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility is a testament to Kaline’s greatness. Hawkins gives the reader a real sense of Kaline’s talent and his humility. It’s an intimate snapshot.

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With a $100 suggested retail price tag, you will have to decide whether buying a tin of Panini’s Timeless Treasures basketball is worth it.

Certainly, there is great potential. If you like to roll the dice, go ahead and take a chance.

Each copper-colored tin contains five cards, three of which are either autograph or memorabilia cards. The other two are either part of the 100-card base set or one of the silver (numbered to 25), gold (numbered to 10) or platinum (numbered to 1) parallel cards. The tin I sampled had an action pose of Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on it.

Here is what was contained in the tin I sampled:

A pair of base cards. An NBA Apprentice rookie, game-used card of the Bulls’ James Johnson, numbered to 100. A Rookie Recruits relic/autograph card of the Hornets’ Marcus Thornton, numbered to 299. What’s nice about this card is that the background for the autograph is a large, white area that has plenty of texture. The autograph is not a sticker, and it is boldly displayed. Very nice card.

The final card was a Statistical Champions Materials, game-used purple swatch card of Kobe Bryant numbered to 100. As you can see by the accompanying photograph, it’s a little bit busy — but the colors are vibrant, and anything with Bryant (Panini’s main spokesman) is a valuable collectible.

While this particular tin did not have that “knock your socks off” card, there are plenty of dynamite cards to uncover. There are laundry tags and laundry tag team logo cards that are numbered 1/1, Home and Road Gamers Prime Signatures (two photos of a player — one in his home uniform, one in his road jersey — numbered to 10 or less.

Another subset that excites me is the HOF Signature Series, which comes in silver (numbered to 25 or less), gold (10 or less) or platinum (1/1) and contains the autograph of an NBA Hall of Famer.

So, the possibilities are there. The question is, do want to gamble and spend $100 to find out?

The choice is yours.

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I was like a thirsty man in a desert. Hadn’t reviewed any product for some time, but the recent release of Panini’s Prestige football cards has brought me back.

There are eight cards to a pack and 24 packs to a box. Suggested retail price is in the $4 range. Each box promises at least four memorabilia or autograph cards, and at least one rookie card per pack.

The design for the base cards is a vertical layout on the card front, with a color photo taking up two-thirds of the right-hand side of the card. The left side contains the player’s name and the team he plays for (the team name is backed by a gray bar). Turn the card sideways to see both. Extra Points parallels come in gold, red, purple, green and black colors.

The rookie card front sports a horizontal layout, with the player’s image taking up the left side of the card. The term “Rookie” and the player’s name are below the player’s image and it is not necessary to turn the card to read it.
The box I sampled had 146 base cards out of 200, and 26 out of 100 rookie cards.

The rookies I pulled included Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and Bucs draftees Gerald McCoy, Jevan Snead and Mike Williams. And Ndamukong Suh, too.

This set offers 12 different insert sets to chase, including League Leaders, True Colors, NFL Draft Class, Rookie Review, Touchdown Sensations, Stars of the NFL, Connections (a team’s quarterback and a favorite receiver) and Prestigious Pros.

There were two autographs in the box I sampled. One was an on-card auto signed by Bucs second-round draft pick Arrelious Benn (wide receiver from Illinois), although the card gives no draft information and doesn’t even mention the Bucs. The second one (on a sticker) is a Rookie Draft Picks card of tight end Anthony McCoy, who was picked by the Eagles.

There were two game-used cards, too. One was a Touchdown Sensations card of Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald. The uniform swatch is shaped in Fitzgerald’s No. 11.

The second game-used card was a cool quad swatch of NFL receivers — the League Leaders insert featured jersey pieces of Vernon Davis, Fitzgerald, Randy Moss and Miles Austin.

So what do I think? Well, the base set is all right but not overwhelming. The design is simple and not too cluttered. The sizzle cards are adequate. The rookie cards are excellent.

These cards may not quench your thirst entirely, but it’s a good start.

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I grew up loving Wiffle ball. In fact, most of the kids in my neighborhood loved playing the game with the plastic ball and bat, too.

My parents’ driveway in Boynton Beach was the perfect field of dreams. It was about 50 feet long and 15 feet wide. Here were our rules: Hit a grounder past a pitcher for a single. A fly ball that fell into the street was a double. A ball hit on the fly to the shoulder across the street qualified for a triple, and a homer was a ball that landed in the yard of our neighbors across the street, the Bairds.

The Bairds were a kindly old couple and didn’t mind us whacking plastic balls into their yard. And conveniently, their driveway was flanked by a pair of palm trees — perfect foul poles.

Their next-door neighbor was a little more grumpy and hated when we pulled foul balls down the left-field line into his yard. To discourage us, he’d turn on his sprinklers. Now that was rich — here we were in humid, sweltering South Florida, playing in 90-plus degree summertime weather. Do you think sprinklers were a deterrent?

The best part of playing Wiffle ball was that I could play solo against my brother (he never beat me) or we could pair off in teams of two or three. My neighbor next door had a three-car garage and a huge driveway, so that was even better. But those aluminum garage doors made an awful sound when the batter missed a pitch.

There are plenty of Wiffle ball stories around the country, no doubt. But Michael Hermann, in conjunction with The Wiffle Ball, Inc., has produced a paperback book that traces the history of one of the 20th century’s most loved toys.
“Wiffle Ball: The Ultimate Guide,” (Triumph Books, $12.95) is a book that is informative and will bring back plenty of fond memories. It tells the story of David N. Mullany of Fairfield, Conn., a former semipro pitcher who invented and patented the Wiffle ball, a toy that “curves like crazy, won’t break windows, and delivers a satisfying baseball experience.”

Some fun facts from the book:

VH1’s “I Love Toys” ranked the Wiffle ball and bat as the 10th best toy of all time, between the Slinky and Play-Doh (The Hula Hoop was No. 1, by the way).

The first Wiffle balls went on sale in 1953, created at the Mullany’s kitchen table on Aug. 14, 1953. It was patented on Jan. 1, 1957. Original price? A mere 49 cents.

There’s a how-to section on how to throw certain pitches, and information about Wiffle ball leagues and famous Wiffle “fields.”

This book makes me want to go back to my parents’ old driveway and swat a few pitches from my brother again. After all, I never lost (wink).

I smile at the memory. Thanks, Wiffle ball.

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When Henry Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s home run record in 1974, I was a sports columnist at my high school newspaper. At the time, I wrote that Ruth’s record was broken by a man who “was lacking only in flamboyance.” In other words, he equaled the legacy the Babe created, but did it quietly.

The word “only” was edited out of my story. Made me look like an Aaron-basher, which was the farthest thing from the truth.

So 36 years later, I can set the record straight: Ruth’s record was broken by a man who was lacking only in flamboyance.

Take that, overzealous copy editor.

Speaking of setting the record straight: Howard Bryant has written what I believe is the most important book of 2010. “The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron” (Pantheon Books, $29.95) is more than a 600-page biography of a great slugger. It is an intimate look at a quietly intense, complicated man who rose from poverty, battled discrimination and fought against racism. And succeeded.

Bryant, a senior writer for ESPN.com and ESPN the Magazine, is no stranger to tackling complex subjects. His first book, “Shut Out: A Story of Race and Baseball in Boston,” pulled no punches and was refreshing in its candor. It also got Bryant started in the sports writing profession. He followed up his debut with a look at the steroid crisis — “Juicing The Game.”

“The Last Hero” is absorbing from the start and shows the painstaking attention to detail that Bryant used in the four years he took to complete the book. Maybe it’s because genealogy is one of my hobbies, but I love it when authors give the reader a sense of their subject’s history. So Bryant either has a subscription to Ancestry.com or a great researching staff.

The opening chapters of “The Last Hero” focus on Aaron’s parents, Herbert and Stella, and their struggles to make ends meet.

Bryant shows how while Aaron always has been compared to Willie Mays in terms of ability and star power, Henry always preferred to be mentioned in the same breath as Jackie Robinson, whom he “revered.”

“Where others saw audacity, Henry saw a road map,” Bryant writes.

“Only in following in the footsteps of Robinson could Henry realize his true path,” Bryant writes. “To use whatever influences his baseball life afforded him to have some effect on society at large.”

Aaron made a difference in Milwaukee; he certainly did the same in Atlanta. He became the first black player to become an executive for a baseball team and also enjoyed success in business.

Bryant also follows Aaron’s steady assault on Ruth’s home run record, complete with the hate mail he received and the slights from the commissioner’s office. And he also points out, quite rightly, that while Milo Hamilton’s home run call received more attention, it was the eloquent, restrained call of NBC’s Vin Scully that resonated.

“What a marvelous moment for the country and the world,” Scully said at the time.

Bryant also brings new perspective to the role Aaron played when Barry Bonds broke his career home run mark. Some media members believes Aaron was passive-aggressive on the subject, but Aaron saw taking a stand as a “lose-lose” situation. If he spoke out against Bonds, he would sound like a bitter old man who wanted to keep his record. If he remained silent, that would infer approval of Bonds’ achievement.

In the final analysis, Bryant offers a deep, rich textured look at a man who not only excelled on the baseball field, but also made his mark in society. There may not have been a lot of flamboyance, but there sure was a lot of substance.

Bryant captures it well. It’s great reading for sure.

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This has been a banner year for baseball biographies. Willie Mays has been profiled, along with Phil Rizzuto and Al Kaline. An absorbing biography of Henry Aaron is due out next week.

So a biography of Stan Musial is not only appropriate, but also long overdue.

A Hall of Fame player for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1941 to 1963, Musial had one of baseball’s most unusual stances. He would “peek” over his shoulder at the pitcher before uncoiling out of his corkscrew stance to drill line drives or slap pitches to the opposite field.

As a player, he seems underappreciated now, even though he collected 3,630 hits, 475 homers, 1,951 RBIs and had a lifetime batting average of .331. The numbers are awesome, but Musial also was known as one of baseball’s truly nice guys.

Author Wayne Stewart, a native of Musial’s hometown of Donora, Pa., presents an upbeat and charming biography in “Stan The Man: The Life and Times of Stan Musial,” (Triumph Books, $24.95).

The book cover shows Musial connecting during a spring training game. It’s a fabulous shot, a Getty Images photo taken in 1955. I’d like to say it was taken at St. Petersburg’s Al Lang Stadium, where the Cardinals trained for so many seasons. Can’t confirm that, though — perhaps some longtime Pinellas County baseball fan can help me out.

Stewart is presented with some big challenges in this book. The biggest is that since Musial is approaching 90, finding his contemporaries is difficult. Stewart is forced in several cases to cite the memories of the children of people who would have been great primary sources. This could have been disastrous, but Stewart manages to weave a good narrative.

Two contemporaries Stewart does rely upon, Carl Erskine and Henry Aaron, are helpful sources. I never realized how much Aaron admired Musial until Stewart interviewed him for his book.

The one issue I hoped Stewart could answer definitively was Musial’s role (or lack of it) in the Cardinals’ proposed boycott of Jackie Robinson in 1947.

Stewart covered all the theories, but I am not sure we are any closer to knowing what really happened. And perhaps we never will. But Stewart’s research on the subject leaves no stone uncovered. He writes, “Musial mainly skirted racial matters but got along well with players of all colors and backgrounds.”

What really comes out in this book is Musial’s humility, his love of the game and his business acumen. A family man, he has been married more than 70 years. And the Cardinals have paid tribute to his years in St. Louis with a statue of “The Man” outside their stadium.

Stewart’s book adds more luster to Musial’s legacy.

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