Please Mr. Postman (A trade post) -- Obak, Obak, Obak

In the last few days, I've gotten quite a few emails from other bloggers and blog readers about a possible trade.

Up until a few weeks ago, blog trades were fairly few and far between for me.

I'm happy to say that I've agreed upon six or seven trades with others as a result of this blog in the last couple weeks. I say it every day, but I'll say it again.

You have no idea how glad I am that I decided to create a blog.

Through the blogosphere, I've been able to acquire a lot of cards that I would've never gotten otherwise.

One such package arrived today from Dan, author of the great blog "The Other World".

Dan contacted me about some extra Tristar Obak cards he had available. I've lamented about how I failed to see the greatness in the Obak set until a few months ago.

I arrived home today to find a large mailer waiting in the mailbox. I wasn't sure what it was at first, but my eyes lit up when I opened the package.

Obak!

This set has all the guys I wish Topps would put in some of their recent offerings (although I doubt it will ever happen).

Guys like Fred Merkle.

One of my favorite bits of baseball trivia is that Ross Barnes hit the first home run in National League history in 1876. This is my first card of his.

The backdrops on some of these cards are fantastic, especially the Cap Anson card above.

Let's go from the 1800's to the 1960's.

If Ron Blomberg is remembered nowadays, it's for the fact that he was the first DH in history. However, I'd forgotten that he was also a #1 overall draft pick in 1967 until I saw this card.

Frank Howard is one of the hugest players in history, even by today's standards. I can only imagine how much of a giant he must have seemed like in the '60s.

A couple of the better nicknames in baseball history.

Al "Bucketfoot" Simmons and Paul "Big Poison" Waner.

Roger Bresnahan is another name that sometimes gets lost in history. He was the first catcher to ever wear shin guards while catching.

This is also my first card of Tip O'Neill, an outfielder and part-time pitcher who hit .435 in 1884 in the short-lived rival American Association.

Lastly, we've got Tigers manager Hughie "Ee-Yah" Jennings and pitcher "Old Hoss" Radbourn. (They don't make nicknames like they used to.)

It's safe to say that Radbourn's record of 59 wins in 1884 will never be broken. Ever.

Much thanks to Dan for the great Obak cards and be sure to check out his blog!