Mondays with Hoyt, Episode IX

2003 Topps Tribute "Perennial All-Stars Relics" #TR-HWI Hoyt Wilhelm JSY

Due to my card show posts, "Mondays with Hoyt" was forced into a one week hiatus.

I'm proud to announce that it's back and better than ever this week, with a special "All-Star" edition in honor of the festivities that will take place during the next couple days.

Wilhelm was a five-time All-Star during his career. As the front of this card tells you, his first All-Star appearance came in just his second big-league season in 1953, at the age of 31.

He'd also be elected in 1959, 1961, 1962 during his time with the Orioles. At the astounding age of 48, he'd participate in his final All-Star game in 1970 during a season split between the Braves and Cubs. (Hopefully, 37 year-old knuckleballer R.A. Dickey can hold on for eleven more years to match Wilhelm's feat.)

This is easily one of the nicer memorabilia issues in my collection, Hoyt or no Hoyt. 

Topps Tribute isn't exactly a "low-end" set, but I managed to snag this one for a couple bucks online a few years ago, one of the first big "scores" to my Hoyt collection.

While some other collectors would never dream of doing such a thing, I like to actually feel the piece of jersey on a lot of my memorabilia cards from time to time. The older, the better.

It's almost like a little baseball time machine.

These old wool uniforms just scream "old". Just think, Wilhelm might have been wearing this very jersey while facing Hank Aaron or Willie Mays.

While I've soured on the thousands of different memorabilia issues in more recent sets, I could never get sick of the ones that are currently in my collection, especially of the older guys like Wilhelm.

They're all pieces of baseball history.