Toronto Blue Jays - 1995 Spring Training - Opening Day

April 3, 1995 Dunedin, Fla

April 26, 1995 Toronto, Ont, Canada

signed by Galen Cisco (1961-1969 Boston Red Sox, New York met, Kansas City Royals)

Following his playing career Galen Cisco joined the Toronto Blue Jays in 1987 as a pitching coach until the end of the 1995 season

Found several envelopes with dual Dunedin and Toronto postmarks, all signed by various ballplayers at Heritage Auctions. Intrigued by the meaning behind these covers I looked further.

Dunedin is the home of the Toronto Blue Jays minor league team the Dunedin Blue jays as well as the spring training site for the Toronto team.

Spring training started with replacement players as the Major League players were on strike. After an agreement settled on April 2. This pushed the start of "official" spring training to April 3 with the regular season starting on April 26

April 26 - The Toronto Blue Jays opened the 1995 when they hosted the Oakland Athletics at the Skydome

I can therfore determine that this collector had attended spring training in Dunedin, obtained postmarks and autographs, and then had the Toronto postmark applied on opening day 

Baseball related postmarks

Baseball Related postmarks

Claude Osteen

(1957-1975 Cincinnati Reds, Washington Senators, LA Dodgers, Houston Astros, StLouis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox)

Claude, Tx and Osteen, Fla postmarks - 1963

Wayne Garrett

(1969-1980 New York Mets, Montreal Expos, StLouis Cardinals, Chunichi Dragons)

Wayne, Ok and Garrett, Wy postmarks - 1969

These are often found on eBay and auction sites: covers with related player autographs and postmarks. This collector took time to obtain postmarks to spell out a ballplayers name and then obtain the related autograph. There are many of these found, however there are also autographed envelopes with postmarks that are difficult to relate, most likely the time and place the autograph was obtained

Herman Franks

(1939-1949 StLouis Cardinals, Brooklyn Dodgers, Philadelphia Athletics, NY Giants)

postmark Salt Lake City, Utah - date possibly 1963 - Franks lived in Salt Lake

Joe Garagiola

(1946-1954 StLouis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, NY Giants)

postmark St Louis, Mo 1957 - Garagiola was born in St Louis

Hall of Fame - 1970 Boudreau, Combs, Frick, Haines

 

July 27, 1970 Cooperstown, NY

The Baseball Writers' Association of America voted by mail to select from recent major league players and elected Lou Boudreau (1938-1952 Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox - Mgr: Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Kansas City Athletics, Chicago Cubs)

The Veterans Committee met in closed sessions to select : Earle Combs (1924-1935 NY Yankees), Ford Frick (writer & executive) and Jesse Haines (1918-1937 Cincinnati Reds, StLouis Cardinals)

cover postmarked on 1970 induction day signed by Don Sutton, elected to the Hall of Fame 1998

(1966-1988 Los Angeles, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, California Angels)

Jim Kaat - 1970 Topps card #75

Baseball Hall of Fame - 2022

Felipe Alou - 1970 Topps card #434

Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame - 2015

Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame - 2016

Camilo Pascual - magazine photo paste-on cachet

Examples of Do-It-Yourself covers with the 1970 Cooperstown Hall of Fame Induction day postmark, all internet action finds

Hall of Fame - 1971 Paige, Bancroft, Beckley, Hafey, Hooper, Kelley, Marquard, Weiss

 

August 9, 1971 Cooperstown, NY

The Baseball Writers' Association of America voted by mail to select from recent major league players and elected no one.

The Veterans Committee met in closed door session to select from older players, executives, managers and umpires and selected seven : Dave Bancroft (1915-1930 Philadelphia Phillies, NY giants, Boston Braves, Brooklyn Robins), Jake Beckley (1888-1907 Pittsburgh Alleghenys-Burghers-Pirates, NY Giants, Cincinnati Reds, StLouis Cardinals), Chick Hafey (1924-1937 StLouis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds), Harry Hooper (1909-1925 Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox), Joe Kelley (1891-1908 Boston Beaneaters, Pittsburgh Pirates, Baltimore Orioles, Brooklyn Superbas, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Doves), Rub Marquard (1908-1925 NY Giants, Brooklyn Robins, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Braves), George Wiess (executive)

June 12, 1979 Cooperstown, NY

Commemorating the 40-year career of Stachel Paige, who was inducted into the Hall in 1971

A newly formed committee on the Negro Leagues selected Satchel Paige (1926-1965 Chattanooga Black Lookouts, Birmingham Black Barons, Baltimore Black sox, Cleveland Cubs, Pittsburgh Crawfords, Bismarck Churchills, Kansas City Monarchs, Trujillo All-Stars, New York Black Yankees, Memphis Red Sox, Philadelphia Stars -- Cleveland Indians, StLouis Browns, Kansas City Athletics)

Steve Stone - 1981 Donruss #591 card

Do-It-Yourself cachet by pasting a card to the envelope, postmarked on the 1971 induction day 

World Series - 1971 Baltimore Orioles v Pittsburgh Pirates

Pittsburgh Pirates defeat the Baltimore Orioles 4 game to 3

October 9-17, 1971

Memorial Stadium - Baltimore : Three Rivers Stadium - Pittsburgh

Roberto Clemente - MVP

Clemente had 12 hits, batting .414, reaching base with 2 walks and on 2 errors

He hit safely in all seven games

Bruce Kison pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit in 2 games for the Pirates

Hall of Fame - 1988 : Stargell

1988-Jan-12 New York NY

Hall of Fame Election

1988-July-31 Induction Day - Cooperstown, NY

Willie "Pops" Stargell - Pittsburgh Pirates 1962-1982

1945 WWII Patriotic

September 11, 1945 Baltimore, Md

WWII Patriotic cover with baseball theme

Recent bay find, available at the time of this post for $20.00

Babe Ruth - 1983

Dorothy Knapp hand drawn cachet

recent eBay listing

Jeff Reardon - Saves Record : 1988

1988-Sep-30 Minneapolis, Minn - Metrodome

Minnesota Twins  8-5  California Angels

Reardon earned his 41st save of the season, duplicating the feat he earned 41 saves for the Montreal Expos in 1985

Jeff Reardon "The Terminator" - Right-hand relief pitcher for the New York Mets, Montreal Expos, Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees (1979-1994)

Reardon became the All-time saves leader in 1992 with his 342nd save, breaking the record head by Rollie Fingers. Lee Smith would break the record the following year.

Career Saves : 367

Won-Loss record : 73-77

Career ERA : 3.16

Career Strikeouts : 877

NL Saves Leader : 1985

NL Rolaids Relief Man Award : 1985

4-time All-Star

Mike Scott - No-Hit Game : 1986

September 25, 1986 Houston, Tx - Astrodome

Mike Scott threw a 2-0 no-hit game against the San Francisco Giants. The victory clinched the National League West Pennant. Scott would go on to finish the 1986 season with an 18-10 record and 3006 strikeouts

Mike Scott - Right-handed pitcher for the New York Mets (1979-1982) and Houston Astros (1983-1991)

Won-Loss record : 124-108

Career ERA : 3.54

Career Strikeouts : 1,469

Cy Young Award : 1986 (NL)

Astros Retired Scott's Jersey # 33 1992-Oct-03

All-Star Game - 2016 San Diego

July 12, 2016 San Diego, Ca - Petco Park

American League  4-2  National League

Eric Hosmer (KC Royals) - MVP

Starting Pitchers: Johnny Cueto (SF Giants) v Chris Sale (Chi White Sox)

Miguel Cabrera played his 11th All-Star game

David Ortiz played in his 10th All-Star game

All-Star Game - 2009 StLouis

July 14, 2009 St Louis, Mo - Busch Stadium

American League  4-3  National League

Carl Crawford (TB Rays) MVP

Starting pitchers: Roy Halladay (Blue Jays) AL -- Tim Lincecum (Giants) NL

Hall of Famer Stan Musial threw out the ceremonial first pitch to US President Barack Obama, who in turn threw the ball to St Louis Cardinals' Albert Pujols, leading All-Star vote -getter

1961 - 15th Amateur World Series - Costa Rica

1961-April  San Jose, Costa Rica

The Baseball World Cup was an international tournament in which teams from around the world competed. The event was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation. The first event held in 1938 featured two teams. But the final event in 2011, there were 22 participants

1961 Amateur World Series was the 15th held. it was the only time the vent was held in Costa Rica, taking place in San Jose from April 7 through April 21. This was the first international tournament to feature a Cuban team since the Cuban Revolution. 

The Cuban team won the tournament with a 9-0 record, Mexico finished second with a7-2 record. Other countries participating were: Venezuela, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua and El Salvador

World Series - 1980 Philadelphia Phillies v Kansas City Royals

 1980 World Series

October 14-21

Philadelphia Phillies (Veterans Stadium)  v Kansas City Royals (Royals Stadium)

Phillies defeat Royals 4 games to 2

Mike Schmidt (Philadelphia) - MVP

B'nai B'rith Philatelic Service

Aug 2, 1982 Cooperstown, NY - Jackie Robinson

honoring Lipman E Pike

July 6, 1983  Chicago, Il - Babe Ruth

honoring Mo Berg

Aug 17, 1984 Carolina, PR - Roberto Clemente

honoring Barney Dreyfuss

June 10, 1989 Cooperstown, NY - Lou Gehrig

honoring Hank Greenberg

April 3, 1992 Atlanta, Ga - Olympic Baseball

honoring Sid Gordon

B'nai B'rith

honoring National League umpire Albert "Dolly" Stark