Archive for Baseball
Great Father’s Day Gift Ideas for Dads Who Love Sports
Posted by: | CommentsYour Dad always wanted a signed Michael Jordan collectible, but instead he made sure you had a bounce house on your birthday. He saved up for it, but then you needed braces. He got closer to getting it, but instead helped you out with your first car. He thought he was close again, but then came your college. And when he was just about to do something for himself, your Dad helped you out with your wedding and down payment for your first home. This Father’s Day it is time to give back to Dad with the World’s Greatest Memorabilia exclusively from Upper Deck Authenticated.
No ties this year for Dad!
And now really is the time to place that order on www.upperdeckstore.com as you can get up to $800 cash back on your orders at checkout. You can order a gift that will instantly make you the favorite with Dad on your own or bring the group together to split the costs and get him something he really wants this Father’s Day. There is still time to have an amazing collectible delivered for the big day! To guarantee delivery by Father’s Day you can ship 3-Day on orders placed by midnight on June 10, ship 2-Day on orders placed by midnight on June 11 and Next Day on orders placed by midnight on June 12.
These collectibles won’t just bring him closer to the sports and players he loves, they will bring him closer to you. He will think about you every time he admires the piece you select. And you have the piece of mind from working with Upper Deck Authenticated that your Dad is getting the real thing as we witness every signing!
You grew up hearing him talk about Bobby Orr and “The Goal.”
He convinced mom it was a good idea to get the pay-per-view fight where Mike Tyson scored one of his 44 knockouts and you fell in love with boxing by his side.
He told you not to walk in front of the television when Michael Jordan made that memorable shot with the Bulls against the Jazz that still gives you goose bumps to see replays of today.
He told you to be quiet when Tiger Woods prepared to chip on 16 and after it went in the hole you were both anything but quiet.
He made you stand in the living room when national anthem played as LeBron James was awarded his second gold medal with Team USA.
You both still argue over how many majors Rory McIlroy will finish his career with after he won his first major at the 2011 U.S. Open.
And you both cheer for Landon Donovan and the Stars and Stripes in the Olympics every four years.
Sports have brought your closer together. Show Dad you appreciate that bond by having him unwrap a sports collectible he will treasure forever this Father’s Day. Time is running out, place your order today!
Last month we shared the story of Doc Jacobs and how Upper Deck made his dream come true by creating a baseball card of him to appear in 2013 Goodwin Champions. The product is set to arrive in stores just after the 4th of July holiday. The cards have been produced and today we had Doc Jacobs visit Upper Deck Headquarters to sign 100 of these cards to appear in the product. Take a look as Doc signs his first-ever trading card:
Collecting the Top Ten American Military Professional Athletes
Posted by: | CommentsUpper Deck has always been a proud supporter of the United States Military. Upper Deck works hard to show our appreciation of the military through philanthropic efforts and by including veterans into new trading card sets. We have even incorporated military moments on trading cards in sets like Goodwin Champions.
This Memorial Day Weekend, we would like to acknowledge some athletes who proudly served their country. As you enjoy this long weekend, take moment to recognize those who lost their lives in order to secure your freedom. Here is our top ten list of athletes of great American athletes who risked their lives and careers in order to serve the greater good:
#10 – David Robinson
Robinson won the Naismith and Wooden award during his senior year at the United States Naval Academy. After graduating from one of the nation’s top military schools, David served for two years in the Navy. After serving his country, David dominated the NBA and the Olympics.
#9 – John Wooden
Wooden is a three time All-American and helped Purdue win the 1932 National Championship. After a successful academic and athletic career at Purdue, Wooden enlisted in the Navy after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Wooden was a lieutenant when he left the Navy and went on to become one of the greatest coaches in college history with UCLA.
#8 – Yogi Berra
Yogi served in the United States Navy during World War II. Berra was a gunner’s mate on a ship off the coast of Normandy during the D-Day invasion. Berra went on to be one of the greatest players in New York Yankee history.
#7 – Bob Feller
Bob Feller was the first MLB player to volunteer for active duty after the Pearl Harbor attack. Feller returned to the MLB after serving for four years on the USS Alabama as an anti-aircraft gun captain. When he retired in 1956 after an 18-year professional career, Feller was a World Series champion and eight-time All-Star and pitched three no-hitters.
#6 – Bobby Jones
Though he only played as an amateur, Bobby Jones is considered to be one of the greatest golfers ever. Jones won all four of the major golf tournaments in 1930. Jones served as an officer in the United States Army Air Force during World War II. He bought and developed Augusta National in Georgia and raised cattle on the land in order to help with the war efforts.
#5 – Hobey Baker
Hobey is considered to be the United State’s first superstar hockey player. After dominating at Princeton University, Baker enlisted in the United States Army Air Force during the World War I. After surviving the war and receiving numerous military awards, Hobey died in post-war plane accident. The Hobey Baker Memorial Award is given to the top NCAA athlete each year.
#4 – Jerry Coleman
Jerry Coleman is the only Major League Baseball player to have seen combat in two wars. Coleman flew in 120 combat missions during World War II and the Korean War. Coleman went on to win four World Series championships with the New York Yankees. After his professional career, Coleman excelled in sports broadcasting.
#3 – Ted Williams
After his first Triple Crown season, Ted Williams served as a flight instructor during World War II. Williams was recalled back to duty in the beginning of the Korean War. He flew in 39 combat missions before being forced to stop flying due to an inner ear infection. In his 21 year career with the Boston Red Sox, Williams won the Triple Crown twice, was an All-Star 17 times, was the last player to bat over .400 in a single season and twice was the American League MVP.
#2 – Rocky Bleier
After playing for one year in the National Football League, Rocky was drafted into the Army and was shipped over to Vietnam. While on patrol, Rocky’s platoon was ambushed and he suffered a severe leg injury from grenade shrapnel. After being told that he would never play professional football again, Rocky attended the Steelers training camp one year after the ambush. When he retired in 1980, Bleier had 3,865 rushing yards, 1,294 receiving yards, 25 touchdowns and four Super Bowl Championships to his credit.
#1 – Pat Tillman
Pat Tillman is an American hero, pure and simple. Eight months after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Pat Tillman chose to leave his professional football career with the Arizona Cardinals ($3.6 million contract) and join the U.S. Army. He served a tour in Iraq before being redeployed to Afghanistan. He was killed in a friendly fire incident. He was awarded a Silver Star, Purple Heart and a posthumous promotion.
There is another American hero Upper Deck is hopeful can someday make the big leagues in Doc Jacobs who recently received his first-every Upper Deck card which can be found in 2013 Goodwin Champions coming out right after the 4th of July.
We want to share a special item from Doc Jacobs and Tommy Lasorda with our fans this Memorial Day with an autographed baseball signed by both veterans limited to just six total copies.
You could score this UDA signed baseball from Tommy Lasorda and Doc Jacobs! Read how below!
In the comment section below, please share why you feel Doc Jacobs and other military veterans who are athletes are worthy of an Upper Deck card. Please keep your comments to four sentences maximum. The person who most skillfully provides the most patriotic and original response will be selected to receive the baseball signed by Doc Jacobs and Tommy Lasorda with a certificate of authenticity from Upper Deck Authenticated. Comments must be received by Tuesday morning at 9:00 a.m. Pacific. Thank you to all those who participate and to all those who have served!
I saw the story of Doc Jacobs on ESPN one night after work and immediately emailed a variety of Upper Deck staff including our President Jason Masherah to let them know we had to make a trading card of this inspiring athlete. Everyone was on board, but then came the tricky part, how do we make it happen?
After trying a variety of resources, I reached out to my good friend Carolyn Blashek who runs the amazing charity Operation Gratitude who sends care packages to troops serving abroad, veterans and other friends of the military throughout the world. Upper Deck has worked very closely with Operation Gratitude over the years as we believe it is incredibly important to say thank you to the men and women who serve our country at home and abroad. And Carolyn came through for us and in less than a week we had a conference call set up with Operation Gratitude, Doc Jacobs and the charity Doc co-founded, VETSports.
Doc Jacobs at Upper Deck Headquarters in front of the Cards & Stripes 9/11 Baseball Card Tribute.
As I learned more about VETSports I realized something amazing, as inspiring as Doc’s story is, he is not alone. There are dozens of other inspirational athletes that are a part of the VETSports organization who had stories very similar to Doc’s. They are athletes who have lost limbs, but not hope. They are heroes who have suffered through the strenuous effects of post traumatic stress disorder, but persevered through. They have served honorably, but have so much more still to give.
Over the last few weeks we have collectively put together a strategy to pay tribute to these inspirational athletes by creating a set of Upper Deck “Heroic Inspirations” cards featuring VETSports athletes including Doc Jacobs. These cards will be available exclusively through VETSports and will be packaged with care packages going to members of our military through Operation Gratitude later this year.
But before all that happens, Upper Deck wanted to pay tribute to Doc Jacobs who made headlines a few weeks back when he got a tryout with an iconic baseball franchise after a chance meeting he had with Tommy Lasorda at a charity event. When Lasorda heard about Doc’s quest to reach the big leagues, he turned his organization on to him and Doc earned a tryout with the club.
I worked with my team at Upper Deck and a variety of other key partners to provide Doc with a very special day. The only thing Doc knew he was going to receive an Upper Deck trading card at an “Assembly Day” event at Operation Gratitude Headquarters where hundreds of patriotic Americans volunteer to work with the organization.
We drove up and I really felt like I learned a lot more about Doc. He went through a period after all the surgeries where he was a bit down on himself and it was through sports that he was able to take back control of his life. He later moved on to co-found the charity VETSports and is now helping other returning soldiers work through their disabilities (physical and mental) through the power of sports and here at Upper Deck, we think that is worth supporting!
I shared we had to stop off briefly to pick up a colleague who was going to help us out for the day. And when Tommy Lasorda answered the door I saw a smile come to Doc’s face as the two have become fast friends. It was a fun surprise for Doc and Tommy was very excited to be part of the event.
The ride up from there was one I will remember for a long time. We listened to baseball on the radio and the back and forth between Tommy and Doc was just great. We arrived at Operation Gratitude Headquarters and both Tommy and Doc were in awe of the enormity of the program and military precision of how well the volunteers worked in unison together. And then at lunch, the program began:
Afterwards Tommy and Doc talked more about Doc’s Upper Deck baseball card:
Upper Deck is proud to play a small role in shining a light on an inspirational hero like Doc Jacobs and the wonderful charitable organizations VETSports and Operation Gratitude. It is important to note that Doc Jacobs is not giving up on his dream of playing baseball in the major leagues. He continues to play with VETSports, Purple Heart Baseball and is training in hopes of earning a tryout with his hometown team in Cleveland. Good luck Doc, we believe in you!
This weekend at the box office the movie “42” about the life and times of Jackie Robinson took in over $27 million to claim title of the #1 movie in America. The timing of the release could not have been better coinciding with the start of baseball season and celebrating “Jackie Robinson Day” today. And with all this renewed interest in Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers comes a renewed interest in collectibles of these subjects; in particular, trading cards.
Upper Deck and Fleer have put out a bevy of very collectible Jackie Robinson cards over the years including trading cards that feature swatches of game-worn memorabilia and some that even have authentic cut signatures from checks or documents embedded in them from the iconic baseball legend.
To help celebrate Jackie Robinson Day, we thought it only fitting to share some images of some of our favorite Jackie Robinson cards produced by Upper Deck and Fleer over the years. There are a lot of compelling memorabilia cards that have been issued over the years, here are just a few that are worth adding to your collection.
This card is from the 2000 Brooklyn Dodgers Master Collection sets. Some were broken down to sell the individual cards, but most were kept together and are in private collections now.
This Fleer Greats of the Game card from 2001 has some great photograph of Jackie.
Ebbets Field was a big part of Jackie’s career and this unique card features part of a game-used base from the historic ballpark.
Some of the best Jackie Robinson cards can be found in Upper Deck’s SP Legendary Cuts products from over the years.
Some memorabilia cards have a key term used in the design of the card making for a very cool collectible.
Jackie certainly was a hero to many and this card speaks to that!
Some rare dual memorabilia cards were produced by Upper Deck that feature Jackie with former teammates and rivals.
Some of the most exciting cards Upper Deck has produced over the years are those that include an authentic cut signature of Jackie Robinson. These cards can be very pricey, but are certainly a sound investment. Here are some of the cards UD has put out over the last ten years and just recently in the Michael Jordan Master Collection.
From Upper Deck’s 2001 Legends of New York set, these cut signature cards remain in high demand!
Some of the best opportunities to score authentic cut signature cards of Jackie Robinson exist in the SP Legendary Cuts set, especially from 2001 where there were 147 copies issues.
Multi-signed cut signature cards featuring Jackie Robinson are very popular. This one is actually a quad signature card and features autographs of Gil Hodges and Leo Durocher on the back.
This card from 2011 SP Legendary Cuts features eight authentic signatures from a variety of LA & Brooklyn greats including Jackie Robinson. It recently sold online for almost $10,000.
Here is one of the more recent Jackie Robinson collectibles Upper Deck has produced from the Michael Jordan Master Collection. Two iconic signatures on one incredible card.
