The Collective Returns of 'On This Day' and 'Single Card Post'

That's right, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you! Today I have dusted off two of my long-dormant series to pay tribute to one of my favorite ball players, Josh Gibson. The Negro Leagues portion of my collection often falls to the back burner in favor of whatever is new or whoever is in new releases. This is something I definitely need to work on because I tend to forget how happy I am whenever I add a new card depicting anyone from this part of baseball history. That being said, let's get into the dual theme for today's post.

On this day in 1947, the aforementioned Home Run King of the Negro Leagues passed away at the young age of 35. He left behind a 17 year career filled with many achievements of mythical proportions fueled by a combination of his incredible skills and the 'word of mouth' documentation of the era. Like many, I am enamored of the various legends surrounding his playing days.

Shortly before the holiday season began, I found this Gibson that I had never seen before on eBay. I was fortunate to win the auction and give it a new home. I easily determined that the card was distributed at the 2006 All-Star FanFest in Pittsburgh, but it took some additional digging to uncover that it wasn't a part of the main FanFest set. Instead, it was part of a separate 6-card set that Topps gave out as a bonus to correspond with the purchase of a special 'Pirates Edition' Factory Set. Here is the back:

As you can see, it is even #/1000. Yes, I realize that isn't exactly considered 'limited' in this day and age. This is the most exciting addition to my Negro League PC in some time. However, I do have one issue with it...the picture shows him playing for the Homestead Grays but card only lists him as a member of the Pittsburgh Crawfords. It's a knit picky observation, I admit. Overall, it doesn't change my appreciation for this awesome piece of cardboard. Thanks for reading!