The Top sports card sets to debut in the 21th Century - No 3. Heritage

 O.K. I know these are recycled designs 

This isn't new coke though.

These designs are classic and the concept is cool with thick old school cardboard. 

It is a cool concept. It is also a set to look forward to. 

The short prints suck though.

Goodbye, Fernando - UNREAL

 It is really strange that Fernando passes away on the eve of the first Dodgers-Yankees series since 1981 which he was a star of.

I was just commenting on Night Owl's blog how this card was one of the first "important" rookie cards at the time in the spring of 1981.

Unreal - was the word on the SI cover when, I think Fernando won his first seven starts with complete games without giving up a run or something like that - Unreal.

This reminds me of when Franco Harris died just a few days before the 50th anniversary of the immaculate reception

Unreal

 

Who is going to win the election? The GDP knows, the Stock Market knows and the Shadow knows

 As I wrote about 4 years there is a formula with the GDP numbers that correspond with Presidential Election outcomes. The Formula is:

If the GDP rises up from the third year to the fourth  year of an administration, the party in power stays in power.

If the GDP goes down from the 3rd year to the 4th year or if the 3rd or 4th year of the administration produces a negative calendar year GDP then the party in power gets kicked out of office.         This formula has worked about 85% of the time since 1928,

Currently the GDP stands at 2.3%  (thru June) it was 2.5% in 2023

There is a stock market formula. If the market is higher at the end of October than it was at the beginning of August then the party on power stays in power and if the stock market drops then the party in power gets kicked out of office. I have heard this formula works 90% of the time in the last 100 years

For example in 2020 on July 30 S&P 500 stood at 3,271 points. And on Oct 14, it stood at S&P 500 3,488 points. However the market dropped and it stood at 3,269 at the end of October. The party in power lost

At the end of July 2024, S&P 500 stood at 5537 points - today it is at 5853. 

The 3rd quarter GDP numbers will come out soon

PEAK MUSIC WHY DOES MUSICAL GENUIS LEAD TO EARLY DEATH

 Liam Payne (probably the 3rd wheel) of the Band One Direction has died.

He fell off a balcony.

He was 31.

One Direction was a big boy band about 10m years ago. The 2010s version of New Kids on the Block.

Liam Payne joins a long list of musicians whose life ended "young".

Plane crashes, drug overdoses, shootings etc.... 

So what famous musician died around Payne's age - My first thought was Andy Gibb. I thought he might have been too old but after checking Gibb died at age 30.

The second singer I thought of was the lead singer of Sublime - Bradley Nowell - he died at age 28.

The wrong way - rest in piece

The Top sports card sets to debut in the 21th Century - No 4. Prizm

 When I first thought about doing this series I was going to limit it ten but the pickings are so slim I limited to 4.

What is disqualified are all the sets that debuted in the 20th century - So no Topps, Upper Deck, Donruss, Bowman, Fleer, Score, Topps Chrome,  OPeeChee, Bowman, Contenders, Prestige, Elite, Spx, Playoff, Stadium Club etc...

I was thinking about starting at 3 because Prizm is kind of Topps Chrome with a different name. I never collected Prizm and think it is inferior to Topps Chrome (which I don't collect either except for 2008 Topps chrome 

baseball). This is kind of blasé looking.  

THE GREAT 1960s HOME RUN CHASE - September 21, 1969

 The big 3 that appear on the Topps 1973 card

The 60s HR Chase - All Time Leaders – September 21, 1969

Babe Ruth 714

Willie Mays 599

Hank Aaron 553

Micky Mantle 536

Jimmy Foxx 534

Ted Williams 521

Eddie Mathews 512

Mel Ott 511

Ernie Banks 496

Lou Gehrig 493

Stan Musial 475

Frank Robinson 449

Harmon Killebrew 443

Duke Sinder 407

Rocky Colavito 374

Gil Hodges 370

Ralph Kiner 369

Joe DiMaggio 361

I want to be the first $100,000 a year singles hitter.

 He did it.

You don't see stats like that any more.