I didn’t do a drawing this week, but I did set up for the first time ever at a card show, doing so with Ken, fellow host of Vintage Card Voyage. While the foot traffic to our table wasn’t what I had hoped for (I admittedly didn’t have any Pokemon or modern sports cards for sale), I think it was still a successful venture and I hope we’ll do this more often going forward.

In this issue you'll find:

• A brief look at the 1961 Golden Press Baseball Hall of Fame set

• A profile of ex-NBA player Cedric Maxwell

• News in the hobby

• Recent Vintage Card Voyage videos

Let’s get into it.

Since the Ruth was on the publication’s cover, it’s especially condition sensitive and, along with him being probably the most famous person in baseball history, it’s therefore the card most sought after in higher grades. Due to the book being distributed across the country, quite a few copies still exist and can be found on sites like eBay for a few hundred dollars.

Maxwell was born in 1955 in Kinston, North Carolina. At Kinston High School, he didn’t play much in the beginning. After playing for a ninth-grade team, he didn’t try out for the team his sophomore year, then tried out his junior year but didn’t make the team. According to this reprinted article, Maxwell was 6-foot-3 and 140 pounds when he tried out his junior year, but by the time the fall of his senior year rolled around, he was 6-foot-8, with a wingspan of 6-foot-11. That one season was enough to convince UNC-Charlotte he deserved playing time on their team, and during his four years with the 49ers, the team had a record of 97-18, including 58-0 on their home court. After helping lead the team to the NIT finals in 1976 during his junior year, Maxwell was a first-team All-American in the 1976-77 season, scoring 22.2 points per game and grabbing 12.1 rebounds. The 49ers got all the way to the NCAA Final Four his senior year, only to fall 51-49 to the eventual national champion Marquette University, with Maxwell being named to the all-tournament team.

His successful college career led to Maxwell being drafted 12th overall to the Boston Celtics, a few spots after Hall-of-Famers Walter Davis (fifth), Bernard King (seventh) and Jack Sikma (eighth). The first two seasons with the Celtics, they weren’t a good team, finishing with an overall record of 61-103, but Maxwell was their top player in the 1978-79 season, averaging 19 points per game and leading the NBA in field-goal percentage at a .584 clip. He would again lead the NBA in field-goal percentage the following season with .609, but he was no longer the best player on the team, as the Celtics drafted someone you may have heard about: Larry Bird. Bird’s appearance, even though not exactly welcomed by Maxwell, immediately turned the team around, as they won 61 games his first season and the team got to the Eastern Conference Finals, only to lose to the Philadelphia 76ers.

The following season, future Hall-of-Famers Robert Parish and Kevin McHale also joined the team, pushing the Celtics over the hump, besting the 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals and then winning their 14th NBA title, a championship in which Maxwell was named Finals MVP, averaging 17.7 points and 9.5 rebounds per game, even as Larry Bird averaged 15.3 points and 15.3 rebounds per game that series.

Maxwell continued to start most games for the next four seasons with the Celtics, but Kevin McHale was breathing down his neck for minutes, winning two Sixth Man of the Year awards. The Celtics continued their success during the 1980s, making the 1984 and 1985 NBA Finals, both against the Magic Johnson-led Los Angeles Lakers. The teams split those two series, the Celtics winning in 1984, Maxwell scoring 24 in the Game 7 victory. He also had an emotional influence, per Wikipedia:

Following an injury in 1985, mixed with McHale’s ascension, the Celtics traded Maxwell to the Los Angeles Clippers, along with a draft pick, to acquire Bill Walton - and would go on to win the 1986 NBA Finals. Maxwell’s Clippers, meanwhile, were headed in the other direction, winning 32 games his first year, followed by a paltry 12 the following season. That season, Maxwell was traded after 35 games to the Houston Rockets, where he would wrap up his career, retiring after the 1987-88 season with a total of 10,465 points, 5,261 rebounds, and two NBA championships.

While the player known as “Cornbread” may have retired more than 35 years ago, he’s still a part of the game, having broadcast games for the Celtics since 2001 on WBZ-FM. He also hosts a podcast and co-wrote a book.

News Briefs

Is There a Third Choice?

Shohei Ohtani Card Also Sells for More Than $1 Million

Jackson Holliday, Signer of Tens of Thousands of Cards

Caitlin Clark Keeps Setting Records

NFTs Again, Huh?

Vintage Card Voyage: Recent Videos

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