PCPCs part 4: Lary Sorensen

Previously:  Jim Paciorek, Gary Wayne, Tom Grieve

Today's player is RHP Lary Sorensen, whose oddly-spelled first name was a nod to former Tigers hurler Frank Lary.  As I was doing some more digging for this post I found that Sorensen was the opposite of a role model during and after his playing career, both as part of the cocaine scandal in the 80s (and later), and then as a repeat offender drunk-driver.  I especially have no tolerance for the latter whether or not they avoid killing anyone, so that leads me to two conclusions:  I still have interest in Sorensen as a member of my card collection but not as a person, and I no longer have much of a reason not to collect his fellow idiot Steve Howe, so that may be something I'll pursue in the future.

This is one of those times collecting can pull you in different directions, and it's something I've faced in the past with players that have done incredibly stupid things like Miguel Cabrera and Taylor Lewan.  It's hard to decide whether or not to pursue a collection or dump the player, so I don't envy those that were or are fans of guys like Chad Curtis or Oscar Taveras.

Anyway, that's as dark as I'm willing to get here, so at this point I'll just say that I'm collecting Sorensen as a former Wolverines baseball player but don't condone his actions, and I'll leave it at that.

Lary was drafted by the Brewers in the 8th round in 1976, made the bigs the following year, then was an All-Star in '78 as part of a career-best 18-12 campaign.  He went on to play for six other teams from 1981-88 (with 1986 lost to suspension and a season in the minors):  St. Louis, Cleveland, Oakland, the Chicago Cubs, Montreal, and San Francisco.  Sorensen has 36 total cards spanning the years 1978-1987, and each of those teams is represented except for the Giants.  I already owned his '86 Topps base card due to having the complete set, but since I decided to scan these in nines instead of individually, I decided to include it here as well.

So here's a look at his 36-card run:

1978 Topps RC; 1979 O-Pee Chee; 1979 Topps; 

1980 O-Pee-Chee; 1980 Topps; 1981 Donruss

1981 Fleer; 1981 Topps; 1981 Topps Traded

1982 Donruss; 1982 Fleer; 1982 O-Pee Chee;

1982 Topps; 1982 Topps Traded; 1983 Donruss;

1983 Fleer; 1983 O-Pee-Chee; 1983 Topps

1984 Donruss; 1984 Fleer; 1984 Fleer Update;

1984 O-Pee Chee; 1984 Topps (#286); 1984 Topps (#546, with Mike Hargrove);

1984 Topps Tiffany (#286); 1984 Topps Tiffany (#546, with Mike Hargrove); 1984 Topps Traded

1984 Topps Traded Tiffany; 1985 Donruss; 1985 Fleer;

1985 Fleer Update; 1986 Fleer; 1986 Topps;

1986 Topps Tiffany; 1987 Fleer Update; 1987 Fleer Update Glossy

Sorensen is my 12th completed PC, and I have one player left to show off, plus a nice little stack of Larkins, so watch for those posts soon, probably this week.

2014 Sportlots purchase: more Michigan PC guys

Last month I put together another nice bunch of purchases on Sportlots, and while I still need to post my set wantlist additions over on TMV, I also wanted to show off five Michigan PC pickups I grabbed from one of my more reliable suppliers of such cards:

Red Berenson 1969-70 Topps

Back on Wednesday I showed off a couple new Reds and mentioned that I was the proud owner of his regular OPC/Topps run from '69-70 to '78-'79, but hadn't yet posted his '69-'70 Topps issue.  Well here it is!  It's tied with the OPC version as the oldest in my Berenson collection for now, and of course this one's in much better shape.  I'm just a card shy of 50% at 27/55 in his run.

Steve Boros 1986 Topps Traded Tiffany

For some reason Sportlots seems to be a pretty good source for Tiffany cards--two of today's scores, including this Boros, came from a seller there, and I've landed a number of others before as well.  This '86 Traded Tiffany was an exciting addition because it leaves me needing just one to complete Steve's collection, and that's the '84 flagship Tiffany, oddly enough.  I should be celebrating having Boros' run completed very soon, but for now this is card #15/16.

Dave Campbell 1974 O-Pee-Chee

Moving on to an even more exciting card for me, here's another vintage OPC of Dave Campbell, which was a sight for sore eyes as far as I was concerned because I now own 100% of Campbell's PC!  Sure, it's only 10 cards, but it's still fun to have completed another Michigan guy's collection, and Dave is the 6th to earn that distinction.  That group includes Topps cards in 1969 and 1970, then OPC/Topps versions from 1971-74.

Chris Getz 2013 Topps Update Wal Mart Blue Border

Next up is the most modern card in the bunch, another entry in the rainbow of Chris Getz from 2013 Topps Update.  As a matter of fact, it happens to be the final card I needed to complete that project as the 9th in the group.  I'll make sure to show off the rainbow in a future post, but for now this card featuring a great photo of Getz sliding is my 72nd of his 106 entries to-date.

Scott Kamieniecki 1991 Topps Traded Tiffany

Finally we have the other Tiffany card I found this time (from the same seller that had the Boros) in the form of this very young Scott Kamieniecki from '91 Traded.  As you can imagine I was happy to find both from one seller since that saved me a bit on shipping.  This was the last I needed in terms of Kam's 1991 cards (he has six of them), and I continue to make steady progress on his collection which now stands at 84/90.  With a bit of luck I may dig up his tougher-to-find '98 Pacific Online Web and Winners cards before the end of the year, and that would put me in a good position to close out his run as well.

With these posted I'll likely be moving on to new COMC purchases shortly, with another eBay win to mix things up a bit.