Redemption

    A couple years ago I gave this up in a trade; the green Holiday Bowman Luis Robert numbered 14/99. I tried for a long time to get it back from John (GTT), and succeeded to do so on my birthday this year.

    This is Luis alongside the guy I traded him away for (2016 Topps #447 Ben Zobrist). Let's just say I didn't yet appreciate, or understand, the value of serial numbering. Neither did I know what a parallel was. I didn't have to give up a ton to get the card back, and John was pretty cool with the deal. THANK YOU!

    My birthday was ages ago. I just never posted on my 'gifts' from my friend John, though I've been planning on doing it for a long time. Better late than never I guess. 

    Besides trading me back my Luis Robert for a pretty cheap return, he made some other trades with me, and sold me a bunch of cards for a nickel apiece.

    I shall start with the oldest card traded/sold to me that day. 1959 Topps is an interesting set. Honestly, I kinda like the design. I like the bordering for the pictures. I'm not a huge fan of facsimilie autographs though (and yet one of my favorite sets is 2007 Topps). Wally Post had a solid 15-year career with the Reds/Redlegs, Phillies, Indians, and Twins. He played 1,204 games and hit .266/.323/.485 with 210 home runs. He finished 12th in MVP voting in 1955 when he hit .309 with 40 home runs while playing a league-leading 154 games. 

    I also acquired a handfull of 1961 Topps. They may not be in the best condition (especially you Joe Pignatano), but I will never complain about cards over 60 years old, and John is my main source of these.

    Next we have some 1966 Topps. The most notable player here is Lee Maye, who had a solid 13-year career.

    Moving ahead a few years to 1980. I do really like this design, as well as all three of these cards. Frank Tanana is one of my favorites, and I could muse over Ozzie Smith for a long while. 

    We enter the 21st century with some Cal Berkely alumni. Of course, I had to get my hands on Marcus Semien, who cost me only a nickel, and then I added Tyson Ross to make sure Marcus doesn't get lonely. Ross played from 2010-2019. He didn't have the flashiest record in the world at 44-70, but he was an all-star in 2014. I also have the Mark Cahna card from this set, but forgot to take a pic :)

    Tulo is a PC guy for me, and I will not complain about his roommate, Bringer of Rain. The 2016 Topps Back to Back cards have a most interesting and unique design. I like it. The backwards letters are cool, and I like the effect starting on the top and going down the middle of the card where it looks all broken up. 

    I also got these. I like to gather the old contest cards and checklists, which makes it super easy to trade cheaply with every person I do face-to-face trades with.

    I wasn't entirely sure what to make of this card when I got it from John. It's cool to get a card of a senator/actor that has at least something to do with baseball. After reading the back I appreciate the card more.

    Also got the Ketel Marte rookie card. I didn't know who he was until I added him to my fantasy team in 2019. It's funny to think that I knew almost nothing about the baseball players until 2019.

    And I will finish with these two packs of 1994 Upper Deck Denny's Holograms. After seeing on the internet what these bad boys look like, I may open up these single-card packs soon, because they're awesome! It's only a 28-card set; once I open these, I will probably try for the whole package, assuming they're easy enough to find and the prices are acceptable.

    I got plenty more cards from John, but these were the 'highlights' of the day, so to speak. So, months later, I thank you again John for the cool cards. I'm looking forward to when we can trade again.

    I'm afraid I've reached the time when the post ends and I have to sign off. Until next time, thank y'all for reading, have a great rest of the week, and happy collecting! 

One Thing Leads to Another

     This is post #100 for Don Cardwell. I didn't think I would make it this far, but here we are. 

    I found this card yesterday in one of my boxes:

    To start, I really like the 'Future Stars' design on the front of this card. I kind of like the 1988 Topps set (not sure how popular it is though). However, I do wish they did something a little bit better with the player names, which kind of just linger on the bottom right side of the card. And I'm still looking for Elster's position.

    Anyway, seeing this card reminded me of a card store pickup from however long ago. Now, this pickup wasn't from my local card shop. Alas, this particular store raised their prices and started focusing on Pokemon cards and the like, which isn't really my thing.

    Seeing the Jeff Huson autographed photo again reminded me of his 1990 Fleer card (because I really like his card from that year).

    I'm not a huge fan of 1990 Fleer as a whole, but I do like this card. Though I don't particularly like the set, I found it almost complete for $3, so picked it up. I forgot how many cards were missing from it, but I've added a few in there since.

    And while putting the autographed photos away, I saw the autographed cards from when I went to the Rangers Fan Fest in 2023.

    That was the first Fan Fest I've ever been to. It was definitely a fun experience, though lines were long. My family and I waited over an hour to get Jon Gray's autograph. I wonder how long folks waited for Corey Seager and Pudge Rodriguez. Yikes.

    Well, I thought this ended up being an interesting 20 or so minutes of my life. I'm glad I found those autographs of Elster, Vosberg and Huson again though, because I had forgotten about them. Thank you, 1988 Topps Kevin Elster.

    Thank you for sticking with me for 100 posts. Have a great end to your week, thank you for reading, and happy collecting!

    P.S. Jackson Merrill won the Silver Slugger for NL centerfielders. Let's go!

A couple new blogs

    I've been trying way too hard to put a post out today. No ideas are coming to mind for something to just throw together really quick, so I'm just going to announce two new blogs. One has to do with baseball cards, and one does not. I think my brain is broken because I've been working on a tactful way to throw these into a post, and just couldn't. So here they are.

    

    My brother just started up a card blog, Tanner Bibee's Lumber Co. He kind of has this obsession with players and facial hair, but he makes things funny, so go ahead and check that out.

    I've been reading through the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and am turning into a LOTR addict. Therefore, I just yesterday started a blog, He's Known as Strider. If you like Lord of the Rings, then maybe you'd like to check it out.

    

    There. I did it. In a few days I'll have a real post out. I've been working on a few for a while now, but need to find a few cards that are lost in one of my boxes. In the meantime, thanks for stopping by, enjoy the rest of your week, and happy collecting!

    A-ha! I will throw a card in here. I just realized that Jeff Kent got kicked off the HOF ballot in January, and consequently won't be on the ballot for this year. I'm really bummed about that, because he completely deserves entry into Cooperstown. Come on BBWAA, get your act together.

Brenton Doyle in 200 Words

     Brenton Doyle was born on May 14th, 1998 in Warrenton, Virginia. He attended Kettle Run High School, and won 3A East Region Player of the Year honors as a junior. Doyle went to college at Shepherd University, and played there for three years before being drafted by the Rockies in the fourth round of the 2019 June Amateur Draft. He won the batting title in Rookie Ball in 2019, batting .383 in 51 games. Doyle came back in 2021 after a cancelled 2020 season, and batted .280/.336/.454 in A+. He would play 132 games between AA and AAA the next year, and needed a mere 12 games in 2023 before meriting a call-up. Doyle struggled mightily at the plate his first big-league season, batting just .203/.250/.343 in 126 games. He did win the Gold Glove though, playing stellar defense in center field. Things seemed to come together in 2024 though, when Doyle had a crazy mid-season hot streak. He ended the campaign with a .260/.317/.447 slash line and 30 steals. Doyle also won his second Gold Glove in as many years. I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do once 2025 rolls around.

A Thank You To Johnny's Trading Spot

    Got a shorty for today. 

    Yesterday, a couple cards showed up from Johnny's Trading Spot. He very generously sent them to me for telling him some players born on October 31st. 

    Methinks John knows what I like: 2024 Topps, Evan Carter, and shiny cards. Can this day get any better? I submit that it cannot! And yes, the Stars of MLB card reads SMLB on the back (I don't know what the deal with SLMB is). 

    I am happy to add these new additions to my PC (now that I've decided to have one, though it's small). Thanks again John for the sweet cards! You've probably dealt me close to, if not half of the Evan Carter cards I own. 

    Now, I shall leave y'all to your days. Enjoy Sunday and the start of the week, and happy collecting! 

Mission Accomplished

     This Wednesday I went back to the local card shop. I grabbed some things for an upcoming event, and then spent some extra time picking out a few cards for myself. Most of these personal acquisitions came from one of the many quarter boxes at the front of the store. 

    These seven 2023 Topps Chrome Anniversary cards came from said quarter boxes. My favorite in the bunch is probably J.T. Realmuto. They didn't show up great on camera, but I think they look really good in-person. I like the color-scheme of the cards. Had I more time, I probaby would have added a lot more of these cards to the mix, but I'll take what I can get, of course.

2024 Bowman #85 Pete Crow-Armstrong

    PCA cost me a quarter too. I really like what the young rookie brings to the table and think that with a few touch-ups he could be a really good player for a young Cubs offense. I think the 2024 Bowman design is great, but I have heard mixed answers when it comes to that. I also just plain like Bowman.

2024 Bowman Prospects #145 Jackson Merrill

    This was the best card of the day for me (the mission accomplished). This is the first Jackson Merrill card I've gotten, which is surprising considering how much I talk about him on the blog. He's become one of my favorite players (probably my second all-tim; Buster Posey will always be #1, and Evan Carter gets the bronze), and I was very happy to find this one in the quarter boxes. I spent a little bit of time looking for more of his cards, but in vain. The individual cards aren't organized by team or player or anything, so I gave up.

    You can't see the picture very well, but it caught my eye immediately with the tongue-sticking mainly. The autograph is of the guy in the middle, Jackie Moore. Moore was a catcher who played 21 games with the Tigers in 1965. He batted 5-for-53 in his only big-league season. He managed the Oakland A's for 2+ years from 1984-1986, accumulating a record of 163-190 in that time. Moore also coached for multiple teams, including parts of twelve seasons with the Rangers. This picture/autograph was only $5, so even though I didn't know who it was at the time, I grabbed it anyway. And hey, I'm not complaining.

    I've saved this card for last.....don't ask why, it just felt right at the time.

2023 Panini Elite Extra Future Threads Relic #FT-CF

    The final card from the trip cost $2, and is a jersey relic (though not from any specific event or game). Cole Foster played at Auburn from 2021-2023, and was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2023 MLB June Amateur Draft. The card boasts of his bat-to-ball skills and ability to switch-hit. The middle infielder, now 23 years of age, is playing A-ball in the Giants organization. He has a minor-league batting average of .225 in 109 games in Rookie Ball through A+. As for his contact skills, he's struck out 134 times in those 109 games, but I guess that's part of getting used to a higher level. I wish him the best of luck moving forward.

    

    That'll do it in terms of my acquisitions from the last card store trip. As I said, the Jackson Merrill was the icing on the cake for me. I would consider this trip a win. The cards don't need to be worth money to make me happy.

    Thank y'all for reading, please enjoy this Friday and your weekend, and I'll catch y'all later. Happy collecting, and see you next time.

This is Downright Looney

    For Christmas (I believe it was this past one), my brother was kind enough to give me a binder full of baseball cards. I wonder why I didn't post this sooner... Anyway, this binder had a particularly interesting set of cards in it. Let's just say I didn't need to look through every card individually to see which 'good ones' there were. 

    The first page of the binder said it all:

    

    Lovely, isn't it? I looked through the whole binder, and it turns out that he gave me the entire 297-card set (or 594 if you count the back of the card like UD does). These are the only nine cards featuring 'players,' and the rest of the cards are comics. The players have some goofy stat line on the back, my personal favorite being Wile E. Coyote's.

It's no wonder he's a wretched pitcher considering that nothing from Acme works...

    

    I won't bother photographing the comics or anything for this post. Rather, I think we'll go with the other eight players. 

1-16: Bugs Bunny

    Oh great! Now the Dodgers have everybody! I love how they add in the part, 'Nothing about Bugs is average.' But I still kinda wanna know what his H/AB ratio is...

2-17: Daffy Duck

    I think I actually laughed like Elmer Fudd when I saw that he was second in everything to Bugs Bunny. The quote is charming.

3-18: Road Runner

    Uhhhhhh.....nothing much about this one, other then he always wins. Maybe the Yankees could have won the World Series had they kept him around. I find it interesting that they made him bat right and throw left, because in my baseball experience, that's pretty rare.

5-14: Sylvester

    Futility infielder? Seems a little bit harsh, but then again, it's Sylvester.

6-15: Porky Pig

    Porky's dillema seems typical of most broadcasters today. Seriously.

7-10: Tweety

    Again, besides a bunch of cheesy jokes, not a ton to say about this card. He makes Juan Soto look bad though when he acquires three times the walks.

8-11: Yosemite Sam

    Now we have a team I like. But of all characters, why Sam? I love what they did with his earned run total. Looks like Camilo Doval's not alone when it comes to wild pitching in San Francisco...

9-12: Tasmanian Devil

    It took me a while to figure out what was meant by 'Make nice hors d'oeuvres.' Now that I get it, I kind of wish that I still didn't. Earning the reputation as the worst interview takes real talent with all the competition he's been faced with.

    I think an Elmer Fudd card would have been a nice addition to the set, but all in all I really like it. I think they did well on the character bios for the most part, and the artwork is wonderful. Getting the entire set is great too. I've already added it to my TCDB collection, which is slowly gaining more cards and is up to about 370 now. I kind of just add as I post. I'm in no hurry.

    This would make for a happy ending, except for the part where I veer off to talk about something completely unrelated, but worthwhile nonetheless. The Diamond King is hosting another Serial Guessing Contest with 100 lovely cards to be given away to the winner. If you haven't seen it yet, then do it. (just click the link above). Wait, doesn't this make my chances of winning go down?!?!!??!?! Well, I do get a second guess for this, so I think it's way more than fair enough.

    I'm thinking of something Looney Tuney to end with post with, but nothing comes to mind except for throwing anvils in your face, and I don't wanna do that -- it means less people will read my blog! So, since I'm not going to cause any collateral damage, I think there's only one thing left to say...