Blog Bat-Around - Proudest Collecting Achievements

     Oh boy, this is going to be a tough one for me....I don't have any great card-related achievements, and none of them are very good, I'm afraid...mostly things like when I got my first Macklin Celebrini card. I've been a little bit hit or miss when it comes to collecting these days...Well, might as well give it a shot; Torren' Up Cards worked so hard on his post.

    

    However, these three achievements by no means have to do with value of cards or of their importance. Rather, it has to do with the sentimental value these achievements hold in my eyes.

Achievement #3: Getting My First Macklin Celebrini Card

    Hey, I warned y'all this was gonna be on the list. Considering my super-fandom, I haven't really tried collecting any of Mack's cards. It doesn't help that my LCS stopped carrying any new hockey cards (hopefully they'll restart this year). Nonetheless, early this year I was able to get my hands on my first Celebrini card, which feels like a sort of achievement to me.

    Hopefully I'll be attending a Sharks game in the near future (post in the making...)

Achievement #2: My Humble Evan Carter PC

    I started building my Evan Carter PC right about the time this blog started up. It's still fairly small, though Mr. Carter has surpassed Buster Posey as my second-largest player collection (Ripken still sits on top). 

    As I slowly rise through the ranks at work and have taken on more responsibilities, as well as my poor time management skills, progress on the PC has slowed. I hope to add a couple more cards to it the next time I hit up the LCS (hopefully within a week).

    Here are my three favorite cards of the PC:

    

Achievement #1: Entering The Blogosphere

    I don't think it's so cliche. Before I started my blog on a whim over two and a half years ago, I knew nothing about baseball cards; I was just a guy who liked it when he got 'em; especially the shiny ones. Joining the community did a ton to further my knowledge of cards, not to mention the immersion with other proud collectors with way more impressive collections.

    The ride has been super fun...between posting about a bunch of random nonsense, commenting on blogs, partaking in contests, joining the TCDB, and a host of other things, I wouldn't trade it for anything...not even my grail card.

    And there you have it. To the ordinary collector, these aren't special - hardly achievements at all. But I have no shame. For me, they're each a memory of a time I did (or am still doing) something I'm passionate about. And that's what the hobby is all about. After all, they do say it's the little things in life that bring us the most joy. 

    That being said, I have a few goals to keep in mind for my New Year's post which would be a little more impressive...

    Thanks for checking out my blog! Make sure to go and find the various posts from this Blog Bat-Around, and to have a great rest of the week!

Random Question of the Post (you didn't think I'd forget it, did you?): If you fell off a cliff and had only one of these items to protect you, which would you choose: a suit or armor, or a lawn chair with as many balloons as possible tied to it?

These Cards Have Been Waiting Very Patiently for a Post

 Random Question of the Post: Would you buy and live in a house with all the modern gadgets and comforts for 15% less than the cost of your house now....if it was designed to look like a dumpster?

    I was hoping to make it down to the LCS today, but I'm feeling a bit under the weather so it's not going to end up happening (and neither is work). But that's okay, because it means I can highlight some cards I got from TCDB a few months ago instead.

    I've meaning to write a post on these cards for a long time, but never got around to it. But way back in June a TCDB user put out a forum post that he was selling some cards to raise funds for his college team's baseball tournament - which, aside from being a noble thing to do, is pretty awesome.

    Anyway, this guy was selling some pretty cool cards, so adding them to my collection while also helping him raise money is a complete win-win. 

    In all, I acquired five awesome cards, which have sat on a neat little stack on my desk for two and a half months - until now.

The back of this card says it all:

Just thinking about all the great names his parents could have used....personally thinking Sweater Weathers....then again, they probably loved him

I like the 'ROOKIE CARD' top loader that goes with this auto. Glad to see Pivetta back in the majors after missing five months due to a flexor strain. Interstingly, in his first appearance back he beat the Nationals

I think this is my favorite card in the bunch. The artwork here is mad impressive. And Ward's autograph looks nice too

Again, so many missed named opportunities....leaning towards Budlight Beer...Seth missed out as well; imagine, he could have been playing for the Brewers. 

    Alas, good things oft come to an end, as does this post. Considering how quickly this took to write, it saddens me that I didn't do it in late June when I actually got the cards. 

    Thanks to ChicoSportsCards for these awesome cards, and good luck at your tournament! (assuming it hasn't already happened...)

    And thanks to everybody who stopped on by my blog today. I hope y'all make it through the last day before the weekend; Saturday is within sight! 

Rescued from THE BOX - Ep. 7

     THE BOX hadn't shown its hideous face in my house for over three months. Thinking of all the cards still being held captive by its evil clutches ignited my desire to seek out THE BOX and free some cards myself.

    The journey was long and perilous. When a cardboard box doesn't want to be found, it makes things very difficult for its seeker. Their camouflage is unmatched.

    Eventually I came across what appeared to be THE BOX's lair. I surveyed my surroundings carefully. Now I was on THE BOX's turf, and surely things would different from our previous battles. However, this doesn't change the fact that it's man versus cardboard box. Or so I thought...

    As soon as I entered the lair a swarm of boxes came at me. It took much coordination to avoid being struck by them. As I stood, ever so proud myself, I let my guard down. And that's when THE BOX struck.

    Let me tell you, being hit in the head by a box full of around 600 baseball cards doesn't feel all too good, especially when you don't want to hit it back for fear of dinging the corners of its hostages. Though disoriented and with a lump on my head, the cries of hundreds of prisoners brought me back into the moment. I leapt back into the fray.

    Through a slurry of paper cuts I was able to leap on THE BOX, and using strength gained only through adrenaline, I opened the mouth of THE BOX. I grabbed a single card before its jaws snapped shut like a mousetrap. My hand barely escaped dismemberment.

    I jumped off THE BOX and ran as fast as my legs could carry me out of its lair. I was being pursued by many of THE BOX's cronies, which were surprisingly quick considering how they lack limbs and aerodynamics.

    Maybe their poor properties were what allowed me to escape, but at any rate, here I am writing this post. After taking a second to rest, I looked into my hand and saw no other than....

    1990 Upper Deck #760 Jim Presley!

    The look on his face says it all - Mr. Presley is extremely happy to be freed from the clutches of THE BOX.

    1990 isn't one of my favorite Upper Deck designs, but I particularly like this card for a few reasons; one of which being that incredible smile on the front. 

    Another reason is the back of the card. Presley is locked in on some BP while a fan makes an incredible cameo. I hope he was able to get a copy of this card. I wonder how easy it is to get on a baseball card......

    Jim Presley played in the majors from 1984-1991 as a corner infielder, largely with the Mariners, though he also played a season with the Braves (as pictured above) and 20 games in '91 with the Padres.

    Presley had his fair share of power, hitting 28, 27, and 24 home runs in 1985-1987. He was an all-star in 1986 when he hit .265 and drove in 107 runs to go along with his 27 round-trippers. In 1986 he became the second-ever major leaguer to hit two walk-off grand slams in the same season.

    Presley was the first hitting coach of the Arizona Diamondbacks, which is pretty cool.

    I hope to free more cards from the hands of THE BOX in the near future. There are still so many who need their freedom and spotlight on the blog.

     In the meantime, thanks for checking out the blog! I haven't been able to comment on blogs the last week or so, but I'm reading y'all's posts and trying to figure it out.  Have a great week and happy collecting!

That Time I Got Really Close To A Pretty Cool Experience...But Missed Out

    Ladies and gentlemen, I have some news. It was good news, but now it's not. 

    About a week ago I emailed the AA affiliate of the Texas Rangers, the Frisco RoughRiders, asking them if I could interview former first-round draftee Malcolm Moore for the blog. I had met Malcolm before, and he's a really great guy. 

    I didn't really expect a response at all, but that same day a gentleman emailed be back and said he would like to set one up for me. I was shocked. 

    Yesterday I got an email from him asking me to come down to the field this afternoon to meet with Malcolm in-person for an interview. This was extremely exciting, but for two factors. Firstly, I live really far away from the stadium, and secondly, I work late today.

    Sadly, it's not going to end up working out. The gentleman who tried to set it up for me had me email him the questions, but it has to be asking them in-person.

    Thus, a wonderful opportunity came and went, and I came up empty on it. Maybe next year...

(I'm actually going to try again next year just so y'all know)

    It's not all too bad though - like I said earlier, I had gotten the chance to meet Malcolm and talk to him a little while ago, which was pretty cool. I hope to see him helping out the Rangers in the Bigs one day.

    I'll still give the Riders the shout-out I promised if I got the interview...GO RIDERS! They're actually having a pretty good season...at 67-58 thus far on the year. And thanks to Zach for doing his best to work this out. I appreciate you sir.

    

    On the bright side, the other day I traded for a couple of cards I wanted, which is some consolation:

    The picture is no bueno, but that's okay

    Glad to have finally posted again. Y'all have a great end to the week (we're getting there!), thanks for checking out the blog, and happy collecting!

I Love Football Season

     **CONGRATS TO TEAM SPAIN ON WINNING THE WORLD CUP**

    I got my first taste of the coming football season when yesterday when I had a fantasy football draft with nine friends. I love fantasy football drafts - they're so fun.

I also drafted a really good team

    I'll be rooting for the 49ers and Bengals again this season (49ers have been my dad's team ever since he was a kid, and I like Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins), and I got lucky enough to have many of them on the team.

    In addition to fantasy football drafts, I'm also having a little season-long contest through ESPN. It's called the Playoff Predictor, and you guess the standings in each conference and the wildcards who will make the playoffs. The winner of this contest will get a pack of football cards and perhaps something else at the end of the season.

To Enter, click here

Passwod is: BENGALS

    

 Who's the football team you will be rooting for this season?

Excited and Nervous

    I'm so stoked that Spain was able to pull off the upset victory against France. We played such a great game that it looked as if no soccer team in the world could have beat us. But...then there's Argentina.

    Let me be perfectly honest, I'm a little bit surprised with how much trouble Argentina has had in the knockout rounds, almost falling to both Cape Verde and Egypt. But they're still Argentina, and they're still a great club. And they seem past those struggles.

    

    I think Spain is honestly the team best-equipped to tangle with Argentina's powerful offense. After all, we've only allowed one goal in the entire tournament. I've watched many impressive games where the defense and Unai Simon have been almost flawless. And they'll need to do it once again tomorrow afternoon (3:00 EDT) to pull out a victory.

    Sports Illustrated's opening odds were in favor of Spain, at -154 for the red and gold, and +134 for Argentina, a 60.3% implied probability of Spain pulling out on top. That's certainly nice, but I feel that it's closer to 50-50 in a true clash of the titans. Of course, Spain will have me rooting for them, and they haven't lost yet when I've rooted for them 🤣 Plus, I've got that Spain jersey I promised. 

    When we are officially the World Cup champs, I'd like to celebrate on the blog by posting the cards I recently got from a TCDB user. 

    Until then, thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend, and ¡vamos España!

¡Vamos España!

     I've been watching a lot more of 2026's World Cup than I ever thought I would. USA had a pretty good showing this time.

    Out of the four teams left in the tournament, I'm pulling very hard for Spain. I have some deep Spanish roots and have been rooting for them from the beginning alongside the US.

    Spain has had an incredible run, not allowing a goal until last week's game against Belgium. Their defense and goaltending have been phenomenal, and they have some pretty strong pieces on offense as well.

    Tomorrow at 3:00 EDT, Spain will go toe to toe with France in the semifinal matchup. Spain has the tools to pull off the victory, but I'm pretty confident FIFA wants a rematch between France and Argentina, so it's going to be tough. I'm expecting a lot of bad refereeing decisions against the Spanish squad. And sadly for me, the game will not be shown at my workplace...I'll be able to check my phone periodically, but that's about it.

    And since my fandom won't be present at the television, I'd like to ask all neutral soccer fans reading this post to root for Spain with me. When they win I'll be able to watch them in the final, which would be amazing! Not to mention I'll be able to wear my España jersey for that one LOL

    Until tomorrow's matchup, thank you for reading, have a great start to the week, and ¡Vamos España!