DRAFT RESULTS!

     I had my first fantasy baseball draft of the season this afternoon. I'm playing in three leagues this season with three different friend groups (it's too much, I know), and I expect this league to be the most competitive.     

    My team in this league is called 'DA FISH,' which is an inside joke between a fellow league member and me.

    

    Anyway, this league contains 12 members, and is a holds league. I won't go into the entire scoring because I'm not in the mood to put anybody to sleep. It's pretty typical, other than the fact that holds is a category (which it is every year, so it's pretty typical for me).

    There are 24 rounds in the draft, and my draft position was sixth, which is my personal favorite since I don't need to wait a ton of picks for my next turn.

    This is my team for this year:

1st Round (6th overall): Paul Skenes (SP, PIT)

    I usually don't like drafting pitchers until the fourth round at least, but Skenes has an ERA under 2.00, so I made an exception

2nd Round (19th overall): Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. (1B, TOR)

    I was mad Nick Kurtz was taken a couple picks before, but that's okay because Vladdy's awesome.

3rd Round (30th overall): Yoshinobu Yamamoto (SP, LAD)

    I made another exception so I could have two of the top four pitchers in the MLB

4th Round (43rd overall): Chris Sale, (SP, ATL)

    I did it again.  My friend playing in the league called my top three pitchers a three-headed monster.

5th Round (54th overall): Jackson Merrill (OF, SD)

    I wanted Merrill. 

6th Round (67th overall): Shea Langeliers (C, ATH)

    I preferred Raleigh, but Shea hits bombs and they're playing in a minor league ballpark.

7th Round (78th overall): Nolan McLean (SP, NYM)

    I planned to draft him since the end of last season. This kid's stuff is insane (don't know if I should call a man with a full beard a kid, even if he is a rookie)

8th Round (91st overall): Nico Hoerner (2B, CHC)

    I always get Nico. The second base crop isn't too good and Nico's extremely consistent.

9th Round (102nd overall): Christian Yelich (OF, MIL)

    I went with my heart in this pick. He was good last season, and I think he can do it again.

10th Round (115th overall): Ryan Helsley (RP, BAL)

    You always need closers, and I think Helsley's going to return to form in 2026.

11th Round (126th overall): Willy Adames (SS, SF)

    Yeah, I neglected drafting shortstops.....but Willy's a solid option.

12th Round (139th overall): Raisel Iglesias (RP, ATL)

    More closers! I wanted to draft Robert Suarez as well, but somebody else nabbed him later.

13th Round (150th overall): Jacob Wilson (SS, ATH)

    The kid hit .393 in the minors

14th Round (163rd overall): Lawrence Butler (OF, ATH)

    I still have faith in Lawrence Butler. Besides, I need steals.

15th Round (174th overall): Munetaka Murakami (1B, 3B, CWS)

    I've been looking forward to Murakami in the majors since I first heard of him in 2024. Now he's my starting third baseman.

16th Round (187th overall): JJ Wetherholt (2B, 3B, SS, STL)

    Wetherholt's tearing it up in spring, and he plays a lot of positions, so I'll gladly take him.

17th Round (198th overall): Joe Musgrove (SP, SD)

    Starter number five is a solid option.

18th Round (211th overall): Kyle Teel (C, CWS)

    I'm glad to draft a backup catcher who's such a high-ranking prospect.

19th Round (222nd overall): Seranthony Dominguez (RP, CWS)

    Closer numero tres

20th Round (235th overall): Bryan Reynolds (OF, PIT)

    Could you believe this guy was still around in the 20th round? I'll take that all day.

21st Round (246th overall): Jeremiah Estrada (RP, SD)

    This is a holds league, and Estrada's good at getting 'em.

22nd Round (259th overall): Andrew Painter (SP, PHI)

    Why not take a chance on a prospect pitcher? Painter's got good stuff.

23rd Round (270th overall): Grant Taylor (RP, CWS)

    I like Grant Taylor, and he should get holds (and an occasional save), which are welcome.

24th Round (283rd overall): Chase Dollander (SP, COL)

    The draft rounds out with Chase Dollander. He was a top prospect who struggled in the majors last season (6.52 ERA), but as long as I bench him when he starts at home he's gonna have a great season. I can feel it.

    As of right now this is what I project my lineup to look like:

C: Shea Langeliers

1B: Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.

2B: Nico Hoerner

3B: Munetaka Murakami

SS: Willy Adames

OF: Jackson Merrill

OF: Christian Yelich

OF: Lawrence Butler

UTIL: JJ Wetherholt

BN: Jacob Wilson

BN: Bryan Reynolds

BN: Kyle Teel

GRADE: B- (probably a little too generous lol)

What I like: I have some solid star power and some solid rookies that I'm expecting to contribute

What I dislike: I forced myself to put too much trust on guys who underperformed last year or are doing badly in spring training.

This is what my pitching staff looks like:

SP: Paul Skenes
SP: Yoshinobu Yamamoto
SP: Chris Sale
SP: Nolan McLean
SP: Joe Musgrove
SP: Andrew Painter
SP: Chase Dollander

GRADE: A

What I like: I drafted four superstar pitchers (assuming McLean doesn't tank)

What I don't like: If Painter and Dollander don't perform the way I expect them to, I won't like it.

RP: Ryan Helsley
RP: Raisel Iglesias
RP: Seranthony Dominguez
RP: Jeremiah Estrada
RP: Grant Taylor

Grade: C(-)

What I like: Ryan Helsley

What I don't like: I don't know if Raisel Iglesias will keep the closer role all year (Atlanta also has Robert Suarez), and I'm not sure how many saves Dominguez will be getting with the White Sox. My bullpen has a small number of arms, and I fear for their consistency.

Overall: B

I think a B grade is fair. The draft didn't seem to be amazing, but it could be. If I manage well I think I should have a dangerous team this year. Here's to hoping!

    Well, that does it for this post. Thanks for checking out the blog, have a great rest of the weekend, and happy collecting!

Rescued from THE BOX - Ep. 4

     *channels British accent*

    'Welcome back to the next installment of Rescued from THE BOX, where a half-insane card collector acts as though cardboard boxes and baseball cards are alive and sentient, and hallucinates action-packed battle scenes with said cardboard box.'

    

    Last time I saw THE BOX I freed Rafael Montalvo's 1991 Bowman card. The mission of freeing every card from a life of mediocrity is a slow one, but one worth undertaking.

    THE BOX contented itself with making a mess of the room I keep all my cards in. That definitely has nothing to do with me. In fact, when I walked into the room my eyes disintegrated and fell in two small powdered piles on the floor. THE BOX's first attack was successful.

    Thankfully, eyeballs grow back, and I was able to see THE BOX as it lunged at me. Since it has no means of propulsion, it was an awkward fall. 

    My laugh may have sounded too confident as I tried in vain to humiliate my foe. THE BOX has no emotions, as I found out. We rumbled the way comic book superheroes do with their arch-nemeses. Whenever a hit was landed giant words magically popped up, such as 'BANG!' and 'POW!'

    Eventually, human limbs triumphed over cardboard edges and I wrenched open THE BOX's black hole-like maw and pulled a card out before it clamped upon my arm. The paper cut was so deep I had to make a tourniquet with a shirt that was lying on the floor. Who knew cardboard could be so deadly?

    After I had taken care of my battle wounds, I saw the card that had been rescued.

    Another '91 Bowman card, this time of Floyd Bannister!

   The expression on Bannister's face as he delivers this pitch would intimidate any batter of the era. 

    

    Floyd Bannister played 15 seasons in the majors from 1977-1992 (he pitched in Japan in 1990). In 431 career games (363 starts), Bannister pitched to a 134-143 record and a 4.06 ERA in 2388 innings. He was an all-star with the Mariners in 1982 when he went 12-13 with a 3.43 ERA and led the league with 209 strikeouts.

    

    Bannister made one postseason appearance, with the White Sox in 1983. He threw six innings and allowed three runs as Chicago fell to the Orioles, 3-1.

    Floyd has three children, all of whom followed in their daddy's footsteps. His son Brian pitched for the Mets and Royals for five seasons, where in 117 games (114 starts), he went 37-50 with an ERA of 5.08. Floyd's other two sons, Brett and Cory, both pitched in college. Brett played one season in the minors in the Mariners organization.

    I'm glad to have freed Floyd Bannister's 1991 Bowman card from the clutches of THE BOX and to have learned a little bit more about him.  

    Thanks for checking out the blog today, have a wonderful rest of the week, and happy collecting!

2026 Season Predictions

    As we get closer to the start of the 2026 MLB season, I would like to make a handful of predictions as to what will happen. I'm historically bad at predicting, as some of my earlier posts have shown, but I'd like to take my guesses anyway. I've paid little attention to what's been going on in the MLB recently, so forgive me if I'm leaving somebody important out. Without further ado, here we go!

World Series Matchup: Dodgers vs. Tigers

    I think the Dodgers coming out of the NL is kind of a default prediction. I like going against the odds sometimes, but I would be disrespecting Dodger fans if I didn't predict them. They've put together one of the best teams the world has ever seen (if not the best, I'm not qualified to guess on that), and I think they could realistically win 120 games this year.

    The Tigers are a little more of a toss-up, but I like the team they have. With the exception of Riley Greene, they seem to abide by playing small-ball, which I have much respect for. The Skubal/Framber stack is going to be one heck of a one-two punch. 

    I think the Dodgers are going to have a three-peat and defeat the Tigers in six games.

Rookies of the Year:
NL: Nolan McLean
AL: Trey Yesavage
    I have two pitches taking home the Rookie of the Year awards. I think Nolan McLean might actually be a top-ten starting pitcher this season. His pitches have an absurd amount of movement, and in his 48 innings in 2025, McLean pitched to a 2.06 ERA and struck out 57 batters. I'm really high on this player moving forward.    

    Yesavage was a beast in the postseason. He throws really hard and has a great breaking ball along with the ability to perform well under pressure. These two pitchers might be winning Cy Young Awards in the near future.

Cy Young Award Winners:
NL: Paul Skenes
AL: Tarik Skubal

    These are likely the two best pitchers on the planet (though I'm not sleeping on Yamamoto). They might be my picks for a long time, barring any injury. They both throw hard and have nasty secondary pitches, as well as incredible control. Imagine if they were playing on the same team. 

Most Valuable Players:
NL: Shohei Ohtani
AL: Aaron Judge

    Again, these are default predictions. Shohei will be both hitting and pitching for the Dodgers, and Judge is consistently awesome. I'm not counting out players such as Bobby Witt Jr, Juan Soto, Gunnar Henderson, Ronald Acuna Jr, Jose Ramirez or Elly De La Cruz, but they will need to have otherworldly seasons to dethrone Judge and Ohtani.

    That does it for my season predictions! The season doesn't kick off for three weeks, but I'd like to get them out early. Let me know if you think differently on any of them, and rest assured knowing I have cards to show off for the next post. Until then, have a great week, thanks for checking out the blog, and happy collecting!

Are you seeing what Greg's seeing?

    (Disclaimer - I cropped out the borders of the first two cards because it seriously looks as though the previous owner spilled coffee on them. Nonetheless, enjoy this Don Cardwell production)

'Hey, you seeing what I'm seeing?'

'Where? I can't see it'

'Oh, I see it. It's - it's...'

BOINK

    Whoever the photographer for that last card was is in need of a serious raise. 

    

    Thank you, goodnight!

Rescued from THE BOX - Ep. 3

    Usually when people speak of action, you think of buff criminals with giant biceps speeding up the sides of tall buildings in motorcycles with a katana in one hand and a coke in the other. 

    Not stealing baseball cards out of boxes. 

    Last time I had a run-in with THE BOX I was able to rescue Greg Olson's 1992 Fleer card. THE BOX hadn't shown his face around the house until this morning.

    It seemed to sense that I was approaching. And it was angry. It's difficult to describe what it's like to have an inanimate object angry at you, because it's not possible. 

    Clearly THE BOX wanted to have a rematch with me. The deal was simple; if I win, I get another card. If it wins, sorry Greg Olson. 

    Fortunately for me, humans have fancy things like arms and legs, and brains. Boxes are just awkwardly shaped rectangular prisms that imprison baseball cards. But hey, I won't turn THE BOX down, especially if it means saving another card from it's evil clutches.

    THE BOX lunged at me. Typical first move. I channeled my inner buff motorcycle guy and dodged it before pinning THE BOX against the wall. Then, prying it's mouth open I was able to save one card before it slammed shut on my hand.

    Getting bitten by a cardboard box is more painful than you'd think. Mostly emotional pain though, because you wonder how on earth an inanimate object without teeth can bite you.

    Anyway, after this ordeal THE BOX snuck back into the closet it came from to nurse its battle wounds and defeat me when we meet again. Pfft. Like that'll happen.

    I looked in my hand to see which of THE BOX'S captives I had saved from a life of mediocrity. And it was none other than....

    1991 Bowman Rafael Montalvo!

    The card has a simple picture framesque design. Nothing too spectacular. Montalvo has a great smile on his face as he poses for this picture. 

    Montalvo threw one career game in the majors, well before this card was made, in 1986. He threw one inning, giving up a hit and walking two while allowing one earned run, pitching the Houston Astros. He made two of the inning's outs on comebackers.

    After his extremely brief 1986 season, Rafael played in the minors through 1991 with the Angles, and then again in 1995, playing for the Dodgers organization. He is depicted on Baseball Reference with the Angels, though he never played in the major leagues with the club.

    In 537 minor league contests (12 seasons), Montalvo pitched to a 47-33 record in 537 recorded games. His ERA in the minors is not known. 

    In 2007 he was a pitching coach in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays system.

    I'm glad to have freed Rafael Montalvo's card from the imaginary hands of THE BOX. Freeing a card is always a good chance to learn both about the set it's from and the player on the card.

    Until next time, have a great week, thanks for reading, and happy collecting!

What to do with an ugly picture frame

     Do you have a picture frame that you wouldn't even put your worst enemy's photo in because it would be too insulting? Well I know exactly what to do!

    Obviously that's a bit of an exaggeration (maybe). But I did come across an interesting picture frame almost a week ago while re-organizing my closet. 

    It's a square picture frame made out of concrete (I think) with a bunch of lines in it and a tiny little panel for the picture to go in on the upper left-hand side. Maybe that sounds pretty bad, but perhaps not. Don't worry, you'll see it in just a sec. I remember somebody on my street was giving it away a while ago and I thought it looked interesting, so I took it. And it sat in my closet for a long time before I found it again.

    At this point you may be thinking to yourself, 'Ginko, this has nothing to do with cards. It's called a 'card blog' for a reason. Why on earth would I care about a picture frame you don't even care about? Why the heck am I reading this blog anyway?'

    Before you close the tab and crush my dreams, I would advise you to bear with me if you'd like to know what I did with the frame. It does have something to do with baseball cards, in fact, don't you worry.

    I took a little bit to formulate an idea for the frame; at first I said I'd give it away as a wedding gift, lol. But I wouldn't want to insult the couple. Eventually, with the help of a brother who was hanging out with me at the time I found it, I came up with an idea to transform it from a rather ugly brick taking up space in the closet into a lovely card collector's mantlepiece.

    This is literally sitting on the mantle to my left as I write this post.

    Firstly, I flipped the frame over to put the panel for the picture in a better position. The frame stands up on its own or can lean against the wall, so it didn't matter that I flipped it.

    After thoroughly cleaning up the dirty glass panel that protects the photo, I found that I could fit a baseball card in a top loader into the frame as a replacement for a photo without causing any damage to the card itself. Clearly it's not a perfect fit, but I don't have a picture that would fit in there anyway. 

    As to which card I should place into the frame, that's where that brother came in. He suggested that since the frame is more or less a rock, a Rockies card would be the perfect one to use. And I agreed with him wholeheartedly while also chuckling a little. A quick look into a few binders, and I was down to three Rockies to choose from. Ultimately I chose the 2025 Topps Drew Romo, #296. I did so for a few reasons; firstly, I wanted to leave my serial-numbered gold parallel in its binder. Secondly, it's a rookie card, which is cool. And finally, Romo's a catcher, and I thought it best for a catcher to go into the frame (get it???). 

    Like I mentioned before, the entire card didn't fit into the opening, but I can assure you it's safe; I didn't want to harm any of my cards in the process. It's not perfectly centered, but I didn't mind it enough to change it. 

    Well, there you have it. If you have a strange-looking picture frame and want to do something cardy with it, I hope I've been a help to you. If not, well, I have failed you. I'm quite satisfied with the way this quick little craft turned out, and think it'll have a permanent home on my mantle.

    Thanks for checking out the blog! Make sure to have an amazing rest of the week (almost at the weekend) and happy collecting!

FINALLY!

    I've been a Macklin Celebrini superfan for the better part of two seasons now (we've been over this on the blog before). However, I've never owned one of his cards. Tragic, isn't it? I typically prefer finding cards at the LCS or other stores that carry sports cards to ordering them online, but realize that my chances of pulling a Celebrini card are far worse and more expensive than just ordering one, especially since my LCS hasn't gotten any packs of hockey cards this year. So I did end up ordering one, for six dollars, which is more than I'd typically spend on a base card; but the way I see it, if he keeps performing at the level he's played at this season his cards are just going to get more and more expensive. And I want at least one of his cards without breaking the bank.

    I ordered the 2025-26 Upper Deck#136 base card of Macklin Celebrini, which is an awesome card, not to mention the cheapest of his I found. So it's a win-win, right? Well, not exactly.

    I ordered the card ages ago. It was 'scheduled' to arrive weeks before it actually did, and I was worried that it got lost in the mail. But in the end good ol' Macklin came through and I got the card. Better late than never, right? And it was a good test in patience too 😉

    This is such a great card. The picture is awesome; Macklin really does look like a shark on the attack. Though this card was on the cheaper end of his cards, the picture is my favorite of all of them. I appreciate how much space the card leaves for his picture as well. This instantly becomes my favorite card in my small hockey collection.

    The San Jose Sharks season has been....interesting, to say the least. I think 'tortuous' is a better word. It's like watching a happy kid's show and then accidentally leaning on the remote to change the channel to a horror film. And then you find that both shows are interesting and you keep switching between them. The Sharks were looking so good early on, and absolutely fell off a cliff the last few weeks before the Olympic break. And to make things worse they lost out on trading for Artemi Panarin, and he went to the Kings instead, one of the teams they're competing with for a playoff spot. Wow, I just spouted off a huge chunk of my hockey knowledge right there....

    No matter how well the Sharks play as a team, Macklin is performing like a beast, both in the NHL and Winter Olympics. He is in serious consideration for the MVP (Hart Memorial Trophy), with the likes of Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon. Should he win the Hart, that would make me a very happy superfan.

    If the Sharks end up pulling through to make the playoffs, and if I live through the rest of the season to witness it, I will be absolutely stoked. If not, people may want to keep their distance from me until the Rangers start looking like they'll make the playoffs.

    Well, now that I'm off this shark-fueled high, I'll leave y'all to the rest of your various card collecting. But not before asking a question: Do you have a favorite hockey player? If so, who?

    Now that I've opened up the floodgates to such a deep and thought-provoking question, I will leave you with your innermost sports-related thoughts. Have a great rest of the week, thanks for stopping by the blog, and happy collecting!