Clue #4

    We have two clues left in my little contest. I've been pleasantly surprised with how it has been going, getting 24 comments from 10 different people. Anyway, it's time for the fourth and second-last clue of the contest to be revealed. But first, as always, the clues prior to this revealing one.

    Clue #1: the particular player I'm thinking of was a 7-time All-Star.

    Clue #2: This player played for only one team across his entire career.

    Clue #3: The player I'm thinking of has been shown (on cards, of course) on this blog before

    And clue four is...
        The selected player has won two Gold Glove Awards and has been a two-time Silver Slugger

    There you go. Hopefully this clue will put all the previous clues together. Good luck on your guessing, thanks for entering the contest, and Happy Collecting!

Clue #3

    Alright, here we go with post three of the contest. We've already seen two clues, and today it's time for the third. Let's review:

Clue #1:  the particular player I'm thinking of was a 7-time All-Star. 

Clue #2: This player played for only one team across his entire career.

And now, clue 3:

    The player I'm thinking of has been shown (on cards, of course) on this blog before

Alright, hopefully it's all starting to come together. There'll be two more clues that y'all will get across the next few days. Thanks for partaking in my little event, and Happy Collecting!

Clue #2

    Here we go. I'm here to give out the second clue for this guessing game. I guess this was a good idea after all, since I got seven comments on the first post. I'll keep this brief. As a reminder, whoever is the first to correctly guess the player I selected will win three to four cards. What these cards were and the rules of the contest can be found in my first post for the contest, my last one on the blog.

    Now then, back down to business. The first clue was:
            the particular player I'm thinking of was a 7-time All-Star. 

    Here is the second clue for the game:
             This player played for only one team across his entire career.

    Well, there you go. Remember, there will be three more clues (posted two days apart), and if nobody can guess it, a sixth one.  

    Thank you for participating in my little guessing game, and good luck. Happy collecting!

A Little Contest

     Alright folks! We've got a contest on our hands! But first, a word from our broadcaster:

(Jared Sandler)

    Alright, what's in for the contest? In the beginning, before I ever started a card blog, I had the desire to have a giveaway, and was very close to doing one on my other blog. I'd love to give stuff away to my valued readers, and the way I'm structuring it, make it fun. Alas, you kind of need something to give away and a reason to have one. While working on this post, I was thinking it may be too early in my card-blogging career to have a contest, but was told by a reliable source that nobody would mind getting free stuff, so here we are. I just had to wait for a decent time to do so. This is coming off my first ever 1000-view month (1393 to be exact), which I'm sure is petty for some bloggers out there, but it's a big deal to me. Hopefully there'll be many more to come. Anyway, since I don't have a ton of flashy cards, I don't have a ton to give away. But, I figured it'd be fun anyway. After this introductory contest, I think I'll try to do a little giveaway contest on every birthday for Don Cardwell (the first will be January 22, 2025). Anyway, looking at my Trade Bait List I found a few good cards to get rid of...I mean, offer as a prize, of course.

    The winner of the competition will receive one of each of the following:

                -2011 Topps Diamond Anniversary Evan Longoria (HTA-4) 

                -2011 Topps Diamond Anniversary Josh Hamilton (HTA-5)   

               -2004 Donruss Team Heroes #166 Carl Pavano (This is the guy who gave up McGwire's 69th and 70th homers in the 1998 season)

    I got these cards in a box that contained over 600 cards. This box contained about eight of each of the 2011 Diamond Anniversary cards. I think I got three Carl Pavanos, but had been reading about him in a book at the time I got the cards; more accurately, reading his account of giving up McGwire's 70th homer. So, since I had so many dupes of the same cards, I figured it'd be more fun to see a contest first-hand than to have them sit on my trade bait list and maybe or maybe not ever get traded.

    Like I said, it's not a lot, but since I'm planning to have a contest every year (not sure how realistic that is, but I'll try), I'll see how it works out. I doubt it'll be that hard, at least the way I'm structuring it. The most difficult part will be finding better prizes to offer. Well, I'll work harder on that next time. I kind of just threw together the first three cards I found (that weren't 1980's Fleer or Topps).

    You'll need to do two things to win:

a) Correctly guess the player I'm giving clues for

and

b) If you win, send me your address, because chances are I won't have it (there's a comment form near the bottom of the blog page you can use)

    If nobody can guess my player, it means two things: I'm really bad at giving clues, and I'll add another one. This is a week and a half long guessing game with five initial clues, so whoever is the first to correctly guess my selected player wins. You can comment once for each post with a guess (I suppose you could comment otherwise if you wanted), starting with this one.

    I'm going to try a different approach, but it's not going to benefit you in any way. I would greatly appreciate promoting Don Cardwell on your blogs. I love anything, whether it's adding it to the blogroll or otherwise. It'll be much appreciated.
    What the heck, if you promote my blog on yours and win, I'll throw in another card, 2004 Fleer Platinum #33 Larry Walker. Just show me where you promoted it on your blog. If my blog has already been promoted, which I know is the case in many blogs, you've already completed the goal and can win the extra card.

    Alright now, down to business; clue #1; the particular player I'm thinking of was a 7-time All-Star. 

    Let the guessing commence! If you guess correctly and I don't acknowledge it, it's because I'm waiting for the whole process to end. Remember, the first to correctly guess is the winner. Happy collecting and good luck. Please tell me this was a good idea...

Found Some OPCs While Looking in a Box...

     Well, this'll be my last post of the month, because I'm doing something special for the start of May (either May 1st or 2nd). While looking through one of my boxes of cards to use for my next post, I found a 1991 O-Pee-Chee Premier card just lying around. Then I found another, and another, and eventually nine of them. It surprises me that I didn't notice these cards the first time I went through the box, but it doesn't matter now that I have knowledge of them.

    It was a nice little find for me, who was struggling to find post material. It was while I was thinking this to myself that it dawned on me that I have three binders full of my cards from 2021-2023 that I can come up with posts for. There'll be some posts on them shortly.

My Newest Obsession

     Ugh, don't you hate that feeling when something comes to mind and is just stuck there seemingly indefinitely, whether it's a tune from a great song, a line from a movie, or the band Lifehouse? Whatever it is, when something comes into your head and you can't keep it away, it can be nice, like a 33-song playlist of your favorite band (guilty), or extremely annoying, like if you need to focus on some other task but are constantly distracted.

    Well, while working on my last post, I couldn't get a certain player out of my head. I'm not gonna lie, I don't think this has ever happened to me before, with the exception of Jackson Holliday. Like Holliday, this guy is a rookie, and (unfortunately) unlike Holliday, he's doing pretty well so far. Since he was in my head, I figured I'd post on him. It's like me to over-analyze a certain subject when I'm in the mood. Well, here we are. To be honest, I don't even know why players come into my head and stay there. Kind of odd.

    

    While I'm certainly not following Jung Hoo Lee, I did do my fair share of research on him while looking into free-agents for the 2024 season. He impressed in Korea, batting .340 in the KBO and .324 when he was 18 years old. He struck out 304 times in 884 games in Korea and currently has a strikeout rate of 9.1% in the MLB, which frankly, is really good. I know he's only played a couple games north of 20, but he's a contact machine.

    Enough being a stat-nerd. I don't really know where this sudden interest came from, but it's quite possible that it's because he's a prospect (kind of) on my former favorite team. The Giants have been playing second banana to the Rangers in terms of my favorite team for about a year now. But seeing as how I was born and raised a Giants fan, I'm still partial to them, so maybe. Otherwise I have no idea why this happened. At least I'm over it now.

    Well, that'll do it for this post. Thanks for reading my sudden whims, which seems to be the running trend with this blog. I can't complain about it though. The people in Hong Kong seem to love it. Enough with the jokes, happy collecting and happy blogging. I'm out.

Best Topps Sets of the 21st Century

    I don't know about you, but I really like to collect modern day Topps cards. I first got into collecting cards in 2019, so a lot of the cards I own are from the last several years. I am currently working on collections for each coming season, and though not really a set collector, I have a good two to three hundred cards for each season 2021-2023. I only have about 40 2024 cards, but as they trend to get cheaper part-way through the season, I'll pick up a few hundred more.

    Since I specialize in the cards from the 21st century, the point of this post will be to show what my five favorite Topps base sets from 2000-2024 are. I say five because I think y'all can guess what at least three of them are. So then, let's get started with number 5.

#5: 2015 Topps

    I really like the dual-colored border for the 2015 Topps cards, which seems to give them a bit of a futuristic touch. I also think the design at the bottom of the card is neat, though I can't quite make out what it's supposed to be. Do I own any of these cards? Unfortunately, no I don't. Gotta get some sometime.

#4: 2010 Topps

    I also really like the borders on the 2010 cards. Though it looks slightly sloppy with the colorful blotches on the side of the card, it gives them a definitive touch. I also really like the team logo on the front of the card, and appreciate that it isn't in a tiny little designated box over on the side. Do I own any of these cards? I don't think so, though I have a whole bunch of baseball card boxes in which I may have some that I didn't notice. I'll need to check that eventually.

#3: 2016 Topps

    2016 Topps really came out with a solid design. I'm partial to the bottom of each card, which has the team logo in a sort of slanted box with the player name and position next to it in a creative design. The stats on the back are also easy to read, which is good because they are often difficult to see. This specific card is awesome too; cards of players robbing home runs are spectacular, and I feel that Mike Trout has more of them than anybody else. Do I own any of these cards? Yes. I own quite a few of them, and have used them for posts before.

#2: 2007 Topps

    Anyone who reads my blog knows that I praise 2007 Topps. But why? I can't really say I have a great answer for that myself. They do look pretty sharp, and I like the green color scheme on the back of the cards. Fake autographs are nice too, I guess... '07 Topps is really unique in itself in that it caught my eye right away, and I haven't seen any other sets that look quite like this one. Ha, unlike 2016 Topps. The 2017 and 2018 sets looked very similar to 2016, which bores me greatly. And yes, I have a lot of 2007 cards, don't you worry.

#1: 2024 Topps

    Yes, Topps' youngest set is my favorite. I have a whole post dedicated to the 2024 set, so you know why I like it. But I'll give a quick recap anyway. The neon colors and team name look really sharp, and the cards have a metallic sheen to them, a nice addition that I didn't notice until I bought some. The dual-colored border looks plain awesome, and the team logo and player name look great where they are. I'm also just really excited about this set because it came out so recently. Like I said at the start of the post, I have about 40 2024 Topps cards, but there should be many more to come in the near future. This particular card is my favorite of the 40, hence the reason it's shown here.

    

Now, for one honorable mention:

2019 Topps

    I don't love this set, mostly because the last name is on the top and the first name on the bottom, which I think gives it a worse look, but otherwise the card looks pretty good. I've heard a lot of good things about the 2019 set, and the first pack of cards I bought was part of this set. I still remember many of the cards I got in that fateful pack off the top of my head (Rowdy Tellez, Luis Urias, Kyle Tucker, Paul Goldschmidt, Kenley Jansen, Edwin Diaz, Rhys Hoskins, Michael Lorenzen, Dylan Bundy and more). 

    The oldest set that made the list was the '07 set. I guess I'm more into the newer Topps cards, which isn't really a surprise. It's easier (for me, at least) to come across the newer cards, especially from the year immediately before the current one. However, when I can make it to the card store, which isn't very often anymore, I can get good deals on late 1990s and early 2000s Topps cards, and usually leave with a fat stack of them, or a 600-card box with a potpourri of cards.

    Well, there you have it, my five favorite Topps sets from the 2000s. Please tell me what your favorite sets are and how I did. Happy collecting!

Caterpillar Invasion!

     Well, this is a problem. My house has been infested with fuzzy caterpillars. In case you didn't know, fuzzy caterpillars often have poisonous stingers, and believe me, being stung by them hurts like heck. A road I hope not to go down again.

     Well, if y'all wanna see a picture of one of these feisty little guys, I can show you one. Yes, the exterminator should be on his way over here tomorrow. Hopefully he can take care of this whole incident. 

    I did some research, and the species of caterpillar I'm dealing with is the pearl crescent caterpillar. Luckily, they do not have stingers, but they still want to take the place over. Here's what they usually look like:

    

    However, the ones in my house look a bit different. They look a bit furrier, but after inquiring, I found out that they are indeed the same species. What does this have to do with baseball cards? I'll get to that shortly.

    But first, since my caterpillars look different, let me show you what it looks like:

    Yup, this is what it has to do with baseball cards. Yeah, for this little prank I'll probably lose all nine of my followers and nobody will ever read the blog again. Just to be clear, there are no fuzzy caterpillars roaming my house (at least, not to my knowledge). 

    In his defense, I actually do really like his mustache (while true, I'm also just trying to justify this post). Unfortunately, Strider will be out 12-14 months due to an internal bracing surgery to repair his damaged UCL, which is a blow to the Braves and any of their fans (so sorry Johnny's Trading Spot, I feel you).

    Now then, since I was talking about fuzzy caterpillars, here are some more players who had some nice-looking mustaches. I can also add that all of these players had successful playing careers.

Bill Buckner

Dennis Eckersley

Rollie Fingers

    Alright, I need to say two things: The first thing is, yeesh these pictures are blurry! And the second is, now I gotta do a post completely on amazing player mustaches. That'll have to wait until a later date though.

    Well, this post was pretty dumb, but I came across the Strider card in my house and that was the first thing that came into my head. For any of my followers, please don't leave my blog because I'm both a liar and a nutcase. Man, I'm really starting to regret publishing this post... I think it goes to show that I'm at a loss right now.

    Oh well, thank you for reading, and happy collecting. I'm out. 

A Word on Austin Brice

      My blog has been receiving so many views from Hong Kong recently. In fact, in the last 30 days, 74% of my views have been from there. I don't know why this is happening. Maybe my blog is very popular overseas? Yeah, I doubt it. I'm sure this bloated number of views on the blog is superficial. I've heard other bloggers saying the same thing, though not always from the same place. I've also heard Germany and Singapore.

    Well, since I'm getting all those little views in Hong Kong, I got interested. Which players were born in Hong Kong? When I typed it up on my search engine, pitcher Austin Brice's Wikipedia page was the first thing that showed up.

    Brice was born June 19, 1992 in Hong Kong, but grew up in the US. This was because his father worked internationally, and I guess that's where his family was when he was born. Anyway, he was drafted in 2010 and made his MLB debut in 2016. During his first day on the job, Brice threw a perfect inning and struck out two. This was the beginning of a beautiful career, right? Not exactly. He pitched in the MLB up through 2022, posting a 4-4 record and 5.12 ERA. He pitched in Spring Training this year with the Phillies at age 32. He threw to a 9.45 ERA in 6 2/3 innings, and is currently pitching in AAA with Philadelphia and throwing to a 7.71 ERA to start. And unfortunately, this is not my card of Austin Brice. I'm sad to say that I don't have one.

    Well, that was the scoop on the first MLB player I saw who was born in Hong Kong. I still find it a bit suspicious that I'm getting so many views there, but I guess it doesn't really matter, so long as the readers are happy.

First Hit

 

    Today (April 14th), Jackson Holliday got his first ever major league hit! The hit was a single to move a runner to third down 4-3 in the seventh inning. The run ended up scoring, and so did Holliday, his run giving the Orioles a 5-4 lead. Baltimore ended up winning 6-4 against the Brewers. The hit was given up by relief pitcher Abner Uribe. I think I've gotten myself into following Holliday now. Oh well.

    And let me take the time to admire this 2023 Donruss Marvels rookie card. Definitely an interesting design there, and I kinda like it. Let's face it, no real background, this card looks like the cover of a comic book. It even has a barcode! So, I think it looks pretty sharp, but no doubt an odd one. Please let me know if y'all have any mixed opinions about the card.

    Now, no better way to end the post than with a video of the hit. Congrats Jackson Holliday!

Here he Comes; Celebrate the Holliday

    This guy's going to be making his MLB debut tonight at home against Boston's Red Sox. I'm really excited to see what Jackson Holliday (son of Matt Holliday) is going to do tonight. He'll be batting ninth and playing second base, facing Kutter Crawford in his big-league debut. He'll also be starting in the Utility spot for The Fighting Uruk-Hai tonight (just wanted to add that bit into the mix).

    The 20-year old had been in the minors for 3 seasons, and, to put it bluntly, raked there. From A+ through AAA, the #1 prospect had a slash line of .321/.451/.497, and played in Spring Training this year for the Orioles, where he batted .311 and slugged .600 (you can see I'm a stat-nerd). I was rather disappointed that he didn't make the Opening Day roster, but he's here less than two weeks after the start of the season.

    I hope he does well tonight and that this is the start of a lengthy and amazing career. Good luck Jackson Holliday!

Keep it Going

     I have no idea at all what to title this post.
    The computer has yet to work, so posting with cards has been a big pain. I am happy to report that I've gotten more cards to post about, so as soon as I can get the PC to work (or the memory card rather), I can get back to posting with cards. I'm sorry I haven't been able to do so, and please know that I'm trying my best to get working again.

    I'll also be out of town for a few days and will be unable to post anyway, hence the reason I'm posting now.

    MLB news: The Rangers are still in the winning column, with a 3-1 record and a monster 9-3 victory against the Rays. Keep it going Rangers! Unfortunately though, Josh Jung was hit by a pitch (that he swung at), and has a fractured wrist that will probably lead to a lengthy IL stint. 
    30-year-old rookie Ronel Blanco of the Astros threw a no-hitter against the Blue Jays yesterday in a 10-0 Astros victory, their first of the season.
    Japanese starter Shota Imanaga made his MLB debut yesterday, collecting a win against the Rockies. He threw six scoreless innings, giving up two hits, walking none and striking out nine.

    That's all I've got today for the MLB world. 

    Second last thing on today's agenda: The Diamond King is hosting a contest in which you can win a fat stack of cards by guessing the combined serial numbers of his 140-card pile. Very fun, but pretty difficult for me. Go ahead and check out his blog. Contest or not, it's a very good read.

    Final thing for today:

   

    Bowman will be releasing their 2024 baseball cards on May 8th, just over a month from now. Here is the design:

    I don't collect a ton of Bowman cards, but like the way that they're done, with the Bowman Briefing on the back. Of course, because they have the briefing, you don't get stats from every season on the card, but I guess it's a decent trade-off. This design is....interesting. I don't particularly like the red background, because he's on the Brewers and they have nothing to do with the color red. Not all of the backgrounds are the same color, and the Yankees card is better. However, this was the sample card I could get my hands on. I like the border around the photo and the little boxes in which the player and team name are located. All in all, I think it looks pretty good, but I would prefer them change the color scheme in the background.

    That'll do it for this post. Again, I hope I can get my pictures uploaded soon, but I will not be able to publish for at least four or five days anyway because I'll be out of town. Thanks for reading and happy collecting!

A New Post for an Old Excuse

     Sorry that I haven't published in over a week. Once again, I'm having computer problems. Apparently, my computer doesn't want me uploading files, which is extremely annoying. Therefore, I cannot post with cards today.

    I've used this excuse before, and even though it's true, I feel it's a bad excuse for not posting. So then, what to write about? A-ha! I have two things; hopefully they'll be interesting.

    First thing first, since I can't upload any pictures, I'll make an announcement about MLB. I'm sure a lot of you have already heard, But starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery has finally signed with a team for the 2024 season. I had expected him to sign with the Yankees, but this didn't happen. No, he signed a one-year deal with the Diamondbacks worth $25 million. Funny that he signed with the team that he helped bludgeon in the 2023 Fall Classic. This deal was far off from the seven year contract that he wanted and waited stubbornly for, but what's he to complain about? He's making way more money than he probably should, so whatever. Then again, most major leaguers are making too much money (discussion for another day). Anyway, $25 million isn't too bad at all. The bad thing is that he waited until the day before Opening Day to get a team. At least he has one though, because he's on both of my fantasy baseball teams, and it would be a disaster if I didn't have him pitching. What I do wonder is what he'll do to get some work in. I don't know if he'll pitch in the minors for a while before making his season debut or not. I guess only time will tell.

    Now for the second item on the agenda. I'm running out of cards to post. As sad as it is, I've only got about three or four posts left before I run out. I'll be continuing to search through my boxes for more dancers or cards that tell an interesting story. I don't know, maybe I'll find something valuable. I can probably manage a few more posts just with my 2021-2023 binders, so I'm not too worried about finding more material.

    There is no third item on the agenda, so I will just fill this empty space with words. Like I said, Opening Day is tomorrow (March 28), and my beloved Rangers will be squaring off against the Chicago Cubs at Globe Life Field. Justin Steele will be starting for the Cubs and one of my fantasy teams, but this will not be stopping me from rooting for a Rangers victory. Turning on your own team is the worst part of fantasy baseball, and I have been able to keep myself from that corruption pretty well in my four years of fantasy experience. 

    Well, this was a nice little way to post after not doing so for over a week and without being able to use my cards. Hopefully I'll have the computer up and running within a few days. So, that'll do it for this post. I've covered everything on the current agenda and more. Happy collecting and be sure to catch your fill of Opening Day baseball. I'm out.

More Draft Results!

     My other fantasy baseball league had its draft today at 4:45. It was a little bit crazy because we didn't have the draft until about two hours before draft time, and two more players joined the league right before the draft started. Wild stuff. Anyway, we got 24 players with categories as follows.

    Batters: R, H, HR, RBI, SB, BB, AVG
    Pitchers: W, SV, K, HLD, ERA, WHIP, K/BB

    So then, who did I draft?

    1: Freddie Freeman LAD, 1B
    I had the fourth overall pick, and Acuna, Witt, and Betts were taken. Freddie Freeman, you know, is very good, so I decided to grab him first and take care of a major position.

    2: Marcus Semien TEX, 2B
    To be honest, I had no idea who to draft. At all. Semien's pretty stinking good though, and I got to cut down a middle-infield position with one of the best playes at said position.

    3: Bo Bichette TOR, SS
    As I've said before, the shortstop crop is very thin, so it was nice to grab a .300 hitter at that position, and I've already finished my middle-infield.

    4: Mike Trout LAA, OF
    I struggled a lot with outfielders in my other league, so I jumped on one early. I'm very skeptical about his health though.

    5: Max Fried ATL, SP
    Y'all already know the big deal with Max Fried. I got to get him in the fifth round this time though, so ha ha!

    6: Camilo Doval SF, RP
    Closers were being taken fairly early again, so I jumped on Doval. I'm very confident that he will suffer arm-injuries later in his career, but he's in his prime right now, so he's a solid pick.

    7: Evan Carter TEX, OF
    Evan Carter's one of my favorites, like I've said. Seventh round may be a little early, but he can run and has proven to be good at the big-league level.

    8: Justin Steele CHI, SP
    When I do mock drafts, I very often get Justin Steele. I think he's easily worth an eighth-round pick and is the second staple starter om my team's pitching staff.

    9: Josh Jung TEX, 3B
    I missed out on Nolan Arenado by one pick, and so waited a bit and grabbed Josh Jung. His Opening Day status is sketchy, so I'm praying he'll be fine.

    10: David Bednar PIT, RP
    The only reason I was able to grab Bednar so late is because he's going to start the season on the IL. It's unfortunate, but hopefully he won't be out too long so he can help my team rack up the saves.

    11: Shane Bieber CLE, SP
    It's surprising (to me at least) that I could grab Bieber in the eleventh round. I honestly think people are starting to forget how great he was as recently as 2022. I am now called a 'Belieber' by my brother, and I've gotten him in both of my drafts.

    12: Craig Kimbrel BAL, RP
    Again, I got Craig Kimbrel. Now I'm praying that Yennier Cano doesn't take his role as the closer. I doubt that he will seeing as how Kimbrel is a proven closer, but we'll see.

    13: Jordan Montgomery NA, SP
    Man I hope Jordan Montgomery signs soon, and man I hope he doesn't become a lefty in Fenway.

    14: Shota Imanaga CHC, SP
    Was grabbing Shota Imanaga smart? Man, I don't know. But he's striking out 17.7 batters per nine in spring training, so I hope he's good.

    15: Riley Greene DET, OF
    Getting my final outfielder in the fifteenth round is always going to be...interesting. While I'm not thinking that Greene will be a superstar that will carry my team, hopefully he'll be a decent option for a final outfielder.

    16: Mitch Garver SEA, C
    So here we finally find my starting catcher. After Rutschman and William Contreras were taken, I set my eyes on Gabriel Moreno again. But I failed. And had to draft Garver as my starter. He's doing well in spring training, so I hope he doesn't get hurt and stays in the lineup.

    17: Robert Suarez SD, RP
    I have no idea at all what the big deal with this guy is, but he was drafted in our other league and projected to save 25 games, so I took a chance on him as my fourth closer.

    18: Edouard Julien MIN, 2B
    I needed walks. If you look at my roster up to this point, walks weren't great. Julien walked 64 times in 408 plate appearances last year (which is pretty darn good), so I added him to the clun.

    19: Michael Wacha KC, SP
    I suddenly freaked out that I didn't have enough starters, and Marcus Stroman was taken just before I had a chance at him, so I went with Wacha. I forgot that the Royals will be much better this year.

    20: Joel Payamps MIL, RP
    Payamps will be getting the saves while Devin Williams is out, and When Williams is in, he'll get the holds. It kind of a win-win.

    21: Hector Neris CHI, RP
    Neris was great last year, so he may be competing for saves with Adbert Alzolay. And when he isn't saving games, he'll be holding them. I feel so smart right now.

    22: Jon Gray TEX, SP
    I dunno if this was necessarily a great pickup, but I only had six starters at the time, so I went with Gray. With injuries and stuff he'll be in the rotation, and he's had two spot-on spring training starts, so I'll hope for the best.

    23: Aroldis Chapman PIT, RP
    Again, while Bednar is out Chapman will be getting the saves, but when Bednar comes back, Chapman will be holding games. Very confident this was a good choice.

    24: Kris Bryant COL, 1B/OF
    Bryant is my only multi-positional player. I could have gotten Whit Merrifield but chose not to because he's 35. I am already regretting that decision, but hopefully it works out for the best. I have high hopes for Bryant, obviously.

    

    That will conclude my second fantasy draft. I have only one benched hitter, and he's my only player who is elligible for more than one position, so I pray that my players won't get hurt. Here are what I'm expecting my starting positions to be on Opening Day:

C: Mitch Garver
1B: Freddie Freeman
2B: Marcus Semien
3B: Josh Jung
SS: Bo Bichette
OF: Mike Trout 
OF: Evan Carter
OF: Riley Greene
UTIL: Edouard Julien

    Kris Bryant will probably get a fair share of playing time between Julien and Greene, especially if he hits well.

Team Strengths: Again, I like the power, and I think I have a really good offense overall. The bullpen is also really good.

Team Weaknesses: I think lack of walks will be a problem for my team, as well as just too many prospects. While I think I'll have one of the better starting staffs, I wish I had more MLB-experienced pitchers.

    Also, my team in this league is called Super Hot Spicy Squid. The reasoning for this is because I recently went to an Asian market, and the bakery was selling something called Super Hot Spicy Squid. It looked like shrimp chips, but with squid. They'd better be really good to, because they were selling for $26 a pound!

    That does it for this post too. Please tell me in the comments what you think and which team will be better between both of mine. I'm out.

Draft Results

     Today one of my two fantasy baseball leagues had its live draft, which ended at about 1:00. So, no cards today, but the results of said draft. 

    The categories for the batters are: R, H, HR, RBI, SB, AVG, OBP, SLG
    The categories for pitchers are: W, CG, SV, K, HLD, ERA, WHIP, K/BB

    You get 26 players, and the positions are as follows: C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF, OF, OF, UTIL and SP, SP, P, P, P, P, P, as well as 8 bench slots, 5 IL spots, and a NA spot. So, here are my round-by-round picks:

1: Corey Seager TEX, SS
    Seager's coming off an MVP-2 worthy season, and with a fairly small shortstop crop and a ninth overall pick, it seems like a good choice.

2: Austin Riley ATL, 3B
    I've had Riley on my team since 2021, and since the 3B crop is very thin, I got the best one on the market (in my opinion).

3: Bryce Harper PHI, 1B
    Everybody who wants a good team needs a first baseman who can carry the team. With Matt Olson and Freddie Freeman taken in the first round, I was very content with Harper in the third.

4: Max Fried ATL, SP
    It was my goal to grab a starter in the fourth round. I also have a bit of a bias because I really like Max Fried. He was on my team last year, and I haven't forgotten his stellar 2022 season.

5: Jordan Romano TOR, RP
    One of the fellow competitors grabbed 7 closers, so I needed to get a few as fast as possible. With Edwin Diaz, Emmanuel Clase and Josh Hader gone, Romano was a good option.

6: Gabriel Moreno ARI, C
    Need a catcher. However, I drafted Moreno over Will Smith. I only needed to be shown the error of my way once (by GTT) to regret it. Oh well, he's still solid.

7: Jhoan Duran MIN, RP
    Somehow Duran was still around in the seventh round, and with closers being nabbed up fast, it was only logical for me to grab him.

8: Tarik Skubal DET, SP
    Love Skubal, and he was really good last season. Granted, he wasn't playing top-tier teams, but I'll take a chance anyway.

9: Shane Bieber CLE, SP
    Shane Bieber has been at the top of the game for a while now, so I won't let an injury season keep him from being considered an elite starter in my eyes. I really like this addition.

10: Zack Gelof OAK, 2B
    I may have made this pick a little early, but I needed a second baseman, and seeing as how Gelof is raking in spring training (.412/.459/.853 slash line), I didn't want to wait too long and miss out on him.

11: Craig Kimbrel BAL, RP
    The final closer that I got, he was the best available option because somebody was grabbing every closer he could get his hands on. With Felix Bautista out for the year, Kimbrel will be racking up the saves for Baltimore.

12: Eloy Jimenez CHI, OF
    Last year I waited until the eighth round to draft an outfielder and freaked out because it was too long. Well, I drafted my first one in the twelfth round, so we'll see how the rest pans out.

13: Chris Sale ATL, SP
    I let my heart choose this player rather than my head. He's done well in spring training and has impressive control, so we shall see. And he's not playing for Boston anymore as a lefty in Fenway, so that may help also.

14: Kris Bryant COL, 1B, OF
    Yeah, running out of outfield options. I dislike getting Bryant this early because, though a good player, I could have drafted him later as a sleeper.

15: Jordan Montgomery NA, SP
    Montgomery has yet to find a team, which is probably why I was able to draft him so late. Hope he finds one before opening day (fingers crossed it's the Rangers).

16: Jung Hoo Lee SF, OF
    Grandfather of the Wind was my 16th choice. I wish I wasn't so desperate on outfielders because I know I could have drafted him later.

17: Jackson Holliday BAL, SS
    Holliday should be on the opening day roster, but I wanted another shortstop because though they expect he'll be fine, Seager may not be playing on opening day.

18: Tyler Rogers SF, RP
    This league is a holds league, so naturally I should get somebody who gets holds, and not many more are better at it than the submarine-throwing Tyler Rogers.

19: Kyle Harrison SF, SP
    As we neared the end of the draft I wanted to get some more starting pitchers. Harrison was a decent choice, located in my 'Okays' section of the starters.

20: Christopher Morel CHI, 2B/OF
    I needed another outfielder as well as a backup second baseman, in case Gelof gets hurt or the A's are dumb enough to bench him. And Morel hit 26 bombs last season, so he was a good choice.

21: Bryce Miller SEA, SP
    Miller definitely has potential. I'm not super confident with this addition, but at the 21st round, I'm not complaining.

22: Jackson Chourio MIL, OF
    Up to this point, my only actual base-stealer was Zack Gelof. So I needed somebody else who could run, and though I didn't particularly want to draft him (since he has no big-league experience), Chourio will do for that.

23: David Robertson TEX, RP
    If Jose Leclerc struggles, Robertson may take over the closer role. I dunno. I will explain more about DaveBob with my next draftee.

24: Kirby Yates, TEX, RP
    Since Robertson and Yates are both on the late inning crew for Texas, I figured it would be nice to get double the holds for a Rangers victory.

25: Tyler Stephenson CIN, C
    I definitely wanted a backup catcher, and though I planned to draft Garver, I completely forgot about him until somebody else got him, so Stephenson was the next-best option.

26: Jordan Hicks SF, SP
    Though shown as a reliever on Yahoo Fantasy, the Giants are giving Hicks the chance to start in 2024. Maybe not a great choice since he's never been a starter before, but it's the last round; what the heck?

And, here is what I expect my starting lineup to be at the start of the season (for batters, because pitchers depends on who's starting that day).

C- Gabriel Moreno
1B- Bryce Harper
2B- Zack Gelof
3B- Austin Riley
SS- Corey Seager
OF- Eloy Jimenez
OF- Kris Bryant
OF- Jung Hoo Lee
UTIL- Jackson Holliday

Team Strengths: I think that home runs won't be a problem with Harper, Gelof, Riley, Seager, Jimenez, and even Bryant, with Morel as a backup. I think starting pitching is good, and my friend getting 7 closers may help me because my three will be the second most.

Team Weaknesses: My team will probably lose steals most or every week (trying to trade for Esteury Ruiz), and I think I drafted too many unproven prospects, so we may crash and burn.

    So, that wraps it up for my first fantasy baseball draft. Please read, enjoy, and tell me what you think of my team (which is called The Fighting Uruk-Hai). My next draft is an online draft on this coming Tuesday. Thanks for reading.

A Nice Trip to the Card Store, Part 2

    The penny sleeves continue! Here will be shown the last 30 of the 65 cards that I bought for a quarter each. Taking pictures of the cards is such a pain, but I really like the hobby, so I won't make myself stop doing it. I'll stop talking and start with a will-be Hall-of-Famer:

    This card was so cool, it was only ethical for me to get four of them. I just figured since Pujols will be making the Hall in a couple years it couldn't hurt to own a bunch of his cards. And this 2012 Topps Home Run Legends card is really cool. I like how in the background of the photo you see a list of the all time home run leaders. It adds a nice touch.

    Paul Konerko was a pretty darn good player, and all of these cards look really good. The Cracker Jack Ball Players card especially got my attention.

I am not a fan of A-Rod, so I really don't know why I got these cards. They look nice, but...I honestly don't know why I got him.

One of the all time great Angels in Tim Salmon. I like all of these cards, but especially the bottom right card, which is from the lone Angels World Series year, 2002.

    We reach our first Hall-of-Famer this post in Frank Thomas. In his 19 year career, Thomas hit 521 homers with a .301/.419/.555 slash line. I find it interesting that there are so many cards out there of players signing autographs.

    I don't know why I like the design of the 2011 Topps Diamond Anniversary cards so much. I'm not gonna lie, they're really weird. Well, either way, these are two good pickups, being new Hall-of-Famer Joe Mauer and Josh Hamilton. Both of these players won an MVP during their careers, and both won the batting title their MVP years with marks of .365 for Mauer and .359 for Hamilton. Mauer won his AL MVP in 2009, and Hamilton won his the very next year.

Up next we have Jason Giambi. He put up impressive numbers in his career; including 440 home runs, but he admitted using PEDs. Therefore he has been denied the Hall of Fame. He's another player I don't really like, so I'm unsure why I wanted his cards.

These 1995 Leaf Limited cards caught my eye immediately. I started out just with Bret Saberhagen and found Aaron Sele later on. Again, the shininess of the cards won me over. I wonder if that will end up becoming a bad habit...

    Up next we have two Orioles. I've always like B.J. Surhoff, hence the reason you see him on the left. As for Billy Ripken; well, the picture on the card was very reminiscent of those Sidelines cards that I have. That is literally the only reason I picked out that card. 

    This card would be much better if it were a football card. Deion Sanders is in the football Hall of Fame, but it is pretty cool that he was also able to play MLB baseball. He was a career .263 hitter with 53 interceptions.

    I think this 1983 Topps Tom Seaver mini is supposed to be a sticker, because on the back it says to 'Bend here and peel back.' But it's a horrifying thought to destroy this... well, card. If somebody does know what this is, please tell me in the comments.

    And finally, we get these three Hall-of-Fame caliber pitchers. The only player currently in the Hall is P-Mart, but CC Sabathia will be making it soon, and Schilling's case is interesting. Though I'm sure you already know the story I will tell it very basically anyway. He didn't like what the Hall-of-Fame had become (a popularity contest rather than a place for the best of the best), and had himself removed from the ballot his last year on it. 

    The back of the Pedro Martinez actually looks really cool. Here it is:

    I seriously had to check to make sure that this was one card. The shadowing on the picture was so good that I thought there was a separate mini-card behind the full-size. But no, it's only one card.

    So, that will do it for part two. This took so long to make that I think I'll give myself a little bit of a break before finishing the giant post with part 3. Anyway, thank you for reading, and I'm out.