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?

The Final Flea Market Finds

    You know something I love doing? I like going to the blogs I follow and reading the first post they ever made. I dunno why, but I guess I like seeing how the blogging greats got started. I also don't know why I'm posting this for a completely non-related topic. Aaaaaaaanyway... 

    The last couple weeks have been really busy, so I'm getting this post out a bit later than I would have liked. I think I only have one really long post on queue for awhile though, so I'm hoping to crush my projection of 50 posts this year.

    This is part two of my flea market grabs from a week or so ago. This vendor sold a lot of packs, as well as the entire wall of individual cards I spoke of last post. 

    His dollar packs were all in a giant bowl, which I sifted through for about ten minutes before taking a quick look at his extensive collection of individual cards for sale. I left his booth with seven dollar packs (buy five get two free), and one lovely individual card.

    

    I divided the highlights of the seven packs into three subsequent packs, which I named according to what they contain.

    

    SHINY PACK:

    Here we have two really nice-looking 2022 Panini Select baseball cards. The light captured the design of the Matt Brash card wonderfully. Vladdy's card didn't show up too well, but I didn't want to change it. The slashes on Vladdy are on the penny sleeve and not the actual card, thankfully.

    Another nice shiny card. Panini typically doesn't get much love, but I kinda like this design.

    This is my second-favorite card from the shiny pack. The back left corner is slightly damaged, but I can't complain. The back of the card references Giolito's 2020 season, where he finished 7th in Cy Young Award voting. In 12 starts he went 4-3 with a 3.48 ERA and 97 strikeouts in 72.1 innings pitched. That certainly was a mighty fine season.

    The Rockies' colors are well represented here. The back of the card describes his mashing of my Texas Rangers in July of 2020...

    A colorful pair of Panini Prizm cards from 2021. 

    Of all the cards featured in the shiny pack, this one is the shiniest. I can see why Panini called this 'Mosaic.' Sixto Sanchez had a brief major league career from 2020-2024 where in 21 games (14 starts) he threw to a 3-5 record and 4.70 ERA. I thought he might be around in the minors, but I guess he's retired.

    Next up are a couple of Bowman Chrome Prospects, from 2020 and 2024, respectively. I hadn't heard of either of these players before. Bayron Lora last played in the minors in 2021 when in 47 games he hit .218/.413/.401 with 48 walks! Middle infielder Mitch Jebb is still around with the Pirates. Last year in AA the 23-year old batted .265 in 122 games with 33 stolen bases. Interestingly he hit no home runs, but his on-base/speed combination seems to be doing him well in the minors.

    And finally, my favorite card of the shiny pack. This is just a really cool card. I wonder how much time Sean will get with the Braves in 2026 with Rookie of the Year catcher Drake Baldwin playing. Both those guys have a lot of talent; Braves catchers are gonna be tough to pitch to this year.









    DONRUSS PACK:

    This time my favorite card of the pack comes first. Waino presents a strong Hall of Fame case, and I hope to see him get in when he's eligible. 

    I don't have many Skenes cards, so this is 2025 Donruss card is a welcome addition to the collection.

    Speaking of 2025 Donruss...

    ...we have a few retired greats. 

    And here's an Optic Circles Pudge card from 2025 Donruss. It's a bit less shiny, to the point that I didn't notice it was different from the other Donruss cards until I saw them under light. Otherwise it may have been included among the shiny cards.

    I put the packs for this post together about 2 1/2 weeks ago, and this card was included the Donruss cards. I dunno why I put it in here since it's obviously the wrong brand, but it's a card I would highlight due to its serial-numbering:

(432/2023)

    Though it makes no sense for it to be put with the Donruss pack, it wouldn't make sense for this card to be included in the final pack either

HOLIDAY PACK:

    When I saw an Evan Carter card I needed at the front of the pack, I knew I needed it. The Holiday set Topps put out in 2025 was a good one. I like the wreath going up the side of the card, though it makes the team name even harder to see 🤣

    I think I might make a 'Mouth Agape' PC that this Dylan Cease card would fit nicely into.

    We wrap up this pack with a couple really nice horizontal shots.

    And finally, the single card I purchased at this booth. 

    Drumroll please.....

    It's nice when you can hit a flea market not even expecting to pick up any cards, and leave with two new Evan Carter cards to go along with two autos. A couple bucks landed me this 2024 Topps Chrome Future Stars card. 
    Evan hasn't lived up to his 2023 hype yet, but I've still got faith for him this coming season. Maybe I'm a little bit naive? Well, I'll find out soon enough.

    I haven't been collecting Carter's cards as fiercely as I was a year ago. My PC continues to grow slowly, though it's still a bit smaller than I would like. It's only a matter of time before that collecting flame bursts up in me again and I spend way too much money on his cards lol. 

    I also got a handful of 2021 Topps Update cards in these dollar packs. If anybody is working on completing that set, and if I have any of your needs (or if you just want a card), let me know and I'll send them out to you. These are:

 #US-19 Chase Anderson
#US-72 Aledmys Diaz
#US-113 Aaron Civale
#US-120 Seth Brown
#US-123 Kolby Allard
#US-134 Charlie Morton
#US-137 Trevor Cahill
#US-233 Nick Anderson
#US-254 Cole Tucker
#US-291 Eric Sogard
#US-311 Jake Arrieta

    That'll do it for the flea market additions of a few weeks ago! Hopefully I'll be able to hit another flea market soon and make some more finds to add to the collection.

    Thanks for stopping by the blog today! Make sure to have an amazing week, and happy collecting!

    Also, Fuji won my Super Bowl Pick 'em! If you could shoot me an email confirming your address, I have a pack of  2025 Donruss football cards to send you. Thank you to all who played the pick 'em!

CARTER'S BACK BABY!!!

     I've been waiting so long for this. My man, Evan Carter, is getting called up for tomorrow's game. 

    After a rather sad Spring Training, Evan Carter missed out on making the Opening Day roster for the Rangers. However, after a slow start in Triple-A, he's heated up a ton recently and will finally get the call. The move is likely due to Leody Taveras being put on waivers. 

    The Rangers have been pretty bad this year. Though they are .500, the offense has been downright terrible -- they cannot score runs. And let's face it; Patrick Corbin's not going to have a 3.28 ERA all season.

    I am very happy to hear of this news. I think Carter's still got star potential in him, and he deserves this chance at the big league level.

    Now, this post, aside from releasing my joy and bliss into the world, is also going to show off the latest addition to my Carter PC. This card comes from TCDB user ThemightyOx, and came in a week or two ago. Unfortunately, I misplaced the card, but just found it the other day on my desk, which pleased me.

    Ox pulled the 2025 Topps Easter holiday parallel, which he sent my way. This is a beautiful card. I actually think the colors, though not very Ranger-ish, make it look great. The glare on the photo is really bad, but I'm a bit too lazy to retake it right now.

    So thanks to Ox and congrats to Carter! Let's go win some games baby!

More Help With the PC (and some mystery items)

     I've been working on the Evan Carter PC for about a year now, and while I can't say it's big (yet), I've gotten some sweet new additions for it, including two more from the biggest contributor of the PC, Johnny's Trading Spot. He sent me a package that arrived several days ago, full with lovely cards.

    

    I really like both of these cards. My LCS doesn't carry very many A&G cards that I know of, so I don't get my hands on very many. 

    The picture for the left-hand card really doesn't do it justice. It's a wonderfully vivid card, and of course, it's very shiny. These two cards are going straight into top loaders and then the PC box. Thank you!

    Now, this may have been the end of the post is John hadn't sent me a smorgasbord of other Rangers cards.

    Four more Rangers from the 2024 Topps Big League set. I'm really glad that the team kept Eovaldi around for the next three years. Hopefully he and Jacob deGrom can throw a pretty one-two punch. I hope Jonah Heim can rebound also after an abysmal 2024 season. 

    I'm remaining in 2024 with Topps Chrome Justin Foscue. Chrome and 2024 Topps looks like they were meant to be. They look so good together. I'm gonna miss the 2024 design. 

    Next we have a tiny little Josh Jung. I didn't mess with the size of the image to bring the point across. Though the card is small, I actually really like it; it looks old. I hope that Josh Jung can have a fully healthy season in 2025 that includes no hand breaking.

    I didn't know this at first, but this is a member of Topps Big League, so I probably should have put it with his quartet of friends earlier. Oh well. Die cut cards are so interesting to me. The first one I got was Steve Carlton from 2022 Topps, and my reaction was, 'It looks like they gave a two-year old scissors!' This card doesn't quite look like that. I like this one a lot, with the baseball directing the cutting on the card. It looks really nice.

    This is a last of the 2024 Cards(?). I think we all agree (from reading other blogs) that Topps did a really good job on their 2024 Holiday design. The Corey Seager ornament is fantastic. Besides just looking amazing, it also has a glorious shine to it, which makes it even more appealing. 

    This is 10 wonderful cards. And yet we're not done with this package! The generosity is really quite unbelievable. 

    This card looks like it came straight out of the '90s.....which would make sense since it's 2022 Bowman Heritiage -- based on the 1994 Bowman design. I wonder who the catcher is.

    The Lone Not-Ranger. I had to do my research on Spook Jacobs, because I did not know who he was. Jacobs was a second-baseman who played from 1954-1956 with the Athletics and Pirates (he played with both the Philadelphia and Kansas City Athletics). Before he played in the Majors, spook was a sergeant in World War II. Apparently a sportswriter gave him the nickname. Spook played 14 seasons and 1735 games in the minor leagues, where he slashed .300/.383/.364 with 1162 runs. He hit 9 home runs in the minors.

    Well that was a fun three minutes of research. Spook seemed to be a pretty cool guy. He died in 2011 at the age of 85.

    This is a cool little box full of near 35-year old bubblegum. I've chewed 1990s gum before (in the 2020s), but I don't think I'll be chewing this one any time soon. The box is really cool; that's my favorite Rangers logo. I actually really like this. I would not complain if this were a thing again. However, there's probably some law regarding food-borne illness which wouldn't let it slide.

    A huge thank you to John for all the amazing new cards! His generosity is shocking. I had never seen some of these before, but I really like each and every item inside this package. 

    Thank you all for reading, have a great rest of the week, and happy collecting! I'll catch y'all later.

    This post featured almost completely Rangers cards. While I'm on the subject of the Rangers (which it seems I almost always am), I have started yet another new blog. This one was the result of being turned down from a writing job. In my hopes of one day reapplying for that job, I've started Rangers Nation. This blog will feature bi-weekly posts on the Rangers upcoming 2025 season. I'm trying to keep the quality of writing on that blog to a peak, although it probably won't stay that way very long (once I get into rants and the like). If there are Rangers fans among us, you can go ahead and check it out. Or, if you're just interested, I won't turn you away.

Bad Reviews

     I've referred to a friend before (named Bobby) who sold me an Evan Carter rookie card. Well, he did it again just over a week ago, this time a pair of cards costing only a dollar.

    I really like the designs of this card. Topps did well on their Holiday design for 2024, which is usually a design I kinda ignore because they look the same every year. They did a good job making it different and appealing.

      I had no idea what the right-hand card was, and a couple minutes of research led me to figure out that it's set is Topps Chrome Cosmic Stars in the Night (a bit of a mouth full). It's a great-looking card in hand with very good artwork. One of the corners is just slightly beaten up, but still a great deal in my eyes.

    The post is titled the way it is because the night after I got the cards, I emailed him and jokingly said that I wasn't satisfied with my purchase. 

    I don't particularly like ordering cards online, so it's nice to get a good deal on cards from a friend who knows what I like. For just a dollar, I'm more than happy to add these to my growing Evan Carter PC. Hopefully I can continue adding to it and make it pretty large (right now it's my third largest PC, and not that big, to be frank). Thanks for the cards Bobby! They are much appreciated.

    While I'm on the topic of Carter, I have all the marbles on a breakout 2025 campaign. I really hope this happens; we've seen what he can do and it would be a shame to see all that talent go down the drain. Also, the Rangers might be in a little bit of trouble regardless of whether we have a performing Carter or not, so they could use him if they want a chance at a playoff run. The seasons starts in March -- it isn't too far away. We'll just have to wait and see what becomes of him.

    Y'all have a great rest of the week, thank you for reading, and happy collecting!

A New Carter for my PC

    On the sixteenth, a friend of mine sold me my latest Evan Carter card. I guess he sells baseball cards regularly, which I didn't know at the time. I made it a kind of a goal to get any reasonably-priced card of his that I found, so I was more than content with this find.

    We see another 2024 Bowman card, which both my friend and I agree is an excellent set. I like Bowman as a whole, but this one is one of their better jobs, in my opinion. I realize that all my favorite sets are newer. Probably because I wasn't around until fairly recently (😂), and didn't really start collecting cards until 2019.

    Now I wanna take this time to state my hopes for Carter and the Rangers moving forward. I'm not expecting a ton from the Rangers next year, which saddens me. But if they can get a rejuvenated and rolling Evan Carter, as well as a full season out of Jacob deGrom, we'll never know. Of course, they could use a few more arms and a productive Adolis Garcia too. I will just need to wait patiently until the beginning of the 2025 season. One can just hope for now.

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! 

Here We Go.......Wait, Not Until Tomorrow - And thanks a lot Diamondbacks!

     Well, we have a doubleheader today between the Braves and the Mets, and so I cannot make my yearly playoff predictions for the National League yet. If the Diamondbacks had just lost to the Padres instead of smoking them, then we would be set. Now, a split in the doubleheader would eliminate the D-Backs, and a sweep would kick the team on the losing end. So, I guess these games are kinda big. C'mon guys, please split. 

    Since I cannot yet make my yearly playoff predictions for the NL, I think I'd better go ahead and do it for the American League. After all, the playoffs start tomorrow, and I'm gonna need to publish my NL predictions before the games start. 

    Before I start off on the journey of playoff guessing (which I'm historically bad at), I'd like to recap the seasons of, and speak to some of my favorite players, you know, for sentimental reasons. I'll go with just five.

    

    Jackson Merrill: Merrill finished the regular season going 1-for-2 with a walk (wait, he walked?) as the Padres got smoked to the Diamondbacks and Brandon Pfaadt. He finished the year with a slash of .292/.326/.500 and 24 homers and 90 RBI to go along with solid defense all year in center. Please win the rookie of the year Merrill! Please, I beg of you!

    Tarik Skubal: I guess I've already been over this. 18-4, 2.39, AL triple crown among pitchers. This is such a great year for you Skubal. I love that. Now I must beg a question from the readers: Skubal or Skenes? Who's better (this year)?

    Evan Carter: Maybe we skip this one? Poor Evan, playing through a back injury, batting a buck 88. Please rebound next year, I ask you. At least the GM knows he will. I still believe in you, and I'd better - you're my favorite guy (aside from Buster Posey).

    Nico Hoerner: Way to come back man!  Through June the batting average was at .248, and through July it was .252. But you never quit. Nico ends up batting .273, and getting that OPS over .700, all while playing stellar defense at second base. Good job kid.

    Zack Gelof: I guess the good has to come with the bad. Zack, what happened man? You went from .267/..337/.504 in 2023 to .211/.270/.362 this year. I know you got it in you, and though you'll be missing your fans in 2025 (don't you start crying too), I know you'll rebound. 

    Before, I get down to business, I would like to mention that if Chris Sale either doesn't start today, or starts and doesn't throw a stinker, he will also win a pitcher's triple crown. Amazing that I got both he and Skubal in one of my fantasy leagues (14th and 7th rounds, respectively).

    And now, I can stall no longer. It is time for my American League Playoff Predictions! 

    This is what the seeding looks like for the AL.

    1: New York Yankees
`   2: Cleveland Indians (or Guardians, but I only ever call them the Indians)
    3: Houston Astros
    4: Baltimore Orioles
    5: Kansas City Royals
    6: Detroit Tigers

    Thanks to that loss against the White Sox yesterday, the Tigers fell below the Royals in the standings and need to square off against the Astros - not that the Orioles is much better. 

    The Yankees and Indians will be getting the two byes, so it looks like our first matches will be

    Astros vs. Tigers

    and

    Orioles vs. Royals

    Let's break this down really quick. These Wildcard Series are of the three-game variety, so a team would need to win two games in order to move on. 

    

    

    I'll start with the 3 against 6 matchup: Astros against Tigers.
    Now, unfortunately, the Astros get home advantage, but we already knew that. Houston has a far superior offense than that of Detroit, but the Tigers have the better pitching staff. I think that they will be able to keep Houston's offense in check if their pitching set-up works. 
    The Tigers typically (with the exceptions of Tarik Skubal and sometimes Reese Olson) start their games with an opener (one of their relievers), and then move on to one of their starters, whether that be Keider Montero, Casey Mize, Reese Olson or Kenta Maeda. The starter pitches anywhere from 3-5 innings, and then the solid late innings crew comes in for the finish. This strategy is a big part of why the team's pitching is so good.
    I would hate to see the Tigers eliminated, and quite frankly have no idea who has the edge in this one, so I guess I'll go with the team from Detroit  (please don't think I'm trying to be biased). They've been really hot, though coming off a series loss to the White Sox sure doesn't feel good I'm sure. But I'm hoping (and thinking) that their momentum can power them past the team from Houston.

    Now for the second set in the AL Wild Card Series: Orioles vs. Royals
    Again, I have a team I'm rooting for in this one, and that would be the Royals. They have a solid team all-around, sixth-best in the league in ERA at 3.76. The Orioles' sits at 3.94. The Royals have a good offense that strikes out the least in the American League, but the Orioles' bats are just better. Baltimore has a .250 batting average (third in the league), .315 OBP (4th), and .435 slugging percentage (1st) with 235 homers (2nd). And with the return of Jordan Westburg, the team has another powerful bat back in their lineup. I'm really unsure that the Royals will be able to keep up with them, therefore I have to go with the Orioles.

    Now we move on to the ALCS, a five-game series. As of my predictions, we have the following matchups:

    1: Yankees vs. Orioles 4

    2: Indians vs. Tigers 6

    

    I think I'll start with the Yankees/Orioles matchup.

    Wow this is a juicy one. The Yankees are the only AL team with more homers than the Orioles, but only two more. Obviously they have Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, who pack a heck of a punch, and the pitching staff has been very good too (3.74 ERA). I actually didn't know just how good the pitching of the Yankees is. 

    I've already been over the deal with the Orioles. They seem just slightly outmatched by the Brooklyn Bombers. They definitely have more depth offensively (and I would say from a pitching perspective), but the top four of the Yankees is straight-up overpowering, and Gerrit Cole is back to his old Cy Young self. So I think it's definitely going to be a good series, one definitely worth watching, but my money's on the Yanks.

    Moving on to the 3-6 matchup: Indians and Tigers
    Look, I'm trying to be unbiased, but I really think the Tigers have a very good shot at this series. The teams had the same ERAs across the regular season at 3.61. The offenses seem similar, but Cleveland's a bit better. I think the Tigers need to rely on how good they've been the last month and a half. It seems highly unrealistic that the team could pull off two upsets, but I think I have to go with them. 

    Now for the seven-game ALCS. I have it as Yankees vs. Tigers.
    I've been through both teams already, so let me just say it: I love the Tigers, think they have a team with the potential to go all the way, especially in the near future, but the Yankees would be far and away the best team they're facing in the American League. I can't give it to the Tigers this time. I'm sorry.

    That'll do it for my American League Playoff Predictions. Watch me get all of them wrong. 

    Let me know what you think of them and what I did right and wrong. I can tell you right now, I think I'm putting too much faith in Detroit, but we'll just have to see. Please come back tomorrow for my National League predictions. Don't worry, the post should be much shorter.

    Y'al have an amazing week, and good luck to the teams you're all rooting for in this Postseason. Happy collecting!

I Still Have Faith in Evan Carter!

    Just over a week ago I went to my local card shop. I first found them for Topps Trading Card Day, but have grown to really like the store. They go extra-heavy on Rangers cards and memorabilia, which I guess makes sense, but still have a lot of variety otherwise.

    This trip landed me five new cards to add to my collection. It may have been more, but I was pretty busy that day and could only stop by for about fifteen minutes.

    This card caught my eye immediately. The prospect brother of Ronald Acuna Jr, from his days as a Ranger. He was traded straight up last season for Max Scherzer. Can't say we can complain since we won it all, but this was definitely an expensive trade. I really like the design on the thick Bowman Invicta insert. The whole background looks really cool, though not on a baseball field. 

    Luisangel has made his MLB debut this season at the age of 22. The shortstop has two hits in seven big-league at-bats. Congrats to him for making the big club.

    And here's the guy we traded him for! Funny, I didn't even notice that until now. I feel kinda dumb.

    Anyway, I really like the X-Fractor card, and didn't even notice that at first. It was shiny. Grab it, think about it later. Due to injury, Mad Max has only made 9 starts in 2024, and has been rather unimpressive at 2-4 with an ERA of 3.95. He is apparently not considering retirement, so we'll see how his age 40 season goes.

    I picked up another refractor in the form of Sky Blue Mitch Keller. The 2018 card is numbered 187/402, which I found interesting but also rather random. Nonetheless, a sharp-looking card and a great design. 

    I was lucky enough to find these three cards in the $1 boxes at the store. It comes as a surprise that I was able to get them for so little, but I'm not complaining. After these cards, it gets a bit expensive though.

    I picked this one up for five dollars. The blue sharpie autograph looks beautiful. Englert is currently throwing for the Detroit Tigers in the minors after having a 5.40 ERA in 12 appearances with the team. His numbers on the farms look good this year (3.15 ERA, 11.6 K/9), so I would not be surprised to see him make an impact for the team's bullpen come 2025.

    And now for the gem of the whole trip to the store. I found this one, and wasn't going to buy it, but I guess my fear of missing out got the best of me. No regrets.

    The Grade-10 Evan Carter Pre-Rookie Card! Both buying graded cards and getting your cards graded are so expensive that I haven't really thought of doing/buying them. Believe it or not, this is by far the most expensive baseball card I've ever bought, at $45. Why I spent that much? Well, I guess I have faith in the man still. The GM does too. "...He's a huge part of our future," says general manager Chris Young. I expect Carter to become a superstar in the next coming seasons.

    My Evan Carter collection is quietly growing, though I still don't have many of his cards. Hopefully I'll get more and build this mini-collection. Right now the only decent single-player collections I own are my humble Buster Posey and Cal Ripken Jr. collections, but I expect that I'll end up getting myself a nice collection of Carter cards in the future. I have a good start thus far (and I still love that 2024 base card!).

    That sums up my latest card store trip. All in all it cost me $53, which I would normally consider a lot for one day, but for the cards I got I'd say it was worth it, though I probably won't make a card purchase that big again for a while.

    So, there you have it. Y'all have a great week, and happy collecting. Good morning, good afternoon and goodnight!