Do We Have a Tigers October?

     Man, would I love to see the Tigers in the postseason this year. The last time the team made it to the playoffs was in 2014, when they got swept by the Orioles in the ALDS. With the young talent and potential that the team has to offer, I can see a playoff appearance this year, and more in the near future with the development of players like Parker Meadows, Jace Jung and Colt Keith.

    I've grown to really like the team, and perhaps the reason for this is because two of my favorite players are performing well for them; Tarik Skubal and Riley Greene. Seeing them perform up to their potential is great, and when a team's two best players do well, the team as a whole usually does (unless it's the Rangers this year >sobs<). 

    As of right now, the team sits at an 80-73 record, which is tied for the last American League postseason spot. They are starting a three game set with the Orioles this evening, followed by a six game homestand with the Rays and White Sox. I like it, I like it. 

    Meanwhile the Twins, who are tied with Detroit for that last spot, have a three game set at the Red Sox, followed by a homestand that features three game sets against the Marlins and Orioles. It's going to be close, that's for sure.

    The team plays as if a loss deals them certain death. And they haven't been losing! In their last 40 games, the Tigers have won 27, and the offense has performed well in that time, and the pitching staff even better.

    But, as far as offense goes as a whole, the team is not too good. They have a collective slash line of .235/.299/.387, all of which are tenth in the league or worse (OBP is second-last). They have a few really good hitters in the mix, but if they want a realistic shot at the championship, they'll need to up the offensive numbers. 

    Now, taking a brief look at the Tigers starting rotation is interesting. Unfortunately, they traded away Jack Flaherty at the deadline. Flaherty had a 2.95 ERA in 106 2/3 inning with the team before he moved to the Dodgers. They got Trey Sweeney out of the deal, who is currently playing for the team in the Majors, and a minor league catcher named Thayron Liranzo. 

    Even with the loss of Flaherty, the team has a 3.62 ERA, which is second in the AL only to the 3.51 mark of the Mariners. Besides their ace, the Detroit rotation really isn't that intimidating. They have Reese Olson and Casey Mize, who are both good, but won't be winning most games like Skubal has.

    The bullpen for the Tigers has been very good this season for the most part. Tyler Holton and Jason Foley both have ERAs below 3.00, and Will Vest is at a 3.02 mark. Beau Brieske and Shelby Miller have been able to pitch in high-leverage spots for the team, which seems to be going well. The pen has been lights-out as of late, which is certainly why they've been winning so many games.

    Anyway, that's my brief analysis of the Tigers. And looking at it, I'm less sure that they'll be able to do much by the time the postseason comes around. But that won't stop me from rooting for them.

   These last nine games are going to be huge, and I am definitely hoping that they break in to the postseason. I'm rooting for a Tigers/Royals ALCS, which may be too much to ask for. Only time can tell I guess. Let's go Tigers!

    On a side note, my second to last Player of the Week post will be coming out sometime tomorrow. I've got some stuff going on in the morning baseball-wise, but will get that post out there when I can. As for y'all have a great day and happy collecting!

    Good morning, good afternoon and goodnight. 

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!

Well.....This Stinks

    If y'all don't care about my perils when it comes to fantasy sports, then you need not read this post. If you do care, knock yourselves out. I have a real post, so to speak, coming out tomorrow.

    Coming into yesterday, the last day of the week, I was tied in both of my fantasy leagues. It was the first round of the playoffs. Might I start with my worse team?

    After a last seed championship run last year, I always name my team The Atlanta Scareds come the playoffs.Well, I was losing 13-0 after day one of this matchup, but I closed the gap pretty well. Not enough, I guess. It's the first time I made the playoffs in this league, and not the championship.

    I have too much to say about this matchup. I beat my opponent both times we met in the regular season, and when I signed off Saturday night was up 7-4. Then I got Jacob deGrom on waivers and Riley Greene had an amazing game. Then a few things happened against me, like Josh Jung not being in the lineup, Zac Gallen pitching less than ideally, and a couple other things. But I was up 6-5 at about 8:40 last night. All that needed to happen was Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman stay quiet. Well, they both homered. This put him in the lead in homers, though Riley Greene hit two for me yesterday. Thus, I lost. (I was Super Hot Spicy Squid by the way)

    I thought that I had a chance in both of my leagues, and a chance to win it all with Super Hot Spicy Squid. Well, that's just how it goes. To be honest, I'm not upset though. It was a long season for me, my first time ever with two teams. 

    I apologize for this whole post, but figured my plight was rather interesting. Feel free to come back to the blog tomorrow, where I'll have a real post. Thanks, for reading, happy collecting, and have a great week!

    And in the words of Truman, 'Good morning, good afternoon and goodnight."

Player of the Week 3

     This Player of the Week thing really hasn't worked out the way I thought it would. I mean, there was a particular list of players that I expected to win, and not one of them got the title. After this week, there will be two more Players of the Week, and I can't award them to all the six or seven guys I originally thought would win. But that's the fun in it, right? My own bias has been unable to sway me (except for the part about Walter Pennington; that's on me).

    Before we get down to it, I'd like to announce that both of my fantasy baseball teams are fighting like dogs in this first round of the fantasy playoffs. My worse team is currently losing 10-5, but have made it as close as 8-7, and my other team, boy my other team! I'm playing the third place squad, and it is an all-out nuclear war. Currently I'm up 7-5, but that one could still go either way.

    I bring this up for two reasons. A) I like to share about fantasy baseball to those who both understand it all and who I won't drive insane with it (hence the reason I've done it so many times), and B) well, you'll see.

    There is one prejudice that stops me from keeping this, well, as fair as it could be. Not like it matters, considering it's my personal opinions. Heck, like Walt Pennington would've been the best player in the MLB for the whole of last week! Not even in that one game. 

    Anyway, that prejudice is my team. Since I can sometimes hit a few games and see my guys up close, they tend to grow on me. We'll call that reason C. I didn't go to another Rangers game, but I think y'all know who my next Player of the Week is. Any guesses? I'll give you a moment.....

    Alright. If you've had enough time, you may continue to read.

    

    Of course, as a Rangers fan and a huge fan of this guy, my third Player of the Week is.....

    Okay, here we go. deGrom finally made his 2024 debut yesterday, tossing 3 2/3 scoreless innings and striking out four. My friend actually went to (GTT, please correct me on this when I'm wrong) his last rehab outing with AA Frisco.

    And now for the illusive reason B, why sharing about my fantasy playoffs is at all relevant to this. Well, I don't know how many enemies are out there, so I should probably share this tomorrow.......

    

    Well, I won't. Somebody in my fantasy league (the one I'm barely winning in) dropped deGrom literally the day before his long-awaited season debut. I have higher waiver priority than any playoff member in that league, except for my current opponent. While his addition of him wouldn't hurt my team this week, I really want him on my team as we make a push for the championship. But the waiver period ends tomorrow, so we'll see if I get him.

    Well, now that I'm done rambling about fantasy baseball (and I will most certainly not start on fantasy football), I guess I should go. After all, I've got to be somewhere in half an hour. As for y'all, thanks for reading, happy collecting and I'll see who wins my penultimate Player of the Week title next Saturday. Y'all enjoy your weekend! 

The Guy was Traded for Chris Sale

    In December of 2023, Vaughn Grissom was traded over to the Red Sox from the Braves in return for Chris Sale and cash. 

    Vaughn Grissom came up in August of 2022 after hitting well over .300 on the farms. He played very well in his 41 games that season, slashing .291/.353/.440 with 5 home runs. The middle infielder seemed promising coming into the next season.
    In 2023, Grissom played in only 23 games, where he slashed .280/.313/.347 before being optioned back down due to bad fielding. Then he got traded. For Chris Sale.

    Sale right now is the best starting pitcher in baseball, with MLB best 2.38 ERA, 213 strikeouts, 11.5 K/9, and 2.02 FIP. 
    Meanwhile, Grissom is batting .238 in AAA for the Sox. He has played 23 games in the majors, and is batting .148 in 81 at-bats. I hope he can get back on track by next year, because he is a very talented young player, who I believe can be very good in the near future. But for now, it just looks like the Red Sox made an awful trade.

    The reason I bring this all up is because I fairly recently traded for a Spring Fever Chris Sale card (YES!) and a 2023 Vaughn Grissom parallel.

    Like a lot of my parallels from 2023, this one was numbered to the year. 

    I wouldn't call myself a collector of the Spring Fever cards, but if I can find a good one, I'll take it, as evidenced by one of my previous posts (one of my most popular posts actually).

    The Nolan Jones RC was part of the Spring Fever deal, so I figured I'd put him in anyway.

    Well, I guess only time can tell what the outcome of the Sale/Grissom trade is. Like I said, I have faith in Grissom going forward, but Chris Sale is kind of working on both his first Cy Young award and his Hall-of-Fame case. Of course, Sale will be entering his age 36 season next year, so we'll see how it goes.

    Have a great week y'all! As for me, back to my busy schedule for now. Happy collecting!

Player of the Week 2

     Alrighty folks, it's time for our second Player of the Week. I apologize for being a bit late, but I was really busy today with baseball games and the like. Anyway, the guy I have chosen for today is not one you'd expect, and there's an interesting reason why I chose him.
    My second Player of the Week is......

    

    Walter Pennington.

    In case you didn't know, Pennington is a rookie relief pitcher who was acquired by the Rangers via a trade with the Royals (we traded Michael Lorenzen straight up for him). Pennington is my favorite relief pitcher of all time, so when I went to the Rangers/Yankees game on Wednesday I was really hoping that Pennington was going to make an appearance. I was dismayed when we jumped out to a 10-2 lead (not a high-leverage situation) and saw Andrew Chafin warming in the bullpen.
    But Pennington came on in the eighth nonetheless and fired 2/3 of a scoreless inning against the Brooklyn Bombers, his only flaw being a single to Juan Soto. 
    So that was a really special experience for me, and therefore I had to give him the title of Player of the Week for this week. 

    I took some live video of Pennington throwing to Juan Soto and Jazz Chisholm, but can't upload them on the computer. 

    That'll about do it for my second Player of the Week. As always, thank you for reading, have a great rest of your weekend, and happy collecting!

    P.S. The ninth inning of that game was insane! I was going to mention it in a separate post, but since Pennington pitched that game I figured I'd just post it here. If y'all aren't interested, skip the italicized part. But if you are, go ahead and check it out. It is very long though (😁).

    This is my personal account of Wednesday's ninth inning against the Yankees:

     The ninth inning was probably the most entertaining inning I've ever seen live at a baseball game (which isn't necessarily saying too much). Matt Festa is on the hill for the Rangers, with a more than comfortable 10-2 lead. The first two batters fly out to Travis Jankowski (Janko made a diving catch; they need a cage to contain him!). Then things got......messy.
    Festa walked pinch-hitter Oswaldo Cabrera (yikes) and then Jose Trevino. He proceeded to also walk lead-off man Gleyber Torres before heading to the clubhouse. The new pitcher was Grant Anderson who was set to face 2-3-4. Since they were down 10-2, Trent Grisham came in as a defensive replacement for the already 3-for-3 (with a home run) Juan Soto. So we're thinking it's the end for the Yanks, right?
    Wrong.
    Grisham hit a grand slam, making the game now 10-6. Then the defensive replacement for Aaron Judge, Duke Ellis, comes to the plate. The rookie was 0-for-4 in his career (9 games in 2024) before tonight. So the Yankees are really done this time and we can go home now, right?
    Wrong again.
    Ellis got his first big-league hit, a single to leftfield. Now Jazz Chisholm is batting, and we're starting to break out in a sweat just a little bit. Chisholm hits a 103 MPH comebacker off the leg of Grant Anderson, removing him from the game.
    It's a save situation now, so it's Kirby Yates time. All he has to do is get one little out so we can go home. 
    Well, he's facing Giancarlo Stanton.
    For the first time all night, Stanton decides to battle. The count is 2-2 when he hits an absolute shot to leftfield. Well, it's time to sit back down. It's not a happy house in Arlington yet.
    But gliding through the air like an angel is Wyatt Langford, who leaps the wall and takes a home run away from Stanton to end the game. It's a 10-6 Rangers win, and save number 26 for Kirby.

Shiny deGrom

     I was at the good ol' grocery store, when I saw a package of 29 2023 Topps cards for $7 by the checkout. While certainly not the greatest price in the world, the thing that jumped out at me was the headliner; Silver Pattern Foilboard #48 Jacob deGrom. I couldn't pass up that deal and made the purchase.
    The company selling these cards is able to sell Topps cards for less money than the company itself sells them for, which I found both interesting and economically helpful.

    And here's the foilboard deGrom. Beautiful, isn't it? When I first saw it I thought 'Shiny deGrom,' but I guess theSilver-Pattern Foilboard is more accurate. deGrom should be returning to the Rangers rotation soon, but it seems to be too little too late. Hopefully he'll be healthy for next year as we try to clean things up a bit. 

    I like the Alec Burleson rookie. The 25-year old is having a great season with the Cardinals, slashing .280/.320/.453 with 21 home runs and 72 RBI. 
    Those Athletics uniforms (top right) are......interesting. Not really sure that they got the colors right, but oh well. It doesn't look bad. 
    Also, the highlight of this page, the Topps Update purple foil Dominic Smith numbered 095/799. It's a nice card, but I'm putting it on my trade bait list. If any of y'all want it, go for it. 

    Not much coming out of this page. The Aaron Nola card is nice. I kinda like the Stars of MLB cards as a whole, though I miss reading the stats on the back. Hey, at least it's not Stars of LMB! Otherwise, just a few base card 'needs,' though I don't really try to collect the full sets.

    I like this page a bit more. I got another deGrom card, as well as a Corey Seager parallel. I like the Max Fried card, though I have like fifteen of that same base card. Stars of MLB Shohei Ohtani is cool too. And boy is he having a year in 2024 with the Dodgers. Though unable to pitch until next year, he's currently batting .292 with 44 homers, 109 runs (both league-leading), 98 RBI, and a .993 OPS in 135 games.  

    And these two guys. 

    I notice that I said I got 29 cards, but only 28 are shown. It seems evident that I traded one of these cards before writing the post, most likely a base card dupe, but I don't know for sure. That's on me.

    All in all I'm happy about this purchase. Though most of it was pretty boring, there were a few good points; the deGrom foilboard, of course, as well as Dominic Smith and Corey Seager. I will never complain about some Stars of MLB cards either. I like the 2023 design on them a lot. 

    That'll about do it for this post. Y'all have an amazing week, and happy collecting!

    

    P.S. I know I promised Fuji a post focused on Jackson Merrill, but I'm gonna take a little bit longer than intended because I have been really busy lately and need to do more research (as of right now I only have some stats, but for a post centered on one guy I want more information), but it's definitely going to happen.