RGB Cards

This Week in Tumblr

2012-01-15T23:53:00.001+08:00

Well, my vacation is over, so I should get things back to normal very soon. In the meantime, here's a list of mini-posts you missed if you don't check out my Tumblr feed.

D.J. LeMahieu's reign as the coolest name in baseball was short-lived...

...anatomical oddities are explored...

...or is it just over-zealous airbrushing?...

...Steve Pearce get all potty-mouthed...

...and of course, it wouldn't be Tumblr if we didn't kick a man while he was already down...

Did any big trades happen while I was gone?

This Week in Tumblr

2012-01-08T10:04:00.000+08:00

I'm on vacation this week - so the blog posts won't be very frequent. Not to worry, though - I opened a bunch of packs before I left and created a ton of tumblr posts ready to launch throughout the week. The snark meter is set to high - enjoy my amusing comments about cards in the 2011 Update Series.

Each week I'm going to create a "review post" about the tumblr highlights. Feel free to check them out and leave your own witty comments, or just a thumbs-up. And if you have your own tumblr, or know of some good baseball tumblrs I should follow, let me know in the comments section of this post.

This week in tumblr...

...we take a look at cool baseball names...

...explore baserunning fundamentals...

...learn about proper design techniques...

...make fun of a father of six...

...and of course, engage in toilet humor

There's more as well, so be sure to check out the tumblr every day. Posts go up around 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, give or take an hour.

P.S. This is where I'm staying. Not to rub it in or anything...

Feliz Año Nue-Votto Hit

2012-01-05T01:17:00.000+08:00

Earlier this week, I posted my latest pull from the Topps Update jumbo pack I purchased over Thanksgiving. It was a Bert Blyleven liquorfractor, and my pal Richard (aka Dawgbones) commented on how great it looked, especially since some liquorfractors are worse than the original card.

Today's liquorfractor comes from Series 1 - it's card #5, Joey Votto. I think it goes in the "improve" pile. I really like the 3-D effect:

Incredibly, not the only Votto card in that pack. Or even the best one. Next up is an early contender for "Pull of the Year, 2012"

The leader in the clubhouse...a Joey Votto jumbo patch card, numbered 1/6. It will take some doing to top that, but I hope I can. I'd hate to think my 2012 has peaked on January 4th.

I love it when case hits like this one (odds - 1:665) end up in the right hands. Namely, me.

Hey Bert!

2012-01-02T22:34:00.001+08:00

This is what Card US58 is supposed to look like:

Not bad, especially because it's Lincecum. I need one for my PC, anyway. But this is what the US58 I pulled looks like:

Holland's greatest living ballplayer, Rik ~~Adelbert~~ Aalbert Blyleven.

What's the name of that particular type of diamond parallel? Port wine stain?

The first post of 2012

2012-01-01T12:00:00.004+08:00

An interesting question wound its way around the Twitters last week: What are your collection resolutions for 2012? Normally, I don't do resolutions, and I certainly don't share them. But this one is different - this one is fun.

I responded, of course, in 140 characters. Not near enough space to elaborate. So here is the expanded version.

1. Finally complete the damn 2009, 2010 and 2011 Topps base sets
I'm so close on 2009 and 2010 - less than ten cards for each. 2011 is a bit more work, owning to the fact that I couldn't get a jumbo box of Series 2 and my Series 1 jumbo box didn't have every base card because it was too busy being awesome instead. 34 cards to go there, plus whatever is left over after I open my jumbo box of Update Series (which I hope will give me all the cards). Every time I go back to America I find some more base cards, but obviously not all of the ones I needed. With no trips to America scheduled for 2012, I may just have to go onto Check Out My Cards and bite the bullet.

2. Get to 50% completion on my 1975 Birth Year set
Five months after deciding to start on this set, I'm about one-sixth the way there. I have another 20+ cards coming to me via the Diamond Giveaway, where I have been steadily accumulating 1975 cards to the exclusion of everything else. I even traded away my Ike Davis diamond die-cut because somebody offered me ten '75 cards, and nothing else. Either that was a case of dumb luck or some dude on the Diamond Giveaway website is stalking me and knows my trading preferences. I'm hoping for Option A.

3. Complete the 2012 set by the end of 2012
Mostly because I don't what to be in this same position again next December 31. But I might end up having to collect this set twice-over.

4. Finish at least one insert set from 2009, 2010, 2011 or 2012
Dammit Topps, why do you publish so many historically-based insert sets that pique my interest? Why can't you just stick to the repulsive insert sets like "When They Were Young"?

Finally, I'd like to take this post, the first of the new year, to announce a new feature: the RGB Cards tumblr. Part of the reason why I took a long sabbatical this year was because I lost momentum, and didn't feel like writing a lot, or scanning a bunch of cards. And as the days got by, and the "to scan" pile got bigger, the inertia grew as well. It was a shame, because a ton of great stuff happened in September, October and November, as you are doubtlessly aware.

Hopefully, the tumblr, and its inherent short-form qualities, will be a ideal way to keep posting things when I don't really feel like posting. A "quick-and-dirty", if you will. Long-form pieces will still appear on the blog, and my goal is to write at least ten blog posts each month. By contrast, my goal is to make at least ten tumblr posts each week. I'm also hoping to integrate the blog, tumblr, and Twitter account better - an "RGB Cards Network," if you will.

So there you go - that's the long answer for my 2012 collecting resolutions. What are yours?

Picture from the Topps Twitter feed. I finished the previous year showing my 2011 Sandy Koufax pull, maybe we can keep the mojo coming for another year? I sure wouldn't mind adding that card to my collection!

The last post of 2011

2011-12-31T23:59:00.010+08:00

Happy New Year, everybody. I hope you all enjoy the time with family and friends and I wish you all the success in the coming year. Thanks for reading, and coming back to the blog after my unplanned absence. 2011 was good, but 2012 promises to be the biggest year in my life (more on that later).

I'll be back tomorrow with an expanded look at my Twitter post in response to SRUChris's question. Until then, it was easy to pick the illustration for this post - my biggest pull from this, or any other year, a 1/1 Sandy Koufax!

See you all in 2012!

Drew Brees, NFL legend

2011-12-30T22:26:00.000+08:00

Let me start off this post with an apostasy: I have never been a big Dan Marino fan, and I don't rate him as highly as other great NFL quarterbacks. To me, Dan Marino doesn't belong in the same league as Joe Montana, or Terry Bradshaw, or Troy Aikman, for one simple reason. Dan Marino, for all his (former) records, all his gaudy statistics, all his legendary exploits, left the NFL with exactly zero championships and a single Super Bowl appearance, in his second season.

Drew Brees, by the way, was heading for an even worse fate than Marino. His was the Tale of Missed Potential.

Do you remember when Drew Brees was coming out of college? I do, because I happened to work with someone who was a proud Purdue alumnus, and could not stop talking about how great Brees was. Not that I didn't know that for myself. Here was a guy who, at age 21, had already done the seemingly impossible - lead the Purdue Boilermakers into the Rose Bowl. Big things were expected.

He wasn't the first quarterback selected - that was Michael Vick, and, frankly, who could blame the Falcons for trading up to get him. What's interesting is the team they traded with - San Diego. The Chargers could have had Vick for their own, but they preferred to trade down, drafting LaDanian Tomlinson, then Brees. However, Brees's five years in San Diego were a mixed bag, and he was considered enough of a disappointment that the Chargers felt the need to obtain Philip Rivers a mere three years after drafting Brees. Two more years in San Diego, and the label was complete. Missed Potential. Even worse, after shoulder surgery, he was also now an Injury Risk.

None of that mattered to Sean Payton. The former Cowboys assistant was finally getting his shot, and he was going to turn the Saints around the only way that made sense - a high-powered passing offense, similar to the ones he ran as a quarterback and assistant coach. But to be a success, Payton needed a quarterback who was comfortable throwing the ball many, many times, who could stay in the pocket while it was collapsing around him, who had a proven track record for fireworks. Someone who was a proven commodity - being the all-time Big Ten passing leader certainly wouldn't hurt. Luckily, that man was available.

Fast forward six years, and Drew Brees is the owner of 18 NFL records, including one of the most hallowed in football history, Most Yards Passing in a Single Season. It was a record he came so close (15 yards) to breaking three years previously. This time around, he will shatter it, because he broke the record with a game left in the season. Not only that, but in the same game against the Falcons last week, Brees also became the first person to notch up two 5,000-yard passing seasons in his career, and reached 40,000 yards for his career, effectively in ten seasons (he played but one game in his first year in the NFL). Were Brees to keep playing for as long as Marino, averaging 3,000 yards a season, that would put him at 61,000 yards. Marino's career total? 61,361.

Before you think that keeping up a 3,000 yard pace is unreasonable, let me share with you Dan Marino's last six seasons, starting with age 33 (Brees, by the way, is 31 this year):

Age 33: 4,453 yards

Age 34: 3,668 yards

Age 35: 2,795 yards

Age 36: 3,780 yards

Age 37: 3,497 yards

Age 38: 2,448 yards

(In Marino's Age 32 season, he was injured and only played in five games. He ended up throwing for 1,218 yards, which pro-rates to a 3,898-yard season over sixteen games.)

The average of Marino's last six seasons, when he is at the age Brees is going into? 3,440 yards. Throw in the pro-rated total for 1993 and it jumps up to 3,506 yards. So a 3,000-yard average for Brees, should he keep playing for seven more years, is certainly reasonable. If he were to average 3,500 yards for the last seven years of his career, just like Dan Marino did, that would put him past Marino and close to the 65,000 yard mark. That's Brett Favre territory, and Favre didn't retire until he was 41.

Am I saying that Drew Brees is the best quarterback in the history of the NFL? No, because his career has yet to be fully written. However, he is a lock for the Hall of Fame, based on all he has accomplished thus far. What's more remarkable, to me, is that unlike Marino, and to a lesser extent Favre, Brees found the most profit in the second act of his career. He truly turned things around after linking up with Sean Payton and the Saints, and long may it continue. As they say in Brees's adopted home town, laissez les bons temps rouler!

Finally, bringing things back to where they were at the beginning of the column, Drew Brees has something Dan Marino does not - a Super Bowl Championship. Want to bet against him getting another? I sure don't.

My next new idea

2011-12-28T23:54:00.002+08:00

When I was last in America, I purchased the Strat-o-Matic baseball board game because I was intrigued. I have played, and enjoyed, the game so far. I know that I'll never play a whole season - I don't have enough time to do something like that. So I've been trying to figure out the best way to play my game.

Made-up teams seem like the best - because I have no interest playing with teams that have half of their players on other teams, thanks to trades, free agency and the like. Best to start fresh with whole new rosters. My initial plan - a 24-team league (to incorporate all the players in the game in 40-man rosters) would have resulted in more than 2000 games! (remember, I said I didn't have the time for that?). Then, when I was watching the opening weekend of Australia's new Twenty20 cricket league, it hit me.

Twenty20 cricket, for those of you who don't know, is a relatively new form of the game that compresses the sport from five days down to 3 hours. It's designed to be TV-friendly and appeal to a wider range of people. Purists say that it takes all the strategy away from the traditional game and reduces it to smashing the ball as hard as you can. Think of it as the Home Run Derby of cricket.

So this is my new idea: a fantasy world where, under the auspices of Major League Baseball, the existing Australian Baseball League (ABL) is transformed from a winter development league (a la the Arizona Fall League) into a way for the best players in baseball to stay in shape, make some extra coin, and enjoy the great weather. Over a two-month period (December and January), ten teams will play a 54-game schedule (six games against each other team, home and away). The top four teams make the finals, with best-of-one semi-finals and best-of-three finals (because spring training is soon upon us).

To save pitchers' arms, and in keeping with the sped-up, Twenty20-inspired feel, games will be six innings long instead of nine. Starters will be limited to three innings maximum, and four days' rest is strictly enforced. The ten teams will have a 40-man roster, but only 25 can be selected to be eligible for each three-game series. At 270 games in total, even if I only play one game a day, I can be finished by next year's World Series (and start the next season of the ABL on time).

As there's only six real-life ABL teams, I've had to add four new ones. Again, I took a page out of the Twenty20 league, which faced the same problem when expanding from six to eight. They responded by putting a second team in Sydney and Melbourne. Seems like sound reasoning to me. So here's the ten ABL teams, at least in my universe:

Adelaide Bite
An existing ABL team, named after the Great Australian Bight.

Brisbane Bandits
An existing ABL team, of which there is nothing interesting to say.

Canberra Cavalry
An existing ABL team. Their mascot is a moustachioed cavalryman named Sarge

Geelong Baycats
I put Melbourne's second team on the other side of Port Phillip Bay so that I could use Geelong Baseball Park, one of the nicest stadiums in Australia. The Baycats name is the actual name of the amateur Geelong Baseball Club, so I kept it.

Gold Coast Clippers
The Clippers name was historically used by Queensland teams in the old ABL. The Gold Coast (which despite its name, is actually a large city) is home to the MLB Australian Academy. It seemed like a good fit to put a team here.

Hobart Hurricanes
Name and logo shamelessly stolen from the Twenty20 cricket team. They don't play baseball in Tasmania, apparently, so I didn't have much to work with. Besides, I needed a purple team.

Melbourne Aces
An existing ABL team. The Victoria Aces were the most successful state team in the Claxton Shield, aka the Stanley Cup of Australian baseball.

Perth Heat
The most awesome real-life ABL team ever! Current champions. It will be hard not to rig the draft in their favor.

Sydney Blue Sox
An existing ABL team. An artificial construction when the league re-launched in 2009, to be remedied with my second Sydney team

Western Sydney Patriots
The NSW Patriots were the historic name for New South Wales baseball, but unlike the Perth Heat and Melbourne Aces, that history was abandoned when the ABL arrived in 2009. Placing a team in Western Sydney and giving it the "Patriots" name was a logical move. Let the rivalry begin!

I don't plan on bombarding you with fictional ABL updates. In fact, this may be the only post I make on the subject. I'm in the process of loading the players in the SOM set into my copy of Out of the Park baseball - purely to run a draft and stock the teams in the fairest way I know how. After the teams are set (OOTP can also build a schedule for me), I'll start playing them. Maybe I'll play the whole season out. Maybe I'll get bored. The fun is in finding out.

Source:
The six real-life ABL team logos are from the ABL
The Geelong Baycats logo is from Geelong Baseball Club
The Gold Coast Clippers logo is from the Columbus Clippers
The Hobart Hurricanes logo is from the Big Bash T20 cricket league
The Western Sydney logo is from AZTarHeel, an online OOTP baseball player

Merry Christmas, Rickey Henderson!

2011-12-25T12:01:00.001+08:00

Last year, I wished you all a happy Rickey Henderson's birthday. This year, it's time to keep the tradition going.

Hideki Okajima says, Merry Christmas everyone! Oh, and happy Rickey Henderson's birthday, too.

The Darvish and Latos sweepstakes

2011-12-22T21:21:00.000+08:00

Well, the bidding is over and the Nippon Ham Fighters totally ignored my advice. They waited until the last possible moment to announce they were accepting the Rangers' $51.7 million posting bid for Yu Darvish. Now the fun begins.

You see, Darvish likes to portray himself as a sort of iconoclast. From getting caught engaging in underage smoking and gambling, to outspoken comments, he tries to cultivate an image as someone who bucks the system. Though I'm not sure how marrying and then divorcing an actress and pinup model fits into his rebel persona. That sounds more Beckhamish to me, and he's nobody's rebel.

Darvish has been an outspoken critic of the posting system. He says it's unfair to players, and I have to agree, I'm not a fan of it either. There's been some rumblings that, the higher the winning bid, the less likely Darvish would sign with the MLB team that ponied up the cash. He would view his stance as a condemnation of the system and a refusal to play the powers-that-be's little game. Of course, that's why he hired superagent Arn Tellem, right? Let's face it - Tellem didn't get where he is by tilting at windmills. My guess is that he'll knock some sense into Darvish and we'll see him in Ranger blue next year. I also believe that Darvish's favourite colour is green.

Now I'd like to turn my attention to the newly-minted Reds pitching ace, Mat Latos. It's commonly accepted wisdom that if you have the chance to trade for proven performance in exchange for prospects, you make the trade. Exactly how much proven performance Latos brings is up for debate, but the prospect status of Yonder Alsono, Yasmani Grandal and Brad Boxberger is beyond dispute.

The general consensus is that the Reds gave up too much in this trade. But that consensus is also predicated on several factors, none of which is a slam-dunk certainty. For example:

The Reds will lose Joey Votto to free agency, and they just traded away his ready-made replacement.
Alonso will be happy sitting on the bench waiting for Votto to depart, because the Reds have tried (and failed) to find another place for him.
Yasmani Grandal will be a better catcher than Devin Mesoraco, and the Reds just traded him away.
Brad Boxberger will develop into a shutdown major league closer, and the Reds never gave him a chance.

I look at this trade, as many small-to-mid market teams and fans do, in terms of control. In other words, is four years of Mat Latos worth trading away four years of Alonso and six years of Grandal? I don't know, but I'm certainly not going to evaluate it on the basis of "four years of Latos being a head case vs. four all-star seasons from Alonso and six years of Grandal being the next Pudge Rodriguez" like the naysayers have decided will happen. The reason these players are called prospects is because we don't know what will happen with their careers. Alonso might develop into the next Joey Votto, then again, he might not. Grandal might be the better catcher, but maybe Mesoraco is. We don't know what their future career holds, but we have a better idea of what Latos is likely to do, and the future looks pretty damn bright for him.

As a side note, I don't count Edinson Volquez in this trade because, frankly, I'm glad to see the back of him. Likewise, I don't count Boxberger because, if projecting a ballplayer's potential is a fool's errand, then the phrase "closer prospect" is downright farcical. The hand-wringing over his inclusion in the trade smacks of lingering regret over Trevor Hoffman's exposure in the 1993(!) expansion draft.

People have all but written off the Reds chances of retaining Joey Votto once he becomes a free agent, but I'm not so sure. The only team I really fear getting their hands on Votto is his hometown Blue Jays, suddenly resurgent and seemingly keeping their powder dry for a run at Votto in two years. However, I do worry that signing Votto to a big contract significantly reduces the chances of keeping Latos four years hence, unless the Reds can lock him up to a Cleveland Indians/Tampa Bay Rays-style below market contract. However, if at the end of 2015 the Reds have no Votto, no Latos, no real hardware to speak of and only a handful of compensatory draft picks, then what will we think of the trade?

(By the way, yes, I am collecting the 2011 Lineage set)

An open letter to the Nippon Ham Fighters

2011-12-16T01:06:00.000+08:00

Dear Nippon Ham Fighters,

You already have the coolest name in all of professional baseball, so please don't do anything that will endanger all of that goodwill. You have already publicly stated that you will accept the highest bid for Yu Darvish. Well, the bids are all in, you know what they are (heck, we even know that the highest bid is a monster), and we all know you're gonna take the cash.

Please don't make us wait until the Tuesday deadline. Just announce, today, that you have accepted the bid, and then we can all find out who massively overpaid for the next Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Sincerely yours,
JonathanRGB

P.S. My money's on the Rangers

The pictures are up

2011-12-13T22:22:00.000+08:00

I couldn't post pictures to my blog when using my phone. But now we have moved back into the house (yay!) and the computer and internet connections are set up. So I've added the pictures I wanted to have in the Travels with Raleigh post in the first place. Here's a link to the posts - Raleigh is a damn cute dog, if I do say so myself.

Day 1 (Derby to Port Hedland)
Day 2 (Port Hedland to Carnarvon)
Day 3 (Carnarvon to Perth)

Other good news - most of my cards have been unpacked already (priorities, don't you know!) At some point on the trip, when thinking about Raleigh and his brother, Charlie, I realised that I subconsciously lifted the title of this series from John Steinbeck's book Travels with Charley. Thanks again for indulging my inner Steinbeck.

More Travels with Raleigh (Day 3)

2011-12-12T20:03:00.003+08:00

6:30 am: An on-time departure. I like those when I'm travelling. Raleigh jumps into the car straight away, then curls up on the seat and goes back to bed almost as quickly. I guess he's tired from barking at the other dogs in the caravan park all night.

The landscape south of Carnarvon is noticeably different yet again. The Gascoyne region is more agricultural (as opposed to the Pilbara which is mining and the Kimberely which is cattle ranching), so even the bush looks taller and greener. Is it tastier? Raleigh will be the judge of that.

6:50 am: Kangaroo tail is apparently a delicacy. I was reminded of this when I saw a dead roo on the side of the road with its tail sticking out. All I know is that when I went in the shops at Roebourne there were a bunch of kangaroo tails in the freezer.

7:45 am: We cross back over the 26th parallel - the official border of the Northwest of Australia. Living above the 26th parallel actually entitled us to a tax break - we say good-bye to that now.

The land is reminiscent of the Southwestern US, minus the cactus. Buttes and mesas dot the landscape, and the trees are very similar. It's funny how there are places that remind you of other places very far away.

8:30 am: Rain?!? It's summer! It doesn't rain here in the summer. At least not south of the 26th parallel.

11:00 am: Lunch in Geraldton was an ordeal. My wife wanted Subway, but their computers were down and didn't take credit cards. Raleigh went for a walk in a park and ended up with prickles in his fur. And then there was all the construction delays, which backs up traffic behind road trains. I was hoping to get to Perth by 4 pm, but a late finish to the lunch, followed by all the back-ups, has probably put paid to that goal. We shall see.

Raleigh is being very good and patient, though. And now he has all the prickles out of his fur.

1:30 pm: More construction, this time outside of Ennabba. There's really nothing much to say right now. When you've travelled 2500 km already you just want to finish up the last 250 as quick as possible.

3:15 pm: Raleigh is the doggy Isaac Newton. My wife was rounding a corner and a bag of apples fell on his head. Poor puppy!

3:30 pm: We are now in the Perth outer northern suburbs. Guess what? It's raining again! It doesn't rain in Derby, where the wet season is supposed to have started by now, but it's raining here in Perth, where it's supposed to be dry. Anyway, we're about to turn on the freeway. Let's hope we beat the rush hour traffic.

7:30 pm: We got to my in-laws house close to 5:00 pm and had a nice dinner with everyone. Raleigh has enjoyed having his brother to play with, and Charlie has enjoyed having his brother around, too. He's not too happy about his new haircut, however.

It's been a long trip, but just like the trip up to Derby, Raleigh passed with flying colors. I hope you enjoyed the journey, and I promise normal service will resume once I have set everything up at the house. Until then, let me just say that it's good to be home.

More Travels with Raleigh (Day 2)

2011-12-11T19:31:00.001+08:00

1:00? am: There's a scratching at the tent door. It sounds like Raleigh is trying to pull the zipper open with his teeth. I put my glasses on, and there he is, sitting there, with a silly grin on his face. Guess he has to go out.

5:15 am: Still stupid o'clock, but it's light out now. Time to get ready to go.

6:30 am: The car is packed, and we're off. Raleigh did absolutely nothing to help. He needs to start pulling his weight. And since he only weighs 22 pounds, it's not much.

Today we'll be traveling about 880 km (550 miles) to Carnarvon, which should take, with stops, about 9 hours. The second half of the drive contains some of the most boring bits of the whole trip. The highlight is crossing the Tropic of Capricorn, and I already got my picture taken there on the drive up.

8:15 am: Passing through Roebourne. If you ever get the chance to go to Roebourne, don't. It's dirty and smelly and they make you drop your speed down from 110 kph all the way to 50. I don't like Roebourne.

9:30 am: We're doing good with the stops today. My wife drove the first hour, then an attack of sleepiness necessitated a driver change and I've been in the seat since then. We were supposed to have gotten to the next stop, Fortescue Roadhouse, by now. However, road construction shut down one lane, and now we're stuck behind two road trains, neither of which will pass the other, and a car which won't pass either. Grr.

9:40 am: Pull into Fortescue ten minutes behind schedule. Instead of staying in the nice shady green grass, Raleigh is insisting on walking in the sun. The plants of the Pilbara don't look as tasty, apparently. Or maybe he's learned his lesson after throwing up yesterday.

10:30 am: When we drove up to Derby, we were stuck at a water crossing for about an hour waiting for the level to go down. It was somewhere between Fortescue and Nanutarra roadhouses. Now, it's so dry that I can even pick the spot where we were stuck. We had to passed it by now. Crazy how the landscape changes so quickly here in Australia.

11:00 am: The landscape around here is dotted with mountains. They're not really mountains, but that hasn't stopped the highways department from putting up signs at scenic lookouts indicating "Mt. Something" and proclaiming heights of 218 meters. Nice try, but I'm from North Carolina, and I know that 218 meters does not a mountain make.

11:30 am: Lunchtime at Nanutarra is finished, and we're back on the road to Carnarvon. Different chambers of commerce have nicknamed their various coasts; Broome has the "Pearl Coast," Exmouth has the "Coral Coast." I call this stretch the "Boring Coast." Do you think it'll catch on?

12:00 pm: It is hot here in Australia. As you learned from school, December is the summer. The temperature in the car has been reading a constant 37-38 degrees Celsius since the sun got high in the sky. 37 is normal body temperature - 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. 38, well, that's over 100.

You think that's bad - yesterday, the thermometer in the afternoon was reading 43 and 44. It's like being in a Midnight Oil song: "The Western desert lives and breathes in 45 degrees."

1:00 pm: Tropic of Capricorn

1:15 pm: We pull the ol' traveling greenhouse over for a driver change. Into the cockpit goes J.A. Hart. The American has done this drive before, on his own, so the 160 km left into Carnarvon should be a piece of cake.

In other news, Raleigh says "Yuck-o-rama! The scruby little plants in the Gascoyne do not look tasty AT ALL!"

2:45 pm: Win! We pull into the campsite ahead of schedule by about 30 minutes. Our campsite is great - nice and shady and close to the toilet block. We pitch the tent and head off to find a dog beach.

3:30 pm: Pelican Point is an awesome dog beach. Raleigh was running up and down the beach, trying to avoid the waves and munching on the seaweed. He even made a doggy friend - a pug who was already at the beach. They took turns sniffing each other's butts (as you do) and pointing out the good smells on the beach.

I think Raleigh missed having a beach around. We didn't have that option in Derby - the water was brown and there are salt water crocodiles that would just as soon eat you as look at you. It will be good for him to have his beach back again.

4:30 pm: The "big" (literally) tourist attraction in Carnarvon is the Big Banana. Originally built for a fruit and veg stand that went out of business, it was purchased by the Chamber of Commerce to serve as a monument for the area's status as a fruit farmers' mecca, particularly bananas. Here's a picture of Raleigh and I in front of the Big Banana.

5:30 pm: Time for a nice refreshing dip in the pool. Raleigh would love to come, but he's not allowed.

Speaking of which, yesterday when I was checking in to the other campground, the lady pointed out some sites on the map. "Here's the pool," she said. "You can't take your dog in the pool area."

"Well that goes without saying," I replied.

"You'd be surprised how many people think they can bring their dogs in the pool," she replied.

7:20 pm: I'm now sitting here with a homemade ginger beer and posting this day's entry. I am looking forward to sleeping well tonight.

See you again tomorrow for part three...

More Travels with Raleigh

2011-12-10T20:33:00.001+08:00

7:00 am: He knows something is up. Usually, when we pack up the car, he's not allowed outside because he's not coming. This time, however, the car is full of stuff, much more than usual, and he's darting in and out, usually in the car, sometimes running around it, with a big smile on his face.

Our year here in Derby is done, and we're heading back home. Originally we were planning on staying here for two years, but circumstances (a dream job coming up) and other things meant we're coming home now. And that means another three-day car trip with my dog, Raleigh, and this time, also my wife. It'll be nice to share the driving duties.

7:35 am: we were down a quart of oil, so we pull into the town service station to get that sorted. Who do we see? The one kid from my class that I don't really want to see. The type of kid who eats paste. Raleigh was a good boy - he didn't bite the paste eater. Although I wish he would have. ;)

7:45 am: All ready to hit the road. My wife is taking the first shift.

8:15 am: When driving around country Australia, it's a lot different then a long-distance drive in the States. It's more like how drives used to be, before Interstate highways. The main roads are two lanes, and services, particularly in remote areas, are sparse. Every 200 - 300 kilometers you'll find a roadhouse - a place to fill up, grab a sandwich and a drink, and, if it's time to stop, pitch a tent or park your RV. There's one such roadhouse 60 km out of Derby - it's where I usually stop to get a chocolate milk. Not today, though - it's big picture time. With a 2700 km drive ahead of us, we can't be stopping 60 km in. Sorry, Willard Roadhouse!

8:30 am: And...it's time for our first pit stop! I spent most of it trying to keep Raleigh away from a barbed-wire fence that apparently looked tasty.

9:15 am: We've reached the turnoff on the main road for Broome and Port Hedland. With the exception of one time when we went camping about 60 km from this spot, I haven't turned left to go to Port Hedland for a year. Yet, that is what we need to do now to head home. Even though, geographically, it's not true, by turning left and putting that stretch of road behind us, it feels like we're leaving Derby and the Kimberley behind.

10:00 am: Another pit stop. This time, Raleigh apparently mistook the side of the road for an all-you-can-eat salad bar. Lots of tasty looking grasses. I have taken the wheel, and will be driving the rest of the way today.

10:30 am: I have a terrible sense of distance, but an inborn compass and always know where I am in relation to landmarks, etc. When you're traveling the highways here, there are distance markers every 10 km toward the next town (or roadhouse). It's really not hard to know where you're at. All you have to do it's make note of a marker, note the time and the speed you're traveling, and do the math. My wife, however, fails to grasp this concept, and always guesses at least 20 km off. She thinks we'll get to Sandfire (the next roadhouse, where we're stopping for lunch) at 12:30. But, since we're 180 km out at I've got the cruise control set at 120, there's no way. Barring an excessive number of pit stops, we'll get there by noon, easy. Probably a couple of minutes before.

11:58 am: We pull into Sandfire. Wife not pleased with smug look on my face.

12:00 pm: Lunch is just what I needed. I had a Mountain Dew to drink with my sandwich, then cracked open a Red Bull when I started driving again. I feel like an alcoholic mixing his hard liquors.

Raleigh enjoyed his lunch - water. Don't feel sorry for the pooch, though. For the last two weeks, we've been trying to eat down our fridge. We didn't quite make it, though, so Raleigh got a special treat for dinner last night - a whole steak! It was either that or through it in the bin. So he can afford to have just water now. Besides, he doesn't eat lunch.

12:20 pm: Back on the road. Raleigh has finally started laying down on the back seat instead of sitting up and looking through the window. I guess the excitement of the long card ride is starting to wear off.

12:30 pm: Whoops, I spoke too soon. He's back up.

1:30 pm: We've reached another roadhouse, which means another pit stop. This time it's Pardoo, which is where Raleigh and I stayed on the second night of our trip up. This time, he whined and whimpered the whole time my wife was inside, and wouldn't go for a walk until she came out. He's such a momma's boy.

This 300 km stretch between Sandfire and Port Hedland is pretty easy, which also means it's pretty boring.

3:00 pm: We arrive in Port Hedland, right on schedule. I like having the short first day so we can relax. After going to the shops for some groceries (my wife and Raleigh go for a walk while I'm shopping, Raleigh got squirted by a fountain), we check into the campsite, pitch the tent, and go to the beach. Raleigh has earned a run-around and a swim.

4:30 pm: The place we were directed to go by the campsite manager, Pretty Pools, is a great spot. It's sandy tidal pools with lots of families and some other dogs. Raleigh is a good swimmer, but he can be apprehensive at times, and usually only goes into the water to follow his brother, Charlie (who is owned by my in-laws). There was another family next to us, but the kid (and wife) weren't too keen on dogs, so we kept having to keep calling Raleigh back to us.

At one point, I look up and see the father of that group has wandered quite a ways around the edge o the pool. And then I see Raleigh, swimming over there trying to get to him. I'm wearing regular clothes, so I'm not going to swim after him. He's back on dry land now, so I call him. He goes running, then swimming, then he reaches a sandbar, so he's running again, then...SPLASH! The water was deeper then he was expecting. But his little head pops right back up and there he is, dog-paddling his way back to us. Very cute. But not so cute when he got out and started rolling around in the sand. He looked like a crumbed sausage.

5:00 pm: Guess who got a bath before we got back in the car?!?

6:30 pm: Dinner time! Remember that steak I told you about? Well someone thinks that the steak sandwiches we're pan frying on the camp stove are for him. Nice try, Raleigh. Have some dog food instead.

8:20 pm: As I write this, Raleigh and my wife are asleep in tent and I'm about to join them. The first time he and I camped, he wouldn't sleep on the air mattress. He slept all around it on the floor of the tent, but wouldn't get on. But now that my wife's here as well, he's sleeping on the mattress.

Like I said, he's such a mamma's boy. :)

Big, long day tomorrow. The end point is Carnarvon, the town where Raleigh and I were trapped by the cyclone (hurricane) on the way up to Derby. If there are going to be any tricky water crossings on the highway this trip, tomorrow's the day we'll get them. It's a cloudless, starry night, though.

Until tomorrow...

Gint-A-Cuffs: The first three packs

2011-07-26T20:33:00.001+08:00

Release the ~~Kraken~~ box topper!

It is time for my inaugural Gint-A-Cuffs entry. I finally got myself organised in time to enter the contest. I have also avoided the pitfall of picking the wrong box to open by only getting one box. I plan on getting three, one when I'm on my trip in September (too late for GAC) and one for my birthday, which I don't know will arrive in time or not. I also don't know what the limit on entries is. Is it two? I thought it was two. If it is two, maybe I'll have a second entry. If not, well, like I said, this is the only box I have.

Anyway, on to more important things, like the selection of the packs that I will open. Last year, I proceeded to get a relic in my second, fourth, and sixth pack, all in the first two rows off the top. This, of course, proceeded to give me lovely visions of the hot box to end all hot boxes, or at the very least a bonus fourth hit.

Alas, this was not to be. Those were my three hits. The rest of the box was anti-climactic. So selecting packs in the right order is crucial. Do I tempt fate, and clear out one side of the box at a time, or do I keep picking off the top? Will be hopes be dashed I think that due to the insane Series 1 jumbo box, my luck on hits might be used up for a while - bad news for Gint-a-Cuffs.

All right, enough yammering. Here's the envelope at the top:

CB-3 Dallas is perfect in Oakland (+8)
I really wanted the cabinet card that Nachos Grande pulled, because that would have been beaucoup points, plus I want it for my collection. But this card is pretty cool. I'm still willing to trade it for the Felix/Ichiro one, though.

And now, Pack #1:

118 Rafael Soriano (-1 Yankee scum)
What a shit start to the pack. Don't worry, it gets worse.

254 Denard Span
56 Scott Kazmir
30 Hanley Ramirez

AGA-AT Andres Torres framed auto (+10)
The autograph checklist Allen & Ginter fans have been waiting for, my foot.

Stuck to it was...

mini #7 Mickey Mantle (-1 Yankee scum, but...

...thank goodness it's an A&G back, so +2, so +1 overall)
Does the Mantle mini go into my Frankenset? Yes, but does it even matter? Don't worry, it gets worse.

HH79 Hometown Heroes (+1!)...

...Derek Jeter (-1 Yankee scum, so nil overall)
PBBBBBTH! A Bronx cheer for all the Bronx Bombers.

Total for pack: 10 points
Running total: 18 points

Pack the 2nd:

181 Mark Buehrle
132 Colby Rasmus
16 Gordon Beckham
85 Chris Sale
Why didn't I make the White Sox my favorite team?
110 Jake McGee

171 John Lackey (Ginter Code card: +3)

WMF1 Rasputin (World's Most Mysterious Figures: +3)

HH50 Josh Hamilton Hometown Heroes (+1 HH, +2 Favorite Player = +3)
I personally think I should get bonus points for pulling a Hometown Heroes card of my own hometown. I named my dog Raleigh, for goodness sake!

Total for pack: 9 points
Running total: 27 points

Pack III:

252 Omar Infante
243 Mike Nickeas
188 Daniel Descalso
226 Andre Ethier
88 David Ortiz

183 Mike Napoli (Ginter Code card: +3)

116 Josh Beckett black-bordered mini (+3)
Slot 116 is blank, so this goes in the Frankenset.

HH53 Justin Verlander Hometown Heroes (+1)
I'd like to average ten points per pack. After five cards, I was at zero, so seven is a decent result.

Total for pack: 7 points
Running total: 34 points

Spot the difference

2011-07-25T22:39:00.000+08:00

Notice anything about these cards?

I must say, I had them in my collection for two years but didn't notice them until this week when I was cataloguing.

Gint-A-Cuffs Update

2011-07-23T23:52:00.000+08:00

It's here!

That's the box of 2011 Ginter that I ordered. And yes, I will be competing in Gint-A-Cuffs this time around. Colbey has gone out and set the first mark - 197 points. Will that hold up? We shall see. Expect an excruciatingly slow reveal from some folks - like me. I'll be opening the packs three a day (got to make them last!) but revealing them every other day.

Stay tuned...

Who wants ToppsTown cards?

2011-07-19T07:51:00.002+08:00

I've managed to accumulate a stack of ToppsTown cards (haven't we all?) from 2009 to 2011, which I put together last week when cleaning up my collection.

The thing is, I don't want them. At all. I'd just toss them in the bin, but I can bring myself to do something like that to baseball cards, no matter how unwanted.

Does anyone want/need any of these cards? Send me an e-mail or leave a comment. Maybe this can be the start of a larger trade, who knows?

Junior is ready

2011-07-18T08:23:00.015+08:00

Well, I'm feeling incredibly productive - I've finished my Ken Griffey Jr. PC page. That's three down, one to go. Unfortunately, I've saved the biggest for last, and given how long the Junior page took (not long, but tedious, so I didn't work on it straight through), I'm not looking forward to Ichiro since that collection is twice as big as the Griffey.

Anyway, my Junior cards are catalogued and up on the site. The link, as always, is available on the right-hand side of the website. It now points to the Junior PC page instead of the White Sox project page, which is still at the top. I also have some Junior cards (as well as cards for the other three) that are sitting in my CheckOutMyCards account and aren't listed on any of the player collection pages. I really should get those cards shipped to me. It's been a year since I bought some of them, for crying out loud!

What do you think, should I add the pictures from COMC onto the page? Or should I just stick only with the cards I have on hand in my binders?

Everybody's All-American

2011-07-17T06:52:00.000+08:00

During my last eBay buying frenzy, I picked up a strange little set for 99 cents. Card No. 1 featured Ken Griffey, which is why I got the set. I figured I could put that card in the bottom right-hand slot of a binder page of my Griffey, then put the other nine in a page behind. While I realise this might offend some of your sensibilities, frankly, I'm not losing any sleep over this.

I scanned the whole set it while scanning in my Griffey cards (news flash! - I'm now done scanning in all of my PC cards!). So here, I present to you, the 1989 All-American Promo Cards set. A giant among card manufacturers, to be sure.

A couple of things - first, AAPC's attempts to hide MLB logos makes Upper Deck's attempt 21 years later look positively professional. I don't think AAPC even tried, or cared. Secondly, the choice of players seems strange - Griffey was in his rookie season, and appears to be the reason for the set since he has two of the ten cards. If you can figure out rhyme or reason behind the other eight players, please let me know. Jim Abbott was also included as a rookie. However, the back of his card lists "1988 Pitching Record" then says "No Major League Stats". However, the back of Griffey's cards say "1988 Batting Record" then list his numbers for the San Bernardino Spirit. Plus, they got the number of runs wrong.

So which is it?

2011-07-16T10:35:00.003+08:00

Look carefully at the back of this card:

The blurb says Altherr was born in Germany, but the stats say he was born in Arizona. So which is it?

King Felix cards are up

2011-07-15T21:19:00.001+08:00

I've completed my second Player Page, the one that lists my Felix Hernandez collection. I've also scanned in all of my Ichiro cards but haven't started work on that page yet. Remember that picture of my desk? Well, I would like to get that cleared off by tomorrow, which means more scanning and less typing. The good news is, scanning is an excellent activity to do when doing other things, such as listening to the Tour de France in the background.

The Reds game will be shown live tomorrow morning (Friday evening USA time) so I am looking forward to watching that. Looks like an early start for me tomorrow.

You can find my King Felix collection by clicking at the link on the top of this page or the sidebar on the right-hand side.

Joyeux le 14 de Juillet

2011-07-14T23:57:00.000+08:00

It's Bastille Day, the French national day. I'm currently watching the Tour de France, where the malliot jaune is being worn by a Frenchman, Thomas Voeckler.

Did you know that there are nine Major League Baseball players who were born in France? Here's profiles of the three whose baseball cards are in my collection.

Steve Jeltz was born in Paris on May 28, 1959, and is perhaps best known for his exploits with the Phillies throughout the 1980s. He also holds most of the career records for players born in France, including most singles, doubles, triples, RBI and games played. But it's not all sunshine and lollipops - Jeltz also holds the record for most career strikeouts by a French-born player. His most famous game came in 1989, when the Phillies faced the Pirates in Pittsburgh. After the Buccos put up a 10-spot in the first inning, the game seemed over. However, Jeltz, who entered the game as a substitute, led an improbable comeback. A switch-hitter, he became the first Phillie to hit a home run in the same game from each side of the plate. Even more remarkable, Jeltz had exactly five home runs in his career - and two of them came in that game! After seven seasons in Philadelphia, Jeltz finished his career with the Royals in 1990.

Charlie Lea was born on Christmas Day, 1956, in Orléans. No, not New Orleans, but the town that the Big Easy is named after. Old Orleans, if you prefer. Lea spent most of his seven-year big league career in Montreal, so you'd imagine that he felt right at home. Except that Lea grew up in Memphis, then starred at Memphis State, and even played his Double-A ball with the Memphis Chicks. Lea's career highlight came in 1981, perhaps the année miraculous of Montreal baseball history. On May 10, Lea pitched a no-hitter against the Giants, becoming the first Expo not named Bill Stoneman to pitch a no-no (Dennis Martinez and his perfect game was the third and final Spo to accomplish the feat). In 1984, Lea made his only All-Star appearance, being named the starter for the National League (over players such as Fernando Valenzuela and Dwight Gooden) and picked up the win. Sadly, he wrecked his elbow, and missed both the 1985 and 1986 seasons. He pitched one inning for the Expos in 1987 before finishing his career with the Twins in 1988.

Perhaps the best-known and most successful French-born major-leaguer is Bruce Bochy. Bochy, of course, is the manager of the defending champion Giants. He became the first (and only) European-born manager to win a title, as well as the first to manage in the World Series when his Padres won the NL pennant in 1998. Bochy's father was in the Army, which explains why Bruce was born in Landes-de-Boussac in central France. Bochy first broke into the big leagues with the Astros in 1978, but it is with the Padres that he acheived the most fame. Prior to becoming the Padres manager, his most notable feat was perhaps being the catcher on the field when Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb's all-time hit record. Bochy also holds the career record for home runs by a French-born player, with 26 circuit clouts.

As a manager, Bochy led the Padres to the post season four times, winning the NL pennant in 1998. After leaving San Diego for the Giants at the end of the 2006 season, Bochy has proven to be a steady hand on the wheel, mentoring young Giants pitchers such as Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner.

Six other major leaguers were born in France, all of whom played parts of one or two seasons, most in the dead ball era. They are Ed Gagnier, Claude Gouzzie, Paul Krichell, Duke Markell, Larry Ressler and Joe Woerlin.

As I write, the day's racing in the Tour de France has come to an end, and although Sammy Sanchez, a Basque, won the stage, Thomas Voeckler has kept his overall lead and will wear the yellow jersey again tomorrow. Vive La France! Joyeux le 14 de julliet!

A new feature: Player Pages

2011-07-14T00:37:00.000+08:00

The main reason behind pulling out all my cards and scanning a bunch of them in was so I could get scans of all the cards in my PC. Ideally, given enough money and time, I'd scan all the cards in my collection, so I could have a virtual collection and record of what I have collected over the years. But let's face it - that would be a monumental undertaking that would probably result in my wife leaving me and my dog biting me because I was too busy scanning images to take it for a walk.

However, in this week alone, I have made some progress. And I have scanned all of the Tim Lincecum cards in my PC (the smallest of my collections by far). Not only that, but I have put them up on a page for your perusal. You can reach it any time by clicking on Lincecum's name under the "Players I Collect" section (I've turned it into a link). Alternatively, you can just click here, but this post won't be on the front page forever.

As I scan in more cards from other players (Felix is next), I will put up more links. I'm trying to organise it by year because my file-naming system makes it easy for me to do that. Eventually, the Ken Griffey link will point to his player collection page instead of the Griffey White Sox Project page (which will always be available at the top).

Okay, this post got way more geeky than I wanted it to be. So here's another random Lincecum card and we'll be done with it. As always, thanks for reading!

All-Star Recap

2011-07-13T20:25:00.002+08:00

I'm happy to report that the National League won the All-Star game for the second straight year. Might we be in for a return to the glory days of Pete Rose and the 1970s? There's no telling, but I had a good feeling about this year, much more so than last year's game.

A couple of things that stuck out for me:

The sheer number of NL Central players on the roster. Sure, the NL East is stocked with pitchers, both starters (Philadelphia) and relievers (Atlanta). And the NL West has some truly, truly great players. But the top four teams in the NL Central (including Pittsburgh!) had at least three players on the roster. And many of them made significant contributions, including All-Star Game MVP Prince Fielder.

Speaking of Fielder, his three-run blast was a joy to behold. I thought it completely stuffed up the lineup for the Home Run Derby (if he in fact "picked" it at all) - Rickie Weeks, whose claim to fame is the most homers by a lead-off hitter in the past two seasons, over Lance Berkman, leading the league in home runs? But let's face it - nobody really gives a toss. Robinson Cano won the HR Derby, and that was enough for Ron Washington to bat him...eighth. When it really mattered, Prince came through with the first home run in Brewers All-Star history, an absolute bomb that erased Adrian Gonzalez's blast, and then some.

By the way, can we go ahead and say that Jose Bautista is for real? He's no Brady Anderson, that's for sure. On the left is a Jose Bautista card that I got quite by accident - I picked it up in a pack of Upper Deck that I got from the bargain bin at Target about a year ago. I almost included it in a trade package before I had a good look at what it was. While I don't collect Bautista's cards, I respect his ability and will hang on to this for a while.

Now for the pitchers. As I said, I had a good feeling about this year's All-Star Game. The reason can be summed up in four words: Roy, Halladay, Cliff & Lee. I hate facing them in the regular season, but I'm glad they're on the National League's side now in the All-Star Game.

Sadly, for every Cliff Lee there's an Adrian Gonzalez who goes over to the other side. It killed be when he hit that home run of Lee. Why didn't he do that for the NL? Still, you have to had it to Gonzalez. He faced enormous pressure when he went over to Boston, and was expected to put up monster numbers in a Ballpark That Was Made For Him. By all accounts, he has not only met those expectations, he has exceeded them. Well done for him. I just wish he didn't do so well during the All-Star break. Or the World Series, if it were to come to that.

On the post-game show, Brandon Phillips was interviewed by Ken Rosenthal and talked about how big it was that the National League got the home-field advantage for the World Series. I like his optimism.

Finally, I can hear you now: "Jonathan, why are you so gung-ho about the National League when four of the teams you collect are AL teams?" The simple fact is, there is one that isn't. And that's the team that I have been following for my entire life. Like I said, the glory days were the Pete Rose 1970s. That's the time (and place) where I'm from.

NL forever, baby!

Little Package of Goodness - Five Card Friday

2011-07-12T11:21:00.000+08:00

I was the winner of the inaugural Five Card Friday giveaway, which you can find over at The Daily Dimwit. Sam was offering some Ichiro cards, and of course I jumped at the chance of getting those. What was great about it was that cards were all 2010 Topps inserts - card that I had collected for the insert set, but that I could use doubles of for my Ichiro PC. Yes, just what I need, more cards to scan. Well, I have, and here they are:

The two copies of Ichiro's rookie card are just that - Yo Momma copies, both the standard and the original back. I already have the original back, so this is my second - perfect for the Ichiro binder. The Turkey Red I *don't* have, so it's still on the want list. The Legendary Lineage card is great because of the connection - I started "semi-collecting" Sisler cards due to Ichiro. But perhaps the best-looking card is from the series I don't collect - the Peak Performance. I think it has a classy look.

Sam also tossed it a pack of 2007 Fleer Ultra. It has Ken Griffey on the outside. Does it have Griffey on the inside, too? Let's find out:

Gary Sheffield...

Ryan Howard...

A Cal Ripken insert (now we're getting somewhere)...

Ichiro! (pretty exciting)...

Hey, whaddaya know! It's a Griffey! So in a five card pack, I got a Griffey, an Ichiro and a Ripken. That's a great outcome. Thanks, Sam!

Cataloguing

2011-07-12T00:42:00.000+08:00

You should see my desk right now. Seriously, here's a picture of it. Sorry for the crappy quality, it was taken on my phone because my wife has the camera:

Because my wife isn't here, I decided to spread out all my stuff and do some inventory and cataloguing. One of the things that I've been meaning to do for a long time, but never got around to it for a variety of reasons, is scan all the cards in my PCs. So far, I have scanned 12. I'm sure that I have a bunch of scans, but that was on the old crappy scanner. I want to re-do them using the new, good scanner. That's the scanner you can see in the picture. Pretty nifty, huh?

Anyway, those cards are the Ellie Hendricks card in my earlier post and 11 Lincecum cards. I have a lot more than 11 Lincecums, but those are the ones that aren't in the binder yet. The Lincecum collection is by far the smallest of my four PCs, so it seemed like a good place to start. If I had started with the Ichiro collection, I would have gotten discouraged and given up. Looking at it on my desk, I'm still discouraged.

By the way, the other half of my desk looks just as bad. That's where the cards that don't need scanning are located. And don't get me started on the kitchen table...

...at least I have until Sunday to clean up my spread.

My first '75

2011-07-11T12:47:00.002+08:00

Earlier I had posted about how I am trying to accumulate 1975 Topps cards. That's because it's time I started compiling the birth year set. I still don't have much interest in collecting vintage of all stripes, but '75 Topps holds some particular significance. I have no idea how long it will take, and I'm scared of the number of big-ticket rookies (such as George Brett and Robin Yount) that are in the set. And before you ask, no, I have no plans to collect any of the mini cards. The regular set will be enough for me.

I had mentioned that the Earl Williams was my first 1975 card. Turns out, that wasn't true. While digging through my collection, looking for Cal Ripkens for a trade, I found another Oriole:

Yes, it's Birds all-time favorite Elrod Hendricks in a classic 1970s catcher baseball card pose. The card, as you can tell by the scan, is in quite good shape. I got it in a job lot of Orioles cards last May or June. I think it's a good start to the collection.

And with that, I'm off to eBay to find some more lots.With only five '75ers in my collection (and four of them stored in a warehouse in Dureya), I have a lot of holes to fill. Wish me luck!

Diamond Giveaway tradeathon

2011-06-27T22:07:00.004+08:00

Here's a list of the current outstanding trades I have on the Diamond Giveaway site. See if you can pick out the theme:

Yes, I have (unofficially) begun work on the birth year set. I've decided to collect as many 1975 cards as I can, then get them shipped at the end of the giveaway. Right now, I have one '75er in my collection (Earl Williams), but I hope to get more by trading up my '76 and '77 cards or even trading down '73s and '74s. We'll see.

Some final business

2011-06-25T00:01:00.003+08:00

Well, it's finally over. The box has been busted, the cards have been sorted, and my want list has been updated. I ended up with around 280 cards, so another 40-something are required. Any help you can provide is lovely.

After pulling star after star that I didn't want, I finally got a Diamond Star card that is of interest to me. The checklist isn't great (for my purposes) as there's only three cards on there that I want, and this is one of them. Votto and Felix are the other two.

The checklist on the Topps 60 and the Kimballs, on the other hand, have been fantastic this time around and I've added many more to my want list. Here's an example - Johnny Bench in all the Reds double-knit glory.

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but growing up in Cincinnati, I always got the sense that a person was either a Johnny Bench fan or a Pete Rose fan, but you really couldn't be both. You might appreciate the other for what they accomplished, but you really only warmed to one or the other. I was a Pete Rose fan growing up. That's not to say I mind it when I get a Bench card - it's always welcome. And given how Pete is now persona non grata in ToppsTown (and all of baseball), I guess I won't be pulling any new Roses in the forseeable future.

The category they chose for this Topps 60 card is very lame, however.

Finally, the last gold parallel of the box, and I'm certainly please by this. Rarely do I get gold parallels of players I give a shit about. They're usually Pirates, and that trend held firm again with this box. Prior to this Roberts, the only gold parallel I pulled - ever - that I was happy to see was a Felix Hernandez league leaders card that he had to share with two other pictures. So this one is pretty good. Then you flip it over and check out the serial number:

ZOMG!!!!@~``111!!@!!! IT'S A 1-OF-1!!!!!!!! I COULD GO ONTO EBAY AND SELL THIS FOR $$$$$$$$

No it's not. It's a 1 of 2011. Says so right on the card.

Bird Belters

2011-06-24T07:21:00.003+08:00

You never know what you're going to find. I was searching for copies of the Sandy Koufax short print and I typed in "2011 Topps 530" (because that's the card number). In amongst the Koufaxes and the Felixes (how great is it that they share a card number?), I found this card.

It's a 60 Years of Topps reprint, and it's an original back. It was listed because in the original 1968 set, this card was #530. And at a very reasonable price, it's now mine.

Like I said, you never know what you're going to find.

Photo courtesy of eBay

My newest Lincecum, plus some other cards

2011-06-23T20:25:00.000+08:00

I promised myself that I wouldn't use this opportunity to take a cheap shot at the Cardinals. But who am I kidding - of course I will! As you know, I am a sucker for cards that feature vintage uniforms. I should now amend that statement. I am a sucker for card that feature vintage uniforms that don't look like clown costumes.

On to some other cards. I can somewhat understand why Play at the Plate doesn't like the Hamilton card I featured earlier. After seeing this Lincecum card, I feel deflated. I've seen this card before. In fact, I have about 25 copies of it. What a let down - when cards of your favorite players don't live up to your expectations. I still think the Hamilton card is fantasic, though.

Hmm, I wonder who the inspiration for this Joe Mauer card was. Hint: consider who published the card. It's as plain as the ~~nose on your face~~ number on Mauer's back.

Finally, this Michael Pineda card was pulled one day too late. I considered adding him in the "young arms that are the hope of the franchise" post, but I didn't want to wait and I wasn't guaranteed to pull him, anyway. Sod's law says I'd get him the next day.

This is almost the end. I have four packs left, then comes the wrap-up post. Plenty of typing to come all weekend long.

Joy of a Completed Page (2011 Topps edition, part 2)

2011-06-22T20:49:00.003+08:00

Here's my first filled Series 2 binder page. I completed four of them tonight. Only 33 more to go...

A pair of lively young...arms

2011-06-21T20:53:00.000+08:00

Welcome to The Hope of the Franchise. Today, we'll highlight two young pitchers who their respective teams are pinning their hopes on. Why? Because it's a lot better than watching this depressing Reds/Yankees game. Jose Arredondo can suck it.

First up is the hapless Arredondo's teammate, Mike Leake. The first player from his draft class to make the major leagues (suck it, Stephen Strasburg!), Leake is now entering his second full season as a big league player. He didn't mess around with the minor leagues. What's the point in blowing away single-A batters in Hagerstown? The Reds didn't worry about making Leake a "Super Two" arbitration eligible player. If he's ready, he's ready.

And Leake was ready. He beat out future big-league teammates Travis Wood, Aroldis Chapman and Micah Owings (outpitching two of them, and outhitting the other). He went his first ten career starts without losing a single game. And even though he was eventually optioned to Triple-A in his second season (damn you, Jose Arredondo!), he still has a career record of 14-7 and is back in the big leagues, hopefully to stay. No, I don't know why he shoplifted those shirts, either.

Fun fact: Because Leake grew up in Southern California, the conference that his high school played in is called the "Avocado League." That's awesome.

Fun fact #2: Leake grew up as a Seattle Mariners fan. So did I. We also both took the field in Cincinnati, albeit at different stadiums.

Our second featured star is the bright young hope for the Baltimore Orioles, Jake Arrieta. Arrieta and his teammates, Brian Matusz and Zach Britton, have been called the new Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz. Or perhaps it's the new Hudson/Zito/Mulder. Or maybe the new Halladay/Carpenter/Escobar. No matter who you compare them to, big things are expected from these three guys. Let's hope they're not the next Isringhausen/Pulsipher/Wilson.

Arrieta's best feature, so far, as been a career winning percentage over .500 - hey, it might not seem like much, but remember, he pitches for the Baltimore Orioles. This is a team that has been below .500 since 1998, yet he's five games over .500 for the season (9-4) and his career (15-10). The guy is good, and he's only getting better. Last season, he struck out 52 batters in 100 innings. This season, he's struck out more (71) in less (88). Even though the team, let's face it, stinks, Arrieta isn't letting it bother him. He just goes out and does his job, every fifth day. Good on him!

Fun fact: He was a fan of Nolan Ryan when he was growing up. So was Mike Leake, and so was half the power pitchers in Major League Baseball today. That's how long Nolan Ryan pitched.

Fun fact #2: There was nothing else I could find on Wikipedia. Wikipedia sucks.

Random thoughts from the Topps box

2011-06-20T22:15:00.000+08:00

It's hard for me to write currently, because it's that time of year again - report card time. Thankfully, this year I only have twenty reports to write, and the expectations for how much to write are less than at my old school. But finding the proper motivation is still a necessity, and it usually means that all other writing activities get pushed to the wayside.

But I'm still opening cards, as it provides a bit of a welcome distraction. And in those packs, I'm still finding interesting things to talk about. For example:

Another year, another uniform for J.J. Putz. After six years of remarkable stability with the Mariners, this marks his fourth team in as many seasons. He'll probably get traded at the deadline or something like that.

Oh great - so how many copies of this card do I need now to complete all my collections?
(The answer, by the way, is four)

The Kimball minis checklist for Series 2 was full of great players for me to collect. Unfortunately, I kept pulling cards of people like Gary Carter. I've never really liked Gary Carter - there's something about him that rubbed me the wrong way, and I can tell you exactly what it is - that bubble-headed perm of his. I don't care that he no longer has it - the point is, he did. I feel the same way about Don Sutton and latter-day episodes of The Brady Bunch when Mike Brady traded in his respectable businessman cut for a swinging '70s perm.

Anyway, the Luis Aparicio is the first Kimball card on my personal checklist that I've pulled. All the rest will be available, and revealed in my Series 2 box break wrap-up post, due early next week.

On a final note, I won a new scanner/printer/copier at the school's fundraiser charity auction. The good news is, it's now a lot easier and less aggravating for me to scan cards. It's literally pushing one button and then changing file names to make my organisational format. So I don't feel dread in having to scan a big pack of cards, and should have a lot more illustrations soon.

Double your pleasure

2011-06-18T09:17:00.000+08:00

The packs I opened today included the promised hit, the base card of one of my favorite players (and an insert card as well), a Diamond Parallel of an exciting young prospect, and a redemption scheme that has frustrated me to no end. But I'm not going to show you any of those cards.

Instead, here are two cards of the hottest young superstar in the game. He's got two base cards in this series, and I got both of them. In the same pack!

Yes, it's a Jason Heyward hot pack. The card on the left is his proper base card, while the one on the right is his Rookie Cup card. This year Topps decided to print separate Rookie Cup cards instead of just putting the logo on the regular card, as they did in years past. I'm not a fan of that decision, because it takes away another spot in the checklist that could be used for either an established major leaguer or player that made a roster out of spring training (or, more likely, the third lefty in the Yankees bullpen). Why do Heyward, Buster Posey, Austin Jackson and Danny Valencia, for crying out loud, need two spots in the 2011 checklist? In Posey's case (and Neftali Feliz as well), between the regular card, the Rookie Cup, and the Rookie of the Year card, three spots in the checklist are being used. I like Buster Posey and think he's a great player. But three base cards are overkill.

Okay, rant over. Let's talk about the cards. The Rookie Cup card is fairly generic, just a picture of him leaving the batter's box. Maybe if it was on the basepaths, it would have been more evocative. The base card, on the other hand, could have been a great card. The ball in the air, about to go into J-Hey's glove (just like the Hamilton card). It's a frontal view of Heyward (so Dayf's happy) and because of that, you can actually see his face and the look of concentration as he follows the ball into his glove. From his body language, you can get a sense of the game situation. There's an air of casualness in his stance, so you have to think that there's nobody on base, and he's quite possibly about to make the third out of the inning. Heyward looks like he's about to make the catch and just keep on jogging, straight into the dugout. He might not even throw the ball back in. There's just one huge, glaring flaw. Can you spot it?

That damn electronic advertisement that Heyward is standing in front of is ruining the shot! It's an awful background, and makes Heyward look like he's posing in front of the world's biggest Lite-Brite. Not even a good Lite-Brite - it looks like one that's missing half of the pegs. Time and time again, those electronic ads and scoreboards are ruining baseball cards. Topps has never shown any reluctance to airbrush or Photoshop their pictures. Why can't they do us a favor and airbrush in a normal outfield wall?

Uniform Back Cards (Part 7 in a series)

2011-06-17T01:14:00.002+08:00

Yesterday, I posted what I thought was the worst card of 2011 Topps. And yes, Dayf, I was serious. The choice of a white-gray background on a card that has a white border is an inexcusable decision on Topps' part. Had the series featured full-bleed photography, or a colored border, then the background might have looked good, because I agree that there are too many generic shots in cards today. But the hoodie is still a deal breaker. Call me crazy, but I like to have the players on my baseball cards wearing, oh, I don't know, baseball uniforms!

But today I am not here to bury Topps, but to praise it. Because I have found one of the better cards in the series. It's certainly good enough for inclusion in the Uniform Back Series. I present card #650, Josh Hamilton:

The photographer captured Hambone in mid-stride, and I can say with absolute certainty that this picture was taken a split-second before he made the catch. I mean, look at that ball - there's no way it didn't go in the glove. Sure, we're talking about the Rangers, but this isn't a Jose-Canseco-ball-off-the-melon situation.

That it's an action shot instead of a "just-standing-around" picture is just one way that this card succeeds where the Fred Lewis card fails. Another is the colors. The predominantly black (with a touch of dark blue) background contrasts well with the white border. You don't get the feeling, if only for a second, that the card is horribly miscut or a printing flaw. And speaking of contrast, look at how well Hamilton's uniform, particularly his bright white pants, stand out from the outfield wall. Even the "404" marking the center field distance complements, rather than competes for attention.

Of course, this is a Uniform Back card, and a fine example at that. You can clearly see the player's name and number. The fact that uniform number and the distance on the outfield wall are in the same font ties it all together nicely. A big thumbs up to Topps for this card.

In other business, I don't know if I got a 60 Years of Topps "hot box" or if I'm just uncovering my allotment early, but I like the results so far. In eight packs, I've gotten four 60YOT cards, which is a good return for someone collecting the set. The best of the bunch? Well it's really no contest:

A 1965 Frank Robinson, in his last season with the Reds. I'll be back again tomorrow with some more from Series 2. Please be sure to vote in my poll if you haven't already. How do you organise your player collections?

Is this the worst card of the year?

2011-06-16T08:09:00.006+08:00

Well, I bowed to public opinion and opened the box of MLB Series 2 cards first. The first four packs were a mixture - I got the infamous Domonic Brown "twink that isn't really a twink" card. I got a Pirates diamond parallel card (shocker!) and a decent mix of Reds, White Sox and Orioles (including Paul Janish and Chris Tillman). I also got what has to be the worst card in the 2011 set. Number 517, Fred Lewis:

How to I loathe thee? Let me count the ways. First, the picture was taken at spring training, and Fred is wearing a hoodie. A hoodie! Not even a warm-up jacket. Frankly, I would have preferred a dodgy airbrushing job to a hoodie. And what appears to be slacks.

Secondly, the sky was very gray that day. It's probably why Fred was wearing the hoodie in the first place. But when you combine that with the white border that surrounds the card - it all blends together. Honestly, when I saw the card in the pack, I thought it was horribly miscut. Imagine the horror when I realised the card is as it's supposed to be. What a craptastic design job.

Finally, the picture just isn't great. It looks washed out (maybe because of the extremely gray sky) and you can't even see Fred's face that well behind the sunglasses, hat pulled down and side-on view. Not to mention he has two baseball bats in front of his head. The fact that he's even wearing sunglasses begs another question - if it was that overcast, why was he wearing sunglasses, anyway?

I refuse to believe that was the best picture Topps took of Fred Lewis in spring training this year. Even if it was, they should have realised the pickings were slim and trotted out the old airbrush. Fred Lewis, like all ball players, deserves a real baseball card, not a half-assed attempt. More importantly, so do we.

The people have spoken

2011-06-16T00:27:00.002+08:00

But I'm not thrilled with the answer.

The winning entry on my poll was for Topps Series 2, but I must say that I'm intrigued about opening the Pro Debut box. What to do, what to do?

I guess I could show the results from the final of three lots of Ichiro cards I purchased for 99 cents each on eBay. That's 70 cards in total for my PC for less than three bucks. I did have some duplicates, but I easily added at least 50 new cards to the Ichiro collection.

Here's nine of the cards. Most are Upper Deck, but there are some Topps and Fleer in there as well. I already had the ones in the top row. I have about eight copies of the one of him in the suit.

The pack also included two sets of three parallel cards. The top is the Victory game set. I got a single, double and triple card, but not the home run (how appropriate). The bottom is from 2002 Topps, commemorating Ichiro's MVP/Rookie of the Year double in the previous season.

Finally, some horizontal cards. Unfortunately, the foil on both the top and bottom cards are peeling up on the left-hand side. They will do for now, but I'm probably doomed to searching high and low for a replacement.

But this post brings me to my next poll. How do you like to organise your player collections? Do you organise them by year, by manufacturer, or by year *and* manufacturer? Currently, I've got mine by year, but I'm thinking of switching to manufacturer. There's something to be said for both - by year, things are more organised, but you run the risk of gaps and open slots on pages where you don't have nine cards (or a multiple of nine) for a year. At least with manufacturer you can add cards as you buy them, but it makes it harder to find an individual card in the binder.

I guess it boils down to personal preference, so what's your preference? Vote in the poll to the right, and add a comment if you'd like to expound upon your vote. Thanks for participating!

This card was made for me

2011-06-15T01:09:00.000+08:00

I know that a lot of people hate (or a least severely dislike) the 1986 Topps design. But personally, I love it. I have the '86 set and some day, given enough time and binder sheets, I will blog about every single card in that set, not unlike the legendary 1988 Topps blog that got me started into baseball card blogging.

So I love 1986 Topps. And King Felix is one of my favorite players. When this card from the Trading Card History set appeared on eBay with 15 minutes to go and zero bids, how could I not buy it?

I've got to go now. The Reds are making a rare appearance on Australian TV. Sure, they're carrying the Dodgers network feed, but at least that means I get to listen to Vin Scully, so it's not all bad.

Guess what came in the mail today?

2011-06-14T19:48:00.001+08:00

This...

...and this. It figures.

I can't complain about the transit time - I got the e-mail and tracking number saying the packages were sent on June 8, the release date for Topps Series 2. They were delivered to me on June 14 - which, when you count for the International Date Line, was actually June 13 in America. And that's with a weekend in the middle.

Way to go, Orange County Sports Cards!

I guess I'll keep the poll up for a little while longer, but I really can't wait a whole week to bust open these boxes.

My first poll

2011-06-14T00:11:00.000+08:00

Real life always seems to get in the way. I've got a stack of cards that need scanning, but no time to do it and an scanner that is not talking to my computer due to some sort of lover's quarrel (ah, silicon love). The result? Nearly a month without posting. Egads!

To make it up to you, my wonderful readers, and to celebrate the 50th follower on the website, which apparently happened at some point during my absence, I have an RGB Cards first. No, not a contest. Or a group break. How does a poll sound? Look to your right. Try to ignore the box for The Belt that hasn't been updated in a while. I'll have to fix that soon.

I have ordered, from Orange County Sports Cards, two boxes. One is 2011 Topps Pro Debut Series 1, the other is 2011 Topps Baseball Series 2. The package has apparently cleared customs, according to the USPS tracking site, and should arrive at my house most likely within the week. It should make a welcome distraction as I work on report cards this week.

I also ordered some Ultra Pro binder pages from an eBay seller here in Australia, since I was flat clean out of them. Unfortunately, I can't read too well. I thought I was ordering four boxes of the pages. Instead, I was ordering four lots of ten sleeves each. I should have known that seven bucks, shipped, was too cheap for a box! (As a point of reference, a box of 100 usually costs me 50 bucks at my "L"CS. They are damned expensive here in AUS. No wonder I try to bring back as many as I can whenever I visit America).

So because of this, I only have enough binder sheet to open one box right now, either the Pro Debut or the Series 2. Which box should I open first? And which will have to wait until I can order more Ultra Pro sheets? I leave my fate in your hands.

In the spirit of Chicago politics, and the All-Star game: vote early, and vote often. The poll will be open for a week, or until the package gets here. Whichever is sooner.

Image credits:
toddmckimmey.com
Pro Football Hall of Fame
Associated Press

Unexpected package of goodness

2011-05-18T22:48:00.000+08:00

When I checked my mailbox, the thing I most like to see was inside - a red and white card notifying me that I had a package that doesn't fit in the box. Since I had been buying quite a bit on eBay lately, I figured it was one of those packages - but it wasn't. It was something totally unexpected, out of the blue, with no warning whatsoever, from fellow White Sox fan Steve at White Sox Cards.

When I opened it, there were two full-to-bursting team bags of cards, each containing all sorts of stuff. Have a look:

Some 2010 Heritage for team-set building purposes. Plus, the obligatory Hebrew Hammer, which is nice.

Also a pair of 2011 Heritage Ichiros with razor sharp corners.

More 2011 cards - this time, Opening Day. Steve was obviously paying attention when I talked about being a sucker for cards with throwback uniforms on them. (Green and gold FTW!) By the way, when did the Reds get that mascot? And what the hell was wrong with Mr. Red?

Some 2010 Upper Decks. That set, thanks to the whole licensing kerfuffle, is a mother lode of uniform back cards. The 2010 Bowman Markakis is not part of the set, but doesn't look out of place next to the other two.

Not only is Jose Lopez shiny and bendy, he's also refractory. If that's even a word.

I'll take a Topps Attax card if it has Stubbsy on it. And that is such a pretty picture of the GABP.

Some Moments and Milestones. It's a tie between that and Upper Deck Documentary for the Set That Wouldn't Die. The Radhames Liz is numbered 1/25 - maybe I should sell it on eBay and put lots of exclamation points in the title.

Here's two more cards concerning my monumentally stupid decision to collect all of the Cards Your Mom Threw Out. Did I mention that I want to collect all the original backs, too?

Finally, it wouldn't be a package from White Sox Cards if he didn't include, well, some White Sox cards. Anytime you open a package containing Luis Aparicio, it's going to put a smile on your face...Luke Appling had one of the best nicknames ("Old Aches and Pains") in baseball history...there was a good selection of current and recent Sox players, with Vizquel, TCQ (a National Chicle card I don't completely hate), Ordonez and shiny Manny...when I was a kid, Jack McDowell seemed to be just about the coolest guy on the planet...yes, that is a real 1961 card of Al Smith, and it's in great shape...the Conlon Collection is one of those sets that everybody in the blogosphere should help each other complete. Donate your cards of teams you don't collect to people who do...mini Carlton Fisk, wearing the uniform that made me fall in love with the White Sox. Shame that his hand is covering up the number on the pants leg.

That's quite a haul, and guess what? That's only one of the bags in the package. I haven't even opened the other one yet. See you tomorrow for those results.

(Okay, I did have a peek at the other bag. There's a mojo relic of a Zeppelin tee.)

You're damn straight I updated The Belt

2011-05-18T18:30:00.002+08:00

Sweep!

That is all.

A dignified farewell

2011-05-14T12:01:00.000+08:00

Sad news today from the Baseball Hall of Fame, which released a statement that Harmon Killebrew is in the final stages of his battle with cancer of the esophagus.

"It is with profound sadness that I share with you that my continued battle with esophageal cancer is coming to an end," the statement, written by Killebrew, said. "With the continued love and support of my wife, Nita, I have exhausted all options with respect to controlling this awful disease. My illness has progressed beyond my doctors' expectation of cure."

The slugger, whose 573 career home runs put him in 11th place on the all-time list, has been an advocate and fundraiser for hospice care. Now, he will avail himself of those services.

"I have spent the past decade of my life promoting hospice care and educating people on its benefits. I am very comfortable taking this next step and experiencing the compassionate care that hospice provides. I am comforted by the fact that I am surrounded by my family and friends. I thank you for the outpouring of concern, prayers and encouragement that you have shown me. I look forward to spending my final days in comfort and peace with Nita by my side."

Of course, this is incredibly sad news, not just for Twins fans or baseball fans, but most of all for Killebrew and his family. But I am heartened by the words in his statement that shows he is at peace with his decision. Not only that, but when the time came for this difficult decision, he practiced what he preached, choosing to enter hospice care. I have a lot of respect for him for that.

I wish him all the peace and comfort in the world.

Contest loot - Play at the Plate

2011-05-14T09:42:00.000+08:00

Back in March, I won a contest over at Play at the Plate, and the prize was a hanger pack of Topps Series 1. After busting my jumbo box, then only getting one card I needed to complete the set from the blaster I purchased from Amazon, I didn't really hold out hope of putting too big of a dent in my want list with this pack.

Boy was I wrong. Of the 72 cards in the pack, 11 of them were cards that I needed, including eight base cards. It was quite a good score, I must say. Here's the results.

First, the base cards. This might be the only time you ever see Arthur Rhodes get pride of place over Roy Halladay and the recently retired Manny Ramirez (why couldn't I have gotten that card a month ago?). But let's face it - Arthur Rhodes was awesome for the Reds last season, while Manny dropped a big steaming turd for the White Sox and Halladay broke the Reds' hearts in the playoffs. I really shouldn't be showing those two cards at all, come to think of it.

I needed the Rhodes for my Reds team set. The next three cards, plus the two horizontal cards are all ones I didn't have in my collection (out of 20 - an excellent pickup) while the two (Duensing and Greinke) are cards that I did have, but had foil problems. Now I have pristine cards for those players in my binder.

It was a real mixed bag on the inserts. The Bobby Abreu card is one I needed for the 60 Years of Topps, and the presence of Barry Larkin saves the Diamond Duos card (plus, I didn't have it), but it would figure that I already had that Big Hurt Topps 60 card (*sigh*). I don't care about the Kimball Champions and CMG reprint sets, so those cards are available. But hey, Arthur Rhodes is back and he's bedazzled this time!

The hook for this particular product line is the presence of "Blue Sapphire" cards, available only through Wal-Mart. There's 15 cards on the checklist, but only one player on it, Ichiro, that I really cared to collect. So I knew the odds were slim. And I was right.

Cards from the pack that are available for trade:
Base: 2, 3, 15, 20, 32, 33, 46, 50, 54, 60, 61, 63, 69, 73, 76, 93, 98, 105, 109, 110, 136, 149, 154, 156, 161, 168, 178, 182, 184, 185, 187, 188, 191, 194, 216, 217, 221, 222, 224, 242, 247, 256, 265, 274, 293, 295, 299, 303, 307, 310, 311, 321, 323, 327
Vintage Legends: CMGR-17 (Jimmie Foxx)
Topps 60: T60-35 (Frank Thomas)
Kimball Champions: KC-5 (Carlos Gonzalez)

Topps Town: TT-34 (Felix Hernandez)
Wal-Mart Sapphire: WHP15 (Miguel Cabrera)

Ideally, I want a card from my Topps 60 want list for the Frank Thomas, from the Kimball Champions want list for the CarGo, and the Ichiro Sapphire Blue card (WHP13) for the Miggy, since that is the only player on the Sapphire checklist I care about having. I'd also be happy with an Ichiro Red Diamond from Target, an Aroldis Chapman Blue Diamond from Wal-Mart or Ruby Red from Target, or a Tim Lincecum Purple Diamond from Toys R Us.

Thanks for the prize, Brian. I looked forward to the end-of-year contest, now that I'm qualified for it!

A score of Ichiros

2011-05-10T23:03:00.000+08:00

More cards from my weekend of impulse eBay buying. This time, it's another lot of Ichiros for 99 cents - twenty of them. Only one duplicate from the last pack, but sadly quite a few cards I already had. Still, there were some good additions, as you'll see.

These were the Topps and Bowman cards that were included. I really like the look of the Peak Performance card in the top left. It seems like I got everyone else's Peak Performance card in the boxes I busted, so it's nice to finally have this one.

There were also nine Upper Deck cards in the pack. Of course, I already had the Heroes and Spectrum cards, as I collect the entire Heroes set and am building the Spectrum rainbow. The Marquee Matchups cards with Dice-K is one that I've contemplated getting from Al's for a few trips now, but never did pick up. I guess I don't have to, now.

That's 18 cards. What were the other two? You guessed it - Ichichromes:

2009 Topps to go with my two 2010 Topps, and a 2009 Bowman Chrome as well.

Coming soon, another blaster of 2011 Topps, plus a pack of 2011 Australian Rules Football cards.

A bundle of Ichiros

2011-05-07T23:56:00.001+08:00

A few weekends ago, I was home by myself with 60 bucks in my Paypal account and an Australian dollar worth $1.05 US. That's a recipe for buying cards if I ever saw one. I have four saved searches set up for auctions ending soon worth 99 cents or less - one for each of my player collections. One of the listings was for a bundle of 25 Ichiro cards, and the seller shipped internationally. Sounds like a winner to me.

With these packages, you know you're going to get plenty of base cards. But the nice thing about players like Ichiro and Griffey is that there are so many insert cards floating around out there, that you're bound to get some cards you don't have anyway.

As for the 2011 Topps, I only realised it had scanned crookedly after I put the cards away. I wasn't going to pull them back out to re-scan a card I have ten of already.

Here's some of the gems of the set. The 2002 Topps rookie cup card was a nice inclusion, as well as the Bowman Platinum. I also liked getting the National Baseball Card Day card, and I thought the Sporting News insert was pretty neat. In bundles like these, you might even find the odd base card you don't have - such as that 2007 Upper Deck. We all know that the 2007 Upper Deck set was phenomenally ugly. Let's face it - between that and Topps, if I had gotten back into collecting in 2007 instead of 2010, I doubt I would have stayed for long.

Finally...Ichichrome! I already had one, and this one is just as bent, but hey...ICHICHROME!

What I like to do when I'm not blogging

2011-05-06T21:00:00.006+08:00

Besides collecting baseball cards, my hobbies include watching baseball games on television, reading baseball books, listening to baseball games on my iPod, long walks on the beach, and playing computer baseball games. Pretty standard stuff, really.

For the past few years, I've been absolutely hooked on Out of the Park (OOTP). Many of you may or may not be familiar with it already. For a few years, I had been looking for a strategy-based game that didn't look like it was ported over from an old DOS version, and one that allows for me to act more like a general manager than a field manager. Lots of folks think they can do better, or just as well, as Tony LaRussa or Joe Torre. But I've always compared myself to the Billy Beanes and Theo Epsteins of the baseball world.

The great thing about OOTP is that it is all things to pretty much all people. Do you want to manage the games, set lineups, pitching rotations, and calls to the bullpen and pinch hitters? Fine, you can play the game like a straight-up managerial sim. Heck, set the defenses up the way you want to. However, if you're like me and you want to build a roster and let some other poor schmuck make the decisions on the field, then fire him when things go wrong, you can do that, too. Heck, you can even channel your inner Connie Mack and take on both roles if you so desire.

Speaking of Connie Mack, are you much more interested in how things were in the good ol' days? Well, OOTP ships with every Major League season since the Dead Ball era included. When I found that out, I was very excited because it meant not having to pay extra for historical seasons. You can also play out the current season - and by current, I mean 2011, not just 2010 (you can do that one, too). Finally, you can create your own league, based on any time frame you chose and located in any cities (and countries) you want.

I've had versions of OOTP since 2008 (when I was still in teacher's college) and it's given me hundreds of hours of fun. I've played current seasons, past seasons and made-up seasons, based on how I was feeling at the time. The only problem - I was tied to my computer when playing it. Until now.

Yesterday, OOTP announced that it has released iOOTP. As you probably guessed by the name, it's for the iPhone, and the iPad. No Android version yet, unfortunately that won't be live until next year. But if you do have an iPhone (like me), you'll be freed from the tyranny of your desktop. Playing OOTP surreptitiously in meetings when I should be paying attention? This could be dangerous for me.

I know it sounds like I'm shilling for OOTP but I'm really not. I enjoy playing this game, and I'm looking forward to the iPhone version as well (although my wife, less so). I hope to get my hands on it in the near future. When I do, look for a review here on the blog.

(The screenshots are from iOOTP, not the desktop version. Those have a lot more information. VORP, anyone?)

Little Package of Goodness - Dawgbones

2011-05-05T23:52:00.000+08:00

When I got back from my holidays, there was a package waiting in the mail for me from Richard over at Dawgbones, a Phillie Fan. He and I had been working on a trade, my first involving cards from 2011 Topps. Thankfully, I had a lot of cards that he needed for his collection, and he had more than a few to fill some gaps in my set. While these cards aren't all of them, they are a representative sample.

Richard sent about 15 of the 2011 base cards. These three were the ones that I didn't have, although there were also quite a few White Sox and Orioles for my team sets as a few cards that were upgrades from the damaged cards I pulled from my box. But thanks to the Dawg, I now have Messrs. Wright, Conger and Revere in the binder.

There were also some insert cards - once again, I'm being a fool and attempting to collect the 60 Years of Topps set, even though I haven't finished collecting last year's Cards Your Mom Threw Out (a fact shown by the Maris card from that set that I needed). Thankfully, the Diamond Duos set appears to be a much more reasonable target, even though the pairings are a bit strange. Hornsby and Holliday? Outside of the uniform, there doesn't seem to be much in common. Ramirez and Stanton are at least teammates, so they're a duo that shares a diamond.

As I was hammering out the trade details with Richard, I pulled out my 2010 Allen & Ginter binder and realised that I have a lot of work to go on this set. Thankfully, he had 13 cards from A&G to put in the binder, so I only have a great deal of work to go now.

Now for the big-ticket items. As you might remember, I had pulled a Matt Holliday manu-patch out of my 2011 blaster. I also pulled a Hank Greenburg short print so it wasn't a total loss. Thankfully, not only did Richard want my manu-patch (since he collects players who were the No. 7) but he had an Ichiro patch card from the same series to trade. In fact, I think this my have been the impetus for the trade in the first place.

Another thing that Richard collects is currency. And for the price of AUD 3.85 (approximately US$4.00), which is one of each coin (that's right, we have a dollar and a two-dollar coin, and they're lovely), he was kind enough to throw in this card. It's not a manu-hit, it's the real thing. Ichiro's 2007 Night Before the All-Star Game batting practice jersey, all cut up and preserved for posterity. I like the color.

Besides the cards, which I was expecting, were a few things that I wasn't. First up, these three Fatheads, which will find a place on the front of their respective team binders. Now I'm going to have to chase up the Orioles and the Athletics, too.

But the best thing in the package wasn't even a card, or a Fathead. Richard included a really, really nice note that let me know how much he enjoys reading my blog. It was very touching because, as I've said before, I write this for all of you. I enjoy getting to share my collection, and my opinions on the game, but it's the comments and the interaction with you guys that keep me writing.

He specifically mentioned my Travels With Raleigh series, which was abruptly cut off due to our arriving safely in Derby and not having any internet access up here for a few weeks on my arrival. By that point, it was time to start writing about cards and the new baseball season again. But I should finish the series, because there's a few more stories to tell. Richard's note is the impetus to get that finished. Please hold me to this.

Thanks for an absolutely great trade, Richard. I hope to complete another one with you in the future!

No! No!

2011-05-04T21:52:00.000+08:00

I've been busy getting everything ready for next term, which starts tomorrow. Is there any news that I missed?

More stuff from Al's

2011-05-02T23:05:00.000+08:00

I've spent most of my blogging time tonight working on something that isn't even technically a post - it's a page that formalises and sets out all the rules about The Belt, plus it contains a history and even some statistics about The Belt. Check it out - it's always available on the right-hand side of the blog. Just click on the logo of whatever team that is currently holding The Belt to find out more.

I was also able to find a smaller Cardinals logo to use, so that's kept me from going insane every time I open my own blog. Hopefully it won't be on there for too much longer.

Still, I should post some cards or write something about baseball, since that's the reason you all come to the site. So here's two more cards I picked up last week on the trip to Perth. By the way, a big thank you for reading - the blog seems to crack a new milestone in visits, page views, posts or subscribers every other week.

Let me be perfectly clear - I did not get this card because of the Phillies. I got it because I like Scott Rolen as a player, and always have. Now, that said, the powder blue throwback uni is pretty sweet. No surprise - regular readers know my predilection for old school uniforms.

It dawns on me, though - what am I going to do with this card? I got it because I like Scott Rolen, and I'm glad he's on the Reds. But it's not a Reds card, so I can't put it in the Reds binder. And I don't have a Scott Rolen binder. Or a Topps Moments and Milestones binder. In fact, I'm getting hives just thinking about one of those.

Maybe I should create a throwback uniform collection. Hmm, that's actually not a bad idea...

Also, here's a Paul Konerko Box Score Memories parallel from my beloved 2009 A Piece of History set. Unlike the Rolen, I know exactly where I can put this card - in a Captain Paulie page in my White Sox binder. This is a companion to the Konerko Box Score Memories relic I pulled out of the box of APOH that I bought, coincidentally enough, at Al's. Unfortunately, they didn't have any boxes of that in stock this time, or I would have totally bought one. Maybe even two.

A trio of Hurt...plus, The Belt changes hands again

2011-05-01T20:46:00.001+08:00

I was originally just planning a quick post to update you on the status of The Belt - it now resides in the NL Central thanks to the Cardinals taking the first two games (and thus locking up the series) against the Braves. This marks the first time The Belt has resided in the Central Division, and it has now found a home in all three NL divisions. Looking at the Cardinals schedule, unless the Marlins sweep their upcoming two-game set against the Redbirds, The Belt will be staying in the NL Central for quite some time.

However, I looked at the numbers, and this is actually my 200th post! Since I'm a sucker for nice, round numbers, I feel like I should post at least some pictures of baseball cards. After all, this is ostensibly a baseball card blog, right? So here, to whet your appitite, are a few of the cards I picked up at Al's Card Shop during this recent trip to Perth. I decided to branch out, instead of just focusing on cards for my PC. I picked up plenty of Griffeys, but I also got some other cards, and cards for other people's PCs, also.

Here's three cards from The Big Hurt, Frank Thomas (not to be confused with one of the other Frank Thomases who played in the Bigs, of course). When I was growing up, Hurt was the Man. He was someone to be feared when at the plate with the game on the line, and a lock to be in the Hall of Fame one day. I don't know if he'll reach Cooperstown, a victim of the era he played in and circumstances largely beyond his control. Also, like so many great players, he had the unfortunate knack of staying in the game just that bit too long, and that colors our recent perceptions of him and his ability. I guess that's why they built in that five-year waiting period for Hall of Fame voting.

So here's three Frank Thomas cards I picked up on Thursday. The 2005 Topps gold parallel is most noteworthy for its serial number, which is #1234. I like the Donruss "5th Anniversary" card because it shows Hurt in those sweet late '80s Sox unis - the ones that they were uniformally horrible in (if you'll pardon the pun). Finally, the "Damage, Inc." business card needs no further explanation - its awesomeness is surpassed only by its cheesiness. In fact, it is the cheesiness that makes it awesome.

Here's the backs of all the cards. This confirms the serial number, gives you another look at Hurt's winning smile, and gives you even more awesomeness/cheesiness. COO of Manufacturing and Output, indeed.

I'll be back tomorrow with another post. I am also hoping to tie up all loose ends before I go back to school on Thursday, so if we have a trade in the works, expect an e-mail from me in the coming days.

And one more thing - Go Fish! (nothing personal Cards fans, it's strictly business)

The Championship Belt

2011-04-29T23:09:00.000+08:00

I've been on vacation, and it's been lovely. But soon, it's back to school for term 2, and the real life.

One of the things I've been thinking about during my sabbatical is a crazy idea: what if, instead of a World Series, the baseball championship changed hands like a championship belt in boxing or wrestling? In other words, in this case the words of the immortal Ric Flair, "to be the man, you've got to beat the man." Personally, I think this would be fun to track, and when I get back home, I'm going to add a box to the top of my blog to note the current holder of the "championship belt."

First, a couple of rules:

1. Because of the nature of baseball, where even the worst teams win close to 40% of the time, having the belt change hands on the results of a single game is a bit capricious. Even the real World Series is settled over a number of games. So we'll use the results of three, four or even two-game series.

2. To win the belt, a team has to win the series from the current holder. In the case of an even-number series that's split 2-2 or 1-1, the current champ retains the belt.

3. The Giants, as the World Series champions, start out with the belt. But we won't start fresh next season. If the final holder of the belt at the end of regular season doesn't make the playoffs, they will hold the title for the entire offseason (because they won't have been beaten since they aren't playing any games). BUT...if the last regular-season holder does make the playoffs, they will need to defend the belt. This will eventually result in the team that wins the World Series holding the belt, since they will have won the final series of 2011.

4. The belt starts in the National League, but can switch over the the American League during interleague play. Think of it like WWE belts switching between Raw and Smackdown.

So here's what's happened so far this season:

The Giants had the belt, but immediately surrender it to their rivals the Dodgers when they lost the opening series of 2011, 2 games to 1.

The Dodgers then go and get swept in a two-game series by the Rockies, handing them the belt.

The Rox, the surprise package of the season so far, successfully defend the belt against the Pirates, Mets and Cubs. However, the Rockies dropped two out of three to San Francisco from April 18-20, making the Giants the first team to re-claim the belt.

However, that glory is short-lived as the Giants promptly got swept by the Braves. The belt leaves the NL West for the first time this season. The Braves successfully defend the belt on the road against the Padres, winning two of three. They returned to Turner Field to play the Cardinals in a three-game set this weekend.

Obviously, I hope they successfully defend the belt again because I want the Cards to lose as many games as possible. :)

Ebay finds

2011-04-16T21:36:00.000+08:00

I got a big bag in the mail today. I won't call it a pleasant surprise because I was expecting it, but that doesn't make the contents any less good. It was full of cards that I had purchased off of eBay but had sent to may parents due to the fact that the shippers don't ship internationally. There were quite a few cards in the package, so here's a few of them, with many more to come later. It was a big bag!

Here's one of last year's manupatch varieties - in this case, a Tim Lincecum card commemorating their move from New York to San Francisco. It's a 50th anniversary patch, yet this card didn't appear in the 2008 Topps set (which would have been the actual 50th anniversary) but rather the 2010 set. I don't pretend to understand the logic in that. I've given up trying.

On the other hand, I think it's a great looking card. I like the blue and black border, and the patch itself is quite nice looking. It is the actual logo that appeared on the Giants' uniforms that season - so maybe that's the reason it's on the card. Does anyone know what the "theme" for 2010 Series 1 manupatches was - old commemorative logos, perhaps? I know the Series 2 theme was World Series logos and this season it's obviously old team logos.

Ah, 2008 SPx American Hero - a set that causes Ken Griffey Jr. collectors heartburn. I know there's at least 75 different cards like this, because I'm pretty sure I've seen card #KG75 on eBay. This is card #KG37, and as you'll noticed, it's serial #ed 1 of 25. Thankfully, it wasn't being sold by a douchebag, so he put a very reasonable starting bid (99 cents) and didn't artificially pump up the market by claiming it was a "1 of 1" by virtue of its serial number. Frankly, I couldn't give a flying flip what the first number of a serial number is. I do have a 1/25 (this card) and a 50/50, but that's just because they were the cards that were available at the time.

Now that I have this card, I feel no need to collect any more from the series. I'm not going to play Upper Deck's little game. I may get one of the cards from this set that show Griffey in a Reds uniform, but that's only if the price and circumstances are correct. I'll certainly consider trading for one, too.

About three times after I bought this card, a Felix Hernandez Spectrum Swatch, I panicked that I already owned it in my CheckOutMyCards account. And each time, after about 30 seconds, I remembered that the card in my account is actually the gold parallel Spectrum jersey card numbered to 99. It's actually the first King Felix relic card I bought, so you'd think I'd remember it better.

This card, on the other hand, is not serial numbered. But I do need it for the rainbow, so into the sleeve it goes.

Those are the first three cards to show. There are many more parallels, autos, sets and relics to come. Like I said, it was a big bag.

While you were sleeping

2011-04-09T16:29:00.000+08:00

It's currently 4:22 p.m. here in Western Australia. Ordinarily, I don't post news at this time - I might write a news article, but I'll set it up to post in a few hours when people on the east coast of America have woken up and are checking their computers.

But I'm posting this in real time. Because, as I said, it's 4:22 p.m. here in W.A., which makes it 4:22 a.m. on the east coast of the United States, and 1:22 a.m. in California. And yet, here I am, listening to a ballgame - live.

Or rather, a rain delay, live. Because the Dodgers and the Padres are in a rain delay - again. For the fourth time tonight. This is the game that will not end. But at least I can listen to baseball all afternoon while I work. Just like back home.

They say that the rain is going away in about ten minutes. The good news is that it's the ninth inning. The bad news is that the game is tied, so there's no sign of the game ending any time soon.

Enjoy your sleep. You might be able to watch the end the of the game when you wake up.

Who doesn't like getting mail from Duryea?

2011-04-08T20:56:00.002+08:00

When I went to get the mail today, there was a padded envelope from Duryea, Pennsylvania, USA. On the customs declaration it said "replacement cards" but I knew what it really was. My five redemption cards for my ten Jumbo wrappers.

To get them today, by the way, marks a three-week turnaround, so that's pretty darn good. They must have mailed them out the day they received my wrappers. Here's what was inside:

Cliff Lee

Adrian Gonzalez

Carlos Gonzalez

Jose Reyes

Derek Jeter

Superstarss all, except for maybe CarGo but he's just unproven. Still, the whole pack and not anybody that I am interested in keeping. So here's the deal - they are all available, in a one-for-one exchange. I'm looking for the following players, in this order of want:

Ichiro
Felix Hernandez
Tim Lincecum
Any Red (Chapman, Votto)
Any Oriole (Markakis, A. Jones)
Adam Dunn (White Sox)
Buster Posey

I think that I have the quality in these five cards that make for some fair trades for those players. Comment or e-mail me if you want to trade. I'm sure we can turn it into something bigger than one card-for-one card, but if not, then a one-for-one will do.

Quick out of the gates

2011-04-04T00:41:00.003+08:00

On my Opening Day post, I reminded everyone to smile, because no matter who you support, your team is in first place.

Well, three days into the season, the Reds, White Sox, Mariners(!) and Orioles(!!!) are all 2-0.

Sure, it's an extremely small sample size. And accomplishments at the beginning of the season tend to get magnified out of proportion because everyone is focused and it's the only data available. Remember Tuffy Rhodes's three home runs on Opening Day, 1994? It's not like he led the NL in home runs that season. In fact, he only hit eight that whole season. Hardly a harbinger of future success.

The fact is, if this was June and the Reds, White Sox, Mariners and Orioles all went on a two-game winning streak at the same time (for that's all this really is), I doubt I would even have noticed. In fact, it probably happens more often that we realise.

But for now, none of that matters. I'm just enjoying the moment.

Ichiro's legacy

2011-04-03T21:47:00.000+08:00

Tonight, in the 9th inning of the Mariners' game against Oakland, Ichiro Suzuki hit an RBI single to become Seattle's all-time hit leader, surpassing Edgar Martinez. While the particular hit itself was far from a thing of beauty, and maybe even should have been ruled a fielder's choice, the accomplishment is very, very real.

Ichiro is the best pure hitter the game has seen since Rod Carew. He has done things in his ten years in the majors that have been accomplished by very few, or none at all. Even from his first season, when he won both the Rookie of the Year and the MVP, he showed us all what a special player that he is.

But while Ichiro may have made it look easy from the very beginning, that didn't mean it was easy. In a recent interview with Greg Johns from MLB.com, Ichiro explained some of the extreme pressure that he was under as the big leagues' first Japanese position player.

"You need to perform," Ichiro said. "You've got your flag behind your back saying, 'Perform more or you'll destroy the path from Japan.' So that said, I thought more about [my own results]."

We all remember the hordes of journalists swarming around Ichiro in his first season. Japanese media outlets, to this day, still have reporters on the "Ichiro beat" and many of the Mariners' games are broadcast live in Japan. Even his agent, Tony Attanasio, has stated that if you want to mail something to the great man in Japan, you only need to write "ICHIRO" on the envelope and it will find him.

Ichiro is 37 this season. He says that he wants to keep playing well into his 40s. As it stands, his durability (only one DL stint in his career), regimen (he is a devotee of calisthenics before games) and skills that show no sign of eroding (10 straight 200-hit seasons and counting) make it seem like an easy goal to reach. He has 2,248 hits with the Mariners, and wants to go for 3,000. At his current pace, he should reach that mark around June of 2014.

But there's more than that. Before Ichiro gets to hit number 3,000 he would need to get to 2,979 first. And while that might seem like a random number, it is not without purpose. Because when he gets his 2,979th hit in the big leagues, sometime in June 2014 (we hope), that, combined with the 1,278 hits he got in Japan, will give him 4,257 for his professional career, breaking Pete Rose's record. Then, Ichiro will officially become what those of us who have watched him for the past ten seasons knew he always was.

The Hit King.

2011 Topps Blaster - Opening Day #2 edition

2011-04-02T23:39:00.001+08:00

First, the good news - I will definitely reveal the contents of my patch card in this post. Sorry about the deception yesterday but hey - it was April 1st.

Now, the bad news - the patch card has already been claimed.

There weren't near as many cards in the final five packs worth posting about. In fact, there were seven. None of them were base cards, so I only added the one to my set, leaving me 20 cards short (for now). Heck, even both of the Diamond Duos cards that I pulled were duplicates!

Here's the cards I did get that I'm keeping. And I'm being generous when I say there were seven cards because one of them is a ToppsTown card. But it's Aroldis Chapman. Might as well show you that first, since the cat's now out of the bag:

Two Kimball mini cards also spilled out of the back. I could have sworn that I already had the Starlin Castro card, but it turns out I didn't. Not that it matters, I'm not collecting the set, except for PC and team purposes.

Two parallel cards: a Jose Guillen gold parallel and a Jon Jay diamond parallel. Both are available - please make me an offer!

Here's some cards that will definitely be sticking around - 60 Years cards for Roy Campanella (1953) and Reginald Martinez Jackson (1970). I never get tired of looking at young Reggie. A fresh-face youngster who probably didn't even know what aviator sunglasses looked like. He looks skinnier than a straw, never mind being the straw that stirs the drink.

Finally, the patch card. Some of you would love to have pulled this card. But you can probably understand why I wasn't too excited:

Matt Holliday on a Cardinals patch card. Oh well, at least it wasn't an Astros card.

Like I said, the card has already been claimed. After I put up my updated 2011 want list, Richard from Dawgbones - A Phillies Phan e-mailed me to let me know that he had some cards to send. He also mentioned that if the (as yet unveiled) patch card belonged to one of the teams he collected, he had a Ichiro 1969 Seattle Pilots patch card to swap for it.

Well, I was planning on making this card available for one of the four patch cards I care about - the two Ichiros ('69 Pilots and '91 Mariners), Felix Hernandez ('82 Mariners) and Tim Lincecum ('62 Giants). Now, here's Richard offering one of those very cards for it! All we need is a match.

Of course, those of you who follow Richard's blog know that, like me, he collects five teams. And they are the Phillies, Yankees, Diamondbacks, Twins and Red Sox. Not the Cardinals. Bummer.

However...he also has some, shall we say...esoteric collections as well. And one of those is players who wear #7 or #17 on their uniform. Hey - Matt Holliday wears #7!

And thus, the seeds of a trade have been sown. I hope you enjoy the picture of somebody else's card.

Trading rings is fun

2011-04-02T09:59:00.001+08:00

I had a feeling, once the Diamond Giveaway site started to make trading available, that trading for rings would be pretty easy. And I was right. For example, remember these rings in my collection?

Great for a slot machine, but in the Diamond Giveaway, where you need unique rings, they're not so good. Well, they're now these three rings:

And do you remember these rings?

Say hello to these rings instead:

Much better.

After about half an hour, I've got fourteen unique rings in my collection, and pretty only rings that I actually have a care about. I know they're all virtual, but I still like the idea of trading rings I don't want for rings I do, even if I'll never actually hold any of them.

I have a couple of more trades in the works, but I won't bore you with the details. Let's just say that with the Reds, Orioles and White Sox in my portfolio, you can probably figure out what other two teams I'm looking to add.

2011 Topps Blaster - Opening Day edition

2011-04-01T22:58:00.001+08:00

When I left my old school, they gave me a $50 Amazon gift certificate as a going away present. I thought about getting the complete collection of Scott Pilgrim graphic novels, but, come on, this is me we're talking about here. I spent in on the 2011 Baseball Prospectus and a blaster of 2011 Topps instead. You know, the one that comes with the manu-patch in each box.

What better way to celebrate Opening Day than by opening some cards while watching baseball? This is part one of a two-part post.

After breaking my jumbo box, I was about 20 cards short (actually, 21). Well, now I'm exactly 20 cards short because the first five packs yielded one card I needed. That's about at the odds, when you think about it. There were roughly 25 base cards in those five packs, and with 95% of the set collected, you'd think 95% of those cards would be dupes. Anyway, this is that card.

I'm not going to show all the cards, just the ones that I didn't have before. So it's mostly going to be inserts. Two hot rookies from last year trying to avoid sophomore slumps. Can you read the categories on the cards? They're laughable examples of Bill James's "We can form a group" theory from his book Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame? (I liked its original title, The Politics of Glory)

Another ~~Card Your Mom Threw Out~~ 60 Years of Topps card. The power of Yount compels you!

And now, a bunch of insert cards I have no interest in collecting, so they're up for grabs. Of course the diamond shiny card is Neil Walker. The preponderance of parallel Pittsburgh Pirates in my portfolio is perturbing.

Okay, I have to say, 2011 Topps Series 1 is probably my favorite set of all time, if only because of the number of special cards I pulled out of it. First Sandy Koufax in the jumbo box, and in this blaster, the original Hebrew Hammer (sorry Ryan Braun). The Greenberg parallel is a significant upgrade over Miguel Cabrera (the "real" card #150).

How can I top that? I can't really. So here's the patch card:

April Fool! We'll save that for part two.

It's not a national holiday - but it should be!

2011-04-01T20:38:00.002+08:00

This is one of the better days to be a baseball fan in Australia because there actually multiple games on television. Usually, between the three Fox Sports channels and ESPN, I can count on a game every night. Now that ESPN2 has reached our shores, hopefully that will mean even more baseball to watch.

Opening Day, however, means three games in a row, from 1:00 through to about 11:00 or so. I can't get too excited about the first game, the Tigers at the Yankees, but when it's the first game that actually means something in six months, I'll even give the Yankees a chance. Just this once.

The night game is the Dodgers vs. the Giants, and that's something I am looking forward to, with Tim Lincecum taking the mound. Which Timmy Jim will show up - the August version or the September model?

But the best thing about this young season, already, is that since Major League Baseball seems to be treating both Thursday and Friday as two separate Opening Days, that means we get to do it all over again tomorrow. Three more games back-to-back-to-back. Sure, I'm stuck watching the Astros in one and the Sawx in another, but six games on TV in two days?

Pinch me, I must be dreaming.

Holy crap, it's Opening Day!

2011-03-31T23:53:00.011+08:00

This kind of snuck up on me. Usually, of course, Opening Day is on the same day as the NCAA National Championship game, aka THE BEST DAY OF SPORTS FOR THE WHOLE YEAR. But this year, Major League Baseball decided to stuff things around. I'm not sure why.

This season, I plan on offering more insight and analysis. I welcome your comments and responses, as always. I leave you with, what else? Some cards from the Topps Opening Day set, which is usually available before Opening Day. Go figure.

Whoever your team is, good luck this year. And smile - because right now, your team is in first place!

Little Package of Goodness - Hand Collated

2011-03-30T07:32:00.026+08:00

I didn't know if I'd ever be able to complete a trade with Scott over at Hand Collated, because he and I both collect the Reds. There's a lot of overlap, and so it's kind of hard to trade cards that I want in the first place, and vice versa.

Thankfully, last month he made a post about 2010 insert sets that he was collecting, and I found that he was collecting a bunch of sets that I wasn't. Here was a great chance to make a trade with someone that I didn't know if I'd get a chance to deal with, and turn some cards in my trade box into cards in my binders.

Here's the cards I got back from Scott. I hope that your package arrived and didn't get delayed by the floods here in the Kimberley!

First up are four Cards Your Mom Threw Out. The Dale Murphy is the oldest. The Ethier is the most resplendent in Green and Gold. The Ramirez looks like he ran into Mr. Tyzik. The Porcello is the most underwhelming because I have the original. But I've got to get this one, too.

Do you think I can just take a spare 2009 Porcello and put it in my binder as an "original back"?

Also in the pile were some Legendary Lineage for my needs. I'm just two LL cards away from completing Series 1 and nine away from Series 2. The Ichiro and Jackie card is, of course, the most awesome, but now I need another for my Ichiro PC. I love the powder blue Royals uni on Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson, and any card with Eddie Mathews is three kinds of awesome, even if Chipper is wearing a batting practice jersey.

Turkey Red? You bet! I'm steadly making progress. At this rate, I should complete the 2009 set in 2017, and the 2010 set in 2018. Have I mentioned how glad I am that I don't have to worry about Turkey Red 2011?

A pair of Rays prospects from 2009 A Piece of History, and a pair of former Red Sox shortstops from 2008 Baseball Heroes. All needed additions.

Scott also sent a couple of base cards I needed for 2010 Topps Series 2. The Carl Pavano was the best - I like the look on his face! He also sent an Ichiro Masterpieces card. I didn't need it for my set, but it will go nicely in my PC! Thanks for the great trade, Scott!

2011 Topps Jumbo - Pack 10

2011-03-29T21:28:00.039+08:00

The final pack. I'll tell you right now that I didn't get any new base cards, so this post will be light on pictures. No top three, because I've already posted the top three cards in the set. No happiest to see/least happiest to see, because it was a 42-way day for least happiest between all the dupes. I ended up 21 cards short of a complete set with a jumbo box, but I can't complain because I GOT A FREAKIN' SANDY KOUFAX 1/1 IN THE BOX!!!!

You thought I forgot about that, didn't you?

Insert cards:

Ryan Braun Topps 60

Joey Votto/Adrian Gonzalez Diamond Duos

1996 Mickey Mantle 60 Years of Topps (the start of the #7 cards featuring The Mick - blame this card for the current lunacy)

Jimmie Foxx 1933 DeLong reprint

Mike Stanton Kimball Champion
Any Gold Parallel cards?:

Why yes there was, and I'm pleased to announce it was not a Pirate! It's David Eckstein (#51). I've taken the scan, and this card will probably end up in the Uniform Back series at some point, but it's available for trade.

Any Diamond Parallel cards?:

Yes! Magglio Ordonez (#181). I had already written about this card, favorably, so it was interesting to get the diamond parallel version. You know what? I don't think it improved the card. If anything, it made it worse. Yes, Maggs, the bat and the ball stand out more, but everything (and everyone) else is obscured, and it was all that other stuff in the background that made the card so good, at least to me.

Card I was most happy to see:

That's right, it's another hit! That makes six for the box, and the second 1/1. A magenta printing plate of Coco Crisp (card #190). I don't really think of printing plates as 1/1s (although I know they are) because they're not cards. I liked the actual card that was printed, so it's kinda cool to have a piece of that in my collection. I think I'll hold on to this for the time being, unless the right offer came along.

Card I was least happy to see: Like I said, a 42-way tie with all the duplicate base cards.

Final numbers: 309/330 base cards (93.6%)

Lyle Overbay sightings: 2
Hits: 6! (two autographs, one relic, one manu-relic, one printing plate, one sketch card)
Diamond parallels: 10
Damaged diamond parallels: 5 :(

Gold paralells: 4
Pirates gold parallels: 1
Gold parallels I actually want: 1
Cards available for trade: Plenty - list coming soon!

2011 Topps Jumbo - Pack 9

2011-03-28T21:55:00.000+08:00

Back on the horse. My intermittent Internet service made it hard to post these past two weeks, but so close to the end of this box, I have to get the last two packs in. I can't give up. It's been a while since I scanned these cards, so let's hope I remember what I was going to say. And even if I don't, I can probably fake it.

Best three cards (in reverse order):

#3 – Jose Bautista (#216): For me, this is the enduring image of 2010. Jose Bautista, the Brady Anderson of the 21st century, hitting one of his 54 home runs from last season. Or is it? The more I look at this card, the wonder I don't wonder if this was just a long foul ball. The angle that his body is turned at (extremely closed off), his line of sight (down the left-field line from my estimation) and the general lack of urgency (kinda of hard to tell from a still photograph, but check out the body language) makes me think not is all it seems.

Yes, it could very well be one of his many taters from last year. But something tells me he was right back in the batter's box five seconds after this photo was taken.

#2 – Scott Hairston (#221): Another card that shows the power of the Padres throwback uniforms. I particularly like how the brown and yellow of the unis match the brown and yellow of the infield. I know for a fact that the Padres didn't pick those colors to save on laundry bills (or in honor of brown hamburger patties and yellow cheese) - in fact, they wore brown because it was the favorite color of original Padres owner C. Arnholt Smith. What that says about a man whose favorite colors were brown and yellow, on the other hand...

But now, it's time for a word about Scott Hairston. Unfortunately, Scotty isn't with the Padres anymore. He's moved on, this time to the Mets. It's his fourth team in three seasons (if you count his two stints with the Padres separately). Brother Jerry has moved on, too - gone to Washington. It's his sixth team in six seasons, and seventh overall. I don't know what the record for most teams played for by two brothers actually is, but the Hairstons have to be making a good run at it.

#1 – Jonathan Lucroy (#105): My favorite card of the whole first series. The first thing that popped in my head, looking at Lucroy sitting on the bench, staring into the distance with his shinpads still on, waiting for the next inning to begin, was the title The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. This picture captures what being a catcher is all about - you're with the team, but not one of them.

Catchers are a breed apart. Other teammates rarely socialise with them, at least during the game. They usually sit alone, watching the game, thinking about the situation, what pitch they would call for, what they are going to do when it's the home half of the inning. At the same time, catcher is the only position that affords a view of the entire field. They are the leaders, and they take precedence over anyone else. No wonder so many of them end up becoming managers.

Call it The Loneliness of the Second String Catcher.

Worst card:
Jason Kubel (#4). Seriously dude, are you whistling? You just seem too pleased with yourself.

Jamie Moyer Award for best card back:
Mariano Rivera (#42). You might think this might be another lifetime achievement award, showing all of Mo's sure-fire Hall-of-Fame stats. But you'd be wrong. The reason this card gets the Jamie Moyer Award is there in the upper right-hand corner. Card #42 for Mo Rivera. Classy move, Topps.

Insert cards:

Frank Thomas Topps 60

Evan Longoria/Ryan Zimmerman Diamond Duos

1955 Ernie Banks 60 Years of Topps

1953 Stan Musial 60 Years of Topps Lost Card (a lot of these cards seem to feature Stan Musial, thanks to the Bowman lawsuit)

Pee Wee Reese Kimball Champion

Was there a hit? Is it available for trade?:
Yes! Another hit, that makes five for the box:

Randy Wells sticker autograph. Available for trade.

Any Diamond Parallel cards?:

Yes! Russell Martin (#114). Oh dear, another printing error. I've gotten more printing errors than I've gotten hit. Not even Night Owl wants this card.

Card I was most happy to see: I thought it was going to be this one:

Joey Votto NL MVP (#211). Why wouldn't it be my favorite card in the pack? It's the card that commemorates the best player on my team winning an MVP award, the first Cincinnati MVP since Barry Larkin in 1995 (you forgot about that one, didn't you?) It's a great moment in Reds history. The only problem is, there's a greater moment in the same pack...

Jay Bruce (#191) ...namely, Jay Bruce's NL Central-winning home run against the Astros. Again, the first time this has happened to the Reds since 1995. What's more, this is only the fifth time in major league history that a player clinched his team's trip to the post-season with a walk-off home run. Can you name the other four?

Card I was least happy to see: Alex Rodriguez Checklist (#155): The second of two A-Fraud cards in this pack, almost undoing all the good work the pack did earlier. However, I think Jay Bruce, Joey Votto, Scott Hairston's mustard yellow uniform and Jonathan Lucroy's pensive stare make up for this congratulatory wankfest of Rodriguez's 600th steroid-aided home run. (*barf*)

I really don't like Alex Rodriguez.

Set Progress: 309/330 (93.6%)

Lyle Overbay sightings: 2

Not what I was expecting

2011-03-23T23:35:00.000+08:00

Well, I didn't plan on following up a one-year anniversary with one week of inactivity. However, that's what happens when you lose your Internet connection for five days out of seven. Which is what happens when the phone lines get washed away in a flood 250 kilometers from here. Which is what happens when the phone company lays the phone cables on the side of the highway instead of burying them underground.

Telstra - working for you! Not really.

If I've been working with you on a trade proposal, thank you for your patience.

Back with a real post soon, weather permitting (there's more rain forecast)

Little Package of Goodness - Democratic Roadkill

2011-03-16T09:35:00.003+08:00

The resolution to get more trades done this year is already into high gear. I can't count the ones that started last year, so this is my first trade of 2011, from Duane at Democratic Roadkill. I sent Duane some Blue Jays and some unwanted insert cards, and he sent back some wanted inserts. I like this idea of turning cards I don't want into cards I do want! Let's see some of what was inside.

Duane put a big dent into my Turkey Red wantlists. I'm starting to think that it was a folly to collect these insert sets, but I'm too far along to turn back now. But I am glad that there isn't a Turkey Red 2011 set to chase, and I'm not going after the Kimball minis. I need a breather!

Duane sent about 20 Turkey Reds from 2010 alone, including many from the Update series (numbered 101 to 150). While there were current stars such as Joe Mauer and Andre Ethier in the pile, a lot of the cards were the legends, which was awesome:

One of those cards is not like the other - I know. But I included the Shin-Soo Choo card in the scan because I liked how it looked, and I needed twelve cards for balance.

2009 Turkey Red got some love, too. Duane sent about a dozen of them my way, including Hambone, Jay Bruce and Lincecum's buddy Matt Cain, plus old-timers Cobb, Reese and Wagner.

But it wasn't all Turkey Red. Here are four 2008 Baseball Heroes base cards that I needed, including ICHIRO!!!! and Matt Cain again.

I'm collecting the base set and chasing the rainbows for my four players (Griffey, Ichiro, King Felix and Lincecum). The King Felix rainbow is nearly complete, thanks to COMC. I only need the two most-rare colors now.

Finally, a surprise inclusion into the package, a 2008 Allen & Ginter mini of Ken Griffey (with the Old Planter back). I don't even need to look at the Frankenset™ (© Dayf) to know that this card is going in there - whatever's in spot #290 (if there is anything) can certainly be bumped for this!

Thanks for the trade, Duane. You've certainly helped whittle down my want list! Hopefully you will receive your cards soon if you haven't already but I guess that's really down to Australia Post, isn't it?

I look forward to more trades from everyone this year! If you think you can help, check out my want list. And if you see something you're interested in, let me know!

One year ago...

2011-03-15T22:25:00.039+08:00

...at this precise minute (I know, because I looked it up and then set it to automatically post), RGB Cards was born. The first post, which you can find here, featured, of all things, 1993 O-Pee-Chee, specifically, this guy:

Yes, it's John Smiley, ertswhile ace of the early-to-mid '90s Reds. And I wrote a post about him. Then I decided it was a strong lead, and made it the very first post of this blog. What was I thinking?

Self-deprecation aside, I'd like to take this opportunity to say thanks to all my readers. I have had an absolute blast writing this blog, making trades with some of you (and hopefully more in the future) and just getting back into card collecting. You all have made it easy, and fun. Thanks a million.

At one year and nearly 200 posts, this is easily the longest-lived blog I've ever written. You could combine the other seven blogs I've written over the years and it still wouldn't even be close. The secret to my longevity is knowing that I have an audience, and that they (you) keep coming back to read what I have to say and share. Believe me, I write this blog for you, not me. I enjoy the writing, but I enjoy reading your comments even more.

The usual staples of audience participation (giveaways, contests, group breaks) are cost-prohibitive when you're running things from Australia. While the information and digital world shrinks every day, the logistics world is sadly still massive, and expensive. But there is still one avenue for audience participation open to me - trades. I really enjoy them and look forward to making a lot more during RGB Cards' second year of operation. If you are interested in something I post, or can help out with my want list, send me an e-mail or leave a comment. My goal? To triple the number of trades I participated in last year. Together, we can do it!

From me to you, happy birthday. Thanks for a great first year, and here's to an even better 2011!

Sincerely,
The Staff at RGB Cards
(me, the dog, the lady at Australia Post who mails out the trade packages, and, of course, my long-suffering wife)

Even more Diamond Giveaway cards

2011-03-14T23:44:00.004+08:00

In the Diamond Giveaway, I had a good run of "luck", with none of my cards (except for the two diamond die-cuts) being less than 30 years old. That, of course, will come to a screeching halt.

Let's clear some of the surplus Yankee cards. First is a Mickey Mantle. He unlocks:

A '79 Larry Cox and a Boston Red Sox ring. Kind of funny that the Mick led me to a Sawx virtual bauble, but as it's not in my collection I'm not too fussed.

Next is a Jeter die-cut. I just love how two of the ten Diamond Parallel code cards feature Jeter. I much prefer last year's cards that had old cards on them. Speaking of old cards...

...this is definitely not one of them. A '92 Gary Sheffield - blech. I knew the streak had to end some time, but '92 Topps wasn't the way I wanted it to go. Not much to say about the Diamondbacks ring, other than I needed it on my drive to 15.

So what do you think? Should I give Jeter another shot?

Why, oh why did I listen to you? Or trust Jeter? A 2009 Dave Roberts is even worse than a '92 Sheffield! I have this card in my house! I don't think I have the Sheffield, at least, but that's because I don't want it. The Tigers ring, by the way, gives me nine rings. One more to the gift certificate that I will probably never use. Maybe I'll by a blaster and get another code card. That's what Topps probably wants me to do.

Okay...NO MORE YANKEES! Pujols - I'm turning back to you. Do you have some more late-'70s cards for me?

No you do not. The junkiest of the junk wax - 1987 Topps. This is one card that I wish I could just donate out of my account. Maybe, when the trading opens up, I'll trade to turn it, one year at a time, into a 1950s vintage card. Or at least a late-70s card.

The Milwaukee Braves ring is the nicest of the bunch. Just as well - my virtual baseball diamond has so many holes now, it's starting to resemble Bushwood Country Club, the golf course from Caddyshack.

Oh yeah, I got my gift certificate.

Uniform Back Cards (Part 6 in a series)

2011-03-13T23:40:00.000+08:00

It's late, and I don't want to re-size all of the scans from the ninth jumbo pack and type up a full-blown post. But I do want to post something this weekend, other than comments on other people's blogs. So here's a preview of my next pack break post, featuring one of my favorite cards from that pack. And it's a uniform back card, so I get to revive this series. It's a win-win!

Jose Bautista may turn out to be the first clean 50-home run hitter baseball has had in a while. Of course, there are still the skeptics out there who think that there's no way his unexpected power surge can be legit, that it has to be performance-enhanced (which would make him either the ballsiest or stupidest juicer, cheating at the time when baseball has the most scrutiny placed on its drug-detection process).

Personally, I think that Bautista's 2010 power surge is for real. Players can still improve thanks to hard work and new training regimens. Plus, some players just have a switch flip one year, and it's not a medically-enhanced flip, either. Yes, Bautista's career year happened at age 29, which is a couple of years after the magical Age 27 mark when so many players have their best season. But I'm happy to give him the benefit of the doubt. Let's see what happens this year.

(By the way, Brady Anderson, whose 1996 season is perhaps the most comparable to Bautista's 2010 season, is in the Orioles' camp this spring as a special instructor. He had his career season at age 32. Wanna feel old? He's now 47.)

More Diamond Giveaway cards

2011-03-11T22:34:00.001+08:00

It's time to redeem some more Diamond Giveaway codes, in the attempt to get more virtual cards and virtual rings and, eventually, an actual cell phone cover. Tonight, I hope to redeem two codes, yet get three cards. How so? Read on to find out.

You've probably figured it out already, but even if you have, keep on reading...

First up is Albert Pujols, but not the Pujols card that got me the Ike Davis die-cut. This is a different Pujols, it's a diamond-embedded Pujols. The other one had a picture of a die-cut Pujols, and I unlocked a die-cut card. So you do the math...

...because it comes out to a 1978 Rudy May and a Texas Rangers ring. I already have the Washington Senators ring. Just not the same Washington Senators that became the Rangers.

And besides, I don't think that ring has enough bling on it to represent a team based in Dallas, the home of conspicuous consumption.

The next code to be redeemed is...Albert Pujols, again. I got two of these cards from A Cardboard Problem as a part of the Jumbo Case break. Six boxes per case, ten code cards per box, 30 teams in the break, you do the math again...

Because it comes out to two code cards per team and two late-'70s Topps cards. For the record, Gene is the fourth card I've gotten from 1977-1979 (out of seven codes redeemed so far). I know there are more than a few bloggers out there who collect from that era. I am not one of them. Once trading on cards starts, I'll be more than happy to trade if you need these cards for your sets.

Oh yeah - the ring. Well, as you can see, that's a Ted Williams ring. As you might remember from my previous post, I had the worst luck when it came to unearthing rings. Three out of five the same?!? So when it came to this dig, there was a fly that had landed on my monitor. I took it as a sign, and Buzzy led me to the Splendid Splinter. And that ring led me to my bonus code, which led to this card:

We're working our way backwards! A 1976 Charlie Moore. I don't collect the 1976 set, either. Had it been 1975, I would have considered it, because I always said to myself that I would collect the '75 set someday. But I guess that's for the next code I redeem.

Familiar faces in unexpected places

2011-03-10T08:24:00.005+08:00

This morning, I was listening to the Reds' Catcus League game against the Royals on my iPhone as I was getting ready for work (thanks to the magic of MLB At Bat and time zones) when I learned of two new additions to the Reds outfield that I wasn't aware of:

Jeremy Hermida and Fred Lewis are fairly interesting pickups. Hermida received a non-roster invitation, but Lewis is apparently on the Reds' 40-man roster.

Hermida spent last season with Boston and Oakland, but as recently as 2009, his future was very bright. He was the Marlins' starting right fielder for four seasons, and was dogged by injuries last season before his release from the Red Sox. In only 52 games, he hit a paltry .205 with a .605 OPS, but he seemed to turn things around in September playing for the Athletics. The Reds aren't expecting Hermida to start, but rather hope he can be a left-handed bat off the bench, since the pickings are slim on the roster in that department, especially after Laynce Nix left in the off-season.

Of course, Hermida may be best known for hitting a grand slam in his first major-league at-bat. At the time, only one other person, the immortal Bill Duggleby, had done such a thing, and that was back in 1898. Now, two other people have repeated the feat, including Daniel Nava last season.

Lewis started the season on the disabled list with the Giants, but was quickly traded to the Blue Jays in the second week of the season as soon as he was reinstated. While Lewis was signed ostensibly because of his ability to lead off, unfortunately his on-base percentage is going in the wrong direction, decreasing each season. I hate to lump him in the same category as previous Dusty Baker fetishes Corey Patterson and Willy Tavares, because Lewis's numbers aren't that bad, but I don't think he should be an everyday player, and I'd hate to see him take at-bats away from Jonny Gomes in left field.

Lewis's fun fact? He's a cousin of former Twin, Met and Indian Matt Lawton. Now you know.

2011 Topps Jumbo - Pack 8

2011-03-09T08:33:00.009+08:00

I wasn't going to write this post. I had already written about this pack on A Pack to Be Named Later, and I didn't really fancy writing two posts about the same pack. So I was just planning on throwing up a post linking to the post over there, and calling it a day.

But the number 8 is my favorite number. And this is pack #8 from the box. There were a lot of duplicates in the pack, so I've selected the best cards from the ten new cards I hadn't already pulled. Plus, there was something else in the pack, something that made me have to write a second post. It was compulsory.

Best three cards (in reverse order):

#3 – David Price (#61): I've really been focusing on the numbering in this set, particularly since Topps itself has been highlighting it on the back of every card. Topps's practice of reserving numbers ending in zero and five for star players, 25, 50 and 75 for superstars, and the hundreds for super-duperstars is well known. But this year, it seems like there is a disconnect in some of the card numbers. Stephen Strasburg getting a "zero" card (#10) was inevitable. But Gio Gonzalez at #30? Desmond Jennings at #80? Evan Meek at 125?

The downside is that deserving players like David Price get stuck with the "bad parking spaces." Price never should have gotten #61. After the year he had in 2010, he completely obliterated the idea of a sophomore slump. He should be on card #125, not Evan Meek.

#2 – Miguel Cabrera (#150): An easy way to make my top three is to be a picture of a fielder practicing his craft. I'm pretty sure that Cabrera will get his glove down in time to field the ball properly. And I'm going to resist making the easy joke that he should aim for the ball in the middle.

#1 – Boston Red Sox (#324): The best of the ten new cards in the pack. While I'm no fan of the Red Sox, I like the combination of Youkilis's bald head and Papi's big head. I have enjoyed how the team cards this year are all celebratory scenes. It's a nice touch - bravo, Topps.

Worst card:
Ubaldo Jimenez (#270). Sorry Ubaldo, you're still the worst card. Again. Topps really did you wrong. Even your duplicate card is the worst in the pack.

Jamie Moyer Award for best card back:
Justin Morneau (#293). Ballplayers' routines and superstitions are the stuff of legend. Wade Boggs and his chicken fetish are the most well-known, but Morneau's turkey sub is similar. Nice to see that he's manly enough to eschew the sprouts. But I'm more than a bit worried about what a Nick Punto "special slurpee" contains.

Insert cards:

Billy Butler Topps 60

Carlos Gonzalez/Troy Tulowitzki Diamond Duos

1983 Ozzie Smith 60 Years of Topps

1957 Stan Musial 60 Years of Topps Lost Card (two seconds after scanning this card, I dropped it, dinging the lower right corner, so I now need another copy)

Aroldis Chapman Kimball Champions (there were four cards on that checklist that I wanted, and I now have two of them - Nick Markakis and Joey Votto, you're next)

Was there a hit? Is it available for trade?:
Was there a hit? Only the best hit of my life:

The first 1/1 that I've pulled, and it's a card of my favorite player of all time. When the news broke that Sandy Koufax reached a deal with Topps and his cards would be inserted into the 2011 set, I never would have thought that I'd get a hold of one of them. Yet, here this card is, sitting on my desk.

The card is based on Koufax's 1962 Topps card, pictured above. What's more, it's a true 1/1, not one of those lame eBay 1/1s. You know the type - they're the listings that say things like "Ichiro's uniform number is 51, and this is numbered 51/999, so 1/1!!!!!!!" I hate those cards.

But I love this one.

Any Diamond Parallel cards?:

Yes! Atlanta Braves (#319). Two fully-printed bedazzled cards in a row. I'm spoiled!

Card I was most happy to see: What do you think? Let's see it again:

Overall thoughts:I have never been more excited then I was when I turned over this card. It's a shame that I opened the pack at 11:00 p.m., because I couldn't yell like a fool and dance around the room for fear of waking my wife. So I had to settle for saying "HOLY SHIT" in a really soft voice over and over. It's been nearly 24 hours since I pulled this card, and I'm still in disbelief.

What a great feeling.

Set Progress: 274/330 (83.0%)
Lyle Overbay sightings: 2 (I told you I'm an Overbay magnet!)

Joy of a Completed Page (Little Package of Goodness Edition)

2011-03-08T08:25:00.023+08:00

There was a package waiting for me at the post office on Wednesday, from Don Wicked Ortega. It wasn't an envelope, it was a bubble mailer. There were a lot of cards inside, and once I get all the scans done I'll write up a proper trade post.

Alfredo included about 30 A Piece of History cards, which put a serious dent in my want list. The cards also allowed me to complete my first three binder sheets from the set. Here's the cool thing about this:

There was one page of stars...

one page of rookies...

and one page of historical events.

There was much, much more in the package besides these cards, and a more complete trade post is forthcoming. But I just had to show off my latest completed pages, especially because of the variety involved.

2011 Topps Jumbo - Pack 7

2011-03-07T22:26:00.002+08:00

This is the seventh pack, and in it were two of my favorite players, one all-time and one more recent. Who were they? All will be revealed:

Best three cards (in reverse order):

#3 – Reid Brignac (#284): Fundamentals are important. Teams that do the little things well experience success. The Rays, for the past three seasons, have experienced a good deal of success, certainly the most in the franchise's short history. That being said, I certainly hope that the baseball has already come off of Reid Brignac's bat and he is already heading down to first, because otherwise, that is horrible form.

#2 – Ramon Hernandez (#233): I'm not going to make the same mistake twice. Notice anything about the bat in Hernandez's hands? It's a little bit shorter than usual. The ball headed toward shortstop. The barrel of the bat headed down toward first base. The photographer snapped the shot at the exact right time.

#1 – Ichiro (#200): The New Hit King gets (and deserves) a marquee card number - it's the Topps equivalent of a primo parking space. No matter what his card looked it, he would have been featured on this post. But this card - it is a clinic. The best pure hitter in the game today puts on a swinging masterclass, showing exactly what your body should look like at the moment of impact. This card looks like it might be a night card, but don't be fooled - it's an indoor card, snapped at Tropicana Field.

Worst card:
Fausto Carmona (#151). It's not like this card is really that bad. Honestly, none of the cards in the pack were really that bad. It's just, well, kinda boring. It wasn't the only boring card in the pack. Just the boringest card in the pack.

Jamie Moyer Award for best card back:
Jim Thome (#253). Another lifetime stats card back. Other people have written about how Jim Thome's career has been unfairly tarred with the Barry Bonds/Alex Rodriguez/Sammy Sosa brush despite the fact that there is no evidence, anecdotal or concrete, that Thome ever took steroids. His 589 career home runs are all legitimate, and when he hits another eleven homers this season, they will be, too.

It sucks that some douchebag sportswriters who have way too much power over the Hall of Fame (they didn't ask for it, they were given it, and the Hall needs to take some of it away, but that's a different post) have already decided that they aren't going to give anybody from this era the benefit of the doubt. Because if there's anyone who's a throwback to the days when 500-600 career home runs was a legitimate accomplishment, it's Jim Thome.

Insert cards:

Robinson Cano Topps 60

Tommy Hanson/Mike Minor Diamond Duos (Not my favorite, but I guess Topps made no guarantees as to the legendariness of the Diamond Duos, nor their lineage)

1960 Stan Musial 60 Years of Topps

Lou Gehrig 1933 DeLong reprint (I can see how, if you were interested in very vintage cardboard, the CMG reprints and Kimball champions would appeal to you. I'm not, because I'm too cheap to ever collect this stuff. So all of my cards will be available for trade.)

Torii Hunter Kimball Champions (No, that's not a scanner mistake - the card is miscut)

Was there a hit? Is it available for trade?:
No, and with three already pulled I don't expect there to be any more.

Any Diamond Parallel cards?:

Yes! 2010 AL Batting Average Leaders (#109). At least it's 100% shiny.

Any gold parallel cards?:

Yes - Kurt Suzuki (#79) gold parallel (360/2011). I know there's a couple of Kurt Suzuki collectors out of there so if you're interested, let me know.

Card I was most happy to see: Brian Matusz (#177). Even though Ichiro was in this pack, I already had a couple of Ichiros thanks to A Cardboard Problem's case break, so the excitement wasn't really there because I already knew what it looked like.

That fell to this card. While Matt Wieters is getting a lot of love around the blogosphere (deservedly so), I actually prefer to collect Matusz cards. You see, I have this weakness for lefties - I'm a lefty myself (although not a pitcher) And even though I think Matusz mispronounces his own name (ma-TOOS would sound much cooler, IMHO), I think he's got a great future ahead of him, and I would love as many Matusz cards as I can. Consider this an unofficial PC (I've already got four official PCs) - but keep me in mind if you've got extra Matuszes, please.

Overall thoughts:
Seven down, three to go, and another pack where the only dupes came from cards I acquired before I opened the box. Consider me cautiously optimistic that I will complete the set in the next three packs. But I don't want to jinx anything. Did I just jinx it by talking about how I don't want to jinx it?

Set Progress: 264/330 (80.0%)
Lyle Overbay sightings: 1 (which is weird, I attract Lyle Overbay cards the way I attract Pirates gold parallels)

Joy of a Completed Page (2011 Topps edition)

2011-03-04T09:14:00.002+08:00

First, some news. There won't been any posts for the next couple of days. It's a long weekend here in Australia and we're having a well-deserved weekend away. It's too late for me to set up some auto-posts so there won't be any more additions to the site until Sunday.

That said, I did open another pack (no. 7) of Topps 2011 and have finally completed a few binder pages (four, to be exact). The following sheet wasn't the best, but it was the first:

And now, the card backs (check to magnify):

As always, thanks for reading. I'll see you on Sunday!

2011 Topps Jumbo - Pack 6

2011-03-03T21:42:00.000+08:00

More progress in completing the set. While there aren't a lot of cards to write home about, at least there weren't any duplicates, either. Here's my picks from the pack:

Best three cards (in reverse order):

#3 – Coco Crisp (#190): I like collecting (maybe hoarding is a better word) Athletics cards because of the green and gold. I love the way those two colors look together and find it very appealing. Green and gold, in case you didn't know, are also the official colors of Australia. Even though you'll find neither in our flag, they're all over the place in our sporting uniforms.

I also like dirt on my baseball cards. Dirt signifies extra effort, and playing hard. Combining green, gold and dirt is a winner in my book.

#2 – Carlos Ruiz (#219): Look at his eyes. Ruiz is tracking that fly ball. It's those little things - capturing the fundamentals on film - that makes me happy. I love cards that do that.

#1 – John Buck (#296): Who knew that a card that obscured the subject's face could look so good? But that is one heck of a catcher's mask right there. It's only fitting - the Blue Jays' Charlie O'Brien started the trend of hockey-style catcher's gear. Not surprising, really. Here's something you might not know - O'Brien originally had a mask with a fierce-looking Blue Jay, in the traditional hockey mask style. But MLB wouldn't approve it, and made O'Brien go with a mask with the official Jays logo instead. It was quite a few years before they finally relented and allowed masks with personality.

Worst card:
Heath Bell (#178). It's not so much the card, because I like the picture and the display of raw emotion. My problem is with the uniform that Bell is wearing. Judging by the hat, it looks like a Fourth of July (or September 11th) special - see the flag hat? But the uniform is all-white. First, I thought the Padres wore a sandy beige? Second, that uniform isn't just white - it's, really, really gleaming white. He looks like a chef.

Jamie Moyer Award for best card back:
Kurt Suzuki (#79). This card gets the nod for its brief primer on Hawaiian baseball history, at least Hawaiian baseball history as it relates to Kurt Suzuki.

Insert cards:

Chipper Jones Topps 60

Albert Pujols/Miguel Cabrera Diamond Duos

1990 Bernie Williams 60 Years of Topps

1953 Duke Snider 60 Years of Topps Lost Card (A particularly poignant inclusion)

1988 Greg Maddux 60 Years of Topps Original Backs (there's something kind of anti-climactic about getting a card that you already have the original...but I guess it could have been worse - it could have been that 2010 Albert Pujols)

Jered Weaver Kimball Champions

Was there a hit? Is it available for trade?:
No, and with three already pulled I don't expect there to be any more.

Any Diamond Parallel cards?:

Yes! David Wright (#15). Notice anything missing? Like diamond foil? That's four out of six. I give up.

Card I was most happy to see: Paul Konerko (#93). While he is Mr. White Sox now, Paul first made his mark in the big leagues with the Reds after spending time as a Dodgers farmhand (and touted prospect). While I don't necessarily seek out Konerko cards and don't have a Konerko PC, I won't turn them away and am always glad to get them. I think four different PCs are enough, though.

Oddball card I thought I'd mention: Matt Lindstrom (#222). Notice where the Topps logo is on this card? It's not where it's supposed to be. Since I only have one copy, I can't tell if this is a printing error or if the card is really supposed to be laid out like that. I can't see anything in the top left-hand corner that would keep the logo from going there. It's not like his pitching hand is in the way or anything.

I'm going with printing error. Does anyone else have a picture of a Lindstrom card they can post?

Overall thoughts:
Another pack that serves its purpose - the purpose being, get me closer to completing the set! Nothing to shout about, but any time I can get another 41 cards closer to my goal, I'm not going to complain.

Set Progress: 225/330 (68.2%)
Lyle Overbay sightings: 1

Contest at Tomahawk Chopping

2011-03-02T22:39:00.000+08:00

Ever wanted a personal shopper? Well, if you enter this contest over at Tomahawk Chopping, Derek will go shopping for you and mail you what he finds.

If that's not a sweet deal I don't know what is.

Diamond Giveaway results - Part 2

2011-03-02T21:13:00.001+08:00

Okay, so it appears I may have looked like a giant schmuck complaining about unlocking two Diamond die-cut cards in my account. I had two more cards to be redeemed. No, I didn't get any more die-cuts. Luckily, I didn't get any cards made in the 21st century, either.

Code number for belonged to Roy Halladay. Here's what Roy had in store:

A 1979 Mark Littell card. I'll be honest with you, I've never heard of Mark Littell. But at least his card his more than 30 years old. So I was happy with that. Onward and upward...

Hello, Ryan Howard. You've been popping up a lot in this box:

And Howard unlocks one of the oldest cards I've seen so far in the giveaway, a 1966 John Stephenson card. The classic catcher pose - I think pretty much every catcher from 1956 to 1969 had to pose like that for his card.

So that gives me five digs. After I collect these five rings, I'll get a bonus card and dig, so that's good. First up, I dig at first base. That's my natural position, so it makes sense to start there. I uncovered:

A Babe Ruth ring. That's a good start. Next, I'll dig at the pitcher's mound. Here's what I got:

Hey, this is good! An Orioles ring - nice. Let's continue around the diamond by digging at home plate:

Oh, this is not a mistake. And it's not good. To get the bonus, you need five different rings. And trading isn't enabled. So I won't be able to get a free ring now. :(

Oh well, on to third base:

A trip down the B-W Expressway (and back in time) to the legacy Washington Senators. Judging by the logo, this is the team that became the Twins, rather than the one that became the Rangers. Final dig - let's finish it off by going to second base:

Are. You. Freaking. Kidding. Me?!?

Look, I love the Orioles, but I don't want three virtual rings. Now I'm two codes behind where I need to be, and it looks like I need to wait at least a month before I can trade these (essentially worthless) extra rings. I simply don't understand, if the site is live, why we have to wait until April until we're able to trade. What's the rationale behind that? I'm afraid that if I wait, then they're going to run out of certain teams' cell-phone covers. That's the prize I really want (although the 60th anniversary set might be fun). I hope I'm wrong, but this has really soured the whole digging thing, which I thought was going to be pretty fun.

Diamond Giveaway results

2011-03-02T06:23:00.000+08:00

At the halfway point of my jumbo box, I'm taking a brief intermission to redeem some Diamond Giveaway codes. With the "Recently Unlocked" cards showing cards from the '60s and '70s, now's the time!

First up is Derek Jeter. He unlocks:

Are you kidding me? Am I the first person to unlock a card that is currently available in stores?!? I sure as hell hope people offer me up some trades. Maybe I'm going to wait on redeeming more codes.

Aw, heck, let's try again.

Next is Reggie Jackson. I never liked Jeter, anyway. But Mr. October won't steer me wrong. He was an Oriole, after all:

Well, at least this card is from the '70s. Barely. But let's keep going.

I've used Yankees past and present. Now's time for a future Yankee, Phat Albert. Whatcha got, Poo-holes?:

Sunovabitch. I'm going to bed.