I have finished opening my Series 1 and Series 2 boxes, and I'm pleased to say that I have completed both sets. That's not to say that I don't need cards - I am completing the Gold Futures and 1987 mini insert sets, and need some cards for both. Plus, there's another project I'm working on that requires more base cards, but more on that in another post.

In honor of King Felix and his perfecto last night, here's a selection of cards from my private collection. After all, it's not every day that one of your favorite players pitches a perfect game:

From 2005 - one of his first cards as a Mariner, although teenage Felix is wearing his All-Star Futures Game uniform


Look at that fro peeking out of the back of his cap!


My oldest chrome Felix. He's still got a baby face. Let's be honest - it's 2012, and he's still got a baby face.


Probably my favorite Felix card. King Felix (born 1986) in the style of 1986 Topps. I, personally, loved 1986 Topps, although I realise I am in the distinct minority.


I love Felix's signature, the way he circles his own name. It has the feel of someone who knew he was going to be a big star and decided he needed to come up with a signature to match.


"Hernandez's Season Sets Seattle Standard" - and that was before he won the Cy Young! This 2010 card is from that Cy Young season...


...and this is the card that commemorates said season.

Finally, one more card. This one isn't in my possession yet, because I just bought it from eBay literally 90 minutes ago. Someone just happened to put up this #/99 Spectrum card I needed for my Felix rainbow, and at a reasonable price. I didn't dither around, I snapped it up straight away, before anyone else could:


Congratulations, King Felix. You are one of the best pitchers in baseball, and now you have that immortal moment to prove it.

...in Topps Series 1?

Because I just pulled my second in as many boxes. I now have a Howie Kendrick to go with my Eric Hosmer.

Both are available, preferably in exchange for a short print I actually care about.

In case you missed Part One, I displayed the 2012 Topps Retired Number and Historical Stitches manu-patches that I purchased on eBay last week. Part Two is all about the patches I actually pulled myself, from the five blasters of Series 1 and Series 2 that I bought online. Of the five, there's only one that I want to keep. And that's just because Hank Aaron is badass:

Hank's Brewers years are largely forgotten, and for good reason. It was like Willie Mays returning to New York for the Mets, or Babe Ruth playing for the Boston Braves. Going back to the town where you started your big league career sounds good in theory, but it rarely works out. Right, Junior?

Still, the Hammer played for the Brewers for effectively a season and a half, and they still retired his number. Respect.

Now for the ones that I am looking to move. The list of Retired Number cards I'm collecting is at the bottom of these lovely pictures. I am entertaining all offers. Yankees, Twins and Blue Jays fans especially, I'm looking at you:





Now, here are the ones I want to collect, and the ones I already have:

Reds
Sparky Anderson
Joe Morgan GOT!
Johnny Bench

Orioles
Frank Robinson GOT!
Brooks Robinson GOT!
Jim Palmer GOT!
Cal Ripken Jr.

White Sox
Frank Thomas
Carlton Fisk

Athletics
Reggie Jackson GOT!
Rickey Henderson
Catfish Hunter

Indians
Lou Boudreau
Bob Feller

Pirates
Roberto Clemente
Willie Stargell

Number 8s
Yogi Berra GOT!
Gary Carter

(I must say, I'm a bit annoyed, because the only other retired #8 in baseball is Carl Yastrzemski, and Topps didn't do a patch for him, just one of the Historical Stitches. Y U H8 ME TOPPS?!?)

Historical Stitches (sigh)
Sandy Koufax
Ichiro Suzuki
Ken Griffey Jr.

Yes, I need these three Historical Stitches cards for my PCs. My preference, of course is for retired number cards, but if  you have one of these cards and want to trade it for the Mattingly or Molitor, I'm up for it.

This is a special two-part post. Part one is the fun part - I found an eBay seller, based in Australia, who sells singles of patch cards, relics and such. He had a absolute ton of stuff up last week, including some of the manu-patches from the 2012 Topps blasters. I bought out all the stuff from that series that he had, and I wanted. They arrived today.

First up, the Historical Stitches. I got two - Luis Aparicio and the patron saint of RGB Cards, Frank Robinson:

The thing I love about the Robinson card is that it portrays him as a Red. Frank Robinson's Cincinnati career is often forgotten, but he was absolutely amazing at Crosley Field. You know that he was MVP in 1961, right? The whole "only person to be MVP of the American League and National League" thing? Yeah, it doesn't happen without the Reds. Believe it or not, Robby played more games in a Reds uniform than any other. He was with the team for ten seasons!

However, now that I have these two cards in my position, it confirms what I thought all along; the Historical Stitches set is stupid. It's manu-patches at their worst, because there's no real historical context or events that they're based on. "Featuring stitching designed to replicate his vintage jersey"? What does that even mean?

However, as bad as Topps whiffed on the Historical Stitches, the retired number patches are just that many kinds of awesome. I've always been fascinated with uniform numbers - which ones people choose, how they select them, what new number a person gets when he changes teams and can't get his old number, and yes, which numbers are retired. That's why this set is so awesome. But what do you expect from someone with this book in his personal library?

I got three - a Reds patch, an Orioles patch, and an Athletics patch. And there's that man Robinson again:




I've decided to collect all the Reds, Orioles, Athletics and White Sox patches, along with Sandy Koufax (duh) and all the number 8 cards. Yes, this means I am actively seeking a Yankees patch card, but I'm cool with it because it's Yogi Berra and he's awesome.

By the way, I already bought the Koufax, but the seller doesn't ship to Australia so it's at my parents' house. Along with what seems like half my collection.

Tomorrow, I'll be posting the manu-patch cards I actually pulled from my blasters. With one exception, I am looking to flip these cards for ones I actually want. Yankees collectors will definitely want to check back tomorrow.

Last night I was opening a blaster of 2012 Series 2 when I came across something unusual. One of the cards was #395, Rod Barajas. When I got to the page in the binder where #395 goes, in the space I saw...Jonathan Lucroy.

Wha?

Even more, I saw another Rod Barajas card, only it had #391 on it. And, furthermore, the back was printed upside down.

Now this, to me, is where it gets really confusing. The Barajas-395 was printed perfectly. If that was the mis-numbered card, then shouldn't it be the one that's misprinted, too? You can't have two #395 cards. If Barajas is really 395, then what number is Lucroy supposed to be? And if Barajas is 391, then why was my card printed upside down? Is it possible I have two Barajas error cards; one with the right number printed the wrong way, and one printed the right way, but with the wrong number?

The more I think about it, there isn't any way I don't have two error cards. One of those 395 cards is right, and the other is wrong. And there's no disputing that the 391 is printed upside down.

Has anyone heard anything about numbering shenanigans with Topps Series 2? Or have I stumbled on a one-off? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

I woke up today to the news that Ichiro Suzuki had be traded. There is was, in blue and white, as a message on my iPhone: "Yankees Acquire Ichiro Suzuki". I re-read it again. And again. And it still didn't really sink in. Not only did Ichiro get traded, but it was to the Yankees? Was I still asleep?

I must admit, the first thought that ran through my head was that I'd have to stop collecting his cards. But after I got out of bed and started making breakfast five minutes later, I realised that was silly. Of course I'll keep collecting his cards, no matter the uniform. Besides, I get so damn many unwanted Yankees cards, it's time for a few I actually do want.

I read an article this weekend on the USS Mariner web site about how it was time for the Mariners to cut their ties with Ichiro at the end of the season. I didn't want to entertain that notion. I had this idea that Ichiro would get his 3,000th major league hit, his 4,193rd professional hit, and maybe even win a World Series (or at least a playoff series), all while wearing a Mariners uniform. Now, not even a week later, the M's didn't wait - they traded him to the team that just happened to be in town for a three-game series. Contrary to what the ESPN website seems to think, Ichiro did not help his new team beat his old team last night, unless you count going 1-for-4 and getting stranded at third base in a 4-1 game "helping"

I guess I should be happy for Ichiro. He's going from the league leader in losses to the league leader in wins, and he has a very real chance of going far in the post season. He's left the Mariners without a lot of the bad taste that Junior Griffey part deux put in everyone's mouth, and, like Griffey (and not like Alex Rodriguez), no matter what else he does in his career, he'll always be associated with the Mariners first and foremost. Five years after he retires, he'll become the second Mariner in the Hall of Fame (or third, if the Hall gets their act together on Edgar Martinez, or fourth, depending on what Randy Johnson decides).

More than that, without Ichiro's manifold success, players like Shin-Soo Choo, Hideki Matsui, and even to an extent pitchers like Hiroki Kuroda and Yu Darvish wouldn't have the big league careers they enjoy. It's hard to think now, but in 2001 there was a real feeling that while Japanese pitchers might be okay, position players wouldn't hold up to the "rigors" of a 162-game season. It seems like a ridiculous notion now. Hideo Nomo might have pried open the door, but Ichiro Suzuki kicked it down.

Besides, maybe he'll leave the Yankees after the season and play somewhere else. Oakland's got a nice big outfield...