Ballcard Mania

2012 Topps Targets Maryland First

2012-01-28T16:17:00.001-06:00

Wasn't expecting this on a Saturday, but I like it...

2012 Topps is Live!!

A Reduction in eBay Sales Costs?

2012-01-19T21:20:00.001-06:00

OK, so it's USPS that's giving us the break, but hey every little bit counts! And it's about time!

"Starting January 22, USPS will be offering free Delivery Confirmation on First Class postage purchased online, so that's one more reason to ship using eBay Labels!"

From email I just got from eBay.

Infinite Baseball Card Set

2012-01-19T15:07:00.004-06:00

Just ran across a really cool article on ESPN about a really cool baseball card blog I had never heard of. The Infinite Baseball Card Set blogger, Gary Cieradkowski, draws his own vintage style cards of players with interesting stories. They look like vintage tobacco cards each card has a complete story with it. There are Hall of Famers, career minor leaguers and even famous fictional players. Very nice.

Weird 2012 Topps Cards

2012-01-17T11:03:00.003-06:00

The 2012 Topps Fan Blog posted some pics of an auction on ebay claiming to be 2012 Topps Gold Rush cards. These are way different from the previews I have seen. Anyone know what these are? I sent the seller a question asking about them so we'll see what they say. Topps employee? Fake cards/photoshop trick?

2012 Topps Heritage Checklist and Preview

2011-11-04T23:47:00.001-05:00

Although it's still over four months until it's release, the preliminary 2012 Topps Heritage checklist has been released. Most of it follows a familiar pattern. The base set is 500 cards again, and the last 75 cards will most likely be the short prints. Just like the Jackie Robinson variation set in 2011, the 2012 set will have a John F. Kennedy base variation set.

There will be 100 card chrome, refractor and black refractor sets in 2012, but there is no checklist for these yet. Following the familiar pattern, chromes will be numbered out of 1963, refractors out of 563 and black refractors out of 63.

The four main insert sets return, including the 15 card New Age Performers set and the ten card sets of Then and Now, Baseball Flashbacks and News Flashbacks.

Relic cards for 2012 Topps Heritage include Clubhouse Collection Relics and Dual Relics, Flashback Relics, '62 Mint Coin cards, The JFK Story '63 Mint cards and The JFK Story Stamp Collection set.

Autograph sets include the Real One Autographs (both blue ink and red ink which are hand numbered to 62), Real One Dual Autos, Flashback Auto's and 1963 Cut Signatures (1/1).

Autograph Relic sets for 2012 are Clubhouse Collection Auto Relics, Flashback Auto Relics and Clubhouse Collection Dual Auto Relics (two players, two relics, two autos).

Box Loaders including Ad Panels and 1963 Originals (buyback 1963 Topps cards) can be found in hobby boxes.

New to 2012 Heritage is the Topps Stick-Ons set which pays respect to the 1963 Topps stickers and a Framed Topps Stick-Ons Buyback set featuring buybacks of original 1963 stickers (found only in hobby).

I always liked the 1963 Topps design so I am really looking forward to this set. Oh yeah, it doesn't hurt that there is a Royals team card in the base set which I believe is a first for Heritage (besides one or two that appeared in the high number sets).

Topps Heritage Minor League Bryce Harper Autp

2011-09-22T11:49:00.004-05:00

Haven't had much time to peruse eBay lately. Heck, I did not even realize Topps Heritage Minor League cards had hit the shelves yet. I happened to see a true auction for a Bryce Harper Topps Heritage minor league auto card and at the time of this writing, it's up to $455. Not too bad. Only about three hours left, will be interesting to see what it ends at.

2011 Topps Heritage Minor League Bryce Harper Auto

Hosmer Auto's Added to Topps Chrome

2011-08-26T22:21:00.003-05:00

I was very glad to find out that up and coming KC Royals rookie slugger Eric Hosmer has been added to the 2011 Topps Chrome auto set as a late addition. He has some signed prospect cards out there, but this will be his first true signed rookie card.

2011 Topps Chrome Checklist

2011 Allen and Ginter JFK DNA Relic

2011-07-24T10:27:00.002-05:00

Just doing some eBay cruising and noticed a DNA relic card of JFK popped up. Would like to see what this one would go for in an auction, but it's listed as a Buy it Now at the moment for about 18 ounces of gold.

2011 Allen and Ginter JFK DNA Relic Card

2011 Bowman Chrome Strange Signatures

2011-06-06T17:37:00.001-05:00

Ran across a few signatures on 2011 Bowman Chrome and regular Bowman cards that caught my eye. These are just the machine printed signatures, not actual autographs.

If it's not cursive, is it still considered to be a signature part 1?

I'm guilty of this on my signature, printing the first letter of each name and using cursive for the rest.

I'm not sure what this signature actually says, I'm just pretty sure it doesn't say Jurickson Profar.

This is a cool looking signature, it's in English but it almost looks like Arabic.

If it's not cursive, is it still considered to be a signature part 2?

If it's not cursive, is it still considered to be a signature part 3? Oswaldo also wins the award for thinnest strokes on his letters.

Highlights from Two 2011 Bowman Chrome Boxes

2011-06-04T17:17:00.006-05:00

Nothing major with this 2011 Bowman Chrome break, but here are the highlights. As usual, I had never heard of 80% of these prospects, but you never know which ones are going to break out and be the next Piazza or Pujols.

Gold parallel of Pujols

Gold parallel of Jeter

Finest Futures Insert of Aroldis Chapman

Bowman Chrome card of this year's current mega-prospect Bryce Harper

Never heard of him, but it's the only orange parallel I pulled from two boxes. It's numbered out of 250.

Bowmans Best Buster Posey. Bad luck cost him the season, hope he makes a full recovery for next year.

Bowman Chrome Auto of Player I've Never Heard of #1

Bowman Chrome Auto of Player I've Never Heard of #2

Bowman Chrome Auto of Player I've Never Heard of #3

Pretty fun rip, even if I did not get any huge hits.

Topps Heritage Minor League Cards Heading Our Way

2011-06-01T13:39:00.003-05:00

According to Beckett, Topps Heritage will be releasing a minor league set this September. Of course, there will be Bryce Harper cards in there including autos and auto relics. I'm not a huge fan of minor league cards, but I do love the Heritage line. Might pick up some of these, but probably won't go overboard like I did on the regular 2011 Topps Heritage set.

A very preliminary and only partial 2011 Topps Heritage minor league checklist

RIP Paul Splittorff

2011-05-25T09:58:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite pitchers to watch as a kid. Splitt pitched 15 seasons, all for KC and won 166 games for the Royals. After his playing career ended, he went into broadcasting starting at the high school level and eventually working his way into the Royals booth, both for radio and TV. Splitt was also inducted into the Royals Hall of Fame in 1987 as a part of the second induction class. KC fans will miss you Splitt!

Congratulations to....

2011-05-03T21:48:00.004-05:00

PS This 2011 Topps Heritage '62 Mint Navy SEAL's card had been sitting in my eBay store for about six weeks, and it sold today.

Topps Announces 2011 Topps Heritage Super Short Prints

2011-03-31T14:25:00.003-05:00

Topps officially announced six super short prints for the 2011 Topps Heritage set. They are:

#125 Vladimir Guerrero (listed as a pitcher on the back)
#139 Joba Chamberlain (appears on a version of card No. 139)
#279 Bengie Molina (Wrong birthdate on back)
#392 Ryan Zimmerman (batting average incorrect on back)
#478 David Wright (Cin. Reds listed on front)
#490 Alex Rodriguez (reverse negative)

Here is the only SSP I have pulled out of the cases I opened:

And here is a nice Jackie relic that I pulled from the very last box that I opened:

My 2011 Heritage Highlights (So Far)

2011-03-18T14:22:00.005-05:00

Pulled a few nice 2011 Topps Heritage cards so far.

The coin cards are pretty cool.

First auto...haven't heard of him but cool name and an auto is an auto.

2nd auto, and it's red and a player I have heard of. Did not know that Mr. Yost held the record for most games played at 3b (as of 1962...haven't checked to see if the record was broken, but I'm guessing maybe Schmidt or Brooks broke it?).

And my favorite auto of the year so far (but hopefully not my favorite by the end of my 2011 Heritage run)...

12 Pack and a 12 Pack

2011-03-17T11:56:00.003-05:00

Two things that go well together...

2011 Heritage is Loaded

2011-03-16T09:45:00.003-05:00

Looks like 2011 Topps Heritage is off to a good start. I will be opening my first packs tonight, but I have already seen auto's on eBay of Koufax, Banks and Aaron (the Aaron is a redemption). Also a dual relic card of Bob Gibson and Roy Halladay. Lots of variations this year, still trying to get a handle on all of them but there are green, red and blue tint variations. There are black border non-refractors. There is a green border chrome set. Also noticed some of the coin cards popping up, those look nice too. Should have scans of my own to post in the next day or two.

2011 Topps Heritage Live

2011-03-11T10:14:00.004-06:00

I had heard rumors that some 2011 Topps Heritage retail had been spotted, and sure enough there are 2011 Heritage items showing up already on eBay. The release date of hobby is not supposed to be until next Wednesday, hope hobby comes out early too! Looks like there are some type of blue tint variation short prints. Here are a few of the highlights on eBay so far.

2011 Topps Heritage Miguel Cabrerra Clubhouse Collection Relic

2011 Topps Heritage Adam Jones Blue Tint SP

2011 Topps Heritage Aroldis Chapman Rookie

There are several more, these are just a few samples. I should have lots of scans from my personal box breaks sometime next week!

Happy 50th Anniversary to A Different Kind of Card

2011-02-15T15:24:00.003-06:00

Hard to believe StratOMatic is 50 years old! I have not played Strat in a long time, but I still have my set from when I was a kid. It has the 1983 cards with stats from 1982. The Brewers were awesome! I may have to get the game out soon for a 50th anniversary celebration.

NY Time StratOMatic 50th Anniversary

2010 Bowman Chrome Buyback Bryce Harper Auto on eBay

2011-01-27T15:31:00.002-06:00

A 2010 Bowman Chrome Bryce Harper buyback auto just popped up on eBay. I did not even know Topps was going to be doing this. According to the auction description, this is one of several cards there were supposed to be included in the 2010 Bowman Chrome set but were pulled from the set before release. Since Harper is the next big hyped rookie, it will be interested to see if the seller gets their asking price which is about the same as what the first Allen & Ginter Strasburg auto sold for last year. Here is a link to the listing on eBay:

2010 Bowman Chrome Bryce Harper Auto

2011 Topps Heritage Checklist and Preview

2011-01-22T12:08:00.008-06:00

The 2011 Topps Heritage checklist looks pretty enticing. The scheduled release date for the set is March 17th, but hopefully it will show up a few days early. Once again, the main set will consist of 500 cards, which are designed after the 1962 Topps set. There are 75 short prints again, which will most likely be card numbers 426-500, although that has not been officially announced by Topps. Short prints should fall at a rate of one every two packs. The honor of the first card of the set goes to a man who put up Texas sized numbers from the plate last season even though he missed at least a month of the season...Mr. Josh Hamilton. Stephen Strasburg will have a base card, even though he won't see the mound this season. Cards 135-144 are a Babe Ruth subset. Card #237 is "Giants Celebrate World Series". Card numbers 493-500 look like they will be the Rookie Parade subset that closed out the original 1962 set.

2011 Topps Heritage Checklist

The 2011 Topps Heritage chrome set is 100 cards, but will probably expanded in another Topps set like it was in 2010 (Topps Heritage chrome card #'s 101-200 were found in regular Topps packs). The regular chrome cards will be numbered out of 1962, refractors will be numbered out of 562 and black refractors will be numbered out of 62. Highlights from the chrome set include Starlin Castro, Babe Ruth, Don Mattingly, two World Series Highlight cards and Kyle Drabek.

Insert sets will be the same as 2010, except for the chase sets. There is a 15 card New Age Performers set, a ten card Then and Now set, a ten card Baseball Flashbacks set that is loaded with Hall of Famers (Mantle, Maris, Yaz, Spahn and Gibson to name a few) and a ten card News Flashbacks set highlighting important world events from 1962 such as The Cuban Missile Crisis, the Mona Lisa visiting the U.S. and Jamaica gaining its independence. The New Age Performers set is always the tough set of the four to put together.

An exciting bonus for the 2011 Topps Heritage set is how loaded the Real One Auto checklist is. Hopefully all these guys make it into the set, because if they do it may be the best collection of autographed card to grace a Heritage set since the inaugural 2001 set. The auto checklist includes Al Kaline, Bob Gibson, Brooks Robinson, Ernie Banks, Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax (yes!) and Stan Musial, as well as current and recent stars like Evan Longoria, David Wright and Frank Thomas. As is the norm, there will be blue ink autographs and red ink autographs. The blue auto's are not serial numbered and the red auto's are hand numbered out of 62. The dual autographs don't disappoint either with duo's such as Banks/Starlin Castro, Gibson/Strasburg, Musial/Utley, Brooks/Longoria and more. Let's hope they all make the set! But that's not all. There is also a Flashbacks auto set featuring autographs of Al Kaline, Brooks Robinson, Ernie Banks, Frank Robinson and Frank Thomas. Each Flashbacks auto is numbered out of 25. And of course the ultimate Heritage autos, the one of one Cut Signature cards. Cut signature cards for 2011 include Mantle, Maris, Spahn, Eddie Mathews and more.

The 2011 Topps Heritage Clubhouse Collection checklist features some starpower as well. Regular Clubhouse Collection relic cards include modern stars like Longoria, Hamilton, Hanley Ramirez, Cano, Utley, Howard and more. The Clubhouse Collection dual relic set includes combos like Banks/Castro, Ford/Sabathia, Gibson/Halladay, Mantle/Jeter and other fantastic pairings. Clubhouse Collection Autograph Relics feature Kaline, Gibson, Longoria, Robinson (Brooks and Frank) and more. Clubhouse Collection Dual Autograph Relics include Banks/Castro, Gibson/Strasburg, Kaline/Austin Jackson, Frank Robinson/Stanton and Brooks Robinson/David Wright.

Stamp cards make a return to 2011 Topps Heritage with a huge 201 card set. The difference this year is that there only appear to be one player per stamp card instead of two (in the 2010 set). Stamp cards will numbered (out of 50 or 62?) and there will once again be hobby exclusive original 1962 stamp buyback cards.

The 2011 Topps Heritage checklist includes a brand new insert set, the '62 Mint set. Each '62 Mint card features a baseball great or an important historical event, as well as an original coin minted in 1962. Hall of Fame induction cards include silver dollars, baseball highlights include quarters, personal history cards include dimes, rookie debut cards include nickels and happy birthday cards include pennies.

Every year I look forward to the release of Topps Heritage. It's my favorite modern set by far and even though the 1962 set was never one of my favorites, I still can't wait to get a hold of some 2011 Topps Heritage.

Another One Bites The Dust

2011-01-11T14:47:00.002-06:00

In the not to distant future, there will be no sports card news on paper. Tuff Stuff announced it is halting production and Sports Collectors Digest is switching from a weekly format to a bi-monthly format. Too bad, but as Ron Washington says..."That's the way baseball (card collecting) go."

Tuff Stuff Bites the Dust

2010 Bowman Chrome Half Box Break with Video

2010-11-09T19:42:00.002-06:00

Opened my first few packs of 2010 Bowman Chrome today, actually my first packs of Bowman Chrome ever! So I figured I might as well go for another first, shooting video of the rips. Didn't get any big cards (that I know of), but it was fun. My good video camera is broken, so this is iPhone video and someone sent me a text while the video was shooting, which is why you get about a 10 second shot of my hand at the end. Apparently you can't stop the video without acknowledging the text message first!

Nuns Sell Holy Grail (of Baseball Cards)

2010-11-05T09:43:00.003-05:00

Saw an interesting story on the Dallas Morning News website today. Someone donated a T206 Honus Wagner card to a group of nuns, who then auctioned it off through Heritage Auctions in Dallas. It's a pretty rough example of a Wagner, but it still sold for $262,000. The card was donated to the nuns by a brother of a former nun (who passed away). A miracle from a pack of smokes?

Rare Honus Wagner baseball card donated to nuns sells for $262,00

RIP Sparky

2010-11-04T15:20:00.002-05:00

The first non-Royals manager I can remember knowing the name of...had to be Sparky or Billy Martin. Obviously the Big Red Machine was great, but I also remember being amazed by the 1984 Tigers. Seemed like they would go 162-0 for a while. Can't remember how many games they won to start the season, but seemed like a bunch at the time. Unfortunately for me, they beat the Royals in the ALCS, but what a great season for Sparky and Detroit.

Bowman Chrome Golden Ticket

2010-11-03T12:29:00.002-05:00

OK, what the heck is this? This has to be a joke, right. There is no pic or scan, and the price is so ridiculous that this has to be a joke. And if it were real, no way Topps would not use it in the marketing promos...

2010 Bowman Chrome Golden Ticket on eBay

2010 Bowman Chrome Checklist and Preview

2010-11-02T16:18:00.003-05:00

Every year, Bowman Chrome baseball is one of the most anticipated sets of the year. If you like to speculate on young rookies and even prospects who are years away from the major leagues, then this is the set for you.

Check out the
2010 Bowman Chrome Checklist

The 2010 Bowman Chrome set has a scheduled release date of tomorrow...Wednesday Nov. 3rd. Hobby boxes will contain 18 packs of 4 cards per pack. There are 110 new minor league prospects in the set, as well as 20 Team USA players that are mainly in high school (or at least under the age of 18). One card that jumped out at me was the Team USA card of Bubba Starling. Bubba is one of the most highly recruited high school quarterbacks in the country, from the far south Kansas City suburb/town of Gardner and he's already got several baseball cards including a dual auto! And of course there will be Stephen Strasburg auto's...what 2010 set would be complete without those? Each hobby box will produce one auto and seven parallel cards.

2010 Bowman Chrome Base Cards

The base set for 2010 Bowman Chrome consists of 220 cards--180 veterans and 40 rookies. Each base card has a refractor parallel (numbered out of 500), a Blue refractor (#/150), a Gold refractor (#/50), and Orange refractor (#/25), a Red refractor (#/5) and the coveted Super-Fractors which are one of one cards.

2010 Bowman Chrome Team USA Cards

This 20 card subset features the under 18 stars of Team USA. A lot of these players probably have not even decided yet whether to attend college or try their luck in the minor leagues. The same parallels that the base cards have exist for the Team USA cards.

Each Team USA card also has an autographed version plus parallels including refractors (#/199), Blue refractors (#/99), Gold refractors (#/50), Orange refractors (#/25), Red refractors (#/5) and the one of one Super-Fractors. There are also ten Team USA dual autographed cards, featuring two players with an auto from each. The dual auto's are numbered out of 500.

2010 Bowman Chrome Prospects

Each hobby pack should contain two Bowman Chrome Prospect cards. These 110 prospects continue the first 110 prospect set that appeared in the regular 2010 Bowman Baseball set. Parallels include refractors (#/500), Blue refractors (#/150), Gold refractors (#/50), Orange refractors (#/25), Red refractors (#/5) and Super-Fractors (#1/1).

In addition to the regular prospect cards, there are 24 autographed prospect cards. Of course there are parallels of these auto's as well, including Blue refractors (#/150), Gold refractors (#/50), Orange refractors (#/25), Red refractors (#/5) and Super-Fractors (#1/1).

2010 Bowman Chrome Topps 100 Prospects

These are the top 100 "minor league" prospects...some of them actually played the entire 2010 season (like Neftali Feliz), but oh well. These show up at a rate of three per hobby box and have several parallels including refractors that are numbered out of 499, Gold refractors which are numbered out of 50 and Super-Fractors which are one of one cards.

2010 Bowman Chrome Printing Plates

Last but not least are the one of one Printing Plate cards. Each base card, prospect card, prospect auto card, and Team USA auto card has four different printing plate versions.

The 2010 Bowman Chrome set should be another wild set for speculators and as usual, it will be very interesting to see which prospects turn into big dollar cards.

Freddy Sanchez Mania

2010-10-28T14:02:00.002-05:00

We all saw Freddy's big game last night in Game 1 of the 2010 World Series. Well, this morning I woke up to find that four of my eight 2010 Topps Heritage Freddy Sanchez short prints had sold overnight!

2011 Topps Preview from Beckett

2010-10-27T12:16:00.003-05:00

For everyone looking to kill a little bit of time while waiting for the much anticipated Lee-Lincecum duel, Beckett has released a preview of the 2011 Topps base cards. Looks like this actually was posted over a month ago but this is the first I've seen of it.

2011 Topps Preview

Was 2010 Delmon Young's Breakout Season?

2010-10-11T20:17:00.003-05:00

At first glance, most baseball fans would say 2010 was Delmon Young's breakout season. He hit .298 with 21 HR, 112 RBI, 77 Runs, 46 Doubles and 1 Triple. Not too shabby. So for comparison sakes, I took a look at Delmon's stats on the back of his 2010 Topps Heritage card and realized that Delmon has put up some pretty huge numbers the past few years.

In 2006, he only managed 30 At Bats, but still managed to score 126 runs, hit 40 doubles and 9 triples (on 16 hits no less). Delmon really took it up a notch in 2007, making the most of his 162 at bats by scoring a MLB record 645 Runs, an amazing 186 doubles and an impressive 38 triples. I can't believe he did not win MVP that year. 2008 was another fine season for Mr. Young. In 152 at bats, he scored 575 runs, hit 167 doubles and 28 triples. 2009 was a bit of a down year as Delmon only managed to cross the plate 395 times, hit 112 doubles and 16 triples in 108 at bats. His career stats not including 2010: 452 at bats, 211 hits (not sure how that happened), 1741 runs scored, 505 doubles and 91 triples. Amazing.

How Times Have Changed

2010-09-10T20:56:00.003-05:00

It was only a couple of months ago when the first 2010 Allen & Ginter Stephen Strasburg auto was pulled and sold for over $3300. Now, as similar set, the Topps T-206 set has been released and there is a T-206 Strasburg auto redemption card about to end and it's at $140. It will be interesting to see what it ends at, but it's safe to say it won't be anywhere close to the original Ginter auto.

2010 Topps T-206 Stephen Strasburg Auto

2010 Allen & Ginter Pack 2

2010-08-22T10:01:00.003-05:00

Second pack of 2010 Allen & Ginter from my blaster box:

Ricky Romero

Starting 2b for my hometown team. I wonder if Elvis is a common name in Venezuela or if he is named after the legendary singer.

At first I thought Nick Blackburn had been pitched on two days rest, but no...this is Ken Blackburn Paper Airplane World Record Holder. In 1998 at the Georgia Dome, his paper airplane stayed aloft for 27.6 seconds.

Casey McGehee...a short print.

Creatures of Legend, Myth and Joy Three Little Pigs. Why are there four pigs on the card?

This Day In History. Robinson Cano was born on October 22nd, 1982. The first recorded parachute jump was made in Paris on October 22nd, 1797. Andre-Jacques Garnerin jumped from a hot air balloon 6,500 feet abover the ground. He landed successfully and unharmed!

RIP Bobby Thomson

2010-08-17T12:59:00.003-05:00

Hit one of the most famous home runs (and radio calls) in baseball history. Gone at the age of 86.

1958 Topps Bobby Thomson

First Allen and Ginter Pack of the Year

2010-08-11T20:43:00.006-05:00

Finally broke down and bought a blaster box of 2010 Allen & Ginter. Here is the first pack.

Mark Teahen...most might consider this to be not to great of a start. But I always liked Teahen when he was with the Royals, and even though he is with a division rival now, I still like him.

Esmil Rogers rookie. Honestly not familiar with him, but all rookie cards are worth hanging on to for at least a few years.

The boy king, one of the most famous leaders in history.

Felipe Lopez. OK.

This Day in History Stephen Drew/The Battle of Iwo Jima. Stephen was born on March 16th, 1983 (OK that makes me feel old) and the Battle of Iwo Jima ended on March 16, 1945 (before my time, but have seen it on WWII documenteries on TV). I think I might like this insert set.

Lords of Olympus Persephone. I'm a little rusty on my Greek mythology so I had to read the back of the card to find out that she is the Goddess of the Underworld, son of Zeus and daughter of Zeus's sister Demeter (no comment). She was abducted by Hades and later rescued by Hermes.

More packs to come soon.

Where Oh Where is the Allen & Ginter Retail!

2010-07-12T19:11:00.002-05:00

I've read of blaster box and retail pack sightings in North Carolina, but so far no retail 2010 Allen & Ginter has hit Texas yet, at least none that I know of. I was hoping to open some during the All-Star game but it's not looking good for that.

2010 Allen & Ginter Celestial Stars -- Unannounced Set?

2010-07-06T14:03:00.003-05:00

Well, since Allen & Ginter blaster boxes have not hit the local Target's and Walmart's yet, I am still confined to eBay and various message boards for my A&G fix. I noticed this insert set on eBay:

2010 Allen & Ginter Celestial Stars Set

I found the Allen & Ginter Celestial Stars checklist but not much else about it. I did see on the Blowout message boards that they may (or may not) be the key to the 2010 Ginter code and that they appear to be falling at one card per case. They are all big name players. Anyone seen any retail blasters yet?

Tony Hawk Ollies Into Allen & Ginter

2010-07-02T13:51:00.004-05:00

Now this is a cool Allen & Ginter relic. This is a 1 of 1 nameplate relic card and it includes a nice sized piece of one of Tony Hawk's skateboards. I love how the paint is messed up from some gravity defying tricks. Here is the listing on eBay (thanks to commons_for_u for letting me use the scan):

2010 Allen & Ginter Tony Hawk Skateboard Nameplate

2010 Allen & Ginter Mytholgical Relic Surfaces

2010-07-01T13:00:00.003-05:00

If you followed 2009 Topps Allen & Ginter, you probably remember that there were some crazy auto's and relics including an autographed Invisible Man card where the auto could only be seen under a black light, and a unicorn relic card. Topps is at it again with this 2010 Jack and the Beanstalk Relic card with four actual beans in it. Here is the listing for the one that is already up on eBay:

2010 Allen & Ginter Beanstalk Relic

First Allen & Ginter Strasburg Auto Found

2010-06-30T20:10:00.004-05:00

Wow, this was pulled by a friend of mine in Plano, TX (Triple Cards). He listed it just a few minutes ago at 99 cents and it's already over $100. I'm guessing it will finish over $1000. Should be fun to watch. The Strasburg mania is crazy.

2010 Allen & Ginter Strasburg Auto

2010 Allen & Ginter Strasburg Mini Up

2010-06-30T14:16:00.004-05:00

Well, looks like this one is legit and it's on eBay now. Wish it was an auction so we could see the bidding frenzy and get a handle on the value of the card, but at least we know they are out there now. Here is the link to the Strasburg mini:

2010 Allen & Ginter Stephen Strasburg Mini

And now there is another one on eBay as a true one day auction. Less than an hour in and it's over $200. Hope it's legit as I would love to see where it ends:

Second Strasburg Mini

No Strasburg in 2010 Allen & Ginter? One May Have Surfaced!

2010-06-30T09:56:00.005-05:00

Update: A poster on the PSA message boards says they have pulled a Strasburg mini and have contacted Beckett. A post on the Beckett blog said they confirmed that 100 plus cases had been opened so far with no Strasburg's pulled. So if this one is the real deal, it looks like the Strasburg mini might be a super, super short print!

Update 2: Looks legit. They just posted a pic of the card in hand:

Pic of Strasburg mini in hand

And it's up on eBay as well as a second Strasburg mini as a true one day auction. Should be interesting:

Strasburg's on eBay

Two Strasburg mini auctions appeared on eBay yesterday, but both were pulled early and seemed to have used the same pic. The sellers seem reputable judging from their feedback, so I'm guessing they got multiple cases and counted on getting a Strasburg mini so they went ahead and listed them with stock photos, then pulled them after they opened their cases and did not pull a Strasburg mini. There is word going around on the PSA boards that up to 100 cases of 2010 Allen & Ginter have been opened now and not one Strasburg card has been pulled. Perhaps all the Strasburg's will end up in retail because hobby ships out earlier. This could get interesting as their will be some extremely upset collectors if it turns out that no Strasburg's made it into hobby packs.

2010 Allen & Ginter is Live

2010-06-28T12:29:00.002-05:00

Looks like a few collectors have already received their cases. Here a few interesting cards already up on eBay:

First rip card I've come across. Looks pretty nice.

2010 Allen & Ginter BJ Upton Rip Card

National Animals cards. Don't know if this subset interests me, but the artwork is nice.

2010 Allen & Ginter National Animals

There are a bunch of relic cards out there. The red borders look good. Here is one of the top rookie's of 2010:

2010 Allen & Ginter Buster Posey Relic

Hopefully A&G will be at Walmart and/or Target soon.

2010 Allen & Ginter Box Break

2010-06-25T14:02:00.003-05:00

Beckett got a couple of boxes of 2010 Allen & Ginter early and posted the videos of the breaks. The set was originally scheduled to be released on Wednesday June 23rd, but has now been pushed back to June 30th.

2010 Allen & Ginter Checklist

No huge pulls here, but still nice to see the actual cards. I'm not sure I like the borders of the full size cards this year, but I'll have to actually see them in person before passing a final judgment.

2010 Allen & Ginter Checklist and Preview

2010-06-08T14:58:00.001-05:00

It's only a few weeks until my second favorite Topps product is released. Hobby boxes and cases of 2010 Allen & Ginter are scheduled for a June 25th release. Hopefully retail blaster boxes won't be far behind. I put together a quick preview of the set. There are a lot of simlarities to previous Ginter sets, but of course there are several new insert sets. You can find the full checklist here:

2010 Allen & Ginter Checklist

The base set will be 350 cards, as it has been since Allen & Ginter was first produced by Topps. This includes 260 baseball veterans and 30 rookies, as well as 35 champions from sports other than baseball and 25 historical figures/places. There is also the usual comlete 350 card mini parallel set plus several more harder to pull parallel sets including Wood (numbered one of one), Silk (numbered out of 10), Bazooka back (numbered out of 25), No Number back (numbered out of 50), Black Border Minis and Allen & Ginter back minis.

Ginter Code cards will be back in 2010. Each card forms a piece of a puzzle to be solved, and the first to solve it gets some nice prizes from Topps. These codes are tough to crack, but a team of two figured it out in a span of about a week last year. I imagine Topps will try to make it even more difficult this year.

If you are a fan of Allen & Ginter, you know that some of the most sought after cards are the Rip cards. Each rip card is a full sized card that is serial numbered out of 99 (or less) and contains another mini card inside of it. You can choose to leave the card in tact, or rip it open to retrieve the mini card. These mini cards can only be found inside of Rip cards, and include the extended mini set consisting of card numbers 351-400, wood parallels of the extended set (one of one), red autographs (numbered out of 10) and Allen & Ginter Originals which are not original 19th century cards as it may sound, but original mini portraits of current baseball stars painted, signed and numbered by artist Jeff Zachowski.

Video Preview of 2010 Allen & Ginter

As with any modern Topps set, there will be a vast array of relic and auto insert cards. Allen & Ginter is no exception. There are regular relic cards and regular autograph cards, a complete 350 card parallel set of mini printing plates (one of one), a 50 card parallel set of mini printing plates for the extended series cards, a ten card set of Monsters of the Mesozoic relics (numbered out of 10) and a ten card set of DNA relics (one of one). There will be cut signature cards which are usually one of one, but Topps is keeping the details of these secret for now.

One of the great features of Allen & Ginter sets are the interesting and unique insert sets. This year you can look forward to a Lords of Olympus set featuring Greek gods, Monsters of the Mesozoic (dinosaurs), World's Greatest Wordsmiths (authors, playwrights, philosophers), National Animals, Sailors of the Seven Seas (great seafarers), This Day in History (history of baseball that is) and Baseball Highlight Sketch cards.

Last (and also least) is the MLB Logo Man Continuity Program cards. There are five of these in the Allen & Ginter set and they continue the set from other 2010 Topps products. If you get one of these, you will know it immediately as they do not look anything like the other Allen & Ginter cards.

I look forward to A&G every year because of it's uniqueness. I love the insert sets even though some of them can be very difficult to complete and I enjoy reading the backs of the non-baseball athlete and historical figure/place cards. Even retail should be here in time for the All-Star game.

An Amazing 45 Minutes

2010-05-27T13:12:00.003-05:00

Thanks to The Ticket in Dallas for pointing out this SI story. Seventy-five years ago, Jesse Owens put on an athletic display which some say has never been equaled. It happened at the Big Ten Track and Field Championship in Ann Arbor, MI. Here is a brief breakdown of what Jesse accomplished on his way to scoring 40 of OSU's 40.2 points that year!

3:15 PM Ties world record for 100m dash. May have actually broken the record.
3:25 (Yes, 10 minutes later) Breaks world long jump record by six inches.
3:34 (Yes, 9 minutes later) Breaks world record in the 220. Photos of Jesse towards the end of the race make it look like he is the only on on the track.
4:00 Jesse actually got to rest/prepare for 26 minutes before breaking the world record in the 220 low hurdles.

Pretty amazing, and the complete article does it much more justice:

SI article on Jesse Owens at the 1935 Big Ten Track Meet

2010 would have been a great year for an Allen & Ginter Jesse Owens card, but he's not in the preliminary checklist. Too bad. At least we have this 1983 Topps Olympians card:

Bad Boys, Bad Boys...Watcha Gonna Do?

2010-05-26T12:24:00.003-05:00

Busted. Hope you haven't bought any vintage cards on ebay from 2010CardGuy! He was arrested in Florida for stealing vintage cards and then selling them on ebay. They included a 1957 Topps Bart Star rookie, a 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle rookie and a 1955 Sandy Koufax rookie. Here is the full article from SportsCollectorsDaily:

Florida Sports Card Thief Arrested

2010 Topps Series 2 Pie In Face Cards

2010-05-25T10:35:00.005-05:00

Check your 2010 Topps Series 2 cards closely. Just like Series 1, there are Pie in the Face variation cards including this Jason Heyward card on ebay:

2010 Topps Series 2 Jason Heyward Pie in Face Variation

I also found the following:

2010 Topps Series 2 David Price Pie in Face Variation

2010 Topps Series 2 Nelson Cruz Pie in Face Variation

2010 Topps Series 2 Ike Davis Pie in Face Variation

2010 Topps Series 2 Mitch Talbot Pie in Face Variation

All the Series 1 Pie cards were Yankees, at least Topps is branching out for Series 2.

Ruth

2010-05-24T12:35:00.002-05:00

Not too shabby of a pull. Probably my top Heritage pull in a few years.

2010 Topps Triple Threads Checklist and Preview

2010-05-20T23:59:00.002-05:00

The preliminary 2010 Topps Triple Threads checklist is out and the set is due out in August. This set has always intrigued me, partly because the cards are nice (and somewhat over the top), but mainly
because they are insanely expensive. Last year while manning a table at a card show, I finally made the plunge and split a box with two other collectors. The box was
about $180 if I recall correctly and contained two packs of a handful of cards. I probably won't buy any packs this year but you never know. Here is the full preliminary checklist:

2010 Topps Triple Threads Checklist

The 2010 Triple Threads base set will feature 120 retired greats and current stars including Hall of Famers like Ty Cobb, Johnny Bench, Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, Cy Young and many more.
Every card is serial numbered and there are a few parallel versions of each card. Parallel sets include:

Sepia (#/525)
Emerald (#/240)
Gold (#/99)
Sapphire (#/25)
Platinum (1 of 1)
Framed Printing Plates (1 of 1)

Rookies and Rising Stars Autographed Relics

This is an extension of the base set, featuring cards #'s 121-168. Each card contains one on card signature and three relics from a rookie or young star. The base cards are numbered out of 99, and of course there are some parallels:

Sepia (#/75)
Emerald (#/50)
Gold (#/25)
Sapphire (#/10)
Platinum (1 of 1)
Wood (1 of 1)
"White Whale" Printing Plates (1 of 1)

Rookies and Rising Stars Autographed Relic Pairs

Six different folding book cards that each show two current star players, two on card signatures and six total relics. These are normally numbered out of 50 but there
are also Gold (#/25), Sapphire (#/10) and Platinum (one of one) parallels.

Autograph Relics and Autograph Relic Pairs

Eighty current players, with each card featuring an on card autograph and three relics. The Autograph Relic Pairs are a six card subset of book cards, each with two players, two signatures and six relics.
Most are numbered to 18, but Gold parallels are numbered to 9, Sapphire to 3, and Wood and Platinum's are one of one.

Autograph Relic Combos

Each of these beauties has three players, three autographs and three relics. There are fifteen of them, and they are numbered to 36 unless it's one of the following parallels:

Sepia (#/27)
Emerald (#/18)
Gold (#/9)
Sapphire (#/3)
Platinum (1 of 1)
Wood (1 of 1)
"White Whale" Printing Plates (1 of 1)

Autograph Relic Double Combos

These over-the-top relic cards have six players, 6 signatures and six relics on each book card! Six cards in the set and they are numbered to 3 or one of one (Platinum).

Legends Cut Above Relics and Dual Cut Above Relics

The Cut Above Relics are ten cards of great players such as Ruth, Gehrig and Cobb that contain a cut signature and three relics. They are one of one.
Dual Cut Above Relics are six book cards that feature two legends, two signatures and six relcs.

Presidential Cut Above Relics

Another six card book set (starting to sound like a pattern!) featuring a cut signature and three relics from a United States President.

Jumbo Plus Autograph Relics

A book card set of 16. One side of the book has the players autograph and two relics while the other side has one giant relic. Either numbered out of three...or one of one if it's a Platinum parallel.

Letter Plus Relics

A sixteen book card set with one player, one auto, two relics and a letter patch on each card. Numbered out of 3 or one of one if Platinum.

Singular Swatches

Now these are crazy! Judging by the simple name of the subset, you might not think so but guess again. These are book cards of a player that contain relics such as necklaces, wristbands and sunglasses. Next year I'm hoping for a U.L. Washington toothpick relic card!
Each one of these unique cards are truly unique...one of one.

All-Star Jumbo Sleeve Patches

A 66 book card set of one of one cards, each featuring an All-Star player with their All-Star Patch relic, plus two additional All-Star Patches.

All-Star Laundry Tags

Another innovative relic set. These 66 book cards are numbered one of one and show a 2009 All-Star with their All-Star jersey laundry tag and two other patches.

All-Star Logo Man

A 66 card set of 2009 All-Star's with the MLB Logo Man patch from their All-Star jersey. These are also one one one.

All-Star Jersey Patches

You guessed it...66 cards. These feature a 2009 All-Star with three jersey patches. Numbered out of 9, or one of one if Platinum.

Bat Name Plates

A fifteen card book set of one of one cards. They have one player and three relics including a bat name plate.

Bat Knobs

A ten card book set of a single player with three relics, one of which is a game-used bat knob. Numbered one of one.

XXIV

An 18 book card set. Each card has at least 24 relic pieces! Normally numbered to 18, parallels include Gold (#/90), Sapphire (#/3) and Platinum (one of one).

XXIV Legends

There are only five of these and they feature retired greats such as Mantle and Cobb. As the name indicates, these book cards have at least 24 relic pieces! These are one of one cards.

Jumbo Plus Relics

A 16 book card set featuring one player and two relics on one side and a giant relic piece on the other side. Numbered to 3 or one of one if Platinum.

Letter Plus Relics

A 16 book card set featuring one player and two relics on one side and a giant relic piece on the other side. Numbered to 3 or one of one if Platinum.

Jumbo Patch Combos

A ten book card set featuring three players and three jumbo patches. One of one.

Jumbo Letter/Number/Logo

A ten book card set. Each card has a cap logo, a jersey letter and a jersey number or front letter. One of one.

Relics

A 132 card set (three cards each of 44 players). Normally numbered out of 36 and have the following parallels:

Sepia (#/27)
Emerald (#/18)
Gold (#/9)
Sapphire (#/3)
Platinum (1 of 1)

Legends Relics

A 30 card set of some of the greatest to ever play the game. Normally numbered out of 36 and have the following parallels:

Sepia (#/27)
Emerald (#/18)
Gold (#/9)
Sapphire (#/3)
Platinum (1 of 1)

Relic Combos

A 60 card set. Each card features three players and three relics. Normally numbered out of 36 and have the following parallels:

Sepia (#/27)
Emerald (#/18)
Gold (#/9)
Sapphire (#/3)
Platinum (1 of 1)

Double Combos

An 18 book card set. These cards can feature up to six players and six relics. Normally numbered out of 36 and have the following parallels:

Sepia (#/27)
Emerald (#/18)
Gold (#/9)
Sapphire (#/3)
Platinum (1 of 1)

Wow, what a set. The new relics they come up with never ceases to amaze me. But, looking forward to the set as usual.

A Few More of My Heritage Goodies

2010-05-10T10:52:00.004-05:00

Just getting caught up on all the Heritage madness now. Here are a few more of my highlights from 2010.

Brooks relics are always nice.

Black refractor of promising rookie.

First in a string of red ink autos. I ended up getting five or six red autos which are numbered out of 61, and only one blue auto which are supposedly more common than the reds. And that seemed to be a familiar storyline from what I hear. Hmmmm.

Nice auto of a star player. Can't complain.

Sweet, a dual auto of a Hall of Famer and the top rookie in the set. Love it. I also love looking up some of these pitchers stats from before the day of the massive bullpen. Marichal started 457 games in his career and he threw...get this...244 complete games! In 1968 alone, he finished 30 of his 38 starts. Amazing.

New Topps Heritage Scans

2010-03-16T11:29:00.004-05:00

I've been so busy buying, selling, trading, packing and shipping Topps Heritage cards that I haven't had time to post (aka show off) some of my hits from 2010 Topps Heritage. Here are a few scans, more to come later...

Nice black refractor.

An example of a framed stamp card. These are numbered out of 50.

Nice stadium seat relic.

HOF auto's are always nice.

2010 Topps Heritage Is Live

2010-02-23T13:51:00.004-06:00

My cases are scheduled to arrive tomorrow, but some have already received theirs and commenced ripping. I'm waiting on permission to post some of their scans, but they are too busy opening to see my email! You can see the scans here on the PSA board though. Cards look pretty nice. The colors are a little washed out but they seem to look better than the scans that Becket posted a few days ago. Tomorrow I'll have my own scans to post.

2010 Topps Heritage on PSA Board

Thanks to ssdawg77 for letting me post his scans. There are bunch more at the link above, so if these wet your appetite, take a look at the rest. Is it just me or do the dice game cards look like the old Strat-O-Matic cards?

Just Opened Some 2010 Topps

2010-02-11T13:44:00.007-06:00

This is the first bulk purchase of regular Topps cards for me in probably 20 years. The past few years I have starting buy wax again, but have stuck to the vintage style cards like Topps Heritage and Allen & Ginter. This year I decided to hop back on the modern bandwagon. I like the 2010 Topps cards. Look pretty nice and good quality. As usual, Topps threw in a few last minute surprises that were not on the preliminary 2010 Topps checklist such as the rare Pie In Face NY Yankee variation cards and an extra insert set called Legendary Lineage. Here are a few of the highlights from my first half case of 2010 Topps:

Hank Greenberg Peak Performance Relic Card (Always nice to get a hall of fame relic card)

Christy Mathewson Variation Short Print (Base set variation card)

Robin Yount Variation Short Print (Another base set variation card)

Collin Balester Peak Performance Auto (Not familiar with Collin, but hopefully he's a top prospect!)

The Ultimate Cut Signature Card...?

2010-01-11T12:26:00.003-06:00

When it comes to the fairly recent phenomenon of the cut signature card, it doesn't get much better than this. In fact, I don't see how any cut card could be better, at least when it comes to sports signatures. I think there was a George Washington/Abraham Lincoln cut sig card which was very nice, but for sports greats you can't get much better than the original five inductees in the MLB Hall of Fame. This card was produced by Upper Deck specifically for the seller and features cut signatures from Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson. Not a bad fivesome! Thanks to the seller (kevko-47) for letting me post a scan of the card. For more info on the card (and lots of more pics) or to buy or make an offer for the card, check out the actual listing:

1936 "The First Class" Cut Signature Card

Now This Is A Cool Stamp (Actually Two Stamps)

2010-01-04T12:57:00.002-06:00

I think I'll have to pick up these two stamps for my collection. Baseball Digest has an article about the new two stamp set honoring the Negro Leagues and Rube Foster with the awesome action artistic rendering below. I always love to see baseball related postage stamps. With all the buying, selling, trading through the mail and collection of sports related stamps by sports cards and memorabilia collectors, it amazes me that Cliff cannot come anywhere close to breaking even financially. Oh well, I will continue to do my part to help. Speaking of Rube Foster and the Negro Leagues, if you are ever in Kansas City be sure to visit one of baseball's true treasures, The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

Minor League Ripken Card Going Crazy

2009-12-04T14:02:00.004-06:00

Chris from www.RipkenInTheMinors.com pointed out an interesting Huggins and Scott auction for a 1980 WBTV Charlotte O's Cal Ripken card. It's graded as a PSA 8 and is already up to $1500 with five days left. Cool auction and it's always cool to see pics of great players back before they made it to the Show.

1980 WBTV Charlotte O's Cal Ripken Auction

Topps Announces Six Super Short Print Variations in 2009 Heritage High Numbers

2009-11-25T12:42:00.003-06:00

Topps has announced that there are six of the super short print variations in the 2009 Topps Heritage High Numbers set:

#15 Dustin Pedroia New York Yankees Team Logo
#83 Derek Jeter Red Sox Team Logo
#250 Albert Pujols All-Rookie Design
#563 Pedro Martinez Black & White Head Shot
#569 Alex Rios Black & White Head Shot
#545 Neftali Feliz Black & White Image

2009 Topps Heritage High Numbers Checklist

The First 2009 Topps Heritage High Number Variation...Or The Eighth Regular Set Variation?

2009-11-24T22:34:00.002-06:00

A new Topps Heritage super short print variation has shown up in the 2009 Topps Heritage High Numbers set that is just hitting collectors hands this week. This card is a Dustin Pedroia card with a NY Yankees logo. However, it's a card from the original 2009 Topps Heritage set, it's the #15 Pedroia card. But this variation was not included in any of the regular set packs as Topps confirmed the seven super short print variations as the only seven in the original set. So I'm not sure which set this qualifies for...or if it matters. I will check with the seller to see if I can get a copy of his scan of the card (I always get permission first), but here is the link to the auction on eBay with a scan of the card.

2009 Topps Heritage High Numbers Dustin Pedroia Super Short Print

Get Out Your Jordan Rookie Cards

2009-11-19T23:25:00.003-06:00

If you have a nice Jordan rookie and haven't had it graded yet, it may be time to send it in. Since I don't have one, it's not an option for me. But I'm always interested to see what high end cards sell for and Beckett writes that a BGS 10 Jordan rookie recently sold for $200,000! Amazing. Bought by a collector in the solar energy field. Apparently he's making the world and himself greener. Take a look at the Beckett article for more details.

2009 Topps Heritage High Numbers Preview

2009-11-13T14:03:00.000-06:00

For the second consecutive year, Topps will release a Topps Heritage High Numbers set as an addition to the regular set. The new set is scheduled for a November 18th release date. If you are familiar with the 2008 High Numbers set, then you are already familiar with the 2009 set as they are almost identical. You can view the preliminary 2009 High Numbers checklist here:

2009 Topps Heritage High Numbers Checklist

Just like the 2008 set, there are 220 cards in the set including 35 short prints and 75 rookie cards. They are numbered from 501-720, continuing the original 500 card set from earlier in the year. The insert cards are the same as well, including a 15 card Rookie Performers set, a ten card Then and Now set and a ten card Flashbacks set featuring highlights of the 2009 baseball season.

There are three 100 card chrome sets. The regular chrome cards are sequentially numbered to 1960, the refractor cards are numbered to 560 and the black border refractors are numbered out of 60. There are 16 different Real One Certified Autograph cards with blue ink versions and the rarer red ink versions which are hand numbered out of 60. There are also five different Real One dual autograph cards that are numbered out of 25.

The 2009 Topps Heritage High Numbers set has several different types of relic cards. There are 40 Clubhouse Collection relic cards that are each numbered out of 60, five different Clubhouse Collection Dual Relic cards that are numbered out of 60 and three different Flashback Stadium Relic cards that are numbered out of 60. Ten of the Clubhouse Collection relic cards have autographed versions that are numbered out of 25 and there are five different dual relic cards that are autographed and numbered out of 10.

The most sought after Topps Heritage cards are the cut signature autograph cards, and the 2009 High Numbers set has 13 of them, each numbered one of one. For some odd reason, they are split into two different years with 10 of the cut signatures coming from 1960 and three of them coming from 1959. Maybe they had three left from last year that the forgot to include in the set.

If you buy your Heritage cards by the box or case, the make up is essentially the same as in previous sets. A hobby case yields 12 boxes of 24 cards, and just like in 2008 each pack will include six Topps Heritage cards and two Topps Updates and Highlights cards. The Updates and Highlights cards drive Heritage collectors crazy, but they are there again. Each box should contain an advertising panel featuring three players and one out of every two boxes should contain an original 1960 buyback card embossed with the Topps logo on the front. Every hobby box should yield one autograph or relic card. Unfortunately, the autograph checklist does not have many big name players, but last year there were a few last minute additions to the autograph set. Hopefully the same occurs this year. Either way, this set should tide Topps Heritage collectors over until the 2010 set is released in about four months.

Amazing One Card (x4) Collection

2009-11-06T09:11:00.002-06:00

Amazing. Ran across this video on youtube and was simply amazed. This is one of the most sought after cards in the hobby, and this one collector has four of them! These four cards blow away my entire 100,000+ card collection, well at least monetarily considering an average PSA 6 goes for over $27,000! Even a PSA 1 Lajoie has an estimated value of $4000. But I bet he does not have the vast variety of KC Royals cards that I keep in the "not available for trade or sale" part of my collection. The card in question is the 1933 Goudey #106 Napolean Lajoie card. The card was not included in the regular set for some reason, but if collectors wrote a letter to Goudey requesting the card, Goudey would send the card out to the collector. Throw in the fact than Mr. Lajoie is a hall of famer and you have the makings of what most people consider to be one of the three most coveted baseball cards produced. Awesome.

$100 Per Pack?

2009-11-02T15:23:00.003-06:00

As I was sitting at a table at a local card show that I was splitting with a friend, I was talked into buying a box of Topps Triple Threads. Boxes of Triple Threads at the shop are $190 and each box contains two packs of cards. That's right, two packs for $190! We split it three ways so I actually put $63 or so into the packs. Up until that point in my life, I had never paid more than $3.50 or so for a pack of modern cards. Opening the packs certainly was exciting, much like doubling down on 11 against a dealers 8 in Vegas and waiting to see what card you get. I probably won't be buying anymore Triple Threads anytime soon, but it was fun. Here are the highlights from the two packs.

The Smartest Allen & Ginter Card Ever

2009-10-30T09:40:00.004-05:00

I love Topps Allen and Ginter and being a bit of a math and science geek (I was a part-time physics major in college and I work in IT...it's a good think I collect baseball cards to make me seem cool!), I really love this card. I have the 2009 A&G Einstein base card out on my desk just because I think it's a cool card. Thanks to the seller (lts_cards) for letting me use these scans. I will be very interested to see what this ends up at. Here is a link to the eBay auction and a couple of scans of the card.

Albert Einstein Cut Signature

The Holy Card Has Been Taken Down

2009-10-23T20:20:00.002-05:00

Looks like eBay took down the Jesus H. Christ auto relic card. Found a story/video about the card on youtube though. If you didn't get to see it, the video shows it. ***Warning: Video contains some profanity***

And You Thought The Invisible Man Relic Could Not Be Beat

2009-10-22T22:28:00.002-05:00

Allen and Ginter, eat your heart out. There is a Jesus H. Chris autograph relic card on ebay right now. It's up to $20 after one hour. This one is actually pretty funny. Here is a link to the auction with a pic of the "card".

Jesus H. Christ Auto Relic

What Did Cliff Bring Me Today?

2009-10-22T00:18:00.002-05:00

Cliff brought me several Topps Heritage cards and several game used cards. Here is what I was really waiting for though!

Pujols Has No Bat

2009-10-19T14:54:00.003-05:00

Many fans would say that Albert Pujols has one of the best, if not the best, bats in baseball. This Topps Allen and Ginter card may disagree though. Happened to run across this interesting card on eBay and the owner of the card (chines102581) was kind enough to let me post images of the card here. I've never seen a relic card like this, unless you include the 2009 Allen & Ginter Invisible Man relic card. Maybe the termites at Topps got to it. For more details on this card, or if you're an Albert collector and would like to make an offer on the card, here is the eBay auction:

2009 A&G Albert Pujols Game Used No-Bat

Fox Predicts the Death of Baseball Cards

2009-10-05T12:33:00.002-05:00

According to Fox News, in twenty years people may not know what a baseball card is! Don't think I agree with that, although the beloved hobby has definitely seen a decline in numbers over the last 20 years. I wonder what card the person in the video is trying to look up in Beckett. Looks like the back of a 1990 or so Topps card. You can watch the entire video at:

The Death of Baseball Cards...According to Fox

It Never Ceases To Amaze Me

2009-10-01T08:49:00.003-05:00

It never ceases to amaze me how much some modern cards can go for on ebay. I would expect for this card, a 2001 Fleer Platinum Albert Pujols Lumberjacks Auto to go for quite a bit, but I never would have guessed it would bring down this kind of $$$. The auction just ended last night:

2001 Fleer Albert Pujols Lumberjacks Auto on Ebay

How $40,000 Becomes $5 Million

2009-09-29T22:34:00.004-05:00

The USA Today ran this story about a couple of guys that invested $40,000 in some rare basketball cards and other memorbilia. Much like value stock investors looking for undervalued companies, Bill Schonsheck and Christopher Sanchirico had the vision in the late 1980's to foresee that basketball cards were truly undervalued compared to their baseball and football brethren. And did they make a great call. Their collection is now valued at around $5 million! Here are some of their cards:

Pics of the Cards and other Memorbilia

Ebay Makes a Change For the Worse

2009-09-23T11:01:00.004-05:00

Wow is all I can say. Why would ebay do something like this? Hopefully this is a bug and will be fixed. If you go to ebay and click on the category "Sports Mem, Cards & Fan Shop", then the "Cards" category, then "Baseball", you get the following sub-categories:

"New" and "Used". No more "Sets", "Lots", "Singles", "Graded", "1960-1969", etc. I checked my current active auctions and they have all been switched to the generic "Baseball" category. How does this possibly make things easier for buyers or sellers? Come on ebay!

A Hole In The Wall Treasure

2009-09-17T10:41:00.002-05:00

How would you like to be tearing down a wall in your house and happen to find an old baseball card inside of the wall? That would be exciting. How would you like it if you then found out that the card was a 19th century tobacco card of a hall of famer? Perhaps a card from one of the rarest baseball card sets of all time. Perhaps the only example of the card known to exist. This all happened to Mike Gazo at his mom's home in Tamaqua, PA. It actually happened 12 years ago, only Mr. Gazo did not know the significance of the card until recently. The card is an 1893 Just So Tobacco card of hall of famer Buck Ewing. There are only an estimated 15 or so of these cards from the entire set known to exist today, and a Buck Ewing card was thought to have been included in the set but one had never been found. Last week, Mike Gazo decided to find out more about the card as he was looking for things to sell to help pay some medical bills for his mother. The card will be auctioned off by Robert Edward Auctions in their next auction and should fetch several thousand dollars. It will be interesting to see the bidding on this one of a kind card. You can read more about the card at Rare Vintage Baseball Card Find.

Old Yankee Stadium To Be Inserted Into New Cards?

2009-09-09T15:42:00.004-05:00

According to an article in the NY Daily News, the old Yankee Stadium is being carefully dismantled and pieces are being sold off by Steiner Sports. Perhaps Topps will pick some up, or maybe not since they won't have any competition for the next few years. As for the destruction of the stadium, it should be done by next June! Talk about being careful. In Vegas, they'd blow the whole thing up (or down) in 30 seconds. Then they would build a new $1.5 billion Yankee Stadium Hotel and Casino.

2009 Bowman Chrome Delayed

2009-09-03T12:12:00.003-05:00

Looks like 2009 Bowman Chrome is delayed again. Blowout Cards now has Sept. 17th as the estimated release date. It was originally Sept. 2nd I think, then Sept. 10th. Perhaps they are adding some last minute prospect phenoms that aren't on the current 2009 Bowman Chrome checklist. We can only hope.

2009 Topps Heritage Variation #8

2009-09-01T21:33:00.003-05:00

Well, I found another variation in 2009 Topps Heritage and this is the rarest one yet. In fact, it's the only one of it's kind that I know of. And I actually pulled it! This should bring huge $$$ at auction. I should probably send it to one of the big auction houses.

2009 Topps Heritage Standard Gum:

2009 Topps Heritage Baseball Diamond Variation:

Transparent Blog Move

2009-08-27T22:01:00.002-05:00

OK, so I finally moved my blog to the domain I got for it about six months ago. Everything should be the same and all the old posts should be here. It did delete my blogroll so I'll be adding those back over the next few days. I should get them all, but if you have a blog that is linking to mine go ahead and send me an email just to make sure. New sports card posts coming soon!

Just Bought My First Football Cards In Years

2009-08-19T17:31:00.004-05:00

Well, my suckerness for the vintage designs finally drew me back to football cards. Just as Topps Heritage drew me back to baseball cards after a decade long absence, Topps Magic has drawn me back to football cards. Instead of spending a bunch on packs, I picked up the 200 card base set on ebay for about $16.00 delivered. The cards arrived and I like them. I've regained interest in football cards now and might purchase some 2009 Topps Football cards as well. If anyone has already bought some and has an opinion on them, let me know. If you are interested in what cards are in the sets, here are the checklists:

2009 Topps Magic Checklist

2009 Topps Football Checklist

Here are a few samples of cards from my 2009 Topps Magic base set:

The Baseball Card Year/Brand Quiz

2009-08-06T13:42:00.003-05:00

Someone posted a link to this and I thought it was kind of fun. I am truly horrified that I got 15/15. Yes, even the late 80's/early 90's!

Baseball Cards Year/Brand Quiz

Good luck.

2009 Topps Chrome is Live

2009-08-05T18:05:00.003-05:00

2009 Topps Chrome is live, exactly on schedule. It's a miracle! View the complete checklist here:

2009 Topps Chrome Checklist

I haven't received any of the cards yet, but scans are popping up on ebay. From what I can tell, they are decent looking cards and of course there are tons of rookies and parallels. The basic breakdown of the set is 170 veterans, 50 rookies and 22 rookie autograph variations. There is also a World Baseball Classic insert set made up of 100 players from around the world.

Parallels consist of 1 of 1 Printing Plates, 1 of 1 Superfractors, Red Refractors (#/25), Gold Refractors (#/50), Blue Refractors (#/199) and regular refractors which appear to be numbered to either 499 or 500 (Topps lists both in various places).

There are other sets that I like better, but these look like they are worth a few boxes.

Allen & Ginter Mantle Rip Card

2009-07-30T14:28:00.002-05:00

If you were wondering just how much a 2009 Allen & Ginter Mantle rip card would go for, here is your answer.

2009 Allen & Ginter Mantle Rip Card

At this point the auction still has four hours to got but it's got a bid. I am looking forward to the day when I pull a card like this!

2009 Allen & Ginter Blaster Boxes

2009-07-26T18:49:00.005-05:00

Well, I am still waiting for my cases to arrive, so I broke down and picked up a few blaster boxes of 2009 Allen & Ginter from Target. Here are a few highlights (there weren't a lot).

This Beltran No Number mini was the only semi-big hit. Love watching Beltran play, especially when he was with KC.

Here is the back of the Beltran card. The no number minis are hand numbered for the first time this year.

Frank Thomas sketch highlights card. Pretty cool looking card.

Black border mini.

National Heroes George Washington. Cool card, but now whenever I think of George Washington, I can't help but recall Slater's rant on Martha Washington and her "cash crop" in the classic film Dazed and Confused.

World's Biggest Hoaxes. This is one of the subsets I was looking forward to.

Creatures of Legend, Myth and Terror. Another subset I am semi-interested in.

My favorite current player, both for his brilliant pitching and quirky media quotes. Wish it was centered a little better.

Ryan Braun game used jersey card. I like the darker frames this year.

So Close Tom. So Close

2009-07-19T14:08:00.004-05:00

Tied for first in the British Open through regulation. Great memories. I watched more golf this weekend than I ever have. So thanks Tom for the great memories.

Help Needed -- $500,000 Collection Stolen (Atlanta Area)

2009-07-17T15:32:00.002-05:00

Wow, I saw this and this really stinks for Henry. Henry is a poster on the PSA (Collectors Universe) message board and has asked collectors to pass this on. Help if you can and hope you recover your cards Henry. It looks like a truly amazing collection. The contact information is at the bottom of the post.

Major baseball card card collection stolen valued at over 500K.

Most bought on ebay and from major dealers over the past 3 years.
Many completed and near completed sets from 1970 to 1981 all psa graded (over 70% of these are registered with PSA under MintMoondog)
100s of PSA from the 60s - mainly 1970s:
Included PSAs are 3 complete and near complete 72 topps, 5 complete and near complete 75 minis (with approx 2000 extras), 2 near complete 76 topps, near complete 73 and 74 topps, near complete 77, 78 and 80 sets.
Thousands of rookie cards including 1954-56 Al Kaline in psa8, 14 psa 9 Yzerman rookies, 2 psa 10 Yzerman rookies, 40 Cabrera rookies, Pujols, 50 psa 9, and 20 psa 10 Barry Sanders Score rookies
Several raw complete sets including 3 from 1975 mini, 2 1972, 2 1973, several from the later 1970s, 20 1984 DR sets.
Several unopened cases including 2 1977 sealed vending cases, 2 mini cases, one sealed and one cracked recently won in the REA auction, one sealed 1979 vending case, 1 sealed 1981 vending case. one box with 14 1977 vending and 15 1979 vending boxes. Many many others too numerous to list.

4 paintings: Sandy Koufax and Shoeless Joe Jackson recently won in this years REA spring auction, one Bird and Magic Johnson #99/99 from Stephen Holland, 1 Blood Ryan from Stephan Holland.
These cards will most likely be sold out of the Atlanta/Duluth area of Georgia. Very few collections come from this part of the country.

A reward will be given for information leading to the arrest of the thieves.

2002 Silver Honda Accord with many distinguishing dents and scratches (well worn)

Contact information: Henry Moon 678-473-7819
Detective J. L. Smith 770-513-5327

Thank you,
Henry (MintMoondog)

Topps Releases Allen & Ginter SP List, Invisible Man Auto and More

2009-07-16T11:36:00.006-05:00

2009 Allen & Ginter Checklist

The short prints are 301-350 as suspected. Other interesting notes:

There are several short printed blue ink auto's (print run after players name):
AGA-MC Miguel Cabrera 49
AGA-DW David Wright 49
AGA-JW Jayson Werth 49
AGA-JR Jose Reyes 49
AGA-JC Joba Chamberlain 49
AGA-DO David Ortiz 49
AGA-MH Matt Holliday 49
AGA-RH Ryan Howard 49
AGA-LM LaShawn Merritt 239
AGA-AT Anna Tunnicliffe 239
AGA-MZ Mariel Zagunis 239
AGA-WE Walton Glenn Eller 239
AGA-KA Kristin Armstrong 239
AGA-SB Stephanie Brown Trafton 239
AGA-DOW Dominique Wilkins 239
AGA-FE Frank Evans 239
AGA-AP Art Pennington 239
AGA-RM Red Moore 239
AGA-HS Herb Simpson 239
AGA-CP Clyde Parris 239
AGA-WW Willie Williams 239
AGA-MN Millito Navarro 239
AGA-BM Billy The Marlin 239
AGA-HT Hannah Teter 239
AGA-SD Shani Davis 239
AGA-CO Cat Osterman 239
AGA-RMA Robbie Maddison 239
AGA-BC Bob Crowley 239
AGA-RF Richard Fosbury 239
AGA-SW Steve Wiebe 239
AGA-WS Will Simpson/Archie Bunker 239
AGA-MM Mike Metzger 239
AGA-BBE Bryan Berg 239
AGA-IK Iris Kyle 239
AGA-BCA Brian Cappelletto 239
AGA-LO Loren Opstedahl 239
AGA-LC Lynne Cox 239
AGA-BY Brock Yates 239
AGA-JH John Higby 239
AGA-BK Burke Kenny 239
AGA-KM Kolan McConiughey 239
AGA-YM Yuto Miyazawa 239

The unannounced Creatures and Inventions sets each have five cards:
nventions of the Future
FI1 AeroMobile
FI2 Clock Defier
FI3 Protecto-Bubble
FI4 Here-to-There-o-matic
FI5 Mental Movies

Extinct Animals
EA1 Velociraptor
EA2 Dodo
EA3 Xerces Blue
EA4 Labrador Duck
EA5 Eastern Elk

There are five of the hated creature relics (each numbered to ten):
Bigfoot
The Loch Ness Monster
Unicorn
The Invisible Man
Yeti

There is also an Invisible Man auto which can only be seen under a black light (also only ten of these). I am sure these will be loved as much as the creature relics.

Elementary My Dear Watson

2009-07-16T10:07:00.005-05:00

I did not even realize that the British Open started this morning, nor that my favorite golfer of all-time (Tom Watson) was even playing this year, nor that the 2009 open is taking place at Turnberry, the very same spot where Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus had one of the most famous finishes in British Open history in 1977. So when I turned on Dallas sports radio station The Ticket this morning you can imagine my shock when I heard that not only was Mr. Watson playing, but he is in the lead after the first day! Growing up in Kansas City in the 70's and 80's, you loved Tom Watson, even if you were not a huge follower of golf. Tom was right up there with George Brett and Lynn Dawson. He really was. And the 1977 British Open had a lot to do with that. Watson and Nicklaus both shot a 68 in the first round. They both shot a 70 in the second round. They both shot a 65 in the third round. It doesn't get any closer than that. They were tied going into the last day, ten strokes ahead of anyone else. They were tied after 16 holes on the last day. I can't really do justice for what happened on 17 and 18, the article linked above does a much better job. But suffice it to say that one player won by one stroke, and they finished with the lowest and second lowest scores in British Open history. Watson has won the British Open five times and faced the greatest golfer of all-time in the process (Tiger may be better but at this point Nicklaus still holds the records). At 59, I know there is almost no shot of Watson pulling off this miracle, but I'll be rooting for him and I now have a great reason to watch the tourney. Go Tom!

2009 Allen & Ginter Checklist Observations

2009-07-10T13:08:00.004-05:00

Since my Allen & Ginter cards won't be arriving until next week, I figured I might as well take a look over the 2009 Allen & Ginter checklist. It's a virtual novella, but a few interesting things stood out to me. The SP's are not official yet, but it looks like they are 301-350 once again. Nice and easy to remember. There are 104 different relic cards. Wow! Speaking of relic cards, if you had to guess who was on the AGR-AR card, who would you think it would be? If you guessed Alex Rodriguez, you would be wrong. It's a different Alex...Alex Rios. ARod's relic card got the AGR-AER number. I know this is probably due to Rios coming before Rodriguez alphabetically, but it could be fitting due to ARod's recent issues and his absence from the starting lineup of the 2009 All-Star game. The "National Heroes", "Creatures of Myth, Legend and Terror" and "World's Greatest Hoaxes, Hoodwink's and Bamboozles" sets all look interesting to me. I'll probably try to complete those sets just to read the stories on the backs of the cards, even if they have nothing to do with baseball or even sports in general. There are also two unannounced surprise subsets, "Inventions of the Future" and "Extinct Creatures". These two sets seem to be rare so far as the singles seem to be going for between $7.50 and $20.00+ on ebay and I have yet to see a complete set of either one. Now all we need are some unannounced retail only subsets and this could be the most complicated set ever!

Check Out The 2009 Allen & Ginter Checklist

The Nonexistent Allen & Ginter Relic Card

2009-07-08T15:47:00.004-05:00

There is a pretty interesting 2009 Allen & Ginter relic card up on ebay right now. It's from the Creatures of Legend, Myth & Terror subset and it is a Unicorn relic card! Obviously there is no real unicorn hair or anything like that in the card, but it is still an interesting and humorous card. It actually says on on the back of the card "The relic contained in this card is not from anything at all". Should be interesting to see what this ends up selling for and what other Creature relic cards pop up. Thanks to Shane (Castle Sports) for letting me use the scans of his card. Check out the auction to bid or for more details:

2009 A&G Unicorn Relic

Wow, Nails Gets Hammered!

2009-07-08T13:30:00.002-05:00

Nails (aka Lenny Dykstra) has had to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. After a successful baseball career, Dykstra became a fairly well known writer for a large financial news website (CBS Marketwatch if I remember correctly) covering stock option plays. So how does someone who knows enough about the financial markets get to the point where he has less than $50,000 in assets and somewhere between $10 million and $50 million in debts! I always kinda liked Lenny, I hope he can get himself out of this mess in a respectable manner.

Nails Bankruptcy

The Rest of My Score Pack

2009-07-06T21:49:00.004-05:00

A future manager!

The son of Brooklyn Dodgers great Joe Landrum (1950-1952)

Tony, better make sure your fly is zipped!

Now we know where Kevin Appier got his windup from.

Didn't Rob Lowe play Joel Youngblood as a hockey player?

Another rookie card, what are the odds?

A pretty decent hitter in his time.

A pretty decent pitcher in his time.

A Random Pack of Late 80's/Early 90's Cards

2009-06-28T20:05:00.004-05:00

Not everyone believes that the late 80's and early 90's were the golden age of card collecting. Surprisingly, I actually like the cards from the 1950's, 1960's and earlier even more than these modern beauties. But when I saw someone on ebay selling five packs of these treasures, I knew I must place a bid. So, for about $3 including shipping, I received five packs of greatness. Today I will show you the first pack, and 1990 Score Baseball pack. Doesn't get much better than that. I know you are probably dying to see what I pulled, so here they are:

HoJo

Sweet, a rookie card!

Nice, my favorite team!

One of my favorite pitchers from my favorite team!

A catcher action card, always exciting

Great Pitcher

You can't say enough about Oddibe McDowell

Lightning on the basepaths

There are more, but it gave me an error when trying to upload more images. I guess I hit the limit. I'll post the rest tomorrow.

Crime Doesn't Always Pay

2009-06-17T13:52:00.003-05:00

When two Phoenix police officers entered an abandoned house that was being foreclosed on, they thought they had hit the jackpot when they found several vintage baseball cards glued to a door (yes, glued to the door!). The younger officer was fired, but was re-instated with a suspension. The older officer quickly retired before any disciplinary action could be taken. The cards included several hall of famers including Willie Mays, Ernie Banks and Don Drysdale, but due to the poor condition of the cards, the estimated value of all 44 cards was (drum roll please)...$15.00.

Story from Phoenix CBS

Big Unit Vs The Persians

2009-06-04T19:03:00.005-05:00

OK, so the Nationals aren't quite the Persians, but it was pretty impressive anyway.

3 Wins

300 Wins

Congratulations Randy!

Deep In The Heart Of Texas

2009-06-02T12:27:00.002-05:00

Wow, what a weekend of college baseball. A lot of baseball fans don't follow college baseball, so in case you haven't heard about the game that went on down in Austin, TX this past weekend, it was pretty wild. Texas is the #1 seed in the Austin regional, and in fact are the #1 overall seed in the whole College World Series. I believe Boston College was the #3 seed. They started play at 7:02 PM Satuday night and finished after 2 AM Sunday morning! That is because the game lasted 25 innings, an NCAA record. Some interesting stats pop out besides the fact that it was the longest game in NCAA history. Texas reliever Austin Wood (Fitting first name for a Longhorn) pitched 12 and 1/3 innings before allowing a hit! He threw 169 pitches in relief, and 120 of those were strikes. Big league pitching coaches are grinding their teeth everywhere after hearing that pitch count. Two Texas batters had 12 at bats during the game, each! Great start to the College World Series. Now if they will just get rid of the aluminum bats.

I don't have any Longhorns collegiate baseball cards (do they make them?) so this will have to do.

2009 Allen & Ginter Countdown: 1 Month

2009-06-01T13:12:00.008-05:00

Only one month to go until the scheduled release of 2009 Allen and Ginter. I haven't decided if I'm going to get a bunch of A&G this year or not, but the video from Topps makes it awfully tempting. Topps has not released the full checklist yet, but the auto's and relics checklist is out, although it is subject to change as usual:

2009 Allen & Ginter Checklist

The Michael Phelps cards look really cool. I won't even make any Michael Phelps autographed ZigZag relic jokes since the cards look so cool. It will be interesting to see how much the gold auto Phelps cards go for. Here is the video preview from Topps:

Bowman Cards From the Grave

2009-05-28T11:05:00.003-05:00

Found a couple of unique box break videos on youtube. If you have been around card collecting for a while, you have probably heard of Jefferson Burdick and are somewhat familiar with Mr. Burdick's story. But if you are not familiar with Jefferson's story, he is considered by many to be the original card collector. He created the American Card Catalog which gave names to many of the sets that we know today, including my personal favorite, the T206 set from 1909-1911. Jefferson passed away in 1963 is buried in central New York. Stalegum made a trip to Jefferson's grave site to film a live box break. I'm not a huge fan of box breaks, but this is definitely an interesting twist on the "traditional box" break video.

The Throw In

2009-05-13T23:17:00.005-05:00

I'm always a bit fascinated by the throw in cards that you sometimes receive when you buy a set or a lot and have it shipped to you. Most of the times the cards are probably just filler to keep the cards you paid for from moving too much during shipping, but some are nice bonus cards too. Here are a few I received the last couple of days with lots of 2009 Topps Heritage cards.

This first one is really nice. It's a 1975 Topps #325 New York Nets team card and it's in nice shape too. That's Dr. J wearing #32 in the front row.

The next group of cards were apparently from a Mets fan. Some nice players, even if they are from the mass produced 80's sets.

Josh is Back!

2009-05-12T22:46:00.005-05:00

***Note: I originally used the title "He's Back" when I noticed that The Hamiltonian used the exact same title two hours before I did! What's that old saying about great minds?***

He only went one for five tonight in his first game back from DL/minors rehab, but that one hit was a two run home run in the seventh inning that snapped a one to one tie game, a game which the Rangers went on to win 7-1. Good to see you back Josh.

The Greinke That Stole Christmas (Or At Least Pitcher of the Month)

2009-05-06T21:35:00.003-05:00

Wow! I can't remember the last time a pitcher started off like this. Greinke is so likeable that I can't even be mad at the fact that I traded him away last year in fantasy baseball and his salary is $3 for the next two years! I was loaded with starting pitching, contending for the title and needed a catcher so I traded him for Mauer. Oh well. In five of Greinke's six starts this year, he has not given up a single earned run! He's got 54 K's and only 8 walks. In an age when complete games are as rare as hitting the lotto, Zack has three of them in his first six starts. Two of those were shutouts. But perhaps the best quality of Greinke is his down to earth attitude. When he found out he was going to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated last week, this was his response:

“There's a lot more interesting stuff going on right now,” Greinke said. “They should have something else on the cover. Playoff basketball or something else. So it's a mistake. They'll probably sell their least amount of magazines in a long time — except when NASCAR was on the cover.”

There is no one else like Zack. I hope he can keep this up for the rest of the year, he is one pitcher that is fun to watch.

Chromes From On High

2009-04-24T22:56:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago I received a package of 2009 Topps Heritage chrome cards. The cards were very nice, but what I really noticed was who sent me the cards. This was during Lent. Coincidence? I don't think so.

Seems Like Forever Since I've Been Able To Say This...

2009-04-14T22:14:00.007-05:00

The Kansas City Royals are in sole possession of first place in the American League Central!

Please don't rain on my parade by telling me things like:

"We're only two weeks into the season."
"The Royals haven't played anyone except for the Yankees, and they went 1-2 against them."
"They won't go anywhere with Sidney Ponson and Horacio Ramirez in the starting rotation."

I don't care, because the Kansas City Royals are in first place!