Good Luck Ducks, Week 12: More Like...

Oregon faces their final road test of the season in their penultimate conference game. 

 

I probably say this every year at this time, but man, this college football season has really flown by. It's a relatively short season compared to other sports I follow, but you really get to go through the changing of the seasons as the weeks progress. We start things off in late August or early September in t-shirts and shorts and now, all of a sudden, it feels like winter outside. Autumn always feels like the shortest season to me, at least with Portland's weather.

Of course, I'm here to talk about college football, not the weather. The Ducks are flying high after another win last week and take a 10-0 record to Badger territory this week. Wisconsin has had an up-and-down season and for the most part hasn't really been in close games. They've been on both sides of a lot of blowouts. If the trend holds, let's hope that they're on the wrong side of a blowout tonight.

It's also the time of the season where the injuries have piled up, and the Ducks have their fair share. Oregon is still expected to be without ace receiver Tez Johnson this week, and there are a few other key stars that showed up on the injury report as "questionable" early this week: Marcus Harper and two Jordans (Burch and James.)

Here's a bonus card this week thanks to Dennis! This was sent to me in advance of the last meeting between Wisconsin and Oregon in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day 2020. The Ducks pulled off the big one point win in Justin Herbert's final game, and then it was all downhill from there that year as I recall. Let's hope that there isn't another worldwide health crisis coming after this one.

Notes and such:

• Bucky Badger has to be one of the weirdest looking mascots in the game. To be fair, though, he is a badger. Badgers are really something.
• Do they have any history at all? The all-time series is tied at 3-3. Aside from the aforementioned 2020 Rose Bowl, Oregon also beat Wisconsin in the 2012 Rose Bowl and in a season opening match back in 2001. Wisconsin had won the previous meeting in 2000 and before that it gets a little fuzzy.
• Ducks ranking this week: 1.
• Dillon Gabriel Heisman Watch: The Ducks just need to keep on winning and see what happens. There aren't a lot of bad choices for the award this year.
• Game time is 4:30 PM PST on NBC in Madison. Go Ducks!

TribeCards Cards Represent, Represent-sent

 

A pile of free cards from an old friend. 

 

Back in August, I received a large box of cards from TribeCards central. David is part of the old-school realm of baseball card bloggers, and as a team collector is someone I can identify with from a hobby perspective. The cards were actually from a giveaway he started way back in 2020, so there were surprises all around.

Here's a couple of Cardinals pitching prospects that I added to my collection. The dude on the right is a bit more familiar than the one on the left. Alkire's card isn't technically a Cardinals card, but he was a Cardinals draft pick and I usually end up throwing these types of cards in my binders even if I don't seek them out. Ankiel, of course, features on a Cardinals minor league affiliate card, which was definitely on my want list.

This was a clear number one for me in terms of the keepers. It's a fairly tough to find photo variation from the 2018 Topps flagship set.

If I recall, you could request multiple teams in this very generous giveaway. I decided to see what was behind door number 2, as in the one that was labeled with a certain green bird on it. This is a 1988 Topps NFL stickers card, which aside from the red background and yellow/black border, is very similar to its MLB counterpart. These also have the Superstar Sticker backs. I ended up with another Steeler on the reverse.

The bulk of the Eagles loot was early '80s Topps base. These are nearly a decade before my time (of actually paying attention to the Eagles), but I added most of them to my Eagles box. I picked the name I'm most familiar (Jaworski) with to represent that lot.

I do love a good Action Packed card. I've added a few of these Monday Night Football themed cards to my collection recently.

The lion's share of the package was actually made up of Astros cards. This must have been during the days when I was still collecting George Springer cards (when he was still with Houston.) I did find a number of Jose Altuve cards for Erin's collection, though.

Here's another 2018 photo variation. It looks like this is more commonly found than the Wainwright card above.

I've already added the rest of the Astros cards I ended up with to my trade list, but I'm sure I'll find a home soon for this Justin Verlander gold parallel from 2020 Topps.

The big prize ended up being this Kyle Tucker Immaculate Collection card from 2019. It features an on-card autograph and five distinct (?) jersey swatches. Even though it's a Panini thing, this is quite a card! It's been earmarked for a certain Astros collector out there.

Thanks again to Dave for keeping the ol' card blog thing going, and for the free cards, obviously!

Good Luck Ducks, Week 11: Turtle Power

 

Oregon hosts an unfamiliar foe as the season officially enters the stretch run. 

 

It's been quite a season! While it still feels like it was just summer around here, especially coming off of a week with a string of 60+ degree sunny days, time is winding down on the 2024 college football regular season. The Ducks enter this weekend with an unblemished record at the top of the class, but there are still a few tests awaiting them before a potentially huge B1G championship game battle.

Next up on the schedule is a home game against Maryland. The Terps were coming off of a decent 2023 season that saw them win big in a bowl game and lose by just one score against the eventual national champs. They started off 2024 decently enough, but have been up-and-down for pretty much the whole schedule. Still, Maryland was 3-1 at one point and are coming off of a bye week, so it would be dangerous thinking to take them lightly right now.

Fortunately, the Ducks are still firing on all cylinders (I need to come up with another metaphor) despite losing their #1 option at wideout in Tez Johnson last week to an apparent shoulder injury. I was pretty convinced that Tez had broken his collarbone during the Michigan game, which was tough because he's the most exciting Oregon player this season in my eyes. (No offense to Dillon Gabriel, who is kind of... boring... because he's incredibly accurate and dare I say robotic in his efficiency at this point.)

I'm guessing we won't see Tez anymore this month unless he happens to make a surprise pop-up appearance against Washington somehow, but there are plenty of other reasons to be excited about the Ducks on both sides of the ball. Jordan James and Noah Whittington make a fearsome rushing tandem while still feeling like they've been underutilized. Having fresh ball carriers in November is definitely nothing to sneeze at. Terrance Ferguson is back wreaking havoc alongside newcomer Kenyon Sadiq, making a pair of tight ends that might not be rivaled. And Gabriel still has a plethora of talented targets on the field while we wait for Tez to return. Yes, it's a great time to be a Duck right now. There's still plenty of work to be done this season, however.

Notes and such:

• Maryland is trying to get in on that uniform game. There's only so much you can do with traditionally white road unis, so I respect this a lot. At least it's a lot better than some of their flag-based uniform designs.
• Do they have any history at all? Nope! This will be their first meeting.
• Ducks ranking this week: 1. The first CFP rankings came out this week at a very unfortunate time. Oregon is on top. No further questions.
• Dillon Gabriel Heisman Watch: I think it's down to Gabriel vs. Cam Ward depending on how the rest of the season schedule plays out. Both have been playing college football for approximately 34 years. If Miami wins out, well, people seem to be more excited about Ward despite Oregon probably being a better team at this point, at least based on their strength of schedule. I don't see the Colorado guy or Ashton Jeanty winning this because of how heavily weighted this usually is towards QBs for top ranked teams.
• Game time is 4:00 PM PST on the B1G Network in Eugene. Go Ducks!

Good Luck Ducks, Week 10: Quack in The Big House

Oregon heads to Ann Arbor to take on the defending champs. 

 

The Ducks bolstered their #1 standing with an impressive takedown of Illinois last Saturday, but there is plenty of work left to do. Next up: the defending champion Michigan Wolverines. Now, of course, Michigan enters today's game with a new head coach, a new quarterback and three losses. But they have excelled at something that should at least give most Ducks fans pause: keeping the scoring down. Oregon has put up a decent amount of points in most games this season, but that's because the opportunities have mostly been there. If you match up against an opponent that limits those opportunities, that should give you some pause.

There's plenty of good news, though. The Ducks could see the return of two key players in defensive monster Jordan Burch and gigantic tight end Terrance Ferguson. These are both two skilled players who should thrive in the massive Michigan stadium no matter what the situation.

A shoutout is due to Dennis of Too Many Verlanders this week. In addition to constantly supplying me with cool cards for my collection, he's often shown support for my Ducks over the years. Once the latest conference realignment moves were put into place, we knew the day would come when his Wolverines were going to start butting heads with Oregon on a regular basis. It doesn't seem like they're play each other every season to be so annoying as to become serious rivals, but a conference foe is what it is. At least I can still be happy when Michigan takes down Washington, like they did in January.

There's only a few games scheduled after this. It has been a whirlwind of a season. In some ways I'm still getting used to it not being summer anymore. Here's to hoping Oregon can hold steady in November to get a decent shot at the new playoff system.

Notes and such: 

• The Wolverines will reportedly be without one of their top defensive players today. Will Johnson has already racked up a couple of pick-sixes this season. Dillon Gabriel has been extremely accurate so far, but this should lessen some pressure.
• Do they have any history at all? Michigan holds a 3-2 edge, including three straight shutouts during early times. Their last meeting was in 2007, which reminds me...
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• Ducks ranking this week: 1 (AP). They gained some votes.
• Dillon Gabriel Heisman Watch: Considering how few mistakes the "veteran" college guy makes, it seems like the team's record is going to dictate how well he does in this race more than anything.
• Game time is 12:30 PM PDT on CBS in Ann Arbor. Go Ducks!

Good Luck Ducks, Week 9: Fighting Realm

 

The Fighting Ducks host the Fighting Illini in a battle of ranked B1G squads. 

 

While it still feels like just yesterday that the 2024 college football season started, we're already heading into Oregon's eighth game of the season, with just four more games on the schedule after today. This part of the year always seems to fly the fastest. The Ducks are coming off of a comfortable shutout at Purdue last Friday, along with a bonus day of extra rest (or practice?) heading into another Top 25 showdown.

Illinois is no joke! While they've only appeared in three bowl games in the last decade, all of the lower tier variety, they head into today's affair with a 6-1 record and a shiny #20 ranking. As much as I can sadly admit that Purdue mostly made me think of Drew Brees, the only image I can currently conjure up of a star Illinois football player is Jeff George on his sought after 1990 Pro Set draft pick football card. You'd have to be sure that knocking off the undefeated Ducks would be a legendary experience on the campus in Champaign, Illinois.

Fortunately, Oregon has been firing on all cylinders. Some early defensive concerns look like they've been addressed, even with a couple of key players sidelined due to injuries. The "Next Man Up" concept only works in practice if those reserve players are capable of fulfilling those roles, and for the most part I've liked what I've seen on the field with the less familiar names on the backs of the jerseys.

With a tough ranked team this week and, presumably, next, I don't think anyone wearing Ducks colors is going to be looking too far ahead to the Washington game. If there's any side benefit to Oregon's B1G move, it could be that the lack of familiarity with many of these opponents and their schemes could effectively keep them on their toes. In other words, I don't think we have to worry about the Ducks dropping a game to, I don't know... Cal(?) out of sheer boredom.

Notes and such:

• The Old 97's Bob Dylan-adjacent track "Champaign, Illinois" is always a nice listen.
• Do they have any history at all? It's Oregon with a 2-1 lead in the series, although the two schools haven't met since I was still a teenager.
• Ducks ranking this week: 1 (AP). Yup. Number one in the land. I would be making more of a big deal about this, but I really don't care where they end up at as long as they are firmly in the top ten when all the conference championship games are done. Besides, I don't think history has been too kind to teams that have peaked in Week 8.
• Dillon Gabriel Heisman Watch: I don't know, man, but it feels like Gabriel has just been... there... and doing really well! I mean, he's been historically accurate with his throws, which sounds exactly like Bo Nix's time at Oregon. Is this a Dan Lanning thing or is Oregon just landing top flight QBs who have already been in college for a million years? Probably a little of both?
• Game time is 12:30 PM PDT on CBS in Eugene. Go Ducks!

Good Luck Ducks, Week 8: Give Me Boilermakers

 

Oregon hits the road for Friday night football. 

Coming off of an epic victory last weekend over Ohio State, it's a short turnaround for the Ducks with all kinds of targets on their backs. The Buckeyes game was everything as advertised: a nailbiting, back-and-forth game with explosive plays on both side of the ball. It came down to the final seconds, with the clock running out on OSU's attempt to get into field goal range after Oregon coach Dan Lanning exploited a (soon to be closed) loophole to shave a few seconds off of the clock before the final snap.

There are a bunch of tough teams ahead, and tonight's prime time matchup against Purdue has all of the potential trappings of, well, a trap game. The Boilermakers are coming off of a 50-49 OT loss to a ranked Illinois team, who the Ducks will be seeing soon themselves. Purdue can definitely score, as evident by last week, but they just haven't been consistent with it. Oregon will be looking for a little more consistency itself, especially in the kicking game, which wasn't quite up to par last Saturday.

The Ducks survived losing start DE Jordan Burch last week due to an injury he suffered in practice and will likely be without him for a stretch. Other players stepped up well in his absence, but as the season goes long, the depth chart always seems to wear thin.

I'm still not used to this Friday football stuff. I'm not sure that I'll ever like it, but it does free up my Saturday a bit and lets me enjoy flipping around through other games without being stressed about it.

Notes and such:

• Two things Purdue always reminds me of: Drew Brees on the cover of NCAA College Football 2K2 (great game!) and decades of sportswriters calling them Purdon't.
• Do they have any history at all? The schools have met just three times on the football field and all three matches have been decided by less than seven points. The last meetings were a home-and-home series in 2008-09. Oregon holds a 2-1 edge.
• Ducks ranking this week: 2 (AP). Oregon moved up with the big win last week as expected, but stays below Texas after the Longhorns trounced their rivals. We're still a couple of a weeks away from the first edition of the only rankings that matter.
• Dillon Gabriel Heisman Watch: As the Ducks go, so does Gabriel's Heisman chances. He's still in the conversation.
• Game time is 5:00 PDT on FOX in West Lafayette. Go Ducks!

Saturday Stars and Players for the Rest of the Week

 

Football, baseball, basketball, hockey?!

 

Fresh off a customs inspection at the border (presumably) and sitting around my office for awhile is another pile of goodies from buckstorecards. As always, he hit up a bunch of different areas of my collecting interests. I could have easily saved the DJ Johnson Prizm signature for this week's Good Luck Ducks post, but it clearly says "SATURDAY STAR" on it while Oregon is actually playing on a Friday this week for the second time in three games. I have rules, you see. (Also, DJ plays on Sundays these days, if you can call what the Panthers have been doing "playing".)

Vernon Adams Jr. really seemed to kick off the era of Oregon looking to transfers to help their QB ranks, although he certainly wasn't the first.

It's fun to follow Ducks players in their pro careers when the NFL thing isn't in the cards. Fortunately, CFL cards exist, as do generous traders who drop them on my doorstep (figuratively, of course.)

Here's a nice, numbered, high end Kiko Alonso card from something called Topps Supreme. I wonder how many of their old brands Topps will resurrect when they get their NFL rights back.

With the nearly complete lack of labels and color here, you'd have to forgive me for assuming this was one of those janky Leaf products. It's actually a Press Pass Showcase card, and looks very interesting with the red ink signature (on card!) and two distinct head shots.

I still pick up the occasional Eagles card from time to time, and this one is right in my wheelhouse as it's one of the members of the Super Bowl LII winning team. Nice.

It's on to a different sport and a bird of a different color. This is the white bordered variation of Lance Lynn's not-Photoshopped 2024 card because the photo is actually from 2017 (or earlier.) I did the research when the set first came out to track down the original Getty photo to confirm this, but I'm not doing it again.

I don't typically put college/draft cards of players the Cardinals drafted on my want list unless there's a prominent mention of the Cardinals on the card somewhere, but I also do include them in my binders when someone sends them to me. Pete Hansen is still working his way through the minor league ranks and played at high A this past season.

Is this art, AI, or some sort of AI-assisted art? I'm not sure, but I do know that it's from one of those online exclusive mini sets. This looks to have been released prior to Albert's reunion with St. Louis.

It's on to the non-aviary section of the package now, as we're checking out a "teal explosion" parallel of a Jerami Grant card. Grant is currently my favorite player on the team and was actually born in Portland when his father (Harvey) played for the Blazers, but with the team stuck near the bottom of a seemingly bottomless pit ever since Chauncey Billups came sniffing around, any decent veteran like Grant is always the subject of intense trade rumors.

Cards like this are just unfortunate, and a product of the way the NBA Draft functions, or at least used to. Joey Dorsey probably wore this Blazers cap for a few minutes that day before he was dealt to Houston. Sometimes you do get fun stuff out of these situations, like LaMarcus Aldridge holding up both  Bulls and Blazers caps during one of his photos. Still, this is a nice little oddball to have, and certainly less unsettling than seeing Luke Walton on a card wearing a Blazers jersey as a gimmick/tribute to his father.

It's already hockey season?! I've seen some of the scores come across the ticker already, so it must be. I picked out a former Blues player I'm actually somewhat familiar with for today's Blues-card-o'-the-post. Pacific made a lot of junk in their day, but this isn't bad.

Good Luck Ducks, Week 7: Deez Nuts

 

Number Two versus Number Three! 

 

To be perfectly honest, I thought I'd have a lot more to say about Ohio State this week. As it turns out, I really don't. Don't get me wrong: this is a huge, huge, huge game. However, with the expanded playoff format, this is no longer the game that is going to cruelly end someone's season, and unless there's a severe blowout (unlikely...?), it's probably not going to heavily alter the course of either team's trajectory. It should be fun, though!

At first thought of the Ducks joining the Big Ten, games against Ohio State and Michigan particularly seemed like a step up from their usual Pac-12 regular season competition. And on the flipside, as a fan of either of those schools, you probably weren't super thrilled to welcome a team of flashy-feathered fiends in goofy uniforms two or three time zones away. But we're here now, and we've never really liked Ohio. (My apologies to the unsettling amount of people I know personally with Ohio ties.)

The Ducks are going to quack regardless of the opponent, and they're coming off of another nice performance that showed off their talents but stopped just shy of showing their true potential. I think the best opponents usually bring out the best in top teams, so I'm hopefully that Oregon can step up and prove themselves today as one of those top teams. It's not going to be a sunken season if they can't come away with a W, but I would be shocked if the effort isn't at a season high.

A buckeye is some kind of tree nut, isn't it? Ducks can eat that in their sleep.

Notes and such:

• More uniform stuff: Oregon is busting out an all-black uniform in a new style tonight. It would probably work better if it was a month or so later in the season when it would actually be dark outside for the bulk of the game.
• Do they have any history at all? Oh, yeah. The Buckeyes were 9-0 heading into their meeting in the 2021 season. Oregon upset the Buckeyes on the road, but Ohio State would go on to win the Rose Bowl while the Ducks sputtered to a 10-4 season concluding with losses in the Pac-12 championship game and the Alamo Bowl.
• Ducks ranking this week: 3 (AP). It's #2 vs. #3!
• Dillon Gabriel something-or-other: Let's come back to this next week. This game could be huge... or not.
• Game time is 4:30 PM PDT on NBC. That's right, it's that network that used to only carry Notre Dame games. Go Ducks!

Good Luck Ducks, Week 6: Get Sparty

Oregon hosts Michigan State on a Friday night, just like the college football gods intended. 

 

Tonight, it will truly feel like the Ducks are part of the B1G. Well, that's aside from the whole Friday thing. Part of expanding to eighteen schools meant that, for broadcast reasons, Friday games were going to be part of the mix for, well,  most of the schools. Oregon hosts a traditional conference school in the green and white that they've played a few times in the past that they may someday form a new rivalry with. Or not. It's tough to say.

Last week, the Ducks won comfortably on the road over an outmatched and outgunned UCLA team that is still adjusting to a new head coach. This week, they are hosting a 3-2 team that is coming off of a blowout home loss to Ohio State. The Spartans also bring in a familiar face in ex-Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith. This might be one night that a bunch of Beavers fans could be pulling for their in-state rival, given the lingering bitterness of their prized head coach, alumnus and former QB jumping ship as the conference was imploding.

 

It should be a fun night at Autzen Stadium, with the full complement of the student body on campus and the typical shenanigans that a Friday college night brings. The Ducks have yet to play what feels like a "complete" game this season. I'm confident that Oregon will be up for showing the rest of the conference (and football watching country) what the move to the B1G is all about tonight.

The Spartans are led by a former Oregon State backup quarterback in Aidan Chiles, who has struggled with interceptions so far this season. Look for the Ducks to continue to establish some consistency on defense, while looking out to stop Chiles' ability to scramble and move on designed runs. (Look for me to enjoy the rest of the weekend without having any football games to worry about after tonight.)

Notes and such:

• I haven't said much about the uniforms this season, but they been nothing short of wonderful to look at, blending all of the latest modern flourishes with a look back to the mid-'90s uniform era, which just so happens to be when I attended. Tonight they are going for something different, as Dan Lanning's family helped design these to help "Stomp Out Cancer".
• Do they have any history at all? Oregon holds a 4-3 edge, with their last meeting coming in 2018 in the eminently forgettable Redbox Bowl, where the Ducks squeaked out a 7-6 win. Prior to that, the two schools met for home-and-home series three separate times, most recently in 2014/2015.
• Ducks ranking this week: 6 (AP). Oregon climbed up a couple of ticks this week while awaiting the arrival of the actual CFP rankings.
• Dillon Gabriel Heisman Watch: Gabriel seems to be a step or so outside of the conversation this week, but wins over Ohio State and Michigan could change that dramatically. You never know!
• Game time is 6:00 PM PDT on FOX. Go Ducks!

Good Luck Ducks, Week 5: Placeholder

 

Oregon heads to Pasadena for some #Pac12AfterDark #B1GAfterDark action. 
 
The Ducks finally are headed into their first Big Ten conference game and... oh boy... it's UCLA. Great. That's not terribly exciting. The two ex-Pac-Whatever teams are also being forced to play at 11:00 PM east coast time and somewhere the dark wizards chancellors(?) from Michigan and Ohio State and whatever that control everything in the conference are making sure they force these outsiders and lesser schools to play at weird times and on Fridays and what have you.

The sweetest revenge will be on the field, of course.

Mighty Oregon is coming in fresh off of a Beaver beatdown and a bye week, and they seem to be headed on the right track now heading into this match against the Bruins where they are heavily favored. Heck, last season's starting QB at UCLA left his school to become Oregon's second stringer. (To be fair, this seems like a savvy move as Dante Moore should have at least two more seasons of eligibility after Dillon Gabriel leaves.) Chip Kelly is out as the Bruins head coach, leaving for a supporting role at some other trash B1G program. (Ugh.)

I rarely talk about the (mostly) random Ducks football card I show off in these posts, but it's a brave new (NIL-fueled) world out there now where I can regularly show off cards of current Ducks players if I am so inclined, like I did this week. I would be much more interested in buying football cards if more of the products out there were college focused (or, especially, Ducks-focused). What are your favorite college football cards right now?

Notes and such:

• There's a couple of UCLA horror stories that give me pause. Skip Hicks. Cade McNown (kind of). This is DeShaun Foster's program now, and I'm sure they are feeling like they're on the up and up, but I don't feel like they're going to be anywhere near the top class of the Big Ten for awhile yet.
• Do they have any history at all? Well, of course. Since the Pac-10 became the Pac-12, UCLA was skipped on the schedule more frequently than most (along with USC), but there's still quite a bit of a record to go off of. UCLA holds the edge at 39-32, but Oregon has won 15 out of their last 18 meetings going back to 2000. Whenever I hear about the prestige of the LA schools, I have to choke on my laughter because they haven't really been relevant since I was young.
• Ducks ranking this week: 8 (AP). This was unintentionally not mentioned last week. They started out at 3, dropped to 7, then 9, having not yet lost a game. They discovered last week that the only way to win is not to play, moving up a spot because they practiced hard or something. Polls are still only meaningful for barflies at this point of the season.
• Dillon Gabriel Heisman Watch: Gabriel is still in the conversation, though having a scheduled off week does not help you. Maybe he should have tried harder.
• Game time is the incredibly stupid 8:00 PM PDT on FOX in Pasadena. Go Ducks!

Weekend PWE Round-Up

Good baseball cards sometimes come in small packages. 

 

Although the bulk of the stuff I receive in the mail these days is from TCDB trades, I still have a few friends of the blog who like to exchange blind letters and packages of cards. And they are still very, very fun. Here's a few fun ones, including this offering from late June by Night Owl Cards.

Night Owl tossed a couple of current Cardinals my way, including a screaming yellow Willson Contreras card and this Jordan Walker Prizm insert. We're at the point where it's difficult to see what the Cardinals will look like come next season, but I'm guessing they're going to try to reestablish themselves around a young core which will likely include Walker.

Along with the current guys came a pair of recently retired legends. Adam Wainwright is now trying to balance full-time dad duties with part-time broadcasting and singing pursuits.

Albert Pujols on a 1989 Topps design is always going to look weird.

Speaking of legends, we go back all the way to 1970 with this one. No Heritage here -- this is the real deal.

Night Owl always has a stash of minis seemingly at his disposal, and he was once again cool enough to help me out with some of these Ginter weirdos. Bill Walton will now have a new patch celebrating his life on the Blazers jerseys this coming season.

Next up is another PWE from another Dodgers fan. If you've been here before, you can probably guess that it's going to be a gcrl/cards as i see them envelope. This Matt Carpenter pink parallel comes from the online exclusive Topps Mini set, which I think they stopped making a couple of years ago. I don't think it was terribly popular (or necessary.)

Inception! That's fun. Cho spent the entire season at the High-A level, and while his bat hasn't seemed to have come around yet, he is very young still.

This is a great collection of Heritage inserts right here. Pong! Hammerin' Hank! A future HOF Cardinal!

Parallels will undoubtedly be the death of any team collector, but it was great to snag a couple more of these yellow things from the mystery envelope.

We end the gcrl envelope with a minor league autograph card. It's Adam Kennedy! A lot of players from sets like these aren't terribly recognizable years after the card has been out, but Kennedy had a nice career that included a World Series ring and ALCS MVP award with the Angels in 2002.

Our third and final envelope comes from the one and only Lost Collector. I've always been a huge fan of these framed Diamond Kings cards from the mid 00's. This Bud Smith card is numbered to just 400.

I've made some good headway this year into collecting all of the various Topps gold parallels (Cardinals) since these became an annual thing back, I want to say, 2001? The less said about this subject, the better, but at least this is one more to tick off the list.

The lone non-baseball card need in these envelopes came in the form of a Sage HIT parallel of Devon Williams, a Ducks receiver who left two years of NCAA eligibility on the table when he opted to enter the 2022 draft. As far as I can tell, he got a look from the Ravens initially but hasn't shown up anywhere prominent in a couple of years.

Thanks, as always, for these fun blind trades!