Cubs Fatigue

Cards from the other side of the rivalry courtesy of @TomSOlson 

I knew it was going to be bad when I was already tired of hearing about the Cubs before an official pitch had been thrown this season. The lovable losers are a lot less lovable these days, with their 7th ranked payroll and frontrunner status this season. Thanks to an impressive staple of talented young players, the team that floated into the NLCS last season on Joe Maddon's magic carpet is expected to win 130 games this season and destroy every team in its path on its way to world domination.

Okay, fine, sorry -- I'm cranky tonight. It's an exciting time to be a Cubs fan, but even tossing the rivalry with the Cardinals aside for the moment, I seriously dread the moment the Cubs actually win a World Series because it's going to rival the Red Sox of the past decade in terms of insufferable fan encounters. Fortunately, many Cubs fans are not insufferable, and I am positive that P-Town Tom is one of them. I've had nothing but great encounters with card collecting Cubs fans and the Waiting 'til Next Year blogger is certainly among the good guy traders I've dealt with. He was also kind enough not to send me any Cubs (or Heywards) in our most recent dealing.

A shiny, colorful Bob Gibson card will certainly help to calm my nerves. This one appears to be an insert from a 2001 Upper Deck set, and it was one that I needed.

The colors on this card are just off (blue and gold?) and poor Stan is reduced to a small photo. This card is super shiny however, and looks to be from a Panini Hall of Fame set that probably came out at a price a little too rich for my blood.

This has to be one of the youngest looking dudes to ever appear on a baseball card. If Nick Plummer comes into your bar, you should probably check his ID.

Here's a minor league card that looks like it may have been signed in-person by former Cardinals prospect Tyler Herron. Cool stuff.

Adam Wainwright is Fired Up! Unfortunately, his performance this season so far has been rather tepid, like a frozen burrito that you tried to microwave that's still cold in the middle. Hopefully Waino can right the proverbial ship, and soon.

Trading With Reader Dave

Reader Dave, a Blue Jays fan from the country up north, was kind enough to send me a super deluxe package of Redbirds which arrived right before I went on vacation at the beginning of this month. Unfortunately, I still haven't mailed his return package. Expect that to be rectified tomorrow.

Bryan Anderson has been buried in prospect purgatory. It was nice to received this shiny purple serial numbered refractor. Although this one still suffers from the curvy "Pringle" effect, I can report that despite everyone's greatest fears, most of my 2010 Topps Chrome cards are a lot less curvy and can almost pass for normal cards.

This guy might drive Cleveland fans nuts, but he's not exactly saying things that aren't true. He's also proving himself to be a tremendous closer. The Cardinals eventually ended up with Jason Motte in the closer role instead of Perez, which has had its (mostly good) moments for sure. I like Motte a lot, but what I'm really saying is that I wouldn't mind having Perez back.

I really like these Heritage minor league cards. I don't know if they're doing them this year (not sure that I'd be as interested) but I'd like to find a checklist of the Cardinals affiliated ones from 2011 to see which ones I'm missing.

I believe this is an insert from the American Heritage set. I didn't even think about the possibility of baseball cards being in this non-sports set.

Here's a rather unflattering close-up of the guy that's done a tremendous job filling in for Chris Carpenter this year.

Steven Hill has 10 plate appearances in his major league career, 3 of which were in 2010. He did homer in his first at bat, but he's been used as more of a fourth catcher type. This is the first card I've owned of his.

I know that not everyone liked the blaster manupatches, but when they're done like this, I am not going to complain all that much. Wait, they're done making these, right?

And to finish it off, here's a tremendous looking Jon Jay auto/jersey from last year's Triple Threads set. Jay's return to the lineup has sparked off five straight victories for the Birds, something I really can't complain about.

Thanks again to Dave, who should keep an eye on the mailbox soon.