I Won Something

It all would've been sweeter if the Red Sox didn't win the World Series.

Just to show you how backlogged I am, I'm going to talk about something that happened in October. As in, you know, last season. I decided to challenge Night Owl Cards to a little minibet over who would win the Cardinals/Dodgers playoff series, something that I also did (and lost) back in 2009. While the two teams previously met in the divisional round, this time the pennant was at stake and I made the unfortunate suggestion to tie the prize to the player who won the NLCS MVP. The unlikely winner ended up being Michael Wacha, whose cards by then were threatening to reach Puig-like levels.

I didn't want to break anyone's bank on what amounts to a friendly little wager and suggested that any suitable replacement auto would do, and I think I made out pretty well with this blue Joe Kelly auto. (Night Owl gave me an IOU for a future Wacha card, but it's really not necessary. Really!) I already had a copy of the white (regular?) Kelly auto from this set, so it was nice to get this blue version. Kelly has pitched well enough as a starter and reliever to figure into the Cardinals future plans no matter how crowded the rotation gets, and he also offers "secret weapon" status as one of the team's faster baserunners. (He just needs to learn how to get on base now.)

More Cards cards were to be had, including this Chris Carpenter mini insert from the short-lived Topps Lineage set.

When I first started collecting cards, I remember the little shop up the street had a bunch of these old Topps scratch-off cards. I don't know why I never dove in and bought some of these. My theory is that I was too young to be able to resist playing the game and scratching them off.

I recently put in a request for a few of the Ginter minis Night Owl had on offer awhile back. The older the set, the harder it's been for me to get ahold of any of the inserts and parallels, but I suppose that's to be expected. I think Donald Tusk looks like he might be related to Rainn Wilson.

Finally, I have been dilligently (not really) working on collecting the 2013 Ginter set, and this package put me a bit closer to that goal. I'm never quite sure which card(s) to feature from a blob of base cards from a set everyone has already exhausted, so this time I just went with Young Reggie.

Showin' Off

 

In honor of a much needed weekend home sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers, here are some scanned images of a bunch of nice Cardinals "hits" that I've procured recently. I hit up a card shop on the west side of town (aka the suburbs) in search of some much needed supplies and found some bargain-priced Cardinals. Did you know that I like the Cardinals? I bet you did!

I find this card pretty interesting because it's a pitcher's game-used bat, and that pitcher went on to become more of a batter. He's never really approached the level he played at when he first re-broke into the majors as an outfielder, unfortunately.

This isn't really a "hit" per se, but it's a short printed Goudey card that chisels another little notch in the old want list. Plus, it was only a dollar!

Cheap Edmonds jerseys were to be had. I had this one.

This is probably just a base card, but I really like it. Does anyone actually collect Triple Threads? I will never fully understand the high-stakes game of baseball card collecting. I would be just as excited (actually, more excited) about receiving a Jaime Moyer 1991 Bowman card, personally. Does anyone have a Jaime Moyer 1991 Bowman card? What about 1991 Stadium Club? No? I really need to get one of those "top X most wanted cards" lists together soon.

This was another one dollar find at the card shop. I am on record as saying that I'm not overly fond of Chrome-ing up the Heritage cards, but when they are done to my own team it's another matter entirely.

Meanwhile, I recently purchased some Yadier Molina cards for Erin's collection (her birthday was last weekend) and took the opportunity to add a couple of cards to my collection as well, mainly to save on shipping charges. I'm a sucker for serial numbers, parallels and blue cards, and this is all of those things.

Wainwright, as we well know, did not pitch at all last season. This photo must be from 2010 (or before?)

I also snagged a bunch of stuff for myself at the monthly card show last month. There's no card show in town this month as far as I know, so I may splurge and finally buy a Heritage hobby box. Here's another Edmonds jersey card for the collection. I will be updating my Zistle account shortly.

Here's a black Matt Holliday workout jersey swatch on a card that features some cacti (because it's Arizona) and some weird diamond pattern (because...??)

I feel like a broken record, but I'm going to say it anyway. Jaime Garcia should be back, hopefully, soon. And, hopefully, he will be able to contribute to the stretch run.

I picked up a pair of Bowman autographs at the show as well. I tried to just choose one of the two Cardinals at the table, but I ended up going home with both. Joe Kelly has been a valuable contributor as a replacement member of the rotation and has even helped win a game with his bat and speed.

Does Kelly have the so-called "upside" that Kolten Wong has, though? This is what made choosing between the two cards a tough decision. I like Joe Kelly because I've seen him play, and there's always a chance Wong never makes the bigs at all. Wong is pretty highly regarded as a prospect, however, and he plays a position (2B) that is always in demand - especially in the St. Louis organization.

I could have sworn I had this Rolen jersey card already, but I wasn't able to find it in any of my boxes where I store these things.

Finally, last but certainly not least, here's a simply amazing Jim Edmonds bat card that Erin purchased long ago. I was finally able to pry it away from her and now it sits in my collection. For now...