Incoming / Outgoing

There were a ton of packages stuffed with cards in my mailbox tonight. I was expecting, possibly, one package at the most, but somehow ended up with four. This distracted me greatly during tonight's draft for the inaugural fantasy NBA league season (I'm pretty sure I have at least one of those words out of logical order) sponsored by The Basketball Card Blog. I won't use it as a crutch in case my season goes awry. I'll instead use my lousy draft planning and unfamiliarity with the auction draft system. I also sent out a couple of large packages today and have a few more in the works, but for tonight's post I'll take a look at a stack of stuff I got from Thorzul a few weeks ago. Thorzul has become the go-to guy for quality group breaks these days from what I can see. Usually the buy-in is a bit too rich for my blood, but that has more to do with my reduction in financial allocation to buying cards this year than anything else. Even though I won't be participating this time around, I believe there are still good teams to be had if you're into that sort of thing.

Tony La Russa re-upped with the Cardinals for one more year, which means that Aaron Miles can't be far behind. I don't know what to say about this really except that it should prove to be another entertaining year's worth of griping and sniping to read over at my favorite non-card-related blog, Viva El Birdos.

Here's where I have to hand it to Cliff Lee. I may not like the guy a whole lot, but he's surely at the top of his game (and everyone else's) right now. These first few cards were from a healthy stack of 2006 Turkey Reds that I have thus far neglected to add to my list of "haves".

Here's a topical comic... thing. These aren't really a card. They're like thick contact paper or something. I'm also highly interested in the 2006 Bazooka set and its wacky bunch of parallels and inserts, as that collections grows by drips and drops.

I had wondered what the 4-in-1 sticker cards looked like from this set, and now I wonder no more. Did they make a little mini album for these? Does anyone know? What good are stickers without corresponding things to stick them to, anyway?

Coming up later this week... at least one box break and a weekday Ducks post. Enjoy!

Airbrushed Fridays: 1976 Topps #535

Playoffs! Why are you sitting in your stiff old desk chair when you could be relaxing in your comfy recliner, remote in hand, watching America's greatest sport while teams battle it out for the pennants? What's that you say? The Yankees and the Phillies are just going to win again? Ugh...

Dave Nelson was a former All-Star second baseman who spent the bulk of his career with Rangers franchise, moving to Texas when the team moved from Washington. He's now a Brewers broadcaster who has filled in for the ailing Bob Uecker, who sadly is back in the hospital in need of more heart surgery.

Why did Topps airbrush Dave's photo? Nelson was traded after the completion of the 1975 season to Kansas City, where he would spend his final two major league seasons. Even though there's no way they could have had a current photo available, you have to applaud Topps for at least trying to be current back in those days.

What's wrong with this picture, anyway? Short on time, and "magical" blue paint, the so-called artist bailed on the 'C' portion of the KC logo when he found out that he was getting paid by a piece rate instead of by the hour. I'm also starting to think that if heaven were to exist, it would look a lot like the background of an airbrushed baseball card from the '70s.

If you are interested in obtaining a card featured here, please send me an e-mail. If you have a card you would like to nominate for Airbrushed Fridays, please get in touch as well. I will require that I am able to see the card in person, either on loan or as a donation, so that I can examine the card and experience it in all its cruddiness.

Oh, and... Go Yankees!

Thanks, Topps, For Making Things Even Worse

Okay, Topps, how am I going to clear up this misconception when you make things like this George Sisler National Chicle card? As you probably know, Hall of Famer George Sisler was never a Cardinal, but he played for an MLB team in St. Louis known as the St. Louis Browns. To confuse even more, the Cardinals were actually the Browns at one point - briefly - but the Browns were never the Cardinals. At least, not George's Browns. Not the Browns that he played for that roamed the ball fields of the American League. I've received quite a few Sisler cards over the past couple of years. I can't complain about getting Hall of Fame type cards, but I don't collect Sisler or Browns cards unless they are somehow connected to the Cardinals franchise. The Cardinals began their life as the Perfectos before spending the greater portion of the 1890s as the Brown Stockings (Browns for short.) Most of the cards and photos you see, however, are for players that played for the A.L. franchise that was founded in 1894 was... wait for it... the Milwaukee Brewers! They were the Browns for 52 years beginning in 1902 before becoming the Baltimore Orioles that you know and love, but mostly just know, today.

All of this leads me to a nice little package from The Card Chop. Topps got a little silly with the National Chicle set that they put out this year (remember, there were Chipper Babe Ruth Atlanta Braves cards, after all) and after I purchased the basic team set at a card show I ended up with an unnecessary Sisler card. I even see Sisler misrepresented as a Cardinal in databases and even on Beckett's website, so this was no great surprise. The card I received in this trade was a big surprise, however. Apparently it's a short print and, despite all my outrage, I am reluctantly glad to own it... if that makes any sense.

Here's a card with a bit less controversy and even more awesome. This is one of those funky cereal box refractors which are normally limited to "legend" type players. Pujols is a living legend, though, so he gets one.

I really like the black minis from Allen & Ginter. This Colby Rasmus mini is better in person than it looks here, not helped by the fact that my scanner cut off one of the borders.

I received a nice little stack of 2010 Turkey Red inserts. I'm slowly whittling down the list as the release date for Topps Update draws nearer.

And here we come to this trade's instigating card: the very final Topps 2020 insert that I needed. Yes, let it be known that on this day in October (okay, fine, I actually received this box last month) I have now completed something... yes, something... for the first time. I have removed this small set forever more from my want lists.

Finally, here's a Colby Rasmus Topps rookie card with the "classic" MLB Rookie Card logo (2006-2009.) I did a double-take, however, because this is no ordinary 2009 Topps card.

It's actually a JC Penney exclusive factory set insert! Nice! I didn't even know JC Penney was still in business, let alone putting out baseball card exclusives. Way to go, department store chain!

Thanks again to The Card Chop. I need to get your package in the mail posthaste.

30 Teams in 30 Posts: #29

Some will argue that Red Sox fans used to be like Cubs fans until their team finally broke their own "curse" and swept the much more talented Cardinals out of the World Series in 2004. That may be true, but that team that got swept was my team and now Red Sox Fans are nearly impossible to tell from actual baseball fans who happen to rank Boston as their favorite team. This whole phenomenon was further complicated by the proliferation of the New England Patriots in the past decade and, yes, a return to prominence by a certain green-clad basketball team as well.

What makes the Red Sox even more loathsome than their counterparts in the other major professional leagues? Well, just take a look at these two knuckleheads. Boston also comes in ranked very low here because I grew up a Yankees fan at first. I definitely get why people don't like the Yankees, because they are part of the national media hype machine along with Boston, but I can't really help being at least somewhat partial to the Yanks.

Favorite current Red Sox player: Victor Martinez. I guess I don't know a whole lot about Victor aside from the fact that he was a very good offensive catcher for Cleveland before he fell to the dark side. I actually don't mind David Ortiz a whole lot, but the PEDs thing keeps him out. And Adrian Beltre has that weird head thing...

Least favorite current Red Sox player: Jonathan Papelbon. It's that terrible stare. He's just dreadful. I can only take so much solace in the fact that he struggled a bit this season because in order to watch his meltdowns I'd actually have to watch him.

Favorite Red Sox player of all-time: Mike Greenwell. I have something I call the Mike Greenwell Theory of Red Sox fans. If you actually say nice things, let alone remember Mike Greenwell, you're an alright Red Sox fan in my book. I was convinced the guy was going to take home buckets full of trophies at one point.

Least favorite Red Sox player of all-time: Manny Ramirez. Too easy, I know. Wade Boggs probably would have won if he had ended up a Boston lifer.

The Boston Red Sox come in at #29 in my reverse-ranking of favorite teams as of the moment I picked them on October 4th, 2010. All of these cards are very much up for trade, so please contact me if you're interested.

Karma is a...

With the curtains drawn on the 2010 season for the Cincinnati Reds, we can also officially close the book for good on another Cardinals season as their chief competitors managed to break a record for playoff futility, managing just eleven hits in their series - two fewer than the record and also two fewer than they tallied off of one Roy Halladay start alone earlier this season. While I will certainly try not to let the grudge carry over until next season and beyond, I also can't say I'll be rooting for Brandon Phillips or Johnny Cueto anytime soon. With well-respected ex-GM Walt Jocketty at the helm and a number of ex-Cards dotting the lineup, this team had a chance to be my NL team of choice this year with St. Louis out of the picture. They were one of the only teams in the division that I didn't have a problem with (Dusty Baker aside.) In the end, the 2006 Cardinals stand as the last NL Central team to actually win a playoff series.

Meanwhile, on quite the opposite spectrum lies Night Owl Cards. I received at least the 32nd package from his neck of the woods back east recently and, as usual, it contained an assortment of Things I Tend to Collect. (You can see what is among those Things I Tend to Collect by checking out the sidebar on this very blog. You know, it's the thing... on the side... over there.) Should Night Owl read this post, he'll likely be quite confused about how my first paragraph relates to this trade package and, quite frankly, I am too. I think I just wanted to passively and aggressively complain about the Reds tonight because I (sort of) kept it classy during the season.

Speaking of complaining (see... I'm trying!), Adam Kennedy basically became a metaphor for a couple of lost non-playoff season that the Cards suffered through after the 2006 title. Kennedy was one of the few Cardinal role-player signees that failed to live up to his projections as an adequate player and do anything at all that endeared himself to fans. He talked his way out of town by his second season as much with his mouth as he did with his bat... um, with the uh... hitting instead of talking. Right? Right.

Great card. But is Gibby pitching... in a dream? Where are his teammates? Where is the opposition? Is he pitching in a biosphere? Where's Pauly Shore and the Baldwin guy?

Ahh, I love minis! I love it when people send me minis. I don't ever expect to complete any sort of set of minis, but I will continue to list them and love them when they're sent to me. At some point, maybe their novelty will wear off with people and I'll be around to scoop up the unwanted remains.

Finally, because I like to keep it short these days at 5 cards per trade post (also not coincidentally the maximum number of images Blogger will let you upload in one spell), I'll give Night Owl's team some love because it's the offseason and he sent lots of cards from Heritage and A&G sets that I collect without really buying packs or boxes. Thanks!

Oh, are you hungry for more?

That'll do it.

Tecmo Super Sundays is Cancelled

No football today... I'm watching baseball!

Aren't you?

(And holy crap, I need to buy this game. I haven't only played Tecmo Baseball for the NES, and it was awful.)

Good Luck Ducks, Week 6: Don't Coug It, Redux

I wrote this post last season around this time when the Ducks were heading into their game against the Washington State Cougars. Many of the same things apply this time around, but Oregon has seen their profile rise about as high as it has ever been. Certainly, they've been ranked #2 a couple of times, but ESPN actually devoted an entire Outside the Lines program this afternoon to the Ducks and Boise State as far as which team deserved a higher ranking. The Duck has become the most beloved - or maybe interesting is the better word here - mascot on television. And despite sitting out the first game of the season due to suspension, sophomore LaMichael James is high on many Heisman Watch lists, not that I care about that sort of thing.

The Cougars are 36 point underdogs in their own house. Last season they were +35 at Autzen. And this once again has all the markings of a possible trap game, with the team's collective ego hopefully not swelling so much that they can't see the bottom line anymore. WSU actually has an offense this year, at least a passing one. They put a big scare into UCLA last week as well. But the Ducks are far too talented to make this an interesting ball game for very long. Again, the hope is that they will get out to a big early lead so that key players can rest.

Game time is 2:00 PDT. TV coverage is available only in Oregon and the portion of SW Washington that is covered by the greater Portland metro area on Comcast SportsNet. At least that beats actually having to drive to Pullman.