This Is It...

...your last opportunity to vote in the Cracked Bat Ballot Box giveaway. 

This has been a year for much needed 'pick-me-ups.'  While it's been a bit of work for me, I've had good fun presenting your candidates!   I have a few more little giveaways to share with my regular readers in future posts. If you were around before the Ballot Box contest began, you will have the opportunity to win GOOD books, crappy autographed baseballs and odd - read 'unwanted' - collectibles. LOL! If you found this blog during the Ballot contest, stay involved with your comments and make yourself eligible to participate in future giveaways. 

It's the Final Round, # 9! Before revealing your last candidates, we need to review Round 8 voting. I predicted 1987 Rookies for the win. The Maddux RC alone was worth your vote.  1992 Triple Play was a great opportunity for pack rippers. It's also fun to tuck packs like these into trade packages. I've been know to pad a mailer with 89 Topps wax. So, was I right?  Improved voter turnout created a last minute rally for The Rookies with 11 votes but 1992 Triple Play took 16. Thanks to the 27 who voted in Round 8!

ROUND 8 WINNER

Round Eight candidates are perhaps my favorites for the Cracked Bat Ballot Box. I love both choices offered here and saved them for last. For some of you, the choice may be difficult. If so, describe your painful decisions in the comments. 

CANDIDATE A: 1986 SPORTFLICS Decade Greats

There are some phenomenal cards in this 126 card set; 75 player and 51 trivia. It holds a respectable value when broken down by card. Ruth, Gehrig, Williams, Mantle, Robinson, Banks - the list of players is grand with six decades represented. This candidate would have you believe that the best years are behind us.  You can relive those moments again and again by voting for Decade Greats. 

CANDIDATE B: 1961 Fleer Greats 

This is a selection of 13 cards from my collection. I've replaced these in my set with upgrades. Please review the scans for their varying conditions. None are terrible and some are more than acceptable - they're darn nice! I'm attempting to build a better set.

This candidate is old school with nearly 60 years of experience. Fleer doesn't ask you to believe the best years are found in the old days, these Greats want your appreciation. If quantity is important, Sportflics is your set. If the great names are your thing, so is Sportflics. If vintage matters, it's Fleer. There are HOFers in this lot too. If you aren't familiar with this release, read up here.

One final review of the rules:

This round will close Thursday evening at the 48 hour mark. I'll need time to tally voter totals and prepare a list for the Randomizer. My next post will announce the winner of this round, review the box contents and confirm each voter's registration and vote totals. Voters will have their names entered into the randomizer equivalent to the number of their votes, including mail-in ballots.

Thank you, and please vote November 3rd. 

COLLECTING UPDATE: and then there were four

It's a small and temporary victory! For at least the next 30 minutes, my sets and player collections are fully organized. With a few clicks on the Trading Card database, I can see exactly which cards are needed to complete sets or compliment current PCs.

Throughout the course of updating and organizing, I've made decisions which affect many PCs I enjoy. With space a consideration, I determined which collections were completed.  Unless a card is specifically on my Send Help tab, I am no longer adding cards to the following collections:

JEFF BAGWELL
CRAIG BIGGIO
KEN CAMINITI
MARK GRACE
TONY GWYNN
JAVY LOPEZ
GREG MADDUX
PAUL MOLITOR
MIKE PIAZZA
IVAN RODRIGUEZ
CAL RIPKEN
RYNE SANDBERG
OMAR VIZQUEL
ROBIN YOUNT
and CATCHERS in general.

I value my trade pals and realize these changes may make trading more difficult. Blinds trades have always been fun. I've attempted to keep the blog tab lists clean and legible, and most importantly - organized! I've parted with a few players along the way to make space for those which give me the most joy.  Booted were McGwire, Arod, Gonzalez, Palmeiro, Sosa. Among the heavily trimmed were: Bagwell, Biggio, Gwynn, Ivan Rodriquez, Michael Young, Frank Catalanotto, Greg Maddux, Javy Lopez, Omar Vizquel and Eddie Gaedel.

And then there were four...

I am still actively collecting Altuve, Daulton and Cobb. The Astros scandal saddened me greatly. Altuve's passion for the game, and the joy he brings to it, are what drew me back into collecting. The decision to continue collecting his cards took some reflection on my part. This Spring Training interview with Correa was a determining factor.  I don't believe Correa was completely open in his remarks regarding the  2018 season but his commentary to Ken Rosenthal regarding Altuve at the 3 and 11 minute marks made an impression on me.

2019 Heritage SP

Cobb was a man completely opposite in temperament; a fierce competitor. He comes from the Deadball Era, my favorite in baseball history. Players from this period lived hard-scrabble lives. Rarely did the game pay them a living wage. It was small ball, as homers were a rare occurrence in those days, long ago.

1961 Golden Press - my oldest Cobb

Darren Daulton was my first baseball 'love'.  I became a Phillies fan in 93 and still have a soft spot for them. By the time I discovered Daulton, he'd already been in the game several years. He retired after the 97 season. A bit of a wild child, Dutch settled into a quiet life in his last few years. I 'm not ashamed to say, I cried when he passed from brain cancer in August 2017.

1994 Fleer All Star

All cards needed or wanted for these collections can be found in my collection listed in the Trading Card Database, linked here to each name:

  Jose Altuve
  Ty Cobb  {yes, please send that T206, no reprints...lol}
  Darren Daulton

I'm also continuing to add Buster Posey. Cards I'd like to have are being added to the Quad Squad tab above. As for my catchers-in-gear collection, only cards  from 1974 and older  are being added to the binder.  If there is an exceptional new card such as this, then yes, I would love to have it:

2020 Heritage - how could I not like this card?

And of course, I have a bat collection! I like them floating, broken, racked and cracked:

Did I mention cuddled?

I love the seemingly quieter moments of the game most. These cards give me an odd inner peace. In the topsy-turvy world of today, I can look at cards like these for hours. There may also be more bats...

I'm adding more vintage these days, and these are not necessarily expensive cards. Here are a few I've picked up.

1967

1954

I am by no means a condition snob. If I'm going to spend the money however, I want clean, uncreased copies. I chose a unique vintage set for assembly - 1961 Fleer. I love the RW&B with stars design. I'm halfway through the set. These are not mint but fairly well centered with bright coloring. My copy of Gehrig is as nice as those below. I wanted you to see it on its own but managed to delete the original version of the scan while separating from these fellows. They represent the overall condition of my set build.

1961 FLEER

As for my small Blackhawk hockey collection, it's approaching completion as well. I would enjoy adding some refractors, a colorful patch, OPC and pre-1980 cards. I do have a list of cards in mind HERE. I just don't have room for a large hockey collection. Thanks to the generosity of my trade pals, hockey flowed into my home like flood waters for awhile.

I am still collecting Tigers. You can find these needs on the Uncaged Tiger tab. This list will be a continuous work in progress, regularly updated.

If you managed to read this far down the page, you deserve heads up on an upcoming contest which will require your participation throughout the summer and early fall. Yes, I do know how to drag something out. I recently decided to add tickets to each of my Picker Pals envelopes for a drawing later in the year. Johnny's Trading Spot spoiled my idea by coming up with it on his own. The nerve. ;)  He'll be doing this with his Big Fun Friday games.  Please, join him.  What does this mean then, you ask.

Stay tuned. The primaries are coming....