Vrooom Vrooom to the Astrodome!

Get your motor running, head out on the highway. Astrodome our final destination. I took a wrong turn somewhere along the way. They tell me it's gone to the rats. The beloved landmark still stands, thanks to the Texas Historical Commission.  The Alamo and Astrodome are now equals. No chance of demolition or renovations without a THC permit. My memories of the Dome are greater than the those of Alamo. I paid a singular visit to each during my time in Texas. Which one sold 24 oz draft beers for two dollars? Yeah.

Let's catch a ride with Vrooomed of TCDB fame. The lack of a blog presence doesn't keep Dan from trading. He used my TCDB wantlist to fill some pockets in a couple of pages back in May. [Reminds me...the PP page will be live again in just a couple of days...wink.] Dan's a Phillie fanatic and Daulton collector. He sent a few for the Dutch binder:

Ultra, Score and Private Stock

He's a man of many stickers though I doubt we'd find any Fleer on his bumper. All of my Fleer sticker needs can be found on my TCDB list.

While I may be scaling back on new Hawk additions, there is always room for vintage. Like these 71/72 Topps beauties!

Pedal to the metal as we arrive at Marc's place, Remember the Astrodome. {Please use this new link to update your reading list if you've had trouble finding him.} Marc has a TCDB presence as well. He's been busy with life so his posts are infrequent but he is still collecting. He needs to pick it up a bit if he's ever going to catch up to my Altuves.

It's a friendly competition, as we continue to trade Altuves. He recently sent six for my PC:

Altuve was a hitter before the scandal and will continue to be. It may take a trade or contract with another team for him to find some redemption. Feel free to send your unwanted Altuves my way. Speaking of redemption - how about this one, also from my wantlist:

The Hurling Nun:

I love this Sister! From the mound!! Yes! That's for the folder of fun [P-Town], a favorite new card in my collection.

************

And now, it's time for another election round where you choose your next Cracked Bat Ballot Box Candidate! Before we hear what these hacks have to offer, a review of the rules is required.

CANDIDATE A: 1988 Score Young Superstars Series One and Two

80 cards of the glossy fare, vying hard for your vote today. What politician doesn't show his best face during the debates? Rhetorically speaking, of course. The list is actually long. Checklists for both series are found here and here. Score burst onto the scene in 1988 and wasted little time flooding the hobby with cards.

SERIES ONE

SERIES TWO

CANDIDATE B:  Three years of Topps League Leaders Minis. Complete sets of 1986  1987  1988.  These little cards have been appearing in trade packages for years, trying to influence your vote. 1986 and 1988 differ little on their fronts. 1987 is the same design wrapped in famous faux wood borders with slightly different font. I'm rather fond of the backs. These sets contain a nice assortment of stars and passing fan favorites - fellows who led the league one year and faded away just as quickly. Checklists are  1986  1987  1988.

Review the rules........and away we vote!

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....

Bo Knows

I fully enjoy blind trades but appreciate a fellow collector who takes the time to go over the want ads. This can be a challenge, especially when the prospective recipient has a long and very detailed list or spreadsheet with several tabs.  I have trouble reading small print anyway.  It's the 'in my face with your highly organized collection'  moments I find difficult.  

Bo Rozny is one of those guys.  A real Mr. Organization.  I hope to be like him some day, minus the Mister parts.  He found some cards missing from my list of completed Tiger team sets then blessed me with many new additions:

2001 UD Vintage

 During Upper Deck's we will use Topps copyrighted designs period, they put out some really great stuff!  The Vintage release made for some good-looking cardboard.

2006 and 2011 Bowman Heritage

2001 Bowman Heritage

We should wonder why there's no current Bowman Heritage product available with so many new years available now for reprinting.  I'll likely regret that comment in days to come.

BO hit my PCs too:

94 Pinnacle, 2001 UD Evolution, 2002 Fleer Maximum, 2015 GQ

After opening what was easily a case of these, I still love the look of 94 Pinnacle.  Their Dufex Museums were a great chase.   A nice grouping of Piazzas!

Included in the box were at least 50 Masterpieces from 2008.  Looks like I'll have to put the set together now.  Bo insists.

There were two more special cards, both from 1994.  This package from Bo arrived just a short time before Darren passed.

Bo knows baseball cards come to life.  Thanks to cardboard, Darren lives on.    Check out BO's blog for a look at where former players are today.

Birthday Cards - from Kids and Pirates

My birthday is rapidly approaching, just days away.  I've never been one to celebrate biggly but friends got together this past week to bless me with their company - along with Bumpy cake and a few gifts. My favorite quads were there with cards made especially for me.  I have to share my favorite. This little 8 year old boy loves baseball and is into card collecting.  [I like to take a little credit for this!]  But more than that, he loves ME!

This was a good surprise indeed, and very clever.  He included a few picked from his collection and placed in a special pocket made within the card.

My many gifts included two hats - Tigers and Astros:

and a couple of good books:

I'm looking forward to Macho Row in particular.  1993 was the year I fell in love with the game for good, thanks to this team!  It didn't hurt that Darren Daulton was a prominent feature behind the plate. 

Yesterday, the postman delivered another package which nearly blew me away, literally.  During my temporary trade ban, incoming packages have been few.  This has allowed much needed time to organize my cards.  I still can't say how many dupes I have or what cards are needed for sets but all my thousands of cards are officially sorted by either player, set or binder mini-collections.   

In April, Matt found himself at Target, staring down new GQ blaster boxes.  He wasted zero time picking the right box, something I can't pull off.  After reading his post, and hearing elsewhere these retail blasters were loaded, I tried my luck.  Failing miserably, I then purchased two hobby boxes and failed again.  Matt had that old blaster magic.  From the same box, he pulled an auto and a 1/1 - both Tigers.  YNWV???   Why in West Virginia?   Hello Topps - over here!  Michigan!

Matt held onto these cards until this past week.  He did not know my birthday was only days away. He does know that I'll do my very best to put a great package together for him as soon as I am able. So imagine my surprise upon opening a package from this man:

The very cards he pulled in April!  Jaw-dropping!  How he felt I deserved these beauties I will never know.  I am humbled and nearly hysterical!  Numbered out of 35, an auto from the 2016 ROY Michael Fulmer...AND  a 1/1???  J.D. Martinez is becoming one of the hottest players in the game.  I've collected his cards for five years now.  This is beyond wild!  A true beauty!

We all know Matt!  And if you don't, you'd best get yourself acquainted with him!  He is generous and doesn't give a second thought to sending the rare pull to a trade pal. 

What more can I say?  Thank you Matt!

WHAT'S THE CATCH? - a trade post

The catch is this: an awesome selection of cardboard from an awesome blog,  Catching Up With Collecting.  Jared sent a fat stack of cards!  I can't share them all, not even all my favorites.  I'm forced to choose so here's a glimpse into the padded mailer:

Publicity shots of a couple Tiger men.  A color photo of Scherzer would've shown off that pretty baby blue - and brown.

Jared did not forget my great love for Altuve - one of today's best 2nd basemen.

 

 

I recently read The Bird: Life and Legacy of Mark Fidrych by Doug Wilson.  Mark Fidrych was one of the game's great personalities.  Quirky, sincere; a fan's ballplayer.  When his career was cut short, baseball lost a great ambassador.  His family and friends lost a very good and humble man when he died in a tragic accident at 54 years of age.  The book is a great read, and frankly I didn't want it to end.  Mark was very much alive as I enjoyed page after page.  The final chapter came and with it, Mark's passing.

 

Gibby is sporting his college colors on 2008 Donruss Threads. Since moving to Michigan, I've been asked many times if I follow U of M Wolverines or Michigan State's Spartans.  My answer: Oklahoma Sooners. 

These cards are so colorful, I wished the scan had turned out better. Upper left of this group features a 94 Fleer Ultra On Base Leader foil beauty - Tony Phillips.  Tony passed away on February 17, two months shy of his 57th birthday, of an apparent heart attack. He spent five years of an 18 year MLB career with the Tigers, 1990-1995 where he walked 519 times.  

The era of  peel or don't peel:  from 97 and 98 Topps Finest.  To peel is better.  Many cards that weren't peeled  have yellowed splotches.  The top right card - Brian Hunter - shows some of this yellowing at his belt buckle.

 

CHAD CURTIS: then and now

 

Chad began serving 7-15 years in 2013 for criminal sexual conduct.  I do not know if the Gus Harrison Correctional Facility in Adrian Michigan has a prison ball team.

Fun batch of cards with profiled player peel and stick cards from 85 Topps.  Both Fielders are from Cardtoons.  He made $125,000 in 1988.  By 1994, his salary ballooned to $7,200,000.   His wallet wasn't the only thing ballooning in the 90s.

2011 Topps Lineage in its only year of release. Topps wasted a great idea on this product.  It would've been a nice flagship design.  Clean, white borders. Delightful!  Ty Cobb cloth sticker and gorgeous Diamond Anniversary Martinez.

Three versions of  1995 Stadium Club Extreme Corps subset - Darren Daulton, my favorite Phillies catcher,  Great job Jared!!!!  I need all of these!!!!

A nice lot of relics and  2013 Pinnacle Access - a see-through card - as a friend of mine would say.  I think there is a hint of cork in the Gonzalez bat chip.  Hmm.

A nice arrangement of vintage players.  Ty Cobb is an absolute favorite, and Cochrane one of the greatest catchers.  The pennant is from 2013 Panini with the reverse showing 1947 - his HOF induction year.  I love these pennants!!!

Jared, you hit the spot with these!  Thank you very, very much!

A reminder for anyone interested - LONG SHOT, Mike Piazza -  a book giveaway is happening right now on this blog.  Go HERE to comment and enter.  In recognition of the Trump presidential campaign, no entrants from outside the USA borders are allowed.