Unibiased and Dependable - or No Trades Left Behind, third edition

Yes the game of catch-up continues.  If all goes according to plan, only one more post will be necessary for sharing the colorful cardboard contents of mail received over the past few months.  Then I can write with carefree whimsy from my list of blog post ideas! 

From Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary came this introductory package of Tiger cards.  Brian reached out to say hello:

I'm a fan of 2015 Tier One.  The black and gold combo is stunning.  The olde English D really shows itself off, just not so well in the scan.  Great design but not in my budget.   2015 Buck Farmer Finest refractor auto.  Bucky is approaching 25 years of age.  It's show time - or no time in the Show. 

Above we have 2008 SPX Joel Zumaya auto, 2001 Private Stock Juan Gonzalez bat chip and 2005 Champions Magglio Ordonez. Of these three fellas, I'm most familiar with Juan Gone-zalez.  He was a big part of my collection in the early 90s.  We broke up when he became a Tiger, oddly enough.  He brought nothing to the team.  The fans here were welcoming and excited to have Juan in Detroit.  He was to wrapped in his own reflection to notice - or care.

2013 Chrome auto RC Bruce-Duck-Rondon.  I say duck because when he's on the mound...you're on the ground.  A little wild at times, other times on the DL.  2008 AG Pudge.  Ivan Rodriguez - a favorite player on any team. 

1959 Topps Johnny Groth, a sweet piece of cardboard history!  Look at that centering, will ya? Coloring, corners - it's a thing of beauty!  1949 Bowman RC George Vico isn't looking to shabby either!

1956 Topps Frank House with a play at the plate.  Who among us would find such action boring?  I demand you speak up!   As cool as this card front is...check out the back:

the classic cartoon!  This is one feature that can't be duplicated.  Even Topps today with cartoon backs, wouldn't touch this magic from the 50s. 

Thank you Brian, for these cards.  Old and new and in-between, all appreciated!  It seems you've waited quite patiently for a return package.  A lot of that going on of lately.  I'm stuffing a mailer this weekend.

And now we come to the contest portion of our blog reading.  Last week, I announced a cheesy giveaway.   If you didn't read or scroll through the post in its entirety, you missed it. There were only six entries which were Randomized tonight.

Cynical Buddha, you are the cheesiest! or is it most cheesy?  Congrats Mark! Let me know if you've moved in the past few months. Thanks to all who read, and to those who entered.  I'll dig through my box of disposable baseball and cardboard memorabilia to find the next prize, to be given away...next time?? Will it be an indecipherably autographed baseball?  Team sets?  Oversized cards?  Bobble-head?  The Claw knows.

Bob Does the Walking

...and walk he did. Right to the mailbox with cards sealed in a little mailer. I'm sure they felt secure in their little bubbled world.  Once delivered, I wasted little time ripping open the package.  The first card to free itself was Juan Gonzalez. This was no surprise.  He often put himself before his teammates.

2001 Fleer Feel the Game

I did examine this card closely for any trace of cork. The back of the card states this relic is a piece of an authentic game-used bat used by JG.  This card and its three associates - it isn't known as to whether JG has friends - were ushered into the postal system by none other than our friend Matt from Bob Walk the Plank already.

The second escaping specimen was a Jeremy Bonderman 2005 Zenith Jersey, closely followed by fraternal twin 2005 Zenith Z-Graph 108/200.  Good-looking red foil featuring a patch of grey, and signature on a refractive background.  The confident swatch says it was cut from an authentic jersey personally worn by JB in an official MLB game.  Bonderman has come full circle, returning to the Tigers bullpen in August 2013.  He began his career as a Tigers starter in 2003.  In 2006, he saw his best record 14-8 and 4.08 ERA. He was released in 2010 and spent the first half of 2013 with the Mariners.

                                                                           2005 Zenith

 The last card needed some coaxing but quickly realized the potential of being a collected player.  It would remain sleeved and top-loaded, holding a space behind a little tab with his name on it. Safe.

This pretty little Porcello is numbered 12/99, a sparkly Golden Moments from 2012 Topps.  The white swatch is bright against the orange background and tells us it isn't from any specific game, event or season.  Yes, this swatch has identity issues but will be cared for as if from Porcello's very own closet.  The ugly line to the right-side of jersey is from a stray cat hair. No, a stray cat did not wander onto the scanner.  I assure you, I am not-yet-a-crazy-cat-lady.

Matt, thanks for thinking of me when you mailed these little goodies!

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays!  I've been traveling and hope to catch up on my reading this week.  This post was actually prepared right before leaving town for nearly three weeks.  I came home this weekend to a pile of trade mail!  Looking forward to sharing these with you soon.

Happy New Year!

UNRAVELLED

Tigers - threads unravelled.  I hope the off-season is spent shoring up the bullpen and finding a way to keep Scherzer! There's always next year...right?  Win or lose, I expect at the very least to catch more games in person! 

 

I'm a bit behind on posting after spending the weekend in Oklahoma City. It's most fortunate having so many new trading partners to cheer me up in this bluest of times.  Please forgive me the time between posts.  I promise to do better!

A couple of days ago, I received some very cool booty from our Pirate Matey, Matthew.  


2001 Private Stock

Juan Gonzalez was a favorite for me when I began following the game in 93.  He was an RBI King in his glory days of the 90s.  I was a big Rangers fan when he was traded to Detroit. By then, he'd lost much of his charm.  I felt bad for Tigers fans who thought they were getting a star player.  I recall he was having trouble with a big toe. He played in only 115 games that year.  Juan was quoted as saying the Tigers would have to bring in the fences if they wanted to sign him as a free agent. He spent the next year as an Indian. Then as Texas is wont to do, they brought the old fan favorite back to the team for two years. He was hurt half of this time, unable to play. Juan will probably always be tainted, thanks to tattletale Jose.



2005 Donruss Champions

Magglio Ordonez: Maggs - fans affectionately called him. I wasn't paying close attention to him when he came up with the White Sox.  He managed to play with only two teams: White Sox 97-04 and Tigers 05-11.  He put up great career numbers: .309 avg., 2156 hits, 294 homers and 1236 rbi.  In 2007, Maggs won the AL Batting Title with a .363 average - the first Tiger to do so since Norm Cash won in 1961.  He retired at the end of the 2011 season.  From what I've read he was elected a municipality mayor in Venezuela.  Ordonez ran on the ticket of Hugo Chavez's United Socialist Party of Venezuela.  I wonder if he's divided his fortune to share among the people...

2006 Topps Co-Signers

 Mickey, a fellow Okie named after The Mick. I could never get past the wad of chew. So gross! I will try tho.  He began as an A in 1984, played for the Orioles 88-90, Tigers 91-94 and finally as I knew him - a Ranger 95-97.   A switch-hitter with a career BA of .241 and little pop in his bat for 245 homers (which he credits to Froot Loops.)  ??? Ok. Sure.  He was good behind the plate, retiring with a .991 fielding percentage.   

Frank began his career with the Angels in 73 and pitched for six teams. He was a Tiger from 85-92.  In his best years, he owned a fastball which regularly clocked at 100 plus mph.  This pitch wore out his arm so he added a couple of slow off-speed pitches to the mix, earning him the nickname the great tantalizer.  Frank would throw an 88mph fastball along with breaking balls which frustrated batters quite effectively.  ESPN often referred to Tanana as the guy who threw 90 in the 70s and 70 in the 90s.

Mickey Tettleton and Frank Tanana - I didn't know them as Tigers but am sure they don't know me at all so we're even-steven.  Matthew, thanks for these more than fantastic cards!

If you've read this far then behold, another round of Triple Thread offerings: base and numbered.

BASE

BASE

GOLD /99                    EMERALD/250

AMETHYST/325

AMETHYST/325

My Tigers' season is over, unravelled.  Threads yanked out by the beaks of those pretty Orioles. These Triple Threads are sharp, new cards which can be had with a comment below or email to: a cracked bat  at  gmail dot commmmm.  Thank you for reading and welcoming me into this fantastic community!