DUPE, DUMP OR DWINDLE: Round Three - Jeff Bagwell

I intended to share this post over two weeks ago. BWTP's recent departure has me reexamining my own reasons for being here. My second round of 'busy seasons' is rapidly approaching at the tax firm that provides my living.  Around the first of September through mid-October, I tend to disappear from the blogs altogether.  I was fortunate to transfer from Dallas with my employer three years ago. I'm now beginning to resent the amount of time a regular work day and its commute are consuming.  Changes in management have added to the increasing levels of stress in the office.  I find myself at a crossroads, needing to work for a few more years. The challenge in finding a new position at my age cannot be underestimated.  Any new job must include a shorter commute.  I live in the country...  All I know for certain is that my current career path is nearing its end. I simply cannot take it much longer.  I should be sleeping at 4am instead of writing about how much I dread going into the office.

Reading your blogs and sharing on mine are therapeutic for me.  It's beyond frustrating when I can't find enough time to be here. Simply put, it makes me sad. Life has its responsibilities for each of us, of course.  No one needs to tell me 'suck it up, Buttercup.'   If you do read regularly then perhaps you've noticed I don't share my personal challenges often.  This situation is weighing on me heavily. I may be absent in streaks of weeks but am not going away.

                 *******************

Jeff Brown Paper Bagwell.  I hated - still hate - this nickname. I was never a fan of ESPN's Chris Berman anyway which probably added to my dislike. Along with Chipper, Jeff is a recent HOF inductee.  Many baseball fans will associate him with the steroid era, slapping their own * by his name.  Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire were evicted from my collection long ago.  I never collected Barry Bonds.

Jeff was the first Astro I pc'd. Though I can't say why I began keeping his cards, it was likely the uniform.  I also had some crazy notion that all Rookie of the Year winners were worth pursuing.  Some may recall I began collecting in 93.  The history of failed Rookie winners was unknown to me then. Many would argue I still know little but I digress. As time passed, I learned he was a dependable hitter - homers yes - but on base often, stealing well over 200 bags in his career. Okay, 202.  I couldn't resist the opportunity. Perhaps Berman deserves a little slack.

Although drafted by the Red Sox, he spent his entire MLB career with the Astros. In 1994, Jeff made  the first of his four All Star appearances.  During this strike shortened season, he won a Gold Glove, Silver Slugger and the NL MVP.  For six  years, 1996-2001, Baggypants had at least 30 homers, 100 RBI, 100 runs scored and 100 walks in each year becoming the only player in MLB history to do so. Jeffrey concluded a 15 year career with a .297 average, 2314 hits, 449 round-trippers and 1529 runs batted in.

It was 1994 when the Astros entered what I believe to be the ugly uni years. The bright colors and stripes were replaced with gold and navy, then brick and black in 2000.

 

Baggy Pants

                                             

Real Topps Gallery 

One of my favorite baseball memories was a trip to the Astrodome in September 1998.  I hadn't yet moved to Texas so was unaccustomed to 6 point beer. Heck, I really didn't drink at all. I found a stand with 24 ounce draft beers for $2!  One would have been enough but I had at least two...possibly more.  I wasn't too drunk because I remember this day well.  The Astros were playing the Reds. I do recall fake flowers hanging on the outfield wall. So odd.  With 217 homeruns, Jeff had the longest active streak in baseball without a grand slam.  Sitting on the first base side, I was there when it happened.  With a long swing, he unloaded the bases and the Reds went on to lose 13-7. What a rush!  It was the first grand slam I'd ever witnessed in person. Also the first time I ever wore balloons on my head - publicly. My head felt like one the next morning.

Ugly Unis

Why is Jeff the headliner for our third round of Triple Ds?  As in the previous two posts, not every card on the move is scanned and shared here.  Is he getting the boot? What say you?

THE FINE PRINT

Do you want these cards?  If so, you must be a regular reader with a USA mailing address, be the Card Papoy or a regular Canadian reader. No contest hounds. The rules are simple: determine why I’m giving away these cards.  You must comment with a correct response to have a chance via Randomizer.   Your only response choices are:

•      DUPE  (duplicates)
•      DUMP   (player booted from my collection)
•    DWINDLE  (player collection thinned, only select cards kept)

The next edition of Dupe, Dump or Dwindle will reveal the reason for the removal of these cards from my collection, and our randomized winner.  Remember, only correct responses will be randomized.

The twist?  You can win only ONCE every three rounds.  Cards that go unclaimed won’t be offered here again. There will be many players listed in the coming weeks but you have no way to know who’s up next. Do you need any of these cards?  Leave one of the only three correct responses for a chance to win a stack of Jeff's cards - or pass.  

I'll wait at least a week to close out this edition's commentary with my own response noting the end of this round.

ROUND TWO SYNOPSIS: Chipper Jones

Chipper didn't drum up much interest. Of the responses, there were four dwindles, four dumps and no dupes.  Baseball Cards Come To Life author Bo commented: Not entering this one either. If you're dumping Donnie you've got to be dumping this guy too, right? Especially as you didn't really say anything nice about him in your writeup.   I did mention in the first 3D post that some choices may be surprising.  My decision to feature a player here has no bearing on his career or personal history outside the game.  Tiger Pride left this: Passing on the entry for your contest (great way to have one btw) but I'm going to go with "dwindle"...because who takes two dumps in a row?! - a comment that left me rolling!

No one guessed DUPE. There are double dupes in the lot of Jones cards. Scanning the dupes would have given this one away.  Chipper hits the discard pile. 

More players ahead. Thanks for reading!

DUPE, DUMP OR DWINDLE: Round Two - Chipper Jones

WHAT??? I'm parting with the Jones boy? Could be a dump. Perhaps a lessening of sorts.  The 90s shout duplication. So what's your best guess?

Larry Wayne Jones Jr. is joining Cooperstown this summer. How is this even possible?  Were the 90s so long ago?  Larry's MLB debut with the Braves happened in September 1993, just as I'd begun collecting. Thanks to TBS, I was able to enjoy the Braves in some of their best years. He was a hot prospect so naturally, I collected Chipper Jones. 

    There's 93 Donruss, rubbing itself in my face once more. A very clean 94 Collector's Choice! 

Initially, Larry was a shortstop.  Throwing errors pushed the Braves to move him to third base. Even then his defense was only average. He owns no Gold Glove awards.  Among switch-hitters however,  only Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray have more home runs. Chipper will enter the Hall as an eight-time All-Star with 468 dingers, 2726 hits and a career .303 batting average. 

96 Fleer featured a gorgeous matte finish.   Otherworldly 97 Pinnacle Aura subset...different.

Chipper had a reputation for being cocky. The young girls loved him.  Young women did too which would account for his three marriages. [Insert launch angle joke here.] His first marriage ended when his 18 month extramarital affair with a Hooters' waitress produced a son. I left him in 2002 when the hobby became for me, confusing and expensive.

Ten years passed as Chipper continued to rack up the numbers. Playing all 19 years with the Braves, he called it career in 2012. In 2013, the Braves retired number 10.

These cards are moving out but to where?  Time for someone to step up to the plate!

2016 GQ Power Alley - an insert set I should've assembled.

THE FINE PRINT

I’ve culled several hundred cards from my collection but what to do with them? Well that’s where you come into play. Literally. It’s game time!

Do you want these cards?  If so, you must be a regular reader with a USA mailing address, be the Card Papoy or a regular Canadian reader. No contest hounds. The rules are simple: determine why I’m giving away these cards.  You must comment with a correct response to have a chance via Randomizer.   Your only response choices are:

•      DUPE  (duplicates)
•      DUMP   (player booted from my collection)
•    DWINDLE  (player collection thinned, only select cards kept)

The next edition of Dupe, Dump or Dwindle will reveal the reason for the removal of these cards from my collection, and our randomized winner.  Remember, only correct responses will be randomized.

The twist?  You can win only ONCE every three rounds.  Cards that go unclaimed won’t be offered here again. There will be many players listed in the coming weeks but you have no way to know who’s up next. Do you need any of these cards?  Leave one of the only three correct responses for a chance to win Chipper - or pass.  

I'll wait at least a week to close out this edition's commentary with my own response noting the end of this round.

ROUND ONE SYNOPSIS: Don Mattingly

Of the responses left for Donnie, only six readers were interested in these cards. Of eight Dwindles, four were officially entered as guesses.  Only two Dump guesses, both entered as well. No one guessed DUPE which would have been incorrect. John Miller ventured 'dwindle' as I'd mentioned two of these cards as favorites. Perhaps that was a bit misleading. They are favorite Donnies but not favorites in the sense of keepers. There may be some disappointed folks here when they read Mattingly was a dump.  Forgive me Bo.  It's not that Mattingly was undeserving of my collection.  He just doesn't fit.  I didn't have all that many Donnie's but that's not necessarily a reflection of my player collections. I do have many smaller PCs. 

Our two dump guessers are defgav and The Card Papoy. Randomized by the number of correct guesses leaves us with our winner:

Kevin - Donnie is moving to France!  You were first place both times. I'll hang on to these for a bit in order to fill a trade package for you. You'll have to sit out the next two rounds which includes Chipper.  Gavin, thanks for making the final round! 

Thanks to all of you who took time to read, comment and participate!

The Great Covfefe - a conclusion

Thank you for making my 100th post celebration a winner!  This is such a fun place to hang out with the guys!  Although only posting weekly right now, I am reading my favorite blogs daily.

I also discovered  I'm a twit after all - a baby twit - still learning the ropes so please forgive any embarrassing mishaps.  They are bound to happen with me in control.  I'm already following many of you.  I had no idea how much jollification I'd find with a baseball themed feed at my fingertips!

There were 36 commenters with 24 of those entering the melee by tweeting or posting a link to Cracked Bat.   A few of you do crack me up on a regular basis.  Jedi Jeff left a string of insults but did not enter the drawing.  I was rather disappointed by this, wanting to see him come in first place.

Without an further delay, let me offer you this random photo:

I need that card for my Gracie collection, but that's not why you're here right now. You wanna know who came in LAST place!  Last Place is finally a good thing.  Here it is..........

TIM!!!!!  The guy who blogs about his cardboard sniffing habit!!  Congratulations!  I'll have the box on its way to you in a couple of days.  Thanks to everyone who participated!  I hope you stick around.  I have some Estate card STEALS to share with you later in the week.  I almost feel guilty about the prices paid for some nice gems. 

As I'm writing this post, Baseball Card Breakdown is one [thousand] up-ing me with a grand display, a fancy pants giveaway, making me feel like a cheapskate offering up only a 400 count box. Go over there and enter defgav's contest.  Tell him I sent ya!

A Bait Post

Oscar loves bait - all the Time!  His blog says so.  At the beginning of our beloved baseball season, Oscar sent mailers round the blogs to feed our Spring Fever.  I haven't yet traded with him so it was a surprise to find myself included!  Thank you!  I'll soon be sending good cardboard thoughts around and will certainly include you Oscar!

I like bait too.  This past Saturday, my trade post included another 300 count box giveaway.  A few readers found this offer enticing.  Eleven commented, with eight asking to be included in the contest. Trade posts can often go unnoticed.  I want others to see the great cards bloggers have gifted to me. I've been including these giveaways within these posts to thank those who take the time to peruse, or even read the post.  

So without further delay, let's look at the Random results.  This time we went four rounds, with the fourth person on the list being our winner.  

NICK, our Dime Box junkie gets the box!  Congrats!   There will be a next time - at least two more! Please try again.  I have so much fun giving this stuff away!

Have a safe and fun Memorial Day Weekend!

Box Busting - Cracked Bat Style

Hey, do I have style? Not in any kind of fashion sense really but I do have my way of getting things done.  While attacking the remaining boxes from a bedroom closet, I finally hit carpet!  I do have four more large boxes to tackle but finally feel like progress is happening.  Our featured box today:

I have Turkey Reds!  Look at that Yogi!  Great card I'd forgotten having - so I bid on and won it again, quite possibly twice.  Sweet Ernie Banks with bats.  America's Pastime and Cooperstown, some of  Panini's best efforts!  

The boxes within the box:

FLEER STICKERS!  I picked up the whole box for around $5, thinking at the time to put them in a binder but many will make it around the blogs.

Two 200 count boxes revealed some nice base/parallel cards sampled below:

A colorful array of 2015 Museum!  Upfront are Altuve, Piazza and J Foxx who will find homes in my PC boxes.  Most of these cards were intended for trades.  They will soon begin their way around the blogs to new homes.

2013 Panini America's Pastime - the thick base cards are all limited to 125.  Insert sets Decades and Barnstorming Brilliance are on my list to complete.  I love the old program look of Barnstormers, a great tribute to the Negro Leagues!  I do have some dupes to share but may complete the base set at some point.  I picked up over half of it on a late-night auction for less than $20 shipped!  The lot included these cards:

A closer look at Yogi reveals a Christmas card!

There are a couple hundred singles in the main box.  I'll keep some and trade others.  I'm sure MadBum will be moving on.   He is numbered 1/10.  An Ebay 1/1 - a description which always keeps me from bidding.  HATE IT!

 I found a young and full-faced Molitor:

and an also young Tiger favorite, Bill Freehan on one of the best insert designs ever:

I am truly enjoying the journey through these boxes, never knowing just what has been tucked away! Expecting to find more cards I've repurchased,  it's surprising how few dupes have turned up so far!

There are literally hundreds of cards from miscellaneous packs going to the SA donation box, most are commons and 80s junk.  I'll be giving away a few more boxes here. Recipients will receive DIScards in bulk with some minor and major league stars mixed in alongside a few inserts and, like any box of cards, there will be commons. That's the fun of it and it doesn't cost you a single dime! You can bust a box, Cracked Bat style!

It's time to announce our second recipient of Discards! There were 12 entrants.  This time everyone who commented was entered.  Randomized three times, the second name on the list -our winner - is the man who gave me the idea for these giveaways - Cardboard Clubhouse Adam!

This is so much fun for ME!  I hope the recipients of the DisCARDs find something for their own collections, cards to giveaway and mainly,  just have fun going through their box of cards.   There will be more given away so please keep trying and thank you for reading!

A Random Thought

My power has been up for nine days now and one of four heavy deadlines at the office [March 15] has passed.  There is now time to enjoy the blogs for a couple of weeks then April 15th steals my fun for a couple more.

In lieu of blogging this weekend, I took time to tackle another box, fishing for more discards to share. [I was tired of sitting in front of a computer screen.]

It contained a random assortment of cards packed before I moved in June 2015.   The 1000 count box is not 94 Pinnacle.  I haven't gone through it completely but largely contains refractors, numbered cards and relics I picked up for trading.  The paper bag contains sleeved singles picked up from my last card show in Dallas 2015.  I'll share some of these next time.  Hey - there's my Jack in the Box Antenna Ball! Wondered where that went...

There were two boxes of:

Seals were broken for the autos: Jose Abreu #/50 and Jorge Soler RC #/10, both tucked away in another undiscovered location.  The sets are complete.  I'm contemplating breaking one up for trades.

A box of 1993 Action Packed All Star Gallery purchased for the the HOF and retired player content :

A sealed CD which some Cubbie Fan out there might enjoy.  It contains the catchy song we heard so often during the Series - Go Cubs Go.

Also buried in this treasure box - an unopened box of 94 Fleer Extra Bases, oversized cards with a clean full bleed design.  I still like them.  Let's crack a pack:

Molitor for me and trades for you.

I'll keep the Bagwell and Nokes too. Looking forward to opening the rest next weekend.

The title of this post promised a random thought. So here it is...comments are rewarding.  Thank you for taking time to check out Cracked Bat.  All Bloggers appreciate readers!  I love giving stuff away and prefer not to ask anyone to 'pimp' the blog.  I certainly wouldn't stop you though.  ;)   In an effort to reward my regular readers, contest notices won't be placed in the post titles but within the post itself.  

I found your petitions to the Randomizer in my last post most entertaining.  It is time to award the first 400 count box of my discards.   I presented the list before the Randomizer which chose to cycle three times before spewing forth a name.  One quite new to me made the top spot...

Congrats Jason!  Email acrackedbat at gmail dot com with your mailing address.   Thanks to all who entered.  We'll do this again very soon as my discard pile is growing rapidly!  Thanks for your patience - and thanks for reading!

A Random Giant - contest results

A note of thanks to those of you who took the time to read Ump Day and welcome my friend to the blog world!  Your kind words were an encouragement to her!  I hope she joins us on another Wednesday, maybe even this week.

Last week I offered a book to this blog's interested readers.



I was elated to find six interested persons,  since the book would go to the fifth person on the list, after five times in the Randomizer. Let's take a look at the results:

ARPSMITH is making room on his shelves for the Piazza book.  ARP is one of the biggest Giants fans out there.  He entered a contest for a former Dodgers' autobiography saying he'd like to give it a read.  ARPSMITH, congrats and I hope you enjoy the book!

A good many of us are enjoying the latest of Heritage and Donruss.  I busted my own boxes with much ado about nothing.  NO auto from Heritage, one pitcher auto and two pitcher relics from Donruss.  I do have a few 2015 packs of Bowman Chrome to bust later in the week for the #supertraders group.  By a few, I mean seven.   Looking forward to sharing these with you then.  Have a good week all!

Random Thoughts: Win Some, Lose Some

I'm not sure what it feels like to place first in any contest and don't recall ever being a first place anything. I was an above average student in high school and college but never ranked at the top of my class. I was someone others often turned to for help with their studies - math not included.  That was enough for me - enough to create the bitter spirit I've carried throughout life.

 

Example: this week, I joined the office pool for tonight's Powerball drawing thereby jinxing it for everyone else.  Sure it was selfish.  I knew there was no chance in this big, blue world that I could win.  Why should any of my co-workers have the opportunity?  WHY?  Life isn't fair as I am living proof!  HA on them.  They will all be at work Monday morning just like me - which makes ME feel good.

 

Last Sunday, I posted my first contest of the year. I neglected to mention how many times I would randomize the entries and which random number would take home the much-coveted Classic set.  The were 14 names added to the list which was then randomized twice. 

 

Behold:

 

 

Before randomizing, I recalled the few contests I entered this past year.  Almost every time, I found my name near or at the bottom of a list.  Based on this, my decision was to award the set to the name which fell next to the number..................ONE.  That's right I said ONE. 

 

But wait...

 

I was holding out on you when I offered this set up for grabs. What I didn't share was the fact that I had two - TWO - of these beautiful minor-league sets to give away.  It is only fitting that the loser takes home a prize too.  And by loser, I really only mean the name which fell fourteenth on the list.  Defgav is by no means a loser. 

 

Mark Hoyle and defgav, you will each receive this handsome and far from one-of-a-kind set.

 

 

So maybe I'm not a loser. Maybe my name just falls quite naturally, into last place.  I'll make an effort to enter more contests this year to test my theory.  In the meantime, I'll continue to offer more giveaways.  I'm still making room on my shelves for the fantastic cards so many of you generously send my way. 

 

It's almost time for the Powerball drawing.  I'm not one to spend cardboard cash on lotto tickets but if it keeps my coworkers employed...well, that's the least I can do.  In these days of rampant unemployment, I'm sure they'll thank me. 

 

Contest Results Reveal a Lack of Love for Mark McGwire

or perhaps no interest in ornaments?  I enjoy giving away a bit of everything, baseball related that is.  There will be more ornaments, various MLB related souvenirs, programs, magazines, books and cards.  Cards are probably the most popular items as that is the focus for most of us as collectors.   I originally planned to give this ornament to the Randomized winner who placed fifth on the list.  There were only four real entries relating to ornament ownership.  I randomized these names five times and the ornament will go to the  blogger who placed first on this list instead. 

 

A couple of the entrants offered unique ways to display the Hall Mark.  Jeff Jones said to sign him up just for the shin guard.  He may or may not shoot Mark off the fence with his Red Ryder come Christmas.  Jared Willden offered Mark refugee status with a long wait outside until he was properly vetted.  Our winner Adam, will hang this on the tree alongside a Nashville Predators ornament.

 



There was one late entry this afternoon, from Justin's World. I hope to see them again around the blogs but the contest was closed at that point.

 

Over the past week, I dropped 15 packages in the mail.  It felt so good to be sharing cards again.  Since moving in June, I've been recreating life in Michigan.  While this move has had its challenges, I'm happier than I ever thought possible.  The open space and fresh air has done wonders for my mind and spirit.  I've wanted to share a few pictures of my new world.

My road:

Backyard:

I'm an animal lover and have been surprised by the wildlife here. Woodchucks, skunks, opossum, chipmunks and squirrels.  Bats and owls. The deer are precious to me.  They came daily to graze and enjoy apples from the trees.  Life is good and I am blessed.  Thanks for allowing me to share a part of my world with you.

Heritage 51 Collection and...contest results

I was rather puny over the weekend which kept me from announcing the winner of the highly desirable Mark Teixeira bobble-head dolly. After taking time to randomize, there was no energy to write up a post.  There were four entries, randomized four times. Xavier Higgins is the new owner!

Congrats to you! Send your mailing address to: acrackedbat at gmail dotcom. Once I have your address, Mark will be dropped headfirst into the first outgoing mail receptacle I can find.  Of course, he will be properly packaged.  I'm just happy to see him moving out! 

Feeling better yesterday, I opened one of the two Heritage 51 boxes/sets which my best friend, Rural Postal Delivery Person, crammed into my roadside mail depository.  The rather small but attractively designed box contained a complete set of  104 base cards, 21 minis and one autographed card. 

 

 Basic cards have blue or red backs:

Minis per box come ten red, five blue, three green, two black and one gold:

Minis with regular base Norris

These minis are expected to find new homes; already nestled into their little team stacks.  I'm on the fence with this design.  The cardstock is Heritage quality.  I would've preferred rounded corners as on the original 51 red and blue back designs.

Before the auto is revealed, let me just say - no.  I hate to disappoint any of my friends with the news but this card isn't for trade.  Will I keep it?  Doubtful.  I rarely sell autos but this one will probably be headed to COMC.  It's nice to pull a card which will fund a few purchases.  As far as the second box is concerned, well...I'm holding off on breaking the seal.  Topps advertised these cards as a limited production.  Topps throws this word around quite loosely so who really knows how many sets were produced.  If I put it away, out-of-sight then I'll likely forget about it.

This rather attractive auto is on-card and a blue-back, numbered out of  25:

That's a pretty nice card!  Correa, Bryant, Trout or Posey and it would've been a keeper! 

Thanks for stopping by!  New giveaway coming soon.  Drop by to see what the Claw chooses... next time!