FRENCH'S - Mustard to My Hot Dog

Here I am talking about hot dogs again. Surely it has nothing to do with the diet I began last month.  I don't recall when I last ate a tasty all-beefer on a bun. Summer time perhaps. The bright yellow mustard is fine enough but my preference leans toward spicy brown.

French conjures many images. Eiffel Tower. Notre-Dame. Napoleon. Bull Dogs. Brigette Bardot. Wait. What?

Oui, Oui, Brigette?

This past October, the other  French icon and hero Kevin Papoy, sent a mailer as a reminder he still thinks of me. Kevin has been blog-absent for sometime now, leading a busy life across the ocean.  With all he has going on, Kevin still felt sorry for these homeless cards. I'm a great foster parent.



Here's something new! My first 1986 True Value cards. Still sealed. With a 30 card checklist, the possibilities aren't endless but could include Nolan Ryan, Ripken and Sandberg. Each plays a large part in my collection. There are several HOFers in this set. I like the design well enough. They would look nice, side by side in a binder. This one will remain with my Whitakers. Now were I to rip it up, the contents would look something like this:

Yes, I do not own this photo. 

More oddities include these Fielders, both new to me. One from the Shanks Collection, the other Metz Baking. I wonder if they make hot dog buns?

How about these great additions to my build-a-bat collection? My best guess is that I'm still short 809,027 pieces - and one bat knob.

2001 FLEER SHOWCASE - STICK IT

2001 UD GAME-USED PP

Holy Hall of Fame, Batman! I have a real dilemma here! Both of these fine gentlemen are PCs. Perhaps it's better to add this to the catcher binder, after I take the wood chips off of course.  You can't imagine the splinters these things give me.


Here's a nice card to remind me Nick is no longer a Tiger or a Cub. It also serves as a reminder to scan cards in the future. There was a good  reason for taking pictures at the time.  Perhaps I was feeling a bit paresseuse. Look that up, if you're not too lazy.

Psst. Nick. NICHOLAS! Behind you...

How did I find myself thrown into 90's nostalgia? When I began collecting in 93, I was a full-bleed snob. White borders were banished from my collection.  How I miss the borders I never took time to appreciate.  There aren't many late 80s and early 90s bordered cards I feel a need to own. There are exceptions:1995 Topps Cyberstats. I have a crazy notion to pull this set together. All were added to my wantlist on TCDB.  Go there now and make my every wish come true. I find the foiled fronts appealing, with photos ripped from pages of history.  Dramatic?  Indeed.  It's the lack of sugar in my diet. 

[While composing this brilliant piece of literature, I found the font size fluctuating between eye-sore large and squinter's type. Blogger finds me intimidating.  I've increased the font size which appears normal in the preview. Please know if it's overly large, I am not yelling.]  I will however, yell THANK YOU to Kevin. 

France has given us many memorable gifts. Lady Liberty comes to mind immediately. But there was one other woman...

SUPER TRADING MADNESS BEGINS and a book giveaway

Insanity has a face.  It's not the look of an axe wielding maniac or the Mad Hatter. 

It's this

Founding Father of Super Traders, Wes Moore is a silent warrior.  A bomber.  The victims are often intimidated into surrender.  Wes simply can't be outdone.  I already know this.  After receiving two packages from him on the same day, I sensed warning shots had been fired and threw in the white flag almost immediately via email, begging really.  Wes is known throughout bloggerland as the most generous of traders.  The cards below are only a small sampling.

In silver sharpie: #bombed

1987 Fleer sticker fun

LEAF: 1992 gold and 1988 Donrussy
 

Morris'd

    Trammelled, Fahey'd and Herndon'd.

95Pinnacle Artist Proofs and two shiny parallels from Score

More Tigers

and more Tigers featuring Kuenn with chaw-jaw

Here's an early chunky card #/700, a number once found rare. 2001 Playoff. 

Wes began the Supertrading initiative with a blast, breaking a box of 2013 Museum to share among the newly founded trading group.  Did I mention his generosity?  Many sweet cards were pulled.  I couldn't believe my eyes and ears when Wes pulled a Tiger hit.  I replayed this portion of the video a couple of times before grasping this card was really mine.

Doesn't get much better! 

 

Wes sent a package way back in May which I've yet to repay him for.  I had initially gathered a few cards for him when his collection went in a new direction.  I put these aside and have been searching for something else to thank him for his generosities.  Braves are a-gathering for you Wes.  Thanks much for your kindness and patience!  Check out his blog here!

 

I'd like to take a moment to re-introduce a friend of mine, once referred to as The Ump in a very early post.  Cheryl  is an avid baseball card collector but at this time, does not blog.  She does read many of the blogs found here in our special world.  The Ump has a creative streak with many of her Facebook posts shared at a high rate, and once interviewed Mark Fidrych for her high school paper.   I offered her an opportunity to post on this blog.  Cheryl will be featured on occasional Wednesdays known as UMP DAY.  Who knows?  Maybe she will one day take over  the blog world.  But for now, please welcome her to the blog-o-sphere and check out UMP DAYS, right here on Cracked Bat.

 

We've reached the giveaway portion of this post. Up for grabs is my personal copy of LONG SHOT - Mike Piazza.  Read once, from a smoke and pet hair free environment with absolutely NO mustard stains.  If you enjoy reading baseball history and biographies, or just a plain ole Dodgers fan perhaps you'll enjoy this book.  As a new member of the Hall, we know Piazza had an excellent career.  He has a few character flaws as well - who doesn't?  I enjoyed the book but my opinion of Piazza was unchanged in the end.  I still view him as pampered and whiny.  Despite this, he remains one of my favorite modern era players.

If you want a chance to own this book, comment below and mention so.  No international shipping, sorry BFE.  The list will be randomized five times with the fifth name our winner, in honor of Mike's five game appearances with the Florida Marlins.  Where are you Marlins' blogger??? WHERE???  The contest will close at 8pm Friday evening.

 

Good luck and thanks for reading!