Trade Bait

I was a little star struck to see Wicked Ortega signed up as a follower of my little blog and entered my contest.  I always enjoy his blog, and am blown away by his trade bait posts.  I mention this because I went to a small card show in Fayetteville today and found my own little batch of trade bait, and wanted to post pictures, Wicked Ortega Style.  (except I scanned them instead of photographing them).
Clearly these are the poor man's Wicked Ortega trade bait, but hopefully they can spur some offers.

 Gaudin #d to 100

 Oswalt #d to 200
Cain #d to 150
Leftwich #d to 40
BELTRAN CLAIMED- BA BENNY
POSADA CLAIMED- STEVEN D
OSWALT CLAIMED- DIMWIT
PETTITTE CLAIMED- DIMWIT

 Helton #d to 1000

Lee #d to 325

Gypsy Queen Rack Pack- NOT GAME PRIZES!!

I mentioned in my Gypsy Queen Big Fun Game announcement that I bought a rack pack to get a taste of the set.  I had pretty good luck I thought:

I was pretty stoked about the Brett Cecil auto.  There is something about the Sticky Fingers set that intrigues me.  Also, the green bordered cards came in separate mini pack, and I don't know the story on them, but they are nice looking. If I decide to take on a Gypsy Queen long term project, building a set of these may be it. I also like the insert sets and the Mantle card is very cool. 

And here is the base, save a couple of cards.  Love the Cobb card. 

All of this is open for trade by the way.

Gypsy Queen is growing on me, and I can't wait to see what's in the blaster for the game!  There is still plenty of time to sign up.  Thanks to all who signed up, thanks for all of the new followers, and thanks to those who promoted the contest on their blog!

I'm off to a card show this morning, so hopefully I can come back with some cool trade bait!

Gypsy Queen Blaster Break… Or Something Better?

Blasters of Gypsy Queen started showing up at a nearby Target this week, and I have been on the fence as to picking one up or not.  I could spend that money on Heritage,  Base, one of those nifty $15 value packs, or get 2 discounted blasters for about the same money.  And man, I could do some serious damage on sportlots.com with $20.  Wait!!! I mean, I could spend that money on my lovely wife and kids instead.  But I kind of wanted to open a box of Gypsy Queen and review it on the blog.  I bought a rack pack as an appetizer and did pretty well.  I’ll post the contents later this evening.  So, I like it, but I’m not sure I want to dive into the set. 

Then a flash of inspiration hit me, and I realized a way I could get much more mileage out of a box break, and do something a little different with the review…. 

You guessed it- It’s time for a new edition of Napkin Doon’s

BIG FUN GAME!!!!!

Basically, I’ll do this the same way I did the last Big Fun Game (I really need a better name for it). 

This time, I will add a rule that you must be a follower of the blog to be a participant.  Also, the last time I announced this game I opened it to the first 10 followers.  This limited the participants (who were all great by the way) to whoever happened to be online at the time.  I will still leave the participant list at 10, but leave sign ups open until Sunday afternoon.  Then I will take all entries, put them in the randomizer and let the first 10 listed participants play.

A couple of other tweaks:

I will not keep any of the cards from the box break, unless there is a Rangers Hit (I just won’t be able to bring myself to give it away).  So if I get really lucky with a hit from another team, too bad for me.  I’m hoping the investment in the blog will be worth it.  Of course I could video the box break and post it at the end of the contest so that you know I was honest about not keeping any cards.  I might do that.  Otherwise, you will just have to trust old Napkin.  If there is a Ranger Hit and I keep it, I’ll put in a nice replacement.

Once I bust the box, I will determine a way of splitting the cards into 10 somewhat equal prizes.  I don’t want to waste postage sending someone a couple of commons.

IF my follower list grows to over 50 by the time contest starts, I will add 5 additional participants via the randomizer and add 5 more random prizes, in the same spirit as my prizes last time.

IF somehow my follower list grows to over 100, I will keep the participant list to 15, but add a second blaster of Gypsy Queen if I can find one, essentially doubling the Gypsy Queen prizes.  If I can’t find a Gypsy Queen, I’ll add a blaster of Heritage.  Don’t worry; I’ll bulk up the Non Gypsy Queen prizes too.

Here is the final tweak:  If you promote this contest on your blog or website and leave a link in the comment section, I will give you two entries to the contest.  In case the randomizer lists you twice in the top 10 or 15, you will still only get one slot in the contest however.

I will close out the entries for the contest sometime Sunday Afternoon, whenever I get a chance, and announce the participant list and who the first player is.  Then it’s on..

This will be a great way to liven up a product review.  Topps, I hope you are aware of this free positive marketing you are getting from me! 

If I do not show up Sunday, you will know that my lovely wife saw that I am basically throwing $20 into cyberspace and locked me in a closet.

Oh and one other thing:  I HAVE NOT OPENED THIS BOX YET.   IF THE CONTENTS STINK DO NOT BE UPSET WITH ME. 

Let’s have some fun!

************************UPDATE-  GAME REGISTRATION IS CLOSED!!!!& *************

 

Gwynn Wynn

Man, eBay and PayPal just make it really difficult for a card addict like me to stay in control.   It's too easy to say "yes" to an auction.   My lovely wife may disagree, but I think most of the time I am relatively disciplined on buying cards.  I don’t typically buy expensive items or boxes, and I usually don’t pull the trigger on something that I know is a steal unless it falls under my collecting solar system.  I also don’t buy general “lots” of cards that don’t list specifically what those cards are.

Last week I made a couple of exceptions to my rules.  I bought one rather expensive jersey card and will post about when it arrives.  I also bought this:

A lot of 200 Tony Gwynn cards.  I stared and stared at this auction as the time to bid ticked away.  I don’t need 200 Tony Gwynn cards.    I want 200 Tony Gwynn cards, but I don’t need them.  The item description didn’t list the cards either, other than listing some of the brands in the lot,  so I knew it was likely a bunch of junk wax.  But no one had bid, and if I could win with the lowest bid, the cost would wind up being pennies per card.  Not a bad way to build the binder of one of my favorite all time players.  I put in my bid and watched the auction come to a close, alternating from hoping I would win to hoping someone would outbid me.  I wound up winning.

The box arrived yesterday and with a slight sense of dread, I dug in to see what I got, mostly expecting a bunch of this:

Some junk wax, but cards of Tony Gwynn are cards of Tony Gwynn, so no problem.  So that was part of the box, but I was pleasantly surprised by the overall contents.  There were a lot of shiny cards:

A few Topps Finest, as well as the Super Cool Plastic EX cards, one which I already had (1999), and one which I didn't (1998).  Maybe I should try to build the 98 set once 99 is done. 



And there were several of hologram/sportflics type cards that I dig:

I love those SPX hologram cards.  And these are my first UC3 cards.  The little pinwheels in the background of the Cyclone Squad card spin around when you move the card.  I'm sure I looked like an imbecile watching them spin 'round and 'round as I drooled over this card last night. 

I’m glad to say that I didn’t already have at least 50% of what was in the box.  My Tony Gwynn collection is now my largest single player collection, surpassing Darryl Strawberry.    

Joshy We Need You!

Yikes, the Blue Jays are making mince-meat out of my Rangers.  After 2 initial beatings from the Jays,  I thought the game last night was about to slip away too after the Rangers had an early comfortable lead.  The Jays were trouble last year too as I recall.  Ranger pitchers are struggling, and until yesterday, so were the hitters, except Michael Young.  I think we all know the moment this little slide started too.

No, not this…

But this:

That’s right.   I received this card in the mail the day Hamilton got hurt.   I have tried changing placement of this card several times over the past two weeks (from the Rangers Binder to to my bedside table to the kid's bedroom room to the play room)  while the Rangers slumped, and thought I finally had it in the right place (in a snap case with other high end cards in a box on our bookshelves) as the Rangers swept the Royals.  Apparently, I need to move it again.   I can sense the Rangers struggles radiating from the card.   It is not pleased about something, and I don't know what to do.   Please don’t suggest I destroy it, either.  I mean come on... that would be absurd. 

Pet Peeves

I find it hard to dislike much about this hybrid hobby of collecting baseball cards and blogging about collecting baseball cards.  Obviously, if there were too many things that I found irritating, I would mess around with something else.    But now that I have been back in the hobby for about a year, and now that I have been blogging for a few months, there are two things that really agitate me:

1) Disappearing Comments on Blogger- Maybe there is something glaringly obvious that I am doing wrong, but for some reason, I am having a hell of a time leaving comments on other blogs.  It would be fun to be more active in the blogosphere.  I enjoy it when people leave me comments and I try to do the same as much as possible.  But most of the time, after I post a comment, go through the little word verification step, and see the confirmation that my comment has been posted, the next day the comment is not there.  The blogger I am posting to will receive the comment via their email, but it won’t show up in the comments section of the blog.  Very frustrating.  If you have any suggestions for me or suffer from the same affliction, let me know.

2) I am sure my fellow collectors will agree:  there is something exciting about opening the mailbox and seeing one or multiple envelopes and/or bubble mailers with your name on it.  It’s like a little Christmas every day.    Likely, you also are familiar with that interruption of your happy moment when you see this taped to the package:          

Sure, the amounts are always little, but it’s the principle of the thing.  If it costs $2.63 to ship me a Michael Young refractor, charge me $2.63 up front, not $2.00 and a surprise bill later.  I almost always ship from the post office to be sure I cover postage properly, but when I do apply stamps, I always make sure I cover postage, and at times probably over stamp.

Now, I will be really embarrassed if someone tells me they received a package from me that was short on postage.  That just can’t be the case, unless….   Could it be?  Perhaps I am slowly uncovering a post office conspiracy…  Perhaps this is all part of a bigger conspiracy….  Perhaps this reaches the highest levels.   If I suddenly stop posting, be assured that I was on to something, and someone wanted Napkin Doon quiet.  Stay tuned… 
                                                                                                                  

Hey Napkin You're So Fine..

You're so fine you blow my mind.. Hey Napkin! Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Hey Napkin! Clap, Clap, Clap Clap...

Hey Napkin you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind.. Hey Napkin! Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Hey Napkin! Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap

Hey Napkin you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind.. Hey Napkin! Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Hey Napkin! Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap...

Hey Napkin you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind.. Hey Napkin! Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Hey Napkin! Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap
                                                

Hey Napkin you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind.. Hey Napkin! Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Hey Napkin!

.
In other words, I bought a bunch of cheap Topps Finest from Sportlots.com recently and they just arrived in the mail.

Etopps 4/25 Offering

This week, Etopps offers the following IPOs:

Roy Halladay

Zach Britton

Michael Pineda



As always, my purchase plans will be based on price and print run, although I am certain I will purchase the Halladay.  Had the Halladay been in ports, his 14K performance last week would have netted 15 points!  Hopefully he accomplishes this feat several times this year and we get other chances to cash in.

And as always, be sure to order at 1 pm est if you want any of these.

Sunday Book Notes- The Numbers Game

Alan Schwartz  2004

I'll spare you the cliched diatribe about the beauty of baseball's statistics and how statistics keep baseball connected with it's past and blah, blah, blah.  Simply put, if you are a fan of the numbers aspect of baseball, (and if you collect cards you probably are) then The Numbers Game is must reading. 

Side note:  I realize that I heap praise on pretty much every book I review on this blog.  Keep in mind, I'm just picking out books I've already read and think others will enjoy.  Once I get through those books, I'll start reviewing any book I happen to buy about baseball, and I promise I won't like them all.  For example, I'm reading "The Last Boy- Mickey Mantle and America Something, Something, Something" and it ... is.... freaking.... boring.  Sorry, I'm just not that interested in Mantle and received the book as a gift from someone who assumed that since I was a big baseball fan I would be interested in Mantle.

Back on topic:  The Numbers Game was not only fascinating, but inspiring.  I loved the chapter about Bill James and his realization he could look at stats in ways no one could or would.  And I really loved the section about Hal Richman, inventor of Strat-o-Matic.  Richman developed the game out of a need to entertain himself as a kid, dissatisfied with the baseball games available at the time.  Once he developed the game to his satisfaction, he decided he could sell it to others.  He struggled at first, to the point he had to borrow some money from his father to continue to develop and market the game.  He made a deal with his father that if he didn't succeed with this loan, he would give up on the game and join his father in the insurance business.    
These stories inspire your pal Napkin.   I still flip through this book often and will re-read the whole thing again soon.  It gets my creative juices going and inspires me sit down to a blank excel spreadsheet to see what original takes on statistics are just waiting to come from my brain.  Then, after staring at the blank cells for twenty minutes, I hear the squeaky gears in my head come to a halt and I go check if there are any donuts in the house.

What Ever Happened To Mini Sets?

Back in the 80s when I couldn't stop myself from buying anything remotely resembling a baseball card, I was all up on the little mini sets you could seemingly buy anywhere.  They typically were around 40-50 cards and had some kind of theme.  They were great!  They almost always included Darryl Strawberry, which was all the motivation I needed.  But even without the Straw, the checklists were strong in every set.  And they usually only ran a few bucks, and often I could get them on clearance for next to nothing.  I think I got that Kmart set for a quarter.  Don't be a wise ass and tell me I got rooked either.

Sure, most of the time they were crappy designs and overproduced, but some were actually pretty nice cards.  The KayBee toys sets are pretty good quality in my humble opinion.

We had these in the 80s, and Denny's sets in the 90s.  Is there anything similar out there today that I'm not aware of?  Did collectors (other than me) hate these?

2009 Topps Sterling Page 1

Depending on when I am thinking about it and what mood I'm in, this set is my top priority for completion.  The Super Checklist shows me 30 cards away, and I am going to shoot for a January 2012 completion.  What were Sterling boxes going for, $200 or so?  And you received 3 base cards along with the hits?  If my math is correct, this page is worth $600.  I would be willing to sell it for $300 to  a fellow collector, but I will expect a personal favor redeemable by me at a time of my choosing in addition to the cash. 



Yes, I am kidding.  I would never sell for less than total fictional retail value.  The page does have Ruth and Mantle for crying out loud.

Nice Little Trade with BA Benny

I'm swamped with work this week so my post today will be brief, as will Thursday and Friday if I can get them done.

Mike from BA Benny's Baseball Card Buffet was a participant in my Big Fun Game a few weeks ago, and we worked out a small trade on the side as I sent over his game prize.  Here is what I got, among a few other cards:

I've almost picked up the Michael Young Triple Threads before, so I was glad to get it.  The Piazza and Strawberry cards are always welcome.  The Baseball Card Buffet is a fun website, so if you haven't been before, but by the looks of his followers, you have in droves, go check it out!

Etopps 4/18 Offering- Baseball 2011 Week 1

Etopps 2011 Baseball begins this week with a star and a couple of rookies:

 Ryan Braun

 Freddie Freeman

 Kyle Drabek

Depending on prices and print runs, I might buy the Drabek and Braun for the game, as well as points potential.  I have to think this will fall below IPO prices in a month or so, so perhaps I'll wait.  Again, depends on prices and print runs.  I frankly don't know much about Freddie Freeman.  Doesn't seem like his cards are too hot on eBay now, or am I wrong?  If it comes out at $6 or higher I will take my chances and buy it after it is allocated. 

I think I like the looks of these, but mostly because of how I am assuming they will look in-hand.

Book Notes: The Underground Baseball Encyclopedia

Robert Schnakenberg  2010

This was another book I was able to get at 60% off from the local Borders that is closing shop.  What to say about this book... It’s not a typical encyclopedia, I'll say that.  As I was flipping through this book, pretty quickly I noticed a theme:  this author is pretty snide.  In fact, the description of the book says it’s a “decidedly snarky trip” through baseball.   Is it ever. 

I actually laughed out loud at many of the comments.  I learned that George Brett had hemorrhoids and that a couple of Yankee pitchers engaged in wife swapping in 1973.  Hideki Matsui had over 55,000 "distinct items in his porn stash."  I'm pretty sure that is larger than my card collection.  The only baseball card reference that I caught was an entry for the 1989 Bill Ripken error card.  I won't show a picture of the card, but I'm sure you know what I am talking about. 

However, snark, like many things, is something that can get old pretty quickly.  I am a bit of a cynical person, but I try to keep it contained somewhat, and I hope I do not come across too cynical in my blog.  This book is cynical, and after a while it began to rub me the wrong way.   Of course, when the topics turn to Barry Bonds, Ty Cobb, Dixie Walker and some others, you expect a little snarkery...

Ok, here’s the truth.  I got ticked off by his entry for baseball enthusiast and my hero, George Will and his book, Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball: "A collection of windy, self-consciously erudite observations on game strategy, the book appealed to pseudointellectuals and other literary-minded traditionalists who required an ennobling fig leaf to justify their fandom." 
There is more, but you get the point.

So on behalf of all literary traditionalists, thank you, George Will for the fig leaf and STICK IT SCHNAKENBERG.   

2011 eTopps Begins Next Week!

And I like the looks of the cards, and I assume these will be awesome in hand!

No idea who the first offering will be, but I would expect one superstar (Pujols, Jeter etc.), one Rookie and someone who changed uniforms from last year (Cliff Lee, Adrian Gonzales, etc.)

PLEASE ETOPPS, ISSUE A NELSON CRUZ THIS YEAR!!!

Here are the details.

Mail Time- Paper or Plastic?

This week it’s plastic, as I received a good chunk of needed cards to complete one of my top 5 important sets to build, 1999 E-X Century.  Last summer when I was starting to get back into the hobby and see what all I had that I had forgotten about, I came across a Vlad Guerrero 1999 EX Century card that I do not ever remember buying.  It was a clear plastic card with some designs tinted inside the card, and some opaque designs and the photo layered on top.  I loved the look and the craft of the card, so I bought a few commons on sportsbuy.com and sportlots.com, and really became hooked on the set.  I recently found some of the bigger stars cheap on COMC and grabbed a bunch, which arrive last week. 

The Griffey card is beyond cool.  I wish the Piazza had been a better pose, but it's cool as well.  This pushes the completion % for this awesome set to 75% with 30 cards to go.  Most of the ones I still need are commons, so I think I’ll be able to finish the set this summer.  Buckle up for that adventure readers!  I have listed the cards that I still need at the top of my blog, I have several extras that I will post as trade bait. 

Rubber Baby Baseball Card Binders

One of the big picture goals for my card collection is to get it organized and eye-pleasing.  This has been slow going, but fun.   I’ve been able to get a handle on sets that are currently incomplete with my super duper checklist (I need a better name for it).  I’ve also been able to sort out the players that I want to keep out of the commons boxes, but don’t necessarily want in albums.

Speaking of which, I am pretty dissatisfied with the look of my album collection.  I think the binders themselves are pretty boring, and do not have enough of a uniform look.  I am not a neat freak by any stretch of the imagination, but would like my card collection to look crisp.  For a while, I have been coveting the “Better Binders” at Staples, but they are so stinking expensive, I never bought any.    However, the baseball card gods were smiling on Napkin Doon this week, as I noticed the 1” binders happen to be on sale, buy 2 get 1 free!  So I got a few to see if they are as great as I think. 

Since they are 1” binders, my options to fill them are limited.  They will only hold a modest amount so I can’t squeeze in some of the bigger “Master Sets” I am working on, like 2010 Allen and Ginter, or 2003 Diamond Kings.   But they will work nicely for my Rangers and Razorbacks collections, and will hold the 1999 Flair Set I am one card away from completing (Hal Morris Row 1).

I like the small window on the binder for labeling.  I also like the rubbery feel of the binder itself.  It seems durable.  Maybe if I can make my binders look nice enough, my lovely wife will let me put them on the bookshelves downstairs instead of on table by the attic. 

So there you have it:  a whole *#!-ing post about binders.    Wait until I show you what I’m going to do with some plastic drawers, foam padding, and Etopps cards! 

Checklist Chip-Away: Topps Sterling 2009 & Fleer Tradition/Showcase Inserts

The big card in the mail this week was this Babe Ruth Sterling 2009, a significant hurdle in completing this set.  Now that I have the Ruth, the Cal Ripken is going to be the most challenging to get on the cheap.   This takes me to 79% complete on this set, with 28 cards to go.    I had thought about building a White Parallel set, #d to 50, but I don’t see it happening.    I have listed the remaining cards I need at the top of my blog, so if you happen to have any you can part with, please let me know and we can try to work out a trade (not for this Ruth!).

I was also able to snag some cool Hall’s Well inserts for my Fleer Tradition binder.    There are only 15 cards in this set, and I have 7 now.  They have been kind of expensive, but I can be patient on these.   I also got a McGwire Consummate Prose insert that I needed, but it’s kind of a yawner, as were most of the insert sets for 2000 Fleer Showcase.

Denny’s 1996

I am total sucker for gimmick cards.  I love motion and hologram cards, and anything that looks like some effort went into it.   That’s why I’m a fan of the Denny’s card sets from the 90’s.  I just bought the 1996 set on eBay, and I think it’s a nice little set.  You have to angle the cards just right to get the full effect though, and I’m sure my lovely wife thought there was something wrong with me as I contorted my arms and head trying to watch the action unfold on the cards. 

The scan won’t show it obviously, but every hologram is actually a little “video” of a significant play or moment for each of the 28 players.  There is a write up on the back notating the event.  I especially like the Ozzie Smith opening day back flip, and the home run from Cal Ripken’s 2,131st consecutive game.  By my count, there are a dozen current or future Hall of Famers in this set.

From a Historical/Americana standpoint, I even like the Denny’s logo being on the cards.  The 1997 set is even nicer, as Baseball Cards Come To Life points out in this post.    Denny’s put out sets almost every year in the 90s.  A collector could put together a pretty interesting master set of Denny’s cards without spending too much money. 

Booknotes- Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster

The Borders Bookstore in my area is closing,  all of their books are at least 60% off , and I was able to grab a couple of books I normally would not have bought.  I went in hoping to find a 2011 Baseball Prospectus, or the newest Baseball Card Catalog, or the book Mint Condition (anyone read this?) but no such luck. 

I did get my hands on a 2011 Ron Shandler Baseball Forecaster, which I was always curious about but never bought.  I typically by a Baseball Prospectus every year, and that is usually enough for me.

I was blown away by this book and it would have been worth buying at full price.  Perhaps my report on this book is untimely, since this type of book is geared toward fantasy baseball players, and the season is a week underway.   However, even though I am not playing fantasy baseball for the first time in 15 years, I am already finding this book useful from a fan perspective ( take Alexi Ogando's first start for the Rangers, as well as this book's hint that he has some strong upside, and I am already feeling better about the Rangers pitching this year).  I also am getting value from it from a collector/investor perspective (buy Mike Stanton).  There is a nice section on top Minor League prospects, and I was happy to see some nice write ups for former Naturals/ Royals prospects Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Mike Montgomery.

A big part of book is dedicated individual player historical stats and 2011 projections.  There is also a brief, efficient comment about each player as well.  Part of the fun of books like this is to revisit them as the season plays out, and see if the authors were on target or not. 
 
There are also several top shelf analytical essays at the front of the book that are really impressive if you are into that sort of thing.   I did think it was interesting that in the introduction, there basically was an acknowledgement of, "Hey the more we learn, and the more sophisticated our tools become, the more we realize, these players are humans and we're just not going to ever nail this stuff."  To me, that gives the book credibility.

Simply put, The Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster is a must for any baseball fan's library and I am glad I finally opened up to it.

Cyber Monday- Etopps T206

Ok, so I'm late on my Sunday book review, and early on my etopps preview.  The book review will be up probably tomorrow.  I happened to be looking around on etopps tonight and saw they had the "coming soon" cards up earlier than normal, so I thought I would bang out the "heads up" now.

I hope Etopps has it's stuff together this week better than last week.  I was bummed that the Buster Posey we were expecting was never offered, and by the looks of it, never will be.  I hope the same thing doesn't happen for these two:

Monday's offerings will be Joe Dimaggio and Walter Johnson.  I am all over these two, especially the DiMaggio!  I do not know what the cost or print run will be, but for DiMaggio, it won't matter.  Again, if you are interested, be sure to be online at 1 pm est when these are posted.
I assume 2011 Baseball is not far behind.

Thank you Rangers!

For the great start this season.  I really wanted to post something after the 3 game brain-beating-bashing of Boston, but I was able to stop myself when I realized that my not posting is the reason they had started so well!  So I held off while they swept the Mariners.  I was thinking 162-0 was not only possible, but highly likely.  But maybe that was expecting too much.  Now that they have lost a game, I can start up my Rangers posts and not feel guilty about it.  Rangers fans, feel free to thank me for holding out as long as I did.    And standing on an uncompromising history of heterosexuality, let me just say to all of the Rangers, especially Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler:  I love you.

I didn't realize it until I scanned it, but that 2010 silk card of Cruz is numbered with his jersey #17!  That's got to be a sign!  Texas Rangers, World Series Champions 2011, 2012 and 2013!!!!!

Big Fun Game Final Pick #10

hiflew takes a chance and picks the last door, #4

Etopps in hand 2008 Peyton Manning.  If you've never had an etopps card in hand, I think you will be pleased with how this looks.

Please be sure to email me your addresses, and I will get the packages out early next week.

Here are the final results:

1) Mariner1- Topps 2009 Sterling Lot
1) Mariner1- Topps 2009 Sterling Lot
2) Steve D-  Andy Ashby Auto
3) Ryan G- 2010 Triple Threads #d lot
4) Matt Pederson- Topps HD Rodriguez Cutting Edge Di Cut Card
5) Lost Collector- Topps Debut 2010 #d Lot
6) SpastikMooss - Terrell Davis Jersey Card- Frozen w/ SpastikMooss after 2 steals
7) BA Benny- Octavio Dotel Auto
8) Dimwit- Justin Upton Lot
9) dawgbones- 2011 Topps Young Stars Lot
10) hiflew- Etopps Peyton Manning in hand card


Thanks for playing and I hope everyone had fun!  I will definately do this again, so please let me know if you have any suggestions for the next time.

Big Fun Game Pick # 9

dawgbones passes on the steal, and selects door #6:

Topps 2011 young stars lot:  Strasburg, Stanton, Hellickson, Price, Prado and McCutchen

hiflew can either steal or take the final door #4.

You can cut the tension with a knife people....

Big Fun Game Pick #8

The Dimwit is tempted but passes on stealing and chooses door #9:

6 card lot of Justin Upton

dawgbones is next and can steal (except for the T. Davis jersey card) or choose from remaining lots 4 or 6...

Baseballcardsrule rules!

Received a nice package of cards from Ben at Baseballcardsrule.com.  This is one of my favorite blogs, and he does some cool things over there.
I sent him a card he wanted, and he shot back with some nice cards of two of my favorite players, Mike Piazza and Tony Gwynn:

I'm very excited to get the Holoview Piazza, as it is a new set I have added to my Super Duper Checklist and don't have this important part yet.  Also happy to see the 2nd year Bowman card which I didn't have.

He also threw in some Tony Gwynn's and I'm happy to say that 3 of 4 of these I don't have.  The Fleer Limited Edition is one I have, but it is tucked away in with the rest of the set, so now I have an extra for my Gwynn pages.

Thank you so much Ben!

Big Fun Game Pick #7

Mariner1 chooses door #3:

Topps 2009 Sterling lot #d to 250 - Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Joe Morgan and Tom Seaver

The Dimwit is up and can steal anything but the Terrell Davis card, or can pick from doors 4,6,9

Big Fun Game Update

Here is where we are after 6 picks and a handful of steals:

1) Mariner1 Dotel was stolen by BA Benny, so Mariner 1 is up to pick
2) Steve D-  Andy Ashby Auto
3) Ryan G- 2010 Triple Threads #d lot
4) Matt Pederson- Topps HD Rodriguez Cutting Edge Di Cut Card
5) Lost Collector- Topps Debut 2010 #d Lot
6) SpastikMooss - Terrell Davis Jersey Card- Frozen w/ SpastikMooss after 2 steals
7) BA Benny- Octavio Dotel Auto
8) Dimwit
9) dawgbones
10) hiflew

Remaining lots are (3, 4, 6, 9)


This has been fun so far, thanks to all the participants!

Naturals Night

What a fun evening last night!  It was my first game of the season, and it was just about perfect.  The weather was a nice 80 degrees, and a couple of big time prospects were on the hill.  Some highlights of the evening.

- The guy from Jag was in town promoting his new movie, and threw the first pitch.  I don't remember his name or the movie, and didn't take his picture.  But not a bad celebrity to throw out the first pitch at a AA game.
- John Lamb and Casey Kelly were on the hill for the Nats and the San Antonio Missions (San Diego's AA team).  Prospectors and Red Sox fans probably recognize Casey Kelly's name.  He was the central piece to the Adrian Gonzalez trade.  Both looked pretty good early, but both started struggling after a while. 
- I was thrilled to be able to once again partake in Funnel Dogs.  Yes, it's a hot dog wrapped in funnel cake.  Yes, it's delicious.

- Wil Myers (Baseball American Top 100 prospect)  is young (20) and pretty skinny.  But he hits the ball... hard. At least he did his first at bat.  Then he walked and struck out and I don't remember what he did his fourth time up.  These pics are with my camera phone, and it stinks.

- Christian Colon, the Royals #1 pick last year had some nice hits as well, and few nice plays at short.  I wouldn't be shocked if he is called up late this year. 
- The Missions left fielder, Jaff Decker, was throwing lasers out of left field all night.  He is listed as one of the Padres top prospects.
- Last, but certainly not least, SHE was at the game:

That's right, Miss Arkansas, and runner-up Miss America, Alyse Eady was at the game.  I got a big old crush on Alyse, and my wife doesn't even care.  Not only is she ultra hot, almost on par with my lovely wife, this is what she did for her talent show at the Miss USA pageant:



That is seriously the most awesome thing a Miss USA contestant could possibly do, and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise.

Jag guy, MLB prospects, funnel dogs and Miss Arkansas.  What a night!