AJMcCarron'sgirlfriend's Junk

I assume that Wes from Jaybarkerfan's Junk will be changing his blog name soon to take advantage of the name recognition of the current Alabama quarterback's best asset.    If you do, Wes, and your viewership explodes, just remember who gave you the idea.

I imagine there is general agreement that Wes is one of the most generous members of this little fraternity of card bloggers.   Last week I came home to another unexpected envelope from him containing some nice Ranger cards:

I was happy to get all of them, but especially the 3 1997 Topps cards on the bottom because my sampler album page for that year is pretty sparse.

Not only do I want to publicly thank Wes for these nice cards, I also think he deserves some kudos for yet again holding a Blogger of the Year award.  It's a pretty cool thing to be able to have an outlet to give recognition to the guys out there with exceptional blogs.  The only thing I didn't like about the contest was that he would not allow himself to be nominated.   

Thanks for being such a positive part of this community Wes!

Breaking Jaybarker Fan’s Junk Jinx Part 6: The Big Boss

It’s time to pull out the big guns and make sure we get this jinx wiped away for good.  Here are the cards that Wes of Jaybarker Fan’s Junk sent of Hall of Fame Pitcher and Rangers Owner Nolan Ryan:

 

Breaking Jaybarker Fan's Junk Jinx Part 5: Old School Rangers and A Hidden Gem

The Rangers resume play again today with a home stand starting with the D-Backs.  Let's continue to clear the jinx Jaybarker Fan's Junk started last week when he sent me a huge, fun, awesome box of Ranger cards.    I was going through the stack of cards again Monday night, still giddy from the Razorbacks punching their ticket to the College World Series and noticed I had completely overlooked a sweet autograph card that Wes included in the loot:

Very nice indeed!  Good thing I finally saw this.  Leaving this card undetected could very well have ruined the whole season for the Rangers.  Don't ask me to explain, that's just the sense I get.  Posting it now should help break the slump even more convincingly.  We also should look at the old school cards that were included:

I love the old Rangers logo on the Fleer cards.    Also, with the exception of Billy Sample, this is not the coolest bunch of dudes I've ever seen.  I wish someone would have given Mario Mendoza a little help.

Breaking Jaybarker Fan's Junk Jinx: Part 4 Other Guys

I think I proved my point folks.  After three jinx breaking posts, the Rangers take 2 of three games on the road at San Francisco, with two of the games being shutouts.  I'm not sure what will happen from here on out, but at least I know that I, single-handedly, was responsible for them getting a series win.

Since the Rangers are off today, I thought I would show the other stars that Wes included in the big box of cards he sent:

The Halladay and Pujols cards are Topps Chrome, and I really, really like them.  I think these are the first I've seen from the 2008 Topps Chrome set, and I'm tempted to tack this set onto my master checklist.

I'm not sending jinx vibes, anti or otherwise, through the air on these Torii Hunter cards.  It's a weird thing having one of my favorite players play for the enemy, but I just can bring myself to root against Torii. 

Even though the Rangers look to be getting back on track and are starting a home stand tomorrow, I'll get back to some more jinx busting posts tomorrow and try to ensure they stay on course.

Breaking Jaybarker Fan's Junk Jinx Part 3:

So far, I've had mixed results with my jinx breaking posts.  Matt Harrison through a masterful shutout on the day of my first jinx breaking post, but yesterday, the Rangers were back to pitiful baseball with inopportune errors and ice cold bats.  Scott Feldman actually pitched ok for a spot starter, so I'm not going to be too critical of him or the pitching.   The Rangers need offensive and defensive mojo right now, so what better aura to call upon to fix these aspects of the game than that of someone who excelled in both areas as a Ranger: Pudge Rodriguez. 

Here are some of Pudge cards that Wes sent:

You can't see it, but I'm wiggling my fingers at the screen as I type, "jinx break" style.

Breaking Jaybarker Fan's Junk Jinx Part 2: Current Rangers

I wrote these jinx breaking posts the other night and scheduled them, so as I write this, I have no idea if my first jinx breaking post had any impact.

Truly, one shouldn't make too much of the first day of posts as this will be a significant undertaking and will take several posts to truly work.

Yesterday I covered the leader of the team, Michael Young.  Today, I add the other current players:

 Some great current cards here.  I especially like to the Kinsler minor league card.

Work your magic blog post, work your magic.

Breaking Jaybarker Fan's Junk Jinx Part 1: Michael Young

Wes from Jaybarkerfan's Junk jinxed the Rangers recently.  I won't re-type the whole explanation, but you can read about it here.

Today, I begin the process of breaking the jinx by showing the cards he sent.  It was a TON of cards, and I will need several posts to fully break the jinx.

Let's address the current players first since they need the most immediate help.  And we need to specifically start with the face of the team, Michael Young.

I'm a big Michael Young fan, but he has been getting scorched on the message boards, especially the chats I follow on the best blog in the world: Baseball Time in Arlington.  Here's hoping I can help get him going again, starting tonight against the Giants.

Jaybarker Fan's Junk Has Jinxed The Texas Rangers.

It has probably dawned on some of you who deal with me or follow my blog that I can be forgetful or downright absent minded at times.  The lovely wife would give a big "amen" to that notion.  I say this because I finally realized that the big box o' Rangers I received yesterday came from Wes at Jaybarker Fan's Junk.  

Wes is a god among men, and yes I'm still giddy about all the cards he sent.  I've looked through them a few times now and keep discovering gems.

We actually did complete a trade a few months ago, but the return address and initials on the box yesterday just didn't jog my memory.  I'm telling you my mind is pretty fried from work right now.  I'm also taking it upon myself to be stressed about what's going on with the Rangers, since you know, it's my problem to solve.   Which brings me to the explanation for the title of this post:

I see no other reasonable conclusion than to blame the Rangers recent woes (losing 3 of 4 to the A's? come on!) on Wes for sending that big box of Ranger cards.

I received the cards yesterday.  The Rangers lost yesterday.  The Rangers lost again today.   I also assume the cards were in transit for about 3 days before I got them.  The Rangers lost 2 of 3 of the games on the days those cards were in transit.

Those of you who don't understand this kind of stuff would probably think the easy solution would be to get rid of the cards or send them back.  Well that's absurd and makes no logical sense in terms of breaking jinxes.  And besides, I like the cards and don't want to give them up.

The best solution will be to make some jinx breaking posts over the next few days and expose these cards to the world and therefore take away their jinx inducing powers.

Since it's too late to do anything about today's game (yikes Yu Darvish), I'll show the really nice hits that Wes sent that feature players from other teams and a non-current Ranger.

Let's start with this awesome Torii Hunter card:

 The pinstripe is fantastic!

A relic of Tony Gwynn!

Wes also added this auto of Chris Howard, but the best part of this card was the write up on the back:

"Chris worked for the White Sox and the Red Sox before joining the Rangers last August."

"Worked?"  Was he an accountant or something? I've never heard of playing baseball referred to as "work" other than as the title of George Will's baseball book "Men at Work." It doesn't make it sound like his time with the Red and White Sox was enjoyable.

Anyway Wes, while it's unfortunate that your generous shipment has put the Rangers in a tailspin, I'm still very excited about the cards.  Let's see if we can't turn things around in the next few days. 

Some Junk Mail

I'm sure I can't be the first person to use that play on words when posting about a trade with Wes of  Jaybarkerfan's Junk?  If I am, then shame on all of you.

This was my first trade with Wes, and hope not the last.  He recently had a handful of cards that he offered in return for vintage, any vintage.  He had a nice Neftali Feliz A&G relic that I liked so I claimed it, forgetting I already had one.  Oops.

Actually, no "oops" because I'm more than happy to have two of these, especially if Feliz reaches hi potential in the next few years.

Wes also through in an extra bonus:

An on card Ranger auto was a great surprise!

Thank you for the trade Wes, and I hope you like what I sent!

Contest Shout Out- Jaybarkerfans Junk Party!

Jaybarkerfan has one of the great new blogs out there and is hosting a very interesting game.  I see that many of you already know about it and are spreading the word.  For those not in the know, check it out here.

He's also teased a wrinkle in the game as it begins....