Taking delivery

With the Topps Million Card Giveaway ending soon, I decided to take delivery of my collection today.
Before I get into what is headed my way, I suggest you comparing shipping options. You have the option of USPS or UPS. The checkout defaults to USPS and I almost missed this, but changing it to UPS saved me a couple of bucks. I was also surprised that delivery time was only 9–12 days—I was expecting 4 to 6 weeks.

I will be curious to see what others are doing out there. 

So twenty-one cards are headed my way. Nineteen of these are guys who have thrown no hitters or been part of a combo no hitter. One card, Ed Goodson (1975) is for my 1975 Topps Set and the other is a 1979 Mike Edwards Season Highlight card.

The oldest in the bunch is a 1961 Lou Burdette who tossed a 1-0 gem against the Phillies on August 18, 1960. Tony González, the only opposing batter to reach base after being hit by a pitch in the fifth inning, was retired on a double play. Burdette helped himself by scoring the only run of the game. Following up his no-hitter, five days later he pitched his third shutout in a row.

The newest, was a 2005 Peter Munro who pitched 2-2/3 of no hit ball against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium on June 11, 2003. Munro was one of six Houston pitchers that day. The others were Roy Oswalt (1), Munro (2-2/3), Kirk Saarloos (1-1/3), Brad Lidge (2), Octavio Dotel (1), and Billy Wagner (1). Oswalt only threw 22 pitches when he aggravated a groin injury. Munro's day was not a picnic either as he ran into trouble in the third when he issued one of his three walks on the day to Derek Jeter and hit Jason Giambi to load the bases. But with two outs, he coaxed a groundout from Jorge Posada toward first to escape further damage and stayed in long enough to induce two grounders in the fourth. Munro's final line: 2-2/3 innings, three walks, two strikeouts—but no hits.

There are seven cards from the 1960's, eleven from the 1970's, two 1990's and one 2005. And if I had a favorite, I think I would go with the 1966 Dave Morehead. Classic pitcher pose, a Red Sox, and a great name to boot.

I think most collectors were happy with this new program rolled out by Topps. I can remember being like many others that day the site launch, spending hours and hours trying to log in to redeem my codes. Fortunately, Topps got their act together and from there on, it was a better situation. I will definitely be looking forward to Topps next redemption program, the Topps 60th Anniversary Diamond Giveaway.

I still have three cards left in the collection. Hopefully, I can still make a trade or two and take one last delivery.