A little while back, Johnny over at Cards from the Quarry emailed me about trading. Like myself, he had just got his blog up and running. He has been quite busy as he's had a number of trades on his site lately. Going his way was around 400 cards from various set needs along with a number of Rockies cards.
Coming back to the WALL was a first for my collection. A jersey relic/autograph card and numbered 25 of 50! This is my third jersey swatch card I have of Lester and first autograph. Lester's story is amazing one if you have never heard before. Coming into the 2011 season, many are predicting it could be a Cy Young type of year for the lefty. His last three years have been rock solid and is truly the ace of a pretty strong rotation that includes, Clay Buchholz, Josh Beckett, John Lackey, and if you must, Dice-K.
I think the following line sums it up best:
He beat cancer.
He beat the Rox for the World Series.
He threw a no-hitter.
What's next... Hall of Fame?
Next up are three Red Sox cards I have never seen before and still not sure what set they come from. They are pretty cool and the only other card I have found on eBay is a Johnny Damon. They are some sort of 2006 Upper Deck product. In any case, these are cool and wonder is there is a Lester or Youkilis out there that I can add to my player collections.
Next up, the card that first started off our initial trade talks was a 2009 Topps Update Short Print variation card of Bo Jackson. While I may never obtain all these SP variations, I am always on the look out for them. Others I have are a Lou Gehrig (series 1), Robin Yount (series 2), and a Honus Wagner (Update series). If you have any, I've got a 2010 Topps Rickey Henderson SP variation to trade.
Next up, a couple of cards off from No-Hitters Club collection. A 1989 Topps Tom Browning and a 1992 Mark Williamson. On September 16, 1988, Browning, pitched a perfect game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The game was delayed two-and-a-half hours, but when it finally started, Tom Browning was at his best, throwing 102 pitches, 72 of which were strikes. The small crowd that patiently waited nearly three hours for a 10 p.m. start were treated to a magnificent pitchers' duel that featured Tim Belcher taking a no-hitter into the the sixth inning and Tom Browning completing the first ever Cincinnati Reds perfect game. The following season, Browning barely missed becoming the first Major League pitcher to pitch two perfect games, taking his second bid into the ninth inning on July 4, 1989 against the Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium. A lead-off single by Dickie Thon ended Browning's attempt.
On July 13, 1988, Mark Williamson was part of a combined no-hitter. Baltimore Orioles starter Bob Milacki and three relievers, Mike Flanagan, Williamson and Gregg Olson, combined for the O's first no-hitter since 1969 in a 2-0 victory at the Oakland Coliseum. Milacki pitched 6 innings and struck out three batters before giving ball to the bullpen. He was taken out of the game when he was hit by a line drive in the seventh inning. Flanagan came on to finish the seventh and them Williamson and Olson three 1-2-3 innings in the 8th and 9th innings to preserve the no-no.
And finally, we have three cards off of my other baseball feats collection, Players Have Hit for the Cycle. We've got a 1988 Topps Chris Speier, a 1989 Topps Gary Redus, and a 2010 Topps Chrome Troy Tulowitzki. On July 9, 1988 Chris Speier hit for the cycle as the Giants mauled the Cardinals, 21-2 at Candlestick Park. It marked the second time Speier had accomplished the feat and was almost 10 years to the day of his previous cycle for the Expos on July 20, 1978.
On August 25, 1989, Gary Redus' cycle came against the Reds, who were playing their first game since Pete Rose was banned from baseball for life. The Pirates racked up 17 hits and downed Cincinnati 12-3 at Riverfront Stadium.
On August 10, 2009, Tulo had five hits and drove in seven while hitting his cycle against the Cubs in a 11-5 win at Coors Field. Tulowitzki, who had a home run denied in the first video review at Coors Field, came to bat to lead off the seventh a triple shy of the franchise's fifth cycle and first in nine years.
Thanks again Johnny for the trade, I'm sure we'll trade again down the road and for those of you who haven't checked out his blog out yet, go take a look!
So while I wait for my delivery from the Topps Million Card Giveaway, I was left with three cards in my collection: 1979 Marty Pattin, 1980 Doug Capilla, and a 1991 Terry Kennedy. I hadn't done anything in over a week with these cards nor did I get any offers. So I said to myself, lets see if I can't add three more guys from my no hitters need list in one day.
Within about and hour and a half, the last three cards were gone and three new ones had arrived.
The first was Pattin for a 1987 Joe Cowley who threw a no-hitter on September 19, 1986 against the eventual AL West Champions, the California Angels. For nine innings, the right-handed Cowley had fought against two foes: the Angels and himself. He won, 7-1, but not without first allowing seven walks and yielding a sixth-inning sacrifice fly that brought in the Angel run. That no hitter and win, was the last of his career. The following year near the end of spring training, Joe was traded to the Phillies for Gary Redus. He would pitch in 5 games, losing 4 while carrying a 15+ earn run average.
Next up was Capilla for a 1982 Charlie Lea. Lea would toss his feat against the San Francisco Giants in the second game of a double-header. The Giants won the opener, 5-1. In the second game, Lea struck out a career high of eight batters and walked four. He became the first Expo to pitch a no-hitter since Bill Stoneman did it against the Mets on October 2, 1972. Stoneman achieved the team's first no-hitter, also against the Mets, in 1969. Charlie would go one to have a couple of decent years with the Expos with an all-star appearance in 1984.
Last up was trying to rid myself of Terry Kennedy. I think I crafted no more than a dozen trade offers in a span of 10 minutes before I got an acceptance. Kennedy for a 1998 Kevin Brown. Pitching for the Marlins, Brown hurled a 9-0 no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants, on June 10, 1997. Brown hit just one batter (in the eighth inning with two outs) and did not walk anyone... On July 16 of that same season, Brown hurled a one-hitter against the Dodgers.
So with that, I now find myself looking at a $4.00 delivery charge for three commons that probably are worth the price of ONE stamp. Anyone have these out there that wants to trade or would you just bite the bullet and enjoy one last hurrah with one pretty fun redemption program?
