Turns out that AJ from The Lost Collector, aside from being a Yankees fan, is a really cool trader. This trade started back a couple of months but between work and life, the trade took longer to wrap up. He saw one of my Ginter posts and had some minis and a jersey relic to offer up.
Going to the Big Apple was a bunch a Yanks cards from 80's oddballs to present day items. The key card in the batch was an 2007 UD Elements Posada dual jersey relic that had pinstripes in each jersey cut.
Coming back was this batch of Allen & Ginters ...
Now clearly the Posada dual jersey trumps the Marcus Giles relic, but I did not have a relic from the 2007 A&G edition so I didn't mind. Also in this batch of minis is a '11 Gypsy Queen hobby box variation of Johnny Mize. AJ pointed out that even though Mize is pictured in pinstripes, the back of the card carries the St. Louis Cardinals logo. Eventually need to put a GQ list together but it's kind of on the back burner for the moment.
Next up, some Red Sox favorites that I'm sure AJ was eager to part ways with ...
And to round out the trade, some vintage Red Sox and Yankees for my All-Decade teams project.
Love the '78 ALCS card with Frank White trying to evade a sliding Mickey Rivers.
Thanks again for the trade AJ and look forward to trading with you again!
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HELP ME!!!! With the 2011 Ginter release just days away, I will be attempting to collect the mini set and any mini inserts from this new edition. I do have a hobby box with me name on it for Wednesday, so that will get me a little bit of a head start. As for the base cards, SPs, hits, and any other cards in that come out of that box, they will be available for trade. If you can help, please, please drop me a line. For those of you still looking for 2011 Topps sparklies, I have a few from series 2, maybe I can grab a couple of minis for these???
Anyhow, drop me a line if you're not into the minis, and I'm sure I can find something to trade you.
looks like some 1993 Upper Deck, some Pinnacle cards, oh boy 1992 Topps ... wait, hey I need that and that!
So I was recently back at my Mom's for the day and even though I have long moved out, there still is the occasional small box of cards I forgot to bring along with me. So at first, I thought this was pretty much just junk, and for the most part is was, but then I remember a couple of 1992 Topps cards that I needed for my No-Hitters Club, a Kent Mercker and Mike Flanagan — both guys who were involved in combined No-hitters in 1991. Mercker went six innings against San Diego on September 11, 1991, before Mark Wohlers and Alejandro Pena finished off the No-No.
Mike Flanagan and the O's decided to go one better with four pitchers involved in their No-no on July 13, 1991 against the Oakland A's. Bob 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 normally a starter pitched the seventh inning walking one batter. Mark Williamson pitched the eight innings and retired the side in order. Gregg Olson pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning striking out two batters to record the save.
But wait, what else do we have here?
A 1968 Topps Carl Yastrzemski, hey, I can use him for cycle collection too, and how about some 1975 Topps!!!! We've got a Bob Gibson Highlight, a Lou Brock, and Thurman Munson too!!!! Sweet!!! Now it's too bad I couldn't use any of these three towards my 1975 set, but maybe someone out there can and have a couple of '75's I need. Shoot me an email if you need these and maybe we can cross a couple of cards off one another's list.
I also snatched the 1982 Kelloggs Neil Allen just because I have always loved the Kelloggs cards and who knows, maybe I'll come across some others here and there.
So not too bad for a "junk" box. Gotta love days when you come across some cards you completely forgot about! Now, I can honestly say, thank you Mom for nothing throwing out my baseball cards!
Take a crazy work week and thrown in two big freelance projects and I pretty much have worked no-stop since Friday with absolutely no time to post anything. I was lucky enough to happen to see all the 2011 Ginter posts that have gone up the last 24 hours. Very happy that Topps is bringing that back again. One card preview peaked my interest and will showcase that tomorrow. Okay, time to share two trades ...
First trade comes via Charlie over the Lifetime Topps Project. I happened to be reading one of his posts when I noticed he had a 2011 Topps sparkly card of Sox fav, Jon Lester. As a Lester collector, I offered up three 2011 Topps sparklies for the one. Charlie was also nice enough to include some other goodies too.
Here we have the best lefty in the junior circuit and a 2011 Topps Kimball Champions mini Clay Buchholz. As a retro mini collector, I think these cards are pretty sweet; too bad these weren't the '11 Ginter design. Where I am collecting this set, I'll need another mini of Clay for my player collector too. Also in the package was four 2011 Topps Red Sox I still needed for my '11 Topps set.
Lars and Scutaro actually ended up in my Red Sox All-Time Roster collection since they show their 2010 Sox stats while VMart and Paps went towards the Topps base set. Come the end of the 2011 (VMart has already left for Detroit), these guys will all be gone from the Sox organization. Paps is clearly headed for free agency, one time top prospect Lars Anderson is blocked by Theo's man-crush, Adrian Gonzelez, and Marco (Polo) Scutaro is a bridge to prospect Jose Iglesias.
Thanks again Charlie for the trade and be sure to check out his blog. It's a nice ride back in time when many of us were getting our feet wet in the baseball collecting universe.
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Next trade recap is from my buddy Chris over at The Call of Cardboard. Chris sent along another package of 2009 UD Goodwin Champion minis. I still need to put a want list together, just need to find five minutes to do so.
First three mini are of the retired legend variety. A young looking Whitey Ford, Bucky "Bleepin" Dent and World Series hero, Joe Carter. I always like Joe Carter when I was younger. Never got in trouble, seemed to always be having fun playing the game and a heck of a ballplayer to boot. I cannot tell you how many times growing up as a kid that we would hear rumors of Joe Carter coming to the Sox or the Sox trading for Carter. Seemed to happen almost every year. He would have been a nice fit at Fenway for sure.
Next up, some current day players, including another guy I wished had donned a different color of Sox, Jim Thome. He has had one heck of a career and I think evades of the "juice" and "roids" talk. From afar, Thome has always been a class act and a pretty consistent player. I was glad to see him go back to Minnesota for another year. Also in this lot, a possible (yet he's hurt again already) fantasy bounce back player in Brian Roberts and the lone face of the Rays, Evan Longoria.
And finally some Goodwin non-sport (real sport) minis. I never got into the whole MMA craze so I couldn't tell you who the two on the right are. I have heard of Evelyn Ng thanks to ESPN's poker coverage, surfer and artist (done a couple of his art puzzles), Laird Hamilton and the biker, uhm no clue but cool card (according to my six-year old). So 11 more minis closer to a set. Thanks again Chris, will have your cards in the mail this week and I'm sure we'll be wheeling and dealing soon!
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!
1969 #384 Larry Shepard
In his two seasons as skipper of the Bucs, he had a combined record of 164–155, finishing sixth in the ten-team National League in 1968 and third in the NL East in 1969. After his firing by the Pirates with seven games remaining in the ‘69 season, Shepard returned to the coaching ranks. He was the pitching coach of the fabled Cincinnati Reds “Big Red Machine” dynasty under Sparky Anderson from 1970 through 1978, and finished his career in uniform in a similar post with the 1979 San Francisco Giants.
1973 #496 Ray Lamb
Lamb is the only Los Angeles Dodger to wear #42 after Jackie Robinson before it was retired in 1972. I found this little tidbit interesting seeing that Robinson was elected into Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1962. Seems odd that after this milestone, they would hand is #42 to a minor league pitcher seven years later.
So a a couple of weeks ago, SpastikMooss sent me a email about doing a trade. I always like reading 'Mooss's site, I'm the Great Sports Name Hall of Fame, I mean, who doesn't like the name Rusty Kuntz. Man, I would love to have that ball he's signing on his 1982 Topps card. In any case, if you haven't visited his site, check it out!!!!
So, going SpastikMooss' way will be a bunch of 1995 Topps Baseball and 1995 Topps Cyberstats along with some other cards he was looking for. And in return, below is a couple of shots of what I received.
The first image knocks off 3 cards from various wants. First up an OTW Missing 9 in the 2010 UD Rich Hill. Hill, a local kid from Milton (just south of Boston) appeared in a Red Sox uniform for 6 games at the end of the year. He picked up a win on September 14 at Seattle in his first Boston appearance. Next up is Juan Nieves, a member of the No Hitter Club. Nieves' no-hitter became the first ever thrown by a Puerto Rican in Major League Baseball. The feat was credited to Nieves, though was made possible by amazing outfield grabs by Jim Paciorek and finally by Robin Yount with 2 outs in the 9th inning. He was at the time, the second youngest to ever throw a no-hitter. And third in this shot is a 2009 Topps Heritage short print, #478 Troy Tulowitzki. Thanks to Mr. Tulowitzki's torrid August/September, I brought home a fantasy baseball championship in my long-standing head-to-head keeper league. No I face the decision of do I keep Tulowitzki or Robbie Cano, I am leaning towards Tulo as shortstop is void of big time talent.
Next up are a couple of shot of various Red Sox (there was a handful of 90's and 00's as well). A 1991 Fleer Update Mo "The Hit Dog" Vaughn, a 2004 Trading Day Fleer card of Nomah, and a Dustin Pedroia '09 Topps Chrome. Pedroia has a call in segment to the power house, sports talk radio station WEEI in Boston call the LaserShow. Do a search and I am sure to come across it—it's good for some laughs. He and manager are big cribbage players before games during the season.
And finally, some vintage 70's and 80's Topps Red Sox. I have always loved the 1980 Fisk, something about the catchers helmet on backwards, protector on, and looks like he may have just gunned someone down at second.
So thanks again SpastikMooss for the trade, hopefully one of more to come! It's great having the blog to finally be able to post these trades! The more, the merrier!
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.
So earlier this week I took a look over at Topps' 2011 base product, today, I will offer my thoughts on the 2011 Heritage offering.
The design, a classic, but design-wise, it probably came too late. The wood grain look would have been better served in 1958 –1960 (if not earlier) with the baseball moving to the left coast. In any case, it is a look that Topps repeated in 1987 with success.
Undoubtedly, this years version is sure to surpass last years '61 offering. I never minded the simplicity of the '61, but it's well known the look is not a favorite of many card bloggers. I too like the nostalgia of the 1962, and will certainly try to pick up a couple of blasters and packs, but not sure I will collect this years set. While I like the '62, my favorite designs of the 1960's Topps were 1960, 1965, and 1967. I just simply cannot collect everything and would rather put that money towards my 1972 and 1975 sets or this years 2011 Topps set (if it looks as great as we have seen in previews).
But, maybe my mind will change when I see the cards in person. Looking at the original 1962 checklist and comparing to this years, there are a number of similarities in the checklist make up. For example, the Red Sox team cards both fall at #334, the ten Babe Ruth cards fall at 135–144, and the Rookie Parade cards have multiple players on them. I looked a little deeper and noticed that the combo cards were slated for the same number slots in each set. Here is a look at the original versus the Heritage version:
Original 1962 ... 18 Manager's Dream (Mantle, Mays) 37 Tribe Hill Trio (Latman, Perry, Stigman) 72 Bob's Pupils (Boros, Scheffing, Wood) 127 Pride of the A's (Bauer, Lumpe, Siebern) 163 Hot Corner Guardians (Boyer, Gardner) 211 Midway Masters (Bolling, McMillan ) 263 The Right Pitch (Jay, Purkey, Turner) 306 Redbird Rippers (Jackson, McDaniel) 351 Braves' Backstops (Crandall, Torre) 401 AL & NL Homer Kings (Maris, Cepeda) 423 Rival League Relief Aces (Face, Wilhelm)
and now my take on what the Heritage might offer...
18 Manager's Dream (Mantle, Mays) 37 Tribe Hill (No offense to the Chief Wahoo fans out there, if there are any left, but Carmona, Masterson, Westbrook ...yikes!) 72 Bob's Pupils (original had pitching coach, but no "Bob" with current Tigers staff, so ... Leyland or PC Rick Knapp ... Verlander and Max Scherzer) 127 Pride of the A's (Suzuki, Matsui, DeJesus?? Not gonna lie, but oooooffffffffff!) 163 Hot Corner Guardians (Arod/Wright ... Original had two Yankees) 211 Midway Masters (original was Milwaukee Braves ... Alex Gonzalez and Uggla? ... maybe Brewers to tie into Milwaukee theme but then Betancourt and Weeks) 263 The Right Pitch (Dusty Baker or PC Bryan Price with Arroyo and Cuetto ... Travis Wood?) 306 Redbird Rippers (Wainright and Carpenter or Pujols and Holiday? Both good options but think Topps will stay true and do the two pitchers) 351 Braves' Backstops (McCann and David Ross) 401 TBD Combo (if Al/NL Homer Kings, Jose Bautista and Pujols) 423 Rival League Relief Aces (how about Mariano and Brian Wilson ... Soriano led the AL last year, but right now he is a set up guy for the Yanks. Other thought was Wilson and Neftali Feliz)
As a whole, the set make up looks like this:
500 Total Cards 425 Regular Player Cards 6 World Series Highlights 11 Combo Cards 4 League Leaders 24 Sporting News All-Stars 18 Team Cards 8 Rookie Parade 9 In Action Cards Babe Ruth
75 Short Printed High Number Cards
So there you have my take on this years Heritage. Topps never seems to fail on this product line, and don't think they will start this year. Right now, release date is tentatively March 17, 2011.
Okay, so I was watching MLB Network last night and they were showcasing the 1971 season. Turned out to be a fascinating show and this period certainly had it's characters and flair. So I thought, hhmmm, I am close to completing one icon set of the '70s (1975 Topps), why not go for the other one as well, the 1972 Topps. A set loved but some, but disliked by many, Granted I only have 60 or so cards toward the whopping 787 total.
So I am placing a call to you, the collectors out there. I am looking any and all your 1972 Topps baseball. If you want to trade me a lot of 1972's for an early 80's Topps set or 85 fleer set, I'll do it. If some want to trade hi #'s for 2010 Heritage SPs, I'll do it. I have a 2001 Topps Pujols rookie that could find a new home for a superstar from the '72 set. For other 1970's set collectors, I have a number of 1970-79 Topps stars and commons.
Throw me your offers and let's see if we can make some deals. Check out my Trade Archive on the right side, you can see I more than generous when it comes to trading.
