A little bit of help

 Chris from the Collector blog spotted a post of mine a couple of weeks ago asking for a start on the '86 Topps football set.  A day or 2 later, a TCDB trade popped up that netted me some help on a pair of sets.  Let's start with the '86 FB

What I love about this set is not only the design, is that I remember a lot of the names that I've been seeing on cards so far.  The big name on the first scan is of course Danny White of the Cowboys, the QB that took over America's Team when the legend Roger Staubach retired.  You may or may not remember that White also did the punting for the Cowboys for a decade, an interesting side job on a football field.

What I like about the set so far is the team cards.  Love seeing the action photos and then turning over the card and seeing the team leader stats, along with the full results from the '85 schedule.  Different, but still it works for me.  By the way, Gary Anderson had way too great a hair style for a football player in the 80's.  Looks as if he should have been on an episode of Miami Vice.

These 21 cards just about doubled my total; I now have 43 cards out of the 396 card set.  Still a long way to go, and I'd still like to see if I can get another nice chunk of cards to get the build going.  

Not only did Chris hit this set, he hit another one that I've been building for a while.  The 2009-10 O-Pee-Chee hockey set is becoming one of my favorites because a good portion of what I have so far has come via the trade route.

11 more cards to add bringing the total to 330 out of the original 600 card set.  I bought very little of this set when it first came out, so hitting this number is very satisfying because of the help I've received from the card community.  

Last up is a quartet of "random" cards, 1 each from 3 of my player collections, and Terry Ruskowski from the 81-82 OPC set.  Ruskowski is in great shape considering 81-82 is known for rough edges and poor cuts.  The Thome and Sundin cards fit into the "didn't I have that already" category, but thankfully I did not.  

A big thank you to Chris for putting a very nice dent into a couple of set want lists, especially the '86 Topps football which I'm excited about putting together.

Enjoy the hobby!

Robert

Sometimes you have to stop and think

The last week has left me a little stunned to say the least.

I'm currently 46 years old, and I've heard of the passing of 2 baseball players in the last 7 days that were not much older than I am.

Last Monday it was Bob Welch, 57 years old.  Dead of an apparent heart attack.  Owner of one of the best pitched seasons I've witnessed in my lifetime (27 wins in 1990 for the A's). 

Today, it was Mr. Padre, Tony Gwynn:

I was aware of Tony's cancer issues, but I wasn't aware that it had progressed to the point that it was going to take his life so soon.  54 years old.   Way too young.

Tony's passing made me think of my mortality today.  It also made me think of a conversation I had with my father this past December. 

My dad, God bless him, turned 70 at that time.  When I talked with him he told me that he planned to be on this Earth at least another decade.

Between that conversations, and the untimely passing of the gentlemen above, I realized that I don't have a plan for myself.  Yes, I know you can never predict how long you're going to live.  But you can have an idea of what should happen while you're here, and what will happen when you're gone. 

Yea, this is a little deeper than what you should be seeing on a baseball card blog.  Sometimes I just have to get things off of my chest.

And now that I've totally depressed the hell out of you, go and enter Red Cardboard's contest.  He's got some cool stuff up for grabs (personally I'm hoping for a shot at the gold parallels...imagine that!).

Thanks for reading, Robert

Short timers

In the department where I work, there is a fair bit of employee turnover.  We have some fun with the people that are leaving, either via promotion or moving on to another company.  We call them "short timers", much like a prisoner near the end of their sentence.

Leafing through the giant pair of piles of Jays cards that I have to sort through, I came across 4 cards of players who didn't spend a great deal of time in Toronto.  Short timers of a different sort.

Let's start with a sunset card, the 1986 Jeff Burroughs.

Jeff's final major league season was strictly as a DH.  He appeared in 86 games, hitting .257 with 6 homers.  Jeff finally got to appear in the post season during 1985, albeit for only AB, in a heartbreaking game 7 loss to the Royals.

I can't say that I honestly remember this (maybe I just don't want to remember), but Danny Darwin did spend a few months in a Jays uniform.

The Blue Jays signed Darwin in the 2nd week of April in 1995, and on July 18th of the same year, he was back on the market.  I'm guessing the 1-8 record, 7.62 ERA and 1.769 WHIP was the cause of that.   Hey, not everyone can pitch well in the Skydome...

How about a guy that spent parts of 2 seasons with the Jays, David Cone...

As opposed to Darwin, David Cone pitched quite well during his time in Toronto.   In '92, he was the "hired gun", being traded to the Jays at the end of August for Jeff Kent and a minor leaguer.  David had a 2.55 ERA in his 8 appearances in the regular season, then split a pair of decisions in the ALCS versus Oakland.   Cone also pitched twice in the '92 WS, recording a pair of no-decisions while struggling a bit with his control (8 walks in 10.1 innings).

Speaking of the '92 World Series run, here's another short timer that was a major player for that team, Dave Winfield.

Dave had a great '92 season in Toronto, finishing 5th in MVP balloting (hard to beat out Eckersley's 51 saves that year) with 26 HR and 108 RBI.  What Dave received that trumped everything else that year was redemption.   It was 11 years after his disappointing post season run in 1981, when George Steinbrenner labeled him "Mr. May".  His go ahead double in game 6 against Atlanta was the key hit that erased all the previous post season negativity, and gave him the World Series ring he so coveted.
The '92 season was his only one in Toronto.  Dave moved on to Minnesota for 2 seasons before finally finishing up with the Indians in 1995.

You just never know what you're going to get when you sign a player for a short period of time.  Sometimes you get great results, sometimes the results leave something to be desired.

I'd rather be the fan of a team that takes a chance on short timers, because it usually means that you're in the hunt come September.

And September is when we start seeing the best time of the year for baseball....right?

Thanks for reading, Robert

What's the easiest way to finish a set? Win a contest!

The prognosticator of prognosticators.  The seer of all things unseen.  I'll read your palms as well if you'd like.

OK, maybe all that was a little over the top, but it's not often that I get to say that I was right about something.

I managed to predict the winner of the Super Bowl 5 weeks before it happened.  I turned my ability to see into the future into a contest win over at CB's Collector's Crack blog.  (Note:  My head is swelling to a size that currently can't be measured by any type of device...be afraid)

If you click the link, you'll see the spoils of my contest win.  CB also sent me an email later, asking me what else I would like.  Jays were naturally the spoils that I wished for, and CB took care of me as I knew he would.

For tonight, I'll show you just 2 cards...the first is my 1st card from 2013 Topps that I received from another blogger, a Target red parallel of a Blue Jay from the "sea turtle" set (yes, I've read the post, and I can't get the sea turtle out of my head)

Honestly, I do like the design of the set, and the red parallels really do work.  Well, at least this one does, for me.

Now, I'm sure you're wondering how a set got finished?  Well, '86 Topps is in the books my friends, the final card was sent to me as part of the prize package...

The puzzled look of Chuck Cottier is now in my possession, and another set is in the books.  This set is pretty much an accomplishment of the blog world, because I never bought a pack, bought a single online or at a card show.  The entire set was accumulated via trades. 

By the way, I'm not sure if you read close enough, but the Colby Rasmus isn't my first Topps 2013 card.  I'll post that shame tomorrow...

CB, thank you for the contest, and the great prize package!!  All of the cards were fantastic and much appreciated!

thanks for reading, Robert

Disorganized? Yea, that's me

I am my own worst critic.  Hard on myself?  You better believe it.  I don't know why that was ingrained in me as a child, but when I make mistakes, the Scottish temper flares right up.

There's really no need for it, but it happens.   This evening is a prime example.  I opened an envelope that I received from Sportlots, and part of the package was these 5 cards.

If only Billy knew what was going to happen to him later in the year...

5 1986 Topps cards.  Getting that much closer to the set!!  Why is this bad?

I only needed 7 to finish the set before placing the order.  What the hell??

It's things like that piece of foolishness that make me wonder about myself sometimes.  There's no excuse for ordering 5 out of the 7 commons that I need to finish the damn set.  Come on man, get with the program. [EDIT:  turns out that I actually needed 8 commons...damn you Bobby Valentine]

The best part of the Sportlots fun from last week?  I ordered cards from five different sets that I've been building for various lengths of time.  Five...

Speaking of five, here's 5 cards that I ordered from the 01-02 Vintage set.

So blah of a design, and yet I love the damn set

Now, on the flip side of all this, I at least am proud of myself for one achievement (cheapness is always a thrill..)

I specifically shied away from these cards at the Expo last November, for the specific reason that the table I purchased the other 08/09 OPC commons from wanted 50 cents a card for these.  Sorry, I just couldn't bring myself to pay that kind of change for Patrice Bergeron and Jason Spezza.  18 cents apiece on Sportlots?  Yea, I can do that...

Finally, 33 more of the 2001 Fleer Tradition cards were bought off of Sportlots.  I'm probably suffering from a bit of buyer's remorse with this set, because I realize now that if I had taken the time and thought it through, this set is probably one that could have been set aside for more loftier goals.  Once I got below 100 cards to finish this set, it was a given that that the set needed to be finished. 

Even though I may regret the "overpayment" for the cards, the collector in me still loves this set.  I'm sure that the money spent on it will never be recouped, but in this case, the love of this set will outweigh that.  Just 53 more cards to go until completion.

That's one set I'll be happy to remove from the Fab Five list.   It's been there way longer than it should have been.

thanks for reading, Robert

My top 25 sets #25: 1986 Topps

Set:  1986 Topps
Number of cards in set:  792 (largest set in the countdown)
Affordability:  10.  If you can't afford this set, you shouldn't be collecting cards...
Key RCs:  Ozzie Guillen, Cecil Fielder, Harold Reynolds, Lenny Dykstra
Is the set built?: Close, as of writing this post I needed 36 cards

What I like about this set:  The set size for me was an allure, since I've always enjoyed putting together larger sets.  Also, there is something that is just so simplistic about this set design that made me want to collect it.  It isn't great by any stretch of the imagination, but so far since I returned to collecting the '86 Topps set is the only set from the '80s that I've wanted to collect.  I also like the tribute to Pete Rose by showing all the cards produced of him over the years.

This is likely a set that will fall off of the 2013 countdown when new sets come into play.  It was definitely good for a few posts this year.

Thanks for reading, Robert

The new math mixed with a bit of the past

I recently completed a trade with Ryan from "O" No!!! Another Orioles Blog.  From the package that I received from Ryan, I do believe that he is a purveyor of the new math, because when I was a kid...

12=81 would be an equation that would have been marked wrong on any of my math tests. 

For trading purposes, however, Ryan saw fit to make that equation work.  While I was able to knock a few cards from his '12 Series 2 want list, Ryan knocked a whole bunch of cards off of a couple of my lists, and threw in a few Chrome Blue Jays just for fun.

Ryan first sent me a bunch of '86 Topps, you know the set that the blogosphere is trying to prove to me that you can complete without ever having bought a pack of....

Some random cards from the stack....

Blue Jay fans will remember this pair, because back in the '85 season, Bell charged the mound and kicked  Kison after Kison hit him with a pitch.  George Bell was a helluva player for the Jays, but he was as loose a cannon as you were going to find on a baseball field. 

They say a picture is worth a 1,000 words.  How about a scan is worth 10,000 hits?

A Rose between two Hall of Famers

How about 3 more classic players from the 80's? 

Ozzie Smith hits that HR in '85 that prompts Jack Buck's call "Go crazy folks, go crazy".  Speaking of crazy, how about Reggie's relationship with Billy Martin in the 70's?  Or, maybe a crazy stat for you...Ron Guidry in 1983 pitched 21(!) complete games.  James Shields of the Rays last year pitched 11 complete games, which was the first time that a pitcher hit double digits for complete games since 1999 (Randy Johnson, 12 for Arizona).

To top it off, Ryan sent me a couple of GQ Variations + some Chrome Blue Jay goodness

The Chromes are an absolutely wicked temptation that I must resist this year in order to complete a still long laundry list of other sets that I have on the go.  I've only bought one rack pack for myself so far, and that's where it will stay.   The variation cards for GQ were unexpected but greatly appreciated.

Ryan, thank you very much for the trade, the great lot of cards are really more than expected, and of course very welcome as well.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Let's start the last week of year 1 with a simple trade post

I recently completed another trade with Charlie over at Lifetime Topps which netted me quite a few cards towards a couple of the many sets I have on the go.

First, I received 36 cards from a set that just seemed to disappear overnight from the blogosphere, the '12 GQ set.  I'll spare you from having to view all of them, but I thought you might like to see the retired players that came my way:

Charlie also had a ton of '86 Topps cards that he sent my way (was there a fire sale on 86's?  I seem to get these by the hundreds!!)  As I have lately on the blog, I'll have a little fun with a few of them now.

Let's start with the classic story of Rags to Riches:

I couldn't find a second Rich, so maybe Rags to Rich?

These next two guys could write their names backwards and still get it right:

No, palindromes are not medieval knights...

Dodgers fans of the late 70's / early 80's may want to turn their heads before looking at the next two cards:

Blasphemy?

Charlie also sent me my first two Gold Blue Jays from the 2012 set:

these cards just scan horribly in my opinion

Finally to finish the post off, people would say hello to this next guy by saying "bye-bye"

All or nothing for this guy...

Thank you for the trade Charlie, the cards were very much appreciated!

Thanks for reading, Robert

36 for 36. At least it started that way

I recently completed another trade (I've been a roll with them lately) with Mark at This Way to the Clubhouse who recently threw his hat into the blogosphere.  Mark sent me a quick email letting me know that he had 36 cards for my '86 Topps set that I seem to be acquiring exclusively through the trade market.

I responded that I had 36 cards for him for his 2012 Topps Series 2 set, and a trade was born.

Well, I thought 36 for 36 was a pretty good deal for me.  Mark decided to add in some '77s, some Blue Jays and some Maple Leafs (!) to the package, and blogger generosity strikes again.

First, I wanted to show a couple of Maple Leafs whose time in Toronto was too short.

Until I saw the Beaupre card, I had forgotten that he played in Toronto.  Sadly, his time in Toronto was not too splendid; it was actually the last hockey he would play in the NHL, 11 games over parts of 2 seasons, and the numbers weren't too good.  Peter Zezel played for 3 seasons in Toronto in the early 90's, and sadly passed away in 2009 at the age of 44. 

I only want to show you one of the Blue Jays cards, because it reminded me of an event that happened while this guy pitched for the Jays.

I would love to know what was said on the mound the night that Cito Gaston came to take out David Wells in Boston, and instead of Wells handing him the ball, Wells threw the ball away.  David marched to his own drummer for sure, which may explain why he played for 9 teams in his 21 year career. 

The '77s I received were a welcome surprise for sure...10 more closer to that set being completed...

It's always tough seeing those Expos cards, Montreal likely will never see pro ball again.

Now, onto the 86's.  I didn't want to show you all 36, but there were a few I thought should be mentioned.

First, Jesse Orosco.

I'm sure you all remember Jesse throwing his glove in the air when the Mets won the WS in 1986.  Can you imagine that glove hitting someone in the head?  Yikes!!  Even better though, I find a post on a Mets blog relating the story of who actually picked up Jesse's glove after that game.

Next, this guy might have had a household name, but he certainly wasn't a household name (if you know what I mean)

Selected in the 2nd round of the 76 draft, 49 spots in front of some guy named Rickey

Next up is Harold Reynolds giving us the "you can only take my picture when I'm ready pose"

7 figures for hugging a co-worker...hmm

This last card I really liked, Topps got this one right for sure. 

Did you know Russell's nickname was "Ropes"??

Usually on "leaders" cards you will see players represented that lead their team in one or more categories.  This card features Bill Russell, long time Dodger shortstop.  What I liked is the quote on the back

" Depicted on Front:  Bill Russell, Dean of the Dodgers, continuous service since June 15, 1970"

I love that.  Topps could have pictured Guerrero, Marshall, Valenzuela or Hershiser, but instead kind of made the card a tribute to a lifelong Dodger.  Awesome stuff.

Mark, thank you for the trade, the cards are much appreciated!

Thanks for reading, Robert

Stupid stuff

What I see more and more on posts is that guys (and gals) are just having fun with their posts.  We tend to forget after a while that collecting/blogging is not all about ripping on Topps (although that is a common theme for the '12 release), or some other great concern to come to mind at the current time.

It's about fun.  Once in a while, posting about nothing at all, and having fun with it.  Sometimes I have to remind myself of this when I'm sitting here watching the smoke rise from my skull as I try and think of something to write.

Sometimes, all I want to do is write stupid stuff on my blog, and laugh at myself while doing it.

That's right.   I said stupid stuff.

I wonder about stupid stuff I see on cards all the time, such as this one.

Did I miss something?

Please someone tell me when Manny appeared in an Oakland A's uniform?  Honestly, Manny wore the #1?  Maybe I'm not following as closely as I should be.

Or the pleasure I get when I see red parallels on my favorite blue and white teams.

Seeing Red...thank you Nick!!

Now from a company with a name like "Pacific", you'd think that I'd be able to dig up some blue parallels of my blue and white team....wrong again...

Red, white and blue, the hard way.  thank you Max!!

Sometimes my stupidity is pretty simple, I see a card and think that somebody may be getting high fived, or somebody may be getting slapped in the face.

Raise your hand, raise your hand.....if you're Sure!

I bet you all had no idea that when Joba Chamberlain went to Nebraska he was called "The Faceless Pitcher"?

Somebody tell me how this pic gets on a baseball card.

Can somebody tell me why every time I watch an Indians game and I hear this guys name I start singing "Oye Como Va".  (Or for you younger bloggers, Smooth)

The previous 3 cards were brought to you in part from a trade with PATP.  Thank you Brian!

Maybe it's wondering if Ryan Kalish is actually going to climb the other 29 feet (approximately) to get to the top of the Green Monster

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea thinking I could take a HR away"

Or wondering whether the sticker on a card received in the mail is the price someone paid for it, or if the sticker is actually an informal invoice.  The actual joke here is on me...I didn't notice the sparkle on the front of the card until I looked at this scan...seriously

PATP....autograph....what autograph??

Even piling on to another bloggers' posts could leave me "seeing red"

One of the many that Anthony sent me...thank you again!

Bet you're wishing you had the last 3 minutes of your life back don't you?

Or maybe I got lucky and some of my stupid stuff got a laugh out of you....

Thanks for reading, Robert

It's been over 25 years already?? Say it aint' so..

Bloggers my age will understand what I'm talking about here.  Have you ever opened a trade package in the mail, looked at the cards and said to yourself  "Oh my God I remember when..." then of course you can fill in the blank at the end of that sentence.

Well, a few days after receiving a great box of '86 Topps from Anthony at the Get the bat off your shoulder! blog, I took a good look at the cards today, and a flood of memories came to mind about a lot of the players in the box. 

I just couldn't believe it's been more than 25 years since:

Vince Coleman broke the rookie record for stolen bases in a season:

110 steals!!  Think we may ever see triple digits again?

It's been 25+ years since we had a guy by the name of Razor (and yes, Razor was his middle name)

Even better...his manager was Buck Rodgers (a character from science fiction for those of you who may not be familiar)

It's been 25+ years since Dave Kingman wore a porn mustache...

I can never recall Dave Kingman wearing a mustache...guess I was wrong

I wonder if Mookie Wilson knew that he was going to make history during the '86 World Series

I sure fire don't remember Tommy John pitching in the Bay Area....ever

LA, check.  Yankees, check.  Angels, check.  A's?? 

Finally, this guy 25+ years ago could have been considered Rickey Henderson's "wingman"

Fast, hit for power, and roamed center field in Oakland while Rickey was in left.  Why do I bring him up now?  Dwayne is the hitting coach in Toronto, and the team seems to resemble him quite a bit.  Can hit for power, strike out quite a bit, steal some bases and hit in the neighborhood of .250...

I could have easily scanned 50 of the cards and came up with little blurbs on a lot of them.  Names such as Charlie Leibrandt (Jays killer in '85), Nolan Ryan in an Astros uni, Lou Whitaker, Phil "Scrap Iron" Garner, Orel Hershiser, and the list goes on and on.

Oh, and the fact that I scanned three Oakland A's cards out of this massive pile is purely coincidental.

Anthony, thank you very much for the 86s!  They are much appreciated.

thanks for reading, Robert