The wise one whittled away at my want lists

I was fortunate enough to catch a tweet earlier in the week from Greg at the Night Owl Cards blog, offering up some of his massive stack of Dodgers doubles.  I inquired about the availability of the 78-80 Topps portion of the doubles box, and during our twitter dialogue he informed me that an envelope was headed my way.

That envelope arrived last Thursday, and all the cards hit the Blue Jays want list, except for one solitary Dodger which knocked another number off the SNI list.

Let's take a look, shall we?

One of the earliest sets that I completed while writing this blog is the 2006 Topps set.  This was in large part due to a large donation from Greg.  Now, he finishes off the Blue Jays 2006 team set with these two cards:

On the back of Burnett's card, Topps mentioned that A.J. had the highest average fastball in MLB during 2005.  The 95.6 average is quite impressive, although I'm not too sure that I can remember the 104mph pitch that the back of the card claims he threw during that season.   I'm sure we would have heard more about it over the years with all the flame throwers that dominate the closer position now...

Greg sent a small sample of Panini needs my way.  It's kind of disappointing that Panini isn't able to secure a MLB license, because cards like the Hometown Heroes Shawn Green on the right would have been so much better with the Jays logo. 

Staying with the modern issues, this quintet of recent releases were all knocked off the want list.   The A&G Melky Cabrera is one of the 2 Blue Jay SPs.  The 2 opening day cards cut that list in half.  Drew Hutchison has become a part of the Jays rotation this year, and has pitched OK so far with a 7-9 record and a 4.44 ERA.   The Jays need to let him hit more, he's 2 for 3 so far this season!

Knock one more card of the serial insanity set.   Jon Garland is serial #'d 715, and is the 33rd Dodger card out of 50 for the set.  Just 355 more serial #'s to go.

Greg's note inside the envelope said there was a reminder of the good ol' days.  Sure enough these three 1992 Donruss cards did just that.   Greg Myers was actually traded during the 1992 season, right before the July 31st trade deadline in a deal that saw Mark Eichhorn return to the Jays.  Both Duane Ward and Mike Timlin were integral parts of the teams that won the '92 and '93 World Series.

Speaking of the 1992 season, included in the package was something I hadn't seen in a very long time.

A pocket schedule from the '92 season, in perfect condition! 

The one thing I got a kick out of when I read it was the note on the middle panel.   All games on CJCL Radio 1430.  With the Blue Jays having success in the previous seasons leading up to 1992, CJCL in Toronto realized there was a big opportunity to increase its listener base, and thus became Canada's first all sports radio channel.   The station eventually migrated to AM 590, where it sits today as "The Fan 590", which I still listen to for Leafs broadcasts, and anytime I'm able to head home for visits with family and friends.

All in all, a great package, and very much appreciated.  Thank you Greg!!

thanks for reading, Robert

Standouts

I mentioned in yesterday's post that there is always that one card in an envelope that stands out above the others.  The Bill Singer card was very cool and an unexpected pleasure from Max at the Starting Nine blog.

There were two other cards that also got my attention, and could have been the stand out card in many other envelopes.

First, a little purple for your Thursday evening?

I don't remember seeing any purple parallels anywhere in the blogosphere for the '14 Topps set, and then Jose Bautista makes his way to my door step.  I like it.  Great shot of Jose swinging for the fences, and the purple is nice and dark, which is much preferred to a lighter shade such as lilac (did I really just write that???)

This next card of Aaron Loup is really an arm bender.

Baseball is wondering why there are so many Tommy John surgeries?  Good God man, look at this photo, it just screams ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction.   Say that five times fast.

Max, thank you for the cards, they are greatly appreciated!!  As always, a fantastic envelope...

Now it's time to get prepped for the card show, because I'm actually going tomorrow night!!   An unexpected gift from my wife, who was willing to fore go our regular Friday night out so I can attend. 

Spoiled rotten...yes, I know.

Thank you for reading, Robert

I'm honored that Paul Molitor is thought of as a Blue Jay

(As promised, here is the third post about the cards that were sent to me by Alex at Chavez Ravining)

I'm sure that everyone has that moment when they open an envelope from a fellow blogger.  The anticipation of looking inside and seeing what goodies that your fellow man (or woman) has sent your way.  The thrill is even more intensified when you don't know what exactly you're getting.

You then open the envelope, leaf through the cards, and you get that moment where one card hits you and BAM!!  Damn...that's a great card!!

Mind you, in the envelope that Alex sent me, there was some pretty good stuff.   The serial #'d cards that you saw last night were just the start.

Let's start with some '93 Donruss, a six pack if you please:

OK, maybe not the greatest set ever produced, but for me this six pack is great because I need 6 fewer cards from this set.  The '93 Donruss base set want list is one of the biggest I have, so knocking that many off is great.

Outside of Topps base set releases from the past handful of years, I don't have a lot of parallels on the want list.  So when I get a couple more of them out of the blue, it's always great.

The Jose Reyes Finest refractor really scanned nicely, while the Rasmus X-fractor looks kind of blah.  Either way, both are quite welcome here in western PA.

Finally, this is the card that jumped right out at me.

Now I know what you're saying.  "Robert, you've said before that you don't care for unlicensed products".   This is true.  But this Red Prizm card of Paul Molitor just jumped out of the envelope for me.  Red always stands out, because that's just how red is.

I don't know about everybody out there in blog land, but for me, Molitor will always be thought of as a Brewer.  I still remember, and will never forget, during the 1993 season when Molitor returned to Milwaukee for the first time after signing with Toronto as a free agent.  I remember that a fan in the crowd had a sign that referenced "Judas", though I don't remember exactly what it said.

Harsh?  You betcha.  But it shows the pride that Brewers fans had in their players, and Molitor leaving certainly had to sting. 

Molitor had 15 great years in Milwaukee, and he also had 3 seasons in his home state of Minnesota.  Molitor recorded his 3000th hit as a member of the Twins.   Molitor's claim to fame in T.O. was being part of the World Series team in 1993.   Panini could have easily chosen to make this card about his career in Milwaukee or Minnesota and it wouldn't have bothered me in the least. 

Yes, I feel honored that Panini released this card and mentioned him as part of the Toronto baseball club.   Not that I'm a representative of the ball club, but it just feels good as a Jays fan to know that his time in Toronto wasn't an afterthought on his Hall of Fame career.  

Of course, the sarcastic ass in me has to point out that Paul never wore the #4 in Toronto.  He wore 19, because Alfredo Griffin had the 4 in 1993, and then Dick Schofield wore it for the Jays in 1994. 

Still, a great addition to the Jays collection.   Thank you Alex!!

thanks for reading, Robert

Heavy Metal

Before I get too deep into this post, I just wanted to give a shout out to the newest Blue Jays blogger on the block, Richard.   Richard sent me a great package of Blue Jays a few weeks back, and since then has started up his own blog, Toronto Blue Jays Collection.  

Richard, be warned, you'll be getting trade offers for Jays cards in no time!  Welcome to the blogosphere.

Now, on to our regularly scheduled trade post.  Brad, or "metalattorney" as the Red Sox Fan in Nebraska  blog lists him, worked out a small trade a few weeks ago.  I received his end of the deal today, and the goodies were great.

Let's start with a trio of '14 Wal Mart blues

This might the 4th or 5th copy I own of the Mark DeRosa card.  The novelty has already worn off.  I just read today that the Jays are considering Morrow in the 5th post.  Really?   I could see him as #3, behind Dickey and Buehrle.  I'm scratching my head trying to figure who else might be ahead of him.  I looked at the list of pitchers, and it's a mixed bag for sure.   I'm sure that those questions will be answered by the end of spring training.

Brad also sent me my first look at '14 Heritage:

 

The wife and I made a stop Saturday at the local Wal Mart, and they like many others around the blogosphere, did not have any on the racks.  Probably a good thing for me, as that reinforced my decision not to chase the set this year.

Don't get me wrong, it looks great!  Great mirror to the '65 set, the backs look great, and outside of the Rasmus photo, the cards look superb.  (Does Colby ever take a good picture?)  I'll just grab the Blue Jays team set from Heritage this year and be done with it. 

Finally, a couple of the Hometown Heroes cards from 2013 Panini found their way into the envelope.

I just took a better look at the Barfield card, and I'm wondering why they have him listed as Toronto while wearing Yankee gear.  The Jays never had anything black during his time in Toronto.  Oops

I'm wondering if EE is going to be able to keep up his power numbers.  78 HRs over the last 2 years isn't too shabby, and the batting average and walk numbers have both been respectable for a #4 hitter.  If Bautista stays healthy this season, I have a feeling that EE's numbers are going to climb even higher.

The best part about these 9 cards that came in?  They don't end up as part of a pile.  I finally got that giant pile of Jays cards on my desk sorted.  So these go right on the spreadsheet, and come off the Jays want list.   It's about time.....

Brad, thank you for the cards, they are very much appreciated!!

Thanks for reading, Robert