Unstuck, at least for one day

I haven't written a post on this blog in 10 days.   Largely because I haven't had any inspiration to do so.

Then I looked at the pile of cards to my left on my desk, and this card was on top of the pile.

Stadium Club gold parallel of Matt Duffy.  Nothing inspiring about that, right?   Well what created the inspiration for this post is what's on the padding just to his left on the photo.

Astros.com  

I've never been big on congratulating teams and their fan base when they celebrate championships, but I feel that I do owe a few words for the Astros and their fans.

First, I do want to say that I'm glad that the two best teams in baseball this year made it to the Series.  I honestly thought that the Dodgers were going to steamroll their way to a Series title, but as usual I was wrong (sorry to Greg, Oscar and the other Dodger bloggers, I probably jinxed it for you).

But one thing happened during the summer that really made me wonder about fans these days. 

The July 31st trade deadline came and went, and the Astros didn't make a significant trade to bolster their club.  The lynch mob rose in great numbers and wanted the management team run out of town.

Then at the end of August, the Astros pulled off the biggest coup of all.   They added Justin Verlander for 3 minor leagues.  Detroit is even going to pay $8 million of Justin's salary each of the next two years.  Verlander promptly goes 5-0 with a 1.06 ERA and a 0.647 WHIP in September, and then add in a 4-1 postseason and you may have one of the best acquisitions ever for a pennant/championship run.

The guy I was happiest for through all this was Jose Altuve....

I'm putting my vote in for Altuve as the best player in the game offensively over the past 4 years.

• .334 combined average with 845 hits
• averaging 39 steals a year
• 4 silver slugger awards
• Averages 156 games a year, so no DL stints 

Chicks may dig the long ball, but I get a charge out of guys who have 1250 hits in their first 6.5 seasons in MLB, play every day and do it in the relative obscurity that is the southeast coast of Texas.  If he's in Chicago, LA or NY, he's a rock star.

It's time to give this guy some love, seriously.

To the folks of Houston, after seeing what you went through with Hurricane Harvey, I am glad that your team won the Series.  But there are a lot of fans out there that should let the management team run things.

Looking at the season that the 'stros just had, I think they've got an idea what they're doing.

Just my opinion though....

Thanks for reading, Robert

Congrats to the Cubs, and a bit of blog "maintenance"

First off, congratulations are in order to all the Cubs fans out there, your patience has finally been rewarded!!

The Cubs winning their first World Series is good for me, as it moves my beloved Maple Leafs a little closer to the top 10 in terms of championship futility, which is approaching 50 years.  Why is that good you ask?  Well, the way I see it, teams that haven't won championships in 5 or 6 decades are trying a little harder these days to "right the wrong", and the Leafs are well on their way to doing that as well.

A good portion of the Cubs core is young, so they might be dominant for quite a while. 

The blog maintenance is something I've been poking around with for a couple of weeks now.   I've added a bunch of new want lists, and I'm migrating my hockey want lists over to this blog as well.

You'll see 3 tabs at the top, one is the long standing want list which is now the "Want Lists--Almost Complete" list.   It's relatively small, with just the '15 A&G set, '64 Topps, '73 Topps and the '11 Heritage sets being really close to completion.  Combined, those 4 sets need only 22 more cards.  I just might be able to wipe them out by the start of the New Year (yes, it's only 57 days away...).

There's also a couple of new lists, one is "Want Lists--well under way".  These are sets like '62 Topps, '68 Topps, '70 Topps and a few hockey sets that I've been working on for quite a while now.  Those lists are complete want lists, typed out painstakingly. 

Finally, I added a third page of want lists, the "Want Lists--Just starting out".  There are 11 sets that I eventually want to complete on there right now, such as

1980 Topps, of which I own just 32.

1982 Topps, I'm up to 44 of these including the Nolan Ryan you see there...

And 1967 Topps, one of the many vintage sets that I want to finish some day.  I have 88 cards from the '67 set, including the Mays/McCovey card you see which I bought at a show for a mere $5 a while back.  Lucky me....

Note, on the just starting out tab, the numbers on that want list are the cards that I own.  I did that because it was a helluva lot easier to type out a few numbers than want lists that were 500-600 numbers long.  Those sets I'm also going to try and follow Commish Bob's advice and find some larger "starter lots" to try and make things a bit easier.   Using this search on eBay I believe will help me out in the long run.  I just have to be patient and picky with what I buy.

If you have something on these lists that you think I might want, let me know.   Comments or emails are always welcome.

Thanks for reading, Robert

I'll never know how he did it

One of my favorite blogs when I first started out was the now retired 30-Year Old Cardboard.  The man was a writing machine, pumping out 4 or 5 posts a day.  It was a great read for me, and while thinking about my blog the other day (yes, I am still thinking about it) I thought to myself "how in the world did Brian have the time to write that many posts, while maintaining a career and a family".

I know that in the nearly 2.5 months I've been down in South Florida, the blog has been on my mind many times, but writing posts hasn't been a priority.  I've written 13 posts in the time I've been down here, largely because the weather has been so nice that I've found time just to be outside.  A lot of the evenings up north in my old neck of the woods, the temperature has been in the mid 40's, which is a perfect reason for me to be in the house, thumbing through my card collection and digging up ideas for posts.

I don't want to be a part time blogger, but it's tough in this new environment.   Yes, a lot of my collection is still up north and not accessible for ideas, but I still have enough down here to make a go of it. 

I just need to figure out how to do it.  I'm sure a big part of the reason the past few weeks was because of these guys.

Yes, ESPN and Fox Sports finally dusted off their passports and starting showing Jays games from north of the border.  So for about the past month I've been engrossed in the stretch run and playoffs for my Jays, which sadly ended yesterday.  Maybe because I will not have a vested interest in either of these teams during the World Series...

I'll have some more free time to write.  It is an intriguing match up; the best team in the AL (yes, I said it, because it's true) versus a NL team that is riding a really good run right now.  I would like for the Mets to win it, just to make the folks in KC panic wondering what they need to do to win it all.

But I don't think that will happen.  Kansas City in 6.  

In the meantime, it's time to figure out how Brian kept up with his unbelievable writing schedule.

Does anyone know if he ever finished his '75 Topps set?

Thanks for reading, Robert

Possibilities

It is great to be back and functioning again as a blogger.   You don't know how much I've missed being a part of the community for the past few months.  Between the move, and not having the necessary equipment after the move, posting has been virtually non-existent.

I'm hoping that this is going to change.   Honestly, I really want it to change.   I enjoy writing, and showing off cards that I've acquired either through trade or purchase.

My SNI project with all 1500 cards (when complete) gives me quite a large # of possibilities for posts.  I happened to be trolling through the first binder on Sunday and came across some potential World Series match ups.

Remember the I-70 series of 1985?   Blue Jays fans such as myself would rather forget it (Damn you Jim Sundberg), but there's a real possibility that it could happen again this year.   Losing Carlos Martinez is a big blow for the Cards, but with Adam Wainwright coming back (maybe?) you'd have to think that the Cards will be right there for the NL Pennant.

Fast forward 15 years and you have the subway series that sent New Yorkers into the stratosphere.  While this may not be quite as likely to happen this year, the postseason always brings about a surprise or 2, so this is definitely something that could happen.

A Pittsburgh-Toronto World Series is also a possibility, and if it were to happen, you probably wouldn't see or hear from me for up to 7 nights while my ass would be glued to a chair.  My lifelong fandom of the Blue Jays, coupled with my recent obsession with the small market Pirates and how they've built a contender from the ground up would only be strengthened with this match up.

Yes, there are other teams in the mix...Dodgers, Cubs and whoever survives the AL west to mention 3.

I just have this feeling that this postseason might be one of the most memorable ever.  There are a lot of strong teams in the mix right now, and choosing World Series participants may be more difficult this year than it has in recent memory.

Thanks for reading, Robert

At least I now have a reason to watch the World Series

A couple of hours ago I heard a very loud noise in my neighborhood.

It was the screams and shouts of a fan base that has suffered for nearly 3 decades.

The Kansas City Royals are in the fall classic.   And I couldn't be happier.

I have relatives on my wife's side of the family who are big Royals fans.   I can relate to what they've gone through as Royals fans (I'm a Maple Leafs fan, remember?).  29 years is a long time to wait for a playoff berth, let alone a chance for a championship. 

The Royals are a team I can get behind, largely because my NL allegiance has shifted to the Pirates over the past handful of seasons.  I've watched how the Pirates have built from within, and coached a lot of veteran pitchers who you could say were on the "scrap heap" into some brilliant pitching performances.  The Royals remind me of the Pirates, only with a slightly higher payroll.

Having a guy with the nickname Country Breakfast only helps to enhance my joy. 

Seeing how teams like the Royals can make it to the final dance gives me hope that other "small market" teams can shrink their payrolls and build winning ball clubs.  Kind of like Pittsburgh.  Oakland.   Minnesota was part of that group for a while, until the past couple of seasons. 

It doesn't matter who the Royals face in the Series.  They have my backing 100%.   Maybe even 110%, if that's possible.  I'd also love to see a repeat of the 1985 Series match up.  Why?  Because I'd love to see the Cardinals go down in flames to the Royals (and no, that's not a prediction).

Hey, the Royals even made a card I've had for 11 years relevant again!!

Who knows?   I might even switch allegiances if the Royals pull off a World Series win.

Everybody loves a winner, right?

Go Royals!!

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

1.69 ERA....really?

If you had told me a couple of months ago that Barry Zito would beat Justin Verlander in game 1 of the World Series, I would have called you mad....

It can't continue, can it?

thanks for reading, Robert