Duane Ward will agree

This card blows....

What's even worse, I think I'm seeing double now...

More cool stuff from the Nachos Grande group break to come.

Sorry I didn't give you a better post today, it just wasn't a good day for me.

Thanks for looking, Robert

A post that's full of bull

I've mentioned here and there during my ramblings that I enjoy nicknames.  I could probably even start writing posts just about the great nicknames that have been given to players over the years.  (Chicken man is one of my favorites...)

I'm sure that there are a lot of you that probably can think of other instances, but the only nickname that I can ever remember having been given to two different players is "Bull".

I may be reaching just a bit, since the current version of the nickname is owned by Pedro Alvarez, who is commonly referred to by the Spanish version of the name, El Toro.

Those of you out there who are my age (or near), may remember the other bull that tore the cover off of the ball back in the 70's and early 80's, Greg Luzinski.

I figured, what the hell, let's do a comparison between the bulls, and see how the modern version stacks up to the 70's version.

Alvarez has 4 full seasons in the bigs to date, so I'll use that for comparison purposes.  (NOTE:  I did not use the '70 & '71 seasons for Luzinski, as he was only on the Phillies for limited periods of time.)

                             Alvarez               Luzinski
Games                    470                     557
Average                .235                    .286
Doubles                   77                      108
Triples                       5                       13
HR                           86                       88
RBI                         268                     333
Strikeouts             565                     476
Walks                     166                     211
Slugging Pct.      .443                  .479

Alvarez's 2011 season was dampened by injuries, but the numbers are noticeably in favor of Luzinski, both in batting average (50 point difference), and strikeouts (Alvarez with 80 more in 400 fewer ABs)

Alvarez does have 2 consecutive 30+ HR seasons to his credit, while Luzinski has a season of 34 and one of 29.

Luzinski's 4th season garnered him enough votes to finish 2nd in the MVP race (behind Joe Morgan).  Both Luzinski and Alvarez had all star game appearances in their 4th season.

Alvarez appeared in the post season first (4th season), while Luzinski's Phillies appeared in the NLCS in his 5th season.

In another 4 years, it will be interesting to revisit this comparison, as Luzinski had a couple of great power seasons in his 6th and 7th years.  The way Alvarez's numbers have progressed the past two years, we just may see a 40+ HR season.  Pedro's batting average needs to increase and the strikeouts to decrease in order for the gap between these two bulls to decrease.

In my opinion, the 70's "Bull" is ahead so far.  It should be fun to watch El Toro over the next few years and I think over time the comparison between these two should even out some more.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Toning it down, or gearing it up?

Ever since the monthly card show 9 days ago, I haven't bought anything.  I've avoided hitting the big box stores for a quick fix.  What's on the shelves right now just doesn't interest me, and even when the Update series comes out later this week, I don't think I'm going to chase that right away.

I tried adding cards to my cart at Sportlots, but for some reason I didn't pull the trigger.  There are sets that I'm close to finishing, but I just couldn't be bothered chasing them.

I even signed up for the COMC.com website (finally) on the weekend, and started a cart.  But for some reason, I didn't bother checking out (bad play on words...). 

I guess after my splurge from the end of September to the card show, maybe I'm feeling a little guilty about my bout of overspending.  I really haven't kept to the "$30 a week" moniker for the last little while, and I'm wondering if that is weighing on me.

Whatever the case may be, acquiring new cards is not in the cards (again, bad play on words), at least for the foreseeable future.  I do know that come the 2nd weekend in November, I will be heading back home for my trek to Canada's largest hockey card show.

So for the next 3 to 4 weeks, my task will be cleaning up my desk (like I always say it is) and writing about the cards I currently have in my possession.  What that means is unless you, the great and the good of the blogosphere, send me some cardboard goodness, I will be relying on 2 things alone for posts.

1.  The Serial Insanity set (which goes without saying)
2.  My brains

Holy shit am I in trouble...

With only about 3-4 posts worth of cards remaining on my desk for the SNI set, I've got to rely on my brains for the remaining 20 + posts over the next 26 days.  And no, this is not me begging everyone out there to send me a crazy mass of brown envelopes or PWE's.

Although I would not be adverse to seeing a few more cards from this set land in my mailbox...

Beautiful, even with the CH on it.

Jim over at the GCRL blog sent me a couple of Leafs from the 71-72 OPC set a few weeks back, and I must say that I'm hooked on this set.  This Rejean Houle card came as part of a 17 card lot I won on eBay in September for less than $10 (including shipping), which included names such as Brad Park, Jean Ratelle and Norm Ullman. It appears that the card has spent some time in somebody's bike spokes...

The 71-72 OPC set is going to be somewhat similar to the '64 Topps baseball set that I'm putting together, expensive but attainable.  There are some expensive RCs in the set (Ken Dryden, Guy Lafleur and Marcel Dionne), the checklist cards go for a boatload of $$, and there are plenty of other HOFers that will command a pretty penny. 

With that in mind, it appears that I'm going to do my best to take it easy for the next few weeks, and save a little bit of cash so I am able to do some damage at the Expo.

Hard to say if I'm toning down my overspending from September, or just saving my money and getting geared up for November. 

LOL, let's see how long I can keep myself from reaching into my wallet.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Serial Insanity cards 981-985

A SNI Sunday 5 for your perusal.  These 5 bring the total to 985, and while the 1100 card plateau looks a little bit out of reach for the 2013 calendar year, the set will be hitting 1000 cards here shortly.

Have fun with the next 5!

Card # 981:  Greg Maddux

Serial Number:  1298
Team:  San Diego Padres, card # 38/50


Can you believe that this is the 1st Greg Maddux card in the set?  Out of all the great career statistics that this guy had, I still love the wins category stat that jumps out at me.  Seventeen straight seasons of 15 wins or more.  The new stat geeks can hate wins all they want, that stat for me is incredible. 

Card # 982:  Lance Berkman

Serial Number:  676
Team:  New York Yankees, card # 44/50

Any chance he gets one more shot in the bigs next year?  95 more hits to 2000 is the big milestone left for the Big Puma.  The move to 1st base probably added a few years to his career, and it didn't hurt that his career fielding percentage there is .994...

Card # 983:  Carlos Pena

Serial Number:  743
Team:  Tampa Bay Rays, card # 36/50

I need to hurry up and finish the Rays portion of this set before they move to Montreal.  I heard that rumor today on MLB network and shook my head.   Wouldn't that be going from one horrible stadium to another?  I keep thinking of the movie Moneyball when I hear this guys name now. 

Card # 984:  Jonathon Niese

Serial Number:  1431
Team:  New York Mets, card # 39/50

Niese and I share a birth date (October 27), although he's a couple of decades younger...the Mets have him locked up until 2016, with a club option for '17 and '18.  Numbers looked OK this year, gave up a career full season low of 10 HRs, but the WHIP ballooned to 1.441 this year...

Card # 985:  Carl Crawford

Serial Number:  1494
Team:  Tampa Bay Rays, card # 37/50

The one stat that kind of jumps out at you over the past two seasons is how much Carl's fielding has regressed.  .977 each of the past two seasons in left is far below his career fielding pct of .990, and with the stolen base numbers way down you can kind of see that his days of being a speedster are probably behind him.  Crappy scan by the way, card doesn't actually have that vertical stripe down his arms...

Thanks for reading, Robert

Still kicking it a decade later

I've had fun searching through the surprise envelope that Duff sent my way last week.  One of the big parts of the envelope was the tremendous stack of 2002-03 UD Vintage cards, nearly knocking off half of my 100+ card want list!!

I've looked through the cards a couple of times, largely because I've been taking my time putting them away.  One of the features that I like about the set is that it is 100% horizontal.  (it's probably why I keep looking at the cards.)

Also, it's been enjoyable to look at the players and bring back my memories of them playing in the league.  I found 5 cards of players who are actually still playing in the NHL, and thought I'd show them off in a post and see how they stack up a decade later.

Daniel Sedin has had a great career in Vancouver, but you wonder if that might come to an end after this season.  Daniel's 5 year contract expires at the end of this season, and at age 33 one wonders if the Canucks may go younger if the team doesn't succeed this year under John Tortorellla.

Daniel should hit the 300 goal and 800 point milestones some time this year, and barring injuries should see his 1000th NHL game sometime in 2014-15.

There was a time a few years back when I really felt bad for Marian Hossa.  One of the NHL's great talents was wasting away in Atlanta, then was traded to Pittsburgh only to lose in the Stanley Cup finals to the Red Wings.  Marian signed a 1 year deal in that off-season with the Wings, hoping to win a Cup, only to be defeated by the Penguins the next season in the final. 

The Blackhawks came calling with a mega contract, and Marian finally got to hoist Lord Stanley's bowl in the 09-10 season.   With some luck, Hossa should hit the 1000 point mark this year (he needs 65 more), and it probably will take 2-3 seasons to get the 65 goals he needs to hit 500.  Hall of Fame bound?

There's no question about whether Jaromir Jagr will see the Hall of Fame, as he'll be a first ballot inductee for sure (IMO).  Sitting here thinking about him, I actually like the guy more now than I did 20 years ago.  Jagr reminds me of the classic grizzled veteran, a hired gun to help lead a team to the Cup. 

Currently sitting 8th in the all time scoring race, the next player that he may pass (depending on injuries/father time etc.) is #66 himself, Mario Lemieux.  Jagr should hit the 1700 point mark (he needs 7), and hopefully the 700 goal mark (he needs 17).  Just imagine where he could be on the all time scoring list if he hadn't played for 3 years in the KHL...

Remember the craziness a couple of off seasons ago when this guy became a free agent?  Brian Burke was criticized for not being able to lure Richards to Toronto, and yet now it looks as if he dodged a bullet. I'm sure that the 9 years/$60 million was more than Burke wanted to pay anyhow.

Maybe that reasoning will change now that Alain Vigneault is the coach in the Big Apple.  3 goals in 4 games so far this season is a pretty good start.  Richards will hit the 1000 game mark sometime early in the 2014-15 season, and is 81 points away from 900 for his career.

I've always enjoyed great nicknames.  "Jovo-Cop" is one of my all time favorite nicknames, and this guy has surely lived up to it during his long career.  While the Stanley Cup has eluded his grasp (he has only played in one final series, as a teenager in 95-96), it can surely be said that his career has been solid, if not spectacular.


Ed hit the 1000 game mark during the 2010-11 season, and is only 5 points away from 500.  I'm sure that the Panthers are eagerly awaiting his return from injury, as they gave up 7 goals twice in a row earlier this week.

There were other players in the pile that are still playing, such as Danny Briere, Mike Fisher, Olli Jokinen and Dany Heatley. 

Maybe seeing all these names and taking a stroll through memory lane is part of the reason why I never gave up on older sets such as these. 

Thanks for reading, Robert