Superstitious

This past weekend I began the semi-annual process of updating my closets for work.  Out went the short sleeved shirts, in went the long sleeves.  While doing that I came across my Maple Leafs jersey.  11 games into the season, and I hadn't even brought it out of the closet.  Shame on me.

So, with the Leafs battling the Penguins on Saturday night, on it went.  And after a slow start, the Leafs won 4-1.  Tuesday night, the Leafs were in Edmonton, and even though I wasn't able to watch the game, I listened to it while donning the same Leafs jersey.  A 4-0 win over the Oilers.

I felt a pattern was starting to develop, so I wore the jersey again yesterday while listening to the Leafs play in Calgary.  A 4-2 win over the Flames, and I'm starting to wonder if I should ever remove the jersey on game days.

Now you may think I'm becoming a bit superstitious, but that's far from the case.  I just want my team to win, and I'm doing what I think is necessary in order to aid that purpose.  I've never been one to believe in superstitions.  I have no qualms walking underneath ladders. I'll chase black cats that walk in my path. I stepped on all the cracks in the sidewalk when I was a kid. I have never worried about opening an umbrella indoors.  Break a mirror?  A necessary evil if you've ever seen this bloggers ugly mug...

I've never been afraid of the #13 either.  What's the big deal about the number anyways?  So what if there's 13 steps that lead up to the gallows?  Friday the 13th is just another day of the month on the calendar.  Yes, I know of the religious tones surrounding the #13, but I will not go there...

People worry too much about superstitions.  I wonder if Mats Sundin wore 13 just to spite everyone...

Look at the guy, defiantly wearing the number that many North American people are afraid of.  Look where it got him, 564 career goals, and probably one of the top 5 players to wear the blue and white (IMO).

Why did I show this particular card you may ask?  It is from the 1999-2000 MVP silver signature parallel set, a set that I am going to try and finish off next weekend when I hit the Expo in Toronto.  I've had a bit of trouble locating the last 6 cards I need to finish off the set recently, and I'm hoping that I'll get lucky up there.

Who knows?  Maybe one of you non-superstitious bloggers out there may have cards #'d 8,48,131,133,161,210, or any combination thereof to help a fellow blogger out.  Even if I'm not able to finish the set while I'm there, just the mere ability to walk around for 2 days surrounded by the incredible number of hockey cards, and collectors, will give me chills. 

Only 8 days to go....I can't wait.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Serial Insanity cards 1001-1005

67% complete.  Only 495 cards to go.  It still blows my mind each step that the set takes towards the 1500 card finish. 

I have 3 bloggers to thank for the cards in this post, one of them being Kevin at The Diamond King blog, who sent quite a few cards that will be featured in the next 3 posts.

Enjoy the next 5...

Card # 1001:  Sean Rodriguez

Serial Number:   1188
38th card out of 50 for the Rays

The 2010 season for Sean gave him his career bests in hits (86), runs batted in (40) and positions played (7).  Yep, he played every position in the field except for pitcher and catcher.  Sean hasn't played a lot of games over his career, but he hasn't made an error in any of the 3 outfield positions, or at first base.  For me, that's impressive...

Card # 1002:  Adam Wainwright

Serial Number:  1361
39th card out of 50 for the Cardinals

Numbers may not lie, but sometimes they don't always tell the true story.  Wainwright's postseason career numbers are as follows:  2.53 ERA, WHIP of 0.990, 10.1 K/9, 7.7 hits/9 and 6 HR in 67.2 innings.  Damn good numbers for a guy whose record in the postseason is 4-3.  That's what happens I guess when you face the best of the best....

Card # 1003:  Jose Castillo

Serial Number:  1144
34th card out of 50 for the Pirates

Another guy who plays multiple positions.  Has spent the past 4 seasons in Japan (2010-2011), and Mexico (2011-2013).    The Mexican league is agreeing with him for sure, his average has been well over .300 each of the 3 seasons he's played there, and he's hit 50 homers in 279 games.  At 32, maybe he'll get another shot at the bigs someday...

Card # 1004:  Jhonny Peralta

Serial Number:  1136
35th card out of 50 for the Indians

Interesting card, we don't even get to see Jhonny's face while sliding into home plate.  Did you know that there are seven other players that are property of big league clubs that spell their first name Jhonny?  Yes, just another piece of useless information that you can impress your friends with....OK maybe not.

Card # 1005:  Carlos Silva

Serial Number:  1127
30th card out of 50 for the Twins

I'm sure that Carlos was looking forward to the 2007 season, the year that this card is from, because 2006 was very forgettable.  11-15, 5.94 ERA, 1.542 WHIP and 38 HRs allowed.  Carlos finished his career with a .500 record at 70-70.

thanks for reading, Robert

An eclectic group of cards

When I pored over a great padded envelope of cards that came in to my mailbox yesterday from Nick over at the Dime Boxes blog, the word eclectic came to mind.

     eclectic:  adj.  deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources.

Now anyone that hunts through dime boxes to find his treasures certainly could be called eclectic, because the fodder for dime box hunts comes from a period where the card companies released a wide assortment of cards, some pleasing to the eye and some.....well.....

Let's have a little fun and look over some of that diversity, shall we?

Sorry Dave, no matter how badly this may go, we're going to go through with it anyhow....

Now here we have Devon White doing an advertisement for pine tar on the left.  On the right, we have Devon White doing an advertisement for a product that is nowhere near similar to pine tar.

The only non Blue Jay in the envelope was this card...

How could you not like a card featuring a play at the plate with the Kid?  Unlike hockey where the red white and blue is hated, the Expos were a team I found easy to cheer for when I was younger.  The team could hit, could run, and was young during the early 80's.  I can still hear Dave Van Horne and Duke Snider calling games on CBC on the weekend...

I was able to knock off one of the emerald cards from the Blue Jays team set for this year....

How about a Classic spelling error (a sign of the times in the junk wax era)

I before E applies in Dave's name as well.

Nick sent some shiny to appeal to the kid in me...

I actually read about a week or so ago an article online about what the Jays should get in return for Jose Reyes.  If the Jays trade him, it might be time for me to jump ship.  They haven't had a decent leadoff hitter in quite some time, and trading this guy would just set them back 10 years...

Finally, at least there was one Canadian in the envelope amidst all the Blue Jays

This is probably the only card that could feature Dave McKay exclusively as a 2nd baseman.  Dave played 140 games in '78 at 2nd, every other year of his career he split time between 2nd, short and 3rd.

Nick, thank you very much for the envelope, very much appreciated.

Note to self:  Find a word to describe cards in the future that is easier to type than eclectic.

Thanks for reading, Robert

Three

This post is the tale of two PWE's that I received in the mail today.  Why is the post called "three" you ask? Three cards were in those two envelopes.

One of the envelopes I was expecting to arrive, and it contained one card.  The other envelope was a pleasant surprise from a fellow blogger, and it contained two cards.

The first envelope was an eBay auction that I won last week for one of the remaining '75 Topps cards to complete my set, # 180 Joe Morgan.

I paid $3.99 + $1.99 shipping for the card.  For that price, the card arrived on my doorstep in a PWE, in a top loader with the front of the top loader taped to a piece of cardboard.  There wasn't a penny sleeve used, and everyone knows what happens to a card when it is placed in a top loader without a penny sleeve.  Tip it over, and it falls out.  The card was sticking about a quarter of the way out of the top loader when I opened the envelope.

Wonderful.

This is what I get for impulse buying.  Two of the five cards I bought on last Monday's buy-a-thon were minis, the third was the Morgan you see above, and the other two were actually in good shape when they arrived.  Not only did I learn my lesson about impulse buying, but I've also learned to look a lot more closely when I buy cards from eBay and make sure that shippers use bubble envelopes.  I understand that people are looking to save a buck wherever they can, but I'm sure that sellers that do well on eBay (and any other selling forum for that matter) do so because of repeat business.  I will not be a repeat customer for that seller.

Bitch fest over.  By the way, I'm down to three cards to complete the '75 set.  I hope to obtain those this weekend.

The other two cards that arrived in a PWE came from Pat over at the Hot Corner blog.  A pair of gold birds were found inside this unexpected pleasure...

I haven't heard anything regarding Ricky Romero and what his status will be for 2014 and beyond.  I imagine that the Jays are going to have to eat his salary for the next 2 years and buy him out after 2015 unless a miraculous turnaround occurs.

The Adam Wainwright on the right is another piece of the serial insanity puzzle.  One is better than none!
Thank you very much Pat for the unexpected PWE!!

I also received another dose of generosity today from another blogger, and that will get its own post tomorrow (hopefully).

Thanks for reading, Robert

1000 is a lot farther than I thought I would ever reach with the SNI project

Today's the day.  2 years ago I started this mission to find 1500 unique serial numbered cards, 50 for each major league franchise.

So far, I have 1000 of them listed on a spreadsheet.  It's been great having people hunt for cards to contribute to this set.  I think that's what makes me appreciate this project even more, the fact that it's been so well received (for the most part).

So without further adieu, here are cards 996-1000.

Card # 996:  Salvador Perez

Serial Number:  176
31st card out of 50 for the Royals

The Royals have got this guy locked up long term, and if he keeps progressing the way he has over his first 3 seasons, the $3.75M, $5M and $6M options for 2017-2019 are going to look like a steal for Kansas City. The blue Chrome refractors really do scan well, and it looks even better with the KC colors...

Card # 997:  Bobby Jenks

Serial Number:  1139
30th card out of 50 for the White Sox

Did a little digging to find out what happened with Jenks, only to find out that he's had a rough go of it since the end of his 2011 season.  Physical ailments (back surgery) and a DUI in March 2012 are the only notes I could find about him.  I hope that his life has improved over the past 18 months...

Card # 998:  Juan Gutierrez

Serial Number:  1163
32nd card out of 50 for the Diamondbacks

Half of the 26 HRs that JC has given up in his career were during the 2010 season.  2.1 HRs per 9 innings during that year is not a stat that anyone would want to have...

Card # 999:  Thomari Story-Harden

Serial Number:  1326
30th card out of 50 for the Dodgers

This is about as obscure a player as you're going to see in the SNI set.   Thomari never played above high A ball in the minors, and was out of the game by the age of 26.

Card # 1000:  Todd Wellemeyer

Serial Number:  1246
33rd card out of 50 for the Cubs

Now at least I've heard of Todd, who spent 8 seasons with 5 different clubs.  Todd had an interesting 2007 season.  He started on the western side of Missouri as a reliever with the Royals, and had an ERA over 10. The Cardinals picked him up off of waivers in May, turned him into a hybrid starter/reliever, and he pitched quite well in the eastern half of the state, with an ERA slightly above 3.

Just 500 more to go...the fun has only just begun with this insanity.

Thanks for reading, Robert

So I decided to go and buy some inserts...

Well, no not really.  I decided to buy some Topps Update today, and we all know that the packs are "insert driven".  There was a lot of the standard stuff in the packs, blue/green/gold parallels, chasing history inserts and the like.

There was however some new stuff inside.   The '71 minis would have been worth it if they had been inserted in the 1st and 2nd series instead of just in update.

Night and day I like these better than the '72s.  It would have been outside of the box for me to collect these if they had been released in series 1/2, due to my overall aversion to anything mini.  These 5 cards will be made available to the masses.

Another new insert is the Franchise Forerunners, a kind of "then and now" insert set.

I wonder if the Mets card could have featured someone a little bit older than David Wright as the forerunner. There were a few decent players in the Mets past as I recall.  But I don't get paid the big bucks to make those decisions, so oh well.   These are also available to the masses...

Any card with a knee to the side of the head/shoulder automatically becomes part of the top 5.  Didi Gregorius has got it going on with this card...

I wonder how Brandon Crawford felt after this...

Gregorius was one of 4 emeralds that I pulled.  I also snagged 2 golds, but neither of them fit into the SNI set, so they'll be offered as trade bait as well.

I also pulled a blue parallel of some guy who wears Mario Lemieux's number 66.  I've heard rumors that this guy is OK...

I'm sure that I'll need the base card of this guy as one of the final cards to put the Update set together.  Kind of like I needed the Buster Posey RC as the final card to finish my 2010 set.  So you Dodger bloggers out there, before you buy the 25th copy of this card for your collection, remember that this poor set collector is going to need one....

The manupatch paid homage to the 1965 All-Star game in the twin cities...

The Twins were well represented in the game, they had 5 position players + Mudcat Grant on the mound.  It was interesting to look at the rosters and see that only 8 pitchers were chosen for each league, a far cry from the bloated rosters that attend today's contests.

Standard stuff...you may now return to your regularly scheduled sporting event...

Thanks for reading, Robert