Another envelope of cardboard goodness

This post will get me caught up on all but one of the envelopes I've received lately.   This latest brown marvel came from none other than Greg of the Night Owl blog, and as always he doesn't disappoint. 

Knowing the love for anything blue that I possess, let's start with some Blue Jays.

The top row you could say is made up of 3 D's, Devon, the Duck and the Dog...OK maybe the younger Schofield wasn't known as "duck" like his father was.   That Schofield card is only the 2nd card of him in a Jays uniform that I remember having.  I may have to start a secondary Blue Jays collection one day, featuring Blue Jays wearing the red Canada Day uniforms.  The Josh Thole update card fits in nicely.

Two-Morrows!!  I've always wanted to make that joke.....

Moving on.

Bautista's on the left and Edwin's on the right

I kind of got a kick out of this scan....3 cards featuring 2 players, both of them having 1 and a half cards apiece.  If Encarnacion keeps hitting HRs the way he has the past 2 seasons (78 total) the $29 million over the next 3 years the Jays are paying him may be the biggest bargain in baseball.  Get a healthy Jose Bautista ahead of him in the order, and my trip to PNC park at the beginning of May to see these guys might be a fun one. 

How about a half a dozen Jim Thome's to add to my burgeoning collection of the slugger.

A great mix of base cards, I especially like the Topps Gallery card in the top center.   That particular set was something I enjoyed finishing up early on in my blog writing, and the Thome card was something I was surprised I didn't have, but am glad I now do.  The Bowman's Best in the lower left is a thicker card, and I like how it scanned with the background turning blue.  There were a couple of Dodger cards in the envelope, which I hope Greg didn't have too much trouble parting with.  You see the first one above, the 2nd one is below.

This Clayton Kershaw was a great surprise to find in the envelope, as Greg is a big Kershaw collector.  Even though the serial #, 1034, is one that I already have, I believe that I'm going to replace it with this card, for two reasons.  First, the card is from Greg (his blog is the reason I started blogging myself...), and 2nd the card I currently have in spot 1034 is from a mystery donation.  This donation from the Night Owl will be the 17th card (and 8th Dodger) that Greg has contributed to the SNI project.

As always Greg, thank you for the cards, they are very much appreciated!!

thanks for reading, Robert

70 percent complete

Another milestone for the serial insanity set, cards #1046-1050 are being posted tonight, which brings the set to the 70% point.

Doesn't appear as if I'll hit the 1100 card goal by the end of the year, but thanks to those out there who gave it the ol' college try!!

Enjoy the next 5:

Card # 1046:  Jon Gaston

Serial Number:  716
26th card out of 50 for the Astros

I'm sure that the incredible 2009 season he had in the California League had something to do with this 2010 Bowman Chrome card being produced.  139 games, 35 HR, 100 RBI and 114 runs scored is a great season no matter what level of baseball you're playing in.  Unfortunately at age 27 and having only reached AA so far, it's not looking good as far as making the bigs...

Card # 1047:  Jon Lester

Serial Number:  726
35th card out of 50 for the '13 World Series Champs

Two cards in a row of guys named 'Jon'.  This Jon has had a few seasons of big league success, and reached a milestone in 2013 by winning his 100th game.  5 out of his 6 seasons as a full time starter he's won 15 or more games....not too shabby.

Card # 1048:  Cole McCurry

Serial Number:  875
21st card out of 50 for the Orioles

2nd card in this post featuring a purple bordered 2010 Bowman Chrome card.  Cole has bounced back and forth in the minors between the rotation and the bullpen, but AAA he's spent all his time in the pen with less than stellar results.  Another prospect that may be running out of time at age 28, we'll see if he gets a shot this year with the Braves...

Card # 1049:  Marco Scutaro

Serial Number:  1301
32nd card out of 50 for the Giants

Immediately when I see this card I think of GCRL...a great double play shot (sorry Mr. Votto).  I wonder if Scutaro is going to be the next "ageless wonder".  The Giants signed him to a 3 year deal before the 2013 season which will take him to the ripe old age of 40.  A full season this year should see Marco hit the 1500 mark in both games played and hits for his career.

Card # 1050:  Alfonso Soriano

Serial Number:  399
34th card out of 50 for the north siders...

I had totally forgotten that Alfonso was traded for A-Rod.  Take a look at this post and see what you think of the comparison of that trade to a more modern deal, Brandon Phillips for Miguel Cabrera (if that were to happen).  It's hard to believe that Jon Hart also took on that much money ($67 million of Rodriguez's contract after he left was still paid by Texas) and lived to tell about it...

Thanks for reading, Robert

Dime box cards not from Nick

Anyone who is well acquainted with the card collecting blog world is well aware of the legendary Dime Boxes blog run by Nick.  Nick does a fantastic job of taking his treasure trove of finds and turning them into blogging gold.

But this time, I received cards from a dime box that weren't sent to me from the Midwest.

Another great trading partner, Max from the Starting Nine sent me an envelope last week that contained a dozen cards that found their way into his hands from a dime box excursion over Thanksgiving.

Needless to say, I have to show them off here...

How about we start with a sextet of outfielders.

Even though Dave Winfield only played 26 games in the outfield during the 1992 season in Toronto, I'll always think of him as an outfielder.  You could probably say that these 6 guys may be the best ever to play the outfield in a Jays uniform (you'll hear some arguments that Moseby and Devon White could be part of that 6...).   I got a kick out of the Shannon Stewart card on the bottom.  It's 3D, and instead of the player changing "positions", the background is actually what changes, going from a ball to a bat.  Can't say for sure if I've ever seen that, but for me it was still a pretty cool effect.

Let's move on to the infield, shall we?

Let's start on the mound, with two of the better pitchers the Jays have developed in their history, Key and Hentgen.  The third pitcher is someone I'd never heard of before today, Adam Meinershagen.  The 1994 Bowman card that features him was one of 7 cards that featured his likeness, and there were none after '94.  Meinershagen never made it past AA ball, and was out of the Jays system by age 23.

I like the effect that the scanner gave the Brett Lawrie refractor; the bluish tinge really showed well.  I remember buying some Fleer Game Time packs back in the day, but can't say whether I ever pulled any Blue Jays back then, so the Carlos Delgado card is a welcome addition.

Max knows my love of hockey and anything Maple Leaf, and this envelope didn't disappoint.   Check out the airbrushed greatness of Paul Harrison...

Topps got creative with this 78-79 card, as Harrison had been traded to the Leafs in the summer of '78 by the Minnesota North Stars for a 4th rd draft pick.  Harrison never did wear #35 for the Leafs, he switched to the #30 and kept that for the 2 seasons in the blue and white.  Even the mask that is in this photo was not worn by Harrison in Toronto, he switched to a completely different design after the trade.  Still a pretty cool card and one I'm glad to have in my collection.

A fabulous dozen cards Max, thank you for sending them my way!!  Much appreciated...

Thanks for reading, Robert

Eyes of a stranger

It's funny what will inspire a post.  I haven't written anything in the past 4 days.   I haven't even looked at my blog, that's how far removed I've been since last Thursday.

I've written 28 posts (including this one) since the beginning of November.  For someone that took pride in producing a post a day for the longest time, the past 6 weeks have been different.

I've taken time away from the blog.   I've had to.  I don't know if it's the stress of work that is getting to me, but for some reason this "peak" season is the worst for me of the 15 that I've endured in my career.  Evenings have been spent relaxing at home.  This past weekend I started my Xmas shopping, and again the blog was pushed to the side.  Even though I had received some great envelopes from fellow bloggers in the past week, I just wasn't motivated to get them posted for the world to see.

Then out of the blue, a song came on the satellite radio while at work today.  A song I probably haven't heard in over 20 years.  The song is also the title of this post...Eyes of a Stranger by the Payola$.  You'll see the music video (if you so desire) at the end of this post.  This is a song that I grew up with in the 80's, and unless you're a true 80's music buff, you probably never heard it south of the 49th parallel...

Naturally, with my personality, I've been obsessed with the damn song all day. I've bought it on iTunes and played it a couple of times already.  It also made sense to tie it into this post.

I've been so disengaged lately that I feel like I'm out of tune with the card collecting blogosphere.  Outside of a few comments I left last week on blogs, for most of the past 6 weeks I feel like I'm looking at your blogs with the eyes of a stranger. 

For some reason, hearing that song today has got my juices flowing again, as you can plainly see with this drivel that I've produced for you. 

I can even write about one card that I've received in the past week....

"Toronto starter outstanding again in losing effort".  Why in the hell then is there a picture of Alex Rios on the card?  The description on the back is about Dustin McGowan striking out 9 batters in 7 innings, only to have the Mariners win in the 9th inning 2-1.  I'm guessing the word "fail" would be appropriate here?

Anyhow, that's enough of my insanity.  Hopefully this will be the start of my return to being heard in the blogosphere, both here and on your blogs as well.  Eyes of a stranger no more...

Enjoy the video..

Thanks for reading, Robert