Love Child Error?

Was there a horrid union that I didn't hear about from these two bloggers?

Image lifted from a Captain Morgan advertisement video.

Cards from Mar(c)k

So, there's this collector down in Florida. He goes by the name of The Collective Troll. His real name is Marck. That can't be a real name. Note the superfluous C.

Anyhow, I tracked down and sent him some Topps Giants cards so that I could enter his Packs Gone Wild wax bust-a-thon. Then I won some random drawing contest.

Last week he sent me my package. The contest winning was this Steve Garvey bat card. I like the spirograph/money look of the Sweet Spot Classic.

The Claude Raymond was part of my claiming the Expos/Nationals as my team of pull. I don't think that this card was recently pulled from a wax pack. Note the big hunk of tape.

The signed Marilyn Jones card must have been thrown in for pity. What with me not having a C in my name. I'm not sure what series that card is from. Larry Fritsch Cards did three series with an update. I'm assuming that it is from Series 1.

2002 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Classics, Game Used Bats, Steve Garvey (card # B-SG)

1971 Topps, Claude Raymond (card #536)

1995 Larry Fritsch, All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, Marilyn Jones (card #96)

Thanks, Troll. I've got a post brewing with the other Expos/Nats cards you sent. Wait for it. Wait for it.

Loot from Topps

Last week I started to follow ToppsCards on Twitter. They share some hobby info and offer the chance to win the giveaway of the day. I retweeted and won.

What did I win? Well, it is a 2000 Bowman Best, Locker Room Collection, Carlos Beltran Autographed card.

Yeah, I lifted the image from their site. The card hasn't found my mailbox yet. It will, but I only won it last week. The number of the card should be LRCA-1. I'll verify it when the card arrives.

Being a responsible winner and a kind blogger, I've taken myself out of the Topps Giveaways for the next month. I've been winning a few things lately and it is only fair that others have the opportunity.

The Topps Blog recently hosted a State of the Hobby roundtable with various bloggers. Go and read what they said.

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

So, there you go. I got a nice card and they got some nice press. No scratch it a bit lower. Thanks.

Misc.

So, I watched a little baseball tonight. And a little Baseball Tonight.

Braves-Rockies. Nice job, Ubaldo Jimenez. And what a pitching duel in the Mets-Cardinals game. 19 pitchers? Wow, that was ugly.

And now a couple of baseball / food related items. At the grocery store the other night I picked up a pack of tortillas. And there was a sticker on the package promoting a new movie. The Perfect Game.

Looks like it is worth watching.

The other food item is a sweepstakes from Fritos. The chip people.

They are working with Minor League Baseball in a promotion where the winner will be a Minor League Baseball GM for a weekend. I'll be entering.

The VP of sales where I work and I share an interest in sports. We've often said that if either of us win the lottery (slim chance, since we both don't play) that we'll buy a single A team and run it. We think that it would be fun. We also talked about forming a barnstorming team with guys like Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Frank Thomas, and Barry Larkin. Not the actual players, but guys with the same name. It would look good on the poster. And we'd be run out of town before any of the games got started.

I've been watching my mailbox rather closely this week. I was informed by Mr. "I've got a C stuck in my first name and I don't know how to clear it" Troll that a package was headed my way. It arrived today. Scans and post later.

I also thought that I would have received Robert Edward Auction catalog. The auction ends on May 1. I just requested a catalog this evening.

ToppsCards, on Twitter, has been giving away cards. Follow them or retweet their daily giveaway and you might win. I did. Again, scan and post later.

Daniel Schlereth update. He's gotten to see some action for the Toledo Mudhens, but could be a bit better. 6.1 Innings Pitched in 4 games. He picked up 1 Loss and a 1.42 ERA. His WHIP is 1.89. I'm still hoping that he gets called up to Detroit.

I won an auction on ebay. I've been looking at this card for a few weeks and was able to get it for less than my high bid. Again, scans and blog post after it arrives. Hint. The card is as old as my dad.

I haven't been out looking at other blogs too close. But I did get out and enjoy the weather a bit today while running errands.

So there's a bit of a wrap up. Another few days, another blog post.

Blog Bat Around

What is this? BBA#18? Actually, I think this is either 7 or 8. I can't keep up with them. I've participated in four of them.

Here's my fifth. Gellman, over at Sports Cards Uncensored, asked us to participate. Basically, the premise is: Ebay Shopping Spree Time.

What can I buy for $50,000 in 15 minutes? Hmmm. Let's see. I'll use round numbers. Nearest hundred of the price when I found it. To make this easy I won't include any S&H fees.

When I went into this BBA, I had only looked at one other blog post on this subject. I didn't want to taint my decisions. How many big ticket items can there be on Ebay? Lots.

So, what would I be looking for? First thing, something that I'd really want to own, not just because it is expensive. Sure, I could get an A-Rod bat and blow $14,000 in one auction. But, I really don't want an A-Rod bat. He's good and all, but it doesn't do anything for me.

I started to poke around and look at some other bats, maybe a jersey from the older guys. Nope. Where would I put it? They're nice to look at in a museum, but not for me.

1948-49 Leaf #8 Leroy "Satchel" Paige RC SGC 50+
$9,500

In last years' REA Auction, this card (PSA 7 NM) went for $14,000. $9,500 seems like a good deal. A classic card that doesn't get enough recognition. I'd take this over a Mantle rookie any day of the week. Twice on Sundays.

1910-11 T3 Turkey Red - Ty Cobb - SGC-50
$13,000

I'm a sucker for T3s. The originals. Oh, the ones that Topps puts out now are nice and cute, but there's something about these oversized works of art. One thing that I've always heard in collecting is "Buy the best you can afford. Quality matters." Yes, it does. When I'm spending my own money I tend to ignore that. But this isn't my money.

1911 T3 Turkey Red Walter Johnson PSA EX 5
$7,500

Another T3. Walter Johnson. Really what more needs to be said?

1910-11 T3 Turkey Red #27 Christy Mathewson SGC 30
$5,000

This one is a slightly lower grade, but it still looks nice. I'm not a fan of graded cards, what with them being in their plastic coffins and all, but if I'm going to drop this sort of money on a card, I'd want it graded and slabbed. I'm not sure the best way to display these. Probably framed.

1933 Sport Kings Red Grange #4 PSA 8 HOF Football
$6,000

Red Grange. Yes, I'm mixing it up, but who doesn't like Red Grange? Another classic card.

1887 N172 Old Judge Fido Baldwin Chicago SGC 88
$5,000

I've always wanted an Old Judge card. I don't know Fido Baldwin. I think that he's one of the Baldwin Brothers. Alec, Daniel, William, Stephen, and Fido. Sort of like the Marx Brothers.

1923 V117 Maple Crispette #8 Babe Ruth PSA 1 Yankees
$3,000
One can't go wrong with Babe Ruth. The manufacturer is just the icing on the cake. Maple Crispette? To die for.

BABE RUTH Yankees 1922 Amer. Caramel E121 SGC 1.5
$1,000

I had to spend a bit of time tracking this down. I was left with a grand on my open tab. Yeah, another Ruth.

So, if I did my math correctly, I've come in at around $50,000. I also realized that I went about 30 minutes over my 15 minutes of time. Oops.

A Pleasant Surprise

So I get to work this morning and what do I find in my office?


A coworker/buddy of mine likes to hit up garage sales. Over the weekend he found this. It used to hang in a sports bar. He told me what he paid for it. I offered to give him that and another 20 % fee for his troubles.

I walked away with a 32" x 25" signed poster of Orel Hershiser hawking Mitre athletic shoes for $2.00. Not too shabby.

I'm going to change my name to Hugh Roy.

My Entry For Punk Rock Paint's Contest

I thought that I'd give the contest that Travis is having over at Punk Rock Paint. History tells me that I shouldn't, as I'm still patiently waiting for my last contest winnings from that ne'er-do-well.

The basic premise of the contest is that Travis has presented 14 cards and the entrants are to put them in order. He has defined cards #1 and #14. We get to try and figure out a method to his madness. If you don't want to scroll down to the end, let me cut to the punchline.

There is no method.

But, I'll do what I can.

Card #1 - Mick Jagger

Clearly this card set is about the Rolling Stones. Why not start with Mick? Well, it was already predetermined. Most of the cards relate directly to an event or an individual, so I'm listing them chronologically. Makes sense to me.

Card #2 (g.)

Robert C. Moore wrote a book about Niagara Falls. The Stone House Diaries. Reviewers have said, "Robert Moore's story is woven into the rich and beautiful landscape that is Niagara." The novel reaches back a few centuries. For a moment, I thought that Travis was going green and this was a reference to the Stones' long time drummer. Niagara Falls > Hydroelectric > Bajillions of watts > Charlie Watts. Yeah, a bit of a stretch, but this is where I'm starting off. It doesn't get any better than this.

Card #3 (i.)

Memphis Sounds. There's only a few sounds from Memphis. Elvis. Bits of pork being slurped off ribs. And the Stax Records house band (most notably: Cropper, Dunn, and Jackson). But this isn't about them. This card set is about the Stones. The Stones played Memphis, Tennessee in 1963. It shows up on the Beat, Beat, Beat at the Beeb release.

Card #4 (j.)

1963 also brought about the Canadian television show, The Forest Rangers. They had an episode called, "The Rolling Stones".

This was another tricky one. Chuck Leavell, keyboardist for the Stones "feels the harmony between himself and the American forest". This is from some interview. Tree hugger.

Card #5 (h.)

Another stumper. What does Chris Snee have to do with the Stones? One of Chris's nicknames is "The Crocodile". Work with me here. Mick Taylor played guitar with the Stones from 1969 to 1974-ish. Before that Mick worked with John Mayall. John Mayall had a 1964 single called Crocodile Walk. Isn't wikipedia great?

Card #6 (b.)

Staying on the nicknames... Big Mac. Man of Steroids. Nope, I got nothing. It isn't the player, it is the city that hosts the team. One of the more legendary bootlegs of all time is the Stones' LIVEr Than You'll Ever Be. And where was it recorded? Oakland. November of 1969.

Card #7 (e.)

Could this be a reference to a song title? Angel of the Morning? No, that's Juice Newton. Angel? Pearl Jam. The other Angel song? Jimi Hendrix. What about the Stones's songs, Sweet Black Angel and Angel in my Heart? Probably not. I'll go with the Hell's Angels, reported to be security for the Stones at the Altamont Music Festival in December of 1969.

Card #8 (c.)

This is an interesting one. According to the wiki page for Billy North... "However, on September 20, in a loss to the Minnesota Twins, North tripped over first base; the resulting ankle sprain not only cost him the American League stolen base title (his 53 steals placed him second, only one behind Tommy Harper), it also sidelined him for the remainder of the season and cost him the chance to play in the post-season."

"tripped over first base". This can only be a reference to the 1976 film, The Man Who Fell To Earth. Or more specifically, David Bowie. Travis must be pointing to that (alleged) special relationship that Mick and David shared in the early 1970s.

Card #9 (d.)

Another Chris Snee card. That means another nick name. We'll go with Baby Daddy. No, I don't know how he got that one. But, in the Stones's 1976 song, Fool To Cry, we find these lyrics...

Daddy you're a fool to cry
Oh, I love you so much baby
Daddy you're a fool to cry

Card #10 (l.)

Earl Gros. Played for Green Bay, New Orleans. Pittsburgh. Philadelphia. Almost sounds like part of Dancing in the Streets, but I've used up my David Bowie quotient today.

The Stones played six shows at Earls Court Arena in May on their tour of Europe in 1976.

See, we're up into the mid 70's. Slight clouds overnight. Might want to wear a coat to work in the morning.

Card #11 (a)

Wayne Rollins was called The Basketball Kid. No connection. But, his uncle, Sonny Rollins, played sax on Waiting on a Friend from the album, Tattoo You. 1981. Works for me.

Card #12 (f.)

Another nickname. Hands of Stone. At first, I thought that it was a reference to The Boxer. Garfunkel wanted to have the song done as a bluesy rock ballad, with the Stones backing instrumentally. Simon would have nothing to do with it. This bitter disagreement led to their break up. Fortunately they patched things up long enough to do the Concert in Central Park.

This card does not need to be chronologically entered as it is a special insert card.

Card #13 (k.)

A Rolling Stone gathers no Moss. Another insert card. Enough said.

Card #14 - Piece of History: Email

I don't need to justify the order of this card, as Travis predestined it.

Whew.

Sorry I wasted your time with this one.

Dave Winfield Bat Card

2002 Topps American Pie, Through the Years, Dave Winfield (card #TTY-DW)

I picked this up a few months ago from Eddie, over at Sports Treasures. They are one of the local card shops in town. The one with the widest selection. And friendliest staffs. The store is on the north side of town, so I don't get there as often as I'd like, but when I do, it is a treat.

This is card came from the $5 case. I had done some website work on spec for Eddie. He didn't use it, but I think felt sorry for me and offered me the card. For free. I can't thank him enough, although I tried.

Well, normally I give a write up about the player featured on the card. You know, he played in 12 All-Star games in his 22 season career. He also won a mess of Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards. That sort of stuff.

Right now I'm tired, so I'll just point you over to Dave Winfield's baseball-reference.com page.

If you don't want to go over there, here's the tag...

He finally won a World Series ring with the Blue Jays in 1992.

Thanks, Eddie.

Another ebay purchase

Here's another card I picked up on ebay. No, I don't have it in my sweaty, little hands yet.

2009 Topps T206, Framed Mini Auto - Daniel Schlereth

I snagged it for $0.99, plus $3.50 shipping.

I was too late to add this to the Dinged Corners' Scouting Baseball Cards post. I guess I can always be an addendum.

Last season he went 1-4, with a 5.89 ERA while seeing action in 21 games with the Diamondbacks. He made it to Detroit in a trade that is too confusing for me to understand. Just last month young Mr. Schlereth was optioned to AAA Toledo. He's made the opening day roster. He'll probably be a mid-reliever and hopefully will make it back to Detroit soon.

On Thursday the Mud Hens will face the Louisville Bats. Opening day action for the Mud Hens.

He's the son of former NLF player and current ESPN commentator Mark Schlereth. Some might know Mark Schlereth as "Stink" on the Mike and Mike radio/tv show.

Reckless Discounts

I found this ad in a 1884 issue of the Ogdensburg Journal. I love the language it uses.

It also had a few stories about local base ball teams, which was my primary reason for searching it out.


The Ottawa base ball team, says the Ottawa Sun, will meet the Ogdenburg Pastimes next week.


The game of ball at Potsdam, Friday, between the Frontiers of that village and the Pastimes of this city, was won by the Frontiers -- score, 18 to 6.

Then they took a story from The Palladium (Franklin county newspaper)...

There will be a game of base ball for the championship of Northern New York on the fair grounds, in this village, on Monday afternoon next, beginning at one o'clock, between the Franklins, of Malone, and the Beverwycks, of Rouses Point. The clubs are said to be evenly matched, and a fine game is expected. Admission to grounds, 25c; boys, 10c.

Happiest moment of your life?

An interview with Buck O'Neill was published in the June 2006 edition of Baseball Digest. I've transcribed just one question and answer from that.

Q: Happiest moment of your life?

O'Neil: Oh man, there are so many. People ask me, "Buck what was your greatest day in baseball?" And that was Easter Sunday, 1943, Memphis, Tennessee. First time up, I doubled. Next time up, I singled. Next time up, I hit the ball over the left-field fence. Next time, I hit it to the left field and it looked like it was going out of the ballpark and, as I was going to first base, I was saying, "Hit the fence!" And it did. Bounced back between the center fielder and the left fielder and I get to third base, and the coach waves me in for an inside-the-park home run. But I stopped at third. I wanted that triple. I hit for the cycle.

Then that night, I was at the hotel, relaxing, and William Dismukes, who was our traveling secretary, was in the restaurant having dinner. He called me down and said, "Buck, got some people I want you to meet." The man that rant the restaurant in the hotel, his wife was a school teacher. And she had invited some young school teachers over to meet the ballplayers. And when I got downstairs, the table was right in front of the door, and I looked at this young woman, walked straight to her, told her my name was Buck O'Neil. We were married for 51 years. So I met my wife and hit for the cycle on Easter Sunday, 1943. One of the happiest days of my life.

Mark's notes on Buck's answer:

Easter Sunday, in 1943, was on April 25th.

In 1943, Buck was playing with the Kansas City Monarchs.

The young woman he spoke with was Ora Lee Owen. They were married in 1946.

Image shamelessly lifted from Christianarchy.

Happy Easter

I try to keep this blog free of a few topics. Politics and religion. I try not to offend anyone. I try.

In light of that, here's a generic card for today...

2007 Bowman Chrome Gold Refractor, Taylor Holiday (card #BDPP24)

But, today is more than a holiday to me. It is a celebration of the Resurrection.

We'll leave it at that.

New Card from ebay and Follow Up

I did some side work on a friend's PC. Got it unfargled. To thank me, he presented me with a $25 ebay gift card. Nice friend. I would have done it for a Snickers bar and a can of Coke.

Here's one thing I bought with it...

2002 Upper Deck, Diamond Connection, Bat Around Game-Used Bats,
Magglio Ordonez, Tim Salmon, Shawn Green, Bobby Abreu (card #BA-OSGA)

Care to guess how much it cost? Go ahead. This will be fun. Price down at the bottom of the post.

I'm working on a few more auctions, but I've been outbid. Yes, I'm cheap.

Now for the follow up. I wasn't really mad at Dan for hosting a fake contest. A good friend and I have a tradition of not pulling pranks or telling jokes on April first. People expect us to, so the joke is on them. I did it on the second. I still read his blog and have added it to my blog roll. I was suckered in by his convincing style and am man enough to say that I was taken in and hoodwinked. Thanks, Dan.

For those of you still wondering about the price of the above card... $0.85. Twenty-one cents per bat sliver. Well, add in the $3.00 S&H. I actually wasn't going after this card as a primary purchase. I was going after a Daniel Schlereth auto card. This was from the same seller and I thought I could get a bargain and combined shipping. I didn't get that auto card. I did, get another one. A better one. One for another post.

I've Been Had

Dan, over at Grand Cards, held a contest yesterday.

I signed up for it. To enter, you had to look at his Granderson card collection, follow his blog, and post a comment about your favorite Granderson card.

I've been following Dan's blog for about a year. For a while, I even became his unofficial (and unasked) editor. Since then he's learned how to spell and some proper grammar. I haven't had to step in lately.

Well, the contest was a sham. A prank. And I, among others, became the fools. How could this fellow blogger, one who has accepted cards that I sent to him, sunk to such dejavascript:void(0)pths? Is this what the blogosphere has come to? Is the now the new face of the brotherhood (and sisterhood) of sports card bloggers?

I am ashamed to have fallen for such skulduggery. I'm even more ashamed that one such as Dan would pull such a stunt.

As of now, I'm removing Grand Cards from my Blogs I Like To Read blog roll.

Dan, it has been fun, but you pushed it too far. I wish you well. I hope the Tigers do better.

Grand Cards Giveaway Contest

Dan, over at Grand Cards, is having a random generated contest.

Yep, he's gone CooCoo for Granderson. Trying to clean the dust and cobwebs from his attic.

There's only a few hours left to join. Be a dear and do so. Okay?