More updates

Let's see. It has been days since I've added a new post. What to talk about?

My folks are in town. My dad and I were going to go see the Tennessee Smokies for a day game, but the trial got in the way. Currently the Smokies are leading the Southern League (AA) with a record of 18-8.

It was announced that Cat Osterman and Megan Willis have been traded to the USSSA Pride of Orlando, Florida. In exchanged, the Tennessee Diamonds will be getting Monica Abbott and Shannon Doepking. I wrote about Cat joining the Diamonds four months ago.

Daniel Schlereth, pitcher for the Toledo Mudhens, has settled down a bit and is 1-1 over 14.1 innings, with a 1.26 ERA.

It still isn't too late to join the "Be a MiLB GM" contest that MiLB and Fritos are running. You can enter every day.

Night Owl has a great post about curing the blogging doldrums.

The gals over at Dinged Corners posted the other day about Jackie Mitchell. I found some images of Jackie at the Library of Congress (shaking hands, pitching).



I am way behind in many things card related. I've got a package or two to go out, a few emails to reply to, several blogs to read and comments to make.

I, like a few other bloggers, have teamed up with Strat-O-Matic to promote their baseball game. Coming up to 50 years. Wow. I like games. I like simulations. I'll be doing a review of the game, perhaps some interview things and contests. I'll let the contests wait a bit as --David and Steve are currently running contests to give away copies of the game.

Orel Hershiser is in new Razor Poker set. Saw that one on the Sports Card Radio blog. I probably won't be chasing that card.

I found a few new (to me) blogs/sites that have my interest. Nerd Baseball, 240 Baseball Stars, and 1933Goudey.com. More on the last two in another post.

agate type, an interesting look at, among other things, "hidden, overlooked, or unknown corners of baseball history" has been featuring ball parks from the Sanborn Fire Maps. I found one in Knoxville, but haven't yet extracted the image. Again, another post.

The Mad Guru is reporting that SABR now has a Baseball Card Committee. Now, if we could get SABR to use complete years in their purposes and goals section.

II. The late 80s, early 90s influx of new card sets and limited edition inserts, and their effect on the hobby's health

Shouldn't that read: The late 1980s, early 1990s influx... ? Someone might get confused.

I've finished up reading Mint Condition and need to post a review. I'm still reading Negro League Baseball. My uncle sent me a copy of the Ken Burns' Baseball book. Thanks, Fuzzy. My brother gave me a copy of Sandy Koufax's book and Johnny Damon's book. The Sandy was a dupe, so my father is the proud owner of it. My brother suggested that the Sandy book is much better than the Johnny book. Thanks, Steve.

Tuesday evening I was able to stop in at Sports Treasures, one of my local card shops. I was looking for a screwdown case for a 1933 Goudey. Eddie, the owner, pointed me to a four screw flat case, non-recessed. I picked it up and looked around for a few minutes. Lots of fun stuff, but he was closing and I need to leave for a dinner meeting. If you're ever in Knoxville, please go visit Eddie. He'll take care of you.

Does anyone know if a recessed card holder (not toploader) is made specifically for the Goudeys (2-3/8" x 2-7/8")? I haven't found one, yet.

So, there you go, kiddies. Lots of links. That should help knock off the boredom. Go and click to your heart's content.

Civic Duty

So, some of you might be wondering why it has been so quiet here the last week or so.



Very plainly, I've been performing my civic duty for the government. For the last few months I've been in a jury pool. Two weeks ago I was called to be part of a smaller pool for the trial of a highly publicized case. The attorneys selected me to be a part of the trial jury.

So, for the last two weeks I've been hearing testimony and then deliberating with my fellow jurors. During the trial the judge reminded us not to read the news reports, to shy away from all media concerning the issue. To do so, I felt I should avoid the computer as much as I could.

We returned our verdicts. The case is still a bit in limbo, for the judge ruled a mistrial on the one count that we were deadlocked on. The prosecution has not yet determined if they will retry the defendant on that charge. The judge will hand down sentencing at a later date.

Until these items are resolved, I've determined that I won't publicly speak about the details of the case. The decisions that I made during the deliberations were not easy to reach but I can sleep well at night knowing that I did my best.

Also, my daughter's pacemaker stopped functioning last week. It was quickly resolved and she now has a new, improved model. She has mostly recovered from the surgery and will be out of school another week.

And she turned six. Family came in from around the country and she enjoyed every minute of her party. Happy Birthday, Caroline.

So, all that to say I hope to resume (semi)regular postings again. And I'm sorry that I haven't been out reading and commenting as much as I would have liked.

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.