Nine players on the field, nine pockets to a page. Coincidence? Probably.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
What's a cheap (under $5) cool card you feel every collector should add to their collection?
This question was recently posed by The Chronicles of Fuji. I have seen it answered by a few blogs so I am gonna throw my answer hat into the ring (and horribly mix my metaphors). I am a little torn whether to answer this with a favorite (selfishly) or with a universal truth kind of card (selflessly). In an odd display for me, I will go with the latter and be selfless.
Obviously, I have also gone a bit vulgar. This card needs no introduction. It should be in every collection in one form or another. I prefer the original naughty error version, but for the more demure of you, there is no end to the "corrected" variations. I am lucky enough to have pulled one before the frenzy back in 1989, but since this card is from the height of the overproduced junk wax era, even this "rare" card is probably out there in the tens of thousands. Some thought they might put their kids through college with one back in the day...these days, you can snag one off eBay for about $5.
Two Trades and a Chicken Dinner.
While I was idle for a couple of weeks in terms of actual blogging, I never rest when it comes to trades. Let's catch up with a couple swaps and some contest swag.
Robert from $30 a week habit has quickly become a go-to guy for all my obsessive online trading. First off, he's really polite. I mean he might not be just the most polite person in the cardblogosphere, he might be one of the most polite people I deal with period. I am a sucker for good manners. If I had a daughter, I would totally let her date Robert.
I had seen that Parnell rookie on his Insanity Set blog and had to have it, so I swapped him a few other numbers for it. He also had pulled that Wright and figured I would give it a good home (he figured correctly) so I sent him some other stuff and the trade was complete. He threw in the shiny and the Archives Mets as well as those minis. Polite and generous? Heck, forget my hypothetical daughter, I might date him...thanks Robert.
I broke down recently and bought some Gypsy Queen (yeah, I know) and was underwhelmed as I expected to be. But I pulled a great numbered mini Colby Rasmus card, which reminded me of a trade from while back with Dennis of Pictures of Men. Dennis was very receptive to getting that Rasmus into his collection, so we worked out a deal for a David Cone jersey card (a Met that I somehow did not have a jersey card of).
Dennis was also quite giving by sending me most of the Topps Series 2 Topps Mets he had and a couple of my 2012 rookie cup needs (woohoo...someone reads my wantlists!). Sadly, given my hectic schedule recently, I only just mailed his card out, with a few additions due to my laziness and his generosity. With any luck, those cards will find their way to Canada safe and sound.
Last but not least, I won a contest on The Chronicles of Fuji:
Not only are these Japanese cards pretty damn nifty, they were free! I am a sucker for free. They will find a nice spot in my small but expanding Japanese card pages. Plus, how cool is it that Fuji has his little icon on his return address labels? But Fuji, I have to ask, my bad eyes cannot seem to decipher what your little Fuji Avatar is thinking about...please let me know what it is. (UPDATE: I looked again, is it sushi?) Thanks again Fuji!
Robert from $30 a week habit has quickly become a go-to guy for all my obsessive online trading. First off, he's really polite. I mean he might not be just the most polite person in the cardblogosphere, he might be one of the most polite people I deal with period. I am a sucker for good manners. If I had a daughter, I would totally let her date Robert.
I had seen that Parnell rookie on his Insanity Set blog and had to have it, so I swapped him a few other numbers for it. He also had pulled that Wright and figured I would give it a good home (he figured correctly) so I sent him some other stuff and the trade was complete. He threw in the shiny and the Archives Mets as well as those minis. Polite and generous? Heck, forget my hypothetical daughter, I might date him...thanks Robert.
I broke down recently and bought some Gypsy Queen (yeah, I know) and was underwhelmed as I expected to be. But I pulled a great numbered mini Colby Rasmus card, which reminded me of a trade from while back with Dennis of Pictures of Men. Dennis was very receptive to getting that Rasmus into his collection, so we worked out a deal for a David Cone jersey card (a Met that I somehow did not have a jersey card of).
Dennis was also quite giving by sending me most of the Topps Series 2 Topps Mets he had and a couple of my 2012 rookie cup needs (woohoo...someone reads my wantlists!). Sadly, given my hectic schedule recently, I only just mailed his card out, with a few additions due to my laziness and his generosity. With any luck, those cards will find their way to Canada safe and sound.
Last but not least, I won a contest on The Chronicles of Fuji:
Not only are these Japanese cards pretty damn nifty, they were free! I am a sucker for free. They will find a nice spot in my small but expanding Japanese card pages. Plus, how cool is it that Fuji has his little icon on his return address labels? But Fuji, I have to ask, my bad eyes cannot seem to decipher what your little Fuji Avatar is thinking about...please let me know what it is. (UPDATE: I looked again, is it sushi?) Thanks again Fuji!
Monday, June 18, 2012
A Day Late and a Father Short.
When I decided to start this blog in the dead of winter, I didn't have a job and my social life was a barren wasteland. Needless to say, I had spare time to spare. Now I suddenly find myself (mostly) gainfully employed and my social calender has a little more ink splashed upon it and my blogging has suffered for it. While most people would blame my short attention span for blog abandonment, rest assured, I have not left Starting Nine on the side of the road, nor do I plan to. I just gotta prioritize my time these days and this poor cardblog has suffered for it. Oh for the days when I spent all my time in my pajamas waiting for the phone to ring and I had hours to sit and think of something to write about.
Anyway, yesterday was Father's Day, which is usually a rough day emotionally for me. For the most part, I grew up without a father - and the brief time he was around was not exactly Ozzie and Harriet quality parenting - so having a designated greeting card day allocated to remind me of that fact is not my idea of a good time. One nice thing we did in my family a while ago is we decided, since my poor mother was the only parent, she got both holidays in celebration....and we still all get her cards and gifts on Father's Day. And since she somehow kept me and my siblings out of prison and the morgue, it seems the least we can do.
Baseball has a rich tradition of fathers and sons, so it seems like the perfect day to showcase the good the bad and the ugly of baseball families. First off is the absolute epitome of father/son perfection, the Griffeys.
Ken Griffey Sr. was the first player in major league history who got to play with his son at the same time he was still active. They upped the ante when, in 1990, they became teammates and got to play together on the Mariners for a year and a half. Then they put the cherry on top of the feel-good story when they hit back to back homers on September 14, 1990. To me, that is the alpha and omega of father/son feats in major league history.
Bobby Bonds is probably the best father who is also the second best player in his family.
Bobby Bonds was a player way ahead of his time. He was a speedy power hitter who struck out a ton. These kinds of players were all the rage in the 1980's, but Bobby played all through the 1970's, for seemingly every team in the league at one point or another. He retired in 1981 with 332 homers, 461 steals and 1757 strikeouts. Then, in 1986, his boy Barry came up with the Pirates. Now, I was way ahead of the curve in hating Barry Bonds, so the less said about him in my world, the better. If he had retired in 1999 with his 445 homers, 460 steals, .288 average and tiny head, he would be a first ballot hall of famer. Instead, he took his jerk factor and multiplied it by 10 by injecting himself with lots of B-12 and ruined a bunch of great records. Man, all I can say is, fuck Barry Bonds.
On the other end of the jerk spectrum is Pete Rose.
I was never a Pete Rose guy, but I could understand those who were. Rose was never the most talented player or greatest athlete, but he played his ass off. Sadly, his nickname Charlie Hustle now applies more to his gambling and lying about it then to his play on the diamond. His kid, who was on a 1982 Fleer card with his dad at the age of 12, is also a disgrace even though he worked his ass off. Even less talented than his father, Pete Rose Jr. played for a decade in the minors and then got himself a cup of coffee with his dad's hometown Reds in 1997. Sure, it was probably a publicity stunt, but he made it. He played in the minors for another decade, until he was busted for selling steroids. So both father and son have been in federal prison. Classy family.
And then there is Yogi Berra...
...Yogi could never be described by anyone as anything other than loveable. Everyone loves Yogi Berra. Being a swell guy does not guarantee having a fine son, unfortunately. Dale Berra was a fringe player, and there is nothing wrong with that, but he was also a junkie and a dealer, and in the end, there is something tremendously wrong with that. I wonder if Dale and Pete Jr. had the same parole officer?
As an aside, let's cover my favorite Father's Day moment:
...granted, it was done 11 years before I was born, but Jim Bunning throwing a perfect game on Father's Day is pretty damn sweet, even if it was against my Mets. Jim Bunning has seven kids, so he knows a thing or two about being a father.
Right now, the best player with the worst kid recently in the majors is probably Phil Niekro.
Phil was the master of the knuckleball and won 318 games in about 1000 years in the majors. Plus, Niekro looked old and paternal even on his earliest cards. His kid, Lance knocked around for the Giants for a few years and then tried to reinvent himself as a knuckler as well. That didn't go so well. He is currently a free agent and coaching for a college in Florida.
The best "son" in the majors right now is no doubt Prince Fielder, son of the titanic Cecil.
I always had a soft spot in my heart for Cecil Fielder. He was a big dude who hit the ball a long way. It took him forever to establish himself in the majors, with a detour to Japan thrown in there as well, and he fell off the cliff just as quickly as he rose to fame. He was grand and larger than life and played ball like every game was gonna be his last, I always loved Cecil. Then he showed himself to be a bit less jolly and more of a lunatic when it comes to his relationship with his son. They are estranged, a nice way of saying Prince wants nothing to do with his dad. So sad. Other than the Griffeys, it seems all these father son stories are kind of a bummer in one way or another.
Post script- Some people believe in the triplet (game used, autograph, rookie card); I like the quad (game used bat, game used jersey, auto, rookie card). I have a great Quad of the Fielders:
I never did find a jersey card of Cecil to complete his quad, so I have Prince in there to pinch hit. I also love that the autograph I have from him is from his Japanese days. That bat card didn't scan well, it is actually quite shiny and the 1986 Donruss rookie of Cecil is a great looking card. I was never one for the 1986 Donruss design, but the Blue Jays cards look great with that border and you get that great 80's BJ logo not once but twice. I'll have to scan and bring out some more of my quads to help keep this blog going.
Anyway, yesterday was Father's Day, which is usually a rough day emotionally for me. For the most part, I grew up without a father - and the brief time he was around was not exactly Ozzie and Harriet quality parenting - so having a designated greeting card day allocated to remind me of that fact is not my idea of a good time. One nice thing we did in my family a while ago is we decided, since my poor mother was the only parent, she got both holidays in celebration....and we still all get her cards and gifts on Father's Day. And since she somehow kept me and my siblings out of prison and the morgue, it seems the least we can do.
Baseball has a rich tradition of fathers and sons, so it seems like the perfect day to showcase the good the bad and the ugly of baseball families. First off is the absolute epitome of father/son perfection, the Griffeys.
Ken Griffey Sr. was the first player in major league history who got to play with his son at the same time he was still active. They upped the ante when, in 1990, they became teammates and got to play together on the Mariners for a year and a half. Then they put the cherry on top of the feel-good story when they hit back to back homers on September 14, 1990. To me, that is the alpha and omega of father/son feats in major league history.
Bobby Bonds is probably the best father who is also the second best player in his family.
Bobby Bonds was a player way ahead of his time. He was a speedy power hitter who struck out a ton. These kinds of players were all the rage in the 1980's, but Bobby played all through the 1970's, for seemingly every team in the league at one point or another. He retired in 1981 with 332 homers, 461 steals and 1757 strikeouts. Then, in 1986, his boy Barry came up with the Pirates. Now, I was way ahead of the curve in hating Barry Bonds, so the less said about him in my world, the better. If he had retired in 1999 with his 445 homers, 460 steals, .288 average and tiny head, he would be a first ballot hall of famer. Instead, he took his jerk factor and multiplied it by 10 by injecting himself with lots of B-12 and ruined a bunch of great records. Man, all I can say is, fuck Barry Bonds.
On the other end of the jerk spectrum is Pete Rose.
I was never a Pete Rose guy, but I could understand those who were. Rose was never the most talented player or greatest athlete, but he played his ass off. Sadly, his nickname Charlie Hustle now applies more to his gambling and lying about it then to his play on the diamond. His kid, who was on a 1982 Fleer card with his dad at the age of 12, is also a disgrace even though he worked his ass off. Even less talented than his father, Pete Rose Jr. played for a decade in the minors and then got himself a cup of coffee with his dad's hometown Reds in 1997. Sure, it was probably a publicity stunt, but he made it. He played in the minors for another decade, until he was busted for selling steroids. So both father and son have been in federal prison. Classy family.
And then there is Yogi Berra...
...Yogi could never be described by anyone as anything other than loveable. Everyone loves Yogi Berra. Being a swell guy does not guarantee having a fine son, unfortunately. Dale Berra was a fringe player, and there is nothing wrong with that, but he was also a junkie and a dealer, and in the end, there is something tremendously wrong with that. I wonder if Dale and Pete Jr. had the same parole officer?
As an aside, let's cover my favorite Father's Day moment:
...granted, it was done 11 years before I was born, but Jim Bunning throwing a perfect game on Father's Day is pretty damn sweet, even if it was against my Mets. Jim Bunning has seven kids, so he knows a thing or two about being a father.
Right now, the best player with the worst kid recently in the majors is probably Phil Niekro.
Phil was the master of the knuckleball and won 318 games in about 1000 years in the majors. Plus, Niekro looked old and paternal even on his earliest cards. His kid, Lance knocked around for the Giants for a few years and then tried to reinvent himself as a knuckler as well. That didn't go so well. He is currently a free agent and coaching for a college in Florida.
The best "son" in the majors right now is no doubt Prince Fielder, son of the titanic Cecil.
I always had a soft spot in my heart for Cecil Fielder. He was a big dude who hit the ball a long way. It took him forever to establish himself in the majors, with a detour to Japan thrown in there as well, and he fell off the cliff just as quickly as he rose to fame. He was grand and larger than life and played ball like every game was gonna be his last, I always loved Cecil. Then he showed himself to be a bit less jolly and more of a lunatic when it comes to his relationship with his son. They are estranged, a nice way of saying Prince wants nothing to do with his dad. So sad. Other than the Griffeys, it seems all these father son stories are kind of a bummer in one way or another.
Post script- Some people believe in the triplet (game used, autograph, rookie card); I like the quad (game used bat, game used jersey, auto, rookie card). I have a great Quad of the Fielders:
I never did find a jersey card of Cecil to complete his quad, so I have Prince in there to pinch hit. I also love that the autograph I have from him is from his Japanese days. That bat card didn't scan well, it is actually quite shiny and the 1986 Donruss rookie of Cecil is a great looking card. I was never one for the 1986 Donruss design, but the Blue Jays cards look great with that border and you get that great 80's BJ logo not once but twice. I'll have to scan and bring out some more of my quads to help keep this blog going.
Friday, June 1, 2012
JOHAN!!!!
51 seasons. 50 years. Eight thousand twenty games.
Finally.
You can shut down this particular website - The Mets have a no-no!!!
Johan Santana threw 134 pitches and looked like he didn't care if it was gonna take 200. I was flipping around all night and turned over to the game in the seventh inning and I still can't believe it.
The biggest villain in Mets history to me was always Jimmy Qualls. For Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Dwight Gooden, David Cone, Nolan Ryan, Gary Gentry, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, Al Leiter, and every other Mets pitcher - this no hitters' for you!
***
The fantastic High Heat Stats has the Ten Amazin’ Mets facts about Johan Santana’s no-hitter. Go check it out.
Finally.
You can shut down this particular website - The Mets have a no-no!!!
Johan Santana threw 134 pitches and looked like he didn't care if it was gonna take 200. I was flipping around all night and turned over to the game in the seventh inning and I still can't believe it.
The biggest villain in Mets history to me was always Jimmy Qualls. For Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Dwight Gooden, David Cone, Nolan Ryan, Gary Gentry, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, Al Leiter, and every other Mets pitcher - this no hitters' for you!
***
The fantastic High Heat Stats has the Ten Amazin’ Mets facts about Johan Santana’s no-hitter. Go check it out.
Hey Everyone...
...who wants to see my new shiny Dickey?
Uhhhh...yeah.
This marvelous little pile came from the Night Owl, who when he pulled the R.A. Bowman card not only earmarked it for me right away, but somehow resisted the urge to make the obvious lame joke I did. That is why Night Owl is a better man than me (and most of us). In my defense, dick jokes are much easier than college residence assistant jokes. Also included are an awesome 3-D David Wright from this years Opening Day. I was quite fond of the 2010 3D inserts and these are equally nifty. I may have to find a lot of these to make a page. I have also grown to enjoy the sheen on this year's gold Topps parallels; I already have a page of those, though. That Mr. Turkey Dwight Gooden card combines my favorite failed Met and oddball food issues...what's not to love? I also must give a shout out to the Topps Fan Favorites cards he included, Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan cards are always appreciated, that but sticking out there belongs (fittingly) to Sid Fernandez - who may have been the widest pitcher I have ever seen, and I had never known that Ron Swoboda card existed, and now I need a second one for my Rookie All Stars collection. Finally, I must say the 1984 Fleer set is not my favorite, I find it a little too minimalist, but I do find the blue stripe works well for teams with blue as a main color and, since the 1983 Mets spent a lot of time in blue 80's style pull overs, the team looks great in this set. I don't have many of the 1984 Fleer Mets for some odd reason, but now I have two more, including the OG Brian Giles. Thanks Night Owl!
Uhhhh...yeah.
This marvelous little pile came from the Night Owl, who when he pulled the R.A. Bowman card not only earmarked it for me right away, but somehow resisted the urge to make the obvious lame joke I did. That is why Night Owl is a better man than me (and most of us). In my defense, dick jokes are much easier than college residence assistant jokes. Also included are an awesome 3-D David Wright from this years Opening Day. I was quite fond of the 2010 3D inserts and these are equally nifty. I may have to find a lot of these to make a page. I have also grown to enjoy the sheen on this year's gold Topps parallels; I already have a page of those, though. That Mr. Turkey Dwight Gooden card combines my favorite failed Met and oddball food issues...what's not to love? I also must give a shout out to the Topps Fan Favorites cards he included, Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan cards are always appreciated, that but sticking out there belongs (fittingly) to Sid Fernandez - who may have been the widest pitcher I have ever seen, and I had never known that Ron Swoboda card existed, and now I need a second one for my Rookie All Stars collection. Finally, I must say the 1984 Fleer set is not my favorite, I find it a little too minimalist, but I do find the blue stripe works well for teams with blue as a main color and, since the 1983 Mets spent a lot of time in blue 80's style pull overs, the team looks great in this set. I don't have many of the 1984 Fleer Mets for some odd reason, but now I have two more, including the OG Brian Giles. Thanks Night Owl!
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