I Caught a Draft from Shoebox Legends

Which is better?  A new car or a trade bait draft?  A cookie sandwich or a trade bait draft? A talking cactus or a trade bait draft?

If you answered a trade bait draft to all three questions, you just might be a card collector or an aspiring one.  I participated in one such trade bait draft hosted by the progenitor of the 1953 Topps project, Shoebox Legends.  There were gobs of cards to choose from, including surprise bonus rounds, from all types of athletic pursuits.

I got together with my collecting war room contingent, evaluated all the prospects in the green room, and came up cards when fit together into a card voltron will run a 4.1 40 meters, bench 350, and throw a football 80 yards....but on the downside, he will be vulnerable to rain....the cardboard does not hold together when wet.

This card is from 1910 (1910 Mecca T218 to be precise): This boxing card is now the oldest card in my collection by more than 20 years.   Known as a finesse fighter during his career, he recorded 61 wins and 8 losses.

1985-86 Topps Ron Francis:  I liked Ron Francis ever since you could combine him with Lemieux and Jagr on NHL '96.  That line was devastating....Did you know he was 4th in career points in NHL history?  Seriously, he had more than Stevie Y.

Autoed 2001 Topps Archives Jim Lonborg: I have an unofficial quest to get cards of players who were on the Phillies.  This fit the bill as a cut-up multi-player card from Topps Archives that was either signed in person or TTM.  He did win the AL Cy Young Award in 1967 during the first year that an award was offered in both league, with his only season over 200 K or >7 K/9 for a full season.  Surprisingly, he had the most career wins as a Phillie.

1962-63 Topps Murray Balfour: I know almost nothing about the Original Six era of the NHL except Montreal kept on winning the Stanley Cup.  He was a member of the Million Dollar Line with Bobby Hull (when's the last time that there were great line names like that? Legion of Doom?).  He died tragically from lung cancer at the age of 28.

2008 Goudey Sport Royalty Barry Sanders: I count this as a baseball card; it came from a Goudey set.  Even so, it's my first Barry Sanders.  When I was a young pup, my brother (of Brad's Blog) and our neighbor used to play this football game called up, up, and away.....I was older, so therefore bigger and faster at that age.  They got to choose whether I was Barry Sanders (run around them) or Christian Okoye (run over them)....I think we played because we liked to get our faces in snow.

2009 Goodwin Champions Cole Hamels Jersey:  There is nothing I don't love about this cards; it was a worthy 2nd pick.  I would like to revive the Cole Hamels blog this year, but I need to actually see him pitch. Curse you work internet connection!

2007 Sweet Spot Classic Brooks Robinson Sweet Spot Auto:  This was a worthy first pick of the draft. Someday the signature will fade completely, so it's better to capture it now.  What happened with 2007 Sweet Spot compared to other years?

2008-08 UD Rookie Materials Jakub Voracek: He was one of the pieces the Flyers got from Columbus for that Jeff Carter guy (who pulled a Vince Carter and seemed to play poorly for Columbus before getting his wish and being traded to the Kings where his buddy for life Mike Richards was playing....it worked out). You heard it here first; if the Flyers make the playoffs, this will be the top Flyers point-getter in the postseason.

2007 Ultimate Star Materials Joe Mauer: Joe Mauer is racking up a HOF career.  I did not realize he led the AL in OBP last year to add to his 3 batting (average) titles.  His power will probably never again approach is 2009 high of 28 HR.  He has 37 WAR in his career right now, and there are only three catcher with >45 WAR not in the HOF, Ted Simmons, Joe Torre, and Mike Piazza.  His peak puts him in line with Bill Dickey and Mickey Cochrane.

There were many more cards to be had as the draft stretched beyond the bounds of conventional form.....

I just finished my cookie sandwich; I am ready for another draft.

The Most Tragic Baseball Love Story

This is the tragic story of Roy Hobbs......well at least it could have been; it sounds like something that would come out of a movie, especially for this time period.  

Eddie Waitkus was a decorated World War II veteran who had become an all-star first baseman with the Chicago Cubs by 1948.  After that season, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies.  It seems there was an obsessed fan that was left behind in Chicago. She had built a shrine to him and wanted to see him everyday; his trade to Philadelphia enhanced the obsession.

When the Phillies came to Chicago, she took an alias of a friend of his and invited him to a hotel room.  When he entered the room, she shot him with intent to kill him.  Luckily, the bullet missed his head, and he was able to survive after many operations trying to remove it.

He did come back to the Phillies as the first baseman for the Whiz Kids in 1950 and won NL Comeback Player of the Year.  He continually suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, however, and his baseball career ended by 1955.  He did have a fairly remarkable 1952, where he walked 64 times and struck out 23 times with a 108 OPS+.

Love can be consuming and sometimes overwhelming. Sometimes there is tragedy, but there are always ways to be picked up in the end.  Eddie Waitkus survived his event and rebuilt everything despite his personal tragedy.

The Topps Online Giveaways of 2012: Result!

With the newest online event right around the corner in the form of the Million Dollar Chase, I figured it would be a good idea to get the cards that I unlocked from the 2012 Topps online code programs.  I ended up with 2 cards from my codes, and then someone offered me a 2 for 1 trade, which I obviously took.

Therefore, behold the die-cut moments of Phillies wonders.  Also, these cards are immense.  They wouldn't even slide under a door. They are also refractory in the best way possible

Roy Halladay: He's the ace of the present.  The hopes and dreams of a 2nd wild card (does that sound pessimistic?) rest on the recovery of his various maladies from dos mil doce.   I think he's already joined the pantheon of Phillies pitchers, though he made it to the team too late in his career to really move up the this imaginary ladder I'm thinking about.  Golden Moment: He pitched 6 or more innings in 63 straight road starts, the longest streak since Walter Johnson.

Steve Carlton: This guy is at the top of the list I was thinking of.  He's also one of the few Phillies pitchers to pitch with them for more than 10 years.  The awards, accolades, and strikeouts speak for themselves though.  If I had to pick one player to become a supercollector of, it would probably be Steve Carlton, but I think I have to up my obsessive quotient by a few more hundredfold.  Golden Moment:  He was the all-time MLB strikeout leader at the end of the 1983 season.

Chase Utley  When healthy, he's still a top 5 second basemen in the game, but there's the question that's still around.  Golden Moment:  Had a streak of 20 consecutive stolen bases entering 2012, his career high was 27 in a row from 2008-2010.

Tony Romo:  He's not a Phillie....at least I got a card from the football card site.....for trade.

I won the Phillies, but I'm not counting on a million dollars....let's examine the reasons why later.

Cards from the Team Set Completion Maestro (Cards on Cards) Part 2

In the second part of the trade package, Kerry from Cards on Cards brought in the more modern card sensibilities as well as the cards from the bygone era when cards were valuable pieces to be stored and treasured until they overran the earth in revenge against their toploader oppressors.

2012 Topps Golden Futures Domonic Brown: I've written about this many times, but the fact that he will probably again be benched by inferior ballplayers is a travesty in player development.  There's a reason he was the #4 prospect in all of baseball in 2010....because he was killing it in the minors.  With the injuries and the league yo-yoing, he's bordering on losing the luster of that prospect status.  He;s still only 25, but seriously, Delmon Young?  Someone who can't field or get on base getting a possible guaranteed spot in the outfield?    Color me gag purple.....not golden.

2009 Upper Deck X5 Chase Utley:  This is a curious set because it has the worst name ever.  It's like it took the special of SPx and became the forgotten stepchild of the Upper Deck canon.  These exponential (xcuse me, xponential.....how xistentially xciting) inserts seem like they belong on another plane of xistence.  Utley is jumping out of the card at me by traveling through the 5th dimension.....and that would be the tesseract, which was discovered much later than Einstein.

2012 Topps Update Blockbusters Steve Carlton: Blockbuster, challenge trade, whatever you want to call it:  the Phillies won this trade.  It must be a nice feeling to win a trade.  I am a terrible trader in fantasy sports because I try to give people what I think they want.  Was this the most lopsided trade in their favor in Phillies history?  The Schilling-Grimsley or Abreu-Stocker trades may rival it.

2010 Topps CYMTO Mike Schmidt:  You can see what the acronym stands for on the card back.  The front would be a normal 1976 Topps Mike Schmidt.  I always thought those reprint sets should have some type of indication on the front so that it would be less confusing.

2010 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes Cole Hamels:  Behold the standard bearer!  Behold the baseball hero!  All of the Phillies' hopes rest on his left arm for this season until he leaves in 2017 or 2018.

1994 Stadium Club Dugout Dirt Darren Daulton:  This is the back of the card.  Just read what's written on the bicep; it so of the era.

2006 Upper Deck First Pitch Diamond Stars Bobby Abreu: Somehow Abreu was still kicking around the majors last year. His power has diminished, but one thing he always had was his batting eye.  He had 8 straight seasons of 100 walks and 100 strikeouts; that seems pretty unique.

2007 Topps World Domination Ryan Howard:  Howard took his mighty bat and laid claim to the trappings of modern civilization.  With a jovial iron hand, he shall reign, where all lefty pitchers shall be relegated to the shadows of society and be forced to use only right handed scissors until they lose their ability.  Afterwards, he will go up into the troposphere and destroy all carbon atoms in his path and make it rain where it must be rained.  Yes, the rain will be made.  Then, there can be peace in this world according to the manifesto.

Thanks for the cards!

Cards From The Team Set Completion Maestro (Cards on Cards): Part 1

Sometimes there's a package that comes along that jumps out of the mailbox, laughs maniacally, and starts tap dancing on your wantlist. Its movements are graceful and frenetic at the same time as it uses precision to cull those numbers and images from the desired corner of your mind and yet is a chaotic whirlwind of tumult.

Seriously, though, there are still Phillies cards on my wantlist from the golden overproduction era of my childhood.  I probably had all these cards at these some point, but I think they were lost in an unmarked van that was driving along the PA Turnpike on a late afternoon 10 years ago.....I really dislike stealth vans ever since that day.

The maestro of this wantlist destroyer was Kerry from the estimable Cards on Cards.  We somehow made a trade and so came this dervish of delirious delight to reduce me to my knees pining for Jim Eisenreich to come back to the Phillies, but only the version from 1993.

Oh, to be young and full of soda and T-shirts.....

By my imprecise count, he finished off 17 different team/insert team sets from this package.  Amazing.  Highlights to follow.....

1989 Shining Stars Ricky Jordan: I'm sure I've said this before, but I modeled my baseball stance after Ricky Jordan when I started playing kid pitch Little League.....I was not a good hitter.

1989 Score Darren Daulton:  This was pre-car accident, pre-RBI accumulating Daulton....I always thought Steve Lake was better.  I really knew nothing at this time.  What is Daulton doing now that his prediction didn't come true?

1992 Action Packed Dick Groat:  I will now reference myself....so you can read the previous post.

1986 Fleer Future Hall of Famer Steve Carlton: This may have possibly been the last mainstream issue card I needed from 1986 that I know of.  These may also have doubled as the first insert set.  There were only 6 cards in the checklist.....and one did not make the Hall of Fame: Pete Rose, of course.

1990 Topps Traded Dave Hollins:  This was the first I remember hearing of the Rule 5 draft.  I really liked Hollins because he was so intense; you could hear his bat handle grinding down to nubbins while he was batting.

1990 Donruss Jeff Parrett:  I thought that Parrett was the best pitcher ever because he tied for the team lead in 1989 with 12 wins.....as a reliever!  Well, it definitely wasn't Don Carman.....who remembers these players truly....

Tangent: Speaking of Don Carman, here's another anecdote.  I was obsessed with baseball (some would say I still am).  And so like all good little baseball-obsessed fans I also listened to every spring training game I could on the radio.  Don Carman was pitching on that day (it must have been 1989 or 1990).  The bases were loaded with 2 outs in a 1 run game (this may be exaggerated) and he had the hitter at 3-0, and I was feeling so deflated because he seemed to walk so many people.  He then came back and struck the hitter out, and I was so excited.....for a spring training game.  I thought maybe the Phillies would finish above 6th place.....and in 1990, they finished 4th....hope wins again.

1993 Topps Wes Chamberlain: One thing's for sure; he'll never get confused for Louie Meadows.  What, now?

1993 Upper Deck Tyler Green:  You know those days when you take a tennis ball (or any ball really) and a glove and you simulate pitching an entire game in the street alternating innings?  Once I heard of Tyler Green, I developed my own version of the knuckle curve that was basically called the "squiggly".  I swear to this day that it made an "S" shape curve in the air when it was thrown correctly.  I don't think I can replicate it now though.

This was part 1 of 2 because there are more cards to show than I know to fit on a scanner bed.....

Wondrous Seasons of the Past: Dick Groat in 1960

(Note: I know this is a 1956 Topps card and not a 1960 Topps card, but they're both horizontally oriented)

Which team was probably the most unlikely World Series winner of the 1960s?  The 1960 Pirates might qualify (if it weren't for those Miracle Mets of '69).  Imagine, you know you are a good team; you did just win the NL pennant after all, and yet your opponent is the Yankees.

I'm sure just coming out of the '50s that the Yankees were considered a version of baseball royalty.  They had won championships 6 times in the last 10 years, and made it to the World Series 8 of the last 10 years.  They had the top star in the AL in Mickey Mantle, a tour de force who had not had a season with a less than 150 OPS+ since 1953.  They had the reigning AL MVP in Roger Maris and also Yogi Berra lurking as a utility player.

We know the rest of the story.  The Yankees outscore the Pirates something like 55-27 in the World Series and lose the a crazy back and forth 7th game until Bill Mazeroski led off the bottom of the 9th with a home run off Ralph Terry.  This was the first World Series in which someone from the losing squad won MVP honors (Bobby Richardson with a then-Series record 12 hits).

Dick Groat was a not a major participant during this World Series.  He only had a .500 OPS overall....the Yankees did beat the Pirates with two shutouts after all.  He did score the tying run in the bottom of the 8th on Hal Smith's 3 run home run, ultimately putting the Pirates ahead 9-7 in the 7th game, the play that had the highest change in win probability.  His single that inning originally decreased the deficit from 7-4 to 7-5 before all the theatrics really ensued.

But that's not really what Dick Groat is remembered for that year.  He was the NL MVP after all.  He did not lead the Pirates in any major categories except sacrifice hits and batting average, but he had an all-around spectacular year.  He hit .325/.371//.394 (115 OPS+) with 2 HR and 50 RBI.  That batting line seems sparse, but for a shortstop during that time period, it was pretty big.

Statistically, he finished 8th in overall Wins above Replacement (WAR), 1st in Defensive WAR,  1st in batting average, 3rd in hits, 1st in range factor/game, and 2nd in fielding percentage for a shortstop.

Intangibly, he was the captain of the team with the best record of the NL.  He also was the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award winner as baseball man of the year.

Here is what Dick Groat said about that magical year of 1960. “We had such a phenomenal year, we didn’t think anyone could beat us,” he said. “We’d come from behind 40-some times from the seventh inning on. That becomes contagious. You pretty much believe you’re not supposed to lose.”( Reference: www.baseballsavvy.com).

 So, as one of the statistical leaders and the ultimate intangible leader and tablesetter on the winning team of 1960, he truly had a wondrous season.

Phillies Oddball Pack Break or What Saving Up for Fries Would Get You 10 Years Ago

Sometimes, there are unopened packs of cards lying around in my box of miscellaneous stuff that I haven't sorted yet.  There also seems to be a direct proportion of the mystery of the subjects to where they sit in this box.

There are usually cards from the 'mid-00s in there because frankly, who has the time to look up the difference between '05-'07 Ultra when there are more important sorting issues at hand?  In this box, also falls my non-baseball cards.  I do not have sufficient capacity to deal with these in a way that would give them their proper collection place.  The only exception is the Champs hockey mini cards....there is always room for mini cards.

For a long time (3 or 4 years probably), I have accepted the fact that some white wrappers just aren't necessarily worth opening because there's only one card inside that you can see through who it is anyway.  This was true of many oddball issues, especially those cards that were inserted in Kraft products around 1993.  I had opened one of these wrappers and saw it was one card (Dykstra)and stuck the rest in this box....to be forgotten for awhile.

One day, I decided I wanted to sort the unsorted and give them homes within the cabinet space of my collection (seriously, I keep everything except the binders in two or three connected cabinets in the dining room).   I stumbled upon these and saw that these weren't Kraft cards after all.  So I decided to open them.

It looks like they were from a regional issue of McDonalds cards issued by Upper Deck in 2004 (at least that's what the card said). I have no idea how I got them since I didn't live in the Philadelphia area in 2004, and I had probably gone to a McDonalds only a couple times that I can remember in the last 10 years.

That doesn't matter because there is now a new set to collect.  Where to find the checklist?  It seems that Matt from 14K Phillies has been always one step ahead of me in compiling the checklist.

Only 23 cards to go....this Phillies collection is never done....

Here are the results of the pack breaks (2 cards per pack) below of one of the last Phillies only issued sets (I hope).

The State of the Collection or How to Subcategorize a Cards Purchase in Detail

Gather 'round the ring of fire, boys and girls. It's time to have a heart-to-heart, a soul-to-soul if you will. This tale will astound and confound you. And then it will turn around and make complete sense.

I am part of a contingent of folk that are called collectors.  In this internet age, it's a very simple process of see card, click on card, buy card.  This is especially true when a some promotion is occurring like free shipping or dehydrated cookies with every purchase or event tickets to go wild turkey riding (may or may not be a real thing).

The smattering of cards I;m about to present represent some of the many different directions that I have been pursuing in my collection over the past 12-18 months.  The only thing that they have in common is that they are all cards of the collectible variety.

Mike Schmidt 2012 Gypsy Queen Club: What compels us to pick up multiple cards of the same player if it's a different color, adds a border, changes size, or has a photo variation. As you can see, I went all in on the Mike Schmidt contingent.  This satisfies multiple levels of the Phillie collector in me: Schmidts, 2012 Phillies, Phillies minis.....triple check.

2012 Topps Gold Rush Redemptions: Typically, from each Topps flagship set, I choose one insert set to collect. When I received my gold rush redemption pack in the mail, I was really struck by the design of this one.  It is overwhelmingly gold and best represented that year's Topps edition for me.  So, I went about collecting the 50 card set.....and then, curses!  There's a second series set, and I am now missing 6 cards from there....and they're all big names: Trout, Harper, Darvish,etc....I think I need some help.

Junk Wax Era Phillies Inserts: I've begun filling in those insert cards of the Phillies that I could never pull from a pack as a kid. Witness the 1992 Fleer Team Leaders Dykstra...holla back.  Snagging the 1993 Team Pinnacle with Daulton and Pudge (I-Rod) was also a nice find.  I always wanted a Team Pinnacle card, and now I have one; 1:90 packs was a steep pull in '93.

2011 Phillies Crazy Collection:  Yes, that is the official name of this particular collection segment.  I went hardcore after Phillies from 2011 sets, even more than I normally do.  I have obtained an entire binder worth of cards including parallel sets and every base card from every issue released by Topps.  Let's see how many cards with the same photo I could get.....base Topps, base Topps diamond factory set, Topps Opening Day, Topps Chrome, Topps Chrome refractor, Diamond anniversary parallel, Cognac parallel (liquorfractor)....that's 7 cards of many Phillies from the flagship set with the same image.  I think I need counseling. Only 19 more cards to go (or 24 if you count those impossible to find mini variation cards from 2011 Gypsy Queen) for this monstrosity of a collection. It will be a great story one day.....as I end up wearing goggles staring blankly at a painting of a red hat.

1994 Flair Inserts: As a side project, I am trying to put together the 1994 Flair master set.  There are no parallels, and I have both A-Rod rookies in my possession (both pulled from packs, score).  I was really thrilled to get these hot glove cards.  Remember when die-cuts were all the rage with many shapes and interesting patterns?  You should, since it was just last year when this craze got started again.  Have you noticed that fads and fashions are cyclical? But, if there's one thing that will never go out of style, it's the word "hot".  I call everything hot, don't you? (/sarcasm).....In all seriousness, I was thrilled to be able to acquire the Maddux. Unfortunately, I still need the Ripken and Griffey for this set.

As a card blog, I find I don't talk about my collection that much.  Here's a glimpse of one slice of The Other World pie, mixed with boysenberry, it just might be a crowd pleaser.

Masterpiece Moments Monday: Walter Johnson

"First in war, first in peace, last in the American League" sung the old refrain for the Washington Senators. In reality, that was before "The Big Train", Walter Johnson, arrived on the scene.

He came blazing to the forefront of the American League pitching pantheon on the heels of a fastball that could only be described as wickedly rapid.  He would wind up behind his head and let it fly in an almost complete sidearm motion.

The effect was the same for many batters; there would be a pop as the ball pounded the back of the catcher's mitt or a weak crack as there was yet another feeble groundball or flyball.  Check out the majesty of the pitching motion.

Some contemporaries likened him to a pitching machine.  It looked like an easy motion, just like the ball rolling around a pitching machine, and then the ball would go by you.  The famous story is that one batter decided to go to the dugout after two strikes.  The umpire called him back and the batter responded, "I know, you can have the next one.  It won't do me any good."

When he retired in 1927, after 21 years of nearly unmatched dominance, he stood 2nd all-time in wins (417), 1st all-time in strikeouts (3508 until Ryan and Carlton came along), and 1st all-time in shutouts (110). He had 9 seasons with a WHIP less than 1.  He had two 300 K seasons, when it was rare to achieve 200 Ks in a season, leading the league in Ks 12 times.  He also won three pitching triple crowns during his career.

One of these years was the incomparable 1913.  He was 36-7 with a 1.14 ERA (259 ERA+), 0.78 WHIP, 242 K, and 11 shutouts.  He also allowed a league leading 9 home runs.   And that wasn't even the year where he won 16 straight decisions (1912), which stood until later that year when Smoky Joe Wood tied it, and eventually Rube Marquard broke it.

Though the time was different, the game connects, and great pitching performances live on.  Even now, he can be considered the most dominant pitcher of any era for the length of his career.

Pack Predictor: 2012 Topps Chrome Football Rack Pack

Football is the sport of early winter; and the playoffs is the peak of football's power.  I feel like the two playoff weekends before the Super Bowl are generally more exciting (and this past weekend was especially so). What better way to greet "Conference Championship" week than with the opening of a rack pack of the eponymous Topps Chrome brand?

And not only that, I consulted with the pack wrapper, and it told me that it could predict the future.  So I'm going to see how true that is....points will be assigned based on the pack contents to determine the Super Bowl XXXXIIIIIII participants.

Jay Cutler: Was once a Bronco, who were beaten by the Ravens last week....Ravens +3,

Dont'a Hightower: Patriots rookie....Patriots +5

D'qwell Jackson: Against Baltimore this year, he had 8 total tackles in two games, but Baltimore swept the season series.....Ravens +2

Rueben Randle: Giants beat the 49ers and lost to the Falcons and Ravens.....Falcons +2, Ravens +2

Frank Gore: 49ers starting running back since 2006, ran for a career 2nd best 1215 yards and 8 TDs in 2012. ...49ers +7

Mychal Kendricks: No Eagles cards will be worth any points; there was nothing positive about that team in 2012.

Dwayne Allen Tall Boy Insert: The Colts lost to the Patriots this year,allowing 59 points and lost to the Ravens in the playoffs....Patriots +2, Ravens +3

Tim Tebow: What a strange season he had, only played in 40 plays the entire year. You would think he'd make a good backup running back with the threat of an option pass....Jets were swept by the Patriots and destroyed by the 49ers. 49ers +2, Patriots +4

Ryan Broyles Tall Boy Insert: Had his only 100 yard receiving game against the Texans, whom the Patriots beat....Patriots +2

Ryan Tannehill XFractor: I thought he had better stats this year; only 12 TDs and 13 Int this year.  Dolphins lost to New England twice this year....Patriots +4

TJ Graham Orange Refractor: Bills also lost to New England twice this year.....Patriots +4

Larry Fitzgerald Orange Refractor: This was a season to forget for Fitzgerald.  He didn't even crack 800 receiving yards. The Cardinals beat the Patriots, lost to the Falcons, and got swept by the 49ers. ....Ravens +3, Falcons +2, 49ers +4

Fletcher Cox: No points awarded on Eagles cards.

Larry Fitzgerald: No points awarded on duplicate players

Ray Rice Orange Refractor:  If this guy has 160 total yards or more, the Ravens will probably win.....Ravens +7

Final Totals: Patriots over Ravens: 21-20
49ers over Falcons: 13-4

So this predicts a Patriots vs. 49ers Super Bowl with the most foolproof system ever devised.