Achiever Card Blog

Crawling out of my hole...

2010-10-29T01:42:00.002-04:00

...to win a free box of Chrome.

Go visit Georgie Mindset to win a brand spanking new free box of Topps Chrome.

Hey, I never claimed that I wasn't a whore. And you all know I love chromey stuff.

The Beard Goes Wild

2010-09-17T22:16:00.001-04:00

Ever wonder what Beardy does during the night when he's not opening packs of Ginter and making original Masterpieces and Lebowski cards for his blog? No? Well, I do. I always figured him for a superhero of some sort. Running around in his pajamas bringing misery to the lives of pack searchers or some such nonsense.

Turns out, I wasn't too far off. At least I don't think I was. Because what I've found out recently, is that Beardy is more awesome than any of us ever anticipated.

My recent interweb haunt, since scaling back the old blog to just about nothing, is a web site devoted to all things Cleveland sports. A few regulars, among who's ranks I've joined, go there to wallow in our collective misey. One of the fellas, who goes by the handle CDT (it doesn't really matter why) has what I consider impeccable, if eclectic taste in music.

I recently asked for a recommendation becuase I knew he'd probably come at me with something cool I'd never heard of. I was not disappointed.

He pointed me in the direction of a band called "Clutch". Some of you may have heard of them. I hadn't. I downloaded one of their albums (Blast Tyrant) and found it to be around 7 shades of kick ass. Today I found myself perusing the youtubes and typed in Clutch for shits and giggles. I watched a video of a particular favorite of mine called "The Mob Goes Wild". The following is what I saw:

It's 1 part Blues Brothers, 1 part Meth lab, 2 parts Season 2 of the Wire, and 2 Parts Sons of Anarchy. Mix it all up in a blender and add 5 shots of awesome. Pour it into a glass and top if with a floater of gnarley. That's what this video is.

If you watched that, you can probably figure out what got me started on this ridiculous post. New shit has come to light, my friends. And, given the nature of all this new shit, I don't see how anyone can deny...

That's freakin' Beardy dudes. As sure as Cleveland Sports are cursed that's Beardy. Singing there in all his glory.

And he ROCKS, man.

What? Not convinced? Do you know where Clutch is from? Germantown, Maryland! That's where. Coincidence? Let me ask you this: Has anyone ever seen the lead singer for Clutch and Beardy in the same place? I mean ever?

Anyone? Didn't think so. I don't know how anyone can not be convinced.

But if you're still not sure, take a look at this next video. It isn't one of my favorite songs by Clutch, but I think the evidence will be indisputable.

"Burning Beard" Are you kidding me!? What are the 2 things that Beardy is obsessed with? Nick Markakis and beards. Is there anyone else out there that would have written this song?

And put super cool robots with red laser eyes in the video?

Face it. I've found out Beardy's secret and its awesome. Well done, dude. Well done.

I expect backstage passes next time you roll through Cleveland. I'll have a box of Ginter waiting for you.

BTW, here is a picture I took from the 4th row of the Kiss Concert last sunday. Yes. The Kiss Concert. That's Gene, Paul, and whatever schmoe they tapped to fill in for Ace. (I think his name is Wolfgang or something, although I may be thinking of a different band).

It was all sorts of fantastic.

Those geriatric bastards still know how to put on a hell of a show. I highly recommend it.

Gint-A-Cuffs Rip Card Result and Final

2010-08-12T12:30:00.001-04:00

Results of the Rip Card: Laser Show Dustin Pedroia SP

Rip Card Additional Points: 10

Final Total: 195

Thoughts:

The Rip card was kind of a bummer. Nothing against Pedroia, other than he plays for the Red Sox, but I was obviously hoping for something better, like a auto. Oh well.
The overall design is OK, I guess. It's all "Allen And Gintery" and whatnot. I guess it's just a little underwhelming after 4 years or whatever. I don't know what else they could do and still call it Ginter, though.
I had 2 packs without a Mini, which was strange. One of them might have been the Rip Card (I can't remember) so maybe they are counting the mini inside there. I was just shorted in another pack. I got 2 minis in the last pack, though, so I either was only shorted 1 or came out even in the end. In light of that, forget I mentioned it at all.
I couldn't name my favorite player Grady Sizemore because he was taken. Despite the fact that I named my first and only born "Grady", concessions could not be made. So I went with Evan Longoria. I mean, who doesn't like Longoria? And he had card in the hits department as a possibility, so that's who I picked. As a fan of a team that until recently endured Jhonny Peralta at the hot corner I allowed myself to dream.
I pulled no cards of Longoria.
None
That's OK, I didn't pull a Sizemore either.
I only pulled 1 Indian in the box.
The entire damn box.
One Indian.
One
Mark my words, Lebron James is going to rot in hell. I didn't pull any of his cards either.
I am ready...
...for Justin Masterson to stop sucking.
After ripping the Rip Card, I had thoughts of pulling a Billy Bob Thornton and "fixing it". If I knew a kid who looked Like Thurman Murman I would.
Seriously? A lousy Pedroia Mini?
Oh yeah, No Stupid Stephen Strasburg either. So Glad that box cost me $20 more than it should have.
Stupid dumb ass people going nuts for Strasburg as if Mark Prior and Joba Chamberlain and Todd Van Poppel never existed.
Those dumb asses deserve what is inevitably coming to them.
Seriously, I'm not kidding. Lebron James is going to hell. Mark it dudes.
Overall, my box was pretty good. I guess it puts me in about 3rd place as of right now, assuming I scored it properly, which I probably didn't.
I think I'm pretty close though.

Far out man, sir.

Gint-A-Cuffs N43

2010-08-12T12:00:00.001-04:00

N43-HR Hanley Ramirez Box Loader +10

Running Total: 185

Gint-A-Cuffs 21-24

2010-08-12T11:00:00.001-04:00

Pack 21

272 David Blaine

122 Yadier Molina

267 Martin Prado

256 Rick Porcello

265 Kendry Morales +2

347 Orlando Cabrera SP +2

170 Adrian Gonzalez Mini +3

TDH43 Jonathan Broxton +1

Pack Total: 8

Pack 22

59 Ivory Crockett

12 Jesus Flores

72 Erick Aybar

123 Mariano Rivera -1

198 AJ Pierzynski -1

313 Ryan Doumit SP +2

248 Jason Marquis Mini Ad Back +2

TDH58 Dan Uggla +1

Pack Total: 3

Pack 23

20 Sacagawea

216 Jordan Sparks (should be -500)

40 Carlos Beltran

124 Andrew McCutchen

114 Milton Bradley -1

136 Garrett Jones

LO18 Eros +3

TDH3 Aramis Ramirez +1

Pack Total: 3

Pack 24

131 Tyler Flowers

8 Miguel Tejada

281 Kurt Suzuki

101 Mark Buehrle

7 Ryan Howard +2

a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1m_U2B0Z1C8/TGIgYi9TWvI/AAAAAAAADJw/WTg7ke71Wto/s1600/56+Howard.jpg">

AGHS13 Jonathan Sanchez Baseball Sketches +3

74 Ryan Ludwick Mini Ad Back +2

222 Graig Gentry Mini Ad Back +2

TDH54 Derek Lee +1

Pack Total: 10

Running Total: 175

Gint-A-Cuffs 17-20

2010-08-12T09:30:00.001-04:00

Pack 17

271 King Tut

125 Hideki Matsui

209 Alex Gordon

81 Cliff Lee

273 David Dejesus

145 Jim Thome

WGWS6 Victor Hugo +4

TDH42 Jorge Posada -1

Pack Total: 3

Pack 18

270 Max Poser

26 Andy Pettite -1

220 Manny Ramirez

91 Carlos Zambrano -1

RIP-RC67 Yovani Gallardo Rip Card 29/50 +20

295 Josh Thole Mini

TDH26 Francisco RodRiguez +1

Pack Total: 19

Pack 19

38 Della Vega

94 Luke Hochevar

113 Billy Butler

293 Troy Tulowitzki

76 Joakim Soria +2

333 Roy Oswalt SP +2

137 Ryan Zimmerman Mini Black Border +3

TDH20 CC Sabathia -1

Pack Total: 6

Pack 20

287 Drew Brees

299 Robinson Cano -1

166 Chris Tillman

18 Jose Lopez

82 Justin Upton

346 Ryan Theriot SP +2

TDH10 David Ortiz +3

Pack Total: 4

Running Total: 151

Gint-A-Cuffs 13-16

2010-08-12T08:00:00.001-04:00

Pack 13

56 Shin Soo Choo +1

67 Carl Crawford +2

191 Justin Morneau

181 Tyler Colvin

AGR-ML Mat Latos Jersey Relic +8

TDH1 Chase Utley +3

Pack Total: 14

Pack 14

243 Jim Zapp +2

187 Jair Jurrjens

168 Rickie Weeks

141 Matt Cain

36 Victor Martinez

332 Ricky Nolasco SP +2

NA20 Lion +2

TDH8 Yunel Escobar +1

Pack Total: 7

Pack 15

9 Kelly Kulick

28 Felipe Lopez

142 Ubaldo Jimenez

31 Miguel Montero

19 Tommy Hanson

338 Fransisco Liriano SP +2

333 Roy Oswalt Mini SP +3

TDH29 Adam Jones +3

Pack Total: 8

Pack 16

70 Joey Votto +2

205 Meb Keflezighi

34 Delmon Young

151 Kanekoa Texeira

126 Chipper Jones

331 Huston Street SP +2

159 Denard Span Mini Black Border +3

TDH48 Matt Holliday +3

Pack Total: 10

Running Total: 119

Gint-A-Cuffs 9-12

2010-08-11T22:00:00.001-04:00

Pack 9

135 Ken Blackburn

54 Tony Hawk

45 Justin Verlander

111 Josh Willingham

49 Jenrry Mejia

171 Michael Young +2

162 Juan Pierre Mini

TDH40 Jake Peavy +1

Pack Total: 3

Pack 10

115 Trevor Hoffman

212 Ken Griffey Jr +2

23 Joe Mauer +2

77 Ricky Romero

169 Felix Hernandez

AGHS3 Derek Jeter Baseball Sketches +1

MM8 Ankylosaurus +3

TDH53 Nick Markakis +3

Pack Total: 11

Pack 11

185 X-Rays +1

3 Ryan Braun +2

37 Daniel McCutchen

50 Jason Bay

284 Dustin Richardson

228 Chase Utley +2

MM23 Carcharodontosaurus +3

TDH64 Josh Hamilton +1

Pack Total: 9

Pack 12

162 Juan Pierre

163 Raul Ibanez

61 Michael Cuddyer

276 Daniel Runzler

AGR-JB Jay Bruce Pants Relic +8

301 Gaby Sanchez SP Mini Ad Back +6

TDH15 Manny Ramirez +1

Pack Total: 15

Running Total: 80

Gint-A-Cuffs 5-8

2010-08-11T21:00:00.001-04:00

Pack 5

283 Hank Presswood +2

16 Carl Pavano

158 Mark Teixeira -1

109 Ian Kinsler

65 Andre Ethier

164 Kyle Blanks

199 Summer Sanders Mini

TDH69 Alexi Ramirez +1

Pack Total: 2

Pack 6

6 Madison Bumgarner

211 Johnny Strange

53 Jason Heyward +2

108 Paul Konerko

127 Albert Pujols

298 Jorge Cantu

SSS7 Hernando De Soto Sailors of the Seven Seas +4

TDH67 Josh Beckett +1

Pack Total: 7

Pack 7

105 Nicolaus Copernicus

201 Pablo Sandoval

84 Elvis Andrus

17 Johan Santana

1 Adam Lind

324 Randy Winn SP +1

NA15 Giant Panda +2

TDH46 Yovani Gallardo +1

Pack Total: 4

Pack 8

144 Stuart Scott (should be - 1,000)

30 Rafael Furcal

173 Jimmy Rollins

230 Brian Roberts

2 Everth Cabrera

305 Kelly Johnson SP +2

303 Trevor Cahill Mini SP +3

TDH71 Billy Butler +1

Pack Total: 6

Running Total: 42

Gint-A-Cuffs 1-4

2010-08-11T20:00:00.001-04:00

OK, Here we Go.

Disclaimer - I will not be scanning the "This Day In History" cards. You'll just have to trust me that I got them in every pack just like you all get them in every pack and they are in every pack ever made.

I will refrain from engaging in my usual hilarity and smart-assery until the bitter end. The last post. If at all.

Pack 1

110 Sherlock Holmes

300 Nolan Reimold

180 Gordon Beckham

69 Clay Buchholz

296 Barry Zito

310 Placido Palanco SP +2

209 Alex Gordon Mini Black Border +3

TDH57 Miguel Tejada +1

Pack total: 6

Pack 2

68 Betelgeuse +1

57 Jacoby Ellsbury

233 Rick Ankiel

153 Jay Bruce

118 Eric Young Jr

AGHS6 Johnny Damon Baseball Sketches -1

LO22 Nemesis +3

TDH Justin Morneau +1

Pack Total: 4

Pack 3

286 Revolving Door

148 Anne Donovan

190 Randy Wolf

137 Ryan Zimmerman

64 Josh Beckett

325 Brett Gardner SP +2

NA5 Cow Nepal +2

TDH34 Troy Tulowitzki +1

Pack Total: 5

Pack 4

197 Johnny Damon -1

104 Mahlon Duckett +2

215 Daniel Murphy

120 Nick Swisher -1

282 Tyson Ross

344 Derek Holland SP +2

53 Jason Heyward Mini Ad Back +5

TDH61 James Shields +1

Pack Total: 8

Running Total: 23

Gint-A-Cuffs Release Schedule

2010-08-11T15:31:00.004-04:00

Since all of you are eagerly anticipating the unveiling of my Ginter Box for Gint-A-Cuffs Part Deux, I decided to throw you all a bone and give you the schedule for when the posts will be released. That way you can all plan your own lives accordingly; so you can be sitting at your computers (As if any of us ever sit anywhere else) for all of the Ginter goodness.

I'd hate to think that someone might miss out on say, packs 8-12 and unwittingly be subjected to a spoiler on Sportscenter or the evening news. I know for a fact that Brian Williams couldn't give a shit about spoiling this stuff for you.

Get out your day planners and Blackberrys, here's the schedule:

Packs 1-4: sometime today, tomorrow, or possibly Friday (probably not Friday though)

Packs 5-8: sometime today, tomorrow, or maybe Friday (still probably not Friday but definitely after packs 1-4. Don't bother even looking for packs 5-8 until 1-4 have been posted, and you can take that to the bank. I guarantee it.)

The rest of the packs: sometime today, tomorrow, of maybe Friday. But only after the other packs have been revealed.

The N43 Card (if that's in fact what I got): Sometime after all of the other packs have been posted. That's right, all 24 of them.

The RIP Card (This is only for if I DID get a rip card, which I'm not guaranteeing. So don't even bother trying to figure out if I got a Yovanni Gallardo Rip Card and Ripped the Holy Hell out of it. But if I did, here's where you get to find out what I got. You know...allegedly.) After all of the other stuff.

So, there you go. Now you have no excuse to miss anything or be left behind. If I was you, I wouldn't plan anything that would take you away from your computer for 5-10 minutes.

One more quick thing

2010-08-08T14:10:00.002-04:00

I'd also like to apologize to Beardy. He put together a cool fantasy baseball league and I've neglected it. I've done things that I vowed in the beginning not to do; I let trade offers sit there unresponded to, and I let players stay in the starting lineup despite being on the DL.

For these things, cardinal fantasy sins as far as I'm concerned, I offer no excuse.

Specifically, I apologize for letting his trade offer this past week sit there. To tell the truth, I didn't even realize it had been offered.

The trade offered was CC Sabathia for Josh Hamilton. For what it's worth, I would have rejected the trade on principle as CC is dead to me.

Deader 'n hell actually. I will not, and cannot, allow that sorry tub anywhere near my fantasy team.

I would also like to congratulate Beardy on not hiring Eric Wedge as his manager.

A Temporary Return

2010-08-08T14:02:00.002-04:00

I plan a short return to post my Gint-A-Cuffs box. I've already ripped it, and now I must begin the long arduous journey that is actually trying to figure out what I scored, and scanning, and stuff.

My initial impression is that it's a decent box. We'll see. I haven't decided if I'm going to get another box soon enough to Gint-A-Cuff it.

I haven't been around much lately, and for that I'm sorry. Even without posting I planned on frequenting blogs and posting stupid comments and such. It didn't turn out that way. Sorry dudes.

Well, let me get to the tabulating and the scanning and see what I come up with.

Semi Retirement

2010-04-28T16:27:00.005-04:00

This announcement will come as a surprise to no one.

I'm officially announcing my semi, sorta retirement from blogging. Actually it might be more accurate to say from not blogging, as the case has been recently. I just don't have the time. I can't blog from work. When I get home I have other stuff I have to do and other stuff I want to do.

I'll still be around checking out all of your blogs and leaving comments on occasion. I might stop back in here occasionally to make a post about my usual nonsense. I just don't want it hanging over my head. Believe it or not, I've been feeling guilty about not posting here. I'm hoping this announcement will kind of "free me up" from worrying about it, so to speak.

Well, that does 'er.

See you fellas (and ladies) around.

I'm sure I'll be back, just don't know when.

Now, I'm off to the park with the kid. Far out, man.

PS - No, I'm not giving up my spot in Joe Collector's breaks. Sorry. Too much cool stuff.

Grady Goes For Win #2

2010-04-18T10:54:00.003-04:00

It's been almost a year since his first (and only) Indians game but today Grady will take another crack at it against the White Sox. The Tribe will be going for a 4 game win streak to get back to .500. If I wasn't such a lazy man I would look up how long it's been since they last were at .500 so late in the season.

However, since I doubt anyone else will bother to look it up either I'm going to just say it was 2007 and present that as factual. Hey, that was easy! I should do that more often! Maybe I can get a show on Fox News! There's even about a 43.2% chance that I'm right.

Here he is cheering the Tribe on last year. Look at him go.

Hopefully I'll have some pictures later. It looks like another beautiful sunny day in Cleveland! Should be a balmy 48 deg. And you know it will be nice and warm up by the lake.

Good Times!

I Am Joe Collector: Exquisite Edition

2010-04-16T19:56:00.001-04:00

A Thorzul Bonus?

2010-04-16T12:37:00.001-04:00

OK here's what I've got. There was a stack of cards with these 2 in protective hard covers. the stack is about 20 cards or so and it features a mishmosh of players, sets, and teams.

I have no idea where I got these.

I can guess. And I think I'm right, but I might not be. Who knows? I think they are from Thorzul in one of his breaks. I don't know if it's the same break as I posted earlier or another one, but I'm pretty sure that's where their from. I think that because the Dan Haren card I think is something that Thorzul threw in there for me from his own personal collection for reasons that seemed to make some sense at the time (although it was unnecessary).

Travis Lee 1999 Upper Deck Scouts Choice

This isn't a great card but it looks a lot better in real life than it does in that scan. It's got an Orwellian feel to it that's a little disturbing, but hey.

Dan Haren 2008 Topps Gold 1196/2008

I like these Gold variations and I think this is the one that Thorzul gave me from his own collection. Probably because he knows how super cool I am and wants me to like him. I'm used to stuff like that.

I hope that is, in fact, an accurate portrayal as to what actually has transpired in reference to these cards. I thank you again Thorzul.

You do, in fact, rule.

Baseball Dad Christmas Card

2010-04-16T08:22:00.001-04:00

I almost forgot. Baseball Dad also sent me a Christmas card. With a baseball card. Here's what he sent:

The card is a 2007 Turkey Red Sizemore. If you've been here long you know about my mania for the Turkey Red. So you combine my favorite set with my favorite player and you get a card with a HUGE thumbs up from me.

And, to answer the comment there...yes I did already have it. And NO, I don't have nearly enough of them yet.

Thanks again Baseball Dad, and Merry Christmas!!

I Am Joe Collector: Big League Choo Edition

2010-04-15T20:51:00.002-04:00

I found another stack of cards that can only be from the Joe Collector group breaks. The when and what of these breaks is a mystery that shall remain unsolved despite the relative ease with which I could figure it out, if I was so inclined.

But it's easier to not be so inclined so you'll just have to trust me. These are from Stusigpi. They are awesome. Here is a little sampling of what was in my stack.

Chris Gimenez 2010 Topps Heritage

I just wanted to bring to everyones attention that last year with the Indians in 111 at bats, Gimenez had slash stats of .144/.256/.243. So yeah...nice call on the "2009 Rookie Star" list.

* Oh Crap! I forgot that I had to finish this post.

Oh well.

Night Owl: Candiotti edition

2010-04-15T13:45:00.001-04:00

Here is another set of Indians cards from the Night Owl. Actually, it isn't so much a set of cards as it is just one card. I gave Grady, as I often do, a card to pick out. I've taught him the delicate art of preserving one's cards, but it has yet to take hold. There's a part of me that hopes it never does.

When Night Owl's package arrived I took out the ones I really didn't want damaged and let him pick a card out from the rest. I hope nobody get's offended by this but I get a lot more pleasure out of watching my kid pick out a card than the 3 cents it's actually worth. I usually sit down at the coffee table to open a new arrival and Grady always comes over to watch. I can tell he wants some of the cards. I spread out a few in front of them and he picks one or two. He then immediately tears off in some random direction while babbling some incomprehensible giberish. He's just like his dad.

So here is Grady's selection from the cornucopia of goodness provided by the Night Owl. As you can see, he picked a worthy player in Tom Candiotti. Growing up it always seemed like Candiotti was there. He was always on the Indians and he always would be...until he wasn't anymore.

I liked Candiotti and Indian's fans remember him fondly. But I worry that I didn't appreciate him like he deserved to be appreciated until it was too late. In fact I know I didn't. Maybe if I had read Ball Four when I was younger I would have known what we had. I hope the Red Sox fans appreciate Wakefield because a good knuckleballer only comes around every so often and you are lucky to have one on your team.

I'm willing to bet that everyone out there reading this post knows how they grip their own knuckleball. EVERYONE throws a knuckleball. My grip is a lot like Tom's on this card. I've convinced myself that our grips being similar probably had a lot to do with Tom's success.

I had a hell of a knuckler myself, you know. I really did.

So, I couldn't have been happier to see Grady choose a card of Tom Candiotti out of the considerable pile he had to choose from. I like to believe that Grady was intrigued by the unusual grip.

Night Owl I thank you, and Grady thanks you.

BTW - Here's a little known fact about the Candy Man. His middle name is Caesar.

Cool.

Condition Poor - Grady Sizemore Goudey Edition

2010-04-15T08:43:00.001-04:00

This is the result of a trade with Slangon over at Condition Poor. Condition Poor is one of those blogs that, as you know, is better, more interesting, and updated more often than my own. But, as is often the case, Slangon got swept up in Turkoff Fever last year. Despite the fact that Beardy owned me in the Turkoff, I still was able to make out. How?

I'm glad you asked. I was able to turn one of my relics into a sweep Grady Sizemore relic. You see, for some strange reason Slangon is a Mets fan. (Yeah I know, I don't get it either. But there it is.) He was willing to send over the Sizemore in exchange for some dude named Jose Reyes.

I know.

But, who was I to argue? And not only that, he sent extra cards too.

Here they are. Or here are some of them. It was so long ago that I can't remember if this was everything or just a sample. I suppose it doesn't matter too much, does it.

Kenny Lofton 2008 Topps Opening Day

You want to know shy this card is red? It's because Kenny is so fast, that when he runs he sets shit on fire. This set was originally supposed to be green, but the cards turned red as soon as they made the Lofton card.

True Story.

Andre Thornton 1986 Team Leaders

I still don't now what to make of this card design.

I played baseball against Andre's kid when I was in high school. If I'm not mistaken he played for West Geagua. I remember the rumor going down the bench that the big guy was Andre Thornton's kid. This isn't too long after Andre was considered an Indian's slugger of mammoth proportions.

I don't remember the kid being all that good, though. I'm not saying he was bad, just that he wasn't any better than any of the rest of us. Which was some how a little disappointing, even though he was on the other team.

Cory Snyder 1988 Topps

Says here that Cory was signed in 1984 by scout Edward Lee Bane. I'm not sure how long Edward Lee Bane was a scout, but he hit a home run with this one. One of my all time favorites. If I ever find Ed I'm going to shake his hand.

The first place I'll check is jail because Edward Lee Bane sounds a hell of a lot like a "lone nut assassin" to me. And if he isn't in jail I need to find out where he is so that I can avoid walking by any tall buildings in the vicinity.

Grady Sizemore Game Used Relic

This is the reason for the trade. Pretty sweet card here. I have big plans for Sizemore this season. He had a good spring and the word is he look healthy for the first time in a long time. Unlike the media, I have not given up on this team. I think we're going to surprise some people this year.

Well, that wraps 'er all up. Thanks Slangon. Nice cards. We'll have to do it again as soon as I get everything organized and up to date and will allow myself to start trading again.

Baseball Dad 4: Large Mammal Edition

2010-04-14T19:36:00.001-04:00

It is almost certainly true that this is the last post of cards that I have scanned in from Baseball Dad. But like I said last time, I have trouble keeping track so long after I got them. Heck, I probably scanned these cards in and get them ready for the hilarious commentary 4 months ago. Maybe even 6. Who can know such a thing?

Larry Doby 2001 Topps Archives

It's hard to understand why the name Larry has fallen out of favor. You hardly ever hear of kids being named Larry anymore. I'll bet that Lawrence is also on the decline. Parents don't want to take the chance. Personally, Full Metal Jacket ruined the name Lawrence for me.

But Larry; Larry is a great name. I've met a few dudes named Larry in my life and to the best of my recollection they are all awesome. My wife would never go for it, though. So I guess that my only chance is to name the next dog Larry.

And, on this I will not budge.

Russell Branyan 2000 Fleer Who To Watch

There's Russ, the once, once again, once again (I think), and current Cleveland Indian. There's no denying that he can hit Home Runs, or he used to be able to hit home runs. He's so good at hitting home runs that the Indians signed him for $2mil this offseason despite the fact that one of the top prospects in the organization is our first baseman, and we are paying Hafner (whether we want to or not) $14 mil this year to DH. Because that makes a lot of sense for a team trying to rebuild.

Yes, let's spend money we are trying to save on a guy who's only option is to take away at bats from our top prospect.

The bummer is that he hasn't been able to hit all spring because of his back and is on the DL. But, how could have seen that coming? It's not like he's an old man with a history of back problems and couldn't finish lat season because of his bad back or anything. I mean, this back trouble really came out of nowhere.

CC Sabathia 2004 Bowman Heritage

I would comment more on this card if CC weren't dead to me.

I would like to say that he sure looked healthy on opening night, didn't he? Slim.

Eddie Murray 1996 Upper Deck Milestones

What's not to like about Murray? Right down to his subhelmet hat the guy rules. I loved his time in Cleveland. The guy will forever be an Oriole, but I feel fortunate to have seen him here. And to see him get his 3,000th hit here.

I remember the buildup to that hit. It was a big deal.

Sweet mustache too.

Steve Carlton adn Carlton Fisk 1982 Fleer

Steve Carlton and Carlton Fisk? On the same card because of the name "Carlton"? What a stupid card. Who came up with that lame idea. It's like some dude was watching Jeopardy and somehow got his idea made into a baseball card.

And, what's with Fisk's huge lapels? So many things here don't make sense.

Bad idea poorly executed.

John Kruk 1993 O-Pee-Chee

I've been staring at this card trying to think of something to say about it. The only thing I keep coming back to is that I'll bet that if Beardy photoshoped Costanza's face onto it we wouldn't doubt the result for a second.

George Williams 1998 Stadium Club

Man, I do love these Stadium Club cards. Look how thrilled George is to be getting onto the game. I have no idea who he is, though.

Moose Hass 1988 Topps

How does someone end up with the name "Moose"? How does that end up an option? Does it get narrowed down to Larry, Bill, and Moose?

I guess if your name is Moose you better grow a mustache.

Jody Gerut 2004 Donruss Elite Extra Edition

I remember when this guy was going to be our next superstar. I don't know what happened to him. I think he got hurt for a while. Then you never heard from him. them in 2008 he turned up in San Diego and had a pretty good year. Things where looking up.

Last year in 122 games he had an OBP of .279.

That's bad. Really bad.

Looks like he's still kicking around with Milwaukee or something. Good luck to him, but I don't hold out much hope.

It's a nice looking card, though. If you squint your eyes at it long enough it begins to look like it might be Grady Sizemore.

Well, that's it Baseball Dad. Thanks a bunch.

Joe Collector Breaks

2010-04-14T13:35:00.001-04:00

I've been in so many I Am Joe Collector breaks that I don't know what is what anymore. This post is a few chosen from a stack of cards that I could only have gotten from Stusigpi. I don't know if they are from the regular monthly breaks or any of the seemingly countless extra breaks that I have been in. I'[m too lazy to go back and try to figure it out and I don't suppose anyone gives much of a crap which specific ones they came from anyway.

The cards are many and awesome. If some of the cards in this post don't inspire you to get in on one of his breaks I don't know what to tell you. You probably are here by mistake and could care less about baseball cards. You should look somewhere else for your pornography. There is none here

Wade Boggs Premier 02/10

I always used to love Boggs. In the late 80's batting average was the end all/be all of all statistics. Now...well I have to say that I can't think about Wade Boggs without thinking of this post at Cardboard Gods.

I remember thinking as I watched on TV that I thought it was weird for Boggs to be wearing that hat. I guess I wasn't the only one.

Steve Garvey Somthin er Other 301/550

It's not exactly Billy Ripken but that sure looks a little bit like someone drew a penis on the end of Steve's bat.

Manny Goodwin Champs Mini

Yup

Kevin Kouzmanoff Ultimate Collection Auto 050/299

That's sweet. I like Kouz. He was an Indian for a while. Hit a HR in his first AB I believe. I was sad to see him go.

But at least we got our secondbaseman of the future in Josh Barfield for him. And even if he didn't turn out to be exactly that he's still valuable. In fact, with the weather warming up he should be over pretty soon to mow the lawn and get started on mulching the beds.

Josh Hamilton Premier 46/99

I like this guy this year. I have to. He's on my fantasy team.

And I MUST beat Beardy. I just have to.

Jim Thome SP Game Bat

Yup

Grady Sizemore Goodwin Mini Gypsy Back

Yup
Grady Sizemore A&G Perez Sketch

I love Sizemore and I love A&G and I love Dick Perez...but...is it wrong of me to say that I think this sketch is pretty bad?

Dontrelle Willis Ultimate Collection Materials

At first I was a little disappointed to get this. But Dontrelle seems to have bounced back a little this spring. I always liked the guy so I will be pulling for him to get back to his former dominant self.

Not when he pitches against the Indians, of course. And all bets are off if the division is close. And don't count that out, dudes.

Stop laughing.

I'm serious, there's nothing to laugh about. We're good.

Oh just shut it.

Chad Billingsly 2009 Topps Chrome Black Printing Plate 1/1

Far out. Printing plate. 1/1.

Can't complain about that. And I love Chrome. Billingsly is good too. An Ohio boy if Im' not mistaken.

Nephew of Peter I hear.

Babe Ruth Premier Stitchings 05/15

Sweet. A Babe Ruth card. This is my only Babe Ruth card actually. I just don't know why Jeff had to write "10" in huge black letters right on the front of the card. That seemed unnecessary. Don't you think?

That's a pretty good sample. I think I have another huge stack of Break Cards somewhere so there will probably be a few more posts.

Thorzul Break: From a long long time ago.

2010-04-14T08:13:00.001-04:00

That Thorzul guy had a break. It was one of those $5 jobs if I remember correctly. There's a good chance that I don't, but that's how I remember it.

If you haven't noticed, there is no shortage of Indians fans and bloggers out there hanging around these parts of the interwebs. And, since most of us are unemployed, lazy, or both, we spend a lot of time on the internet. Consequently, the Indians are often one of the first teams to go in group breaks.

For example, in the monthly group break that I Am Joe Collector does, this will be my first shot at the Indians. I have been doing Joe's baseball breaks since the very first ones. In fact I was in on a few of the very first ones that never made it off the ground. But, when he opened up team breaks I always seemed to be a little too late to get the Tribe. Hey, thems the breaks.

I fell in to a habit of taking the Twins, A's, and Dodgers when the Indians were gone. Not sure why, just that they historically have had a lot of players that I like.

So there you go. the explanation behind why I have those teams in so many group breaks when I'm am Indians fan.

Here's a sample of what I got in Thorzul's break:

The A's Hologram sticker.

I have a giant shoebox of these kicking around somewhere

I just thought this was cool. It's part of the protective wrapping that the cards came in. It did the job. My cards were pristine. But, I've never seen an omelet maker before. I thought an omelet maker was just a...you know...a frying pan.

Yeah, you heat it up, melt some butter in there, make an omelet.

Just weird, man.

Tim Hudson Power Up

Dude's head is enormous. The back of the card lists "fun facts" that are so damn boring, if I tried to type them out for you I might fall asleep on my computer.

AJ Hinch 1999 Upper Deck

This card is really strange. I'm not sure if it's because AJ looks like he's 12, that look on his face, or what, but it kind of gives me the creeps. Maybe Freud could give you a reason. I sure can't.

I just know that I don't care for it.

Terry Steinbach 1993 Triple Play

Read the back of that card. I'll wait.

I call Shenanigans on that. Are we supposed to believe that that's really how they remember Terry at New Ulm High? C'mon, man.

"Hey, did you know that Terry Steinbach went here?"

"Terry Steinbach? You mean the guy that scored a bunch of hockey goals in 1981?"

"Yeah, that's him. What ever happened to that guy?"

"I don't know. I haven't heard anything else about him."

Jose Canseco 1992 Score

I remember how astoundingly good this guy used to be. But he makes it harder and harder to remember, doesn't he?

Well, that's a little sample of the Thorzul break. Thanks dude.

Mr, Bam, I mean.

Baseball Dad 3: Ugly Shirt Edition

2010-04-13T17:42:00.001-04:00

Here is another moving installment of the cards that Baseball Dad sent. As usual this is only an exhibition. Please, no wagering.

Phil Niekro 1986 Topps Traded Tiffany

At least I think it's Tiffany. I'm not 100% sure. I guess it doesn't really matter. Well, that's not true. It will matter a lot when I go to file it. The thought of mis-filing a card makes me queasy.

Yes, I know I'm a weirdo. What of it?

I know that Phil is probably 46 or so when They took this photo but dang, that is one old looking dude. I'm not THAT far removed from 46 myself. I'm a lot closer to 46 than18, anyway. I sure hope I look a little better than that. Sheesh.

Bobby Abreu 1999 Pacific Prism

This is one of those rare cards that looks a lot better in the scan than in does in real life. In the scan it has that shiny purplish sheen to it. In really life it's just silver. Not that there's anything wrong with silver, it just looks really cool in the scan IMO.

And what's up with "Bob". Dude...you're Bobby...get over it.

Len Barker 1982 Fleer

The truth is for most of his career Len Barker was average. But on May15th against the Blue Jays he pitched a perfect game. It's still celebrated yearly in Cleveland. One of our few shining moments between 1954 and 1995. It's important. He will always be loved here. And when he was gone, he brought Brett Butler and Brook Jacoby in trade. Barker did a lot of great things for Cleveland.

Even if over the long haul he wasn't a superstar. He was a superstar that day.

And that mustache is anything but average.

Jim Thome 1997 Pinnacle

Goin' Jake! This card celebrates Jim Thome and Cleveland hosting the All Star Game at Jacobs Field. I remember that. Those were good times for the Indians.

But dang, that is one ugly uniform.

Jim Thome 2000 Black Diamond

OOOOHHHHHHHH BLACK DIAMOND

Deh neh neh neh neh nenenenenenenene

OOOOOHHHHHHH BLACK DIAMOND

Maybe it's just the combo of the red AS Jersey with the red socks, but this is much better. Still not great. But better.

Dickie Thon 1992 O-Pee-Chee

Ever wonder how a grown man lets everyone call him Dickie?

I do.

Daron Kirkreit 1994 Upper Deck

Nice Jugs!

(I wonder if that will translate into page hits? I'm not sure how that all works but it puts a smile on my face thinking about all of the 13 year old boys who I may convert to baseball cards when they started out looking for something completely different.)
Mike Rossiter 1992 O-Pee-Chee

And there it is. The ugly shirt I promised in the title. Lord is that hideous or what? I can't figure this card out. Why is he dressed like that? Why is he apparently at the zoo? What the heck is he looking at?

It's a shame this guy never made it to the show. Even for a few days. At the very least he could have afforded a decent shirt.

Chad Ogea 1994 Bowman's Best

I became a big fan of Bowman's Best ever since I Am Joe Collector busted some in a group break. It doesn't matter what year, I'm always impressed. I love these cards.

Hey...I guess they really are Bowman's Best!

Huh.

How about that. It all makes sense.

Thanks Baseball Dad. One more coming. I think.

Hell, I can't keep track anymore.

Night Owl: CC is dead to me edition

2010-04-13T12:43:00.001-04:00

More cards form Night Owl. Let me know what you think.

CC Sabathia 2002 Donruss Classics

I was going to go into a big, long winded post here about why CC is dead to me. But I can't. It will take too long and should get it's own post or something. This is supposed to be a joyous occasion. Celebrating the sweet cards that Night Owl sent me about 4 years ago.

So I'm going to save that for later. But CC is dead to me.

Deader 'n hell.

Cory Snyder 1989 Fleer

What's the best way to save a blog post that nearly fell into an endless abyss of self pity? Cory Freakin' Snyder, that's how.

Look at that California boys smile and barely concealed mullet. I have little doubt that Cory is sporting a mullet to this very day. I'd be disappointed if he isn't.

And I love him even more now that I know he used a giant glove called "The Backhander." What does that even mean to a right fielder? I don't know but it's awesome.

Just like Cory

Bruce Egloff 1991 Bowman

" OK Bruce, you get one crack at this. this might end up being your only baseball card ever. We want to make this one count. We have the perfect lighting, the twilight sky, right before it turns dark. We have the menacing clouds in the background. Conditions are perfect. On the count of 3 I want you to look super badass. Ready? 1...2...3!"

"Dammit Bruce..."

Julie Franco 1987 Fleer Limited Edition

When we played wiffle ball kids always imitated Julio's stance way more than any other player. Guy had a crazy stance. He played 25 years and hit .298. That's astounding.

We win't soon again see the likes of Julio Franco. I hope he gets some recognition.

Dan Briggs 1979 Topps

Dan looks like a dreamer, doesn't he?

David Bell 1995 Upper Deck Top Prospects

I always like David Bell and thought he should be better than he was. I think he had a pretty decent career, just not the great career that a lot of us thought would be in store for him. NO matter what, this is a pretty cool card.

Glenallen Hill 1991 Upper Deck

Some players (Carlos Beltran comes to mind) make the difficult plays look easy. They are just so gifted. Judging by this card I'd say Glenallen Hill was the opposite. He's sure making that apparently easy play look pretty hard.

Dude could hit a ball really really far, though.

Victor Martinez 2009 Allen & Ginter

Man, I wish we still had Victor. He had a different handshake for all of his teammates. That's awesome. Now, we just have to look forward to Carlos Santana. Hopefully sometime this year.

Come to think of it, that's not such a bad thing.

Tony Perezchica 1992 Stadium Club

The back of Tony's card states "insufficient major league data available for an accurate analysis of batting strengths and weaknesses."

But let's forget about that for a moment. New Mexico State just took the lead over Michigan State. Usually I'd pull (lightly) for Michigan State because they are in the Big 10, but I know 2 lovely ladies that may be happy to see New Mexico State pull that one out.

Dennis Martinez 1997 Stadium Club

El Presidente

That's a great nickname.

Grady Sizemore 2007 Bowman's Best

Bowman's Best has quietly become one of my favorite products. 2007 in particular was great. the cards are so think and shiny and smooth. I absolutely love this card.

Thanks night Owl.

More to come.

Tribecards: Random Brewers Edition

2010-04-13T08:21:00.001-04:00

Just when you thought my blog was clear of free stuff from David, you get a bunch of Brewers!

That's right, more free stuff. I signed up for the Brewers on one of the giveaways at Tribecards (so long ago). I think he's had about 6 other giveaway contests since this one. I know he recently sent out just about his whole darn collection recently.

But, before he did that I was able to snag some Brewers. Here are 10 of them:

Cecil Cooper 1987 Topps

Whenever I look at a card like this I wonder if the people milling about in the stands have any idea they are on a card. Some of them have to know, right? There has to be a group of people that bore the heck out of dinner guests with their stories of being in the background of a 1982 Donruss card, or something.

I wish like crazy that I was in that group. And you better believe I'd show that 1988 Brook Jacoby card to every darn person I know.
Dale Sveum 1989 Score

Dale's last name is pronounced "SWAIM" or so I've been informed on the back if this card. That's a real purty swing Dale has there. Almost as pretty as his glorious mustache on the back of the card. You'll have to take my word for it.
Robin Yount 1994 Topps

Rumor has it this Yount guy was pretty good.

I can't think of a single thing to say about 1994 Topps. This card is epically boring.

Ron Robinson 1992 Stadium Club

OK, raise your hand if you had any idea that Chris Elliot used to play ball. I sure didn't.

Wanna buy a monkey?
Buck Martinez 1981 Fleer

Even though the design is really boring and you have to flip the card the wrong way to read the stats, I like Fleer's inaugural edition. And you could do worse than Buck Martinez.

Buck Martinez. What a name. It's like his parents decided that he was going to be a ballplayer when they named him that. Kind of like Wally Joyner. Or Nikki, if you want your little girl to end up a stripper.

I've always believed that there's a lot in a name.

Pat Listach 1992 Pinnacle

I remember Pat Listach as being a great player. I'm afraid to look him up on Baseball Reference because I have a feeling I'd be trashing a memory needlessly.

Damn. I couldn't help myself. Listach sucked.
John Jaha 1992 Donruss Rated Rookie

I'd have no qualms about looking up Johnny Boy. I loved this guy. I don't care what anyone says. This guy was great. He killed the Tribe too.

That's right. Career OPS+ 116. Jaha rocked.

Although he did only play 3 full seasons. I wonder, was he hurt a lot or something?

Tyrone Hill 1992 Pinnacle

HEY YOU GUUUUYSSS!!!

OK, that was mean. I didn't mean that. I'm sure it's just the angle of the camera or something.

Richie Sexson 2001 Donruss

I've got nothing to add other than this is a nice looking card. And I always liked Sexson.

Jeromy Burnitz 1999 Upper Deck Ovation

I liked Burnitz too. I was sad to see him traded, but we got Seitzer in that trade so I wasn't too sad. But I liked him. He was pretty good. He had some good years. He had a few great ones.

He made the all star team once. In 1999 that was. Like a said. Pretty good career.

Jeromy Burnitz made $47 million in his career.

Let me repeat that.

$47 million.

That's four seven zero zero zero zero zero zero.

I just thought everyone should know that.

Thank you again David. Awesome, as usual.

This time I really do think that's the end of them.

Baseball Dad 2: Metal Universe Edition

2010-04-12T20:46:00.001-04:00

God only knows how long ago Baseball Dad sent me a stack of cards. Some were from his group break, and a lot were just a bunch of great Indians cards, a huge variety. I limited my haul to enough cards to make about 4 posts. The plan is to always knock out those posts and get them up on the blog as a proper thank you.

With me it never really works out that way. I try to think of something semi-interesting to say about all of the cards. The problem is, since I'm an Indians collector, I get a lot of the same players. It's hard to think of a lot of different things to say about Cliff Lee. I end up repeating myself a lot.

What happens, then, is I scan the cards into different posts waiting to be commented upon. Then those posts sit there and sit there. This week is all about getting caught up and finally posting those things. And that's how I end up posting about cards that Baseball Dad sent me a year ago.

Here's the first post about these cards...way back on Dec 13.

Notice at the end of the post that I promised to get to some cards that Night Owl sent me. I made a crack about checking back in March. At the time I thought it was ridiculous to think that it would take me until then. Oh well.

Here is the second installment of the Baseball Dad cards:

Cliff Lee 2004 Certified Materials

Speak of the devil. It's CPL in the flesh. Well, not in the flesh. On a shiny piece of cardboard. I was always behind Cliff. I didn't hold it against him that we wouldn't be able to afford him and had to trade him away. It's the way it is and he earned the money.

And then, after the trade, he said some not too nice things about the Cleveland fans. I don't want to get into it here (It deserves it's own post if I ever get to it). Suffice it to say that it is partly my own fault that we haven't won a World Series in Cleveland.

Well, awesome card aside...Cliff Lee can kiss my ass. (My apologies to Baseball Dad who I know frowns upon that sort of talk. Just take solace in the fact that the actual verbiage in my head is much more colorful.)

Grady Sizemore 2007 Topps Chrome

On to happier things than Phifer Lee. This great card combines my 2 favorite things in card collecting. Chrome and Grady Sizemore...Cleveland's beloved star player still remaining in town. I think he is primed for a breakout year. I made sure I got him on my fantasy team.

Victor Martinez 2004 Diamond Kings

Now here's a former player that I can get behind, despite the fact that he's now a Red Sock (Sox?). Victor was great when he was here and I wish him nothing but the best. Victor never wanted to leave to begin with. I still hope he can, down the road, finish out his career in C-Town. It seems like the right thing.

These Diamond Kings cards are great looking. Much better than the version that was put into the late 80's cards. I miss Donruss.

Mark McGwire 1992 O-Pee-Chee

Look how skinny this dude used to be. Those roids really made him into a monster (physically speaking. I actually like McGwire as a person.) I know I'm in a very small minority, but I like McGwire and I no longer care about his steroid use.

I don't want to get into that, though. I only bring it up to say I legitimately love this card. I love it because that's a perfect swing right there. And steroids didn't give him that swing.

Steve Wojciechowileskichowskinuberchinowski 1997 Fleer

I picked this card for a few reasons:

1. I'd never heard of him. So it gave me a chance to look him up. He wasn't good. No...not at all. He did have more strikeouts than Home runs given up, though. So that's a plus.

2. I wanted to see if I type in his name without looking at it 5 times. I could not.

3. The clinic director of my residency program had a very similar name. I couldn't spell his, either. But he's a really cool dude,and that's what matters.

Chuck Nagy 1988 Topps Tiffany Traded

We interrupt this review to tell you what I'm watching. The Cavs are playing the Kings today and it's Z's first game back at home as a Cav. Cleveland loves Zydrunas. Zydrunas loves Cleveland. I'm glad he's back.

I just watched the pregame intros and Z got a reception that gave me chills. A really nice moment. Cleveland will shower it's guys with love if they let us.

Von Hayes 1991 Fleer Ultra

I hope there's nobody out there who thinks there was a chance I would get a card of a guy named "Von" and post it. Von Hayes was a good player, but not as good as his name. He has a Hall Of Fame name.

Cory Synder 1991 Upper Deck

This card was made after it was plainly evident that Cory Snyder was never going to be the player that once looked inevitable. I still don't know what happened.

He still looks great, though.

Benito Santiago 1997 Metal Universe

Why in the world don't they make cards like this anymore/ Look at how completely awesome that card is. I don't necessarily feel one way or another about Benito. He strikes me as a player who was never really as good as we thought he was. I remember Benitio being very highly thought of. It's not that he was bad, but I doubt he was ever really great. I'm ready to stand corrected about that because I don't feel like looking him up right now.

But this card sure is great. Look at all of the awesomeness going on there. I wish they'd bring back Metal Universe.

That's all for this edition and there's more to come. Thanks Baseball Dad. Many thanks again.

And Night Owl, you shouldn't have to wait any longer. In fact I might have already posted some of yours. I'll bet it's April, though. Sorry I missed my March deadline.

Night Owl: Rick Wise's Stirrups Edition

2010-04-12T16:27:00.002-04:00

So, it was about November or December (of 2009 smart asses) when I got these from Night Owl. For no other real reason than Night Owl rules and has one of the best, if not the best, card blogs. I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.

A few weeks later I sent out a package to him. It contained some Dodgers and some 1981 Topps cards. He was working on 1981 Topps so I sent him every card on his list that I had. I think it was only about 15 or so and I remember regretting that I didn't have more (and that what I had wasn't in great condition).

Then I went into hibernation. So, I have no idea if those cards ever got there or not. I'd be lying if I said I was 100% sure that I sent them. But, I know I pulled them out and I made the "to send to Night Owl" pile. And they aren't laying around here anywhere. So I'm like 83.2% confident that I sent them. (Let me know if you ever got anything, Greg. Or if you don't even remember)

Here is the first of about 4 installments of the cards that Greg sent over. I tried to narrow it down more. I know that maybe I'd get these posts up in less than 5 months if I didn't make them so long and drawn out. I just couldn't help it. There are too many cool cards.

Let's save the best for...

FIRST!
Grady Sizemore 2006 Upper Deck F/X Materials

I'm not sure what set this card is from but it is clearly awesome. It's great in the scan and the scan doesn't even do it justice. It looks really cool in different light, almost Chromish or something. And, you all know I'm a sucker for Chrome.

I'm going to be so, so sad when Grady is gone. I just hope we don't trade him before his last year like we did with Cliff Lee.
Tommy Hinzo 1988 Upper Deck

Look at good old Tommy Hinzo with his subhelmet hat. I think there's an organization for that on some stupid blog somewhere. Some kind of alliance or something. Someone needs to get off their lazy butt and admit more members.

Carlos Baerga 1992 Leaf

What a great looking card. That's a sweat action shot. Man, you look at that and you might get the idea that Carlos was a great second baseman. You'd be wrong. He was not. But I can see how you'd get that idea.

Dude could hit, though. Man, for about 5 years this cat could rake.

Kenny Lofton 1999 Upper Deck

It's hard to explain to non Indians fans the 190 pounds of awesome that was Kenny Lofton. But he was. I loved this guy. All 3 times he played for Cleveland. You'd be hard pressed to find a more beloved player in C-Town than Lofton.

On a team with Baerga, Belle, Thome, , El Presidente, and the like Lofton is the one who found himself in a place of honor on my college dorm room wall. Staring down a poster of Darren Daulten (roommate from Philadelphia.) We didn't talk about it much. We both knew who would win that battle, and there was no reason for me to rub it in.

George Hendrick 1975 Topps

One of the best sets ever. Yount and Brett rookies. Unique color scheme. Instantly recognizable. Just a great set. This card is just a classic. Classic pose. Empty stadium and a blue sky with airbrushed looking clouds.

Plus the hat with the crooked "C" on it.

Grady Sizemore 2009 Upper Deck X - Exponential 3

People don't seem to like Upper Deck X. I never got why. I like it. It's cheap and the cards look shiny and cool. What more could you want?

The back tells us that Grady is a "bona fide five-tool player." I think he's proven that. Let's just hope that from now on he keeps his tool out of the coffee mug and off the internets from now on.

Roberto Alomar 1999 Pacific Crown Royale

Man, that was a hell of a double play combo. Alomar and Vizquel. Probably the best I will ever see in Cleveland in my lifetime. And I feel like I did enjoy it and appreciate it while it lasted. So often you forget to appreciate things until their too late.

But not these guys. they were good and we all knew it.

Kenny Lofton 1999 Ovation

Another Lofton. I like these Ovation cards. They look pretty good and they have a nice texture to them. You can feel the seams on the ball.

But, couldn't they have found a better picture of Kenny? I refuse to believe that this was the best cut that Kenny took.

Rick Wise 1979 Topps

I just wanted to show you this card so that you could also admire the glasses and the stirrups.

Sean DePaula 2002 Topps Total

I don't remember Sean DePaula. The Indians drafted him in 1996 and he first appearend in a game in 1999. He played in 3 different years briefly at the major league level. His inning total was just less than 35 innings.

I have no idea what happened to Sean, nor do I know why no other team gave him a shot. As far as baseball reference is concerned, he's still an Indian. There's no mention of him being released or traded or anything. In 2003 he played for the Reds AAA team and then there was nothing.

You might think that's not much of a career. What I think is that Sean DePaula played in the Major Leagues. He pitched 5 innings n the ALDS. He struck out 5 Red Sox in the playoffs. He is credited with a Major League win.

Anyone out there who wouldn't take that?

Well, that's all for this installment. Thanks Night Owl. There is more to come.

Tribecards From Long Ago: Oddibe Edition

2010-04-12T11:54:00.002-04:00

Remember way back over the summer when David from Tribecards was sending out cards for no particular reason other than...he's David and he's awesome? Well, I'm not quite finished with him. This is the the next installment of cards that he sent me. You can see my other hilarious write ups here. And here. And here

And here

Yeah, David sends out a lot of stuff. Here's some more of it. (And there's one more after this too)

Jeffrey Hammonds 2001 Black Diamond

Look at how cool this card is. Black Diamond. I gotta get me some more of those. The only problem is I'm going to have the Kiss song playing over and over again in my head for the foreseeable future. I guess it could be worst. It could be that "Your beautiful" song that makes me want to punch something.

(Holy Cow! I forgot that Peter Criss sings this.)

Oddibe McDowell 1986 Donruss

You know it's a shame that people just don't seem to be naming their kids "Oddibe" anymore. I wonder why that is? It's a perfectly good name.

I love this cards becaue it reminds me that I need to start a set featuring players with diastemas

Brett Butler 1991 Stadium Club

I loved Brett Butler when he was on the tribe, almost as much a Tony Bernezard. In hindsight I wish I would have picked Butler seein-as-how Tony turned out to be something of a D-Bag.

I'm glad I had the occasion to use the phrase seein-as-how. It always makes me laugh. I have a friend who would proofread papers for some of her friends when she was in college. She once told me that she proofread a paper with that exact phrase in it. In college. Let me repeat that so as to make sure you are understanding this correctly. A college student wrote a paper with "seein-as-how" in it.

For example, one might say something to the effect of "Watson and Crick are important figures in the history of genetics seein-as-how they first came up with the double helix." Yes, one might say this...if one was a complete moron.

Anyway, I always laugh.

Tony Stewart 2009 Press Pass

I know as much about Nascar as Edinboro students know about english. I wanted to show you this card to let you know that I'm at least 63.8% sure that Tony Stewart is the guy on the left. I know I should know this seein-as-how he's one of the more popular drivers, but I don't.

And, I don't care.

Wally Joyner 1992 Studio

Look at Wally.He looks like he's 15 years old there. Dude could hit, though. The back of his card informs up that he likes Letterman. So, Mr. Joyner is welcome in my house anytime.

Russ Davis 1999 Skybox Thunder

The back of this card contains (for no explicable reason) the phrasing:

"You got more flow than Rockefeller has dough.

And if y'all didn't know before, now you know.

You're all that, and mo'."

Now, I must apologize. The more posts I do the less I try to curse (regardless of the fact that it is one of the few endeavors at which I truly excel). I think it's a crutch in a lot of cases. I especially try to avoid it in these posts that are in appreciation for other bloggers who frown upon that type of thing.

But, in this case, I feel like I have no other acceptable way to state the obvious question: "What the fuck is that all about?"

Marquis Grissom 1994 Donruss Studio

I love the Studio sets because of all of the comic gold on the back in the form of personal information. Marquis Grissom has about the most boring info I could imagine. The most interesting thing he could think of is that his hobbies are fishing and drawing.

I can't think of anything remotely funny to say about that.

Dante Bichette 1993 Upper Deck

I don't know if this is some kind of special subset or something and I'm too lazy to look it up. All I know is that it looks like every trapper keeper I ever owned, so it's all good in my book.

On the front of the card he's performing his old "hide the fungo bat handle" trick that used to keep Vinny Castilla in stitches. Don Baylor never did figure it out.

Rance Mulliniks 1987 Donruss

I'm still dumfounded by the fact that a dude named Rance, who looks like this, somehow had a 16 year Major League career.

Really...Rance?

Les Norman 1994 Upper Deck Minors

Les Norman was a Royals Top Prospect. His Baseball Reference page lists his position as Outfielder and Pinch Runner. Think about that. I'll come back to that.

In '95 and '96 Les made it to the big leagues for 73 glorious games. In those games he OPSed a dazzling .466.

To be fair about the whole thing we won't use OPS. Les never claimed to have much power. We'll use OBP. His career .275 is only slightly worse than mine. You might say that .275 is better than .000, but I beg to differ. Les made a hell of a lot more outs than I ever did.

"Well, he's a pinch runner. He let's others get on base for him." You might be thinking. I would counter with Les's grand total of 1 career stolen base.

But all of this is besides the point. The point, as I alluded to earlier, is that Les's position is listed as pinch runner (along with outfielder). My question is this:

What does it say about the state of the Royal's organization when One of their "top prospects" (according to Upper Deck) plays "pinch runner"? Now, who out there is surprised at how well the Royals have performed that last 20 years or so?

Bob Lemon 2005 Upper Deck Classics

That's Fall of Famer Bob Lemon to you, bub.

What strikes me about this card is the hat. Apparently Cleveland couldn't decide whether to go with Chief Wahoo of the "C". So they took the worst possible solution and went with both at the same time. This is the ridiculous final product.

I wish they would have gone with the "C" and let the Chief slowly fade into bolivian. I wish that now, actually. It's never too late.
Hiram Bocachica 1994 Siganture Rookies Auto

I have no idea who this kid is, and I've never heard of this set. But, he played all over...the field and the country. A lot of positions and a lot of cities.

He also signed 7,750 of these cards. That's a lot, man. With only 18 left by the time he got to this one I'm surprised he could move his hand at all, much less make a fairly legible auto.

So, here's to you Hiram. May your helmet always be so gargantuan that you can barely swing.

And here's to you, David. The appreciation of the free cards you sent me probably close to a year ago has finally come to a close. I knew I could do it.

I love them all, dude.

*This post was originally started on 9/27/09. How about that. If anyone thinks they can procrastinate like me...bring it on, man.

Shark Week Table Of Contents

2010-04-12T08:00:00.002-04:00

I've got a lot of stuff that I've been meaning to get to, some of it for many months. There's a little corner of our "office" that I've somehow taken over. My wonderful wife hasn't objected. I do my best to keep things organized but I've only been marginally successful.

When I get a trade package, or a package from a break, or just a random package that someone has contributed to the cause, I like to make a post, sometimes multiple posts out of it. I'm extremely inefficient at doing this.

So what happens is I get the cards and I put them in a stack somewhere in my corner secure in the knowledge that I'll remember who sent them. Sometimes I write it down or put them in what amounts to an "in" box, but not every time. I'm just terribly, terribly overmatched when it comes to any type of sustained organization.

Well, this time it caught up with me. I have a huge amount of stacks to go through and a lot of backlogged posts to write up. I have a lot of the cards scanned into post waiting to be written; some of them scanned in months ago. The whole big mess is almost indecipherable at this point.

What I've done is write them all up so that I can post them all this week.

A very wise soul once said that we should live every week like it's shark week. So that's what this is. Only with trade posts and whatnot instead of sharks. Essentially it will be like Beardy's blog was (I swear that dude did about 17 trades every week. How does he find the time? I wish I was more like Beardy.)

If you have a post coming it should be up tout suite, meaning this week some time. In many cases I won't remember why you sent me the cards in the first place. It may have been a trade. If this is the case there's about a 13.78% chance of me remembering what I sent you (dear God I hope I sent everything.) If you sent me cards and I never posted about them and you aren't on the list, you should let me know. Seriously.

I'm only about 82.4% confident that I've gotten everyone. I'm less sure that the cards listed in the posts are actually attributed to the correct contributor. But I did my best. If your cards got lost in the shuffle I sincerely apologize and do wish that you'd contact me about it. I'll do my best to straighten things out. But, the plain truth is I probably won't have any real way of doing that.

On the other hand, maybe I got everything in it's right place. Stranger things have happened.

Here is what you can expect this week during the Achiever Card Blog Shark Week!

Tribecards Random Packs Part 6
Night Owl Cards Part 1
Baseball Dad Part 2
Tribecards: Brewers Edition
Night Owl: CC is Dead to Me Edition
Baseball Dad Part 3
Thorzul Rules
I Am Joe Collector Breaks
Baseball Dad Part 4
Condition Poor Trade
Night Owl: Candy Man Edition
I Am Joe Collector: Big League Choo Edition
Baseball Dad: Christmas Card
A Thorzul Bonus (I think)
I Am Joe Collector: Exquisite Edition

I've actually been scanning and writing these posts a little at a time for what seems like forever. Some of these posts were actually written a long time ago. I've been saving them up for Shark Week because at a certain point it seemed like the right thing to do. There was likely alcohol involved with that decision. The point is that because of the time frame there is bound to be repeated anecdotes and jokes (or what passes for jokes around here). Please don't hold that against me too much. There's only so much you can say about Carlos Baerga's alleged coke habit, you know?

I really feel bad that it took me so long to get this stuff up. Please, for the love of all that is good and holy, don't for one second let this prevent you from sending me more free stuff. Because that would be the real tragedy. We cannot...we mustn't let it come to that. Because if that happens, the terrorists win.

Achiever Card Blog Shark Week

2010-04-11T22:41:00.004-04:00

It's coming!

I finally have posts for all of the stuff you've sent me over the last 87 months or so. It will all be unveiled this week. That's right, starting tomorrow I will spend the week congratulating myself for finally doing something any normal or reasonable person would have accomplished easily shortly after the cards arrived.

But that's not how I role.

So, I stacked them all into one week and I will be caught up with everything. Life will once again make sense and things can get back to normal.

I didn't know what to call it. I wanted it to be like "Shark Week" but with a card twist or something.

Card Shark Week?.......no

Carck Week?......you must be kidding

Trade Week?........lame

Achiever Card Blog's Fantastic Trade Post Extravaganza?.......That's actually not too bad

Just Like, My Opinion, Man..............That might become some other feature, but not for trades

We're Gonna Need A Bigger Blog...........That's pretty good too. I wish I would have thought of that before I set all of the posts to drop.

But I'm not going to go back and change everything now. So the thoroughly unoriginal "Shark Week" it is, despite the fact that sharks have nothing to do with anything and it makes no sense.

Why should I have to start making sense now anyway?

So it's coming.

Chum's in the water, dudes and dudettes.

2003 Stadium Club - Relic Edition

2010-03-27T09:47:00.001-04:00

I was feeling like opening something the other day. I've had this box of 2003 Stadium Club laying around for over a year. It promised me a relic card. The cards are nice and glossy. It seemed like the right time.

Here is the cover. It damn near promises you Pujols relic. And I've never seen a box that says "Relic Edition!" before. This must be some special super duper relic I'm in store for. I know relics are a dime a dozen now, but I have a feeling that this box was a huge deal way back in 2003. I don't know. I wasn't there.

Well, that's not true. I was alive and everything. I just wasn't actively collecting cards.

My point is I have a feeling (wrong probably, but there it is) that this box was pretty cool 7 years ago, and I think it looks pretty cool now. I like Stadium Club. And I can't wait to see my relic.

I'll bet it's a Pujols. I just have that feeling.

Joe Mauer Future Star

Let's start with a few base cards to build the tension. Can't complain about a Mauer card under any circumstances. This one says "Future Star" on it. Those Topps guys really do their homework. I mean, how the hell did they know that?

One card closer to my awesome relic!

Albert Pujols

Now I'm getting giddy. It's almost impossible for me not to pull a Pujols relic now. It's a foregone conclusion. And this card is sweet. Perfect swing. A much better photo than all of the 2009 Topps Pujols cards where he's dragging his sack across the basepath.

We inch a little closer to my spectacular relic pull.

Kaz Ishii

No reason to show this card other than Kaz's face. But that was reason enough.

3 cards closer to the relic!

Paul Konerko's Ass

If Paul ever saw this card he probably had a reaction very similar to President Skroob after Snotty beamed him in Spaceballs.

We are now 1 Paul Konerko's huge ass closer to the relic.

Omar Vizquel Royal Gold

This is the Royal Gold version. These cards came one to a pack. They have gold writing instead of silver and they are twice as thick as the base cards. This is one of only 2 Indians cards I pulled in the whole box, the other being Thome.

I did however pull 4 Jacque Jones's...which sucked. But hey, Pujols doesn't hit a home run every time, am I right?

And we're 4 Jacque Jones cards closer to my Pujols Relic

Alex Rodriguez Beam Team

I don't know what a beam team is. Maybe they have all been beamed up by Snotty? It has some kind of ellipse inspired design for some reason. I don't know. What I do know is that the back of the card reads: "A-Rod's immense talent and charismatic personality make him a pop culture icon to sports fans..."

And we are one "A-Rod's charismatic personality" induced laughing fit that lasted approximately 2 minutes closer to my relic.

Alex Rodriguez Stadium Shots

If it was me, and I was designing the Stadium Shots insert set, I would have done a few things.

1. Bag the ellipses. What the hell's going on with the ellipses?

2. Try to get a shot of a stadium with, you know, people in it. Seriously, this is the best they could do?

We are 1 empty stadium closer to my relic

AND HERE WE ARE!!!!!

Albert Pujols Dual Relic!!

"I knew it! I knew I'd get a Pujols! this is my best Stadium Club pull ever! A dual relic! Can you imagine! What a happy day! What. A. Happy Day!!!"

- is what I would be saying if I had pulled this card instead of downloaded it off Beckett. This joke would have worked better if the Beckett download looked anything at all like my scans.

Whatever

I would have been very happy to pull Pujols, or any number of other good players. But I didn't. I would have been satisfied to just pull any relic at all.

But I didn't.

That's right. My box of 2003 Stadium Club Relic Edition didn't have a damn relic in it. I'm not crazy. It says "1 GAME-USED RELIC CARD in EVERY BOX!" It's right there in all caps. It even has an exclamation point to make sure that you know exactly how awesomely relicy the relic will be. And I didn't even get one.

Heck, I would have taken Sean Burroughs. I wouldn't have been doing cartwheels but at least it would have been something, right? OK, maybe not Sean Burroughs, but you know what I mean.

How can a product advertise 1 stinkin hit and then not even have one in there? Bummer, man. This is a bummer.

So, what was the big hit of the box?

Ed Rogers Photographers Proof 201/299

Ed Rogers? Future Star Ed Rogers? You've got to be shitting me Pvt Pyle!

What a bunch of bullshit.

Well That's Just Great

2010-03-26T13:25:00.001-04:00

1. I was just on ESPN and made the mistake of clicking on the comment thread under the article. I spent about 10 minutes reading the comments and now I'm pretty sure I have a brain tumor. Thanks a lot ESPN. Jerks.

2. Here's a great quote from Calcaterra on his blog today: "There's more to life than baseball. Or so I'm told by people I don't truly trust." If you're not reading his blog daily...why aren't you? You really should be.

3. I'd like to start a movement to try to establish "flapjacks" as the prefered nomenclature replacing the much more common "pancakes." Not that there's anything wrong with "pancakes" per say. It's just that...well..."flapjacks" is far superior any way you slice it. Is there a reasonable person who would be opposed to this? Let's make it happen.

Here's one of my cards:

Nice isn't it?

Topps Cereal Box

2010-03-18T21:15:00.001-04:00

I was either so excited to open up some 2010 Topps yesterday or so mad that I didn't get any Indians that I had to open up some more. This time I went for one of the cereal boxes that run $10. I like these for one reason. The special Chrome card that is included.

I fully intended to collect them all last year and didn't follow through. This year I like them even better. I intend to get them all this year and now I'm one card closer. I now have 1 card. Since it's the coup-de-gras as it were, I will save that card for last.

J.A. Happ

You might be asking yourself "Self, why did this moron Indians fan scan in a J.A. Happ Base card?" Well, it's because this is the 6'6" flamethrowing jewel of the Phillies farm system that the Indians didn't get in the Clifton Phifer Lee trade. No. Instead we got a 19 year old flame thrower (Knapp) who immediately upon arrival in Cleveland needed surgery on his already injured shoulder.

That's right. Mark Shapiro traded the Cy Young winner (for the second time) for a dude on the DL who needed surgery.

But I'm not bitter. I'm not bitter.

Justin Masterson

Fibally and Indian. I like Masterson. I do. We have a very thin staff this year. Very thin. And Masterson seems like as reliable a pitcher as we're going to see this year. So I like him.

Not as much as Victor Martinez, mind you. But hey. Whatever.

Indians Card!!

Ryan Braun Turkey Red

I got these 2 rules. One is whenever I pull a Turkey Red Card it gets scanned and presented for the admiring world to see. This one is pretty sweet. Ryan Braun. Watch out for this kid. He has potential.

Tim Lincecum

I love this dude. I want to party with him and Phelps, but that's neither here nor there. No, the important thing to remember about Timmy is that he was drafted by the Indians in the 42nd round after his sophmore year. He had a lot of potential but was coming off a bad year. He was demanding a cool $1mil signing bonus.

The Indians refused to meet his demands offering $700k instead. It turns out that MLB was a little pissed and putting pressure on the Indians not to go too far over MLB's stupid-ass makes no sense slotting system. They already had on a couple of picks that year.

Well, Timmy went back to school and the rest is history. If not for the pressure would the Indians caved and given him his mil? I guess we'll never know.

What I do know is that the Indians haven't won the WS since 1948. I also know that a staff of Sabathia, Lee, and Lincecum would have been pretty tough to beat.

Pretty damn tough.

Tommy Boggs 1978 Million card giveaway

This is my first card in the whole giveaway thing that Topps is doing. I didn't know much about Boggs so I looked him up. Tommy Boggs was drafted 2nd overall in 1974. That was the high. The low was his career. There seems to be no way around it...Tommy Boggs sucked.

This is bad news for me if I want to somehow turn Tommy Boggs into Mickey Mantle by trading on the Topps site. But that won't stop me from trying. I'll keep you posted.

Don't hold your breath.

Lou Gehrig Target Gold Chrome

There it is. Pretty sweet if you ask me. I like these even more than last year's version. I might just put some effort into it this time.

Nah, I know I won't. But when I buy any Topps it will probably be in those cereal boxes.

Love these damn shiny Chrome cards.

(Hey! How about posting 2 days in a row!?)

* Oh yeah...I almost forgot. My other rule (which I believe I have occasionally mentioned on here) is that I never go out with girls who say "bitchin".

My First 2010 Cards

2010-03-17T15:10:00.001-04:00

Hey, did everyone know that they've already released some of the 2010 products? Yeah, it's true. I have some of the first 2010 Topps that you'll see this sping right here. (OK, I know it's not spring but it sure has seemed like it the last few days.)

I was at the store yesterday after work and I decided to pick up a rack pack of 2010 Topps so I'd have something quick and easy to post today. My goal of posting 3 times a week on average has been put on hold due to unforeseen circumstances. Mainly, my new boss is working me to death.

About a month or so ago we bought a dental practice for my wife. So, now I'm married to the CEO and President of a new corporation. My boss has taken away all of my time off (except Wednesday) and put me to work at the new office. And for no pay! Sunday we are both off and usually doing stuff, so it's tough to find time to post.

Wednesday I'm alone with the real boss. The real boss usually takes a nap in the afternoon leaving me a short window to post something. Instead of doing some of the other far more important or pressing things that need to be done, I play with baseball cards. When my wife comes home after work on Wednesday she asks if I got anything done. I tell her that I sure did, I got a blog post up for the first time in a week. She usually gives me a look that I can't quite decipher. I think the look means "that's OK, you're still awesome!"

And that brings us to todays post. It is very boring and uninspired, but what are you gonna do? It's my first 2010 cards, and it was a disappointment. No Indians.

Here is a small sample:

Ichiro

I'm not sure if we are still using this guy's last name. I scanned this one because I wanted to scan a base card and I got no Indians to show you. Anyone want to guess what Ichiro's OBP was last year? I'd tell you if I knew, but Topps still doesn't think that stat is important enough.

I'm not advocating putting VORP, UZR and that stuff on cards. I don't think the general public is there yet. But no OBP? C'mon Topps. It's 2010, man.

Stephen Drew Turkey Red

I love Turkey Red, and there's worse cards to pull than Stephen Drew, I suppose. I got more excited when I read the back and discovered that Stephen not only "sizzled" last year, but he also "raked" and did a fair amount of "legging" as well.

Christy Mathewson Peak Performance

Isn't this guy dead?

His Peak Performance came in 1908 when he won 37 games for the Giants. Runner up was Mordecai Brown with 29. I have nothing against Christy. She seems like a nice enough gal, but I feel fairly certain that had I been alive back then, I would have been squarely in Mordecai's corner on this one.

"Mind you don't cut yourself Mordecai." (OK, I know that's Buford (the sly one) but they never actually show Mordecai.)

President William Howard Taft History Of The Game

Every president since Taft did it has thrown out at least one first pitch, except Jimmy Carter. This leads me to wonder why Carter never did it.

I think I like Carter a little bit less after knowing that.

Ryne Sandberg Card your Mom Threw Out and Then Topps Made Again Only A Lot Shinier

My mom never threw out Ryno.

She knew better than that.

I like this card all the same. Cool Idea.

Bo Knows Defense Tales Of The Game

Now this is a sweet looking card. Bo in that awesome blue uniform all layed out and making a catch with his hat falling off. Man, what a shot. The only quibble I have is that the play described on the back is obviously not the one featured on the front. What, was this play not good enough?

On a related note, I asked a kid in my office ( I think he was around 8 or so) if he'd ever heard of Bo Jackson.

He had not.

Somewhere along the line I fear we've failed as a society because I'm not that damn old yet.

So there you go. My first 2010 cards

2009 Topps Chrome Part 2

2010-03-10T16:40:00.001-05:00

This post is in honor of my triumphant Rose Bowl win. Well, not really my win. All I did was sit on my couch and hope like hell that the Buckeyes didn't get embarrassed again. So I sat there drinking beer and eating junk food and tried to keep my ulcer in check.

On top of it I had the now famous Rose Bowl Bet with Joe Collector. The bet was for a box of cards of the losers choosing. A few days (weeks?) ago my prize (which I had forgotten about) was revealed. I can only assume that all of you were stricken mute (or even catatonic) with jealously due to the fact that none of you even bothered to comment on my awesome prize. (Yeah, but I noticed damn near 40 of you left a comment to get a free set of 2008 Masterpieces.)

2010 Topps Chrome is the prize. Yes, Stusigpi knows what I like. Awesome. I'm not sure if he knew of my love for Chrome from my blog and the numerous questions and advice that I'd asked him about the product, or if he figured that since I was from Ohio I probably liked shiny things. Probably a bit of both.

Well, since you know that Chrome isn't due out for a few months or more, I decided to bust one of the boxes I have left of 2009 Chrome. (Coincidently I bought 3 boxes from Blowout through a sale on I Am Joe Collector).

Here is what transpired:

John Smoltz Base

I wasn't going to scan a base card, until I saw this one. This card just looks awesome with the red background and all. I'm not a fan of Smoltz. Nothing against him. He was great. I just never cared about him much one way or the other.

But this card looks great. So there it is.
Yang Yang WBC

If you think I scanned this card for any reason other than the dude's name is Yang Yang, you haven't read me very much. Not that I'd blame you.

For the record (as if anyone cared about such things as my "record"), I went to high school with a guy named Ken Kenny. I also was in college a few years behind some dude named John John John. I didn't type that wrong. John John John. John cubed for short. I didn't know him personally. But I don't know Yang Yang personally either. That doesn't prevent me from enjoying his name.
Tommy Hanson Auto

I didn't know any of those MmmBop kids played ball. Far out.

(Yes, I'm aware of how lame that joke was. What the hell else am I supposed to say about Tommy Hanson?)
Chen-Chang Lee WBC Blue Refractor 009/199

Not as interesting as Yang Yang. But it is a blue refractor, so that's nice. I'm also excitted that they put the 00 in front of the 9. I don't know why.

I also like that 199 is divisible by 9. That's exciting too.

George Kottaras Auto

This dude is apparently Wakefield's personal catcher or something. Of course that may be completely wrong, but that's how the back of the card makes it sound. I'm not going to look it up. That's George's big claim to fame according to Topps. He can catch a knuckleball without retiring the way some other nameless catcher did.

(let's see if that earlier math thing generates any comments)
Dustin Pedroia Magenta Printing Plate 1/1

Cool. I guess. I was super excited to get a Sizemore printing plate in one of Joe Collector's breaks (it was actually traded to me). I'm still excited to have it. But I have a few of these now and they really aren't that cool. Not sure what the appeal is, other than that they have 1/1 written on them, as if that's a big deal any more.

Still, better than a base card, though.
Howie Kendrick Red Refractor 16/25

Now, this is cool. Almost as cool as if they had called it a scarlet refractor instead of red. Either way it looks awesome. Especially after Topps screwed me out of a Red Refractor redemption in 1009 Finest (or maybe not). I was really excited to pull the red one. Kendrick is not bad either.

His name is Howie. So you know I like that.

Still one box to open and a shiny new 2010 box down the road, the spoils of war. Or at least the spoils of two middle aged white guys with the ability to watch athletic college kids play football on TV.

I thought it was a good box. What do you guys think?

Blog Update!

2010-03-03T09:41:00.003-05:00

I'm still alive.

I'll get back to posting shortly. Or longly.

I'm through making promises I obviously can't keep.

Far out, man.

Great Action

2010-02-12T17:22:00.004-05:00

Thank you DB1 from Hot Chicks with Douchebags!

This really may be the greatest action sequence of all time. It at least gives me something to share with everyone that might not see it otherwise. It also gets me to the top of the blog rolls and gives me credit for another post with essential no effort whatsoever.

This is how I imagine a normal day for Beardy.

Finest Redemptions Arrive

2010-02-10T11:25:00.000-05:00

Sort of...

Well, not really "sort of." They ARE here. Most of them anyway. It's just that, and I hate to sound ungrateful considering I wasn't convinced I'd EVER see them, they're kind of the wrong ones. Not completely. I'm not even sure if they're MOSTLY wrong. But they definitely aren't 100% right. Follow me on this.

I redeemed 4 Finest cards last year in May and June. They are:

1. Dexter Fowler AU Rookie Letter Patch Blue Refractor

2. MLB Rookie #8 Red Refractor

3. MLB Rookie #7 Gold Refractor

4. MLB Rookie #10

Seems simple enough, right? (I can't wait to see that red refractor. That thing will be the cat's ass!)

Here's what I got:

#7 Nolan Reimold Refractor 121/199

OK - #7 was supposed to be a Gold Refractor. I think those are numbered to 50. I love Nolan, and I know a certain hairy deviant that may be interested in a trade. So, I'm happy to get a refractor, but it was supposed to be the gold one. I hate to complain but...

#8 Neftali Feliz Gold Refractor 7/50

Again, it's the right card. But it's the wrong color. The red refractors are numbered to 25, I believe. So again, Topps kind of screwed up. And in the wrong direction.

Again...

Dexter Fowler Blue Auto Patch 7/25

This is the right one. And it's awesome. Topps kept sending me emails asking if I'd like a card of equal Beckett Value. I held out, and I'm glad I did. (Although, maybe I wouldn't have done too bad if I'd exchanged it.) I'm never in a big hurry to get my cards so waiting didn't really bother me.

The last redemption has yet to arrive. It's just a regular base card so if Topps screws that one up I have no place to go but up. I guess we'll see what happens.

To sum up, I did get a Gold Refractor, just the wrong one. That's OK by me. The only thing that bums me out is I have a regular refractor instead of a Red refractor. And the Red was the one I was looking forward to the most.

So what should I do? Should I just say eff it? Or should I contact Topps to see if they'll fix it? I'm leaning towards contacting them, so if someone could help me out with advice on the how to get the best results I'd appreciate it.

X-Fractorlicious!

2010-01-24T16:30:00.001-05:00

OK, so that post title makes the actual post sound a lot more exciting than it really is. The point is getting you here. Even if I have to trick you.

To what purpose...I'm not quite sure.

This post is to brag about a decent return on a couple of Bowman Draft Rack Packs. The grocery store by my office has a little (very little) section with cards. It's mostly YuGiOh and whatnot. But there are sportscards, and it gets updated every so often. If my wife doesn't want me spending money on a few packs here and there she shouldn't send me on errands. Right?

So I picked up 2 rack packs of Bowman Draft. In these you get the usual Bowman cards, a gold card, and some Chrome. You all know I like chrome because it's all shiny and stuff.

Here are 2 cards that I pulled that pleasantly surprised me.

J.D. Martin Draft Chrome Purple Refractor.

It's not numbered so I don't know how rare these purple refractors are. I suspect they aren't very rare. Still, it was nice to pull from a rack pack. It's the only purple refractor I've ever pulled from a pack of 2009 Bowman draft. Of course, this is the first time I've opened any.

Still...

David Ortiz X-Fractor 189/199

Nice. I love X-fractors. It's hard to tell in the scan, but there's absolutely no reason for me to lie. Except to impress everyone so they will like me. Not too bad getting the Ortiz either. That guy has a lot of balls. No, really, look...he's holding at least 4 balls there.

So, an X-Fractor and a Purple Refractor out of 2 rack packs - not too shabby.

2009 Topps Chrome

2010-01-22T17:15:00.001-05:00

A while back, Stusigpi over at I Am Joe Collector finagled his way into Blowout Cards offering Topps Chrome at the low low price of $43 a box. It was cheaper than I'd seen it by far, before or since. So I picked up a few boxes.

Because I love sparkley things.

Here are some highlights of the first box. You might want to pay close attention because you probably haven't seen a 2009 Topps Chrome break anywhere.

Hung-Wen Chen World Baseball Classic

This is my favorite card of the whole bunch. Look at that guy. Is that the worst picture they could have found of this poor guy or what? Plus, his name is Hung.

But the best thing about the card? The first sentence on the back is "Chen missed the 2009 World Baseball Classic,..." What? Why is he on a card then?

He's in the Cubs organization so hopefully this isn't the last we've seen of Hung.
Fu-Ti Ni World Baseball Classic Blue Refractor 168/199

Hung and Fu are teammates. Fu is in the Tigers organization. This card is great for many reasons. I love the name Fu almost as much as Hung. Fu actually has a baseball picture instead of a mug shot. The only thing to distinguish it as a blue refractor is the little stripe at the bottom. It is miscut, I think. There is a small silver stripe at the top that looks out of place.

Mark Buehrle Blue Refractor 184/199

Can you believe this guy pitched a perfect game? Not that he's bad or anything, but man. I thought this guy was only good against the Indians.

Walter Silva Gold Refractor 29/50

Isn't Chroma awesome with their shiny colorful cards. I love this card. Even if the guy on it kind of sucks, I love it anyway.

Will Venable Auto

OK, OK. Not bad. I've heard of him. Cool looking sig too, even if it looks nothing like his name.

Trevor Crowe Auto

Alright now! An Indian. Even if it is Trevor Crowe. I used to have high hopes for Trevor, a first round draft pick. At this point, at the age of 26, he has pretty much cemented himself in that 4th outfielder at best level. But (much like Gregg Jefferies) I still get a little excited when I see one of his cards. I can't help it.

The good thing about a guy like Trevor is I never have to worry about a club like the Yankees ripping him away. The rub is that I wouldn't really care if they did.

Not bad I guess. A few cool parallels and an Indians Auto.

Shiny as hell too.

Back with a few more down the line.

I'm On A Roll, This Time

2010-01-21T00:18:00.005-05:00

Here is try number 2

I've figured some stuff out but it still seems like it should work differently.

At the very least you can enjoy this acoustic version of Lucky. With a red border even!

It works OK as long as I type the post before pasting the embed code. Probably not how it's supposed to work but hey...whatever.

******Update******

Of course the picture apparently doesn't fit. But I'm getting closer.

Accidents Waiting To Happen

2010-01-20T12:15:00.010-05:00

This is really just a test post.

I had the morning off so I decided to see if I could figure out how you nerdy computer people get youtubes and whatnot onto your blogposts straight out of the ether. Then I could download interesting videos and stuff right onto my blog.

From there it's just a short step to me videotaping my breaks of stuff like 1992 Fleer.

So, if this works, you will all be able to enjoy a little of the overwhelming evidence that Radiohead is better than...well...everyone.

Don't underestimate the significance of this (should it work). Me getting the youtube thingy to work in one morning would be the equivalent of 2 monkeys making a satellite dish out of a lawn chair, a rubber hose, and speaker wire. You should all be impressed.

Man, I hope this works. (I looks good in the preview anyway)

*******Update********

Well, as you can see, it kind of worked. Each paragraph, however, runs forever without going to a new line. This caused words to be cut off in the post. I don't know what to do about this to rectify it. A little help?

Also, the font size in the compose page is Largest before the video and normal after the video but it all seems to be normal size after I post it.

Except that last update. Something funny is going on with my font sizes.

What Goes Around Comes Around

2010-01-16T17:53:00.001-05:00

It was ego really. Just pure ego. I mean really, how did I think I was going to get away with it? Like I was just going to willy nilly Bip people all over the ether with no regard for human life and common decency? Without any consequences? What a fool.

Well, my checkered past has finally caught up with me. I arrived home the other day to find a package waiting for me. I knew who it was from, even though return address said "Bip Robert". I've seen Beardy's writing enough that I knew immediately. I knew what was in it. Some things you just know.

Beardy knew. Somehow he knew. He'd seen it on the blogs. He's always on line. He doesn't have a job. At least not one that requires work. However he figured it out, there would be no running. There would be no hiding. No escape.

Beardy was sending me home to get my shine box.

As I broke out into a cold sweat, my heart started to race. I felt faint. My wife maneuvered a chair under me a split second before I hit the floor. I opened the package and peered inside, my worst fears realized.

Right there on top was the note. "Christ, he even sent a limerick." I thought. I sent my concerned wife from the room.

She didn't need to see this. She's an innocent.

Four 1987 Eddie Murray Sportflics. My God. It's going to be Eddie Murray. The Oriole Legend. The one time Indian favorite.

Please Beardy...not...not Eddie Murray. Not Sportflics. I love both. Did I really deserve this?

Six 1987 Topps Eddie Murrays. At this point I'm numb. I'm ten cards in and I feel like Eddie Murray is mocking me. I can hear the laughter of a crazed Bearded man some 500 miles to my southeast. I may never recover.

At this point Grady wanders into the room. Panicked, I leap for him. Cover him. Shield him from the still unfolding horror. I usher him, scared and confused from the room and deposit him squarely in front of Elmo's Grill. I retreat back to the office and lock the door. I can't risk him coming in here again. I barely saved him that time.

But I did save him. It is to be my redemption.

Encouraged, I press on.

Six 1988 Topps Eddie Murray Record Breakers. Please. No more. I can barely take this. I see 12 Murrays staring back at me from 6 cards; behind glorious mustaches that my wife will never allow. This isn't fair. What I did wasn't so bad. I don't deserve this.

From the deep recesses of my brain I hear the words of William Munny, killer of woman and children, echoing "deserve's got nothing to do with it."

But I saved the boy.

And with that, I pear back into the envelope. Empty.

It's over. Finally over. And I'm alive. Beaten but alive.

It's 2 days later now and I can finally talk about it. Am I the same man that I was before I was Bipped? Hell, I don't know. Probably not. Who could ever really know a thing like that.

At my core I think I'm the same. A little older. Wiser.

Here's A Card

2010-01-12T23:57:00.002-05:00

Anything to get Pink Beardy off of the front page there so he's not staring at me every time I open my blog.

So here's a card.

And, with Cory Snyder you got no complaints.

Beardy Trims His Beard

2010-01-11T23:20:00.003-05:00

I stumbled across this picture of Beardy before he grew out his beard. Always an Orioles fan, you can see that he's all decked out for the game.

Looking Good Beardy!

OK, that's not Beardy, nor is it anyone in his family (I don't think). I wish like hell that it was, but it's not. I just ran across it at HCwDB and the first thing I thought of was Beardy. I couldn't stop laughing.

It's probably just me.

Stale Gum Contest

2010-01-10T22:37:00.004-05:00

Inspired by Beardy, I've decided to dust off the old photoshop skills to enter the National Chicle Parody Card Contest over at Stale Gum (It's this whole other blog).

Without any rational explanation, "Chicle" is actually the name of a baseball card set coming out in 2010. It is apparently a fun little retro-themed set where they take one player's card and put another player's name on it.

It's really fun, and easy to do.

Here's mine:

Look. You can hardly tell. In fact, the only way that you'd know that this isn't an actual card of the Mick is when you realize that he never played for the Tribe. On the other hand, that's apparently the entire point of the set. Nothing makes sense!!!

You're damn right I used three exclamation points!

This is fun as all get out. I'll probably even make a few more.

Admit it...at first you thought it was Mantle, didn't you?

Going Costanza (mostly)

2010-01-09T19:44:00.002-05:00

Oh Captain My Captain is having a contest or something. The rules are pretty vague and hard to follow. It's something to do with football, picking the winner to the playoffs or something. Since he pretty much called me out I had to oblige and answer.

I pretty much made a fool of myself in Canuck's Fantasy League this year. I came in dead last, which was the worst thing that could have happened. The second worst thing would have been to have Beardy win, and he damn near did. That's the kind of stuff that happens to you when you draft Ladainian Tomlinson in the first round. I can't even remember who I took in the second but I'm sure he sucked too.

So the plan was to really show Canuck and the rest of them. I was going to research the hell out of it and really come up with a fool proof prediction for the playoffs. El Capitan definitely gave everyone enough time.

The problem is I never did it. I remembered this morning (at work) that I hadn't made my picks yet. I knew the games started at 4 but I didn't even know who played in the first game. I gave some guy with a toothache 3.4 cc 2% lido with epi and ran to the computer (I'm trying to impress everyone with my doctor talk) to make my pick.

It was right then that I settled on a fool proof plan. I was going to go Costanza. If my every football instinct is wrong, then the opposite would be right. I felt very strongly that the Jets would win so I put in my pick...Bengals FTW!

I didn't have enough time to make the rest of my picks right then so I promised to pick them as soon as I got home from work. I ran back to the op, put my foot on the guys chest, and started cranking with everything I had... invigorated with my foolproof plan for glory.

As soon as I got home, right at the scheduled start time, I ran in the house and booted my lovely wife from the computer. I noticed that Canuck had closed the contest but had left a spot open just for me. (Those Canadians are so nice) He's seen me in action and probably figured that it wouldn't make any difference either way if he still let me pick. I can't say I blame him. I really crapped the bed in that league.

But he didn't count on me going Costanza.

What I did was just pick every team that I thought would lose. This was very hard in a lot of cases as, like most American men, I figure I know more about football than just about anyone on the planet.

There are 2 picks where I just couldn't do it. The second round AFC picks. As a Cleveland man I have no stakes in the playoffs. So, naturally, I'll pretty much pull for whoever I pick here. Without the Yinzers in the playoffs I had only 2 teams to worry about. Baltimore and Cincy. I hate them both.

I don't think either of them will win in the first round, but I forced myself to pick them anyway. I just couldn't do it in the second round. If they are still playing in the second round I couldn't bring myself to root for them. Wouldn't it be a hell of a thing if that was my undoing?

All of my other picks were Costanza picks.

You laugh, but I've definitely had worse idea's than this one.

NFC:
Philly over Dallas
Arizona over Green Bay

Philly over New Orleans
Arizona over Minny

Philly over Arizona

AFC:
Cincy over NY
Baltimore over New England

San Diego over Baltimore
Indy over Cincy

San Diego over Indy

Super Bowl:
San Diego over Philly

Total pts: 51

For the record, my picks were in before the start of the first game.

*******UPDATE*******

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that after two games I've been mathematically eliminated. Thanks a lot George.

Don't worry about me. I'm in Cleveland. We're used to this kind of stuff.

Achiever Card Blog In The New Year

2010-01-06T16:00:00.001-05:00

In true Achiever Card Blog fashion I am here to wish everyone a wonderful holiday and a merry new year...on Jan6th. You know, after all of that has long since passed. Despite all evidence to the contrary I plan to continue this blog for the foreseeable future. There may be some changes. I'll try to describe some of them here. There also may be some changes that I have yet to think about and, therefore, would be unable to describe at this juncture.

I haven't been around much lately and unlike my other many hiatuses, this is not due to laziness. Well, not mostly due to laziness. As many of you know, I'm a dentist. At the end of the year there are many people who show up in the last 2 weeks and expect you to do all of the work that they should have been getting done the entire year. There isn't a lot of time to dick around on the computer.

Also at the end of this year, my wife, who is a prosthodontist (a dentist who specializes in really difficult and complex cases) is buying her own practice. Which means that I'm buying a practice (along with working at my regular office). This stuff takes up a lot more time than you'd think. All of this during Christmas which as you all know is normally a very relaxing and laid back time of the year.

Then, there was the 2 days I lost to The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I'm not saying that I spent 2 days reading it. I'm saying that after I read it I spent 2 days in a darkened corner of my basement weeping softly while curled into the fetal position. It is without a doubt the bleakest thing I've ever read.

It is awesome. I definitely recommend it. It's one of those books that you will find yourself thinking about constantly.

Without giving anything important away, it is about a man and his son trying to survive in the most terrifying post-apocalyptic world I've ever imagined. Seriously, John Connor would long for the robots and Mad Max would just off himself. Thunderdome is like Space Mountain compared to this.

A few things to expect are these:

Not all posts will be about baseball cards. Because it's hard to post at work about cards for me, I might just throw up some random thoughts that have nothing to do with anything because they are hilarious. At least that's what my wife says. "Oh motherscratcher, you're so funny. can you clean the garage?" "Jeez that's great! You're a genius. Why don't you run to the store and pick up the things on this list." "I can't believe how lucky I am to be married to such a funny guy. Can you get up and feed Grady so I can sleep in a little longer funny man?"
I plan on a contest or 2
I might try a group break
I have a plan for a custom set. I've been thinking about it a lot. My photoshop skills aren't good enough so I might throw myself on the mercy of the Beardy for a little help.
Other great stuff I haven't thought of yet.

I know there is no way for me to post once a day. It just won't happen. My goal is 3 times a week. I really should be able to handle that.

And also, I plan to try to leave more comments on all of your blogs because...well...who doesn't love comments?

We'll see how it goes.

Buckeye's Win!

2010-01-03T12:49:00.004-05:00

The Rose Bowl is over. The Buckeyes won. Elation (and a huge sigh of relief) washes over the entire Buckeyes fan base. And Stusigpi owes me a box of cards. Good times abound in Cleveland.

In my last post I (without his prior knowledge) forced Stusigpi (I Am Joe Collector) into a bet that, with benefit of hindsight, was somewhat unrealistic. If I had taken the time to consider it, I surely would have realized that Jeff would very unlikely be able send me an anti-government militia following a Buckeye's Rose Bowl Victory. This in no small part is due to the fact that most of those militias are probably in Washington. Despite Oregon's close proximity to it's northern (slightly deranged) neighbor, the fact remains that it's a whole other state.

Jeff, being the intelligent lawyer that he is, saw the folly of my original proposal, and counterproposed a more realistic "box of cards" wager. He did this in the midst of a post whose main purpose was to mock the idiots (myself incuded) who insist on calling Ohio State THE Ohio State University. No matter, it is a tradition that we will continue despite the fact that none of us actually know WHY we do it.

(I can never figure out which pictures will be big and which ones really small)

As you all know by now, the Buckeyes emerged victorious against a very good Oregon Ducks team. This will go a little way toward restoring some of the respectability that the Buckeyes and Big Ten have lost the last few years. Some of the criticism is deserved, and some isn't.

Jim Tressel has taken a lot of heat for not being able to win bowl games, and big games in general. There are a lot of places to read about this in more depth and detail than I can provide. I will simply offer a few thoughts:

Jim Tressel is now 4-3 in BCS Bowls. The 3 losses occurred at the hands of teams that finished 1,1, and 2 in the nation. I don't know. I guess I just don't see why people think that's so terrible.

(damn, another tiny picture)

As for the game, I will say simply that the Ducks are damn fast. I think they are a national title contender next season. I think the Buckeyes (who were able to keep up...barely) will also be in that picture. It would be fun to see a rematch for all the marbles next year.

Terrelle Pryor finally looked like the type of player deserving of the hype he received in high school. He doesn't look like he is moving fast (not like that LaMichael James kid - holy crap is that kid fast) but he must be. All season he seems to be half a step ahead of anyone pursuing him. And, he finally learned how to pass. He looked in control, less panicky than he has at any other time in his career.

He looked like a QB. I really good QB. It was a hell of a thing to watch for someone who has seen every snap, good or bad, that he has taken in his college career.

The game ended on a high note as LeGarrette Blount didn't sucker punch anyone in the face.

Now I just await my prize.

Or, we can wait until next year in the National Title game and go double or nothing.

Rose Bowl

2010-01-01T12:58:00.000-05:00

Well, it's a new year. My plans last year for a post a day have failed miserably. I enter this year with a new resolve not to fall so drastically short of my goals. This year my goal is a post a month. I feel like there is a good chance I can meet, or even slightly exceed this goal.

Because this is supposedly primarily a baseball card blog, I will kick off the new year by talking about football.

The Rose Bowl is today. Ohio State v Oregon. Or, more widely known as Motherscratcher v Stusigpi (AKA I Am Joe Collector)

That's right, Stusigpi is from the Pacific Northwest. Way out Oregon way. I will assume (for the purposes of this ridiculous post) that he is a die hard Oregon fan. Here is where I'd make fun of him for having a Donald Duck mascot, but I'm a Buckeye nut so I'll just let that one slide. Forget I mentioned it.

When Jeff and I first met over the ether he said: "I hold a special place in my soul for the dislike of a few college football programs." And then he lumps us in with Nebraska and Florida State. Can you imagine? We probably pay our players twice as much as those schools combined.

And Oregon? They spend their money on uniforms.

And Cheerleaders:

We might have The Best Damn Band In The Land. But, Oregon definitely has the best cheerleaders.

Since our inauspicious introduction, I feel like I may have turned Jeff's image of Buckeye fans (well deserved in many respects) around somewhat. Maybe instead of reserving a special place of dislike in his soul we've moved closer to the bowel or possibly the armpit. I'd take that. Baby steps, you know.

But anyway, in a few short hours the Buckeyes will rumble into Pasedena for the first time since 1997 and take on a Ducks team that is likely more talented. The Buckeyes haven't seen the likes of their offense, but the Ducks haven't seen the likes of our defense either. It should be entertaining.

No mention on whether Tressel intends to deploy the Dick Chaney Defense at any point.

If we were mayors of our respective towns, we would make some kind of silly bet based on what we are most known for. So, if Oregon wins we'd get rain and anti-government militias. If the Bucks win I'll be sending over some brown road sludge and unemployment. It should be epic.

And so, 364 days a year Stusigpi is one of my favorite bloggers. Today...he's my mortal enemy. That is unless he's an Oregon State fan. That would be OK I guess. I've got nothing against Oregon State. ( I won't even entertain the possibility that he's some kind of front running SEC fan. No, he seems like way to decent a guy for that).

After the game, Jeff, Beardy, and I can go back to being the 3 best friends that anyone could have.

And, of course, Woody hovers over all.

Cards From Baseball Dad

2009-12-13T10:30:00.001-05:00

Just recently I got a nice package in the mail from Night Owl. It contained all manner of cool Tribe cards. About 2 weeks after I got it I emailed him to thank him. I honestly couldn't remember if I'd even thanked him yet. I promised that I would get a blog post up about it soon. That was about 2-3 weeks ago.

So, the logical question becomes "Why did I write Baseball Dad at the top of the Post when I'm talking about Night Owls cards?" Well, it's because I want everyone to know that I know how ridiculous it is to take over a month to get up a simple thank you post.

And, oh yeah, Baseball Dad sent me these about 3 STINKIN' MONTHS AGO! I'm not going to make any excuse other than I didn't get to it because I was lazy.

Anyway, here they are. Long overdue but here none-the-less. I will probably have about 4 posts from his cards and, believe me, it was hard enough to narrow it down that far. I got in on a few teams in his group break. I picked the Phillies and the A's because, well, why not? Also because it seemed wrong to pick the Indians.

Jack sent me plenty of Indians anyway. Here are some of them. As usual they are accompanied with my typical nonsense. Not that anyone has any reason to accept my advice, but you will get some anyway. My advice is to not read the post. Just look at the pretty cards. Anyone who reads what I have to say may very well end up a fraction dumber. For most of you there would be no measurable effect. But for some, like Canadians and Steelers fans, there's no real reason to risk it, is there?

Ellis Burks 2003 Diamond Kings - I never paid much attention to the Diamond Kings cards. Probably because they were so bad in the late 80's releases. But this is a really nice card. I wonder if these Diamond Kings cards were precursors to the fantastic Masterpieces releases. You know, the great sets that were discontinued while things like X and Spectrum continued to uninspire.

Kevin Seitzer 1993 O-Pee-Chee - OK, raise you hand if you remembered that Seitzer played for the A's. This is exciting to me. I already have about 8,000 Kevin Seitzer cards. But I didn't have this one. In fact, and I'd have to check, I think all 8,000 might be 1990 Donruss. I'm fairly certain that Donruss inserted 3 Seitzers into every pack that year.

Sid Monge 1983 Fleer - Sid Monge...what an absolutely ridiculous name. Sid Monge. Say that out loud. Sid Monge. Do this: go tell your wife/girlfriend/boyfriend that you can't do anything next Friday night because you're hanging out with your new friend Sid Monge. Met him at the Elks or something. See what they say. I don't have any idea what the reaction might be, but I can pretty much guarantee a reaction of some sort.
Bake McBride 1982 Topps - Now, this is a truly awesome card. I've mentioned from time around these parts my desire for Curtis Granderson to grow out a big fro like this. Dayf, brilliantly coined it the "Granderfro". It was the perfect name for the perfect plan. All we had left to do was to get Granderson on board with it. This, truthfully, didn't too daunting of a task. Curtis seems like a reasonable man. All it would take was for me to get 2 minutes of his time, just to introduce the idea to him. No way he turns that idea down.

But, then he had to go and ruin the whole thing by getting traded to the Yankees. It isn't even about their draconian hair policies. I'm not sure if the kibosh would be placed on the Granderfro or not. I just don't want Curtis to be the one anymore. It's just too great of an idea to hand over to a Yankee. Sorry dude, you blew it.

It's a shame because "Granderfro" is an absolutely perfect description. I doubt we'll come up with something that good again.

I'll have to put in some thought to his replacement. Lastings Milledge hasn't done enough yet and it sure as heck isn't going to be Marcus Thames.

David Justice 1999 Donruss - I was a big fan of Justice while with the Tribe. Still, I can't quite get over the fact that he was married to Halle Berry...and then he wasn't married to Halle Berry. I don't know whether this makes him one of the luckiest men in the world or unluckiest men in the world. The fact that she may very well be completely bat guano crazy only adds to my cunfusion.

Moving on:

Jody Gerut 2994 Bowman Chrome - The Indians got Gerut in 2001 from the Rockies along with Josh Bard, who cannot catch a knuckle ball. He immediately had one of the more promising of rookie seasons. He has pretty much sucked since. I'm not sure anyone knows why.

Pete Incaviglia 1993 O-Pee-Chee - Man are these O-Pee-Chee cards stupid. The backs have only 4 stats, and only for the previous year. I have to keep going to baseball reference to find out important stuff like how many times Inky K'd in 1993. Only 82. He didn't strike out as much during his career as I remembered. He also didn't hit as many HRs as I remember. Dave Kingman he was not. Sweet stache, though.

I've got to move this along. I've had a few Christmas Ales. I've also been stuffy so I took some nyquil. (Don't look at me like that.)

I can feel the Nyquil begining to take hold. Soon I'll be in bat country.

Kenny Lofton 1997 Fleer Ultra Season Crowns - I really wish I could get a scan of this card that does it justice. Not David Justice. No, justice in a sense that...wait a second. YOU all know what I meant. I'm the one on Nyquil.

Anyway, it's a completely kick butt card. If I was more articulate I'd be able to describe it. I'd also be in bed because I would have been able to finish this post long ago. So, I guess we all lose on this one.

Except me. I get the card. And, It rules (I refuse to spell rules with a z on the end. I hate that garbage. I frown upon this in all of it's ridiculous forms, including "boyz". I blame John Singleton.).

Jaret Wright 199 Century Legends - Wright had a great World Series and he's one of the most promising pitching prospects I can ever remember. I still don't know what happened to the guy. It's a shame, though. He was filthy for a while there.

If you don't know how good he was thought to be consider this; Jaret Wright was the player that the Tribe refused to part with in a Pedro Martinez deal. That's right. Be chose this clown over Pedro. And, this was after everyone knew that Pedro was lights out.

That's all for this installment. I'm going to bed. Thank you Baseball Dad. Sweet cards. There are more to come.

Night Owl, I'm getting there. Check back in March.

What a Happy Day

2009-12-11T15:43:00.001-05:00

What a Happy Day!

I can See!

I Got Legs!

The Browns finally beat The Inbred!

That's right, my beleaguered, embarrassing football team finally beat their rivals last night. It was the coldest night of the year but we will remember it warmly in Cleveland. All of you with average or better football teams would have trouble understanding what a game like that would mean to a fanbase such as Clevelands during a season is where the only thing to look forward to is a new coach (hopefully) and Ndomakong Suh.

But, for now, we bask in the glory of a simple victory that we've been waiting for for over half the decade. And, to all the front running Inbred fans residing in NE Ohio...SUCK IT! For the next 9 months we own your ass.

BTW, how great would this monster look in an Orange helmet? Did you know his name means "House of Spears"? I'm crappin' you negative.

Something, You Know, For The Effort

2009-12-05T14:25:00.000-05:00

Well, another Turk Off is over and Beardy is the winner. His win was historic. In fact, it's the first time in history that a Turk Off was won by anyone other than myself.

Even if it was a fluke; even if it took an almost supernatural turn of events, it is never-the-less A Beardy victory.

For those of you who are having trouble grasping the true significance and nature of this victory, it's like the 1980 USA hockey team pulling off their historic upset over the previously indestructible Soviets at the height of their power. Yes, I would not be surprised to see this made into an epic movie after a few years go by and the dust has settled.

Here's the theoretical cast:

Beardy - Jack Elam
Motherscratcher - Billy Jacoby
Dayf - Sam Elliott
Dubbs - Leif Garrett
Canuck - Yvonne Strahovski

For those that are worried that I'm going to stiff Beardy out of his winnings, I have made this post for 2 simple reasons:

1. To compare Beardy to Jack Elam
2. To link to a picture of Yvonne Strahovski
3. To show off my obscure pop culture acumen
4. To let everyone know that I'm still the best Turker, no matter the final score.
5. To give Beardy a glimpse into his glorious future.

So, here is that glimpse:
There will be no money. I cannot promise that you will receive total consciousness on your deathbed. But I can offer a few cards and maybe something represented by the above picture. It is a legendary Cleveland Christmas tradition.

I hope your package arrives before Christmas. And, I hope that the contents are up to the standard that a Turk Off Champions deserves.

Once, again, well done Beardy.