The Bird bird feeder (Mark Fidrych PC)

My live-in marital partner surprised me with a bird feeder last Christmas, knowing how I've enjoyed having an active hummingbird feeder for a couple years running. Took me a while to get around to putting it up, waiting for the rainy season to be over, but I've had it up for a week now and it's pretty cool. 

It's made of clear plastic and meant to be hung in a window so you can get a close look at the birdies on display. At first the clear side walls were confusing them-- often fluttering against them trying in vain to get in-- so I stuck on some Fleer team logo stickers on the sides. But I soon upgraded that idea to slotting in a pair of Mark Fidrych cards, thereby dedicating it as a Mark Fidrych Memorial Bird Feeder... or The Bird Birdfeeder.

It's designed to be hung with suction cups to a window, but the best viewing spot I could identify was over a screen, so I rigged up a hanger instead.

I'm a little worried about a squirrel raid, (and/or maybe the crows/ravens who run the neighborhood will come by for their "protection" fee?), but no trouble yet.

I didn't take the decision to "sacrifice" good baseball cards lightly. But I already have these cards. I've got one of the '77 Toppses in my setbuild, and two more in the PC in addition to the lesser-conditioned triplicate selected for the birds. As for the '78, also got one in the 78T build, plus one in the PC, plus another one that's autographed (for/from former blog buddy "Tony L." who pops up to talk about soccer on twitter once in a while but sadly seems like Off Hiatus Cards is in fact never returning from the hiatus it's currently on). 

Ruby does some birdwatching.

But yeah, the cards in there are packaged with water-resistance in mind, and it's on the north side of the house, so not a ton of direct sunlight, so we'll see how the cards are looking after a few months, assuming they don't go missing or anything. I bet it won't take long for these cards to be imprinted on my brain more than they already are due to looking over at them many times in an average day. I suppose I could pop in any old trading cards to do the job-- perhaps favoring teams named after birds.. yeah, maybe I'll swap in some Orioles/Cardinals/Jays commons once the rainy days return-- but at least for now it will continue to serve a dual purpose, acting as a safespace for li'l tweet-tweets to find an assortment of small seeds and nuts available to eat.. while also paying tribute to a fascinating former ballplayer who happened to be similarly nicknamed due to his appearance calling to mind the character Big Bird.

A guest to the Bird feeder checks out Fidrych's early stats.

The feeder isn't super busy, but has flurries of activity at least a couple times a day so far, which is perfect. Mostly common sparrows, as far as I can tell, which are cute, though hopefully I'll be lucky enough to eventually spot some "fancier" birds stopping by.

On the topic of Mark Fidrych, I just went ahead and logged my PC into TCDB today. My 23 unique cards were good enough to crack the Top 20 there, so that's cool. I did the "add all missing cards to wantlist" thing, too, so hopefully that'll spark some trades and help me move up the list... though he only has 214 total cards listed, and most of those are either oddballs from the late 70s or low-numbered stuff from the aughts when the card companies started going nuts with cards of retired favorites. But yeah, it'd be cool to build up the PC to where I could "hang with the big boys" of Fidrych collectors.

Here's the PC, more or less (turning this post into an update of my previous Fidrych PC post from 2018)...

Some of Gio's customs infiltrated this group of cards I've got of Bird's early days.

You can see I've got dupes of his '80 and '81 Topps cards (No OPC in the mix here, sadly), though they are less fun to look at than '77 and to a lesser extent '78.. but could be called into active bird feeder duty if needed.

Love the minor league cards, even if that must've been a frustrating time for Mark.

Some post-playing days cards, including a 2003 Fan Favorites auto I scored not too long ago. I believe it's my second certified auto of his, following the (not pictured) 2003 Retired base auto I got back in 2018. 

Speaking of Fan Favorites, the "1977" (2004) refractor from a few pics above didn't really catch the light there, so here are some bonus shots of it to close us out for today: 

Refraction. Simple, yet elegant refraction.

I like how the rookie cup has gone supernova in this one.

"Get out of there, Mark! The field's on fire!!"

Yu Darvish PC (by request)

How bout them 2021 Padres, huh? They were supposed to be good but then they were actually bad. I think Padres fans such as myself are pretty much numb to it by this point. Oh well, "we'll get 'em next year."

Last year around this time, I showed off my Blake Snell PC when he joined the Padres and expectations were rising. In the comments, Zippy requested a similar post for my Yu Darvish cards, another All-Star starter San Diego acquired suddenly, whom I had also already been collecting for a while. But I had some unfinished business there because I was in need of an autograph and well.. I just finally scored one!, so let's whip up this by-request post, better late than never.

Here it is. I had decided I wasn't going to cheap out with an unlicensed stickergraph but rather find a nice on-card auto. I really liked the look of this Finest refractor and ended up winning it.

And check the serial number near the bottom... Christmas Card! Yep, this card was a bullseye-hit for my collection.

Kicking off the rest of the collection with some Topps flagship, Chrome, n' stuff.

Bowman.

More various Topps.

Yu on old Topps designs.

Heritage insert and some Ginter.

Panini cards.

Some neat stuff to close out the post. Cool cards from his early days (he was apparently very expressive on the mound back then!), plus a relic I pulled back in 2015.

I still don't have any Padres cards of his, but it's no surprise seeing as I haven't busted any 2021 product or done much trading this year. But yeah, I'm up for any Yu Darvish cards not pictured in this post. He pitched okay for San Diego, but a definite step down from when he was the Cy runner-up with the Cubs in 2020. Hopefully he bounces back for a strong 2022 and maybe then the Padres will actually be good.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to make any requests for PCs of mine you might be interested in checking out in a future post.

Bruce Bochy PC

Blogger Mario A. has never been one to bite his tongue calling out hobby fails, and a few weeks back he tweeted out a Bruce Bochy buyback auto as an example of a deflating card one might pull from the pricey, one-card-per-box Archives Signature product from Topps.

He made his point, and honestly if Topps should really exit the baseball card landscape in the coming years, giving a rest to the steady flow of Topps buybacks is something I'll be happy about.

But it so happens I'm in the minority who was excited to see Bruce Bochy have an influx of certified autographs on the market. He helmed the Padres through the height of my fandom of the team, back when I'd do my best to catch the broadcast of nearly every game. (Been a long time since I've watched through an entire Padres game, stretching back to well before cancelling my mlb.tv subscription.)

But yeah, Boch has a sentimental place in my heart, and when he departed for San Francisco I didn't hold it against him, as San Diego's front office seemed to be pushing him out the door. Those ensuing years that the damn Giants were loitering in the World Series, I could at least be happy that Boch was having success, though I wished he could've worked that magic during his time in So Cal.

He'll probably get into the Hall soon. More losses (2029) than wins (2003) doesn't look good, but I don't think you can name another manager with 3 World Series titles who isn't enshrined in Cooperstown, right?

Before this year, Bruce didn't have many autos on the market. There's an Archives "Fan Favorites" auto from a while back that I had on my radar, but he's pictured as a Giant, so I was kinda begrudgingly keeping an eye out for a good price on one and think I bid unsuccessfully on a couple. So his popping up in Archives Signature this year is a rare time that I'm thankful Topps loves buying back their cards, modifying them, then putting them back out there. Otherwise I might be waiting a long time for a decent certified Bochy auto in a Padres uniform.

Anyways, after seeing Mario's tweet, I took to eBay and was excited to find a Christmas Card of Boch in a Padres uniform with a low opening bid that I was able to secure for the collection. 

It's just what I was looking for and crowns my PC nicely. Figured I'd document the rest of my Bruce Bochy cards here.

This slabbed, signed rookie card was my placeholder for a certified autograph the past few years. Not much to like here, but it was cheap and scratched the itch. If he does get The Call, perhaps this card will see a bump in value, since I know "signed HOF rookie cards" is a somewhat common avenue for collectors to go down. Not that this specimen would grade very highly, a bit off-center and with a noticeable edge nick on the bottom.

Still need a raw, unsigned '79 for the PC (though I've got one in my '79 set). He didn't have Topps cards in '81-'83, so this is otherwise a complete run of his Topps flagship as a player.

And then some manager cards, including an unbought-back copy of the 2001 card from earlier. Sorting out my cards for this post, I was surprised to find that the Heritage here is my only card of him as a Giant.

Only Donruss card I'm missing is 1986 Donruss #551.

I expected to need a few Fleer cards, but no, he only made it into these two Fleer sets. That's being a backup catcher for you, I guess.

Oddball goodness here. Mothers, Keeblers, Carl's Jr, SGA.

Closing out with a few glorious minor league cards, including another signed card I picked up along the line. I sometimes forget Boch spent a couple years as catching depth for the Mets. (These two Tides cards seem to be the only cardboard representation from the stint; Despite playing 17 games in New York in '82, he never got a card as a Met.. [ok, eventually one: 1991 WIZ Mets. Nobody beats the Wiz.])

And dig the "C/CH" position on the 1988 card as he transitioned from behind the plate to the dugout. It's too bad the Las Vegas Stars changed their uniforms to keep in sync with the parent club. They should have kept rocking those mustard-explosion uniforms forever! "Gold star", ya know? Totally fits the name.

I'd be happy to add any Bruce Bochy cards not pictured in this post, so feel free to get in touch about a trade if you've got any to spare.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the holiday weekend, everybody.

Gavin Sheets PC

Gavin Sheets became the 4th man named Gavin to play Major League Baseball last night, following in the footsteps of misters Floyd, Cecchini, and Lux.

Congrats, Mr. Sheets!

The 25-year old went 2-4 with 2 RBI in the White Sox 7-6 win over the Twins. 

Gavin Sheets is the first #WhiteSox player with multiple hits & RBI in an MLB debut since Craig Wilson on September 5, 1998

— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) June 30, 2021

Pretty cool.

Here's my Gavin Sheets PC as it stood on the day of his debut.

A few decent Bowman cards.

Most of my Topps cards of him are autographed, lol. The Heritage is a glossy parallel.

A pair of numbered Panini cards and a minor league issue.

Nice selection of Leaf cards here!

And a slabbed auto. Sharp looking card.

Just pulled the trigger on the Topps Now card for his debut.. which is designated as a "Call Up" not a "RC". Probably too late to get him into Update, but I'd expect him to get the rookie card treatment next year. I'm more or less content with the PC as it stands (I don't plan to chase his rookies or whatever), but I'm always happy to receive more cards of his in trade. Let's hope he has an outstanding career ahead of him!

Blake Snell PC

Exciting times to be a Padre fan! I've learned not to get my hopes up too high, but hey, looks like San Diego will be fielding a competitive team for at least the next couple years. Should be fun.

Blake Snell is a guy I've been collecting a bit for the past few years, so it's cool for me to welcome him to my hometown team. Here are the cards I've got in my player collection as of his trade to the Padres.

This 2011 1st Bowman Chrome refractor is a good one to lead off with.

Also have the base version and rookies from Bowman and Bowman Platinum.

Sweet assortment of Topps/Chrome RCs.

More Topps flagship designs.

Other Topps stuff, including a yellow Triple Threads RC #/99.

Ginter, Archives, Heritage, etc.

A few Panini cards. Some of these you can pretend are in Padres uniforms before they brought back the brown.

Closing out with the hits. I pulled the Bowman Inception auto myself back in 2016 (it's signed on-card, though it might not look like it at first glance). Then there's a nice fat jersey swatch, and a dual-relic stickergraph #'d /199 on the back.. solid card.

I'd be happy to receive any Blake Snell cards not pictured here in trade. Looking forward to adding some cards depicting him in brown & gold during the coming year, and fingers crossed for another Cy-caliber season from him.

Phil Niekro PC

We lost yet another baseball great this year with the passing of Phil Niekro last night. :(

Figured I'd pay tribute by documenting my Knucksie PC on the blog today.

There was a time not too long ago when I'd ask for high-end baseball card boxes for Christmas/ my birthday (oh, and thanks for all the birthday/holiday well-wishes in the comments of my previous post, btw!). I pulled this auto from a box of Tribute a couple years ago.

These Rookie Stars cards aren't technically in the player collection, but I've got them in my 1964 (in-progress) and 1965 (completed) Topps sets, so let's show them off here. Ha, did Topps really just reverse the negative for Phil's picture to make it seem different? Hadn't noticed that before. I guess you can do that when the logo on the cap looks the same backwards.

Here's a nice assortment of vintage from the 60s and 70s.

80s Topps (and an OPC).

Modern Topps.

Some playing-days cards from Donruss/Leaf.

And some more modern stuff. I snagged that stickergraph for a good price a while ago (and the similar jersey card came with it) thanks to the numbering on the back...

Christmas Card!

Upper Deck getting into the mix.

Wrapping things up with Fleer and the rest.

Love the '88 Score, his one true sunset card with complete career stats on the back.

So that's what I've got. Only a little over halfway to my standard "100 unique cards" goal, and I wouldn't mind adding to the PC, but I'm pretty much satisfied with how it stands. I've got what are the big bullet points in my eyes:

• rookie card
• memorabilia card
• autograph card
• christmas card
• sunset card

The one thing that'd be on top of my Phil Niekro wantlist would be a card from his short-term stop in Toronto (just 3 games near the end of his long career), but I think 1988 Classic Update Red Travel Edition #199 might be the only option there, and update: I just snagged one on Sportlots for a buck, so hopefully that'll be showing up in a week or so.

Another update: nearly forgot about the 2003 Retired auto.

Thanks for reading.

RIP Knucksie