Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Guys From Granite 2019 recap

Similar to my annual "Gavins in pro ball" post, here's another exercise for me to keep track of the lesser-known active players I collect. Time to find out how professional athletes who went to my high school did in 2019.


Trenton Brooks
Trenton had a solid 2019 in the Indians organization. After a couple months at A+ Lynchburg, he was promoted to AA Akron where he hit .274 with 9 homers and 22 doubles in 241 at-bats. The 24-year old mainly plays right field these days. I got a nice TTM return from him a couple years back.


Andrew Brown
Drafted by the Phillies in the 13th round of the 2016 draft out of Granite Hills High School, Andrew performed well to start his career, but had a rough 2019, putting up an ERA of 6.17 for A+ Clearwater. He had 20 starts, plus came on in relief 4 times. I tried requesting an autograph through-the-mail with the custom on the right a couple times in the past with no luck, but maybe I'll try one more time in 2020.


Jayson Rose
Sadly, looks like Jayson's brief career in pro ball has come to an end. An 8th round pick by the Brewers in 2017, Jayson struggled to stay healthy in 2018, was cut loose by Milwaukee in April of 2019, and didn't get picked up by another team. Bummer. All the best to Jayson in the next chapter of his life.


Travis Taijeron
Travis is the only active Guy From Granite who's made the majors, getting into 26 games with the Mets in 2017. After spending 2018 with the Dodgers' AAA club, he returned to New York in 2019, spending the season at AAA Syracuse. His 24 dingers were one behind the team lead (Rene Rivera), and his 64 walks led the club. But his average was down (.229) and he struck out a lot (165). He's currently a free agent and will be 31 next season, so I'm not sure what 2020 has in store for him, but I wish him luck sticking around.


Jordan Verdon
Jordan was drafted by Detroit in the 23rd round out of San Diego State University in 2018. He spent all of 2019 at A- Connecticut, playing 1B and DHing. He hit .246 with 12 doubles in 142 at-bats. I sent out a TTM autograph request with the above custom near the end of their season (my only TTM attempt to an active player in 2019), but haven't gotten a response yet. I should remember to try again early next season. I also just now bought his first real card. but I think I'll publish this post now rather than wait until it arrives.


This year broke a run from 2016-2018 of GHHS Eagles turning pro, as no alumni were drafted in the 2019 MLB June draft. But there are some talented kids coming up, so I wouldn't be surprised to see a new streak start up in 2020.

That's it for baseball. Elsewhere in sports...


Jimmie Johnson
The 2019 season started on a positive note for Jimmie, as he won the 2019 Advance Auto Parts Clash in February, though that would be the highlight of the year for him. He would go on to score 4 top 10 finishes, but wound up finishing a career-worst 18th place in the final standings. The 44-year old recently announced that the 2020 Cup season will be his last as a full-time driver. A seven-time champion in the NASCAR Cup Series, he's had a hell of a career.


Joe Cardona
Joe plays long snapper for the Patriots (and is a U.S. Naval Reserve lieutenant in the offseason). Back in February, he brought home his 2nd Super Bowl ring as New England beat the Rams. He's played in all 12 games so far this season, with the Patriots looking to make yet another deep playoff run.


So there you have it, Granite Hills alumni doing our hometown of El Cajon proud.

Monday, December 2, 2019

1978 Topps Rookies online exclusive

Topps recently got me to bite on another one of their online offerings. As the year winds down, Topps makes a final push to sell yet more "RC" emblazoned cards of the season's top performing rookies.


Throwback Thursday Set #45 - 1978 Topps Rookies

I don't buy much current product these days, so I'm susceptible to the "fear of missing out" on hyped young players. For the price of a blaster, this 6-card (24-player) set takes care of that FOMO and at least lets me feel like, on some very small level, I'm a stakeholder in these guys' careers. LOL.

The print run was 1296 sets. Not exactly "low numbered", but limited compared to standard base cards, at least.


I suppose Pete Alonso was the breakout rookie of 2019, so good to have him included. I think I only owned 1 or 2 of his cards before this, though I'm sure everyone will be flooded by his cards soon enough. The other 3 guys on the card have had some good buzz, too.


I know some collectors dislike multiplayer rookie cards, but I've got a soft spot for them. I remember as a kid being thrilled that one card could cram in so much pure potential. Sure, you'd typically see just one of the guys (or none of them) go on to have a decent career, but it was cool when occasionally two or three guys on one card became stars. The original 1978 Topps 4-player rookie cards had some winners among them, with the most notable being the one with Paul Molitor and Alan Trammell...


I don't have my copy handy, so here's an original via COMC for comparison. For the new version, the fonts are a little off. The most obvious difference is how the '78 cards grouped players by position, whereas the 2019 version randomly scatters 4 guys per card without concern for position, team, or league.


Of course it would have made sense to label these "Rookie Stars", but I guess Topps is weird about using the word rookie sometimes.. perhaps due to legal/licensing issues. Whatever the reason, it's dumb. But "Young Stars" it is.


Nice to add a new Tatis Jr card. And cool that my hometown Padres got 3 players into the set (tied with Toronto for most), though Luis Urias was just delt away the other day in a move that I and many other Friar fans don't feel great about.


And of course you got Vlad Jr. included, too. He didn't have the monster year he was supposed to, but we'll see how his sophomore season shakes out.


Here's the last card. Off the top of my head, notably absent from the set are Yordan Alvarez and Aristides Aquino, both of whom Topps is trying their best to ignore until 2020 so they can have a full year of cranking out "RC" cards for them rather than sticking them in Update and losing all those precious months printing cards to sell. Both those guys exceeded rookie limits during 2019 season, so they won't technically be rookies next year (Yordan Alvarez won the frickin' AL ROY already!), but for marketing reasons, their rookie cards will be in 2020 products. Dumb.


As with all of Topps' print-to-order sets, the backs suck. At least they made a half-assed attempt to mimic the original back design. And they're on standard Heritage-style cardstock, so no complaint there. Just these 6 cards per order; No parallels or chance at pulling a hit, but that keeps the price down, so it's fine.

That wraps it up. For the price of a blaster, I figure this was a good way to add rookie cards of notable young players to my collection since I don't much current product.
Thanks for stopping by.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Cards from Matt, Larry, and Bo

A trade roundup post is good for Thanksgiving, I suppose! Thankful to have great trade partners to swap cards with. Today's post features cards from 3 good trader buddies of mine whom I've dealt with several times in recent years. These cards all arrived a month ago, and while I typically try to feature incoming trades on my blog within a week or so of receiving them, I got preoccupied with my dog's rapid sickness and eventual passing, and many things were placed on the backburner.


Matt from Diamond Jesters was a winner in my kickoff contest at the 1991 MusiCards Blog. He selected the last Wade Boggs Simpsons custom TTM autograph I had available (well, of course I kept one for myself, too!). I figured as long as I was sending him a card, I'd propose a little "time-traveling trade" for that neat idea of his where he has a group of cards and trades them for any older cards, hoping to eventually wind up with a bunch of really old cards. There were 4 cards on the list that I needed for my 1976 Topps setbuild, so I traded him a few '72 triplicates I had from the big lot I got a couple card shows ago.


Thanks for the trade, Matt! And congrats again on the contest win.

Not to harp on sad dog stuff, but this trade will be remembered as a special one for me because the last "walksie" I ever took Annie on was a walk to drop the cards for Matt in the mail.

-  - ---o


Next up is a great bunch of vintage from Larry. He was the other winner in my big MusiCards contest, originally a stand-by winner who ended up being a full-on winner when the other prize wasn't claimed in time. Larry said his first choice was the Earl Weaver refractor auto, but if it was selected before his turn, his backup choice would be the Alan Trammell auto. Well, it turns out both cards remained on the table, so I asked if he'd like to work out a trade so he could get both cards and he was down for that idea.

I was blown away at how "pack fresh" these 44-year old cards are. When I asked him about it over email, he said, "The '75s were from a box that was opened in 1983 and immediately put in an 800 count box.  Those cards haven't seen the light of day but maybe 3 times since 1983."

Very cool!


The additions from Larry pushed my 1975 Topps setbuild past the ⅔ complete mark. Sweet.


A nice trio of '78s too.


And a bunch of 1979 Topps, also in excellent condition. My 1979 Topps setbuild is now down to just 37 cards remaining. Shouldn't be much longer till that one gets knocked off.

Thanks so much, Larry!

-  - - ---o

Last incoming package to show off today is from my frequent trade partner Bo of Baseball Cards Come to Life. I shot him over a bunch of vintage on his wantlist as a little surprise and he hit me back with a great return.


These needs/upgrades breathed some life into my stagnant 1964 Topps setbuild.


But the bulk of the mailer was a fat stack of 1970 Topps. There were several cards with writing on them that I'll hope to eventually upgrade, though I'm more than happy to have them as place fillers for now.


But plenty of the cards were in solid shape.

My 1970 setbuild was at 27.5% complete, but thanks to this lot, it's now on the cusp of 40%.


Here's a little something for your nightmares. LOL


There were also a bunch of great '72 Topps. My '72 setbuild is now at 72% complete, fittingly. The Bob Gibson is in rough condition, but still very appreciated-- it's Bob Frickin' Gibson, after all!


My 1974 Topps setbuild is chugging along, with just 84 cards left to track down now.


Finally, Bo was able to help me out with the last 4 cards missing from my 1988 Topps set. And the German Gonzalez card in my '90 Fleer set had a little damage, so it's nice to upgrade that one. And a '90 UD Marquis thrown in, too.

Thanks a lot, Bo! (Another package from him is already on the way.)


Well, thanks for reading and I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!


Saturday, November 23, 2019

Vagabond Binder: Rickey Henderson

Fun new project I'm kicking off. I've typically been a penny sleeves & boxes type of collector, but in an effort to engage with my collection a bit more, I've been working up a "fun binder" (or as I call mine, "The Binder of Enchantment and Wonder"), which will feature a bunch of themed pages. And here's the first section.

The Vagabond Binder!

It focuses on players who changed teams a lot in their careers. One page per player. To be eligible, a player must have been with at least 7 MLB teams. Of course 9 is ideal, so you can have a card for each team. But guys with 7 or 8 teams can find filler cards with minor league or foreign leagues, senior league, coaching/manager cards, etc. Zero Year cards definitely count (such as Jose Canseco on the Expos and Angels). Custom cards are allowed if there's no readily available card of the guy in a particular uniform.

So with the parameters understood, let's kick off with a guy who played for exactly 9 MLB clubs (plus some double-dipping), the great Rickey Henderson.


Nine cards, nine teams! This is an ideal page for the Vagabond Binder.

Let's take a closer look at them.


Some collectors might frown on the same design popping up twice on the same page, but not me! Honestly I don't have many Yankees cards in my Rickey PC, so I didn't have much choice. And the '89 Topps Traded is one of my favorite A's cards of his (plus I had a dupe of it, which is a good since I'm pulling these cards out of the PC for the binder). But yeah, I think this is an appealing pairing of cards. Yes, Rickey's original stint in Oakland isn't represented, but I'm ok with how it turned out. If I someday end up with a 3rd rookie card (one for the set, one for the PC, and one left over), I could see it bumping out the '89TT. (Currently I only have one RC, residing in my 1980 Topps complete set.)


The Blue Jays card has me conflicted. On one hand, it's the only card on the page featuring Rickey doing his thing on the basepaths, but on the other hand, it's horizontal so it kinda upsets the feng shui of the page. But this was the only Blue Jays card in my Rickey PC, believe it or not, so it gets the call.. at least for now; I reserve the right to make adjustments to the Vagabond Binder as I see fit. Rickey got his 2nd WS ring with Toronto in '93, with his leadoff walk setting up Joe Carter's walk-off in the 9th inning of the deciding Game 6.


As a native San Diegan, my personal favorite Rickey is Padres Rickey. This card doesn't look great in the scan, but it's a good looking card in person. Then you got the Angels and Mets. I believe there were some brief returns to Oakland mixed in there, but for our purposes, the A's have already been accounted for.


Easy for fans to forget about his stints with the Mariners and Red Sox. But the binder's got 'em!


And finally, Rickey wrapped up his MLB career in Dodger blue. Looks good on 2003 Topps.

He still hung around the game after that, playing with the Newark Bears and San Diego Surf Dawgs. Had I needed to fill another pocket or two, I could have been open to cards from those stints. But the page is filled, so we're good.


And that'll do it for this entry. I plan to make this a recurring blog series and induct another player into the Vagabond Binder soon in a forthcoming post.

Thanks for reading!

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Setting out to strike Black Gold


I recently bought a couple cheap lots of 1992 Leaf Black Gold to help kick off that collecting idea that popped into my head last month.

These are terrific looking cards that tend to get lost in the overproduction sludge. Let's admire a few...






Cardboard masterpieces, one and all!
I've now got a spreadsheet up for this setbuild: 1992 Leaf Black Gold wantlist
While nearly every card is available at the 18-cent minimum on Sportlots, I'd love to knock off a chunk through trading before I give in and go on a shopping spree, so please let me know if you've got a few (or a stack?) of these cards available and would like to swap for something from me.

And my quest for striking Black Gold doesn't stop there.

I've also thrown the Leaf Gold Rookies inserts from 1991 and 1992 onto the end of that spreadsheet, as well as the 1993 Topps Black Gold inserts, and even the UD 5th Anniversary black reprint inserts... as all those cards exist in the same fantastic place in time in the early 90s when black contrasted with gold foil on baseball cards was just so damn cool to me.


And ok.. Maybe I'm going overboard now, but also under my umbrella of "classic early 90s  black gold  cards" are Donruss Diamond Kings from 1992 & 1993, plus the "Team 2000" inserts from 1992 Pinnacle and "Team 2001" inserts from 1993 Pinnacle. Oh, and even the 1992 McDonald's Baseball's Best cards. These have also been thrown onto the end of my Black Gold spreadsheet. I'm looking for all of 'em (even dupes would still be cool), so if you've got a bunch of unwanted junk wax taking up space, here's a good opportunity to give some of them a loving home.. At least those featuring black with gold foil in the design.

(If you know of any other early 90s baseball cards like this that I'm forgetting, feel free to let me know in the comments, though if I wasn't aware of them as a kid back then, they probably won't make it into this collecting project, as it's mostly a sentimental/nostalgic endeavor. For instance, the 1994 Topps Black Gold inserts don't really move the needle for me, as I was out of the hobby by then. But I'd still take 'em.)

I know they're not worth much today, but I'm still enthralled by these cards and would love to "complete a run" of them. Again, if you've got some to trade, won't you fill up the tank, let's go for a ride. Thanks!

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

2019 Archives blaster

Picked up a discounted blaster of '19 Topps Archives back at the October monthly card show.. eventually got around to opening it. Let's take a quick look to see how I did.


A few PC dudes of mine in the '58 design. Always nice to pull a Trout.


Some keepers in the '75 design.


The '93 design takes the crown as far as having the most cards from the box that I could use in my collection.


I did pretty well with the inserts, including a nice Vlad Jr. and a few guys I collect.


Anybody working on '19 Archives? The cards in the above photo are all available for trade. If I wasn't so lazy, I'd add these to my TCDB inventory, as I think recent cards are more likely to spark trade interest.

After buying a pair of hobby boxes of Archives the past few years, this year I think I'll call it good with just this one blaster as I seem to be less interested in modern cards these days, but we'll see. I wouldn't say this blaster was a dud (despite lack of any hits, numbered cards, or SPs), but it also didn't inspire me to pick up any more. I considered picking up another blaster at the November card show, but ultimately passed.

Thanks for stopping by.

Monday, November 18, 2019

untitled post for November 18, 2019


I was watching the classic North By Northwest last weekend and browsed over to the film's Wikipedia page while I was at it. Turns out John Berardino, who has a small role as a cop, had been a baseball player. I looked up his cards and ended up pulling the trigger on this well-loved 1951 Bowman card. Apparently he went on to play Dr. Steven Hardy on General Hospital for over 30 years. Wow!


Beradino is the only person to have won a World Series (1948) and get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (1993).

I "salvaged" this box from work. With a length of 30", it might be a bit too long, but I'll probably find a way to make it work for cards.





Here's a Tom Seaver gif I made a few months back that I recently realized I hadn't posted to the blog yet. It was his 75th birthday yesterday.




Here's a gif I made for a Jimi Hendrix post over at my other blog, the 1991 MusiCards Blog. We're still working through the classic rock of the Legends subset. Gonna be at least a couple more months till we break into the 90s pop stuff.



Finally, I'll leave you with a little Calvin and Hobbes gif I whipped up today. The classic comic strip debuted on this date back in 1985.