Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Royals @ Red Sox, 7/27





Today didn't turn out quite as good as yesterday, but I still had a solid outing with the Kansas City Royals. Here's how I did:

  • Aaron Crow- 10 Topps Royals team card
  • Jeff Francis- 08 Allen & Ginter
  • Brayan Pena- 09 Topps U&H
  • Jeff Francoeur- 08 Allen & Ginter, 06 Bowman Chrome
  • Tim Collins- 11 Topps RC (X2, one available for trade)
  • Mike Aviles- 09 Topps, 09 Topps Heritage
My goal for this year has been to get to the 220-card mark for the 09 Topps (1/3 total of the set). Only 10 more to go this season!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Royals @ Red Sox, 7/26





I always look forward to small-market teams visiting Fenway, because they usually draw smaller crowds and the players are more willing to sign. Today went just as I expected, and despite arriving late after a few Royals had already gone in, it still turned out to be a great day. In addition to getting my first Adrian Gonzalez autograph, I also managed to get 5 cards for my 09 Topps set completed. I'll be back again for the full afternoon tomorrow to hopefully fill in who I missed today. Brayan Pena just seemed to scribble on each card he signed in order to hurry up and get inside. I didn't see anyone refuse to sign, and Jeff Franceour was particularly friendly.

  • Matt Treanor- 09 Topps
  • Luke Hochevar- 08 Goudey RC
  • Melky Cabrera- 09 Topps
  • Bruce Chen- 99 UD Encore
  • Jeff Francoeur- 09 Topps, 09 Topps U&H
  • Jeff Francis- 10 T206
  • Alex Gordon- 09 Topps
  • Brayan Pena- 10 Topps Royals team card
  • Adrian Gonzalez- 09 Topps

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Mariners @ Red Sox, 7/23


Stopped by Fenway after work today, only to find out that the majority of the players had already come in before 2:00. I waited up front for about an hour and a half with no cabs whatsoever, then Chone Figgins and Brendan Ryan came together around 3:30. Luckily I was able to get each of them, but nobody else came through. I'm glad I watched most of the game last night, as Ryan was easily recognizable after seeing his mustache on TV.

  • Chone Figgins- 08 Allen & Ginter
  • Brendan Ryan- 09 Topps

Friday, July 22, 2011

Pack Break: 2011 Topps Allen & Ginter


This is always the product I look forward to during the summer time. There aren't too many other baseball products that come out this time, so I can focus my money on this one while it's still fresh and interesting and I've tired of the Topps jumbo packs. I picked up 5 packs at $4 each today from Kenmore Collectibles. Each hobby pack has 8 cards as the standard has been over the past few years. I thought they were a few dollars more last year, but I'm sure the market demand will dictate price changes in the upcoming weeks.

I've never been a huge fan of the non-sports inserts from this brand, but I didn't get stuck with too many this time around. The only non-baseball base cards are pulled were of Peter Gammons and Stan Lee, both pretty cool old guys in their own right. The Ascent of Man inserts actually look pretty nice because they take up the entire face of the card with vibrant, full-color pictures.

I'm pretty happy they brought back the hometown cards with the Hometown Heroes insert set. Last year's set opted for a "This Date in History" set that didn't seem as interesting. I'm trying to get the Mark Teixeira card from this set since my girlfriend's from Severna Park, MD and I lived there for a while as well, so somebody let me know if they have it for trade.

Here are the highlights:

  • Rookie Cards: Ozzie Martinez, Eric Sogard, Brian Bogusevic, Brandon Snyder
  • Regular Mini Cards: Jim Thome, Alcides Escobar
  • Hawaiian Monk Seal- Animals in Peril mini
  • "Fire Breathing" Step Right Up Mini (Looks more like Fire Barfing)
  • Jason Kubel- No Number Mini (Only 50 of each card last year)
  • Hometown Heroes: Uggla, Pavano, Sabathia, Oswalt
  • Florence Nightingale- Minds That Made the Future
  • Ascent of Man: Ostracoderms, Catarrhini
  • Neftali Feliz- Game-used jersey card
  • David Ortiz- Game-used jersey card

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

TTM Return: A.J. Pierzynski


  • A.J. Pierzynski 1/1- There's nothing worse than having a two week TTM drought broken by a card that you already have signed. I had A.J. sign his 09 Topps card when the White Sox came to visit a few weeks back, impatiently ignoring that I had sent out this card back in May. The sigs have the same tornado-like features, but it looks like he took a little bit more time with this auto through the mail. For comparison, I've placed the IP version of his signature on the right. Sent 5/3 (76 days)

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Orioles @ Red Sox, 7/9




Summer is finally here to stay in Boston, but luckily there was a slight breeze to cool things down this afternoon. Adam Jones took the team bus, and I never saw Derek Lee, Vlad, or Nick Markakis come in. Hendrickson must have been a last minute call-up, because he wasn't on the roster this morning. Even after the bench-clearing "brawl" last night, it seemed like most of the players were still in a decent mood, the exception of course being Kevin Gregg.

  • Matt Wieters- Camden Yards postcard
  • Nolan Reimold- 09 Topps U&H RC
  • Jim Johnson- 09 Upper Deck
  • Mike Flanagan- custom Orioles logo card
  • J.J. Hardy- 09 Topps
  • Jeremy Guthrie- 11 Topps
  • Mark Hendrickson- 2010 Orioles team schedule
  • Brad Bergesen- 11 Topps

Boog Powell


  • Boog Powell 1/1- After spending the afternoon getting Orioles autographs at Fenway, it was nice to find an old-timer waiting in the mail when I got home. I bought this card at an antique show last month, thinking that it would be an easy TTM autograph to get. Unfortunately, it looks like Boog stopped signing through the mail a while back, so I sent it to a friend back home to get signed at his BBQ pit at Camden Yards. Thanks for the help Jen!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

TTM Return: Jameson Taillon


  • Jameson Taillon 1/1- The top pitching prospect for the Pirates signed his card from the 2011 Bowman Topps 100 set in blue sharpie. Sent 6/4 (31 days)

TTM Return: Bobby Doerr


  • Bobby Doerr 4/2- The Hall of Fame second baseman for the Red Sox signed two tickets from Sox games featuring his likeness on the tickets, as well as two index cards. Everything includes the 1986 HOF inscription. I really like that the Red Sox decided to pay tribute to some of their legends this year by putting their pictures on the tickets, and I plan on sending a few out to Bill Lee next. As always, Doerr goes above and beyond when responding to fan mail. Sent 6/27 (8 days)

Friday, July 1, 2011

Pack Break: 2011 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions


Thank you, Dennis Rodman.

You're the only familiar (and still unsettling) face in this pack of multi-sport cards that I mistakenly bought for $4. I wasn't paying attention when I bought it and assumed it was a continuation of the baseball series from two years ago. I had heard of Amanda Beard and knew she was a Playboy cover model, but couldn't tell you what sport she was involved in. Fortunately, she signs through the mail, which is a little more difficult with two of the other athletes in this pack that have been dead for over half a century. Can you guess which ones they are? (Hint: They're not wearing 10 gallon cowboy hats.)

It was nice to get a jersey card, but I wish my knowledge of hockey was a little bit deeper so I'd know who Eric Lindros was. The artwork on the cards is nice enough, but the continued lack of team logos of any sort is disappointing. Lindros' jersey doesn't even have numbers on it, so it looks like something that would be worn in a Pee-Wee scrimmage.

There are supposed to be 5 cards per pack, but I had 6 in this one. Usually when you pull something thick like a memorabilia card, there's one card less per pack, but somehow I ended up with one extra.

And that means one less Dennis Rodman for someone else.