2008 Baseball Heros pack 2

Here is pack number two from my .99 cent per pack purchase....


David Wright joins the 30/30 club. I love a guy who can hit for power and steal bases. What the heck happened to you in 2009 David? Is the new stadium that much bigger? You only hit 10 home runs? I do like the 27 steals though.


Jeter, Ripken, if you had these two guys on your team, which one plays short? Again, why aren't the pictures twice as big and the logo and text smaller?


8 RBIs in one game!!!! 4-4 two doubles, a single, and a home run. Oh yeah he also drew a walk to bring in a runner. What a game! JR only had 3 RBIs in 2009.


In 2006 Freddy hit .344, in 2009 Freddy hit .293. Keep on keeping on Freddy!!!


Yogi played in 14 World Series with the Yankees, they only won 10 of them..... This guy was an amazing player who is better know for what he said. Wouldn't it be nice if more modern players were that way. A lot of the guys now are know for what they say and are not that great of players.

The Card Addict

Halloween Baseball Heros Pack break........

K-Mart was selling packs of 2008 UD Baseball Heros for 50% off today. So instead of paying $1.99 each for them they were $.99 per pack. I could not help myself. I picked up 4 of them. Here are the results of the first pack.


Why couldn't the pictures on this card be twice as big and the logo and names half sized? It would have been a much better card that way. I will admit, the big apple does have two strong shortstops!


Is a players first home run with the Nationals really card worthy?



This former Tar Heel from Gainesville FL went 3-5 for the Marlins in 2009. He pitched 80 innings and had 59 Ks. He is still only 24. I hope he turns into a first rate starter some day.



Where will Dan be playing in 2010????



500 Home Runs!!!!! Ken Griffey Jr. still has the smoothest swing in all of baseball. I hope you play in 2010.

The Card Addict

Fenway on the last day of the Regular Season 2009

For the last two years a college buddy of mine and I have gotten together and headed out on a baseball weekends. Last year we made the trip to Yankee Stadium. It was an amazing trip and made me really appreciate the old Yankee Stadium. We saw the second to last game played there. We hung with the BLEACHER CREATURES in right field. We felt the adrenline rush when Enter Sandman plays and Mariano Rivera runs onto the field. It was awesome!

So this year we decided to head to the northeast once again to see another one of the Rays rivals, the Boston Red Sox. I was very impressed with Yankee stadium, but it pales in comparison to Fenway Park. Move on over Wrigley Field, I have a new favorite place to watch a ball game. This stadium was unreal! It felt like baseball should be. The seats were close, the grass was green, the fans were all wearing Red Sox gear, it was everything I think attending a baseball game should be. I took my camera with me, and did manage to snap a few photos, but if you have never been to Fenway, and consider yourself a fan of baseball, you need to go. Beg, borrow, cheat, or steal but make it to a game in Fenway before it is gone.

Here are some of the photos from my trip:


Thats me standing in center field with THE GREEN MONSTER in the background!


Here is the starting pitcher for the Indians Tomo Ohka warming up!


Here is the Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz stretching out the arm with some long toss.


Here is an artsy fartsy shot of the ancient seats in Fenway!


Ellsbury stole a base and scored a run!


I am a sucker for photos of catchers.


You can see this is before A-Rod and his 7 RBIs in one inning handed the Rays their final defeat of 2009.


This guy went yard twice against the Indians!



Not sure where the baseball trip is going to take us next year. If you have a suggestion I would love to hear it.

The Card Addict

Wal Mart Topps Crayon Box

So I bought one of those "crayon" boxes of 2009 Topps at Wal-Mart a few weeks back. I think I paid $9.99 for it. Kind of expensive. Overall the break was pretty good. I remember being in a good mood when I was done flipping through the cards. I think I also pulled a shiny chrome Ted Williams. I put them in their proper places and have not though much about it since. That was until last night when I started to clean up a few loose cards laying around and I re-found this card.


Now I need to figure out what to do with it. It is way to thick to go into a regular top loader. It is not a "real" jersey or material card. The patch is of the made up variety. I do not have any of the extra thick top loaders, and do not really want to go pick some up. How do you store these kinds of cards? Team case, penny sleeve, no protection? I do have a few Tom Seaver cards that can keep this company, but I hate to just throw it in the box with the others unprotected. Also, if this was your card would you clip the stray brown string that sticks up between the O and the R in WORLD SERIES? Would that be considered altering the card? Just some random thoughts on a night without baseball.

The Card Addict

Orioles Autographs........

Do you want to get this 2009 All Stars autograph?


Maybe you would rather have this Rookie of the Year candidates auto?


Or a signed ball from this Rookie of the year candidate?


How about an auto from a Hall of Fame Pitcher?


According to this website, Spring Training Online, all of these guys and the O's manager will be at Ed Smith Stadium, in Sarasota on November 14th from 1:30-4:00 signing autos for free!!!

I am a short drive from this event, and seriously considering attending it. If there are any other bloggers out there that want to hook up and maybe have a beer and trade a few cards in person let me know.

The Card Addict

What can you buy for $845 million?????

Here is a hint:


By the way this is another one of those oddball items I have in my "baseball card collection". Thats right I grew up a Cubs fan. I was 11 in 1984 and cried when those stinking Padres ruined my life. I hated Steve Garvey!!!!



You also get this place in the deal:






This man will be running your new investment:








and last but not least, you get this guys contract:




To read about the Ricketts Familys newest purchase go here.

Hopefully the curse of the Billy goat was not part of the deal!

The Card Addict

Monday Nights totally awesome random card!

Here is a Totally awesome random card from my meager collection.

THE STATS

WHO: The 1980 National League Batting Champion BILL BUCKNER

WHAT: 2002 Topps Gold Label Class 1 Game Worn Jersey Card

WHERE: This card came from EBAY

WHY: Why not, this card is awesome!

WHEN: I purchased this a few years ago, and have pulled it out to look at it once in a while ever since.



To sum it up this card is almost perfect. The moustache, the baby blue swatch with stripe, the shiny, the eyebrows, Bill Buckner!!! It doesn't get much better then this my friends. If you want to make yourself truly happy, and are not a Boston fan then this card needs to be in your collection!

Caution: Boston fans may have uncontrollable reactions to this card.

The Card Addict

Gordon Beckham wins A.L. rookie of the year... from The Sporting News

338 Major League Players voted and they chose Gordon Beckham as the 2009 American League Rookie of the Year. J.A. Happ was their choice for the N.L. honor. This is only THE SPORTING NEWS award, but does bode well for Beckham. The Baseball Writers Association of America will be announcing its awards after the conclusion of the World Series. Beckham had an amazing rookie year and deserves the award, but according to the few bloggers and readers who have voted at Closet Full of Cardboard, ANDREW BAILEY is a better choice.

Check out the article about the award here. GO DAWGS!!!



THE CARD ADDICT

Non Baseball Card collections.....

What is the strangest piece of memorabilia you have in your baseball collection? I am talking about anything that you consider related to or having to do with baseball cards that is not really a baseball card. I have a few different items that I am holding onto and would consider part of my card collection that are not really cards. Here is one of them:



Before my grandmother passed a few years ago, she called a very strange family meeting. We all gathered at my brothers house and sat around in the living room. My grandmother then told all of us that she was not going to live forever and that she wanted to see us split up the things she was holding onto that she considered of value. She then pulled out a stamp collection and several other items. She passed the stamps to one of my cousins and said take your pick, one sheet, or stamp at a time until they are all gone..... Wow was this ever weird.... I never knew she collected stamps. When the collection came to me I chose the sheet above. LEGENDS OF BASEBALL! I am sure it was not the most valuable, but I was also sure it would mean the most to me. As you can see in the scan, these were issued in 2000 and are .33 cent stamps....

I love the Robinson, Clemente, Paige, and Gehrig stamps on this sheet. They are really beautiful little pieces of artwork. Especially the way the stands are in a ghostly glow on the Paige card.

I would consider this a baseball card related item, and I keep it with my cards. It is no where near my strangest item, but not really cards. That family meeting went on to divide up coins, postcards, and even some jewelry. None of us was prepared for what happened that evening, it was very surreal, and I will never forget how sad I felt leaving the house that night. I am not sure if my grandmother was proud of the items and wanted to make sure everyone got their fair share, or whether she was tired of having them around and wanted to move them up the family tree early. What I do know is that every time I see something that she gave me that night, I can't help but wonder what were her reasons and why?

The Card Addict

2009 Topps Updates and Highlights

Today was not unlike most days except for the fact that the Rickey Henderson short print, jersey card, and bat card from the 2009 Topps Updates and Highlights cards were calling out to me from a deep dark place.... When the cards call, I am powerless. As I sat eating my lunch I heard them... "Take a shot." "What will a couple of packs hurt?" "Buy a box, its your lucky day." So against my better judgement I walked over to the Target, crack house, across the street from my job and searched for a blaster of the '09 Updates and Highlights.

They did not have any! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you..... I did not need them anyway. As I turned to head out the door out of the corner of my eye I saw them. Sitting in one of the vendor drop down boxes..... unopened packs of the objects I desire, 09 Updates and Highlights.

My mouth watered, my heart raced. My wallet groaned! I snagged 5 packs in my sweaty hands and headed for the cashier......

Here are the results of my 5 packs:

TWO RAYS CARDS!!!!
Carl Crawford ALL-STAR and JASON BARTLETT ALL-STAR



These two nuggets of GOLD were in there!
I am such a sucker for anything serial numbered, I even put the gold commons in top loaders. I wonder what the numbering would have been on a 1988 Donruss Jose Canseco 12,345,980/20,000,000?


I also pulled a few ROOKS!Beckham, and Bergensen have potential!


These were a nice surprise.
JACKSON and RUTH


I wish I was a Chipper collector because I always seem to pull him. I think this is a very sharp card!


And the last card I am going to post.......
I am not sure why this card makes me want to throw up in my own mouth, but it does. Maybe it is the fact that the Yankees have had such a good year and are on the verge of going back to the World Series, maybe it is the fact that these two grown men get paid millions to play a game and I am jealous. Maybe it is the stupid looks on their faces combined with the "rocker horns". Or possibly it is the fact the the card says, "New York Rockers". It is most likely all of these things and then some that make me want to vomit. Whatever it is if you are out there and want this card, leave a comment. I would gladly put it in the mail and ship it to you!

The Card Addict

RICKEY, RICKEY, and more RICKEY!!!!

I love my Rickey Henderson collection! I wish it was more complete, and to be honest I have not tended to it as I should over the last 2 or 3 years, but Rickey is the man who started my obsession for cards, and I need to start paying better attention to him.

This week I have been slowly adding all of my collection to my Zistle.com account. The more I use this site, the more I like it. I love the fact that I can store my player collection lists on-line. I find the format much easier to use then Beckett. I need to go back and add pictures to a lot of the cards I have uploaded, but that will have to happen in time. If you have not checked Zistle.com out I would highly recommend it. It has made my player collections interesting to me again.....

Here are a few of the odd ball cards that I will be trying to add to Zistle as soon as I get my regular issue cards in. If you know anything about any of these cards I would love to hear about them. I purchased all of these back in the 90's when these kinds of cards were hitting the market. It is a shame we do not get this kind of stuff anymore, but saturation is saturation.

Rickey looked great in the Yankee uniform......
Fronts

BACKS


Rickey looked even better in the OAKLAND uniform.....
FRONTS

BACKS


I am not sure what a 200 foot tall Rickey Henderson monster was doing in Wrigley field before inter league play, but from the looks of things there were a lot of fans there to witness it!
FRONTS

BACKS


Do you have any extra Rickey cards taking up space in your collection? If so, send me a message at jmeloy1218@gmail.com. Let me know who you collect, maybe we can work a deal?

The Card Addict

Tribute part 2...... 1985 Topps Traded Yankees and Angels

Wow, these playoffs have had some strange things going on..... A-Rod is now unstoppable in games that count. The Angels cannot seem to hit when they have runners in scoring position. The Dodgers pitching as been missing in action, and the Phillies relief pitching has been strong. I really do not have a horse in the race, but for me there is nothing better than a game 7 in the playoffs, so here is hoping both of these series even back up and we have two nail biting game 7's........

In my last post I showed you what the 85 Phillies and 85 Dodgers Topps traded cards looked like. Tonight in tribute to the two teams battling for the ALCS title I will show you the Yanks and Halos from the 1985 Topps Traded set!

1985 NEW YORK YANKEES
Finished 97-64 2nd in the AL East behind the Jays
Don Mattingly had 35 home runs and 145 RBIs. He also led the team with a .324 batting average.
Rickey Henderson stole 80 bases in 143 games and hit .314
Dave Winfield also had a strong season hitting 26 bombs and batting .275
Ron Guidry won 22 games for the pinstripes with a 3.27 era
Dave Righetti had 29 saves.

Here are the cards from the 1985 Topps Traded set. I am very partial to the Henderson myself!!!! Be sure to read about the "love triangle" between the guys on the top three cards.

Eddie Whitson broke the arm of Billy Martin in 1985. See the article here.
Rich Bordi was the reason Whitson and Martin fought.... Martin started Bordi instead of Whitson.
Billy Martin was fired by the Yankees for a 4th time setting a record. He fought a three round fight with Whitson.......see previous link.
Dale Berra played in 48 games and hit .229
Rickey Henderson is the man!!!! He scored 146 runs in 1985 and became a Hall of Famer in 2009!!!!! Send me any Rickey Cards you have.... I will take them all!
Ron Hassey played in 92 games, hit .296 and drove in 42 runs! Not bad for the back up catcher!

Be sure to check out the fight story between Whitson and Martin. It is classic Billy Martin.


1985 CALIFORNIA ANGELS
Record: 90-72 finished 2nd in the AL West
Reggie Jackson led the team in HRs with 27. He also knocked in 85 runs.
Rod Carew had an off year only hitting .280.
Mike Witt led the team with 15 wins and a 3.56 era.
Donnie Moore was the closer and had 31 saves.

Now with a little less drama, I present the 1985 Topps Traded California ANGELS!

Pat Clements went 5-0 with a 3.34 era in 41 games. He only pitched 62 innings for the Angels in 1985.
Donnie Moore went 8-8 in the closers roll. He had a 1.92 era in 103 innings.
Ruppert Jones has an awesome mustach and first name!
Gene Mauch was the manager. He was origionally signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943 and played until 1957.....

Like I stated earlier, I no longer care who wins in this years playoffs, I just want to see some tight, white knuckle games. GO Phillies, Dodgers, Yankees, and Angels. Hail the 1985 Topps Traded set, and long live Carl Crawford.

The Card Addict

In Tribute to the playoff teams......pt 1

I have finally come to grips with the fact the my team, THE RAYS, are not in the playoffs this year, and although I am not happy about it, I am over it. It is time to move on, and enjoy the greatest time of the sports year! Right now we have PLAYOFF BASEBALL, NFL FOOTBALL, COLLEGE FOOTBALL, and HOCKEY!!!! Could it get any better? So to show that I have moved on with the 2009 season, I decided to go back in time..... 24 years or so..... The year was 1985, the cards are 1985 Topps Traded!!! Lets take a look at what the 2 of the 4 teams left in the 2009 Playoffs were up to in 1985 as far as trades were concerned..... We will start with the National League........

First we have the PHILLIES.......
RECORD 75-87 Finished 5th in the NL EAST
Mike Schmidt led the team with 33 home runs
Von Hayes finished the year hitting .263
Kevin the scuff Gross led the team in wins with 15..... MORE ON THIS NICKNAME IN A FUTURE POST!!!!!!!!

Here are the Phillies cards from the 1985 Topps Traded Set:


Derrel Thomas played in 63 games hitting .207 with 4 home runs

Kent Tekulve went 4-10 in 58 appearances and had a 2.99 era

Rick Schu played in 112 games at third. He hit .252 and drove in 24 runs

Steve Jeltz played 89 games at shortstop and hit .189

Don Carman was 9 and 4 as a reliever with a 2.08 era in 71 games

Dave Rucker wend 3 and 2 in 39 games with a 4.31 era

No game changers in this bunch....

Next I proudly present the 1985 Traded Los Angeles Dodgers:
RECORD 95-67 Finished 1st in the NL West
Pedro Guerrero led the team with 33 home runs
Guerrero also finished the year hitting .320
Orel Hershiser led the team in wins with 19 and only 3 loses. His era was 2.03 WOW!!!!!



Mariano Duncan started 142 games at short and hit .244 with 38 stolen bases!!!

Ken Howell was 4 and 7 out of the pen with 56 appearances.

Al Oliver played in 35 games and hit .253. He only had 79 at bats.

Bobby Castillo was 2-2 with a 5.43 era in 35 games. He made 5 starts but only pitched 68 total innings.

No world beaters here either, although Duncan was a solid pick up.....

I have always loved the 80's traded sets. I don't know if it is the bright day glow backs, or the whiter card stock that makes me love them so! Don't worry all you American League fanatics out there, I will post what the Yankees and Angels were up to in due time...... For all the rest of us out there who do not have a team left in the dance? Who would you like to see your team trade for, and what would you be willing to give up to get them?

The Card Addict