TTM Success - Austin Chubb

This 2012 Bowman Chrome Austin Chubb refractor was one of the random cards I found in the boxes I got from my former LCS.  The card stood out to me for some reason, so I checked and saw that Chubb signed TTM.  So, I sent the card off and got it back signed.

Chubb (b. 1989) was a 21st round pick by the Nationals in the 2012 June Amateur Draft out of Florida Southern College.  He played in the minors from 2012 to 2015 in the Nationals and Dodgers systems.  He reached AAA.  He had 60 hits, 5 home runs and a .213 batting average.

I mailed to Chubb on April 13 and got the card back on June 21, for a 69-day TAT.

TTM Success - Aaron Barrett

Here is a 2020 Topps that I got signed TTM by Aaron Barrett.  I had to send the card twice; apparently, USPS has a hard time reading my handwriting at times.

Barrett (b. 1988) played in the majors in 2014, 2015, 2019 and 2020 for the Nationals.  He had a career record of 6-3 with 86 strike outs and a 4.01 ERA.  He re-signed with the Nationals in November 2020, so he may hit the majors again this season.

I mailed to Barrett on December 15 and got the card back signed on January 14, for a 30-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jackson Rutledge

I was able to get a 2020 Bowman signed when I mailed one off to Nationals prospect, Jackson Rutledge.  The card looks nice signed, even though the signature got smudged a bit.

Rutledge (b. 1999) was a first round pick (17h overall) in the 2019 June Amatuer Draft out of San Jacinto College.  He went 2-0 last season with 39 strike outs and a 3.13 ERA.

I mailed to Rutledge on June 15 and got the card back on June 25, for a 10-day TAT.

Another TTM Success From Dusty Baker

I guess he was catching up on his mail, but I finally got these cards back from Dusty Baker long after I sent them to the Nationals ballpark, and after I had sent a second request to a different address.  I had seen that after he was dismissed from the Nationals, Baker was signing elsewhere, but these came in early this month.  I was glad to get them back and add them to the album.

At the time that I sent them, I had very few 1973 Topps.  Since then, I got some bulk cards and have boosted my numbers from that set.  I still have very few 1974s, so I may be seeking some bulk of those next.

I mailed to Baker via the Nationals ballpark on April 3, 2017, and got the cards back on January 4, 2019, for a 641-day TAT.  This was my first success for 2019.

2018 National Free Signer - Livan Hernandez

Another of the free signers at this year's National was 1997 World Series MVP, Livan Hernandez.  I bought a few cards of his specifically for the show, even though I did have a few in my possession.  The above Turkey Red was a nice pickup that looks great signed.  He even inscribed this one 1st pitch, Nats History.

I also added the Studio, and the Bowman Heritage.  The middle card, 1997 World Series Heroes, was from my 1998 box that I still have here.

Hernandez (b. 1975) played in the majors from 1996 to 2012 for the Marlins, Giants, Expos, Nationals, Diamondbacks, Twins, Rockies, Mets, Braves and Brewers.  He had a career record of 178-177 with 1,976 strike outs and a 4.44 ERA.  He was an All Star in 2004 and 2005 and was the runner-up in the 1997 NL Rookie of the Year voting (Scott Rolen won that year).  He won the World Series in 1997 with the Marlins, picking up MVP honors in both the NLCS and World Series.

National Pickup - 2014 Bowman Chrome Ryan Ripken Auto

At the time I picked this card up at the National, I was excited.  I saw it in a vendor's showcase and immediately paid his price of $20 for this card and went about my business.  Unfortunately, for me, I probably should have looked a little bit longer while I was there, because on the last day of the show, I saw two of these in a bargain box for $4 a piece.  Dang.  I'm sure that the vendor I got this from saw my Orioles gear and figured he had a sucker.  Oh well.  $20 isn't a bad price to pay when you consider that my goal has been to get Ryan Ripken's autograph so that I can say that I have three generations of Ripken autos (and Bill, as well).

I really want Ryan on a baseball, but at this point, this card works for me.  I have Cal, Sr. and Cal, Jr. on baseballs.  I don't have Bill on one, either, but that shouldn't take me much longer.  Ryan is still in the Nationals system, after being drafted in the 15th round of the 2014 draft out of a Junior College in Florida.

He is scuffling so far in his MiLB career, with a .203 batting average, 3 homers and 47 RBI over 141 minor league games across 3 seasons in Rookie League, Low A and A ball.  I doubt he will pan out much more than having a famous last name, but at 23, he is still fairly young.  I was initally disappointed that he wasn't drafted by the O's (he was drafted by them in 2012 out of high school, but didn't sign), but he probably stands a better chance in DC and not living up to his dad's shadow in Baltimore.

So, I kind of wish I had waited to pick this card up out of the bargain bin, but $20 is still not bad, especially in the grand scheme of things.

Set Pickups From The National

I didn't have a lot of time for box searching at the National like I had hoped, but I did get a few cards to help with some sets I have been working on.  I was disappointed that no sellers seemed to have any 2015 Stadium Club cards, but I knocked out 5 1969 Topps cards for the set, all big names.  The above Frank Robinson was actually on my Top Ten Wishlist, so I was able to cross a card off of that as well.

The other guys I got were Red Schoendienst, Ron Santo, Gaylord Perry and Jim Kaat.  We also walked into the show with Frank Robinson on Friday.  That was really cool.

I also knocked off all of the 2015 Topps Chrome cards that I needed, except for four short prints.  I need to get those from Ebay, I guess.  I nabbed 28 cards that I needed.  I wish I had been able to finish the whole set, but oh well, I'm really close.  I'll probably hit Sportlots and Ebay to finish Chrome and Stadium Club.

Set Complete - 2014 Topps

It didn't take me long, but I have completed the 2014 Topps set.  You can see the completer card right here, #651, Denard Span.  I busted the boxes at Mom's this weekend after picking them up from Crane's Cards in Winston-Salem.  Taylor always hooks me up and I appreciated him working with me this weekend, so I could pick the card up while I was in town.

I now look forward to picking up a couple random boxes as the base issue Topps from this year is behind me.  I ended up building two sets, one for me to keep and one to sell.  I also got a good bit of inserts, hits, etc from this box break.  I plan on showing some of that off on a later post.

Ebay Pickup - 2013 Topps Brian Roberts Blue Sparkle

I love these Blue Sparkle parallels.  I picked up this Brian Roberts off of Ebay for a couple bucks several weeks ago and am just now getting around to showing it.  Roberts didn't play but 17 games last season so I was able to almost figure out which game this photo came from.  It had to be either June 23 or 24, 2012 when the Nationals visited Baltimore.  You can see Bryce Harper behind Roberts, who seems to be in shock at a call.  Harper went 0-4 in the first game of the series (June 22).  In the second game, Harper went 1-3 and stole second off of Wei-Yin Chen/Matt Weiters.  That one could very well be the play we are seeing here.  Unless, they took the shot during the June 24 game where Harper went 2-4 with a double and you are seeing that play.

I really think this photo was taken during Harper's stolen base on June 23 because if this was from Harper hitting a double and a throw was coming to Roberts from the outfield, then he would be positioned differently and I don't think you would be able to see the advertisement on the outfield wall.  I believe this shot was taken as Roberts received a throw from Wieters and was shocked that the call didn't go in the O's favor.  You know, because Wieters is money when it comes to throwing out baserunners.

What do you guys think?

Thoughts on 2012 Topps Chrome

So, I bit the bullet and decided to buy a box of 2012 Topps Chrome last week at my LCS.  I figured that it would be a fun break and I may get a couple decent autos, as well as some of the different refractors.

There aren't a whole lot of Orioles in this year's Chrome, but one I pulled was Chris Davis.  He is quickly becoming one of my favorite players, so I was glad to get this card.  Would have been nice to get a parallel of him, but that might be something I end up pursuing soon, just for the fun of it.

I got this nice Ryan Braun die cut.  This card will likely be up for trade.  I don't have a Braun PC.  I think he is a really good player, but I just don't see myself holding on to this for much longer.  If interested, shoot me an email.  Oh yeah, a bunch of you guys commented way back when I posted Topps Series 2 that there was interest in the inserts and parallels, yet no one has emailed me.  If you are interested, send me an email.  I don't bite... hard.

This Drew Smyly auto is actually the second auto I pulled, but for some reason it posted first and I'm too lazy to move them around.  You'll be ok.  This card is already spoken for.  Dustin will get this one soon, once he comes up with some Orioles that I need.  No rush, Dustin.

I also pulled this Kirk Neuwen... Niewen... Nieuwenhuis, yeah that guy, auto.  He was on my fantasy team for a good bit of the year and did ok.  I'm not a Met fan, so this one will also either be traded or sold.  I'd prefer sold, unless someone has something nice that they would send.  Again, send me an email and let me know.

Oh look, its a Bryce Harper RC.  Nice, I don't have to get one off of ebay.  Is this one for trade or sale, you ask?  That's a clown question, Bro.

Awesome, a Stephen Strasburg refractor.  I enjoyed this card for about 160-180 innings before I was told by the higher ups that I had to shut it down.  Also not for trade, sorry.

AWESOME!  I got the gold parallel, numbered 8/50 of Andrew McCutchen, my new PC.  I was REALLY happy to add this card to my collection!  I will probably look for the McCutchen Rainbow out of this year's Chrome.  If you want to trade me one of the other colors, EMAIL me and we can work something out!  McCutchen is a great ball player and should be the NL MVP, even though he has cooled off lately.  I mean, he has carried the Pirates all season, so I imagine he is exhausted.

Finally, another card that has been spoken for.  I traded this card for a Wei-Yin Chen base Chrome.  Did I overpay, you ask?  Well, since I bought the pack of cards that the Chen came from and still had to trade to get it back, you might think yes, but since it will be going to my son, Chris, I don't think it is too much trouble to swing a trade with him.  Especially since this Lincecum is going in a top loader and being put in my box for safekeeping anyway.

So, in all, I was really satisfied with this year's Topps Chrome.  They weren't warped like 2010's and I actually pulled two different colored parallels out of one box (unlike NONE from maybe 5 boxes of 2010).  2010 really soured me on Chrome, even though that is the only Chrome set I have built.  I may actually attempt to build this Chrome set.  If anyone has any duplicate base cards they want to unload, let me know.  I might be interested.

August 18, 2012 Trip to the Card Shop

Since it had been a while since I had bought some new stuff, I decided to go to the LCS and see what they had.  I got a pack of 2012 Topps Finest and 2 packs of 2012 Bowman Platinum.  I also got a tobacco sized screwdown case for me 1930 World Series ticket, which I didn't think they made.  It is the size of a normal screwdown, except the inlay is fitted for tobacco cards.  The ticket fits perfectly!

 The highlights of the packs I got are the above Yu Darvish RC and the below Liam Hendriks auto.

The auto is on card and it looks really sweet.  The 2012 version of Finest is nice, as always.  Finest is always sharp looking and I would buy more if it was a little more affordable.

Bowman Platinum is becoming one of my favorite Bowman issues each year.  This year's looks really good.  I pulled the above Bryce Harper, which is definitely a good pull for me.

I was slo happy to pull this green chrome Mike Montgomery numbered 307/399.  I saw Montgomery pitch in person a couple years ago against the Kinston Indians and he was electric.  I think he is going to be a huge star for the Royals.

So, not bad for a couple packs at the LCS.  I hope I can add a few more Platinum and Topps FInest over the next few weeks, but I still need to recover from my vacation (financially, I mean).

Thoughts on 2012 Bowman

I've been so busy lately, when I get home, I don't feel like scanning bunches of cards.  Pure laziness on my part.  I've gotten trade packages from Nachos Grande, Rhubarb Runner, No Relics Pulled and Andrew's Cards.  I need to get posts up for all of those trades.  I hope to do it eventually.  If I don't get to them, sorry guys.  It doesn't mean I don't appreciate the trades, quite the contrary.  I get so excited to get the cards, they immediately get put in top loaders and added to my PCs that I forget who sent what.  Oops.

Anyway, I did get a chance to go by my LCS today and picked up a bunch of packs and the shopkeeper was nice enough to let me go through his pulls from 2012 Bowman.  I picked up some Orioles and a few others from his stack of cards, namely the below Bryce Harper, some Yankees for Drew and an Aroldis Chapman for Andrew.

I'm going to add this Harper to my 'treasure box' which includes cards I like of Hall of Famers and other players.  I don't think I'm going to start a Harper PC, but I do want to add a couple of his early cards, just to say that I have them.

2012 Bowman doesn't have a whole heck of a lot of Orioles prospects that I have seen so far, but Nicky Delmonico (above) looks to be a real good prospect.  His dad is the coach at Tennessee, so he has baseball in his blood.  I hope that he is a good position player prospect for the O's, something that they desperately need.

I like the Bowman's Best cards.  Here is one of Miguel Sano.  He was a pretty highly sought after international free agent.  I haven't heard much about him after he signed, but apparently the raw skills are there.  We'll see about that.

Finally, here is a nice Bowman's Best of this past year's number 1 over all pick, Gerrit Cole.  The Pirates have had a tough time developing their number one picks, so let's hope that Cole is their exception and helps the Pirates get back to a winning organization.

In all, 2012 Bowman isn't too bad.  I didn't get a whole lot of variations or parallels.  I also didn't get any autos, but having purchased only 7 packs, I didn't really expect much, if anything, at all.  I do like that they went away from the standard black border that they have used for the past several years.  Sometimes change is good.

A Few More Cards From the Card Shop

I didn't have any mail when I got home from work, which is never how I want to end my day.  I guess I can't complain.  I do have 7 baseballs still out for TTMs, though, so I wish they would get here.  Anyway, Last Sunday, I went to my local card shop to get some supplies and left there with a couple packs of cards.  I didn't have any huge hits, but I did get a couple cards of note.

Out of a pack of Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects (I think), I pulled this Brian Matusz.  Not too bad.  I would have rather pulled the Dylan Bundy, but oh well, at least I got an Oriole.

I bought two packs of 2011 Topps Lineage and got this 1975 mini of Duke Snider.  That same pack also had a mini relic of Jayson Werth.

I'm not a fan of Werth, so this card is definitely up for trade.  If anyone is interested, please send me an email.  I'll go ahead and add this to the for sale/trade page.

More on the Trade With Schuyler

So, I discussed my trade with Schuyler here.  Here are a few of the other highlights from the deal.

He threw in a few 2011 Topps cards.  One of which is this Ivan Rodriguez.  He is seen here talking to Stephen Strasburg.  It seems that Topps likes the relationship between Pudge and Strasburg, as they have shown the duo on several cards, now.

Another cool card is this Kaz Sasaki relic out of Fleer Tradition.  Sasaki was a really good player in MLB, albeit, for a very short time.  He was Seattle's Ichiro, before there was Ichiro.

I traded Schuyler some shiny cards as well as a partial 1987 Topps set (complete with a Bonds RC) for the Bechler auto and these cards (as well as several others which aren't pictured).

Schuyler is a really cool dude and you should check out his blog if you haven't already.  make sure to click 'follow' so he knows people are interested in what he has to say.  I look forward to doing a lot more trades with him in the future.

August 2, 2011 - Auburn Doubledays vs. Connecticut Tigers

Continuing on our road trip, we left Pittsburgh this morning and headed north/northeast along I-79, then along I-90. We made slight detours to Lake Erie and Niagara Falls, then made our way to a minor league game in Auburn, New York. I was able to knock off another minor league park and although the amenities are scarce at Falcon Park, the atmosphere was very down to earth and enjoyable.




Falcon Park was originally built in 1927 and is called this because it was built by a fraternal organization in Auburn known as the Polish Falcons. The original stadium was demolished in 1995 and the new stadium was built in the same location.

The Doubledays are the Single A affiliate of the Washington Nationals in the New York-Penn League.

We got to the game 20 minutes late and were pleasantly surprised to find out that general admission seats were free tonight... Never had that happen before. We got to see Auburn blow out the Tigers 13-3. If you look, the Tigers committed 5 errors. Kind of hard to win a game if you are giving away that many free outs. The only name I recognized on either team was the Tigers' catcher, Patrick Leyland, son of Detroit Tigers' manager Jim Leyland.

The weather was amazing. We sat back in our seats and just enjoyed the game. No scrambling for autographs. We enjoyed some pretty good hot dogs (they were almost like a knockwurst), some cool temperatures, a nice breeze and a hell of a sunset. I caught a foul ball (so, now I have baseballs from the Carolina League, Southern League and the New York-Penn League).

I wasn't impressed with the amenities of the stadium, but really, that wasn't what we were looking for tonight. We wanted to unwind from a long day of driving and catch a baseball game, old school style. The field had a very "home town" feel to it and when the game was over, I was a little sad to leave. If anyone is in the Auburn area, you really should give their field a look.