TCDb Trade #2: tjhorak (or Party at Tribe Town)

My second completed trade on TCDb was with TJ.  He is a Cleveland Indians collector from Akron, OH, so naturally he requested a bunch on Cleveland Indians.

My favorite card I received from TJ is the 1998 Pacific Crown Royale Carlos Baerga.  Die-cut cards are nice, but sometimes they are a pain.  This one is nice because it doesn't have any sharp points that can easily be bent.  The curved edges is much appreciated from the handling side of collecting.  I also like the look of the 2003 Donruss Studios Prentice Redman with the Shea Stadium backdrop.

There have been 121 players to play for both the Mets and Indians.  I received cards from 4 of those players in this trade.  Carlos Baerga (above), Roberto Alomar (above), Julio Franco, and Rick Cerone.  TJ ended up getting 3 of those players.  Julio Franco, Sandy Alomar, Jr., and Matt Lawton.

The most recent Mets-Indians connection is the Mets new manager, Mickey Callaway.  He had been with the Indians system as pitching coach since 2010 and at the MLB level since 2013.  This will be his first time in the manager position.  Mickey's hiring seems to be embraced overall by Mets fans.  I think this is a great move by the Mets as it can bring in a new culture of thinking into the clubhouse.

Thanks for the trade, TJ!

Now, here is a cool performance by one of my favorite bands, The Black Keys. 

Zistle Trade #19

Alright, I have gotten behind on these trade posts.  Let's try to work through my draft folder and get closer to present time.

This Zistle trade was completed with user royals.  I reached out to him a while back regarding some various basketball cards.  I looked through our matches selected some cards from his trade list that intrigued me.

I think the first card I saw was the 2003 Upper Deck Rey Ordonez.  I liked the look of the throwback uniform and then saw he had some more Mets from the same set.  Upper Deck usually has a nice look to their design.  The 2003 set is on the simple side of designs, but it works well here.

I also got reminded from this trade that David Cone had a second stint with the Mets.  He was attempting a comeback after sitting out the 2002 season.  His comeback was short-lived as, at the age of 40, his chronic hip problems became too great to finish the season.

The cards you see here are just what we agreed to for the trade.  It was a total and pleasant surprise to find some extra stacks of great Mets card in the package!  I definitely try to reciprocate when a trader is over generous and this one is long overdue!