A Different Approach

Today's post was originally going to focus on some early 90's baseball cards, but after spending the entire afternoon yesterday watching the sickening and scary events that took place at the Capitol Building... I pulled the plug.

I started writing down all of the emotions that ran through me yesterday... which spanned from feeling heartbroken, sad, and disappointed to offended, disgusted, and infuriated.  But ranting on this blog won't make me feel any better.  Trust me.  I vented to my father and best friend yesterday... and those feelings were still with me when I fell asleep last night.

That's why I decided to try a different approach and write something more positive and patriotic.

2005 Upper Deck USA Baseball #USA86

Representing your country in a positive way has to be one of the greatest feelings in the world.

Kershaw was a member of the USA Baseball 18U National Team back in 2005.  I couldn't find any information about how he fared, but that doesn't matter to me.  He's always been one of those guys with a clean reputation.  One of those guys who gives back to the community and has done plenty of work for various charities.

But we can't all be Clayton Kershaw.  I'll never represent our beautiful country on the baseball diamond or any other sports arena... but I can be a positive role model for my nieces, nephews, and students (past and present)... and explain to them that even on the darkest of days, the sun will eventually rise.

Thirteen days left.  

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

A Much Needed Distraction

The GTSM Santa Clara Show took place less than two weeks ago... and yet with everything that's taken place since then... it seems like months.  I'm sure if I ever look back on this post, it'll appear as if I'm totally exaggerating... but when you look at how quickly we've gone from following a variety of sporting events to nothing in such a short period of time... it's truly crazy.

On a personal level... I was standing in front of students six days ago.  Then I was told we'll be suspending classroom instruction for three weeks.  On Monday, a shelter-in-place order was given to several Bay Area counties.  And the latest news out of Sacramento is there's a chance I won't have students back in my classroom until next fall.  If that isn't crazy... I'm not sure what is.

My mind has been racing and I've had a few moments where I've felt very anxious.  This whole shelter-in-place thing has started to give me cabin fever.  And outside of a couple of trips to my office and my daily visits to your card blogs, I haven't spent much time with my cards.  But that's going to change today, because I seriously need a distraction.

I'll start things off by finally sharing my card show haul from the aforementioned GTSM Show.

First up are a pair of Dave Dravecky autographs that were signed back on January 26th at the Serramonte Mall Sports Cards, Toys, and Collectibles Show.   I went to the show on the 25th, but didn't attend the 26th which was the day Dravecky was there.  Thankfully my buddy Mike was willing to get these two cards signed for me:

1983 Topps #384

1987 Topps #470

I hadn't seen Mike since the Serramonte Show, but he was nice enough to bring them to the GTSM Show, so I could add them to my Padres collection.

I ran into Mr. Haverkamp (famous card blog supporter) at the show and he informed me that Dravecky has stacked his signature ever since his surgery.  So if you ever see a signature out there where Dave is next to his last name, then you know it was signed with his left hand.

It was fun hanging out with him and talking cards.  We were talking about meeting up at a future card show either in Oakland or Sacramento, but that doesn't seem very likely anymore.  We also discussed playing nine holes as well, but that'll have to be postponed too.

He didn't come empty-handed.  He never does.  There was a nice stack of 1970 Kellogg's for my set build waiting for me when I walked up to his friend's table.  Due to the standards I've established for this set, I passed on all of them except for this Frank Robinson:

1970 Kellogg's #15

The card looked pretty clean in my hands at the show.  However after getting a closer look at my scans, I noticed a few more cracks.  This card resides in the set for now, but I will be looking for an upgrade at some point.

Okay... let's finally take a look at my card show purchases.


Purchase #1:  Dollar Bin  $20

Nothing too exciting here.  Honestly... in regards to bargains, I didn't find much at this show.  Dollar autographs, relics, and rookie cards are cool... but there weren't any hidden gems that I've grown accustomed to over the years.

My favorite card in the lot was this Rickey Henderson:

1995 Collector's Choice Gold Signature #125

Upper Deck inserted one of these into every thirty-five packs, so collectors usually only pulled one of these per box.

The other card that caught my eye was this Mark McGwire:

1998 Pacific Home Run History #HRC1

I had never seen this card before and after doing some research... it makes sense.  It was part of a set available on QVC back on September 28, 1998 (the day after McGwire hit #70) during a 24 hour window.  That kinda makes it sound like this card could be rare, but it isn't.  According to Beckett, Pacific printed 142,500 sets.

The third card I'll spotlight is a mystery to me...

1992 Rookie Phenoms

It looks like one of those cheap "printed in some dude's garage" cards... but the quality is pretty good.  Heck... this might have actually been printed back in 1992.  Unfortunately it wasn't produced by a legit company, so it falls into the category of being a Broder-like card.  I realize this card is worthless to most collectors... but to me on the day of the show, it was worth a buck.

Moving along...


Purchase #2:  The Big Ticket Items $10

2001 Upper Deck e-Cards #E-DB

I picked up these two cards from another friend of mine who was set up at the show.  I dug through a shoebox of his and pulled out this Drew Brees rookie card and this really cool looking Jerry Rice patch card:

2013 UD Ultimate Collection Ultimate Patch #UJ-JR

It's not often I see Jerry Rice cards where he's not reppin' the Niners or Raiders.  So I was immediately drawn to this card.

I was pleasantly surprised that Ben only wanted $10 for the pair.  Then I scanned the card at home and had the chance to read the back:

Jerry might have worn this Mississippi Valley State jersey, but it wasn't in an NCAA game.  I'm starting to see the light in regards to these memorabilia cards.

Purchase #3:  Five for a Buck  $2

I don't remember seeing any dime boxes at the show, but I ran into another familiar vendor who had a box of rookies and refractors priced at 25¢ each or 5/$1.  It had been picked through, but I did find another Laureano rookie card for my collection.

Speaking of Laureano... I had gone to this show with hopes of adding a few new autographs to the collection, but was blown away by the prices dealers were asking.  That night I came home and headed over to COMC where I picked up three for a fraction of the price the GTSM Show dealers were asking.  Stay tuned for those.  I'll be requesting shipment as soon as I spend the final $4.70 in my account.

Well that wraps up the latest card show haul... and likely the last card show I'll be attending in the foreseeable future.

Here is today's question of the day.  I binge watched Das Boot and Hanna.  

Do you have any binge-worthy television show recommendations to keep me distracted?

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Unsung Heroes

We all have our own parameters on how or who we define as a "hero".  Merriam-Webster defines it as someone who shows great courage or a person admired for achievements and noble qualities.  That's pretty much how I see things.

I've written about heroes before... and my parents will always be the first two people mentioned when building a list of people I consider heroic.  I've also praised the military personnel (both past and present) who have put their own lives at risk to protect the citizens and our freedom.  Then of course there are people working in law enforcement and the brave souls who fight fires when everyone else is running away from them.

But today's post is dedicated to all of you out there who are in the medical field and are working hard to help all of those in need right now.  With all of this free time on my hands... I've been giving a lot of thought to all of the hours you've been putting in and the health risk you're putting yourselves in by helping and treating those who may or may not be contagious.  Thank you for that.

Anyways... I went digging into my collection... and found a small subset of medical heroes from the 2009 Topps American Heritage Heroes set.  Depending on how close you follow medical history, some of these names may be very common, while others may not.  Regardless... each of these people have a fascinating story and I encourage you to take a few minutes to read the summaries Topps wrote on the back of each card:

2009 Topps American Heritage #61 Jonas Salk

2009 Topps American Heritage #62 Charles Drew

2009 Topps American Heritage #63 Mary Edwards Walker

2009 Topps American Heritage #64 Susie Walking Bear Yellowtail

2009 Topps American Heritage #65 Joseph Goldberger

2009 Topps American Heritage #66 Robert Jarvik

2009 Topps American Heritage #67 Charles Mayo

2009 Topps American Heritage #68 Elizabeth Blackwell

2009 Topps American Heritage #69 Norman Shumway

2009 Topps American Heritage #70 Paul Zoll

Before looking at these cards, there was only one person featured in this subset that I could have a five second discussion on... and that would be Jonas Salk.  And honestly... I wouldn't be able to say much past the polio vaccine.

I also recognized Robert Jarvik's name... but I couldn't tell you anything about him.  I'm not even 100% sure I truly recognized his name.  It just seems like it sounds familiar.  Maybe I heard his name when my mom was about to have her heart procedure a couple of years ago.

Nevertheless... his name means more now than it did this morning.

Well that's it for today.  If any of my readers work in the medical field or have relatives or friends who do, please let them know that their hard work is much appreciated.  

Happy Monday and sayonara!

Whirlwind of a Week

The past thirty-something hours have been quite the whirlwind of announcements and news.  We're talking about stuff that will be remembered by historians for many years to come... and as a sports card blogger, I'm mainly referring to the sports industry.

Within that window of time the NBA, MLS, and NHL seasons were suspended, NASCAR postponed a couple of races, the PGA cancelled the Player's Championship and postponed the Masters, March Madness was cancelled, Spring Training was halted, Opening Day was delayed, and plenty of other sports leagues here in the states and around the world were impacted by the coronavirus.

2019 Stadium Club Autograph #SCA-RL

This sports news is definitely an eye opening experience and kind of a bummer.  I was really looking forward to watching Ramon Laureano and my beloved Oakland A's take on the Minnesota Twins in a few weeks.

But honestly there are way more important things floating around in my head... like the health of loved ones.

My father and all of my siblings are all older than me and it's kind of stressful to think that people over the age of 60 seem to be more at risk to this virus.  There are also plenty of other family members and friends in my life who happen to be in this age group as well.  Plus one of my close friends deals with a low white blood cell count, which impacts his immune system.

I'm trying to think positively and hope we're all able to make it through this rough patch of history.

And on an even more personal level... the county I live in made the decision to close all public schools for the next three weeks starting this upcoming Monday.  According to our superintendent, teachers are on-call and should be prepared to report to work.  We are also expected to complete grading that was already in progress as well as utilize the time to plan and develop differentiated instruction in preparation for the return of our students.  And just in case you're wondering... she emphasized that we should not be taking any vacations during the three weeks without authorization from our principals.

She won't have to worry about me.  As much as I'd love to see my dad, I don't want to risk exposing him to the virus.  I'm not saying that I have been infected or exposed to it.  Outside of my seasonal allergies, I feel completely normal.  However it would be naive and irresponsible of me to put his health at risk.

In fact, I've cancelled all of my April plans, which involved trips to Portland and Las Vegas.  Hopefully things will settle down by mid-summer, so I can reschedule them.

In the meantime, I'll be spending some quality time at home.  Outside of getting my taxes done, and binge watching Das Boot on Hulu and Hanna on Amazon Prime, I don't have any other big plans.

But I'm pretty sure I will be hanging out with my cards which happen to offer up an excellent distraction from everything else that's going on in the world right now.

Maybe I'll even write and schedule a bunch of future blog posts, so that I have one less thing to worry about when I return to the classroom in a few weeks.

Well there's my current events post... and how it's impacting my life.  I hope all of you and your loved ones are able to stay healthy and positive during this interesting time in our lives.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!