I'm Always Off Hiatus When It Comes To Great Trades

Hey Everybody,

As a result of the Grand Salami Of Trade Bait series, I was able to connect with Tony L. and his very cool blog, Off Hiatus Baseball Cards.  Tony bit on some Ryan Braun trade bait and the rest is cardboard history.  Tony's a Brewers fan and a fantastic trade partner, so be sure to shoot some Younts, Molitors and vintage Brewers over his way.

BTW - Tony wrote a great post with the cards I sent his way, weaving a mash up of cardboard and music from my rock n' roll tastes.  Tony, you've inspired me to riff off of your post and there'll be a mash up of my own coming soon.

Before that, let's get to these newest additions to my collection.  Apparently Tony and I both had a similar influence in our card-collecting educations; the importance of "Condition, condition, condition" was evident as I opened the trade package he sent...

These 3-D stars are great minis, but I rarely see any in as great a condition as this Dusty Baker.  It looks like it came out of the box yesterday. 

Speaking of miiiiiinnnnnniiiiiiis, here's a mini Goudey.  I'm not usually a collector of minis, but I'm a sucker for numbered and limited editions.  This one is 18/34.  SWEET!

You can never go wrong with shooting me a card of the Garv. Never mind the chop job on the bottom, that was my faulty scanning.  Once again, this 82 Fleer sings the praises of condition.  The surface and gloss are fantastic. 
Hey Nick, how about that great bat barrel shot?  Hey GCRL, how about that arm patch?

As much as I adhere to the Dodgers-Giants rivalry, on occasion, I have to rewire my thinking when ex-Giants switch sides and don the Dodger Blue.  It's certainly easier to do when the player contributes and makes it easy to be a fan. 

It's easy with Juan Uribe, in the past it was easy with Jeff Kent, and before him, it was easy with Brett Butler.  Butler was a pretty good lead off batter and base stealer for the Dodgers. That said, this card shows Butler learned his trade from the Giants and not the Dodgers.  Maury Wills teaches any lead off the base that does not require you to dive back, isn't really a lead at all.  

Did I mention I appreciate vintage that is in good condition?  (Never mind those little splotchy marks on Alston's uni - it's just time to clean the scanner).  Actually, this Walter Alston card is much closer to Ex-Mt condition.  Very nice, indeed. 

Enough with the non-players.  Here's Kenley Jansen, who's discovered the mix of off-speed pitches and 98 mph fastballs makes him a force to contend with in the 9th inning.

While we're on the subject of pitchers to contend with, I'll close out with the greatest pitcher the Dodgers ever had, and just maybe, the best pitcher the game ever saw...

Nuff said.

Thanks for an awesome trade, Tony.  Looking forward to the next one.