Cardboard Countdown to Opening Day - Three Days to Go!

Aloha, everybody, 

Three days to go until first pitch of the new season!  

I wonder who'll blast home runs on Opening Day?

Hey kids! Can you find the number 3?

 Here's a cardback number 3...

How about that .450 WS batting average - with two homers!

 That was it for legitimate number 3's in my collection.

I had to pull out the ol' artistic license for the rest...

Let's end things with a Dodger...

 Aloha! 

Cardboard Countdown to Opening Day - Four Days to Go!

Aloha, everybody, 

Folks on Twitter are having fun counting down to Opening Day by showing photos of player's uniform numbers that match the number of days to go. 

 I figured I would take a crack at something like that and run an ATBATT countdown, showing cardboard that features the appropriate numbers.

 My criteria was the same as Twitter's; the number itself had to be visible. Little did I know how hard it would be to find a lot of cardboard in my collection that clearly showed the numbers I needed. I had to get creative on occasion.  

Lucky for me, I've got a few cards from the Duke of Flatbush...

See you all for Number 3. Aloha! 

Was It Hemingway Who Said: "No Inspiration? Rip Some Packs!" ?

 

Aloha everybody, 

It's been a while, I know. Hope ya missed me. 

I've been away for a few reasons - one was alluded to in the title. I simply didn't have any new cards or trade packages to write about, and nothing was particularly inspiring me to write about the cards already in my binders. 

Another reason I was away from here was a positive for the writing juices, as I've begun writing (and finding other inspiration) for a new Dodgers sports site - LAdodgerreport. 

Although some of you out there are not Dodger fans, if you enjoy my writing, I would appreciate you dropping by and reading my bylines there. If you follow me on Twitter (@omsports42), you can see the tweets when I post up an article. We've been discussing a podcast, so stay tuned for that to launch soon.

Finally, I've been away because I had in-home visitors for the past four days. They just left this afternoon. I presume you've heard the one about both fish and visitors stinking after three days - try four. I feel like I've finally got my home and my privacy back. 

Now on to the cards. As I mentioned, I didn't have any new cards to drop on you all, so in one of my trips to escape the visitors, I ran out to the local Target and bought a few packs, hoping to pull something exciting and keyboard-worthy. Let's see how I did...

Is that a lurking Clint Hurdle back there?

 Of course if you see cards here from the team you collect, you can rest assured these are dropping right into your team bags, Matt, Mark and ZZ. 

Why all these cards for east coasters? At least I broke the streak of always pulling Angels from packs.

Anybody collecting Jose Canseco? Or this Pressed Into Service subset?

So, I know you're all wondering (or at least Night Owl is wondering) if I pulled any Dodgers...

I got one ex-Dodger. Not close enough, you say? 

We need a guy in a Dodgers jersey throwing in Dodger Stadium, you say?

He's got glasses, but it aint Bulldog Orel Hershiser or Game Over Eric Gagne, it's the king of all jackasses. 

And THAT'S how I did with four packs. At least I escaped the visitors for an hour. 

Aloha!

 

Poker and Beer Review

Aloha, everybody, 

This weekend I got the boys together and we played some poker while sampling cigars and tasting some very special beers, courtesy of Laker Dave. 

 Laker Dave started us off with a blast from the winter warmers...

This was a BIG beer with big flavor. This Belgian ale goes down sweet, but it's not overdone. I tasted bananas and one of the other guys nailed it when he said it was reminiscent of banana pudding. 12% ABV. 

 
Next up was Devils' Teeth, from Modern Times brewery. I've had some good stuff from Modern Times before, but this one is the best. 

It's a hybrid coffee/imperial stout. Wow! This is how you do coffee beer right! It leaves an absolutely delicious coffee taste that lingers on the back of the tongue. 10% ABV HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Here's the rear label...

 Next up is an ale that was aged in Rye whiskey barrels. Laker Dave aged this an additional six months...

Double Bastard in the Rye is super smoooooooth up front. It goes on to leave a long and lingering sweetness on the top, rear of the palate. Very satisfying, quite yummy. This one packs a punch of 12.7% ABV

Next up was the only disappointment of the night...

This Mole Stout started out with high expectations, because we were hoping Ska Brewing had captured the smoky, slightly spicy flavor of Mexican mole. Nope. 

Flat was the consensus. It tasted a bit like a very dry wine. One of the boys said it tasted like flat root beer. If you see this one on your local store shelves - just walk away. 

Next up is my favorite of the night, Cellar 3 from Green Flash Brewing. Green Flash is one of those brewers that is a definite "yes" when you see it. 

This is a black ale that is aged in bourbon barrels. Laker Dave told us that every fifth bottle of Cellar 3 was skunk - bad beer. I volunteered to taste the first pour. 

WOW! This was not skunky at all. That mole beer tasted like a bad dry wine, but this beer is what fine wine tastes like. One can really taste the bourbon barrel infusion. Cellar 3 wins the night. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! 

This was the final taster of the night, from Smog City's Taproom Collection. Smog City Brewing is one of the up and coming brewers hailing from the up and coming brewing city of Torrance, CA. 

This beer split the table. I thought it was very smooth and well suited for a sit on the front porch. Several of the other guys felt it was a boring beer. Let your own taste buds decide. 

Last up is an honorable mention. Not a taster, but one of several beers from Stone Brewing that were also at the game. 

Americano Stout is an absolutely wonderfully subtle, coffee flavored delight. This is almost like not drinking a beer. If I were the kind of guy to drink a beer on a Sunday morning, this is the beer I would choose. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Speaking of highly recommended, if you're a fan of these beer reviews, be sure to stop by Baseball Card Breakdown and check out Gavin's beer and cards post. That's a lot of fun and will give you cardboard along with the suds. 

In addition to the beer tasting, we also played some cards. It was a great night.

Aloha!

In Case You Clicked On That Bunk Pimp Link...

Aloha, everybody,

First off, no, it wasn't bunk because it was a lousy read. Ha!

Yesterday I had a shite experience with my post about the pimps in my collection. 

I pressed some kinda wrong button and the post went up with black ink on a black background which made it impossible to read. 

In the end I deleted the bad post and rewrote it. It took less than 10 minutes to do, but the original announcement for the deleted post (which led to a blank page) sat in everyone's blog rolls for over an hour. 

Even though I wrote a new post and published, the announcement for the new post took that hour to update, and I suspect many of you who clicked on the deleted post may not have caught the fact a new one was up. 

I say all this because I noticed almost no views on the post. So...here I am pimping my pimp post. If you're interested - it's up and waiting for you. Get your Saturday morning read on with ATBATT. 

Aloha!

Bryce Harper Aint got Nothing on the Pimps in my Binders

Aloha, everybody,

So Bryce Harper says baseball is "tired" and needs some pimping to liven it up. I get it. It's a new era. 

Just as baseball gave us a livelier ball to make the game more exciting, Harper and many of today's ballplayers want to pimp home run shots and fist pump until the cows come home, because that's how they want to leave their mark on the diamond. 

Every team's got a pimp. The pimp on the Dodgers is Yasiel Puig. I wrote an article about that today for LAdodgerreport. I hope when you're done here, you'll stop by there and give that a read also.

Writing that got me to thinking about where I can find some straight up pimps in my card collection. Everybody knows the pimp card of 2016 Topps is the Joey Bats bat flip card, but I haven't pulled that one yet. Nevertheless, I found a few pimp daddies in my collection. 

Leading off is Matt Kemp pimping the old school threads. 

The Big Hurt  pimping eye black (stick on style) 

Here comes Catfish pimping the old fake pitch pose.

I wonder if this is the first time anybody was "catfished". 

The Hawk pimping the stare down. 

Vida pimping the joy of la vida. 

 Boggsy pimping the knuckleball.

 Topps had the opportunity for a pimp set with these Pressed Into Service inserts. Instead, by settling for so many cards without actual photos of the players pitching, they went from pimping to FAIL. 

Clemente pimps the die-cut.

Fingers pimps the mustache. 

The Splendid Splinter pimps the stretch.

Pimping the hardware. 

 Of course Kemp returns. Pimps always double dip.

This guy pimps the right name, but in the wrong profession. 

EY pimping the DP.

Gibby pimping the glory. 

Beltre pimping the stretch (part two). 

Finally, Sandy pimping the zeroes. 

Here's the ATBATT pimp saying, Aloha! 

Finally, I Scored Some "H"

Aloha, everybody,

Last week I struck out in my hunt for 2016 Heritage. Today I was out and about and stopped in to Walmart looking for some "H". 

Bingo!

 Ok, let's get to ripping and see what's in there. My first card of the year is an Angel...

 Then I pulled one of those discs.

I was about seven cards into the pack when I finally found a Dodger - a pretty good one...

Right behind A-Gon I found another Dodger....

 Waitaminute...that's not a Dodger. That's an airbrushed mercenary. 

Anything else in the pack? Just a whole lotta trade package action for all of you. 

I bought some insurance just in case the Heritage pack was lacking, in the form of a discounted rack pack of Topps 2014 - for two reasons. Of course, the first was the discount. Secondly, the front of the package reminded me of the Babe Ruth Story inserts. 

I love Babe Ruth cards, so that was enticing. I also remembered good ol' Night Owl has been looking for one last Babe Ruth Story insert to complete his set. Maybe this pack contained that final card.

It was a semi-hot pack, and included a few inserts. If anyone is chasing these, I hope I pulled an insert you need...

 While I didn't get the BRS card that Night Owl needs, I did catch one...

 Can't go wrong with pulling any Babe Ruth card, and it's extra cool when he's featured as a Red Sock. 

Not a bad haul for a quick hit and run at the hobby card rack. 

UPDATE: Oops, I just checked N.O.'s site and it was Jackie Robinson story inserts he's been chasing! Doh! 
 No wonder I didn't find what he needed. 

Aloha!