Aloha, everybody, In the last two posts we enjoyed highlights from the big cube full of cards that Wes sent me. Today, let's check out the autograph cards. Leading off is a Dodgers prospect who I had an eye on and was sorry to see traded away...
Sands was sent off to Boston in the mega-trade that brought Adrian Gonzalez to LA. Since then, he's bounced around both leagues, and is now a Giant. This auto will fit right into the bunch of Sands RCs I have in my collection, and just can't seem to part with. Yimi here has had a slow start to his pro career. He underwent Tommy John surgery last season, so time will tell what's in store.
Either way, this is a very attractive card. Garcia's signature is flashier than Jerry Sands, but they both make those A's in their last names prominent. What's up with that?
Pedro Baez's card gives a scan that's hard to read, but this is also a very nice card. I dig the reief pitcher posing with a bat, and his signature is big, legible, and bold. Baez had a rough time toward the end of last season, but the Dodgers are keeping their faith in the young pitcher, and so am I. I was very happy to get this Baez auto card in the bunch.
Miguel Almonte is actually with the Royals. I suspect Wes thought it looked like a Dodgers uniform. No harm, no foul. I'll gladly accept it and hope young Almonte has a good year for Kansas City, so this can become prime trade bait down the line. Magill here is one of those young prospects that never quite panned out. He was last seen jumping away from the Padres to make himself a free agent. Good luck, Matt.
Willie Calhoun. The one they traded away. The one who they are going to regret trading away. The Dodgers wanted Yu Darvish and the Rangers wanted a top prosect. It came down to be either Calhoun or Alex Verdugo. I wanted Calhoun to be the Dodgers' next power-hitting second baseman. The Dodgers didn't listen to me, and chose Verdugo to keep and become their 110th outfielder. *sigh*
At least I've got this nifty Calhoun card. It's bright, shiny, and features a great shot of Willie. The auto is kinda lazy, though. I can't even decipher a single letter from his name in that sig. Onelki Garcia was a Cuban defector just like Yasiel Puig. Unfortunately, that's where the similarities end.
Garcia pitched breifly for the Dodgers, who weren't impressed. They sent him to KC, and they weren't impressed. Garcia is probably thinking about defecting to Mexico or Japan for the next stage of his career. on the bright side: A pleasant, circular auto. The final one today is my favorite of the auto cards. It's not a superstar, but a player I really enjoyed watching in his time with the Dodgers. Back in the early 2000's the infield pair of Cesar Izturiz and Alex Cora turned effortless and beautiful double plays. Most of you probably know Cora as the new manager of the Boston Red Sox...
A great group of signatures. THANKS, Wes. Next time: The finale -Vintage and team sets. Aloha!
Aloha, everybody, Yesterday we saw the first part of highlights from the cardboard pummeling I received from good ol' Wes. We now commence with Part 2 - RELICS, SWATCHES and AUTOGRAPHS... First up is a beautiful patch card numbered 1379/1430 (14-30?). I love everything about this card, including the no-name scrub who lends his likeness to it.
This is because our scrub pitcher bookends two big trades that I remember as a Dodgers fan. First, he came to the Dodgers (along with Brian Jordan) in the trade that sent Gary Sheffield to the Braves. Second, he was quickly shipped off to Oakland for Milton Bradley. Speaking of ex-Dodgers who've been shipped off to obscurity...
Here's a very low edition, low numbered (7/36), well-designed, Triple Threads...
In a bizarro reverse situation, here comes Carl Crawford, who came to LA, and THEN found obscurity...
And now, the big boys... My first swatch from Yasiel Puig, and it's super low numbered 3/99...
I showed this one off on Twitter earlier. Number 52/99, World Series relief pitching hero, Kenta Maeda...
I absolutely love this next one. Gonzo's career may or not be over, and the haters are biting around the edges, still claiming his arrival from the Red Sox paid no dividends. Philistines! A-Gon was the iron man, with ironclad offensive numbers throughout most of his Dodgers career.
Good stuff from Wes, and we're a long ways from done. Next time: Autographs. Aloha!
Aloha, everybody, Several of us received cardboard bombardments from the most generous collector I know. None other than my brother from way down south, good ol' Wes, of JBF fame. Wes sent me a big cube o' cards filled with cardboard goodness. The cards were packed in such a way that goodness was sprinkled about. Inserts, limited edition cards, relics and autos popped out from among Dodgers base cards that filled out team sets. As fun as it was to get those first glimpses of cardboard gold in my initial flip through the cards, its true glory slowly revealed itself as I sorted out what I had. As usual with Wes' slammings, it's going to take a couple of posts to show off the highlights. I'm so jazzed by said highlights, I don't even know what to start off with, so in no particular order, we'll get started with INSERTS and LIMITED EDITIONS... First up are a couple of 2017 Chrome Refractors - real beauts...
Here's a green refractor, numbered 23/99...
Up next are a couple of cards that may be among the last issued to Andre Ethier as a Dodger. The blue is numbered 32/500...
...and the orange is #62/250...
This gold Manny is # 32/50. The photo is from Hanley's early days as a Dodger. It's a great photo, but looks like he's gonna be missing or fouling it off just underneath.
Here's a seemingly simple card, but I dig the caption "Robbed in Right", and the great shot of the ball nested securely in Puig's glove.
Finally, a 2015 Chrome Farm's Finest miiiiinnnniiiiiiiiiiii of World Series hero, Joc Pederson...
We're just getting started folks. This is just the first wave of blows from ol' Wes. Stay tuned for more! Lots more. Aloha!
Aloha, everybody, Just a quick blog drop to say "THANKS" to everyone who's followed my humble little blog through 2017. Thanks to all my blog-friends, readers, trade partners, commenters, and whomever else has just dropped by through the year. If you've got seven minutes, check out my Thanksgiving Dodgers thanks video. I also review Tart Mango Cart from Golden Road Brewing. (PS: Daniel, Julie and Arpsmith, I'm waiting for your emails so I can get your books out to you. Contact me: om sports 42 at geeee mail dot you know.) Enjoy and Aloha!
Aloha, everybody, Yesterday I put up a post announcing an ATBATT giveaway for this book:
The response was overwhelming! I'm not even exaggerating because three people claimed the book very quickly! The original idea was to give away one copy to the first person that claimed it. That turned out to be Daniel Wilson (It's like Having my Own Card Shop). Within minutes, two more folks also commented as wanting the book. So, in the spirit of Thanks - Giving, let's give away copies to all three. Congratulations, Julie Owens (A Cracked Bat) and Arpsmith (Arpsmith's Sportscard Obsession)! ATBATT is pleased to gift brand new copies of Electric October to both of you. All winners, please grab my email address from About Me (upper right hand corner of this page) and email your name and email address out to me. I will email to you the name and contact email of the person at the publisher who will send out a copy of this great book to you - free of charge! Sound cool? Happy Thanks - Giving! Aloha!
Aloha, everybody, It's time for an ATBATT free giveaway! Here's an early Christmas gift for yourself (or for you to put under the tree for someone else). ATBATT is here to help you with your early Christmas shopping. Here's what I'm giving away:
I'm pleased to pass on a brand new, straight from the publisher's printing presses, very enjoyable book that tells the stories of six unexpected heroes from the 1947 World Series. I've been reading this book, and believe me, it's a compelling read. It's chock full of great stories about these hard-scrabble players who came up in the 20's and 30's, and became unlikely World Series heroes. Here's what the liner notes say:
There are plenty of photos too!
If you want to know more about the book, you can check out my YouTube video where I show off a few more photos, and also review EEtah IPA from Anderson Valley Brewing Company.
Now that I've got you hooked on wanting this book, here's the good news: This early stocking stuffer is free, free, free, and will be delivered to your door, courtesy of the publisher. I've only got a few copies to give away, so let's get started on giving one copy away right here. All you have to do is be the first to comment "I want that book" down below, and it's all yours. I'll send you the email of my contact person at the publisher, and all you have to do is send your name and address, and it will come right to your door. If there's someone out there who wants a copy, but somebody else already commented here, you can go to the YouTube video and be the first to comment there. That copy is still available. Grab it for yourself or as a gift for someone else! Aloha!
Aloha, everybody, I was cleaning out my scans folder when I noticed a folder of cards that I haven't posted about yet! Adam fromCardboard Clubhouse sent some cards to help me check off some Dodgers team collecting goals, and I just found the scans I made. Sorry for the delay in posting, Adam. My bad. Adam will (very) soon be hitting the pause button on his blog, so I hope he'll get to see this post before his new baby makes him forget there is such a thing as baseball cards. Homeboy will soon be consumed with baby bottles and bassinets! Good luck and congratulations, Adam! Without any more delay, let's check these cards out. There's a baby a-comin'! Leading off is Johnnie Oates, a Dodgers backup catcher with a Ron Cey backup mustache and full-fledged hair flips all his own...
You might also remember Johnnie as manager of the Texas Rangers. This next guy never managed a ball club - he had enough trouble managing his own life. That said, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for The Straw because he was the home grown kid who returned to LA to play with the boys in blue.
Someday, I'll have enough Strawberry cards to actually have dupes that I can send off to my friend, Peter, the only otherStrawberry collectorI know. Bobby Ojeda...I do love them Dodgers southpaws...
THIS next card was a very pleasant surprise. I don't know how many Dodgers cards Pedro got, but I suspect not many. I want and need more. Bonus: Dodger Stadium Anniversary sleeve patch. Darryl is sporting the other side of the patch in his card above.
Here we go. Let's check some Dodgers off the team checklist!
Bill North, card 668 is the last Dodger I need to close out 1979 Topps.
Manny Mota! A forever Dodger.
Finally, this awesome Walter Alston and his coaches card from '74 Topps. Bonus: Tommy Lasorda below, waiting in the wings for his chance at the helm, and legendary Brooklyn Dodger, Jimmy Gilliam. Great card!
THANKS for the great batch of cards, Adam! He probably can't hear me because he's off practicing how to change a diaper. LOL Aloha!
Aloha, everybody, Here's Part Two of the cool cardboard I picked up last week at the card show. Let's go! This time my vintage dealer had a few cards that got me closer to completing my World Series subset chases. The cards were a bit chewy, but they were priced right, at a quarter or fifty cents. Believe it or not, these are my first cards from the subsets.
First from the '70 series...
My first card from the 1974 World Series.
That's Boomer behind the plate. I need another copy of this for an auto. Chalk up my first from the 1960 series also.
This card brings me to the "almost done" point for the '71 series. I just need one more: #226 World Series Game 4. Next up is a card I hadda have. Reason 1: This fits my defunct teams collection. Reason 2: Every collection should contain a guy named Rocky. Reason 3: "Old friend" status. Rocky began his career as a Brooklyn Dodger. Reason 4: How about that jaw fulla chaw?
Finally, I can't pass up a bargain Hall of Famer, so ol' Bob Gibson jumped right into my hands and my collection.
Aloha, everybody. Collecting Cutchblog has started up a Blog Bataround based on the old Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game. In the game, you try to connect Kevin Bacon to whomever you've chosen in six moves (degrees) or less. It's usually done with connecting other movie actors to Bacon. This time we've been tasked with connecting our favorite baseball player to him. Readers of ATBATT might recall I participated in a bataround like thisonce before. That time it was organized by Fuji, and I connected Jackie Robinson to myself. In it, I connected an actor from the film "42" to another movie "The Basketball Diaries", and eventually to my discovering the Jim Carroll Band playing at the Whiskey in Hollywood. Although Jackie is my favorite all-time player, I figured it would be lazy to just use what I had before, so this time I'll use my favorite 2017 Dodger, Yasiel Puig.
Waiting to see the custom cards with the "Puig lick". You know I want one. Let's see if we can go from Puig to Bacon in less than six degrees. Actually, I can do it in one degree, but let's see if we can stretch it out at least one more... Yasiel Puig is from Cuba. When he became a Dodger, Vin Scully nicknamed him the Wild Horse. In one of my favorite movies,"Far and Away", Tom Cruise must buy and ride a wild horse in the film's exciting land rush scene (One degree).
Tom Cruise starred with Kevin Bacon in another of my all-time favorites, "A Few Good Men". The film revolves around a murder that took place at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (2 degrees).
Aloha, everybody, I trotted out to the card show this weekend to see what I could see. Besides that, I just had a warning shot fired across my bow from mi hermano, Wes. I had to gather up some ammo for my counter-attack, although Wes' Kung Fu is very powerful. That's a hint about a little something I found for you, hermano. I've also been gathering up some fixins to drop on some others out there. Some kinda Operation PWE is in the air. Before we get to all that, let's take a peek at some of the cool cardboard I picked up for my own self while I was out. Leading off is, of course, Rickey Henderson.
This dealer had a good assortment of Kellog's 3-D Superstars. I pounced quick on this Reggie. Bonus: old school Angels cap.
I grabbed a few Kellogs for some of you out there also. Next up is another glorious Rickey card...
I was hunting some football cards as well. Reader Tim had mentioned a Steelers for Raiders trade, so I dug up some Steelers to offer. I'll be shooting those out to you soon, Tim. I also grabbed this cool 1,000 Yard Club card with Eric Dickerson. I've got one from the same set of Marcus Allen. Love the looks of these.
Dickerson makes radio show appearances at local BJs restaurants, so I've got this card pegged to get his in person auto. Finally tonight, because it's a little late and I want to get this post up quickly, we'll end with something beautiful from Masterpiece.
Tune in next time for Part Two: The Vintage is Mine Aloha!
