Aloha, everybody, A couple of weeks ago, I received a package with a return address, but no name on it. I set it aside to later make a video and thought nothing of it. A few days ago, I got an email from Julie over at A Cracked Bat, asking if I had received her package. She was a bit worried as she had sent several out, but no one had acknowledged receipt. Turns out the package I mentioned earlier was from her. I tell this story as a gentle reminder that when we can, we should let the other know their package or PWE has arrived safely. No need for a grand gesture, I'm sure a short note will do. I'll do exactly that and mention I've got PWEs from Scribbled Ink, T Henson, and a package from JBF. Videos with your stuff coming soon. Here's the video for the package from Julie, with a beer review for Booming Rollers IPA from Modern Times Brewing in San Diego, CA. Thanks for watching, and please remember to Like and Subscribe over at the Youtube link. Aloha!
Aloha, everyone, I haven't posted in a while, but I've got some time tonight, so I'm going to drop a quickie about a nice lil' package that came to me from a nice lil' bloggin' gal named Julie, fromA Cracked Bat. Julie started me off with a selection of 2018 Heritage Dodgers...
I'm settling on Heritage being my favorite set from 2018...
There was only one Topps Chrome card, but it was an attractive action shot of ex-Hated One, Brett Butler busting out of the box after one of his trademark bunt singles.
Speaking of attractive cards, I really dig this 1969 Topps T.C.G. deckle-edge Tom Haller card. (It might be my favorite of the batch.)
Haller, also a former Giant, was a Dodger for four years, from 1968 thru 1971. He was a decent catcher, repping LA once as an All-Star. Here's a great 35th Anniversary shot of young Corey Seager running the bases after losing his batting helmet somewhere along the way.
And now some crazy cards I didn't even know existed. From 1991 Fleer Extra Bases...
These come in around 3 x 5 1/2 inches. A very cool bunch featuring a couple of my favorite 90's Dodger pitchers, the Bulldog and Ramon Martinez.
A nice assortment of Dodger Blue from across the decades. THANKS, Julie! I picked up a couple of things for you on my recent trips to the card show. Hope you'll like them. Aloha!
Aloha, everybody, My buddy Zippy Zappy has beenrecently ruminatingover the differences and benefits of blogging about cards vs tweeting about them. I'm not gonna rehash here, as he already did a great job of breaking it all down in his post. I'm just gonna drop my perspective on leading life as a double agent - as both bloggerista and twitter dude. (Also, as an homage to ZZ's post, I'll be dropping in some unrelated scans from an old-time Beckett that Dennis from Too Many Verlanders sent to me)
As ZZ said, the biggest difference between the two arenas are how much you can say...errrr, write. My blog has run for a few years, and as the time went on, I found myself blogging less often. A couple of times I even did the hiatus thing and disappeared for a month or two. Part of the reason was this self-imposed feeling of responsibility to blog regularly, and to fill enough space in an entertaining way.
Then came my life as a writer for aDodgers blog. That became an additional 1,000 words I had to write per week, and I just found it to be too much sometimes. I don't know how Night Owl does it. He's my hero; he's knocking out like 5,000 words a day! Whew! Then along came Twitter. I resisted it for a long time, but once I checked it out, I was hooked. Messages are short and sweet (I preferred the old 140 character limit) and you can drop in pics or gifs. Perfect for a hit and run guerrilla-fighter like me.
The other great point about Twitter (or not so great, depending on personal and political preferences) is you can drop tweets on any and all topics. My feed tends to be much less about cards, but plenty about the Dodgers and baseball in general, art, photography, funny stuff, and yes - the part Night Owl really doesn't like - politics. I don't mean to pick on my friend N.O., he's just an example. Some folks want to escape debate and friction on these platforms, and that's a valid position. Believe it or not, I try to hold back on my political tweeting, but some subjects grab me by the throat so hard, that I just can't ignore them. I've lost some twitter followers because of my politics, and that's their prerogative. Last time I checked, N.O. still gets my tweets, so I'm lucky enough that my friend keeps me around and just sweeps past what he doesn't want to get involved in.
Speaking of being involved, Twitter has really opened up my connections with some of you out there. As ZZ said, he and I talk much more over in Twitterlandia than we ever did in the Blogosphere. I'm also in much more contact and making better friendships with Peter K., Jon from Penny Sleeves, Commish Bob, Mark H, Tony L, Gavin, my hermano Wes, Matt, Julie, and I'm sure a couple of others who, I apologize, slip my mind right now. I'm a happy double agent. It works for me. Aloha!
Aloha, everybody, Those of us who follow baseball usually think of "Hit by pitch" when we see the initials, HBP. Here's a new one, HBP also stands for Honus Bonus Partners, which put out a card set in 2017 that combined collecting with playing fantasy baseball. I had never heard of these cards until I received a batch of them from Julie, the proprietor over at A Cracked Bat. Some of you may recall late last year I was gifting copies of the new book about some of the prime players in the 1947 World Series, Electric October. Julie got one of the copies, and although I didn't ask for anything in return, she dropped these cards in the mail to me as a "thank you". Let's check em out...
As stand alone cards, they boast a simple but attractive design with in-action, well-chosen player photographs. The players are featured in black and white, with colored backgrounds, and not being Topps brand, they don't get to use team logos or names. One more Julio Urias card is always a good thing.
I'm not sure why some players have different color design stripes...
The backs of the cards have little codes that you would use to play the fantasy game and win prizes, but when you try to visit the HBP website, it's gone. I suppose it could be dark because of the off season, but I'm thinking the company dissolved and we've seen the last of HBP.
Julie tossed in a couple of attractive inserts. Here's a 2015 Puig with an MLB pin. That might sound boring to some, but the card and pin are quite attractive in-hand. The scan dulls out the shiny chrome batter silhouette. I was kind of hoping the pin would come off so I could put it on a cap or something, but it looks like it's permanently attached, so there it will stay.
Finally, the gem of the package...
How cool is a Tommy Lasorda swatch? If I have to tell you, you're neither baseball fan nor collector. Am I right? THANKS for the cool cards, Julie. I hope you enjoyed Electric October, and I look forward to the next time I can gift more cool baseball stuff to all of you. 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, Back when the baseball season opened, I sent out packages and PWEs to my blogger and collector buddies. I sent some stuff out to Julie from A Cracked Bat, and she recently sent a lot more than "some stuff" to me.
As you can see, she packed the cards with the intent that I open the packets in a particular order. I anticipated a build up from "ordinary" cards to a big payoff at the end, but I gotta say, there was so much good stuff in here, hardly anything was ordinary to me. I present Exhibit A:
This was the first card from packet #1, but this is definitely a goodie. Let me count the ways: Post oddball Young EK Tight baseball pants with stirrups era Bonus: Houston Astros in background sporting the tequila sunrise stripes. I'm guessing on that one. Looking for confirmation or correction. Here's something I never thought I would see...
Very cool! This schedule is from the Dodgers' AAA team in OKC. Checking the promotions, I see they had a bobblehead giveaway night. Who was it? Clayton Kershaw. No logos? No problem. I dig this Puig!
Here's a Bazooka Butler in what looks like a spring training game...
Julie knows, Gimme some Podres! All new, all beautiful.
This Spectrum has a magnificent shiny sheen as you tilt it side to side.
Bonus: Numbered 91/150!
Here's a new Lasorda card, with a Tim Crews death patch on his sleeve.
I'm trying, but I can't place those faces behind Tommy. Is it someone I should know? Is it that bum, Frank McCourt? Coach Al Davis? Heck if I know. I always vote yes on a card with a cute Korean girl...
A pair of very nice Maedas...
More shiny beauty. This time from Brooklyn...
Julie included a few groups of cards from the same sets. Here's one example from the golden 1952 World Series reprints...
That might have been enough for some traders, but not for Julie. Nope, she went the extra 60 feet, six inches...
More Lasorda goodness, and for the grande finale, a numbered 69/125 auto...
Man, what a package that was! THANKS, Julie. My collection just jumped up a notch. Whew! Aloaha!
