ATBATT's Co-Recommended Blog Posts Of The Day

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ATBATT's Blog Recommendation Of The Day

And now fellow bloggers and beloved readers, it's time to add a GREAT NEW FEATURE to this humble little blog.

Presented for your enjoyment,

The Blog Recommendation Of The Day 

Of course I'm not going to read every blog on my Righteous Roll every day and then make some kind of critical and educated choice.  I probably read the blogs much like you do - I read a few because they're my favorites, and I read others based on topic, introductory photo or catchy title.  Unfortunately, how much free time I have available that day influences my choices way too much. 

Even though Sir Night Owl and Prince Nick of Dime Boxes are among our greatest writers, some days my window for online fun is limited and I just don't have the time to read all that wonderful cardboard-inspired prose.  Heck, sometimes I barely have time to check on my team's standings and whether or not I snagged anything from the Pack A Daily Circus .

All of that said, the Recommendation Of The Day will be picked from whatever blogs I happened to read on said day.  

Criteria: It's the most enlightening, intriguing and/or witty post I've come across that day.  In other words, I've found a post so cool, it should be shared with others whom I trust will be equally entertained as I was.  

The First Ever 

Blog Recommendation Of The Day:

The Chronicles Of Fuji

Chosen for three reasons. Master Collector Fuji reveals he is truly beyond redemption as a committed collector, he offers up a question that's intriguing, and it gives you an opportunity for entry into his contest. 

Honorable Mention 

(won't be a regular feature, but works today):

Off Hiatus Baseball Cards

Before clicking on that, you gotta ask yourself one question...

How often do you hear Clint Eastwood singin' a barn door git to drinkin' song? 

Well, is it often, punk?

One Man's Dime Box Cards Are My Treasure

Hey everybody,

Spring Training is well underway and Opening Day is right around the corner.  What a great time of year!

Something else that's great is making trades with fellow bloggers and ATBATT's readers.  Today I'm covering a trade with one of the top bloggers in the game today, Good 'ol Nick, from the venerable Dime Boxes blog. 

This time Nick included a note expressing regret that he was low on Dodgers and how he hoped the inclusion of some other HOFers would make up for that.  Are you kidding, Nick?  Your trade packages are ALWAYS chock full of fantastic cardboard, and this time was no exception.

As usual, Nick sent so many cool cards I had a difficult time just to separate out nine cards to fit on my scanner for this post. That said, let's check the top nine I chose:

One can never go wrong sending Dodger vintage to me. 3-Dog was one of my earliest favorite Dodgers.  I was just a kid, but I quickly latched onto Davis because he was a southpaw just like me!

 I dig this psychadelic 70's card of Maury Wills and his well-used mitt.  It's said that the groundskeepers for the evil Giants over at Candlestick Park used to saturate the area around first base with water in the hopes of slowing down the speedy Wills. Ha! Good luck with that.

Now for one of today's Boys in Blue...

 RYYYYYYUUUUUUU !!  Now that Zack Grienke is not going on that ridiculous opening weekend trip to Australia, Manager Mattingly has declared Ryu will take the mound for Game Two of the season. 

 I love Ryu's game face when he pitches. Intense, baby! Come git some....

 How about this crazy card of Roger the Dodger?  Just what the heck is going on here?  I'm guessing this photo was snapped during the laid back days of Spring Training. I wouldn't be surprised if the camera were pointing backward, thus unintentionally creating the first selfie ever.

Nick also sent over some cool cardboard from other teams...

 The Catfish!  I'm presuming someone may have sent this card to Nick because of his "Grips" collection. If so, thanks for parting with this awesome card, Nick.

Another great card of a great pitcher.  Although pictured here with his first team, the Indians, I'll always remember him as an Oakland A.  Hey Ecks, can you hear it?  "High fly ball into right field....SHE IS GOOOOOOOOONE !!!!!"

These Cooperstown Collection cards are beautiful.  I only have a handful, and now I can add the Georgia Peach to that group.

Finally, this little foldout whose origins I don't know, but I am now proud to own.  I've mentioned before that I may not be a Yankees fan, but I can appreciate those Yankee greats from yesteryear.  Yogi Berra is certainly one of those Yankee players whom I admire and collect.

Yogi lost his wife of 65 years - 65 YEARS! - this past week.  What an epic love.  My deepest condolences, Yogi. 

And Nick, my THANKS for a great trade.  I'm already gathering a fistful of cards to send out to you  for our next trade.

Thanks for reading, everyone. 

Dimes? This Box Of Traded Cards Is Worth A Million To Me

Hey everybody,

A while back, Nick, over at the most excellent blog, Dime Boxes, decided he would begin collecting Matt Kemp cardboard.  So I sent over a few Kemps to help him kickstart his new quest.

As most of you blogonauts out there already know, Nick is a proficient and prolific writer.  However, what some of you may not know is what kind of a generous and cool trader he is.  Nick sent over a fantastic batch of cards that fit perfectly in my collection.  They span across teams, players, decades and card company releases.  He included so many cool cards, it was difficult to settle on just which ones to show.  However, settle I did, and here's a sampling of the cardboard goodness Nick sent my way...

Starting off with a beauty, 2001 Upper Deck Legends, Johnny Bench.  What a sweet card this is.  Black and white imagery for that classic feel, surrounded by an understated but dignified frame...

Is it me - or is that Yogi Berra in the dugout?  Here's Berra, a former great catcher studying the new generation's backstop in action. 

Good ol' Ralph Kiner is a local boy.  He grew up in the next city over from me - Alhambra, CA.

 Above is a  slice of HOFer goodness on a miscut that you almost won't  notice unless it's pointed out.  This card kinda looks like Niekro is trying to remember if he turned off the faucet at home.

From vintage sweetness to modern beauty below...

All rise to World Series Hero, Maz.

It's new to me!  2000 Upper Deck Hitters Club, featuring Cap Anson looking rather dapper. 

Below is what Rickey Henderson probably sees when he looks in the mirror..

How about this sweet cut-out Carew !!

Of course Nick tossed in some Dodger goodness for me...

Fantastic card! The greatest L.A. Dodger third baseman ever.

Speaking of fantastic, below is a great card of Satchel Paige, pictured during his time with the Indians...

Cubbie great Santo looks like he's wearing a WBC championship belt.

Blogger Fuji might appreciate these very cool A's cards almost as much as me.  Did somebody just give Reggie a hot foot? 

Finally, a Dodger's pitcher batting. No - bunting.  No - risking his fingers bunting...

I wish anger management- challenged hitting "coach" Mark McGwire would take Hyun-Jin Ryu aside and teach him to quit trying to bunt with his fingers completely wrapped around the bat.  I cringe every time I see Ryu trying to bunt.

But then again, I cringe even further when I think about all the great work McGwire has done with the Dodger hitters up to this point.

There's no cringing, however, when I reflect upon this awesome trade with Nick.  THANKs for the great cards, bud!

THANKS for reading, everyone !

Trade Me (Almost) Anything: Arizona Diamondbacks Edition

Hey everybody,

My first ever Trade Me Anything post has produced my first ever trade with Bert over at Swing And A Pop Up  .   Cool, right?   I say that's downright fantastic!

This all plays into a couple of the themes I read about on my travels through our blog community today.  Our buddy Night Owl wrote about "The ever expanding circle"   of trades and traders out there thanks to the blogosphere.  That post was spot on and matched  my newly expanded circle, thanks to Bert.

In another post on yet another blog, Nick, the prolific writer over at Dime Boxes , encouraged readers on the fence out there to create new blogs, while contemplating the personal reasons behind his own.  Nick, you declared you're not a "mainstream" collector.  Heck, whom among us is?  And that ever expanding variety of collectors, blogs and cards, my friends, is what makes our hobby so great. 

As my loyal readers know, I started this blog with the sole intent of generating trades and working on my collection.  Sure, I stretch my blogger wings a bit and occasionally post about the state of  my team, or on the state of the hobby, but trading is what I really love about blogging.  And that's been working out marvelously, thanks to all of you out there.

Continuing with tradition, here's the latest batch of cards for your trade approval.  It's the current opponents out here in Dodger Stadium, the Arizona Diamondbacks!

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Here's how it works:  In each post I'll offer cards from one particular ballclub.  I'm starting the offer at 9 cards, since 9 is what fits onto my scanner plate, and I can comfortably shoot 9 cards to you in a PWE. 

What do I want in return?  I'll accept whatever and however many cards you want to shoot back. It doesn't have to be 9 cards in return and they don't have to be all Dodgers.  My only request is you check out my "What I collect" or "Sets I'm chasing" pages here and use them as guides.

Once again, you don't have to match me for numbers of cards or perceived monetary value.  Say I send you 9 cards and you send me 1insert or vintage card.  Cool!

The intent here is simply to  TRADE, BABY, TRADE!
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THANKS for reading, everybody!