It's Been Too Long Since This Arrived From Too Many Verlanders

Aloha, everybody, 

Happy 2019! I've got a few bits of news to drop on you all, and the first order of business is this new YouTube video showing off the holiday cardboard goodies that I received from my long-time trading partner, Dennis, over at Too Many Verlanders. Hope you'll check it out. 

I also hope that you'll continue to check out the content on my NEW YouTube channel - NetChucArts. This ATBATT video is its inaugural upload. 

I created the new channel because I'll be expanding the vaiety and amount of YouTube content I'll be creating in 2019. I'll still be creating Dodgers news and opinion videos, but those will remain on the LA Dodger Report channel. 

I'll be filling NetChucArts, my new YouTube channel, with content about our card collecting hobby, as well as beer reviews, my quest to rebuild my vinyl records collection, and whatever else should strike me as video-worthy. 

In addition, I'll also be showcasing my art work on the new channel. A couple of you know that I'm an artist, so I look forward to you joining me on YouTube as I share my creations. Perhaps we'll shift those shares into the next level as you bring some of my original art into your own homes. 

That's all to come as 2019 unfolds. Please enjoy my first upload and take a few seconds to Like and Subscribe to my new channel. 

Aloha! 

The Dodgers' Season may be Cracked, but Julie is a Solid Trader

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! 

An Old Friend Gets Back in the Game

Aloha, everybody, 

You might think there are already plenty of Dodger bloggers around, but believe it or not, back when I first came on board, there were even more. 

One of those past blogger/collectors, Spiegel, stopped blogging a couple of years ago, and he pretty much disappeared - at least as far as our collecting community is concerned.

In a pleasant surprise, Spiegel reappeared in the form of a message to me via Twitter. He said he was ready to get back in the collecting game, and would I (the guy who runs a blog called "All Trade Bait, All The Time") be interested in trading again? 

In the time it takes Tommy Lasorda to put away a meatball and provolone sandwich, we had cards flying in the mail. 

Speigel sent me not one, but TWO fistfuls of cards. Here are just a few of the highlights...

Check out them high-tops! 

 I figure Mets fans think it blasphemy to see The Straw in A Dodgers uni, but I say I can't get me enough Straw cards. All your Darryl as a Dodger cards are welcome right here. 

Before Eric Gagne hit Chavez Ravine, the Dodgers had another beefy closer. Too bad we can't see his Elvis sideburns too well in this shot...

Unfortunately for Broxy he had most of his success rising to the level of closer. Once there, he had setbacks with blowing saves in the post-season and constant injury. 

Too bad, because he rocked those Elvis chops like nobody. 

Most of the Sports Flix I run into are non-Dodgers, so this was a pleasant surprise. 

Bad ass Mondi, also sporting high-tops. 

I don't know about you, but I'm thinking this is the same look the Duke had on his face when he received the news he was being indicted for tax evasion...

Just like the Straw, here's a card that's blasphemy to fans from that team up in the bay. Just send all yer Jeff Kent as a Dodger cards to me. 

What the heck is that structure behind Hirok? It looks like he was pulled away from his kid's birthday party at the park to take this pic. 

Some of you out there may have forgotten that I also collect Hall of Famers from other teams. Spiegel didn't...

I cannot have too many cards from the Human Vacuum Cleaner. This one is a sweet miiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnniiiiiiiii. 

This one threw me for a loop. Pudge as a Marlin! 

Here's a cool card of Christie...

Which is your favorite team's uni to see Junior wearing? I prefer him as a Mariner. 

Finally, a fun type of shot that you'll find everywhere in today's card sets, but I'm thinking was a rarity back in its day...

That's just a sampling of the cool cardboard that Spiegel sent my way. Oh yeah, he's back in the game, alright. Welcome back, buddy. 

A couple more notes: 

I ran into Ernest from Dodger Blue Heaven at the Dodger blogger event last Friday. Writing this post reminded me I ran into Ernest, Spiegel and Greg (from Plashke, thy Sweater is Argyle fame) at a card show back in the day. I found a photo of all of us...

I'll leave it to you all out there to decipher who is who. 

And this happened today...

Another blast from Operation Cardboard Rain hit the post office, because why not? 

Aloha! 

Purple for P-Town Tom Means A Pack of Players for Me

Aloha, everybody, 

I recently showed off some new trade bait, and ol' P-Town Tom jumped quick on a purple-framed Rizzo card. 

A few days ago I received a package with some Dodgers goodies inside. 

 Shawn Green is on a lot of these cards with a floating body but no  real background. He's also on a lot of those see-through cards.

 Pinnacle had some nice sets featuring some of the best card photography in the industry back in the 90's. Here's a great shot of Nomo bringin' it. 

Speaking of attractive sets from the 90's,1993 Flair is still one of my favorites.

Another favorite from the 90's, Mr. Piazza. I think that forlorn look on his face is because he doesn't like wearing the LA cap. Right, Michael? 

Piazza's buddy from those Dodger years was Eric Karros. The card below is from Ultra-PRO. I think it's one of those that would have come inside a new binder. 

This card is priceless because of Eric's ever-lovin', "Look mom, I'm lifting weights in a polo shirt" smile. 

Did I say "priceless"? Apparently, this card was valued at $10. Or perhaps not. Lots of times I've slipped a card into a penny sleeve with a price tag on it, and the new card wasn't worth anything close to that price tag. 

But one look at that shot of Karros with his James Bond tux has me convinced this IS the original $10 card.  

They weren't all big names on the cards Tom sent me. He included a few young players as well...

I remember wanting Garcia to do well, but...he never really did. 
 

 Todd Hollandsworth was another one of the Rookies of the Year that LA pumped out year after year, but like so many ROY, nothing much happened after that initial splash. 
Bonus: Lurking Keith Olbermann. 

Finally, how about an autograph?

 
 Josh came up through the Dodgers farm system and earned his first big league win with the club, but LA quickly shipped him out. He went on to play for a number of teams in both leagues, and is now pitching for the Lotte Giants in south Korea. If nothing else, baseball has given him the opportunity to travel. 

Thanks for the fun cards, Tom. I have your Rizzo and some other cards put aside for you. I've been putting together a few trade packages, and I expect to send them out some time next week. 

Aloha!
 

A Request, A Hootiful Trade, And A Fistful Of Awesome Cardboard!

Hey everybody,

I thought I was gonna just sit back and soak in the glory that is tonight's domination of Kid Kershaw over the frisco gang.  Well, I managed to do it for 7 innings before I couldn't resist the urge to jump online and see what's happ'ning in the blogoworlds.  BTW, it's currently the bottom of the 7th, and Kershaw still looks strong, ahead of the giants by a score of 4-2. (Update: 9th inning.  Kershaw pulled. Closer Jansen in. Update 2: DODGERS WIN !!!  We sweep them bums from the bay! YAHOOO!!!)

Well, in my blog travels I came across a request from Brian over at Play At The Plate.  It seems Mrs. PATP underwent surgery, and Brian is sitting in the hospital with lots of time on his hands.  He asked us to write some more posts so he can pass the time reading.  Well, I'm not sure Brian meant to include my rantings as "writing", but that's what he's gonna get, cuz that's how we roll out here in blogolandia.

Since I'm trying to do a humble but nice thing here - I figured I'd post up about another nice thing - a  grand package o' Dodger cards that recently arrived from the Dodgers' biggest fan on the east coast, the venerable Night Owl.  Yeah, this package was grand; it was chock-fulla Dodgers cards that were nearly all new for me.  Furthermore, it contained some real cardboard jewels.

This package had so many cool cards in it, that I was having a very hard time settling on a top nine to present, so Brian provided me with an answer.  He requested some viewing and reading fodder, so let's go ahead and check out a whole lotta cards.

Starting off with a beautiful, shiny card from another one of those guys I just can't have too many cards of,  another venerable soul, Hideo Nomo.  I love the way Nomo's eyes peek out at you over his shoulder.  I also love the understated but great die-cut design. 

 Speaking of outstanding Dodger pitchers from the past, on outstanding hunks of cardboard...presenting a motion card of Bulldog Hershiser.  Very cool!

 Not every pitcher is great.  Here's the vastly overrated, first Korean pitcher the Dodgers ever had.  The Texas Rangers threw an incredible amount of money at this guy, and I was glad to see him go.  How about that green LA cap.  This must be a Spring Training Saint Patty's Day game.

 Back to pitchers worth their mettle.  As good ol' Night Owl mentioned the other day, Greinke was also a mystery to me before he came over to the Dodgers.  I knew he put up decent numbers with his past teams, but that was about it.

This season Greinke has really shown himself to be not only a great pitcher, but a great teammate.  Even though he had his collarbone broken early in the season by that punk from San Diego, he got right back on the mound and defended his teammates by returning the favor after Yasiel Puig was hit by the Diamondbacks.  Greinke got some grit!

Lookit these swell old-time Dodgers from Swell.  These are my first cards from Swell.  How does N.O. know exactly what cards to send?  It's cuz he's swell!  (See what you get when I write a post that I hadn't planned on writing, Brian?)

 Here comes the Bison!  I totally dig this die-cut!   I know most bloggers out there ship their Dodger finds out to the Owl, and why not?  He earns them with his mastery of blogademia.  The nice thing is, us other Dodger bloggers get to benefit when the Owl ships his extras out to us.   This is one time I'm happy to catch sloppy seconds.

Another Nomo.  This card is great because
A. It's new for me, and
B. It's a checklist, but it commemorates Nomo's No-No against the Rockies.  An awesome game that I had the privilege of watching on TV.

 Night Owl really knows how to put a package together.  He sent a variety of sets from a variety of eras, and - he sent a variety of cardboard media.  Here we have a sticker with a frame of happy floating knockout stars.  Hey, Ana Lu, check out the mini dust that Saxy is kicking up in Wrigley, the home of the Cubs!

 My second Panini card, first one of Jackie.  Awesome card, in spite of it feeling like it cramped Jackie a bit around the head.  

 Absolutely cannot have too many cards commemorating this moment.  I've now got one more to add to the collection. 

Mike Piazza used to be my favorite Dodger catcher of all time.  Lately that's been lessening with his declarations that he would never enter the Hall of Fame wearing a Dodgers cap.  Hmm....

 I remember buying packs of this product back in day trying to pull a Dodger auto, any Dodger.  Well, it took more than a decade, but I finally got...any Dodger.
 

 How about this card?  EK sporting an awful goatee.  I absolutely don't remember him going through this phase.

 Vintage Dodger goodness !  YEAHHH !!! Thanks Night Owl !! Awesome card. 

 I remember the Dodgers P.A. guy used to announce World Series MVP Pedro as "Payyy - Droohhhh  Goo - Rare - Ohhhhhh !"  Loved it.

 Mondy here looks like he's gonna pop this one up, but it's a great shot, nonetheless.  Raul here is the guy I was most comparing the Dodger's young phenom Yasiel Puig to.  From the small slice of Puig I've seen so far, he's going to be well beyond "El Canon" Mondesi. 

 Yet even more vintage Dodger gold.  This is a great card featuring the King of all Unibrows.  Wally here is more than a funny tagline about facial hair, however.

In Dodger lore, he was known for launching massive home run shots over the short left field wall at the Coliseum, where the Dodgers played before moving into Dodger Stadium in 1962.  The Colesium's left field wall was a short 250 feet from home, but there was a 42 foot high net that had to be cleared in order to hit a home run to left.  Wally mastered it, and his massive home run blasts became known as "Moonshots".

 Here's the hottest Dodger hitter these days.  No, it's not Puig, it's Hanley.  This is my first card of Ramirez as a Dodger, and it's a great one. 

Closing is the all-time Dodger favorite that N.O. and I share, the Penguin.  It certainly was action packed when Cey was in the line up, and he was no slouch with the glove.  Cey anchored the hot corner in the days of "The Infield".  I have a suprisingly small collection of Cey cards considering he's my favorite, but that number just jumped up by one.

THANKS for the great cards, Night Owl.  What a great package that was.  And there are still a whole load of cards I didn't show.  Wow.

Thanks for reading, everyone!