Iowa, Shmiowa - It's The Cardboard Caucus

Aloha, everybody, 

Yesterday the country was riveted by election fever. I decided to check my binders and get a Cardboard Caucus going. Turns out politics and political postures are not very far removed from my collection...

Of course, baseball has it's very own Senators...and elder statesmen giving speeches...

There are squared away, distinguished gentlemen...

All-American boys whom your mom and sister would vote for...

And bona fide military heroes for your dad...
 

We can't leave out villains from the rival party...

 Every primary worth its caucus has a spirited debate...

...and unique, enthusiastic delegates...
 

Let's close the Cardboard Caucus with the legendary Honus Wagner channeling none other than Ted Cruz...

And a little political diddy from Alice Cooper...

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Fair Warning: ATBATT has not shied away from causes that I felt strongly about in the past, and now I want to mention something to all of you that I just have to take action on. 

I assure you all it's got nothing to do with current presidential politics, but some of you out there don't want real-world issues in our blogosphere. I can respect that, so if you don't want to read about my serious point tonight, feel free to click onward and we'll meet again in the next post. 
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That said, for those of you who read onward, I'll try to be brief...
I presume you've heard by now about the matter of the poisoned water supply in Flint, Michigan. 

It wasn't caused by a natural disaster, or an unavoidable mistake. It was brought on by conscious decisions of those in power, and then it was selectively ignored and otherwise covered up when it was discovered lead was in the city's water supply. 

Every citizen of Flint has been irreversibly and incurably harmed by that lead. Every child has been forever damaged because those in power just didn't give a damn. 

State officials did however supply clean water to the General Motors factory because the lead in the water was corroding their precious auto parts. They also trucked in fresh water daily to the state office workers in Flint. 

I mention all of this because it angers me to the point where I feel I have to do whatever I can to help prevent something like this environmental crime from ever occurring again.

I urge you to take any action you can if this situation bothers you half as much as it does me. Urge your federal reps to investigate and prosecute. Sign Michael Moore's online petition. Write to President Obama, or just shine some light on the situation through your social media platforms, such as this one. 

Today it's Flint - tomorrow it can be our cities, and our children. 

Aloha! 

Cardboard Heroes Say THANKS To The Real Heroes

Hey everybody,

It's Memorial Day and Buzz Aldrin is about to toss out the first pitch at Chavez Ravine.  As our baseball heroes prepare to battle it out on field, I'm presenting some cards with patriotic backgrounds to honor the men and women who served and gave the ultimate sacrifice on the fields of battle keeping us all safe for generations.

From me to all the vets out there, past and present, especially to Dad, who earned a Bronze Star in The Battle of the Bulge - THANKS!

THANKS for Afghanistan!

THANKS for Iraq !

THANKS for Iraq (again)!

THANKS for Vietnam!

THANKS for Korea!

THANKS for World War 2 (Pacific Campaign)!

THANKS, Dad!

THANKS for World War 2 (European Campaign)!

THANKS for World War 1!

THANKS to ALL VETS, and Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

Here We Go Again... Honus Wagner Card Doctored Opinions Wanted

Hey everybody,

This just in...the famous Honus Wagner T-206 that was once owned by Wayne Gretzky and is now owned by Ken Kendrick (who owns the Arizona Diamondbacks), was altered by a low down dealer that owned it before them.  Kendrick payed a record $2.8 million buckeroos for that counterfeit chunk of cardboard crap.

Bill Mastro, the dealer who altered the card, admitted to it  in the hopes of gaining leniency from a judge.  It seems he's been accused of - surprise - making a career of selling a whole slew of fake swag, including a bogus lock of Elvis hair to unsuspecting customers.

Controversy and rumors had been swirling around the Wagner card for years, seeing as how Mastro allegedly was peddling counterfeit goods.  At least he's cleared any clouds of doubt and confirmed the card was cut. 

If I were the owner of the falsified Wagner, I'm pretty sure my immediate reaction to this news would be, "Dang it!  That's 2.8 million down the drain!"

Of course, if I really had bought it, those would be the exact same words that my old lady would have spoken for me spending that kind of dough on a baseball card in the first place, Honus or no Honus.

But here's the rub...in a stroke of marketing genius, Kendrick is spinning this in a totally opposite way.  He's declaring this actually INCREASES the value of his card! 

In keeping with the spirit that some of us in the blogoworlds hold, in which a card with 'character' does have value, Kendrick may have a point.  This certainly adds to the cards infamy - but does it increase it's value?  Is that Wagner now worth a cool $3 million?

What do you think?  Drop your opinion in the comments below....

Live Blogging Pack 2

Just a quick reminder...

If anybody wants any of these cards, as per usual, it's all up for trade bait.  We don't have to put together a massive trade, it can be of the simple PWE variety.

Pack 2...

Did anyone out there see the Man vs. Food episode where Youklis is in the same restaurant as the MvF dude? He looks over the host, Adam, and says to him, he says, "You eat like a BUM!"  It was great. 

I swear I pulled this guy's cards in every pack of 2011 product.  Naturally, he appears yet again.

'nother RC

Ol' Honus here looks like he just spied somebody what owes him some money.

Pack 3 next...

ATBATT'S All-time All-Stars Shortstop

Hey everybody,

Continuing with the greatest all-star infield ever, that's at least according to my humble little blog and collection.  Speaking of which, you might recall I mentioned these all-stars would be marginally determined by my card collection.  This is one such occasion. 

While I would accept an argument that Honus Wagner was a greater shortstop than Ozzie Smith, I only have two measly tribute cards of Wagner, and that would hardly be enough to fill out a post with some nice cards to look at.  Sorry Honus, The Wizard of Oz gets the nod on this one...

 

 Yankee fans might argue that Derek Jeter should have earned the pick here.  While I certainly have enough of his cards to fill out a post, Jeter was much more of a bat than a glove for the Yanks.

Jeter won several World Series rings, and put up impressive WS offensive numbers, but he was also surrounded by numerous other big bats on those Yankee juggernaut teams, which afforded much more of an advantage than Ozzie ever had playing with Ken Oberkfell and Darrell Porter. 

Ozzie was by no means a slouch with the bat.  He was an all-star 15 times, had 2,460 hits, and stole 580 bases!

 

 But I chose Ozzie over the polyglot of great shortstops in the modern era because he certainly knew how to use the leather out there.  He's got huge numbers for assists (8,375) and double plays (1,590) and won Gold Gloves for shortstop in THIRTEEN CONSECUTIVE SEASONS!

Great "D" will definitely get you included on my all-star team. Smith's career fielding percentage is a sick .978

Have you ever heard that famous home run broadcast call by Jack Buck, "Go crazy, folks! Go crazy!" ?  Yup, that was from a tater blasted by Smith.

"Not only did I wear Number 1, St. Louis retired it after me."

THANKS for reading everybody!

Next post: Trades galore!