Aloha, everybody,
Welcome to ATBATT 2018. I'm lucky and blessed enough to open the year's posts with a small backlog of trade packages to present.
Right before the close of the year, I featured a bunch of cards that came to me from Paul's TTM Autograph Blog. Paul, being a generous man, actually sent two separate packages to me. Today, we'll be checking out that second batch.
The first couple of cards represent a side story for Dodger fans. It's "the changing of the guard". One big reason the boys in blue made it to the Fall Classic was the fact the Dodgers got younger.
This card marks the power-hitting duo (from a few years back) of young Joc Pederson and Adrian Gonzalez. It's a good representation of the Dodgers turning a page on aging veterans, and moving toward a younger core.
Andre Ethier, the longest tenured Dodger, will be probabbly moving on as well. I've long been a fan of Captain Clutch, so this blue-bordered beauty is very welcome.
Manager Dave Roberts blew World Series opportunities when he kept Ethier mostly on the bench against the Astros, despite Ethier almost always getting a hit (including a PH home run) whenever he got a chance.
Paul also dropped some new Nomos into my lap...
I love these cards that show Nomo just peeking over the top...
Here's another angle...
Press Proof alert! These always take me back to my early collecting days. I was always ripping packs with the hope of catching one of these.
And now, World Series pitching hero, Kenta Maeda about to be sucked down into shiny, colorful quicksand...
Any and all Kenley Jansens happily accepted...
Closing out this pitching-heavy package is one of my favorite Dodger southpaws, on All-Star cardboard. I'm thinking that's Wrigley ivy behind him...
THANKS for the two great packages, Paul! I'm lucky the dealers around you are stocking a whole lotta Dodgers these days, and I'm very happy that you thought of sharing that with me.
Aloha!
Aloha, everybody,
It's the most wonderful time of the year.
Secret Santa gifts are dropping all around the blogosphere.
Aint nothing in the world like cardboard cheer.
Oh look! What have we here?
Not quite a new car, but it sure beats socks.
It's a Tommy Lasorda card.
Here's Clayton Kershaw and Greg Brock.
I'm wishing all of my readers, traders and friends,
A Merry, Merry Christmas
May all of your 2018 cards arrive without bends.
Ha! How's that for a Christmas poem? If that didn't get things going, maybe these great cards that I received from one of the greatest traders out there, Paul, from Paul's TTM Autograph Blog.
Paul hit me with a couple of fantastic batches of cards last month. Here's a quick recap from one of them:
Let's begin with a very cool die-cut featuring World Series hero. Joc Pederson, when he first broke into the bigs...
Paul also brought the vintage and chipped at my team set needs...
Here's one that Zippy Zappy might like as well...
A beautiful Nomo...
More vintage and team set needs...
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I NEVER see these '59 WS cards at the show. Good ol' Paul came through big time with this one for my WS checklist...
Paul also included a sombrero full of Fernandos!
These next couple are very simple cards, and simply beautiful...
A classic shot of the Bulldog peering in to get the sign...
Sure, everybody raves about Kershaw, but these two southpaws kept the Dodgers chugging through the season when Kersh was out with an injury, and they did not fold up in the World Series.
Dave Roberts' ridiculous robotic reliance on the stats that insisted on pulling pitchers after going twice through the opposing lineup cost the Dodgers dearly - and fatally - when he pulled them despite their mowing down the Astros. *sigh*
Here are a few more multiples of my favorite past Dodgers...
We'll close out with this ice-blue beauty. Pee Wee Reese, Topps Sterling, numbered 90/250...
Hearty THANKS for the awesome cards, my friend! My humble collection is in a better place because of your generosity.
Merry Aloha Christmas, everybody!
