My New Twitter Trade Partner is All Hero

Aloha, everybody, 

Time to get caught up on trade posts. The good news is I made a new trade connection through Twitter. The better news is Basecard Hero sent over a fantastic fistful of cards from a set I don't usually buy, so all of these cards are new to my collection. 

That's a very shiny, good thing. We'll lead off with some inserts...

The cards are well-designed, with great photos and an unimposing abstract background, topped off with a slick, shiny surface. 

The surfaces are so slick, the cards wanted to slide all over my scanner from the slightest touch. 

On to the base cards. They switched up the background to a half and half mix of abstract design and the team logo. Again, it works.

How about some Hanley? 

Some very attractive cards, and great new RCs of Corey Seager, Maeda and Urias. Thanks, Basecard Hero!

I've got your cards in a pile. I'll be hitting the post office soon. 

Aloha! 

This Way To A Post About Cool Cards From The Clubhouse

Aloha everybody,

I don't know about all of you out there, but I was going through withdrawal during that All-Star break. It's sure good to have baseball back again. 

You know what else is good? Gettin' some great cards in the mail, that's what. 

I received these courtesy of Mark Kaz from This Way To The Clubhouse. He described them as "shiny Hollywood" cards, and I can't argue...

You can't get much more Hollywood than a Matt Kemp purple refractor. 
 

One great thing about this card: it's among the last that will list Kemp as playing for Hollywood - errr - Los Angeles on the back. 

One more shiny goodie coming up... 

 

It's a beautiful, Hollywood Hanley Ramirez, limited to 99. I absolutely dig limited edition cardboard. 

DonRuss cards have always honored the home run hitters of the game with great inserts. This one follows right in the tradition.
 

 Hanley smashed that ball in Colorado, and Kaz smashed this trade out of the park as well, with some great Hollywood bling to add to my collection. 

THANKS, Kaz! Aloha!  

When Bloggers From Across The Rockies Meet

Hey everybody,

One of the great joys of blogging is meeting up with a fellow blogger or reader and putting a human face to this hobby that we share.  That opportunity to meet another blogger recently popped up, and I went for it. I'm certainly glad I did.

Ohio-based Duane, from that little ol' blog known as Democratic Roadkill was coming out to California to enjoy the Long Beach Grand Prix, and he put out a feeler for any L.A. bloggers.  I replied, and after a couple of emails and texts, Duane and I were sitting in front of a couple of cold ones and exchanging cards and card collecting stories.

Duane collects A&G minis, Cleveland Indians and Pittsburgh Pirates. Indeed, he is The King of  All A&G miiiiiiiinnnnnnniiiiiiis. Unfortunately, I had just locked down a large trade for the majority of my Pirates trade bait, and both my Indians and minis coffers were low, so I really had almost nothing to offer.

Fortunately, Duane is such an outstanding guy, that didn't matter too much and he was willing to swap my measly offerings for some great Dodgers cardboard.

Check out this sweet slice o' vintage - The Dodgers celebrating their WS win after sweeping the dreaded Yanks in 1963.  Here we get the backs of Walter Alston, Marv Breeding and Lee Walls. I think that's Sandy Koufax in the middle of the mob having his arm painfully twisted behind his back (?).  Maybe that explains his later arm troubles and shortened career. Hmmmm....

Below is a very cool Goudey 4 in 1 featuring Dodger stars past and present...

Andruw Jones was nowhere near a star when he was with the Dodgers.  As a matter of fact, he was a complete waste of a uniform, but this black-framed masterpiece is no waste of cardboard...

Check out this numbered 18/50 "Rip Card".  I had never even seen a rip card until this showed up.  What's a rip card? It contains a bonus mini that is obtained by ripping the back of the card open.  Duane had already secured the mini inside, but this is a special little oddball that is now a one-of-a-kind in my collection...

Did I mention Duane is the King of All Minis? Here comes a parade of some great Dodger minis that came my way....

RYUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU !!

JACKIE !!

We enjoyed a few hours of talking cards and the eternal chases of our hobby.  We also talked about the story behind the name of Duane's blog.  I'll let you meet Duane and let him tell you all about that himself.

Thanks for a great time, some great cards, and a great new blogger friendship reaching across the country, Duane.  Looking forward to the next trade, meeting, chance at Grand Prix Hospitality Suite passes, and whatever else, Duane !!  It was a real pleasure to meet ya!

RYU = YAAAA-HOOOOO!!!!

 

Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

Well, THAT was exactly what the doctor ordered:

A packed house at Dodger Stadium.  Not bad for everyone trying to get to Chavez Ravine at the height of LA rush hour.  C'mon, TV...how about a 6 or 6:30 p.m. start?

A calmed down and most excellent outing from our third ace, Hyun-Jin Ryu. He pitched a masterpiece that I'm sure everyone back in Seoul enjoyed.

Richard Mackson - USA Today

Adrian Gonzalez getting his batting groove back. Cardinal Adam Wainright was irritated by El Jaguar's hand explosions after he knocked in Mark Ellis with a double.  Haha!

Hanley Ramirez back in the line up and doing what he does best.  Manley busted two hits and knocked in a big run, all with a fractured rib. 

Puig chilling out the plate and bashing the ball again.  He missed a home run by a foot or two.  He might have snatched an inside-the-park home run if he had been off and running on contact - instead of vogueing at the plate.

The Beard and bad-ass Kenley Jansen punching out the Cards in the final two innings.  Boo-yah and Good Night little birds.  Sweet.

Finally, a note to the TBS execs who chose the boring announcing crew for the TV broadcast - It should tell you something about your choice for announcers when your own post-game show uses Vin Scully's voice for the highlights of the game. Doncha think?

Have You Ever Been In A Dogfight?

I mean, have you ever been in a knock down, drag out, fight to the finish?  That was Game One of the National League Championship Series tonight between the Dodgers and the Dang Cardinals.  

When you have two teams evenly matched, in a game that is evenly matched, the manager will make the difference.  Unfortunately for the Dodgers, Damn Mattingly is the resident skipper.

This was anyone's game.  It lasted 4 hours plus, and the teams were tied at 2-2 for almost every agonizing minute.  Sure, the Dodgers had their chances.  They were 0 for I-can't -believe-how-many with RISP, and that included not hitting with bases loaded - yet again. 

Once again it came down to the battle of the managers and ours lost it for us. From what I've read in the first postgame posts, Mattingly critics out there are pointing to his removal of Adrian Gonzalez after his single in the eight inning for pinch runner Dee Gordan.  It wasn't a genius move by far, but the move wasn't without potential merits.

At the time the game was tied 2-2, it was the eighth inning, we had a runner on, and Mattingly was playing for the win. Not a terrible move to replace the slow running Gonzalez with Gordon the rabbit.  If it pans out and Gordon scores, we go up 3-2.  Kenley dominates the bottom of the ninth and Mattingly looks like a genius.  The plan didn't work out, but that aint my gripe.

Mattingly blew the game when he couldn't recognize - which he has never been able to recognize, even on his own team - the hot player with the red hot bat.   Damn Mattingly is blind to the hot bat. Which is astounding to me because he spent most of his career being that guy - the guy who will win the game for you, or conversely, the guy who will beat you.

Tonight that guy was the Cardinals' Carlos Beltran.  Beltran knocked in all three Cardinal runs, and he threw out Mark Ellis in a play at the plate in what turned out to be the final chance for the Dodgers to score. 

When we got to the bottom of the 13th ( still tied 2-2), Beltran came up with the winning run on base.  Up to that point he had already knocked in both of St. Louis' runs, and he had that great throw out at the plate.  He came up with the chance to win the game and Mattinlgy chose to pitch to him.  Mattinlgy has a long, regrettable history of pitching to guys that can beat you, and then being being beat by them.  He just doesn't learn this one.

Know what the Cardinals' manager did all night when our guy who could beat you - Hanley Ramirez - came up to bat?  He didn't pitch to Hanley. He took the bat right out of Hanley's hands and therefore he couldn't win the game for us. 

Mattingly refused to take a pass on Beltran in the 13th.  In the previous series he walked weak-hitting Reed Johnson for the bases loaded percentage scenario, but tonight he refused to walk game-dominator Beltran and the Dodger Nation payed for it.  Beltran, the guy who had been beating us all night, capped his evening off with a game winning hit and Zack Greinke's masterful eight innings were wasted.

From here on in it's painfully clear that the Dodger bats are going to have to step it up and overcompensate for Mattingly Baseball, because if this series becomes a chess match between managers, our guy will be the one who keeps asking, "How does the horse move?"

 Can't wait for game two.   

Posting about Some G -reat C-ardboard R-eally L-ate

Hey everybody,

It's been a while since my last post, so here we go.  These are cards that I received from that great blogger, Jim, over at Garvey, Cey, Russell, Lopes.   Jim posted some cards that he picked up shopping, and I promptly spotted a card that I needed from the 1959 Topps subset "Baseball Thrills".  

I inquired if it was available - indeed it was - and I not only got my hands on that great vintage card, but Jim tossed in some Dodger heroes as extras...

World Series Hero - Just ask Reggie.

Jay Howell was a great relief pitcher for the Dodgers on the 1988 World Series championship team.  He's infamously most remembered by N.Y. Mets fans as the pitcher who got busted with pine tar in his mitt during the National League Championship series.  

I'm very happy to have the Bison back with the Dodgers, just in time for the playoffs, and just in time part 2 because Andre Ethier is definitely out for the first round.  I'm also very happy that Jim tossed in a Kemp card that is new for me!

I consider Chris Gwynn to be a hero because it's possible he indirectly helped me to get his brother Tony's autograph TTM.  Back in the day, I wrote to Tony Gwynn requesting autos on some cards.  I included a short letter and mentioned to Tony that I appreciated having Chris on the Dodgers and I wished they would give him more playing time, which was completely true.

Tony signed my cards with great autos and sent them back quickly.  Maybe my mention of Chris helped...but then again, Tony Gwynn is such a class act, he probably would have done the same for me anyway. 

Finally, we have a Dodger hero from 2013.  Hanley has been a huge part of the Dodgers' success this year, and his bat is getting red hot again just in time for the playoffs.  This is my first Hanley Ramirez relic card - absolutely awesome!  Thanks a bunch for this one especially, Jim.

Well, after all that Dodger blue goodness, let's not forget the card that started everything...

Rocky Calavito is action!  What a beauty this card is.  This is my fourth card of the subset - just 6 more to go.

Thanks for the great Calavito card, Jim, and for all the bonus Dodgers cardboard!  

Have You Heard The News Today...Oh Boy!!!

 First of all: 

YAAAAAAAAHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

The Dodgers clinched the NL West title this afternoon, and although it was frustrating for a bit there, I've gotta admit - I'm a bit glad it happened the way it did.

For those of you who missed it, here's what happened, and why I'm happy about it.  The Dodgers drew first blood with a Hanley Ramirez 3-run homer that suggested we were tired of  pussy-footing around and we were claiming that Western division crown TO - DAY!

That feeling didn't last very long however, because as Vin Scully said, before the Dodgers were finished celebrating their lead, it disappeared.  Dodger starter Rickey Nolasco immediately gave the 3 runs back, and a couple of innings later, the Snakes had built it into a 6-3 lead.

Enter the frustration.  I'm sure at that point plenty of Dodger fans were feeling like tossing a beach chair out the window, or at least tossing back a few stiff ones to numb the pain, but I saw it as a chance for the Dodgers to prove (to themselves) that they really deserve the division - and they have what it takes to win all the marbles in The World Series.

We just needed the bullpen to hold the Snakes, and we definitely needed the Dodger bats to wake the heck up!! When runs are scarce, a team needs the pitchers to step up and win 2-1.  By the same token, when pitching isn't getting the job done, the bats have to prove they can score 6 or 7 runs when needed.  THAT'S what championship teams do, and that's EXACTLY what the Dodgers did today. 

The bullpen stopped the bleeding, Hanley Ramirez blasted his second homer of the day, and A.J. Ellis reminded us all of his power when he hit the go-ahead home run.  The Dodgers fought for that win - and earned it!  Nice work, boys.

But the frosting on the cake wasn't the locker room celebration - although it was sweet to enjoy.  No, the best part of the celebration for me was to see how the Boys in Blue reacted to Arizona's insistence that they not celebrate on the Diamondback field.  They of throwing at Puig and Greinke's heads!

They wanted us to serenely and calmly clelebrate - and by gum, stay off their field!

This was the Western Division Champion Dodgers' answer to that (I love the fact that The Jaguar is the first in with an awesome pool bomb)

From me to Night Owl, GCRL, Speigel, Petethan, Zawkin and all my fellow members of Dodger Nation ....

YAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

You Say Dog Days Of Summer - I Say It's Raining Dodgers

Hey everybody,

My mailbox was pretty happy on Thursday and Friday as several packages and one PWE arrived chock-fulla Dodger cardboard.

A few trades came in, but the first package I received was the loot from an A&G 2013 box break that David held over at Tribecards.  I didn't see myself buying a lot of A&G this year, so this break was a good way to pick up some cards from my favorite team, and by golly, I just might catch lightning in a bottle and pick up my very first Puig RC!!

Alright, I bit.  Let's see what I caught...

 Speaking of caught, here's a great card of the Dodger's ready-steady backstop.  A.J. is a solid catcher, and one of the best in the biz in throwing out would-be base stealers. 

 Here's Dre posing like a man.  And why shouldn't he?  Ever since Damn Mattingly called him out midseason, Ethier has reinvented himself into a decent center fielder in Matt Kemp's absence, and has begun to rebuild his reputation as a clutch hitter.

Here's a sweet new addition to my Kershaw collection.  A very nice pull.

 I said Dodgers, right?  Why is there a Padre here?

 Well, the break paired up our chosen teams with one random team, and I got the Padres.  I only got 3 Padre cards, but one of them was of Volquez here.  Volquez just joined the Dodgers this week.  Even the cards I got from guys on other teams turned out to be Dodgers after all.

I love this playful smile shot of Hanley.  I don't prefer these images in the straight up photography sets, but for some reason, I totally accept them in these 'artistic' presentations.   

 

 Now we're cookin'.  Sandy Koufax is ALWAYS a good pull.  This Koufax might have been my favorite card from the break...but, when it rains Dodgers, it pours Puigs.....

 BANG!

I got the Puig.  Happiness abounds.

Thanks for pulling such great cards for me, David. Have a great holiday weekend, everybody.  

Crackin A Penultimate Waxy Prize Post

Almost finished now with the presentation of the great prizes in my Mystery Prize Package that I won over at Crackin Wax. 

These prizes were contributed by Reader Toby.  As previously mentioned, this batch has a few football cards, and Toby made sure to gift up some autos from some great young NFL players.

David here is a top defensive player for Tampa Bay.  Last season was his first as an NFL linebacker. He led the team with 139 tackles and was Rookie of the Month in November 2012.

Next up is a hated Bronco...

Thomas began his NFL career in 2010.  2012 was his breakout year, so he seems to only be getting better.  Hope he does terrible vs the Raidahs.  And hope I do fantastic in trading him.

Up next, another up and coming, young Tampa Bay Buc...

Williams here also has a breakout season in 2012.  He led ALL rookies with 65 catches and 11 TDs.  He just signed a big money contract which should keep him a Buc until 2018.


Back to baseball...

OOPS !  Better put the brakes on that baseball idea.  Unfortunately, Jordany here was found guilty of juicing up, and was suspended a few days ago for 50 games.  On another note, that signature can certainly use some PEDs help.

The last card here is a beauty.  The player is a current Dodger, but it's a ring card from his former team...

One of the other cool parts of this prize package was donated by a current MLB player. Sweet!

Let's take a look what he gifted....

How sweet is that?  It's a fistful of autos!  Neshek, a side-armer,  pitched for the Twins and the Padres before joining the Athletics. 

Here's the other cool part, Neshek is a part of our collecting community, and he loves collecting autographs.  Speaking of autos, didja notice the cool baseball "stitches" that he adds to his signature?  Nice.

That's almost the end of the prizes.  Don't miss the post of the final part of the prize.  It was donated to Crackin Wax specifically for this prize raffle, and the donator was none other than...TOPPS !