Aloha, everybody,
A couple of weeks ago the great custom card artist, Gavin from Baseball Card Breakdown, ran a ruthless March Madness PWE tournament in which my PWE of Padres was absolutely CRUSHED when it was put up against a Mark Hoyle PWE chock full o' vintage. It was a massacre.
The PWE match up was all in fun, but it got me to thinking about the cards that I send out to folks. From time to time a trade will be very specific. For example, I just put together a swap of a Jim Thome Batting helmet card for a Pee Wee Reese swatch card. No surprises. Everything prearranged and set.
Other times I'll drop a fistful of Mets or Angels or Cubs into a package and ship them off to someone who collects those teams; what we often refer to as a "blind trade".
Both types of trades are fun, but I realized I'll have to take a bit more care in checking collectors want lists before I ship base cards out. Some collectors don't want every card from every player on the team. As I mentioned to Gavin in our conversation about this topic, "The next Jose Offerman card I get is going to be the thousandth one I don't want."
Which leads me to the PWE that ol' Gav sent out to me, in which he led off with this gem...
The note is on the penny sleeve, so my new "O-for-man" card remained pristine. Nevertheless, I won't be submitting it for grading. It might have remained a joke between friends if that was all there was in the envelope, but Gav doesn't roll like that. In fact, there really were some cardboard gems awaiting in that PWE.
Exhibit A. A card featuring one of my favorite all-time Dodger pitchers. The GREAT and underrated Ramon Martinez, known to most of you as Pedro's brother...
If only the Dodgers had listened to Ramon when he told them his younger brother was going to be even better than himself. *sigh*
How about this never-before-seen cardboard beauty...
That one boasts baby-faced and moustachioed versions of the Penguin.
Speaking of the captain...
You want more Brooklyn? I got yer Brooklyn right here...
Gavin's artfully crafted PWE spanned the Dodgers from the New York boroughs to tomorrow's heroes of Chavez Ravine...
Young Trayce just got the call up and his first ML hit when slug Franklin Gutierrez recently went on the 10-day DL.
I'll close out the post with cards that feature the man being honored by MLB today, the patron saint of ATBATT....
The Dodgers will honor the great Jackie Robinson with the unveiling of their first stadium statue tonight, and yours truly will be there.
I'm always happy to attend a ballgame, and extra juiced when it's Jackie Day, but I'm super thrilled to see the statue tonight, because it's featuring (as you read my prediction here first) the pose of Jackie ....Stealing Home.
Thanks for the great PWE Gavin!
Aloha!
Aloha, everybody,
It's a relaxing night at home and the Dodgers are beating the Angels on TV in the annual Freeway Series, so let's open a few packs of Babe Ruth Story baseball cards and review a few more beers from the beer trade between Matt from Bob Walk the Plank and I.
These Babe Ruth packs are great fun. They feature wonderful photos of the Bambino on the front, and plenty of stories and trivia about his exploits on the back.
For example, here's a few cards with Red Sox Ruth.
Ruth went from riding the bench during the World Series despite pitching 18-8 as a rookie to leading the club with an incredible 0.87 World Series ERA just a few years later.
The set is chock full of photos of the Babe and other greats from the era.
Speaking of greatness...
Devil Anse IPA from Green Valley Brewing
The name of this beer is taken from ol' Devil Anse Hatfield, who led his family in the legendary Hatfield-McCoy feud. the story on the can tells of Anse being so bold and fearless, he could take on the devil hisself.
Tasting this IPA, I'm not sure I could take on the devil, but it sure is the perfect beer for a summer's day that's so hot the red guy might be around.
The beer is bold, citrusy and hoppy. The taste is absolutely delicious to an IPA lover. This one might make you want to chug it, but be careful, as the devil is in the details, hiding in a big 6.9% abv. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
The back of this card tells the story of how Babe Ruth earned the dubious honor of being the only man to ever end a World Series by being thrown out trying to steal.
It was Game 7 and the Yankees were down 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth. Babe drew a walk, and despite the fact Lou Gherig was hitting right behind him, he had the idea to steal second base - on the first pitch!
Ruth fooled noone. He was thrown out and the Yankees were dead. It looked like a great idea, but didn't turn out that way.
Kind of like this beer.
Hopslam Ale froom Bells Brewery, Michigan.
A double IPA brewed with honey sounds like a wonderful idea. A 10% abv makes it sound even better. But like Ruth's mad dash for second base, something went awry along the way.
There's a strong hoppiness with a sour grapefruit finish that holds on long after your drink. People argued for years whether Ruth should have stayed at first base. This beer will probably inspire equally intense debate.
Babe's on his way too heaven in this one. Everyone knows how much the Big Bambino liked beer, so he probably found a beer like this one up there.
Siberian Night from Thirsty Dog Brewing.
The first taste of this beer let's you know this is something special. It's like rich, dark chocolate mixed with caramel on the front of your tongue, with a hint of sweet raisins bouncing off the rear of your palate.
The taste is big, so you can't drink it fast. But it's so complex, you'll really just want to savor and sip it.
Thanks again for the beers, Matt. Only three remain!
Aloha!
