Off the grid for a few days

I'll be taking a much needed trip to a tropical island for the next week or so. I may try and schedule a few posts here and there, but I plan on turning off the phone/computer and relaxing for the next week.

Catch you all later this month!

Welcome to the show, David Adams!

Seemingly every week, a new Yankee farmhand is making his major league debut. Mostly it's because 90% of the team is injured, but as someone who follows the farm system, it's exciting to see some of these guys get an opportunity.

Today, infielder David Adams will make his ML debut on his 26th birthday. Adams came up as a bat-first 2B and was on the fast track to the bigs before injuries derailed his career. In fact, his ankle injury is what prevented the M's from trading Cliff Lee to the Yankees.

Anyhow, with Youkilis on the DL, Adams is going to get the chance to play 3B every day. I'm excited to see what he does, and hope he can take advantage of this opportunity.

Psssst, pass the Milk Duds

Have you guys ever seen these? In 1971, Milk Duds offered cards on their boxes. So in addition to a wonderful chocolatey caramel snack, you also scored a baseball card. Why don't companies do this now?

When I saw these, I needed to have them. I was able to win a Listia lot for these two cards. The Johnson is for trade if anyone is interested.

TTM Success: Jerry Lumpe

It's been a long time since I got a TTM success. To be fair, I haven't sent out a ton of requests. It's time consuming and I'm in a very busy period at work.

Anyhow, I recently picked up a 1958 Topps Jerry Lumpe, and sent it to him to get signed. It came back on Saturday with a perfect signature, defacing a hallowed vintage '58. Oh, the horror!

In my letter to him, I asked him about the time he spent in Binghamton in the minor leagues. He didn't answer. That's ok, he's 79 and probably has better things to do. Regardless, I'm happy to have this card back with a signature on it.

A few more HOFers for the binder

Including the cards I have yet to scan, I now have 48 cards in the HOF binder. Not too bad. I haven't updated progress lately, as these aren't very well-read posts (I don't care though).

Here are the new four I'll show. A little bit of everything here...an old school Topps, an ugly Donruss, a crazy credit card (still one of the coolest sets ever), and a typical, shiny mid-90s card. Variety!

Rivera Excels

As the Yanks play in Kansas City this weekend, it's hard not to remember last May, when Mariano Rivera fell to the ground after tearing his ACL shagging fly balls. At the time, no one knew if he'd pitch again. Luckily, he decided to come back, and he's been his usual self this season. The man is amazing.

Before being a dominant closer, he was a decent starting pitching prospect in the Yankees system. Here is a '94-'95 Fleer Excel card of Rivera pictured with the Tampa Yankees, won on Listia. I hadn't seen this card, but vaguely remember Excel from back in the day. The '94-'95 year is odd for baseball, as that's usually reserved for spots that play during two different calendar years, like basketball and hockey.

Rockin' Robin! Tweet tweet

 On Listia, I stole this sweet 1962 Topps Robin Roberts. I got it for way too cheap. I had seen an oddball card or two with Roberts as a Yankee, but nothing from Topps. I just didn't know it existed.

Now, I believe if you look closely, you can still see red pinstripes, but they are pretty subtle. Topps also didn't do a crappy airbrush job on a cap. They simply showed Robins well-maintained mane.

Roberts never did pitch for the Yankees, but it's very unique to have this card of a Hall of Famer, on your team, who never actually played for your team. Any other instances of that happening? I'm sure there are, but none off the top of my head.