Cards on Cards turned 10, so he gave us presents

Last month, Kerry from Cards on Cards celebrated his 10-year blogging anniversary. That is certainly a nice round number. Cards on Cards has been a mainstay since I've been here, and is always a great source for some great baseball and basketball cards.

To celebrate his anniversary, Kerry gave us presents. That's right. We should be showering him with cards, but instead he hosted an extremely generous group break for his readers.

I was lucky enough to snag the Yankees, and came away with some excellent cards.

I was actually most excited about the 2018 Bowman Yankees. I was unable to find any Bowman in my retail attempts, and Kerry sent a bunch of the cards I would have hoped to get had I busted some myself, including Gleyber Torres.

There were also some shiny Yankees prospects cards. Justus Sheffield is rocking JA Happ's #34. Domingo Acevedo actually spent time with the Yankees a few games ago, but didn't see any game action.

Here are two new Aaron Judge cards I didn't have yet!

And some 2017 Allen & Ginters. I can't tell what design is what with this product anymore.

Minor Leaguers were abundant, especially since some of the boxes Kerry busted were Team Best products.

Along with some newer minor league issues as well.

1999 Stadium Club was one of the main boxes as well. I've always loved this card of Paul O'Neill and Chuck Knoblauch, mostly because I want to know what Paulie said to him when they got back to the dugout. I'm sure Paul was very friendly about it. It looks like the catch was made though!

Kerry, thanks for this generous package, and congrats on the big 1-0!

What's the Status? Beats me.

Even with all the different cards I own of Ty Hensley from 2012 Elite Extra Edition, I still have no clue what all the different parallel versions are or how many are out there. I believe I have most of them at this point, especially with the addition of this Gold Status diecut, #1/5:

Here's how this particular collection is shaping up:

• Base card
• Prizm (sitting in my "ready to ship" account on COMC)
• Green Prizm
• Prospects: Autograph
• Aspirations: Die Cut, Autograph
• Status: Gold Die Cut (above), Blue Die Cut (sitting in my "ready to ship" account on COMC), Die Cut Autograph, Emerald Die Cut Autograph

I believe I'm still missing a couple of the colored ink autographs, as well as a Father's Day Prism.

What a confusing set. Given the limited Ty Hensley cards out there, you'd think I'd have a better grasp on this, but I've just never wrapped my head around this set.

What I can tell you is that it's my 101st unique Hensley card. Onward!

ROYs on one card?

It feels like the Rookie of the Year race in both the AL and NL is really going to come down to the wire.

In the American League, Shohei Ohtani was running away with it as a dual-threat player, cranking homers and striking out hitters. But his UCL injury put a damper on his season, at least pitching-wise. He's come back as a full-time DH and is starting to rake again, but will it be enough to take back the award?

Enter Gleyber Torres, who was called up on April 22 and took hold of the Yankees starting 2B job. Predicted to hit 15-20 homers in his prime, he already has 15 dingers 225 ABs. The power surge has been unexpected. He was named to the AL All-Star team, but then experienced a hip injury that landed him on the DL. He's back now, but the race is a bit closer with him missing time and Ohtani heating up.

Oh, and don't forget Miguel Andujar has 42 extra base hits!

On the NL-side, it's a bit murky as well. Most likely leading the way at this point is 19-year-old and already current-Yankee killer Juan Soto. Seriously, 19?! He's hitting .315 with a .425 OBP and 13 homers...AS A NINETEEN YEAR OLD. That is unreal.

There are still a few NL rooks who might be considered for the award, including Brian Anderson of the Marlins. Then maybe I could do something with this card I pulled that I have no use for and no one seems to want. Seriously, it sells for $2 on eBay. The Marlins effect is real.

Back to the rookies. A while back, the Yankees and Nationals faced off with the two aforementioned rooks taking center stage. They didn't disappoint, becoming the youngest pair to homer in the same game.

It was a cool moment and one of the few Topps NOW cards I've ever snagged with a non-Yankee on it. Hopefully I see these two on the same card again in the off-season as ROY winners.

Sweet, Bro

One of the most memorable moments of the very boring televised 2018 MLB Draft occurred during 2nd round with the 61st pick overall. The Yankees were on the clock, and former Yankee Nick Swisher was selected to announce the pick.

As many know, and some are irritated by, Nick Swisher likes to have a good time. He's always smiling and goofing off, but he's genuinely just an enthusiastic, energetic person. Many of his post-game interviews included the saying, "bro." It doesn't matter who asked the question. "Bro" was part of his response.

It was all too ironic then that with the 61st pick, announced by Swisher, the Yankees selected Josh Breaux, a junior college catcher. All of those letters at the end of his name form an "O" sound. So yes, his name is Josh "Bro."

Nick Swisher got to announce the newest Yankees, Josh "Bro."

Breaux is currently in Staten Island, and was kind enough to sign my card in just 10 days. I also included a Nick Swisher card for him to keep (which he did), since they'll always be linked together because of Draft night.

Luckily others have a better memory than I do

My memory stinks.

I'm only in my mid-30s, but seriously, it's shot. My wife tells me things and I completely forget. Constantly, I run an errand, and forget to pick up what I actually went for. I'm not sure if it's just age creeping on me, inattentiveness, or what, but I really stink at remembering simple things. Luckily I'm much more focused at work, but likely because I am a notorious note-taker.

Lucky for me, others are far better when it comes to the memory department. I recently received a package from Tim over at I Love the Smell of Cardboard in the Morning. Back when Series One first came out, Tim mentioned he could help me with some of the Derek Jeter Target-exclusive set. I totally forgot, but luckily Tim didn't, and an unexpected package landed on my doorstep.

Here is the Jeter that got it started:

Tim was kind enough to throw in a bunch more awesome cards, including a Tino I didn't have:

Sweet! Numbered to just 76 copies, this is one of the rarer Tino cards I now own. This marks Tino #852 for me.

And a Tino from his USA Baseball days.

I love this card! Jorge Posada 1994 Bowman rookie card.

I had never seen this Topps Chrome Roger Clemens. It's pretty cool and I think it scanned decently for what it us. Neat looking effect with the years and text on the card.

There was some other nice shiny too!

These Ring Masters cards are neat. I was duped into one before thinking there was a fabric material within the text, but it's just an image. Still a neat card though.

And I'll end the way I started, with a great looking Jeter from Topps Hertiage.

Tim, thanks for having a much better memory than me!

A package before the affordable group break

Prior to his most recent Affordable Group Break, Colbey aka Flywheels was generously sending out some team packages of cards he no longer needed. I swooped in and snagged the Yankees, and was delighted to receive a small box of goodies.

The cards ranged from the late 90s until now, and there was a lot of shiny, I noticed. The 2011 Topps parallels - Diamond Anniversary and Cognac aka Liquorfractor - still really hold up seven (!) years later.

I do like them a bit more than the rainbow foils of the last few years.

However, anything with a Refractory-finish always is eye catching. I hadn't seen this Gerhig card. My guess is it came in one of those mega-box type packages that have a few packs and a small set of 5 exclusive cards.

Speaking of Gehrig, this might have have been my favorite card of the bunch. What a perfect card!

There were other Yankee legends included too!

As well as some vintage.

And no package would be complete without a Tino! Bring back Pacific!

Thanks for the awesome cards, Colbey!

His blog may be dormant...

...but his trade packages have been erupting all over the internet.

I'm talking about Mr. Bob Walk the Plank. I've seen it on Twitter and on the blogs. He's cleaning out some trade bait and really sending some excellent cards.

I was the lucky recipient of two gorgeous cards of current Yankees that his desk threw up.

Whoa.

That was my reaction when I saw this Dellin Betances 2007 Topps Five Star autograph #d to 50. The signature area is very unique. It's almost superfractor-like. Add the fact that it's on card and about as thick as 10 regular cards, and it makes for quite a good looking piece.

Last but not least, a jersey card of the criminally under-collected Luis Severino from 2017 Donruss. Sure, it might be a plain gray swatch, but I appreciate Panini's efforts here to have a home plate-shaped area for the jersey. Not a bad design at all.

These were two excellent cards, indeed. Thanks, Matthew!

His inner Kid

In the latest Sports Illustrated for Kids issue, I was happy to see a Yankee included in the uncut 9-card sheet. I don't believe there's been one since 2016, when Gary Sanchez was included.

One might expect it to be Aaron Judge (hasn't received an SI Kids card yet), Giancarlo Stanton, or perhaps Luis Severino. However, it ended up being one of the Yankees biggest kids, Didi Gregorius. Unfortunately my card got bent a little in the mailbox, which is always a possibility.

Didi plays with a kid-like enthusiasm, and is certainly a terrific role model for kids, so hard to be upset with this post. Not only does he exhibit exuberance on the field and in the dugout, but his post-game emoji-filled Tweets are the best in the game. Every player has their own emoji (except him!).

Outside of Didi, there weren't many notable stars. Dak Prescott of the Cowboys was definitely the biggest name.

All in all, another fun month of cards from SI for Kids.

Yankees first rounder comes through with the TTM success

I was pretty quiet with TTM successes for most of the spring and early summer, but the last week or so has been fruitful with some top Yankees prospects.

A return from earlier this week yielded me Yankees 2018 #1 pick (23rd overall), catcher Anthony Seigler. He's a very fun prospect who is a switcher hitter AND pitcher. However, the Yankees intend to keep him behind the plate. Seigler was committed to play at Florida, but signed with the Yankees quickly and has started his pro career in the Gulf Coast League.

He's off to a good start as well, hitting .381 through his first 26 PAs. He's dealing with a slight hamstring issue at the moment, but I'm also certain the Yankees are playing it quite safe with their #1 pick.

Overall, an awesome TTM success, and I'm thrilled to get his autograph so quickly into his Yankees tenure.

A simple swap

Sometimes, I tend to limit myself in trades because it feels like I have to exchange a quantity of cards, like a team bag, or a jersey/autograph hit card. However, trades can be just easy and enjoyable swapping a card or two in a PWE.

Bryan from Golden Rainbow Cards reached out recently with three cards from the Aaron Judge Topps Series 2 set. I didn't have any, so of course I was interested.

I was a able to counter with a Hank Aaron Longball Legends from 2018 Series 2, as well as an Ender Inciarte foil parallel from Series 1.

Quick, easy trade! Thanks, Bryan!

Contest results...from November!

My apologies for this.

I ran a contest in November, and due to some logistics wasn't able to give the prize away until now. Well, we're in business now. The winner below will take him this beautiful Buddy Lewis autographed Pacific legends card.

The original contest post featured a Q&A with MLB agent Joshua Kusnick, who has been living it up in DC this week while representing NL All-Star Jeremy Jeffress. Joshua has completed the 1988 Pacific Legends set signed by everyone who was alive when the set was released. Go back and check out the original post here to see some awesome cards. CLICK HERE.

Now for the winner. I entered each of the 28 who commented, and added an additional entry for anyone who gave some recommendations on how to display it.

With that, here are the results:

Congrats to Tony Burbs!

Tony, I'll get this out in the mail to you pronto!

Again, my apologies for the delay here. And if you're interested in following Joshua on Twitter, CLICK HERE.