Friday Ink

It's amazing how the prices of autographed cards can change. Back in the summer of 2018, I reluctantly sold a Miguel Andujar Bowman Chrome autograph for $180. I say reluctantly because I was between jobs and at the time felt like the responsible thing to do. He was in the middle of a very impressive rookie season, and the market was hot. So I sold it. That same card sold for $36 and $38 this past December, so 1. I'd like to buy it back some day and 2. I made the right call at the time.

Obviously missing the majority of 2019 due to injury caused his cards to plummet a bit, and they could still go back up with a strong 2020.

Still, I wanted to made sure I kept a few autographs of his in my collection, so I recently snagged this for less than $8 shipped. Pretty cool looking card, and quite affordable!

That same day, I picked up an autograph of a player I've wanted for awhile, and the object of many prank calls to Mike Francesa:

The joke got a little played out, but still was funny most of the time.

I had been wanting an autograph of his for sometime, but his Yankee ones are a little tougher to find at a good price. This was a minimum bid and I was happy to pay. I know his career certainly was very up and down, but I always enjoyed him as a player and as a personality.

Not a bad two autographs to pick up, and best of all, the price was right.

The Derby

This year's Home Run Derby definitely feels a lot different than last year's. It seems that the HR Derby is starting to go the way of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, where the big-ticket players will choose not to participate.

I see both sides of it, and I'm not disappointed that no Yankees are in it tonight. Being 29 games over .500 at the break is more important, and whatever players can do to gain a little more rest at this point is totally cool with me.

Still, it's fun to look back at the four Yankees who won the derby, especially in 1997 when Tino Martinez won it. That's still a highlight of my childhood fandom.

1997 - Tino Martinez at Jacobs Field in Cleveland

2002 - Jason Giambi at Miller Park in Milwaukee

2011 - Robinson Cano at Chase Field in Arizona

2017 - Aaron Judge at Marlins Park in Miami

If I had to guess, I'd say Bryce Harper puts on a show for the home crowd and takes home the win tonight.
 

Yankees cards coming to life

One of the coolest blogs out there, Baseball Cards Come to Life!, recently sent me a great trade package. Bo runs a very cool blog, complete with some awesome player interviews and #walletcard posts. I wish I had his ability to notice so many cool things in NYC. I probably walk by so many each day that I never take the time to notice. Bo does.

It all started with this card, the 5x7 Zenith Tino. I didn't have this one, so jumped at that chance.
Bo also protected these cards in a fun way:

I'm glad Pat LaFontaine was a Ranger for a short time. I remember watching their team quite a bit when he was there.

To me, the best part about the trade package was how random it was, and I mean that in a good way. It was filled with cards from all years, many from sets I don’t remember or had forgotten about. Here are a few cards that stuck out to me:

Topps 206 was one set I missed as a kid, but I do recall there being several versions of each card, as on display here:

SI Yankees!

Ziploc!

There were a bunch of Classic cards, including the ones featuring the Saved By The Bell design. I thought I was being original by calling it that but it looks like this is well known by Night Owl and every other blogger.

How have I never seen this Prime Time card? It’s great, although that looks like a brutal sun. Good concentration, Deion.

And I can effectively say, this is my first card of Meatloaf. Wonder if he signs TTM?

Bo, such a fun package. Thank you so much!

Jersey swatches from France

Last week, I was pleasantly surprised to see an international package arrive in my mailbox. Kevin from The Card Papoy was kind enough to send me a return package for a few cards I sent him earlier this spring.

The package and postage look so much different than what I'm used to, which makes it feel very exotic and special. Oh, what it must've seen on it's way to me!

Kevin was kind enough to send two cards featuring jersey swatches, both from 2002, and both featuring Jason Giambi.

Giambi joined the Yankees in '02, so both of these jersey pieces were of him with the A's. The gray one was a good choice for the dual-relic with Bernie, as it feels like a Yankees away jersey. It might have looked odd if a green one, like the card below, was included on there.

And man, Giambi was a monster his first year in pinstripes: .313/.435/.598 with 41 HRs and 122 RBIs. That was good for a 7.1 WAR. And that was considered a worse year than his previous two.

I very much appreciated this Stadium Club Gary Sanchez RC, which I didn't have. It's a little odd to see Stadium Club use a studio shot, although I guess they didn't have much to choose from for Sanchez. I expect a cooler shot in 2017.

Here are a few more cards I especially liked.

Thanks so much for the package, Kevin!

SuperTraders #25: San Jose Fuji

It's nearing the end as a "SuperTrader" for me. I have a few packages I need to send those I haven't yet, then I'll be stepping away. I don't buy enough cards to replenish inventory to regularly trade with a representative of all teams.

Unexpectedly, San Jose Fuji sent me a great package around the new year. It had a bunch of great relic-type cards.

I really gravitated toward the Jason Giambi base relic. I think game-used bases are some of the coolest out there. This one has some great dimples and dirt (that'd be a good name of an insert set...Dimple & Dirt). Far more interesting than a plain jersey swatch, right? I don't think we've seen a game-used base insert set in a long time - probably at least ten years, right?

Speaking of plain jersey swatches, these are two relics I didn't have. For a time I considered collecting the 2011 Topps 60 relic set of just Yankees, but I couldn't stay dedicated to it. The Cracker Jack of Soriano is cool too, as it's smaller than a standard card.

I always liked these rookie reprints too. I have the Mattingly, and am now happy to have the Cano.

I meant to buy this Jose Pirela autographed card during COMC Black Friday, but I forgot! Luckily, Fuji took care of that for me.

He also snuck in a pretty great vintage card of Bobby Murcer. I have a few Murcers, but this is new to my collection. Tony Oliva was pretty great too. I may be showing my age, but I have no idea who Merv Rettenmund is.

Last, but not least, Fuji was kind enough to send a pack of Sportflics for my son! I haven't given him the pack yet - he got too many 'time outs' at pre-school last week!

Fuji, it's always a pleasure. Thank you!

I love the smell of contest victory in the morning

Some time ago, I was lucky enough to win a contest on the well-run blog I Love The Smell of Cardboard In The Morning. Tim is one of the surprisingly few Yankees bloggers out there, so I always appreciate swing by his blog and checking out what Yanks he's showing off, in addition to the other teams and players he collects.

I recently received my package, and I was shocked by the card that headlined it:

Whoa whoa whoa, why was this not in my collection?! It's true. A card of Tino from 1987 exists, and I had never come across it. I am a failure as a super collector. I am very, very grateful to now add this to my PC. Seriously, I am as disappointed in myself as I am excited to now own it.

I love this as well. It's another not-so-gentle reminder that Pacific in the late '90s was freakin' awesome.

Ohhhhhh shiny. So the day this card arrived, I had put in a bid on eBay on this exact card. Luckily I didn't win! It's a pink foil parallel #'d 46/50. It's pretty!

I admit I know next to nothing about turn of the century Stadium Club. This is a pretty insert. It's like 2016 Topps Perspectives, only nicer and better and not lamer.

Here is how Tim rounded out the package:

Tim, you are the man. I'm really psyched about that Tino. Thanks, my friend!

Tiny hooks a brother up

Uncle Tiny recently shot a nice package my way. He knows Yanks prospects are in my wheelhouse, and is always looking out for them.

I love this Greg Bird manu-relic. It's such a bummer that Bird is out for the season. I was really looking forward to him building on a strong rookie year.

This is the tale of two Tylers. Tyler Austin was once one of the crown jewels of the Yankees system. He was ranked as the 77th best prospect in the entire game heading into the 2013 season. Since then, he's battled injuries and just hasn't raked the way he did in 2011 and 2012. By now, he was supposed to be in the Bronx or right on the cusp. Instead, he's likely headed for another year in Scranton. Maybe he'll have a big start to the season and put himself in position for a call-up the way Slade Heathcott and Mason Williams did last year. However, without an invite to Big League camp, he's certainly not someone the Yankees are counting on. Too bad.

Tyler Wade on the other hand, just keeps climbing the Yankees organizational ladder, and doing so rather quietly. He was a 4th round pick in 2013, and spent last season in A+ and AA ball, where he was on average 3 years younger than the league average. He's likely ticketed for AA to start the season, but he's spending the spring in Big League camp as a 21-year-old, which is impressive. He might not be as sexy of a prospect as Jorge Mateo, but he's closer to the Majors (for now) and has a great chance to be a useful player in the next season or two.

Brad Halsey auto. RIP, sir.

Here's the best of the rest. Leonardo Molina is super young and oozing with tools. Giambi is not young, but is young at heart for sure. I believe he's spending his spring coaching the Indians. I'll be curious to see if he ends up coaching or managing one day.

Tiny, thanks my friend!

SuperTraders #1: The creator, JBF

I received my first of two #SuperTraders packages this weekend. It's only fitting that the first comes from the creator himself, Wes of Jaybarkerfan's Junk.

Wes always sends me such great Yankees cards. Often, cards I have never seen before. It's like he magically creates sets that came out 10-15 years ago, but no one saw them at the time. He is a magician like that.

Regardless, he sent a great package, and it was a perfect way to kick off #SuperTraders.

My favorite card of the package is this Jason Giambi game-used base relic. It's not my favorite just because it's a hit, but because I like relics that aren't jerseys or bats. Rubbery base relics always feel super cool. Seeing as it is called "Back 2 Back", I wondered if the flipside had another Yankee on it, like 2016 Topps. On the back was...Jason Giambi. So I guess not.

I feel that sets like Triple Threads and Tribute and Museum have a lot of nice base cards, but no one gives a damn since they aren't the "hits." I've found some of these "discards" as some of the nicer cards over the last few seasons.

Here is some solid '70s vintage, including a Ron Guidry rookie! Wow, now. I definitely have never seen that card before. It's awesome to now have Gator's RC.

A few '90s inserts to remind everyone why the '90s were an awesome time to collect, despite the perception. I've always thought that the 1998 Diamond Kings are very underrated.

 

Some Tinos! I needed that Yankee Stadium Legacy. I don't think I've properly counted the Tino YS Legacy cards as different Tinos, but why shouldn't I? They have different numbers.

This Finest Warriors card is sweet! The blue is so striking, and the die-cut is very cool. It looks like a badge of sorts. I bet this was a hot card during Tanaka's rookie year.

I don't think I bought any 2015 Archives. I said in a previous post, but I just can't tell all the Archives years apart now.

Tiger aka Chien-Ming Wang! Tiger is badass. Why didn't he keep that? Adrian Hernandez was a fairly big deal, but he never did much. He was nicknamed El Duquecito - Little El Duque - due to being Cuban and having similar arm angles, but he just wasn't that good.

I think I should end every blog post with this card.

Wes, thanks for getting this started!