The Melkman

Melky Cabrera was a solid player for the Yankees. He wasn't flashy, wasn't a superstar, and in turn, players like that can get overlooked. He's a guy you take for granted. Someone who was going to hit .270 with a some pop here and here, get on base at .330 clip, and play good defense.

So when Rod from Padrographs posted this in one of his free card giveaways, I jumped at the chance to add a Melky autograph on a '52 design. I think it's my first and only autograph of him.

I have a fond memory of Melky from a game I attended in person, as I had a great view of him making this catch:

Since then, he has bounced around a few teams and even won an All-Star Game MVP. Sadly, he also got popped for PED usage.

Still, it's an awesome card of a solid, but easily forgotten Yankee.

Thanks, Rod!

Contest winnings from Padrographs

I've been a bit slow to post about some great card packages that came this spring, and my sincerest apologies to those who sent, namely Rod and Kerry!

The first I'll get to is Rod's from Padrographs, so Kerry's cards will have to wait for another day, although they are finally scanned. Rod held a contest, which ended up being a card draft of sorts. Here's the card I chose from the list:

There was no huge reason I chose this card. I picked towards the end of the list, and out of what was available, a numbered card of a team's Top 30 prospect seemed the way to go. According to MLB.com pipeline, Pavin Smith is Arizona's 15th best prospect, and is currently in AA ball.

Rod, being the generous dude he is, also sent some awesome Yankees.

This is the first 2019 Topps Total card I've received. This is a red parallel (I assume!), numbered to just 10. Luckily this card didn't have surface peeling like a lot of the ones I've seen.

Probably the coolest card - if you can call it that - is this card/coin combo of Aaron Judge from Baseball Treasure. It's cool, and puts those old Pinnacle Coin cards to shame. The Judge replica is pretty good, as well. What a unique card!

Speaking of Judge, here are a couple others that were new to me, both from last year's Big League.

While I've made it known I'm not the biggest Big League fan, I am happy to have these two Gleyber Torres cards anyways, especially with the 2018 being his rookie. He gets overshadowed a lot, but he's a special player and I'll take any of his RCs.

And another RC:

I liked this Grapefruit League insert as well. I thought the 2019 Series One Spring Training inserts were some of the better inserts this year, you know, for a 2019 set since none of them have good inserts anymore. I thought the designs were nice, but I wish they were less flat and could have used some shiny or sparkles or foil. But the concept was decent and the cards looked pretty great compared to the other inserts.

I think, although am not certain, that this is my first Paxton card as a Yankee. He's been pretty "meh" this season, but better as of late. The potential is there, but his control hasn't been good. He has a bad knee and that could be affecting him. Still, I like that he has the ability to shut down a lineup on any given night, I just hope we see it more!

Lastly, this is one of my very favorite Yankee cards, and I always smile when I get one.

Rod also included a 1986 Fleer pack. In addition to having the wrapper, which I still use for my various arts and crafts, here was the best card:

Thanks for the awesome package, Rod!

Cards from Padrographs

Recently, Rod from Padrographs reached out and wanted to send me some Yanks. He mentioned he had a few die cuts and a stack of other cards. I’ll never say no that. It was an extremely generous package and I certainly appreciate the great cards.

Here are some highlights:

My two favorite cards are easily these two 2011 Bowman Chrome Futures Die Cut Gary Sanchez cards. One is the Refractor version and one is the X-Fractor or Bubblefractor or something. I didn’t have either of these cards – just the regular version – so now I have all three. Gary Sanchez is awesome and I really hope the Yankees don't trade him this winter. His name pops up in possible trades often, probably because he is so awesome.

Here are a few prospect cards. The Whitley is a blue parallel from Topps Pro Debut. It’s a very nice shade of light blue on the border. Why do the parallels in Opening Day and Pro Debut always look better than the ones in the flagship set? I’m also excited to get this Rob Segedin, as I sent this exact card to him TTM and never got it back. Glad to replace it. 

A few Gypsy Queens. Just love this set.

I was especially pumped to get these 2011 Topps HTA Yankee cards. I hadn’t seen these in person and I think they are really pretty cards. I didn’t ever expect to land any of these when I saw them posted on various blogs, so this was an exciting inclusion by Rod.

And here are a few more Yanks. No small names here.

Rod, I really appreciate the cards! Thanks again.