Yankees first rounder auto

I recently treated myself to a certified auto of Ty Hensley, the Yankees first round pick in 2012. Ty’s an exciting prospect and the Yanks haven’t grabbed a highly touted high school arm in the first round since Phil Hughes (not counting Gerrit Cole since he didn’t sign in 2008).

 These Bowman Sterling on-card autos are pretty nice, despite scanning crappy. The blue is actually mirror-like and very vibrant. There are a few more Yanks in the set which I may try to pick up.

Topps Update blaster...I clearly didn't learn my lesson

Thanks for all the comments on my previous post. It was nice hearing from everybody again!

On Christmas Eve morning, I ran to the Walmart near my parents’ house to pick up a few items for my son that we lefty behind, most notably an aspirator. I swear that kid needs his nose sucked every five minutes. The store was actually empty, which is surprising for 10am on Christmas Eve. Anyhow, I swung by the card aisle, hoping to just find a pack or two since I literally haven’t bought a pack of cards since June or July. I knew I shouldn’t have, but I ended up buying a blaster of Topps Update. I received nothing good, and as soon as I finished opening it I thought “oh yeah, I knew I shouldn’t have done that.” I was at least hoping for an Ichiro Yankees card. Instead, I only got two Yankees – a blue-bordered Clay Rapada, and a shiny gold Cano. The two blue-bordered packs from Walmart annoy me. I’d rather just have normal packs.

I did get two Bryce Harpers…the fake RC one and some insert I forgot the name of…maybe one of the Golden Moments or something.

I also got the mandatory manupatch…this Carlton Fisk. At least it’s of a White Sox logo and not a Red Sox. If anyone is interested, I’ll gladly trade it. I haven’t done a trade in a long time!

I did pull six #’d gold cards. None are very good.

Finally, here’s the shiny Cano. Pretty sure he wants to forget the AS Game in KC.

Helloooo everybody!

Helloooo everybody! Especially you, Napkin Doon.

I’m not going to really explain what I’ve been doing the past few months. I’m sure you all have a time when family, work, life, hurricanes, etc. interfere with maintaining your blog or keeping up with the hobby. I never intended to fully go away, and I don’t consider the blog to be dead…just a bit dormant.

Anyhow, I’ve gotten a few cards in the mail lately (including a 1953 Topps Rizzuto), and even some old TTMs have trickled in, so I spent some time scanning a few cards that I’ll share in the next few days.

While I have been away, one thing has remained constant. Wes, aka Jaybarkerfan, is still probably the most generous blogger out there. At a time when it had been months since I got a new card, a box showed up in my Hoboken residence chock full of Yankee cards, as well as Tino cards. Then a few weeks later, a plain white envelope showed up, once again from Wes, with a few Yanks. At a time when I needed some inspiration, he sent it along.

It would take far too long to scan all the cards, so I picked out a few of my favorites. Wes, thanks for always thinking of me. Roll Tide!

As for the rest of you, hope you’ve all been well. Wishing you the best of luck with your 2013 collecting goals.

For Pat Neshek

I’m sure I’m late commenting on this, but the Pat Neshek story has me very emotional every time I see him pitch. As a father to a nine month old, I cannot image the situation that he and his wife recently went through.

Below, I’ve included a post that I did last February about a TTM success from Pat Neshek. Based on my math, Pat and his wife probably found out they were having a child right around the time he answered my letter. I actually noted to him in my letter that I had a new son, and asked that one of the cards he signed be personalized to my son, Joey. Pat, being the TTM legend that he is, honored this request.

I know that Pat will be an amazing father one day, but for now my heart aches for him, and hope that baseball is providing him a temporary relief from real life.

Feb 27, 2012:

Pat Neshek is one of the coolest pro athletes out there, not to mention one of the greatest TTM signers currently in the game. He is an avid autograph collector himself, and if you send him ANY signed card, he’ll send you another signed card of himself. Sorry for the crappy scans below.

I thought it would be cool to do two sketch cards of Pat. I did one in the 1986 Topps look, and another in the 1993 Upper Deck design. I included a note and asked him to keep one for himself, and kindly sign one for me. He ended up keeping the ’86 Topps and signing the other for me. It looks awesome! It’s very rewarding to have a pro athlete sign my artwork. 

I also sent him a 2011 Topps and asked him to sign it for my son, Joey. Pat was nice enough to do this and even inscribed it. Very awesome!

Lastly, I included a few random TTM dupes that I had – no one who was a very big name, and Pat graciously sent me two more signed cards. 

Mr. Neshek is a class act, and I thank him very much for this success.