The last Pineda of 2013

Before 2013 closes, here is the last Michael Pineda card I acquired. It's a 2012 Topps Golden Moments autograph. The auto is a sticker which sucks, but it only put me back $3.

It would be a damn good golden moment if Big Mike actually pitches for the Yankees this season. I have a feeling we'll see him on the bump in 2014, and I hope he regains some of that 2011 All-Star form. Even 150 league-average innings would be something to build on. He’s still just 24, after all.

Top 5 TTMs of 2013

Admittedly, I don't love countdowns. I especially don't love year-end countdowns. I don't know why, just never have. Maybe it's because the Letterman Top 10 got so overblown and overdone. In high school or college, I'd listen to a presentation by a dean of "Top 10 Reasons to Stay out of Trouble" or something, and it was always so lame. Older people tended to use "Top 10 Reasons..." as a way to relate to young people and show how hip they were. It always bugged me.

Then, last week, I was in Maryland for the holidays, and the local guys were doing "Top 10 moments in DC sports for 2013." I just felt like the guys mailed it in because they didn't want to be working the day after Christmas. I don't blame them one bit. I care nothing about DC sports, so perhaps that's why it rubbed me the wrong way or just reaffirmed why I don't dig Top 10s.

Anyways, I'll be extremely hypocritical and do a Top 5 TTMs of the year post. I'm doing this because I'm lazy, but feel like I should do one more blog post this year. See? I'm mailing it in.

5. Eric Jagielo, Yankees Prospect

Eric Jagielo was the Yankees first round draft choice this year. A 3B out of Notre Dame, he was one of the draft's most polished hitters. He was assigned to short season Staten Island. I didn't have a Yankee card of him yet, but still wanted to try him TTM. I started sending these Yankee Stadium cards as a solution for that. I don't love the "signature" cards or an index cards, so I thought this was a cool solution.

4. Jerry Lumpe

Really, this card is on here because it's a 1958 Topps card. I love getting TTMs on vintage cards (eeek, or defacing them!), and I only got a few of them this year. Lumpe's signature looks great on the card, and his turnaround time was very fast. Just a really, really nice success.

3. Shane Spencer

Spencer, to me, really embodied those great Yankees teams of the 1990's. He came up and won a job on the magical 1998 team with a torrid September. I feel like many of the Yankees fringe OF prospects refuse to come up and win a job. Spencer played like he never wanted to go back to the minors. He was a key contributor in the playoffs as well, and was a very likable guy.

2. Bucky Dent

Memorable moment, on a fantastic card. Enough said.

1. Andy Pettitte

This is my first Pettitte autograph. I figured I'd never see this card again, so I sent a crappy Pacific card that I figured I'd never see again. Well, I did see it again, this time with Andy Pettitte's autograph on it. Damn! Regardless, I'm extremely thankful to add this to my TTM collection, as it's one of the best successes I've ever had.

There you have it, my best TTMs from 2013. I'll probably do this again in late December of 2014 because I love countdowns.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Have a great day with your loved ones.

I wish everyday was Griffey's Birthday

Junior Junkie sent me a PWE just because it was Ken Griffey Jr's birthday. Seriously, how fantastic is that?

Here are the goods. Thanks to JJ, and thanks to Ken Griffey Jr for being born.

Zippy Zapped!

First off, I'm going out of order. Several weeks ago, Zippy Zappy sent me an EPIC package that I've just gotten around to scanning. I want to give the post full justice, so I'm going to slip ahead to a PWE Zippy Zappy sent me last week for Christmas.

Kenny and I have very similar collecting goals. We both love the Yankees, and love following Yankees prospects. A lot of the cards Kenny sends me are of current and past Yankee prospects, and we frequently email one another to discuss this prospect or that prospect. Zippy is also a loyal Staten Island Yankees fan, and has a very impressive autograph collection of the team.

These are not all of te cards sent me, but merely some highlights. The cards all clevely came in an opened pack:

 There were two Ty Hensley cards in there. This is a guy I'm probably going to add to "players I collect." I'm really excited about seeing him back on the mound this year.

This is my first Eric Jagielo card. Jagielo was the Yankees 1st round draft this past year. I do have his autograph on a Yankee Stadium team car, but this is my first card of him as the subject.

This is an awesome National Chicle Jeter I've never seen.

And last but not least, a Rizzuto RP from 2013 Bowman.

Zippy Zappy, thank you sir. Merry Christmas.

Autographed cards are better than Christmas cards

In yesterday's mail, there were three bubble mailers, two Christmas cards, and some other junk mail. I win the day!

I went on a little certified auto shopping spree last week. It's pretty unlike me, I won't lie. Not that I don't love certified autographs, I just don't buy them very much.

The first I snagged was my first Michael Pineda autograph. This is from 2011 Bowman Chrome and is on card.

 

The next two are from Bowman Inception. I know absolutely nothing about this set, other than I like the dramatic filter they use on the player images. The Tyler Austin is on card, while the Heathcott is a sticker.

  

All in all, three great looking cards.

Happy Birthday, Steve H(G)arvey

Happy Birthday, Steve Harvey!!

Oh wait, that's not right...
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...Yes, this is it. Steve GARVEY, not Steve Harvey.

I really want to win a '52 Topps Yankees.

Contest over at GCRL - ENTER HERE

My newest vintage Rizzuto

It's been a while since I've scored a new vintage Rizzuto. That changed when I saw this 1953 Bowman pop up on eBay. It's well-loved, which is why I got it for a few bucks. I'm trying to get all his old Topps and Bowman cards, so this is a great addition.

I cannot wait until I score a 1952 Topps (it's becoming my white whale), but until now, this will fit nicely with my others:

 

 

 

Fantastic cards from Fantastic Catch

I recently (and by recently I mean over the summer) completed a trade with Weston over at Fantastic Catch. He reached out about doing a sketch/paint card of Lance Lynn for his PC. I did one for him, and in return, he sent me a great batch of Yankees.

Weston clearly knows who I collect, as the package was Pineda and prospect heavy

I LOVE the Pro Debut Pineda. Such a sweet card. I swear, he's going to contribute this year.

And a few more cards of some guys I collect. Weston, than you, sir!

Listia Wall of Shame. Add your favorite sellers!

I shouldn't give bad Listia sellers the time of day. I've come across some that are so bad or ill-informed, it's painful. I should be the bigger person and move on, right? Wrong. I enjoy Lisita. I do. Sure, 499 credits for a 1991 Donruss common is a joke, but I've gotten some great cards on the site. However, what I'm tired of is clueless sellers. Maybe I'm spoiled by constantly being in contact with some incredibly smart collectors who take pride in their shipping and in knowing what they are sending.

I'm tired of sellers who just dump cards in a PWE with no protection. I'm tired of sellers incorrectly listing their cards and insisting that they are right. I'm tired of fake autographs.

On my blog, I'll now be featuring Listia members who have no business listing and shipping cards. These are just my experiences with them. Yours may be different. If you'd like someone added to this list, feel free to email me. This list will live permanently on my blog.

Here we go. The seller's name is in bold, with a short write-up on why I consider them to be a poor seller.

imacman - I won nine cards for less than 100 credits. He shipped these cards in a PWE with zero protection. Each of the cards arrived with dinged corners. When I emailed him about it, he never responded, and blocked me from bidding on his auctions. Stand up guy.

fredlohmar - Perhaps my favorite Listian of all time. Fred listed a card as a serial numbered refractor. When the card arrived, it was serial numbered, but was not a refractor. I emailed him about this. Fred said "any numbered card is a refractor. They don't just put ser numbers on card for the hell of it." Mind. Blown.

concertlovr - Lists some of the fakest autos I've ever seen. I call him out all the time, and have had several members reach out to me about his autos being fake. He never has a COA, and all his signatures look plain bad. He just copies them off of Google, but messes them up. A lot of his letters have the same tendencies, and the pen stroke always looks like it's been done very slowly.

righteouswarrior - ships cards with no protection. When emailed, says that it costs too much to put cardboard in an envelope. I can attest that it doesn't.

Listia adding to my PC

Listia sucks 95% of the time, we all know it. However, there are still deals to be find and useful cards to be acquired. Take this, for example. A 2012 Topps Opening Day Michael Pineda. Mine for just 51 credits (and it came with a Russell Martin from the same set).

In terms of adding a card I needed of a player I collect, it gets no easier than this.

Later dude

Don't have time to really post, but I'll say this. I'm glad the Yanks didn't ante up for 10 years. I would have been fine with seven, but 10 is nuts. I enjoyed watching Cano play, and he was a key cog of the 2009 World Series championship. Best of luck in Seattle.

Now what am I going to do with all these?

 

Jersey card of Phil Hughes right as he leaves

Right as he leaves NY and heads to Minnesota, a jersey card of Phil Hughes that I won on Listia arrived. Hughes was frustrating, but I always had a soft spot for him. It was probably because he was homegrown.

When Hughes made his much anticipated ML debut, I was there. I can effectively say that I saw many of his highs and lows as a Yankee in person. I've accumulated quite a bit of Hughes cards over the last few years, and there will always be a place in my collection for Yankees card of his.

Best of luck, Philbert. Hope you put it together in Minny.

A gorgeous Rizzuto from Listia

First off, I'm not even going to try and wrap my head around this Jacoby Ellsbury deal. It caught me very off guard, and I have mixed feelings. That's all I have to say about that, for now.

On to the Rizzuto. It's not vintage, but I found a high-end base card of his on Listia that I really wanted. This is a great-looking card from 2010 Topps Tribute. I don't come across this brand much. It's not usually one that's sent in trades, so grabbing a card of a player I collect in one of Topps premium brands is a must.

I'm working on documenting my Rizzuto have list, including both vintage and the newer stuff. I hope to have it up soon.