TCMA...always something new

I feel like I'm constantly seeing new TCMA cards I hadn't seen before. To be fair, I've never known much about the sets or bothered to do the research. But always when I feel that I have a grasp on the Yankee cards in the set, a new one pops up.

This was a recent Listia win, and I hadn't seen it before. Usually TCMA cards are pretty bland on the front, but this one has some design work to it. I use that term loosely, as it almost looks like one of those cards you'd buy of yourself in your little league uniform with your stats on the back...you know, height 4'6", weight 65 lbs, favorite food: pizza, favorite player: Don Mattingly.

Regardless, it's still a pretty cool card.

Vintage Bowman on a fine Wednesday

I picked up two vintage Bowman cards on Listia recently.

The apple of my eye was the 1950 Bowman Gus Niarhos. He was a backup catcher for the Yankes in the late 40s, and upon looking up his stats, he played in my hometown of Binghamton in A-ball during the 1942 season. Interestingly, the card back says he was born in 1921, but everything else I read said he was born in 1920.

The same seller offered this 1953 Bowman color Ned Garver as well. I hadn’t heard of Garver, but he was actually pretty good. In 1951, he went 20-12 for the Browns and made the All-Star team. He hit 7 HRs in his career as well…not shabby. The card is well-loved, but if any of my Tigers friends or vintage-loving friends are interested in the card, let me know. If not, I’m glad to have it, as I don’t think I have any other 1953 Bowman color cards. 

Ok, I'm back!

Over the past week, I took a much, much needed breather from work and life and spent some time down in the Caribbean Islands. I had planned on doing a few posts a head of time to run while I was gone, but I never got around to it. Oh well.

Hope you guys are doing well and that you enjoyed your long weekend if you had one.

Off the grid for a few days

I'll be taking a much needed trip to a tropical island for the next week or so. I may try and schedule a few posts here and there, but I plan on turning off the phone/computer and relaxing for the next week.

Catch you all later this month!

Welcome to the show, David Adams!

Seemingly every week, a new Yankee farmhand is making his major league debut. Mostly it's because 90% of the team is injured, but as someone who follows the farm system, it's exciting to see some of these guys get an opportunity.

Today, infielder David Adams will make his ML debut on his 26th birthday. Adams came up as a bat-first 2B and was on the fast track to the bigs before injuries derailed his career. In fact, his ankle injury is what prevented the M's from trading Cliff Lee to the Yankees.

Anyhow, with Youkilis on the DL, Adams is going to get the chance to play 3B every day. I'm excited to see what he does, and hope he can take advantage of this opportunity.

Psssst, pass the Milk Duds

Have you guys ever seen these? In 1971, Milk Duds offered cards on their boxes. So in addition to a wonderful chocolatey caramel snack, you also scored a baseball card. Why don't companies do this now?

When I saw these, I needed to have them. I was able to win a Listia lot for these two cards. The Johnson is for trade if anyone is interested.

TTM Success: Jerry Lumpe

It's been a long time since I got a TTM success. To be fair, I haven't sent out a ton of requests. It's time consuming and I'm in a very busy period at work.

Anyhow, I recently picked up a 1958 Topps Jerry Lumpe, and sent it to him to get signed. It came back on Saturday with a perfect signature, defacing a hallowed vintage '58. Oh, the horror!

In my letter to him, I asked him about the time he spent in Binghamton in the minor leagues. He didn't answer. That's ok, he's 79 and probably has better things to do. Regardless, I'm happy to have this card back with a signature on it.

A few more HOFers for the binder

Including the cards I have yet to scan, I now have 48 cards in the HOF binder. Not too bad. I haven't updated progress lately, as these aren't very well-read posts (I don't care though).

Here are the new four I'll show. A little bit of everything here...an old school Topps, an ugly Donruss, a crazy credit card (still one of the coolest sets ever), and a typical, shiny mid-90s card. Variety!

Rivera Excels

As the Yanks play in Kansas City this weekend, it's hard not to remember last May, when Mariano Rivera fell to the ground after tearing his ACL shagging fly balls. At the time, no one knew if he'd pitch again. Luckily, he decided to come back, and he's been his usual self this season. The man is amazing.

Before being a dominant closer, he was a decent starting pitching prospect in the Yankees system. Here is a '94-'95 Fleer Excel card of Rivera pictured with the Tampa Yankees, won on Listia. I hadn't seen this card, but vaguely remember Excel from back in the day. The '94-'95 year is odd for baseball, as that's usually reserved for spots that play during two different calendar years, like basketball and hockey.

Rockin' Robin! Tweet tweet

 On Listia, I stole this sweet 1962 Topps Robin Roberts. I got it for way too cheap. I had seen an oddball card or two with Roberts as a Yankee, but nothing from Topps. I just didn't know it existed.

Now, I believe if you look closely, you can still see red pinstripes, but they are pretty subtle. Topps also didn't do a crappy airbrush job on a cap. They simply showed Robins well-maintained mane.

Roberts never did pitch for the Yankees, but it's very unique to have this card of a Hall of Famer, on your team, who never actually played for your team. Any other instances of that happening? I'm sure there are, but none off the top of my head.

1975 OPC from Adam E

AdamE from Thoughts and Sox and I did a quick trade recently. I sent him a few oddball Clemens, as well as a couple of cards off his want list. He sent me these sweet 1975 OPC cards. I had no idea these existed. Thanks, Adam!

Tino Tuesday #60: 2001 Topps Chrome Retrofractor #563

When I picked up this card on eBay a few weeks ago, I wasn't really sure what it was. It was definitely a 2001 Topps Chrome Gold Refractor, but this set is actually called Retrofractor. From what I can tell, they were seeded around 1:12. The star players fetch some decent $ on COMC. I landed this on eBay for a couple bucks shipped.

I half expected it to be serial numbered on the back, but it isn't. Either way, I hadn't come across this card, and find it to be really sharp.'

Anyone have any more info on Retrofractors?

A RC I had to have

I'm not huge into rookie cards. Although I do enjoy cards of prospects, I don't necessarily collect them to stock up on rookie cards.

Sure, there are a few I own that I cherish - an '84 Topps Mattingly, a '93 Topps Jeter, just to name a few. And I really, really want Mariano Rivera's Bowman RC. However, there is one that I have been chasing for awhile, and I finally picked up.

Cano is the best 2B in baseball, and thus far, has been the rock in the Yankees lineup, providing middle of the order power and striking fear into opposing pitchers. I've been a big fan of his since he came up, and the cost of his RC are only going up. I found it for a pretty good deal on eBay, and finally pulled the trigger.

I'd be surprised if Cano didn't re-sign with NY after his deal is up this year. I look forward to watching him continue to produce in his prime, and am happy to now own this card.

A Zipp-ity Zapp-ity doo dah trade

A few weeks ago, reader Kenny aka Zippy Zappy reached out about a possible trade. Zippy Zappy has been a frequent commenter on my blog, so I was all for it. As seen in many of his comments, he too is a Yankee fan. He mentioned he had some prospect cards and other goodies, and that he collects Cervelli, Posada, and Cano. I figured I had enough dupes around that I could help him out, and a trade was born.

Kenny’s package arrived first, as I was a slacker and took forever to send out my portion. Kenny exceeded any expectations I had by a longshot. He sent some sweet autos, a relic, and an overall large stack of awesome Yankee cards. I had been missing out by not trading with him sooner!

I’ll start with the autos. When he was my favorite Yankee prospect, I always coveted a Jesus Montero autograph. I was about 0 for 12 with him TTM. Although he’s no longer a Yankee, I’m thrilled that Kenny sent this:

These 2008 TriStar Projection cards were always a favorite of mine. I love the white, and signatures stick them very well. Kenny sent me a stack of the base cards and the foil parallels.

Here are a few more Montero and other prospects that Kenny included: 

Kenny also included two other autos of Yankee farmhands – Austin Romine and Daniel Brewer. Romine just got called back up to the Yankees to replace Frankie Cervelli. 

The Brewer is really interesting. His autographed card says “Danny Brewer”, but the base card says “Daniel Brewer.” I found that to be quite odd. 

Here is the relic that Kenny sent. I didn’t have any from 2012 A&G. 

Check out this sweet Sabathia. I have NO IDEA where this is from. It’s issued by Topps, but also co-branded with Sega. The back is in Japanese as well, and the stats appear to be some sort of rating system. It’s a very, very cool card. CC’s gut looks completely massive in this photo. For all you Dodger fans, Kenny also included a Matt Kemp Sega card. 

Here are some shiny inserts that really caught my eye. That Montero die cut is actually gold and #’d 03/25. I didn’t know there was a gold parallel for these. I couldn’t get it to scan well, but the gold is really cool…almost like a diagonal rain. 

 

Finally, Kenny added a few cards to my son’s HOF binder.

Kenny, this was a great, great trade. Thanks for being a loyal reader, and I hope to trade again soon.