The youngest to (insert the blank)

Pretty much every night, I feel like I see a new graphic about Gleyber Torres.

Youngest AL player to hit a HR in 4 straight games.
Youngest Yankee to hit a walk-off homer.
Youngest player to make a grown man go broke because he keeps buying a 21-year-old's Topps NOW cards.

Ok, that last one might have been a stretch, but that's the direction I'm headed. I've actually been a bit better recently about not buying every single Torres Topps NOW cards, but it's when a.) he's really good and b.) so are the Yankees.

This one just arrived in the mail, and I've got two more on the way: 10+ HRs before 22nd birthday matches Mantle, and then the shared card with Juan Soto.

I'm writing this post on Friday and scheduling it for the following Thursday (aka today). I'll probably have bought three more of these between then and now.

This set is aliiiiive

When it first came out, the Topps Living Set really took the hobby by storm. The first few cards were fetching hundreds of dollars, and then folks started to catch on and drive up print numbers.

I was one of those people.

I haven't purchased a whole weekly issue lot, but I did pick up two cards on eBay while they were out. The first is the card that currently holds the highest print run (46,809), Ronald Acuna. Say what you want about Topps, but they took advantage of Acunamania when he first got called up. They must've made a killing.

Since I can't find any baseball cards near where I live, I figured it was worth the $4 to own a RC of one of the game's brightest young stars.

Speaking of bright young stars, I also purchased the second highest print run card (28,550), Yankees phenom Gleyber Torres. This was a no-brainer for me. Although I have to say, I didn't love the artistic photo choice. Gleyber looks like he's saying, "pffffft, I'm too cool for this."

Still, I can't pass up ANY rookie card of him these days.

I'm sure I'll pick up a few others here and there. I'd do anything for Tino to be included in this set, but I have a feeling that's not happening any time soon.

TTM Success: Braden Bristro

It's been a while since a TTM request returned, but luckily I got home from work on Thursday with a nice little PWE waiting for me. Braden Bristro signed my Choice 2017 minor league card. Shout out to Zippy Zappy for sending me the card.

I definitely didn't prep the card, as it didn't feel like it needed it. I can't tell if the marker bubbled on the surface, or if it was ball point pen. I think the former, so that's my fault.

Bristro has had a solid season for Charleston, pitching to a 1.33 ERA in 17 games, striking out 30 in 27 innings. Hopefully he can continue to move up the ladder and be a valuable bullpen arm one day.

Thanks for the autograph, Mr. Bristro!

Jeets and Judge

You people are so nice, you know that? A few weeks ago, Jason from Hoarding Cardboard emailed me saying he was cutting down his Derek Jeter collection, and wanted to give me dibs on any I needed. His list had a whole bunch that I needed too!

And right before he mailed his package, he also asked me if I wanted this:

Of course! It was the card of 2017!

Here are a few of the Jeters he sent. The 1992 Classic is definitely my favorite!

Jason, thanks so much! If you don't follow his blog, you should do so.

Some homemade wall art

As I mentioned in my last post, Bert from Swing and a Pop Up sent me a set of 1981 Topps Giant Photo Cards featuring the Yankees. Bert also included one of the wrappers, which was in great condition. I loved the look and size of it, and decided to make something fun.

On Friday night, my wife went over to the neighbor's for some wine. I stayed home watching the Yanks, as the kids were in bed. I found some motivation to do an art project, and the wrapper was a perfect test experiment.

Taking a slab of wood I had from the hobby store, I found that the wrapper fit nearly perfectly. I applied a few coats of Mod Podge, and ended up with a pretty cool piece!

It's not perfect. I didn't line it up well and it's a little slanted. Additionally, it dried with a few lumps underneath it.

Still, I think it looks cool, and it's an authentic wrapper from 37 years ago.

Pretty awesome!

Swing and a Pop Up pops up

It's been awhile since I've conversed with Bert from Swing and a Pop Up. I've always known him to be a very generous guy though. Out of the blue a few weeks back, Bert popped up in my inbox, offering me a full set of Yankees 1981 Topps Giant Photo Cards. He informed me that he bought a box expecting all Red Sox, and the Yankees found their way into it. I chuckled at that!

Regardless, Bert sent me all the Yankees from this fun product. Here are a few:

 

I've always like them! I want to figure out a cool way to display them.

Speaking of display, Bert also sent a wrapper from '81 Topps Giant Photos. I thought it was cool, and decided to turn it into some wall art. More to come!

Bert, thanks for your generosity!

I've been waiting for you

There aren't many Ty Hensley cards that I don't have.

This is one I knew has existed, but haven't gotten my hands on it. There is a gold version on COMC for $35 (nope), but the neither that nor the silver come around very often. Then an eBay listing popped up with a minimum bid of $.99 + $3.50 shipping.

I was the only bidder!

Not only that, but a second card was part of the lot. I do already have this one, but hey, I would have spent the $4.50 without it, so I look at it as a nice bonus.

The top card would have been a great card to save for my July 4th post, but I am too excited about finally checking it off the list and adding to my Hensley collection.

Latest TTM success from Ty Hensley

Here's a spring training TTM success that I haven't gotten around to posting. I was going to use it as part of a grander post, and I probably still will, but for now it's clogging up my scanned folder so I figured I'd at least show the cards.

While he was still a member of the Rays organization, one of my main dudes Ty Hensley signed three more cards for me.

 

Since then, Ty has moved on from the Rays and is currently pitching for the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League. Yes, it's independent ball, but I'm just happy to see him on the mound after several years lost to injury. Thus far, he's appeared in four games for the Otters.

I am hoping the Otters put out a baseball card set too, as it would be so cool to get a 2018 Hensley.

As usual, I included a few extras for him to give to his family and friends. Ty was also kind enough to send a nice hand-written note as well. I'll probably shoot him an envelope this week with a few more cards in it for his Evansville teammates and fans.

Domingo on a Sunday

I gotta say, I'm very impressed with the way Domingo German settled down last night after giving up 3 first inning runs to the Mets.

There are going to be some bumps, but he has shown quite a bit of potential as a future regular member of the Yankees rotation. Many pitchers would have let the game get out of hand after the first, but German settled down, moved past the inning, and ended up throwing five scoreless frames after that. Not easy to do, but he showed some serious mental strength.

I hope to see some more cards of him in the near future. For now, my collection consists of just four cards:

 

The first 2018 draft pick cards arrive

The MLB Draft is super boring. None of us know who any of these guys are or have seen them play. I applaud MLB for trying to make it a little more interesting and televising the event, but it's never going to be like the NFL or NBA Draft.

One way I've made it more interesting for myself is to try and grab a card of the draft pick after he is selected by the Yankees, if one exists. Luckily with all of the the USA baseball releases, the top picks usually have some sort of card out there.

I struck out on adding anything autograph or relic-related for the Yankees first pick, Anthony Seigler. I think Zippy Zappy was touting this guy too much and drove up his autograph prices!

I did manage to score a nice relic and base card of the Yankees 3rd round pick, high school OF Ryder Green. He's shown as a pitcher in these cards, but the Yanks drafted him as a power-hitting outfielder.

I found a pretty cheap lot that had a relic /99 and a few base cards, so I pounced. The base will definitely be used for TTM once he starts his pro career, assuming he signs.

BLOG BAT A ROUND : red cards for Red Schoendienst

Collecting Cutch started a Blog Bat Around to show off some red cards in honor of the late Red Schoendienst.

I certainly have to start by showing this card, which actually isn't mine. The generous Ryan of Ryan's Pitch sent this to me for my son's HOF collection, and there it still resides:

 

 

In terms of other "red" cards, I do not have any more of the subject at hand, but do have quite a few Cardinals cards in my collection of this guy:

 And of course you can't forget about the RED, white, and blue:

Or the RED ink autograph...

 Or the guy with RED hair...

RIP, Red! Hope you're able to ball on a cornfield somewhere out there.

Christmas in May and posting in June

I was also on the receiving end of Johnny's Trading Spot's generous Christmas in May offerings. With Johnny currently running a Big Fun Game, I felt like I should try and post from the great package he sent me before more cards from him show up on my doorstep.

I forgot to get a picture of it, but I enjoy how John wraps his card packages in newsprint.

I'll start with two Tino Martinez cards. I needed both of these. The Topps 2000 is an HTA version...Home Team Advantage, which I guess was exclusive to Hobby. The Upper Deck Amazing Greats is an awesome clearcut. I thought I had it, but I only had the more rare silver diecut version, so this was a very welcome surprise. Plus I love clearcuts.

And these two equal Tino cards #849 and 850! Nice, round number.

I don't even know where to start with the rest of the cards, so I'll show an adorable Pacific Card-supials Alfonso Soriano.

Zippy Zappy showed some of the minor leaguers John sent, so here's the lot included in my package.

Bernie Williams is pretty underrated in the hobby, but he had a LOT of cards in the late 90s and early 00s. John sent no shortage of Bernie cards, many of them very bright and shiny.

The Crown Royale proof card was interesting. It's paper thin!

I had never seen this card from Fleer - a Grassroots insert. The lemon-line green and yellow look awesome in person. Great color combo.

This card stuck out to me as interesting. First, I love that "Flash" Gordon was used. Then Topps photoshopped him into his new Phillies uniform, but then didn't change the team name from Yankees. Oops!

Here is a great minor league Righetti at its finest. Remarkable card!

And a few other fun cards.

John, thanks so very much!