10 years (and 2 days)

Two days ago, my blog's 10th anniversary came and went without a whimper. That was my fault. I had February 17th engrained in my head, but when I went to double-check yesterday, I realized I had actually missed it by a day. February 10, 2011 was the day.

I didn't have anything grand scheduled even if I did get the day right. To tell you the truth, it makes my slightly uncomfortable to think about doing this for 10 years. It's a bit of a secret part of my life that I don't really let people I know in real life in on. I also don't take it particularly seriously. This could be my last post and I'd be fine. 

With that being said, I don't want to minimize how much I've enjoyed collecting and sharing my collection with others over the last decade. My collection has grown so much and in such cool and unexpected ways. So has the hobby, and I've grown and adapted with it.

I often do still feel "lost," so I think my name still fits. Things come and go that inspire me, and rather frequently. Perhaps it's picking up 1990s NBA rookie cards one month, and then I move on from that and pick up the Yankees latest three draft picks. Thanks for that one, ZZ.

Or it's big bubble mailers to and from bloggers for years, and then eventually two-card PWEs from Trading Card Database.

One consistent is Tino Martinez, and here are the two latest from him, bringing me to 1,058.

Regardless, thank you so much for following along! I don't anticipate a "here's to the next 10," but let's go with "here's to keeping going as long as I am still enjoying it." That feels better.

Happy 53rd birthday, Tino Martinez

Today, my favorite baseball player of all time turns 53. I definitely feel old myself the older he gets. He's in legit "Old Timers Day Age." 

What's cool about Tino's birthday is that it's also the day he was traded from Seattle to NY. Dec, 1995. That happened on his 28th birthday. Almost half of his lifetime ago!

Tino went on to have a rough start in Pinstripes. He admitted to pressing and doing too much to try and replace Don Mattingly and win over the fans. Things started to turn around in late April, with a 15th-inning grand slam versus Baltimore. He ended the season batting .292 with 25 homers and 117 RBIs. Not bad numbers at all, but almost pedestrian in the mid '90s era with all the juice heads hitting 50 homers and driving in 150. 

I admired the way he played, even when slumping, and became an instant fan. I found a few of his Mariners cards already in my collection, and probably would have gotten a few Yankees cards later that year. I have a very nice 69 cards of him from 1996, although I'd say maybe half of him are actually as a Yankee.

This is my favorite 1996 card of his. It's a die cut, oversized issue from Upper Deck Authenticated celebrating the 1996 World Series Champion Yankees. I'm surprised he was the subject of the card, as opposed to Jeter or Bernie or O'Neill or Pettitte. 

Tino keeps getting older. So do I. But collecting his cards helps keep me connected to my childhood memories of him.

The birthday boy!

Nooo, it's not my birthday. I don't usually post about that.

Today is birthday of Tino Martinez! He turns 52 today. Yikes. That makes me feel old.

To celebrate, here are a few Tino's I recently snagged:

The first is may look like a fairly basic 2003 Topps, but is in fact one of HTA (Home Team Advantage) versions. This came through in a trade with alh on Trading Card Database.

The next is from the new Topps Tek set, and is an orange parallel numbered to 25. Cool looking card!

Happy birthday, Tino!

Celebrating Tino's birthday with an Xplosive new card

Today, Tino Martinez turns 51.

I think last year I felt a bit weird knowing my baseball hero was turning 50, and I remember him when he was in his late 20s and early 30s, cranking high fast balls over the right field wall at Old Yankee Stadium.

There's not much special about 51 (other than being Bernie's #!), but hopefully Tino continues to enjoy his 50s and then I feel extra old in 9 years when he turns 60.

As luck would have it, a new Tino arrived in the mail yesterday. I had known this existed and wanted it for a while, but never quite pulled the trigger. Finally I saw one in my saved search for the right price, and not wanting it to escape me again,  I made the purchase.

This card is 199 Skybox Molten Metal. Specifically, it's an Explosion parallel, and is actually a metal card with rounded die cut edges. The best I can compare it to is that it feels similar to a printing plate. These Xplosion cards fell at a rate of 1:2, so while not rare, it's not always the easiest set to find for player collectors.

I don't think this metal card will replace 1999 Topps Stars N Steel as my favorite metal-based set of all time, although this has a bit of a cleaner look and feels a little sturdier.

Regardless, it's a great card to show off of Tino on his birthday, and puts me at 856 unique Tinos.

Happy Birthday, #24!

The Lost Collector Turns 7!

Holy smokes. This little tiny blog turns seven years old today. My very first post was on this day in 2011. Since then, there have been 1,946 posts. Sure, most of them are show and tell, but this blog is the reason I'm still so into collecting after coming back into the hobby.

It's crazy to think how much my life has changed since 2011. Two kids, two different jobs, a house. I've grown up a lot.

I'm 34 years old too, which means I've had this blog for about 1/5 of my life. Funny way to look at it.

So much has happened in baseball since then. Here is the Yankees 2011 Opening Day lineup.

Gardner
Jeter
Teixeira
Rodriguez
Cano
Swisher
Posada
Granderson
Martin
Sabathia

Damn, that was pretty good.

Who knows what's in store for the next seven years. Hopefully a lot of this guy:

Anyhow, thank you for helping to keep this blog going and for the thousands of cards sent my way since 2011.

Tino turns 50!

50! My childhood hero turns the big 5-0.

I know that may not seem old to some. I'm sure some reading this are older than that. It's just a bit odd to think that the player I rooted for most growing up is now 50 years old, his playing days now 12 years behind us. Pretty incredible.

I guess that means I'm getting older too!

Wishing Tino a very happy 50th, and to celebrate, here are 50 random Tino cards!