Sometimes red ink is ok

I remember being a student and getting a paper or test returned. A lack of red ink usually meant I did pretty well. The more red ink, the worse it was going to be. I remember a biology test once where it looked like my teacher cleaned up a murder scene with my paper.

But there are times when red ink can be ok. In fact, it can signify an A+. In this instance, this is my first red ink autograph of anytime, and it comes to me courtesy of Collecting Cutch:

Look at that beaut! That is a card I've wanted for a long time. The red ink as part of a Team USA card makes it even cooler in my opinion.

Equally as cool for me is a card I never thought I'd find, let alone own. This is when relics were still pretty new, and having three star members of the Yankees on one? Good luck. It's still a hard card to locate, and I'm not sure how Mr. Cutch tracked one down and sent it my way.

Part of me thinks Brian (the mastermind behind Collecting Cutch) looks out for me because I'm a fellow player collector, but I know he's helped my collection far more than I've helped his.

He also sent me a few cool Yankee cards. This card stuck out to me. Is Clemens about to throw the bat at Piazza here, only to be blocked out by the Upper Deck Vintage logo???

Also, the back tells me Tino had three hits! Cool. I don't remember that.

A Stanton base card! This are still new and rare and exciting to me. It's my second after Heritage.

A few more from 2018, including a rookie of Miguel Andujar. He has 9 hits this year, and 6 have gone for extra bases. Once he settles in, he's going to be a good one.

Oh, and this guy is really good too. Just gets better by the game, it seems.

Brian, this was a beyond generous card package, with two big old whales I never thought I'd get. Thank you!

USA! USA! USA!

No, this is not a political post. I’ll spare you. If you want political posts, just go on your Facebook and read the post of your best friend from fifth grade who you haven’t seen from seventh grade. I’m sure he has some great, unbiased political insights.

This is a post to say how thankful I am for USA baseball, and because of his role on the 1988 squad, Tino Martinez is still included in some newer releases that center around these teams of the past.

I keep waiting for him to make an appearance in Archives or something – it’s not a stretch when you see guys like Bret Boone and Tony Fernandez and even Paul O’Neill included – but alas, each year passes without finding Tino in a current release. However, the non-Topps products have been a bit more generous to him over the past few years.

This was a cool set from Panini in 2013 – USA Baseball Champions. This exact card has several color, numbered parallels. This gold #’d/25 popped up for a very affordable BIN on eBay, so I snagged it, not knowing when I’d see it again. I believe all I need now is the Mirror Blue parallel /199, which shouldn’t be too tough.

Hopefully I’ll see Tino in a 2017 product, but until then, I’ve got cards like this to keep the hunt going.

Stars, Stripes, & Big Mike

Happy 4th! I'm a big fan of this holiday. The week at work leading into the 4th is always slow. People take off early. In the NYC area, everyone goes to the Jersey Shore, the Hamptons, or Cape Cod, so the city and the surrounding area is usually pretty quiet. Plus the kids are running around, eating burgers and dogs, and it makes for a great couple of days.

Keeping up with the theme of the day, here's a Panini USA Baseball Stars & Stripes Game Gear relic of Yankees 2015 first rounder James Kaprielian. A report this past week said that he and the Yanks are close to a $3mil deal. I'd love to get him signed and wrapped up. Given his workload for the season at UCLA, I'd expect him to make a couple of starts in the low minors/rookie ball, and then jump into full season ball to start next yeah. He should move quickly.

After an epic win last night, the Yanks and Rays face off today in a matinee. The weather here in NY is cloudy and fairly cool, but the chance of rain looks to be diminishing. Big Mike is on the hill for the Yanks.

I recently picked up this 2015 Topps Archives gold parallel of Pineda, and I gotta say, the card stock is a joke. I'm not usually one to care about that sort of thing, but it feels like I'm holding a promo card for a free t-shirt or something. It just feels so flimsy and cheap. Too bad. The card is #'d 05/50...palindrome!

I hope you and your families have a terrific 4th! Go Yankees!

PWE-town Tom delivers again

P-Town Tom sent me a great PWE a few weeks ago. He actually posted this Tino on his blog, and it arrived in my mailbox the next day, that sneaky son of a gun.

What a cool card! The green is stunning. I love these USA Champions cards, notably because it gives me some modern-day Tinos to chase. This was new to my collection, so much appreciated.

And as he usually does, Tom sent a few HOF cards for Joey's binder, which reminds me that I must do a post updating the status of Joey's cards. As always, these cards went directly into the binder.

Thanks, Tom. Keep catching those raccoons!

Let's go USMNT!

Tony and Tino say let's go USA!

Tino says, "USA! USA!"

I’ll show my support for the red, white, and blue with another Tino Martinez autograph that I recently picked up. My Tino autograph collection is looking healthy these days as being pretty sparse for a long time. This particular one is from 2013 Panini USA Champions.

Tino was a member of the 1988 USA Olympic Gold Medal winning squad. Let’s hope the US Men’s soccer team gets another W tonight against Portugal. I know I'm really stretching to draw a connection between the two, but bear with me!

Tino Tuesday #47: 1989 Topps Big #93

With July 4th upon us tomorrow, I figure a patriotic Tino card is in order. There aren't many cards more patriotic than this 1989 Topps Big card.

Tino represented Team USA in the 1988 Olympics, playing a starring role and leading the team to a gold medal. In fact, he hit two HRs in the gold medal game. I've always admired players who reach the height of their sport and are successful for both their team and country, such as an NBA player who has won an NCAA Championship, NBA Championship, and gold medal. Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan come to mind.

While I would never put him in the same breath as those two talent-wise, Tino won a gold medal and four championships with the Yankees. That's an impressive feat.

As for the card itself, I'm not a fan of Topps big. They are a pain in the butt to store any which way. Do I have all the Yankees? Yes. But that doesn't mean I have to like them.