A B-Met lands me a lot more

Growing up with a Double-A team in my backyard was pretty cool.

I want to a handful of games each year. Looking back, I should have gone to more. But I certainly went to my fair share from the time the Binghamton Mets opened their doors in 1992, until I graduated high school ten years later. 

Plus, I got to play my high school baseball games in the stadium, and often snagged something left behind by the big clubs, such as lineup cards like this one:

I saw some amazing players come through the system, and the fact that the team won the title in their first year of existence was very cool. For Christmas that year, my grandma bought me and my cousins (who were all from out of town) commemorative t-shirts. I remember that well.

So when Jay of Card Hemorrhage posted a few cards he pulled in a re-pack, and one was a Binghamton Met autograph with the old "B" logo on the hat and original team logo in the lower right, I asked if it was available because it stirred up memories of the team I grew up with.

Jay was kind enough to send this along, plus a bunch of other great stuff.

My favorite of the others were these bad boys from esteemed grader Snaggle Tooth Grading. Fuji has shown these off a few times. Definitely a cool keepsake. Not to be overlooked b the hilarity, the cards are gorgeous refractors from 2001 Archives Reserve. As tired as I get of reprinting designs, they do look cool as refractors.

Jay also sent me some really cool John Antonelli collectibles as well:

There was also a handful of basketball cards, and I was psyched to get this Devin Booker rookie card!

Here is a random sampling of some others.

Jay, this was awesome stuff. Thank you!

A little ink and a little vintage

Just a quick Saturday morning post to clean out a couple scanned cards, as a few cards have trickled in here and there.

As you know if you read Zippy Zappy, Bowman Chrome is king. I've been a little better about buying BoChro autographs of guys I like. One of these guys is Garrett Whitlock, a solid pitching prospect who unfortunately had TJ Surgery last year. Therefore, it was a very minimal purchase.

One that cost me a little more, but still under $10 shipped, was a refractor autograph of Michael King. I recently purchased his base chrome auto, but with all of the Yankees pitching injuries, he's knocking on the door for a rotation spot to start the season, or at some point once a 6th or 7th starter is needed. It felt like a good time to buy him in case he gets hot.

The last card is one I'm a little torn on, as I'm not confident is is authentic. Behold, a 1957 Topps Whitey Ford.

The reason I'm skeptical is because of the price, as I only paid a few bucks for it. The condition scans better than it is, as it's got some surface wear and soft corners. I'd like to think it's real, but I just don't trust people in the 2020 hobby. If it's real, even as a set filler, it should have gone for more.

I hadn't bought a vintage card in a while, so hopefully it is real.

A little bit of Update

For the first time in a while, I set aside a few minutes during my all-too-busy weekends to drop by Target and grab some cards. I wanted some Topps Update before the baseball season ended.

Unexpectedly, I had my three-year-old daughter in tow...which made everything a little more difficult. I was happy to have her, as she cornered me as I was leaving and asked if she could go to the store with me. I had to pick up a few grocery items there too, and as many of you know, everything takes approximately 7x longer with a three-year-old along for the ride.

Naturally, in the 10 minute drive to Target, she falls asleep in the car. When I try to wake her up to go into the store, she has no desire whatsoever. Over the course of about 5 minutes, she went from singing a song about pumpkins to sleeping to resisting going into the store. Great.

I finally coax her in, and I decided to pick up the food items first. It took me awhile since I was unfamiliar with grocery section there. Finally, after what seems like hours (really it was probably 15 minutes), I make my way over to the cards. I had my mind made up that if I saw one, I'd get a 72-card hanger box of Update. They had a couple, so I let my daughter choose which one.

On my way home, I realized that I completely forgot to look for Topps Fire. I would have liked to grab some, but I literally didn't even browse. I saw the purple box with Aaron Judge on it, snagged it, and got out of the store.

Overall, not the best nor the worst break. I got a few cards I liked. I will say that although these have about the same number of cards as a blaster, it's less fun opening the big brick versus individual packs.

Here are a few of the highlights:

I got three Yankees cards, and two were of of retired Hall of Famers. I was happy to get the Boggs, as I may send this to him (along with the $5 fee) for a TTM request. Would be a cool card to have signed.

I like the Judge/Bird combo. I assume this shot is from Bird's first homer of the season on April 16th versus St. Louis.

Jaime Garcia is pictured as a Brave. That was two teams ago, as he was traded to the Twins then Yankees. I would have liked a Yankee card of him, as I don't anticipate him coming back to NY.

This is a great card! Glad it was captured.

I did get one of the vintage cardstock parallels of Astros rookie Derek Fisher, not to be confused with the former Knicks coach.

I seem to pull a lot of Rockies parallels, as I did here with this Topps Gold of Antonio Senzatela.

I also pulled a photo variation SP of Tyler Glasnow. I wouldn't have noticed except I did look at each cards back for a different ID number on the bottom. Interestingly, this is actually a Series One card.

I'm still looking for a bunch of the Yankees from this set, so if you've got any extras, please let me know.

Surprise mail is the best mail

Yesterday, I had a long day at work.

Part of it was my fault for refreshing Twitter non-stop from about 1pm-4pm leading up to the trade deadline. I definitely could have used that time more productively and done actual work.

When I finally got around to a stopping point around 7:15, I headed to Port Authority, hopped on my commuter bus, and walked in my front door at around 8:25. Thank goodness for Fox Sports Go, as I was able to watch the first few Yankees innings on my phone on the bus.

Side note - 2017 really is amazing. I can watch a baseball game live (well, with a slight delay) in HD on my telephone as I commute home from work.

Once I walked in, the dog attacked me, jumping all over me as a way to say hello. He needs to stop that.

I went upstairs and gave the kids a kiss, then made my way back downstairs to eat dinner and turn the game on. On the counter was a welcome site - a bubble mailer I wasn't expecting!

It was from my good buddy Robert of $30 A Week Habit. He sent me four cards, and it definitely was welcome when I was feeling pretty fatigued from a long day.

Apparently I commented on this Aaron Hicks card before. I'm glad Robert remembered, because I definitely did not.

This is my first in-hand 2017 Stadium Club. I've liked this Whitey since I saw it.

Jeter! What a great card. I liked how Series 2 showed All-Stars MVPs and HR Derby champs, although mad that Tino wasn't included. I don't think he has a current deal with Topps.

I'll end the package with this guy. Love getting cards of him!

Thanks, Robert!

SuperTraders #26: Sports Cards From The Dollar Store

I recently received a great package from north of the border, as Doug from Sports Cards from the Dollar Store sent me an awesome #SuperTraders package.

The card that caught my eye most was a terrific looking Masahiro Tanaka. I didn’t recognize the design, but it just so happens it came from 2014 Panini Black Friday. I’m uncertain if they still do it, but I really like how Panini puts out cards around Black Friday and Father’s Day, to name a few. Really cool concept. That fact that it’s an oddball RC helps too!

Ian Clarkin is easy to overlook. With the Yankees having sstrong pitching prospects like James Kaprielian and Justus Sheffield, Clarkin is often a bit forgotten, especially having missed 2015 with an arm injury. However, last year he threw 98 important innings at High A Tampa, and he will certainly look to build on that this year. He’s currently listed as the Yankees #17 prospect according to MLB.com, but I think his talent is better that. He was a first rounder, after all, and now just needs to stay on the mound.

Two absolutely sweet cards of the Yankees corner infield of the early ‘90s. Topps Embossed was fun, albeit pricey. CVS carried them, so I did get a few packs of them. The Boggs Collector’s Choice Gold Sig is a beauty too!

Speaking of gold, while I’m not the biggest fan of Gypsy Queen, their colored bordered parallels always look great. 

 

Prospects! I already had the Gamel/Barbato, but I’ll definitely be using it for spring TTMs to each guy, so I appreciate the dupe.

I like this Babe Ruth set more and more. Hopefully these packs start replacing Triple Play in repacks.

Man, Whitey Ford was good. I don’t look at his stats very often, but they always blow me away when I do.

 

Douglas, thanks for the great batch of cards and sending them all the down to New Jersey!

SuperTraders #23: A kinky package from Cards on Cards

This is the latest package that Kerry from Card on Cards sent me. When it arrived, my wife thought I must’ve gotten her something kinky for Christmas. Sorry dear, it’s baseball cards from Oregon.

Kerry mentioned to me that this envelope has made the rounds from a few bloggers, so I’ll have to keep up the tradition and use it in an upcoming card package. Hmmm, who will it be?

There were two jam-packed bags of Yankees. I was excited that there were some ’16 Archives, as I didn’t get much of those and they really haven’t found their way into trade packages yet. I really enjoyed this year’s checklist and the chosen designs. The one thing I found weird was 1991 – with “New York” being added to “Yankees”, forcing the name awkwardly above the light blue ribbon. Kind of sloppy. However, the rest of the ’91 design looks cool. I like the gray a lot.

This Jeter is one that I’m not familiar with it. It’s from ’04 SPx. I need to count how many Jeter cards I have where he’s blowing a bubble.

I didn’t have this Jeter either, which is from ’06 Bazooka. The gold-bordered versions are much thicker than the base cards. This is a bit of an underrated design. It’s simple. No bells and whistles, plenty of space for a full photo, yet you still get the player name and team.

VIP! I love having cards from the National! I’ll probably never go, so I really appreciate getting exclusive cards from the show.

This Whitey Ford Fleer Hardball is numbered to 1000. Doesanyone remember when Whitey got mad at my TTM request and signed a card “W.Ford” to stick it to me?

Knobby! Flair cards were always nice, although they got a little consuming when they starting doing variations and different levels. But the card itself is really attractive and shiny. Bowman has used some similar technology in more recent releases.

A IIID O’Neill! Neat card. I don’t have much recollection of this set. It's kind of like those modern-day Opening Day inserts that were all trippy to look at.

I think Fleer InScribed is easily overlooked. The cards were nice though. They felt and looked classy. I’d love to get one autographed.

Lastly, there was a bunch of these Sporting News Conlon cards from ’88. There were some great photos! I don’t recall having any of these cards in my collection.

Kerry, you rock. Thanks!