Cards on Cards free break good fortunes

Kerry from Cards on Cards held an awesome FREE Fleer Group Break. I was able to choose the Yankees as my primary team, and when given the opportunity for a second team, I gladly chose the Mariners for three reasons: 1. Tino, 2. Griffey, 3. A-Rod rookies.

I’ll show off the M’s first since their haul was better than NY’s. First off, TWO ARod rookies. Sweet! Even though it’s ’95 Fleer, I’m still psyche to get them.

Two inserts…an ARod Rookie Sensation and a Griffey Headliners. The Griffey is probably the nicest card I won from the break.

Here are a few of the 1993 Ultra Mariners. I bet these were cool when they first came out..sharp cards showing the M’s in their new uni’s for the first time.

Now on to the 1993 Fleer winnings. None of the Tino’s in this break were new to my collection, but still happy to have them.

And some more really ugly ’95 Fleers.

And here are the Yankee winnings from the same break. Always love getting some new Mattinglys. The '95 Fleer Update Pettitte is cool because, although not his RC, it was the first year he burst onto the scene and established himself in the big league rotation as a rookie.

Kerry also sent me a few assorted Yanks and the ’94 Extra Bases Tino. I have no idea what set the green Upper Deck ARod is from.

Kerry, thanks for the opportunity to participate. It was a really generous break for you to offer.

Phew, on to Game 5

A few thoughts on Game Four between the Tigers and the Yanks:

I was as nervous about last night's ALDS Game Four as I've been about any Yankee game in recent playoff memory. I'm sure any elimination brings the same feeling for any fan, but this one was particularly scary because AJ Burnett was on the mound.

The game was won in the first inning. Curtis Granderson made a game-saving catch on a really tough ball that Don Kelly smoked. Everyone knows the hardest ball for an outfielder is the one hit right at him. Curtis broke in, retreated and made an Angels In The Outfield type catch. His catch in 6th was a lot cooler and a more athletic play, but this first catch was bigger.

AJ Burnett was by no means good in this game. He was good enough, but not necessarily good. I'm not going to overly praise the dude for doing his job though. I was terrified by every single pitch he threw. Literally. He got lucky in the first, but give him credit for settling in. If the Yanks win Game 5, I still don't feel comfortable with him in the ALCS, but that's a worry for another day I hope. I liked Girardi's quick hook, even though AJ was only around 80 pitches. Those were 80 stressful pitched though. With a well-rested pen, you have to go to them there.

This comment might make another blogger sick, but Russell Martin's slide to score on Jeter's double was freakin' awesome.

The offense finally started to show some signs of life late in the game, and that should scare the Tigers because the middle of the order (minus Cano) has been just putrid. The Ghost of ARod finally had a few good swings. Teixeira and Swisher still need produce and I hope one or both of them decides that Game Five is the time to do it.

Game Five should be a dogfight. I fully imagine Nova won't be as good as Game One and I'm sure Fister will be a lot better.

Great 1989 Upper Deck Read

I don't pass links along much, but I saw this tidbit about the guy who wrote the backs of the 1989 Upper Deck set. It's a pretty good read if you have the time.

CLICK HERE.

Tino Tuesdays #8: 1999 Crowne Royal Opening Day

So my Yanks are in a little bit of hole with Burnett on the mound tonight. Not a comforting feeling. However, Porcello really isn't much better and doesn't have swing and miss stuff. The Yanks middle of the order is due to break out (telling myself that), so I like NY's chances tonight to push it to a Game 5. Gotta stay positive, right?

Anyhow, on to the regularly featured programming. I've always linked Crowne Royale cards, even though the design never really changed. I think they still make these for hockey and they look the same as always. Pacific was not everyone's cup of tea, but they had a bunch of nice looking cards and inserts over the years. These just always felt high-end to me. I don't think I ever actually bought a pack of them, but I've acquired a few over the years.

There's not much to the photo. It's an action shot and it looks like Tino lifted the ball to right somewhere during spring training. I like the way the font is laid out so his name takes up most of the bottom of the card, and the team logo is prominent which I like. I've never really been a fan of serial numbering on the front of a card, but since this is numbered to 72 (random #?), that's ok. This is the Opening Day Issue and is labeled "June 23, 1999" - all I can think of is that this was the first day these cards were printed?

The backs are nothing special. No stats, just a small, standard write-up. I like how it mentioned his 1998 World Series Game One grand slam, although most of his 1999 issues did this.

I will say that one annoying thing about these cards is that all the random edges make it tough to keep these in mint condition. They get caught on things like penny sleeves and binder pages.

Some new players I'm collecting

I’m always looking for new ways to keep me interested in collecting. I tend to go in lulls sometimes, as I don’t have a ton of disposable income to spend on cards. In a perfect world, I’d break boxes on a weekly basis, but it’s just not the case. However, I still need something to keep me going.

In addition to Tino Martinez and Yanks in general, I’m adding a few Yankee prospects to my list. CLICK HERE to check out who I’m after and what I have. 

Here are the new players:

Jesus Montero

Manny Banuelos

Dellin Betances

Gary Sanchez

Dante Bichette, Jr

Mason Williams

Cito Culver

Angelo Gumbs

I don’t expect it to really impact how I collect, but it’ll be fun for me to track the new cards I get of these players.

1968 Topps Game Rod Carew

Another one down in my quest for the 1968 Topps Game set. I picked up this Rod Carew on eBay (it came with another card too). While the condition looks good, it does have a crease, but I didn't mind. It helped me get it cheaper. I'm down to two remaining cards - Brooks Robinson and Claude Osteen.

How did Upper Deck get away with this?!

I'm sure everyone has seen the images of 2012 Topps Heritage by now. It's sort of funny when the preview image is released because we all know what it's going to look like anyways. When the Ryan Braun card hit the interwebs, I thought to myself, "I've seen this card design recently." No, I was thinking about an actual 1963 Topps...it was a more recent issue.

So I dug through a box of Yanks, and lo and behold, I found this 2001 Upper Deck Vintage card...aka this Upper Deck 1963 Topps card. While there are subtle differences (black bar at the bottom most notably), how the heck did this fly? It's clearly inspired by this set. I think Upper Deck also did this with 1971 Topps and a few others...'65 and '75 ring a bell. Seems bizarre to me to use a design that was originally released by one of your main competitors.