Help me, Howard!

While browsing Sports Collectors Daily this morning, I came across a piece where a collector turned to the WPIX News Segment "Help Me, Howard" to track down a redemption card from Topps. It's a pretty great story. A guy bought into a Topps Tribute group break, pulled a Joe DiMaggio redemption, but had difficulties with Topps customer relations (gasp!) while trying to get the card redeemed.

Unable to get a response, Howard helps elevate the matter at Topps, and ultimately, the card arrives!

You can read the post and watch the video HERE.

If you're unfamiliar, Sports Collectors Daily is a hobby-related site with a few new sports-card stories every day. You can join a mailing list (which I have done) and get an email every morning with about 3-4 new stories. I find a few interesting stories that are worth a look every week.

Rich, an editor on the site, actually added my blog to their "Blog City" section a few weeks ago, which was really cool. Go check out the site - www.sportscollectorsdaily.com.

Don't be "Ngervis" when bidding on eBay

A few nights ago, I got a direct message tweet from Marcus over at All The Way To The Backstop. He said that he accidentally bid on (and won) the same card twice, so he was having one shipped to me.

I figured the mystery card had some sort of Padres/Yankees connection. Maybe it was a Chase Headley card? Maybe it had something to do with Ian Kennedy? To my surprise, this showed up:

Very cool! A 2014 Topps Chrome Sepia Refractor of former Yankee and current Padre Yangervis Solarte! It’s the first Solarte card in my collection, and is #’d 27/75. I haven’t seen any of these in person yet, but they are gorgeous cards.

I liked Solarte. He was a nice find for the Yanks as a minor league free agent, and he got off to a scorching start after making the team. It almost hurt him, as he seemed to put too much pressure on himself to sustain his numbers. He slumped and just tried to hit HRs, and eventually lost playing time. He’s a very useful player, as he can play all over the field. And while he’s probably not destined to be a long-term starter, guys like him are super important. He definitely feels like more of a National Leaguer because of his versatility and the late-game moves that occur more frequently in the NL. Plus he's under team control for awhile.

The Yanks dealt Solarte to San Diego for Chase Headley, a player I’ve really grown to like. Headley hasn’t set the world on fire with the Yanks, although he’s had some big hits. His defense at third is phenomenal. I didn’t know he was as good of a defender as he has shown so far. A free agent after this season, I do hope the Yanks bring him back, but not for too ridiculous of a deal. I’d love something in the 2 year/20 mil range or so. Seems fair, but what do I know?

Anyhow, thanks Marcus. This was a great surprise!

Random Listia Autos - Part 5

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4 

Remember Reggie Abercrombie? It's hard to forget a name like that. He played in 180 total games from 2006-08 with the Marlins and Astros. He's a lifetime .223 hitter and had nine HRs in his Major League career. While with Florida, he once hit a 486-foot homer. Wow! He bounced around the minors for a few more years, and has been playing independent ball the last few seasons. In fact, he hit 19 HRs with Winnipeg this season, so he's still hacking away.

 

I had vaguely heard of Reese before getting this card. He played for the Twins from 1964-73 (and briefly for Detroit in '73), and was a lifetime .253 hitter with 52 HRs. He was a bit of a pinch-hit extraordinaire, and hit three pinch-hit grand slams over the course of his career. Post playing days, he actually worked in the distilled spirits industry, and served as CEO of Jim Beam Brands from 1997-2003. That's a pretty impressive gig!

Hank Blalock, Napkin Doon's favorite player. I don't know why I tease Nap about loving Hank Blalock. I just do. I don't think he liked him at all, in fact. But he was actually a very promising player early in his career.  Hank, along with ARod and Mark Teixeira, were going to form one of the most potent line-ups for years to come. He was a two-time All-star at ages 22 and 23. In 2003, he hit one of the most memorable All-Star HRs in a long time, taking Eric Gange deep in the 8th inning and propelling the AL to a victory. He had one of the more awesome fan clubs in pro sports called "Hank's Homies." Come on, that's great. Sadly, when Hank should have been having his most productive years, his numbers quickly trailed off, mostly because of a series of injuries. He retired in 2010 at the age of 29 with a lifetime average of .269 and 153 HRs.

Milton Bradley. What to say about this guy? While an incredible talent, he also found himself in trouble more often than not. His temper was legendary. I don't want to focus on his various off-the-field (or on-the-field) instances, but between his personal issues and his injuries, he never lived up to his talent. He bounced around amongst 8 teams in 12 season, and had his best season in 2008, where he was named an AL All-Star while leading the league in OBP and OPS.

Grady! Grady's ladies, ohhh lala. I remember what a shrewd move the Red Sox made picking him up this season. He hit about .900 in spring training and looked ready to return to All-Star form. The he hit .216. He's with Philly now, and faring a bit better. He was a 3-time all star from 2006-08, and truly was a bright spot for the Indians. He was a five-tool talent, but sadly his career was derailed by knee and back injuries. Props to Grady for working his butt off and still playing. It would have been easy to hang them up after losing so much time to injury.

The seller takes a $5 loss

The other day on a late-night eBay search, I saw a 1997 Beckett with Tino Martinez on the cover. It had a starting bid of $.65 + free shipping listed. I think I bid $.70 max. I won it...for $.65. It cost the seller $5.60 to ship...so, basically, he lost $5, especially after eBay/paypal fees.

I'm not really a magazine collector, and I do already own two copies of this issue, but I still bid for the hell of it. It's cool to see Tino on the cover during his 44 HR season. It's also fun to go back and look at what the hot cards/players at the time were, and look up BOOK VALUES.

By Beckett's account, my Phil Rizzuto collection in 1997 was WORTH well over $1,000. How about you?? Any cards you want me to look up the 1997 BOOK VALUE for? Leave it in the comments section and I'll look 'em up for you.

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!

Some Elite Status

Lately, I'm finding that I missed a TON of cards of Tino during his 'Lost Years' with the Cardinals and Rays.

It shouldn't surprise me. I was in college at this time, and even when I got back into collecting, I never really pursued his Cardinal issues too aggressively. I love receiving them, and pick up any that I don't have when given the chance, but I've just never really sat down and figured out exactly how many card releases I missed during a non-collecting time in my life.

It's kind of exciting, always having "new" Tinos to look for. Despite being retired for eight years, there are just so many cards I haven't seen. Here's a new one that I recently snagged, numbered just 02/21. It's a Status die-cut from 2003 Donruss Elite. Definitely a nice card, and I like the die-cut design a lot despite it being

I'm up to 649 different Tinos. Anyone want to help me get to 650?

Seeing my hero on the way to work

This is a completely impromptu blog post. This morning, on my way to work, I saw my hero, Tino Martinez!

I had just gotten my iced coffee from the street cart on 62nd and Columbus and was making my way uptown. At 65th and Columbus, walking toward me by himself, was my hero, Tino Martinez. He was walking quickly, like he was on a mission. He was in a royal blue t-shirt and sunglasses.

Not wanting to blow my chance of at least saying something, as I was nearing him, I yelled, "Hey Tino!" and put out my fist. He said "Hey!" and returned the fist bump. Now, I'm not a "bro" who fist bumps everyone and their mother, but I figured it was a baseball thing and easy to do in passing, as opposed to a hand shake or an awkward high five.

I've also met plenty of high-profile athletes, but there was something different about unexpectedly seeing my favorite player of all time. There's no way to prepare for it.

I would have loved to stop and talk, but it was clear he was on a mission. Plus, it would have been a little creepy to say, "I collect your cards and you are my hero." I would have loved to ask for an autograph, but I didn't have anything with me. Just simply seeing him out and about in NY was enough to make my day.

If this is a sign of things to come today, it's going to be an awesome day.