Blinding

Today the high is projected for 90 and tomorrow it is 93. The sun is blaring and even indoors I've got to wear shades:

Rock On

Decarbonized

All I have to say is "DECARBONIZED!"

Is It Possible?

Is it possible, just possible, that you would believe that I saw this at work today and it wasn't staged?

We All Have Players Like This

We all have players like this. Players that you feel no one else collects or is interested in but you would buy an autograph of there's the second it hits eBay. For me it's Tom "Bruno" Brunansky. He will always be one of the heroes of the 1987 Minnesota Twins World Series team that I followed with bated breath as an eight year old in bordering Wisconsin.

Bruno only played 96 games for the Brewers before retiring but there aren't too many autograph cards for him out there so I'll take what I can get.

A Spring Training Card Done Right

This card alone has made the '77 Topps my next focus after 1971 set is complete.

Card Blogging Is Patient, Card Blogging Is Kind

So yesterday Dave from Fielder's Choice hung up this blogging cleats for good. Although I read Dave's blog consistently, we never connected one blogger to another. But I'm always a little bummed when another blogger gives up on their blog. But it's the old thing...blogging should be fun and when it's not, get out.

I guess this is sort of turning into my Blog Bat Around post. I love card blogging, that's why I do it. I'm not really a very religious person but I've always been interested in theology and this whole things got me thinking about the famous passage from I Corinthians about love...I switched it up a little and I think this is now my new mantra for my blog going forward:

Card blogging is patient, card blogging is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. Card blogging is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Card blogging does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Blogging always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

1, 2, 3 Bert Blylevens

The Wallflowers - Three Marlenas
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Ever Wondered What An Assassin Looks Like?

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One Of These Things Is Not Like The Others

If you put together a 1971 Topps set in binder form you are familiar with this phenomenon. About every nine cards you get the "headless horseman" card...this time a Denny Doyle.

If Jeff Could Turn Back Time

If Jeff could turn back time
If he could find a way
He'd put down that the jump rope
And you'd stay

If he could just grab a glove
And just look straight at you
Then you'd love his card, love him
Like you used to do

Show and Tell #18: UK Mariners

Jack from The Pursuit of 80's(ness) and I have been trading cards back and forth and his latest installment of Mariners [with a Royal thrown in now and again] arrived from the UK earlier this week.

Everything I know about Pinnacle cards I learned from reading Wax Heaven.

1995 Pinnacle Zenith #61

1995 Pinnacle Zenith #146


Recently, a bunch of friends and acquaintances that I knew during my undergraduate days graduated from law school. I had always toyed with becoming a lawyer but I ended up going to graduate school in health care administration instead...now I write for a card blog, but I digress...



I still get caught up in my day dreams of becoming a lawyer and so when reading the back of this card I drifted into a dream of what could have been...

1999 Topps #300I am Perry Mason cross examining Arod on the stand about his steroid use and his relationship with Jose Canseco...and during the course of my fiery cross examination, I get Arod to say that he never met Jose Canseco.

I then reach into my pocket and throw my 1999 Topps #300 at him and ask him to read the back of the card for everyone in the courtroom.

Here is the rock solid evidence that locks up the case for good! Thanks Arod, you were your own worst enemy.


1999 Topps #100

1999 Upper Deck Starquest SQ3

For some reason I thought the Starquest from last year's Upper Deck set were a new thing...I like these older ones a lot better.
1998 Bowman's Best #27

I thought these last two were from a Sports Illustrated set that I never knew existed but they were really just from a 1998 Fleer set that I never knew existed.

A Jamie Moyer that I didn't have!

1998 Fleer #90

1998 Fleer #84

Some Late Night Bill Madlock

It's surprising sometimes how much I don't know about baseball. In my mind, Bill Madlock played his entire career with the Pirates. So this autograph card rocked my world when it said that Bill is the only player in history to win two batting titles with two separate teams. He won the batting title in '75 and '76 with the Cubs and in '81 and '83 with the Pirates.

2006 Upper Deck Artifacts AF-BI

So I dug a little deeper into my collection and, wouldn't you know it, I've got Bill Madlock cards when he was with other teams than the Pirates. My cognitive dissonance must have been working overtime when I put this card a penny sleeve a few months ago.

1978 Topps #410

And here's Bill as I always picture him, wearing the best baseball caps ever made.

1982 Topps #365

Woolworth Baseball Highlights

A little while ago I was expressing my love for Kmart cards...little did I realize that I had this little gem from a Kmart competitor, Woolworth's, in my box of random cards. The box says 1991 Highlights but all the cards are of 1990 Highlights.

The 33-card set features stars and some "future stars" that all tended to be misses rather than hits.

#22 Robin Yount

Here is what the reverse looks like:

#8 George Brett

#10 Dwight Evans

#7 Bert Blyleven

And the misses:

#13 Kevin Maas

#29 Chris Sabo

#11 Alex Fernandez

P.S. This is post #600.

Show and Tell #17: Slette's Political Cards

Eric of The Pettitte Pursuit send some Royals/Mariners and some political cards a little while ago and here are my favorites.

Who knew Upper Deck would put out a card in honor of Naked Gun?





An Ichiro I didn't have. I like the Minoso comparison but Minnie had a lot more power than Ichiro has. Minnie hit over 20 home runs four times while Ichiro has hit over 10 in a season only twice.

George Bush was once the youngest pilot in the Navy.

And two Turkey Red presidents...

Thanks Eric!

Which Company Will Make The First Snuggie Jersey Card?

Common Genius #1: 1985 Topps #509 Milt May

**In this series we try to show the brilliance of the cards of common players that often get overlooked.**

We are all in agreement that the Pittsburgh Pirates hats in the 70's and 80's were the best ever right?

1985 Topps #509 Milt May

Punk Rock Paint-ification

Head on over to PunkRockPaint to see his PunkRockPaint-ification of this card and this post:

Topps Synergy FAIL

If Jack Donaghy ran Topps this sort of thing wouldn't happen.

As a collector of X-fractors, I've noticed that Topps doesn't seem to have a set of rules that govern these types of cards. Each set seems to have their own take on what an X-fractor should be.

In the '07 Topps Chrome set, the "x's" are very small compared with...

...the '08 Bowman Chrome set which has, I would estimate, double the "x" size.

Even the name of the darn things is in dispute. The '07 set has it called "XFRACTOR"..

...while the '08 set has the way better and only named approved for use on Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius, "X-FRACTOR."


This must have mirrored the internal struggle that Marvel comics went through when debating the correct title of X-Factor.