Flat Rate Mailer via Johnny's Trading Spot

The last day of school with student was Thursday, but we had meetings on Friday, an active shooter simulation* to run through tomorrow, and CPR training on Thursday.   *What is wrong with our country that these mass shootings have snowballed? SMH. 

Also, did I mention my baseball team is still playing?

The regional plaque!

 We won our regional Saturday in a close game against Galesburg.  We're now 28-7, on a nine game winning streak and we play in our local sectional Wednesday night against one of our conference opponents. It'll be a good battle for sure!

In cardboard news, John, from Johnny's Trading Spot, sent me a small flat rate mailer.

 It was a Christmas in May package that my cat and I both found to our liking.

This package comes at just the right time as I've almost prepared and shipped out all the cards from "The Collection" that were littering the man room. I now have space to place the new Cubs piles to be sorted!  Woo-Hoo!

I love sorting cards and I couldn't be happier that I've (more-or-less) made it through another school year and now have some time on my hands to dedicate to my hobby.

The pile on the left are all the cards which I did not photograph for this post.  Maybe 250? 300+?  IDK, but that's a bunch of Cubs!  The pile on the right contains 76 Ryne Sandberg cards.  One gets singled out because it's new to my collection:

This is the 1994 Leaf Ryne Sandberg base card. I exited the hobby in 1993, so occasionally I'll find a card from '94 which fills a gap. It's the 870th Sandberg in my player collection. Very nice!

Alright ready for lots of cardboard and short commentary?  Okay, here we go!

 Augie Ojeda was one of my favorites and Kyle "tight pants" Farnsworth was one of my wife's. When we go to a baseball game together we're definitely paying attention to different things.

 Shiny!  D-Lee and Alfonso Soriano get some love!

 I player collect Doug Glanville and Glenallen Hill.

 Shooter!  Who doesn't have a mini collection of Rod Beck?

Brooks Kieschnick! There was only one Kieschnick card in the package, it was a new one to add to the binder.

 Five Kerry Wood cards, but no new ones, which I found a little shocking. I only recognized the card in the lower left.

Sandy Martinez is NOT Kerry Wood. But, he did catch Kerry Wood's 20 strike out game so he was chosen to fill the space. That may be the only card I have a of Sandy Martinez.

Sportflics!

 Pacific!

 Shiny Classic?  I didn't know there was such a thing.

 A credit card from Studio. Nice.

 A relief pitcher pointing at the camera while wearing a batting helmet?  Um, okay!

 Check out the serial number on this one... 2,500.  If I set the over/under at 2,500 for the number of Bowman Ohtani autographs which would you take?  The over?  The under?

 Oddballs!  The Penguin (Ron Cey) and the Baseball Rub-downs checklist!  FWIW, I have this whole set and it's fabulous!

 You know what else is fabulous?

Yep. Teke. Teke is fabulous!

Here's a string of players who I forgot played for the Cubs, including Tony Womack.

 Benito Santiago and Mark Parent:

 Randall Simon.  I still remember the sausage incident, but I had forgotten he suited up for the northsiders.

 I remember Jeromy Burnitz playing in Chicago, but maybe some of you forgot?

Love those high socks!

I know the 1992 Topps set like the back of my hand, but I don't recognize any of these cards.

1992 Topps Traded?  Wow!

The Topps Traded boxed sets were a great place to get the latest and greatest rookies. A lot of hype surrounded some of those cards.

Hype! 

Above are some of the Cubs' top prospects from the last two decades or so that never quite made the cut, although they were often hyped up to be superstars.

Corey Patterson would probably be the poster boy of this group. Sigh.

I've never seen this Ozzie Timmons card before. My guess is this particular card usually is reserved for a Royals fan, because Johnny Damon is a much bigger name than Timmons.

More oddballs?  I'm game!

 Three Shawon Dunston cards from the same Kaybee Toys boxed set?  Okay!

 Cute little baby Fleer cards!

 I finished the Wrigley Field Celebrates 100 Years set last year, but I still hang on to these guys because they often qualify for so many other different binders.

 Topps Archives Reserve is a set I didn't know existed. Shiny chrome!

I'm starting a Bruce Sutter player collection I guess!  The Kellogg's card is in pristine condition, although it lists Sutter as a Cardinal on the back. Booo!

 Did you see the 1980 Sutter card above?  Take another look. Burger King! 

Here's a regular issued 1980 Topps card of Kong. What a great nickname. Personally, I feel it's better than Stormin' Gorman, but I bet Milwaukee fans would disagree. 😀

 I love to look at leader boards from past years and think about how the game of baseball has changed over the years.

Back to the modern day cards. I've been back and forth on the design of this year's Donruss issue. Right now I'm really digging it.

 Gypsy Queen.  Ugh.  I've never been a fan, but I'll take the Cubs and the weird parallels.

 Last year's optic parallels are sharp!

Shiny, smiling Willson!

 Yeah, that's pretty much how John's package left me... smiling like Willson.

Thanks for the cards, John!

And thanks for stopping by on this Memorial Day. Be sure to pay your respects and enjoy the day with family.