Funniest Auction I've Seen Lately

 A few of friends have asked why I'm not as big into baseball memorabilia and cards anymore. My complete answer consists of many layers and is quite longwinded. 

The picture below sums up one of my bullet points nicely. 

Vogelbach's autograph with a "Dingers & Donuts" inscription

Dan Vogelbach is a fun guy. He is big boy and has perhaps an even bigger personality. 

Earlier this season Vogelbach notably said, "I hit my home runs in bunches, just like I get my donuts."

Again, the Vogelmonster has been a favorite of mine ever since I learned of his fun loving ways. 

Yet, ten grand for a Vogelbach autographed baseball got me to snicker and sigh all at once. 

Wow.

Checking In

 Don't get too excited. I'm just checking in to thank a couple of bloggers for dropping some Vogelbach love on me via the always appreciated PWE.

Yes, I'm still alive and kicking, but my focuses have changed slightly. I'm still adding Vogelbach cards to my collection, but I'm mostly working on filling the holes in my player collection from 2011-2021. I'm not purchasing newer cards (think 2022) of my favorite current player unless I can get them for less than a couple of bucks. Otherwise, sports cards aren't really occupying my time much. 

I'm reading a bit more, trying to get outside more (disc golf and hikes), and making an effort to spend more time with friends and family. 

Now, on to the mail!

I've always been a big fan of a handwritten note accompanying the card. The people in the hobby are the best part, and little personal touches like the notes above just make my day. 

Greg, from The Collective Mind, found this Playoff Contenders auto from 2011. Can you believe it's been eleven years since the Vogelmonster was drafted? How did that happen?

Jim, author of cards as I see them, sent the black and white Bowman from 2020. The B&W photo gives the card a little bit of that old-timey feel, which I think meshes well with Vogey. 

A BIG thank you to Greg and Jim for thinking of me and also for their generosity. 

I hope all my blogging friends are doing well!

A Base and a Button

Lately, when asked, I've been subbing for other teachers during my prep period. The pay isn't fantastic, but I'll keep a rough record of what I earn when filling in where needed, and the bottom line always goes toward baseball cards or disc golf items. My family refers to this as "fun money!"

I found two rare Vogelmonsters.  And, let me tell you, they are FUN.

Behold! A "base" card!  (Yes, made with pieces from an actual game used base.)

I remember when Triple Threads came out in 2020 and Kyle Lewis was hitting homer after homer on his way to winning the Rookie of the Year award. I more or less gave up on owning one of these beauties.  Patience. Patience rewards those who wait!

Arguably Mitch Haniger, pictured at the top, is the biggest name on the card. But, just you wait. Pencil Vogey in as the DH for Milwaukee and good things will happen in 2022. 

The next card is from Panini's 2021 Spectra set and is numbered 1 out of 5. I'm missing quite a few parallels from this set still, but I was over the moon excited to land this gem.

This is my second Vogelbach button card, with the other being acquired last year from Panini's National Treasures. 

Oh, what a great week of checking the mailbox!

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy Super Bowl Sunday!

Snowy Saturday Mail Post

 The mailbox was empty three days this past work week. Typically, this is an occurrence I can expect maybe once a week, and I figure the big snowstorm which cancelled school for two days is partly responsible. 

Today made up for it. 

John, from Johnny's Trading Spot, sent me some Vogelbachs to admire. All seven of the cards within the PWE can be easily placed into one of two categories. Above, are the non-shiny cards. 

Below . . . HELLO shiny!

The Bowman Chrome mini, on the bottom right, shows the brilliance of chrome based cards in the light. I'm probably more of a vintage fan, which is famously not shiny, but I also fawn over cards which make me squint. I guess I'm an equal opportunity collector.   Thanks so much for the cards, John!

Also in the mail was an Ebay purchase. Each morning I pull up my "2021 Vogelbach" bookmark and browse through the most recent listings looking for new-to-me Vogelmonster cards.  I can't tell you how many times I've seen this next card come and go, being relisted and relisted, with the price sometimes staying static but dropping on occasion. 

The final price of this one, after taxes and with free shipping was $2.45. I couldn't let a relic card of my favorite player, from a high-end release like National Treasures, sit out their any longer. And actually, now that I think about it, this is the first time I have purposefully purchased a duplicate Vogelbach card. No, this is not the start to a new buying pattern and I'm definitely not going all Tim Wallach Collector with my collection. 

I'm not sure what to do with my new Vogelbach relic card. I'm thinking about looking into find a one-touch card holder and just leaving it out on my coffee table in the man room. If it gets a little sun bleached it wouldn't be the end of the world, seeing as the rest of my Vogelbach cards are safely tucked away. Do you have any suggestions as to what I should do with my new acquisition?

Thanks for stopping by and reading. 

A Good Home

 Cats. My wife and I have two cats. 

The "Cat Cave" is meant for one cat occupancy.

Would I call myself a cat person. No.

Holiday. Her favorite follow on Twitter is "cats in places where cats shouldn't be" https://twitter.com/timelinecats

Do they fit my busy teaching and coaching lifestyle? Yes.  

Hugo. Always the helper cat. 

Neither of them demand much attention and if I give them a clean litter box and few cups of food we can head out for the weekend knowing they'll manage just fine.

I have 11+ more years in public education, when my retirement plan fully vests, and then it's dog time. I will work in retirement, but my priorities will be different and some lucky shelter dog will be given a very good home. 

I follow a couple local pet shelters online and my timeline is often full of man's best friend. I'm not sure why I do that to myself. 

Speaking of shelters... My favorite disc golf company will release a new disc in March, named after their shelter rescue Binx, the one eyed cat. The stamp on the disc features Binx and part of the proceeds go an animal shelter. 

Do I need more discs? My wife would say, "No. No, you do not." 

Will I be buying this disc?  Yes, yes I will. It will find a good home in my disc golf bag and get plenty of use this summer. 

Lastly, a bubble mailer from the west coast arrived last week. Fuji reached out and asked if I still still took up residence in P-town. Naturally!

A hefty stack of VOGELMONSTERS were found in my mailbox shortly thereafter and you know they have found a wonderfully good home. 

Fuji, thanks for the cards and for giving me something to blog about. 

Have a great weekend!

Game Plan for 2022 and the Joy of a Completed Set

 It was about three weeks ago when I posted about my futile attempts to secure the last card to the 1986 Larry Fritsch Negro League Stars set. I had preferred to trade for a copy, but after a couple weeks of crickets I finally broke down and purchased the final card from Ebay.

Currently, the only set I'm working on building is the Conlon Collection. I haven't scratched a card off my want list for that monster in over two years. So maybe "working on" isn't the right verb-age there.  

I'm not sure what set I should build next, but I would love to try another Negro League set or maybe a HOF player set, similar to Panini Cooperstown back in 2012 and 2013. Maybe Fanatics, who recently bought Topps, will have some new ideas in the works and we'll have something different on the horizon. 

In other news, I've collected Dan Vogelbach cards for eleven years now. I know, right? Time sure does go by fast. For 2022 I've decided to focus on filling in any gaps from the previous years AND only add one base card of the Vogelmonster from each set.  I did a quick calculation and 84% (604/721) of my Vogelbach cards are parallels.  My favorite player has averaged about 11 different unique cards each year. I'm done with parallels... you know, unless it's from 2011-2021. 

I hope everyone's new year is off to a great start! Thanks for reading!

An Auto of Randy Johnson?

 I celebrated a birthday a couple of weeks ago with my family and my sister surprised me with a nice little stash of autographed baseball cards. 

All of my autographs and relic cards are housed in top loaders within a couple of sizeable "shoeboxes" within my man room. Up first are a couple of infield prospects who didn't pan out. 

Neither Greg Smith nor Gary Scott had much MLB staying power, but Scott hit 0.366 during Spring Training in 1991 and had all of Chicago dubbing him the next coming of Ron Santo. 

This is my second autograph of Turk Wendell, who I have privately nicknamed "Turk the Quirk." 

Wendell who turned in a pretty fair major league career was more known for his quirky superstitions when we was first brought up. On my other card, which is also a Cubs card, he inscribed "Mets" under his signature. I'm glad he scribbled in "Cubs" this time around!

Tommy Hottovy did not play for the Cubs, but he is the current pitching coach for my favorite team. 

Up next are autographs of four different players with whom I share a surname: Greg Olson, Matt Olson, Garrett Olson and Gregg Olson. 

I have player collections of Greg and Gregg, but this is only my second card of Garrett and his first autograph. I've been known to snag Matt Olson base cards at shows on the cheap when I run across them, and this is my second autograph of his. 

Randy "Big Unit" Johnson was always one of my favorite players. This is not that Randy Johnson. 

This Randy Johnson played 204 games for the Braves in the early stages of the 1980s. Joke's on me! 😂 Good one, Jane!

This was my favorite card of the lot, and honestly it wasn't it even close. 

Julio Franco had one of those batting stances every kid wanted to imitate and it's shown on this card. Additionally, Julio's signature is beautiful and he's another one of those players who holds a footnote in my memory banks as one of the oldest to ever play baseball at its highest level.

Julio was actually my answer to a trivia question last month, albeit the wrong answer. "In 2004, this player became the oldest major leaguer to win a batting title." Julio hit 0.309 in 2004 as a 45 year old. FORTY-FIVE! But, alas, he did not win the batting title that year. (The correct answer is a slugger who is currently on his 10th year on the current HOF ballot.)

Thanks for the great stack of autographs, Jane!