My First Rip In Quite Awhile

 I had an unexpected envelope arrive in the mail the other day, and I finally found a minute to dive in. There was a nice, handwritten note from a good blogging friend, a couple of extra in-person autos and a pack of cards. 

I don't buy packs of cards anymore. There was a time when I couldn't wait for the next product to hit the shelves, but times change. 

In any case, this pack got me more excited than anything baseball card related has in awhile. For one, this pack was a gift from a blogger, not just a random one from a box off the shelf. Secondly, take a look at that wrapper. How cool is that?

Yep, what I had in my hands was a Japan Edition pack of 2024 Topps card straight from Japan!

Abrams and Jung are couple of nice young players to start things off. 

There were four rookies in the pack, including Kyle Harrison, who I had on my fantasy team for a spell last year. 

The Everson Pereira could be headed back to Japan. I know the sender has a soft spot for the Yankees. 

I'm glad I got a Shohei, even if it's an insert. This is my first card of his as a Dodger. 

I didn't get any Cubs. A Seiya or Shota card would have been like hitting the lottery. The closest thing to a Cub out of the ten cards was this card of William Contreras. 

Yes, I'm aware William has never played for the Northsiders. His brother did though. That's kind of close... I guess. 

Always save the best for last. Randy Arozarena is one of my favorites. I love this card and this pose. 

Thank for you so very much for the care package, Zippy Zappy! If there's anything I can send your way frow the States, cardboard or otherwise, please don't hesitate to reach out. All the best to you and the rest of my blogging brethren. 

Dyersville Card Show Team of Dreams Event

Maybe you recognize the town of Dyersville and maybe you don't. For the uninitiated, Dyersville is home to the Field of Dreams movie site. I believe this was the 4th annual "Team of Dreams" event and the local card collecting community has jumped on board by scheduling a show the morning of the main event.

This year the event was able to secure a few notable baseball names plus some cast members from A League of Their Own and The Sandlot to speak, sign autographs (very pricey!) and play in a celebrity softball game.

About two weeks ago I asked my buddy Jim (far left) if he'd like to go on a baseball themed road trip on the first day of September. He responded with an enthusiastic, "Yes!"

Oddly enough, when we arrived we parked right next to another one of our friends, Craig (center), who was enjoying a similar trip with his girlfriend. We had no idea he was going to be there, but it was really great to hang with him for a bit!  If you look above the cars in the picture you'll see the farm house from the movie.

Here's a better shot of it:

The field was in top form. I was afraid the grass would be brown, because of the dry weather we've had most of the summer. The corn was at optimal height, which was also a concern because of the really wet spring we experienced. 

Bleachers were brought in, but many people brought their own lawn chair. All kinds of people were enjoying a "catch" on the field before the festivities began.

At 4:30 a Q&A session was held with Mike Boddicker (an Iowa native) and David Ross. I ponied up for the good seats near one of the dugouts so we would have a good view of the interview and the celebrity softball game. Ross talked quite a bit about the 2016 team, the World Series, his role as an announcer for Sunday Night Baseball and his time on Dancing with the Stars. Boddicker did a nice job, too, although I was pretty unfamiliar with him until this time.

 Earlier in the day there were autograph opportunities, a silent auction, and couple of sports vendors selling their wares. I picked up this Josh Gibson bobblehead from the same dealer Henry visited at The National.

The vendor was very friendly and was impressed how Jim knew about how Hank Aaron used to bat with his right hand below his left. For what it's worth, Jim purchased the Hank Aaron bobblehead featuring this awkward bat grip.

After the Q&A session the grounds crew got the field ready for a game of slow-pitch softball. There were quite a few local players, sponsored by local businesses, who filled the last innings of the game after the celebrities exited.

But, here were the main attractions for each team.

Vladimir Guerrero and Andre Dawson were no-shows. Bummer.

I almost rubbed shoulders with Rickey Henderson!

 Here's a quick picture of David Ross getting ready to bat. This was before he and Boddicker were mic'd up to add further entertainment to the evening.

I think my favorite part was after a couple of the actors from The Sandlot combined for three errors in the same inning and David Ross questioned, "How did you guys ever beat that other team in The Sandlot!?!" That got a huge laugh out of the crowd.

 Here's a picture of the event from a drone that was flying overhead. Very cool!

The gap in CF was so the players could enter the field by coming out of the corn during introductions!

Earlier that morning Jim and I spent a couple of hours at the card show. I bought eighteen cards in all, but only seven were for myself. The other eleven are eventually going out in trade packages. There weren't any dime boxes, but there was plenty of discounted vintage and oddballs to look through, which accounted for much of what I purchased.

My mom gave me one of these Cubs glasses on Saturday. It was given to her by her cousin and had been sitting in a cabinet for many years. I found it's mate on Sunday (the very next day) for three bucks and couldn't pass it up! How 'bout that!

On to the pictures of grown men on little pieces of cardboard!

Deckle-edge vintage! Very nice!

 I found this Bryant die-cut to be too good of a deal to pass up.

I am now ONE card away from completing the master set of 2018 Topps Big League.

Has anyone seen the Bryce Harper from the Caricatures insert set?

How about some discounted vintage to upgrade my Hall of Fame binder?  The Rabbit Maranville is from 1961 Fleer and the Larry Doby is NOT from 2019 Topps Archives.

 Here's another card design from 2019 Archives... the All-Star card of Ernie Banks from 1958.

 I don't usually buy vintage Cubs unless I find a great deal, and this one could be called just that. Plus, that design!  Oh, my!

Jim and I spent about six hours in the car, but the time flew as we talked baseball most of the way to Dyersville and back. The card show was the best one I have been to this year, but that's only because I haven't made it up to Orland Park yet this year. The event at the movie site was very unique, and the weather was near perfect, but I don't know that I'll ever make the trip again. It was well done, but kind of one of those things you do once to check off your bucket list.

I hope you had a fun Labor Day weekend, too!

Where's P-Town Tom?

I saw the Angels play on Thursday and the Dodgers on Friday, but now we're getting to the most anticipated part of my current vacation. 

I had a really good friend move to Seattle recently for work and I figured it was time to catch up. 

We have taken a few baseball trips in the past before and I'm hoping to drag him kicking and screaming from work to accompany me to a Mariners game before the week is over. He's actually out of town today, so I'll be heading down to the ballpark myself this evening. 

But, that's okay, because this guy will be there!

The newest addition to my Vogelbach collection, #/25.

Maybe I'll get there early enough and have a shot at an auto? Shoot, I'm might die of happiness right there on the spot if that happens!

I'm also thinking about hitting up this place before the game to help prep me for seeing The Vogelmonster play live for the first time since 2013. 

They may have to roll me into the stadium!

Thanks for stopping by and may all your burgers be Vogel Burgers!

Vogelbach is an All-Star

The reserve rosters for the All-Star game were released this evening and I'm absolutely floored right now.

The Vogelmonster hit his 20th home run of the season yesterday and became just the third Mariner, age 26 or younger, to crank that many before July. (Griffey and A-rod were the other two.) Thus, I was pinning my hopes on seeing the Vogelmonster in the Home Run Derby. I honestly didn't think he would make the roster as a reserve.

Then this happened.

Vogelbach is the Mariners' lone representative in the contest, but I'm sure the gregarious Vogelmonster will have a great time in Cleveland nonetheless.

I, for one, will be watching the All-Star Game this year!  I'm still holding out hope he'll fill one of the other two vacant HR Derby spots for the AL. 😁

Lastly, I would have liked to have shown a new 2019 card of the Vogelmonster with this post, but unfortunately he's only had one card produced to date and I flashed it on the blog back when the retail team sets came out.  . . .   Topps, you are in my doghouse!

Sigh.

So, here's my newest purchase instead.

Beautiful!

Congrats, Vogelmonster!

High School Baseball Update

Last Saturday, May 25th, the high school baseball team I help coach won it's third straight Regional Championship.

All year long we've had stellar defense, excellent pitching and just enough hitting to get by. The Regional Championship game was no different. Take a look at the video I made to commemorate the moment of the 9th-inning walk-off victory:

On Wednesday, May 29th, we defeated Lincoln by the score of 2-1 to move to the Sectional Championship game.

Yesterday we faced off versus a very talented Galesburg team, who jumped out to an early 1-0 lead.

We managed to tie the game in the middle innings and then with two outs in the bottom of the 7th our catcher hit a walk-off single.  Celebration Time!

 Our catcher was the football team's starting quarterback. He has some elusive moves as you can see from the picture above. 

But, when an entire team is chasing you  . . . well, eventually you're going to be on the bottom of the dog pile!

Below is a video of the last play from a local TV channel.

This is only the fourth time in school history the baseball team has advanced to the Elite Eight.

We play tomorrow for a shot at the Final Four! Wish us luck!

The Roberto Story Continues

Let's be honest here. Not all trade packages are created equal.

I received one the other day that has to belong in my Top 10 all-time. Now, that's saying something because I've been swapping cards with 136 different "friends of the blog" for over eight years now. Yes, I keep track. I am a numbers guy after all.

Jeremy, from the ultra-creative Cards That Never Were blog, reached out to say he had some cards I might find useful.

For starters, he sent me the last eight cards I needed for me 1988 Topps set build. This is my second '88 set. I finished the first one when I was eleven and this most recent one was from a conglomeration of collections I had inherited.

Here we have an odd pairing, but it's the pair that finish off my first 1990 Topps set. Awesome!

Also in the package were cards for my Brook Kieschnick player collection.

 The card above is very chromey, and like most early chrome cards it is very curly. No worries, for it will find a permanent resting spot in a binder page and it will eventually flatten out.

 All three of the Kieschnick cards, Pinnacle, Leaf & Donruss, are from 1997. I miss the days of multiple card brands!  I'm now up to 95 different cards of the Cubs' former #1 draft pick.

Customs!  Jeremy specializes in making cards to recognize those players who have been snubbed. 

 I guess Brooks has been left out of a few Topps sets during his playing days! LOL

The 2005 Topps card of Kieschnick with the bat on his shoulder and the 4-seam fastball grip is an awesome photo selection for the two-way athlete!

I love my prospects. Oscar De La Cruz seems to be over his injury concerns and is pitching well in the minors again.

I suppose it isn't totally out of the question that we see him in Wrigley sometime later this year.

Alright, onto the best part of the package!

Yep, the best part wasn't even meant for me, it's for Roberto! You can read about the Roberto Batista story here and here.

I summarized the details Jeremy gave in his emails and my internet sleuthing into one note for Roberto:

Here's the item:

How cool is that? The only thing better would have been if Robert had pitched in the game. Shame on Ron Warner for not pitting Roberto in the championship clincher.  Also, check out that bullpen for Palm Beach. SEVEN lefties and not one right-hander? How odd. 

I gave the line-up card to Roberto yesterday and he was as grateful as ever. Truth be told, I think he's a little puzzled why people he doesn't know are giving him things from his playing days. Bloggers are just giving bunch!

Thanks so much, Jeremy!  I've got some cards for you, but I'm waiting on my Sportlots box order to to arrive. When it does I'll redirect the cards meant for you to the Sunshine State. 

BIG Hall of Fame Binder Addition

Mark, my first cousin once removed, has been mentioned on the blog a few times within the last two years. We met at a relative's art show in Wisconsin a couple of summers ago. At that time Mark gifted me a couple boxes of baseball goodness, which included lots of brilliant cardboard, a bat, and a book on Sadaharu Oh. Last year he sent me a really sweet program from the Library of Congress' baseball exhibit from Washington D.C. 

Today, well, he sent me a simple plain white envelope (PWE). Here's a picture of the note.

There's a couple of things to make mention of here. One, I love the ☮💓⚾ at the closing. Second, here's the link to the post about Roberto, who is one of my school's wonderful custodians. Third, Mark is a retired high school math teacher and I love the 10^99 reference at the end. One more... how about the blue tape!  Woo-Hoo!

Lastly, I will not be upgrading. Legit vintage from a relative? It doesn't get any better than that for this collector.

It was only a couple of posts ago I made this statement on my first Hall of Fame Binder post:

Huh, if that's not some unintended foreshadowing.

Are you sitting down?

Yeah, you better sit down.

I'm sure glad I was when I opened up this PWE!

A genuine 1964 Topps card of Muscles . . . The Commerce Comet . . . The Mick . . . Mickey Mantle!

Wow!

This one is going to sit on my desk for a little while before it gets safely tucked into my HOF Binder. So cool. I can't stop looking at it!

Thank you, Mark, for such a terrific surprise!

Ogle That Vogel: Sponsored by '90-'91 Hoops

Remember that craze back in December for Mark Jackson's 1990-1991 Hoops basketball card? At one point sales of the card were being banned on Ebay, but somehow my listing snuck through and I was able to flip two copies of the card for a laughable sale price.

Laughable? I would say so considering the junk wax status of the card. I looked up recent completed sales and the market and novelty of this card seems to waning fast. Strike while the iron is hot!

So, you may have heard that collecting Dan Vogelbach cards is kind of my thing. Recently a nice one popped up and I submitted a "Best Offer." The seller accepted.

It was glorious!

Behold, I now have half of the printing plates from the set. This plate/auto/relic of The VOGELMONSTER is from 2018 Panini's National Treasures set.

I flipped two junk wax cards for a white whale. I still can't believe my good fortune!

I've Been Gifted a Collection

I was out of town for an educational conference covering standards based grading for two and half days days last week. The timing stunk, you know, because Topps Series 1 dropped on Wednesday.

Me?  I was traveling in a Suburban to Indianapolis. Sigh. Even though I wasn't able to get away and purchase any product I was in a hotel conference center with Wifi... thank goodness for the blogs!

When I returned this past weekend my wife said one of her co-worker's book club friends's had decided to let go of her father's sport collection. I went down stairs and here's what I found in my man room:

Yeah. Two cats and a bunch of boxes.

For the record, I guess the co-worker is in her 50's. Hmmm...  But, the real question is when did the father collect? If it's from his childhood, then we're looking at cardboard from the 1950's or 1960's. If the hobby was something he dabbled with in his retirement, then I'm looking at a bunch of stuff I already probably have.

I haven't touched the boxes yet. My busiest part of the calendar year is almost here and I'm not sure I want to start this sorting project while my high school baseball coaching season is taking place. Then again, there's a good chance my curiosity will get the better of me.

Stay tuned!