These cards need a good home!

I have a man cave, and in the man cave I have a nice little closet.  Well, the closet is crowded with cards, and it's come to point where I've had to resort to putting the cards on the floor.  Anyone who knows about basements and water realizes this is a potential problem.

I have had a tendency to buy random packs over the last two decades to get a feel for a brand before I collect a set.  All of that random purchasing has caught up to me and now I have team lots anywhere from 75 cards (most recent expansion teams) to over 200+ cards of randomness per team.

My solution?  Team lots.  I'm a Chicago Cubs teams collector and my cousin is a crazy Cardinals fan, thus the other 28 teams are up for grabs.  Matt, over at Once a Cub, received a sample of what I've put together and he seemed pretty satisfied.  Yet, he only received duplicates of the Cubs I already owned.  Lots include commons, rookie cards, stars, All-Stars, Hall-of-Famers, inserts, and possibly an auto or jersey card. 

Below is a picture of what I'm dealing with here.  The White Sox and Blue Jays have already been bagged as you can see on the left in the picture.

If you're interested, I would send pretty much send you every loose card of your favorite team in a trade or for a small fee. 

Otherwise, the cards are going up on eBay for $5 for every 100 cards ($2.50 shipping and $2.50 initial bid).  I'd much rather make a trade then resort to eBay.  Drop me a line if interested!

If looking to trade, please check out the tabs at the top of the blog.  I love almost all things Cub (no Milton Bradleys, please).  I also have player collections of Ryne Sandberg and Kerry Wood; although, I don't have much from the last ten years of either player.

Bath Time Kitty

Laura went out this morning to check on the garden and our two cats, Gus and Mooshie, snuck out on the back patio to join her.  Ten minutes later, Laura was inside and had corralled Mooshie, but she couldn't find Gus.  She looked outside for the better part of a half-hour, but to no avail.  Laura offered, "He'll be back, he knows where he's fed."  I knew she was right, but I still worry about him. 

Fifteen minutes later he's on the back stoop sopping wet.  Not the "I just got caught in the sprinkler," wet but the "I did something stupid and fell into the neighbor's pool" wet.  His entire coat was wet, even his underbelly, was soaked all the way through.  Gus was not amused.  His nose was scraped up as well in this morning's events as well.  I'm sure there's a good story to be told.  Just wish I could have seen it!

Check the picture above and you'll see the scratches across the white fur of his nose.

Our best guess was that he was chasing something, fell into the pool, and then used the ladder to climb his way out.  I'm just happy he's alright and back doing what he does best: napping the day away.

Baseball Card Mail Day

The Cardboard Junkie and I agreed on another trade.  We each sent some Topps Archives to each other in an effort to meet our set building goals.  He also had a couple of Cubs that I wasn't able to score when I was cracking boxes and he was generous to part with them.

Here's the two Cubs that I was more than happy to add to my collection:

The above card is "cloth" card, and believe it or not, it's definitely made of fabric.  I wouldn't say that I have a personal collection of Castro cards, but I'm slowly acquiring them en masse.

I do have a collection of Ryne Sandberg, over 500 different cards in all.  Someday, I'll figure out what I do have in my possession and what I'm missing and then I'll attack eBay.  Until then, I'll pick up cards here and there that are safe bets to my collection.

 As with any shipment of cards from the Cardboard Junkie, there is an enclosed sketch card!  I love his work and this beaut is my third dayf (his screen name) original.  I was too young to remember Ed Lynch pitching for the Cubs ('86 and '87), but I do remember his work as the general manager for the Cubs.  His efforts, along with Kerry Wood and Sammy Sosa, helped propel the Cubs into the playoffs in 1998.

Thanks, dayf!

Paddle Boarding on the Illinois

Laura took the first three days of the work week off so that we could celebrate our anniversary together. 

This morning we drove up to Lacon, IL, and we tooled around the Illinois river on our paddle boards.  There was a stretch where I must have been stirring up the Asian Carp, because they were jumping out of the water and harassing Laura right behind me.

We used my cellphone, stored in a waterproof zip bag, to take the above pictures. 

One of the local Lacon residents chatted with us a bit as we were deflating the paddle boards.  I think he was curious as to what we were doing more than anything. He claimed that it looked like we "were walking on water!"

Laura took me to Castaways in Chillicothe for lunch and I devoured an "O burger" stuffed with blue cheese and bacon.  I wanted the cream cheese and jalapeno burger, but my order somehow got mixed up.  C'est la vie.   If you have two minutes, check out this video to get a feel for what the "O burger" is all about.  Pretty good if you ask me.

We returned home to find Gus busy sleeping in a box I brought him from Sam's Club yesterday.  Some things just don't change.

Bobblehead Monday #13

Bobblehead #13

Name: Lou Piniella

Position: Manager

Team: Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Description: 7.25 inches tall; standing with hands on hip getting ready to lay into an umpire.

Relevance: I took in a Rays game in Tampa Bay at the Trop last summer.  This bobblehead commemorates the trip!

How Acquired: Another eBay purchase.

Other Notes:  “Sweet Lou” won a World Series with the Cincinnati Reds in 1990, led the Seattle Mariners to an American League record 116 wins in 2001, and he was a three time manager of the year winner.

He was brought in to lead the Cubs to their first Championship in nearly a century.  I always thought that if he was able to accomplish that feat, then he probably could write his ticket to the baseball Hall of Fame as a manager.  Alas, two quick exits from the playoffs in 2007 and 2008 were all that he could muster.  Lou then retired to take care of his mother in the second half of his fourth season with the Cubs.

Lou is currently a baseball television analyst for the YES Network, which covers the New York Yankees.

Bonus Note: Lou’s nickname is “Sweet Lou”, but I’m not entirely sure why.  He’s more known for not being so sweet.  Here's a video of Lou and one of his more infamous scenes with the Cubs.

Here's a commercial he did for Aquafina which poked fun of his reputation as a tornado of managerial fury. 

Extra Bonus Note: I went to the Iadipaolo's Halloween party dressed up as Lou Piniella in 2008.