A Second Bobblehead of Yours Truly

It's the middle of summer and this math teacher is finally making some progress on his to do list.  The subject matter for this post is long overdue as it was a birthday gift from my friends Vince and Jim, my sister, and my wife.

Hey, a bobblehead created in the likeness of yours truly!  I think this one was ordered from somewhere along the information superhighway.  Pretty nice!

Wait, haven't we seen one of these before?

Why, yes!  We have!

The above bobblehead was a gift from my sister a couple of years ago.

Both are pretty cool looking and very much appreciated!  Thanks, gang!

Be on the look out for a few more bobblehead posts.  I just got back from a trip my wife and we visited two "new to me" MLB ballparks (Philadelphia and Washington), which means two new bobbleheads to add to my collection!  Additionally, tomorrow night is Dan Vogelbach Bobblehead Night at the Kane County Cougars.  Guess who has tickets?

Summertime Hobbies Revealed

My junior high softball season coaching duties had me at a season kick-off tournament this past Saturday.  When I returned home late in the afternoon I found one of our laundry baskets displayed in the front yard.

Oh boy.  My wife's summertime hobby, gardening, has really gotten out of hand.  I wish those of you who call the blogosphere home lived closer to P-town, because we're drowning in fresh produce!
 
Laura has already made a couple batches of pickles from the cucumbers and we have both gifted veggies at our respective work places.  For lunches I taken to enjoying a whole cucumber with my PB&J each day.  Yikes!

Speaking of hobbies, mine is going well.  Four blue autographs for cheap!

I've slowly been adding young pieces of the Cubs.  Above we have a pair of players who I have enjoyed watching at Kane County the past two seasons.  Underwood has been dealing for the Cougars this season and the Vogelmonster mashed for them in 2013.

Below are a couple of pitchers who don't have much as far as Cubs cards go. 

  Both players were acquired from the Texas Rangers in separate deals, but both have really impressed me this season. Neil Ramirez' card is from the 2007 Just minors set and Kyle Hendrick's card is from the 2012 Heritage Minors set.

After selling off a few items this summer my Paypal account credit line has finally evaporated.  Couple that with the beginning of another school year and I dare say my cardboard collecting for the calendar year is has just about come to a halt.  (Although I'm still on the hunt for an Arismendy Alcantara autograph!)

The Waiting 'til Next Year household also includes two cats.

Gosh, that wallpaper has to go!

Mooshie (left) and Gus (right) are pictured here enjoying their favorite summertime hobby as well: window sill sitting! 

Thanks for stopping by today.  Wish me luck, because it's the first day back at school for teachers! 

Raccoon #8 Was a Beast

My backyard raccoon trapping was on hiatus until recently.  If you recall, I managed to trap seven of the sneaky little critters and relocate them to a nice area far, far away from our home back in May.

Then my parents were having coon trouble. They have an older coon dog and they needed the trap back before something and/or someone got hurt.   It wasn't too long before they dispatched of their four legged mask wearing fiends.

All matters dealing with raccoons fleeted to the far corners of my mind until Laura, my ever-gardening wife, decided the little terrors were making off with her tomatoes.

Well, that simply won't do.  I borrowed the trap from my dad and we've started Round Two.

No bites the first night, but we awoke to a growling 8th raccoon yesterday morning.

This was the biggest one by far.  So large in fact that it could not turn around in the cage and it eventually had to back its way out when I released it.  L.A.R.G.E.

To refresh you memory on the naming rules...  we're naming them like hurricanes, and the odd numbered raccoons get male celebrity names and the even ones get female celebrity names.

1. Ashton Kutcher
2. Beyoncé Knowles
3. Channing Tatum
4. Demi Moore
5. Elvis Presley
6. Fergie Duhamel
7. George Costanza
 and the name of yesterday's raccoon is!
8. Heidi Klum

I'm sure she would be honored to know that we named a raccoon after her...  and the largest one at that!  Ha!

I Inherited a Friend's Collection

Last spring I received an awkwardly shaped box on my front stoop.  I wasn't expecting any trade packages at the time and I hadn't placed any recent orders to be delivered.

What I found inside was three separate containers, one of which obviously contains baseball cards!  The best description I can give the metal box is to compare it to a safety deposit box.  It came with a serious dent, which can be seen in the upper right corner in the above picture, but all of its contents arrived safely.

And the best thing of it all... the contents were baseball cards!

The other box had more of the same.  Baseball cards.

 Details?  Well, there was a '91 Topps Cubs set.  The 1990 Cubs, the players featured on the cards, went a lackluster 77 and 85. 

Also included was a late 1989 Peoria Chiefs set, which went 80 and 59.  The Peoria Chiefs at the time were the Single-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs 1988 #1 draft pick, Ty Griffin, has a card in the set.  Other notable names in the set include Matt Walbeck, Matt Franco and Alex Arias, but the cream of the crop was the Heathcliff Slocumb autograph! 

There was plenty more '91 Upper Deck, which is a set that I absolutely love because of it's clean white borders and fantastic photography.

Bert Blyleven apparently collects baseball cards when he's not on the beach.

Dave Parker came straight from his demolition job to DH for the Angels. 

Brett Butler is flashing him the "loser" sign because he thinks The Cobra is silly for using a sledge.

 Gary Gaetti just got a wet willy from a six year old.

 A horizontal card of three former MVPs from the same lineup.  Lots of talent pictured on that piece of cardboard.  Lots of Cub blue, too!

This Deion card is a great use of the horizontal shot.

Brian Downing didn't have nearly as much success with their respective attempts at-bat.

Who is Joe Slusarski?

I don't know, but I love the multi-exposure cards!

Hey a Jeff Bagwell rookie!  Nice!

Lastly, the metal box contained a slew of '91 Donruss, first and second series.  There was about three hundred duplicates, and it was only about forty cards from being complete.  A couple quick trades and a visit from Sportlots.com fixed that.

The set is now complete!

Thanks for the cards, Jeff!  They have found a good home for sure!

Cubs Convention Calendar: August

"On August 8, 1988, Rick Sutcliffe pitched for the Cubs in the first game under the lights a Wrigley Field. The game was rained out after three and a half innings, making the following night the first official night game at Wrigley Field."

The above caption was accompanied by the following, "On August 12, 1954, the Harlem Globetrotters defeated George Mikan's All-Star Team 57-51 under portable lights a Wrigley Field."

So I guess the first night game was really sixty years ago with caveat being that it was a basketball game.  Huh, learn something new everyday!


But wait, let's dig a little deeper on the worldwide web.  Apparently the All American Girls Professional Baseball League held their All-Star game at Wrigley Field, under portable lights, on July 1, 1943.  So the first night game was a baseball game after all.  What a plot twist!

It's kind of crazy to think the Cubs have been playing night baseball games for only twenty-six years. What's even nuttier is the hold Wrigleyville has over the Cubs and their scheduling: the ball club could legally only schedule thirty-five of eighty-one home games to be under the lights in 2014.

As my wife would ask, "Why don't they just move already?"  Huh.  Makes you wonder, doesn't it?