Junk Wax Pack Wars

I've read some nice "Pack Wars" posts lately around the blogosphere and they have motivated me to host my own "Pack Wars".

In one corner we have a 1992 Topps Stadium Club Series 1 pack with fifteen cards:

And in the other corner a 1988 Fleer wax pack with fifteen cards and one sticker:

The Stadium Club pack is one picked up for "free" on Listia. Conversely, I purchased this 1988 Fleer wax pack recently for fifty cents at my LCS.  Face value for junk wax!  It's not my fault... you see, I needed some materials for Thorzul's Fear the Fleer Nightmare on Cardboard Contest.


Here's a break down on today's scoring system:
A). Sweet facial hair = +1
B). Play at the Plate = +1
C). Double Play = +1
D). Chicago Cub = +2
E). Hall of Famer = +5
F). St. Louis Cardinal = -1
G). New York Yankee = -2
H). Other Randomness = ??

Here's your Stadium Club in order they were busted:
Cecil Fielder (Tigers) = +2 Love me some Big Cecil!

 Luis Salazar (Cubs) = +2 Cub! +1, because of the caterpillar on his upper lip.

Shane Mack (Twins) = +1 nicely groomed mustache

Rich Gedman (Cardinals) = -1 Cardinal

Kevin Brown (Brewers) = +1 There was another Kevin Brown?  I learned something new today!

Tony Fossas (Red Sox)
Shawn Abner (Angels)
Checklist #299 = -1 Checklists are NOT cool.
Checklist #300 = -1 Seriously?

Chili Davis (Twins) = +1 another nicely groomed mustache, +1 again because I like chilli

Orlando Merced (Pirates)
Dave Cochrane (Mariners)
Bernard Gilkey (Cardinals) = -1 Cardinal, -1 I don't like creepy mustaches.

Brian Holman (Mariners)
Ricky Bones (Padres)


Pack Total: +4
Not a great showing for the '92 Stadium Club pack.  Too many Cardinals and checklists.  Also, what's the deal with the near identical shots of Shane Mack and Chili Davis?


And now the '88 Fleer:
White Sox/Cardinals Stickers = -1 Cardinal stickers... yuck.

Bob James (White Sox) = +1 lumberjack-like facial hair

Mickey Hatcher (Dodgers)
Juan Castillo (Brewers)
Ted Simmons (Braves)
Phil Bradley (Mariners)
Tom Brookens (Tigers) = +1 sweet mustache & glasses combo

Don Aase (Orioles) = +1 awesome flavor savor

Jerry Gleason (Royals)
Nolan Ryan (Astros) = +5 HOF

Jim Lindeman (Cardinals) = -1 Cardinal

Joe Sambito (Red Sox)
Pascual Perez (Expos)
Ozzie Smith (Cardinals) = +5 HOF, -1 Cardinal

John Farrell (Indians) = +1 for being relevant in the 2013 playoffs

Bob Denier (Cubs) = +2 Cub!

Pack Total: +13
Whoa!  Two big names with the Ryan Express and The Wizard of  Oz making an appearance and a couple of sweet mustaches in this pack.  Did you know Nolan Ryan had a 2.76 ERA in 1987, but had a pitching record of 8 and 16.  Crazy Astros.

So, 1988 Fleer kicked some butt.  I didn't see that one coming, but two Hall of Fame players in one pack is always nice. If Fleer is able to ride those horses to a win, then more power to them.

Another Deal with the Toddfather

Todd Helton has retired from baseball after a seventeen year career.  What does this mean for Home of the Toddfather, which is named after Mr. Helton?  I hope nothing too drastic... like... GASP... a name change to the blog!  Tim has quite a nice following around the blogosphere and it would shock many of us if we woke up one morning to the Tulofather or the CarGofather.  They just don't have the same ring to them.

Mr. Helton's retirement hasn't phased Tim yet, at least not his generosity within the trade department.

I sent Tim a couple of Rockies and one of those crazy Topps Chipz and sent me back a handful of players from my favorite team.  Nice!

Shiny. Bowman. Platinum.  Here we have Javier Baez, Jorge Soler, and Albert Almora from the 2013 edition.  The Cubs' front office is counting on these three to come through in a big way.

 The Trey McNutt is from last year's set.  McNutt had a rough year in 2013, but he still possesses the potential to be a difference maker from sixty feet, six inches away.

I haven't seen any cards like this next one before.  At the top of the card in foil it says "Bowman Top Picks", but it is Topps issued card from 2012.

It's fun to compare Derek Jeter to Almora.  Actually, I think Almora offers a very similar skill set to Jeter.  Granted, the two play different positions, but this is a nice offensively-minded comparison by the people at Topps.

Last up we have my 245th different Kerry Wood card.  This one is from a 2005 Upper Deck set, but I can't tell which one in particular.

 What is nice about this card is the blue jersey swatch.  Most of my jersey relics are grey or white with a blue pin stripe.  This just might be my first blue jersey swatch.  Cool!

I think I mentioned earlier this week how I wish card companies made more of an effort to incorporate a meaningful player photo with relic cards.  Again, I think this one could have been better if Upper Deck found a picture of Kerry Wood in alternate blue top jersey.  It's still a tremendous addition to my collection!

Thanks for another great trade, Tim!  I'll start piling up Rockies for our next swap.

I didn't like Sushi at first...

... then I met a beautiful woman who took the time to introduce me to some of the tastier options.  Mmmm...  tempura.  Everything is better fried!

What about Nomo's Sushi Platter? Hmmm, I don't know.  I've never tasted a blog before.  The blog in question is run by Spiegel83 and he is one of the blogosphere's fine contributors.

I sent him some boys in Dodger blue and fired back with some players in Cubbie blue.  Life is good.

Spiegel sent a nice assortment of past Cubs.  Quick comments on each of the cards above:
A. Late 1990's cards all too often featured Sammy swinging the lumber.  It's nice to have this '94 Leaf fielding shot to add to my collection.
B. I do love those '91 yellow Fleer cards.
C. Sutcliffe was always a player first, and I'll always remember him that way. He's a decent commentator, but I feel he tries to turn heads to frequently with his comments.
D. I forgot Ricky Nolasco was a Cub!  Nice rookie card!

How about a some sweet swinging first basemen?

Mark Grace, 1994 Fleer Top Gloves insert

Fred "The Crime Dog" McGriff, 2003 Fleer Ultra

Anthony Rizzo, 2013 Topps Making Their Mark insert

I don't have many Moises Alou cards in a Cubs' uniform, because I was out of collecting when he played on the north side of Chicago.  Here's a nice 2004 Topps Cracker Jack jersey card though:

I liked Alou when he played for the Cubs, but here are my first two recollections of Alou:
1. He used to pee on his hands to get a better grip on the bat.
2. Roughly ten years ago, Steve Bartman would not have received the backlash for going after a baseball if Moises hadn't made such a scene about the fan interference.

I still hold Moises in high regard, but yikes!

Last, but not least, I have my first base card.  Another Sosa card, but this one comes to you via 2003 Donruss Studio.

 I wish card companies would make more of an effort to incorporate a photo that jives with the relic.  There are plenty of images out there of Sammy sliding into a base or simply rounding the bases after a homer.  Why the batting stance shot?  Regardless, now I have an authentic game used base from April 1st, 2002 to add to add to my collection!  I've already taken it out of the protective sleeve to touch the base... twice! 

This was a pretty righteous trade, overall.  Who would have thought sushi would lead to baseball cards?  Thanks, Spiegel!

Paddleboarding and Tree Planting

Christopher Columbus was responsible for my most recent three day weekend.  What did I do with the extra day?  Well, Columbus sailed the Atlantic Ocean to discover our great land.  Me?

I went on my longest stand-up paddle board excursion to date.

My wife and I shipped off from the American Legion east of Aroma Park along the Kankakee River and landed 6.7 miles later at Beckman Park in Kankakee, IL.

For the record, a yellow and green trail means that we're moving at a pretty good speed for paddle boarding and the orange and red are fairly slow.

You can see from the picture retrieved from phone app that at mile marker 4 our pace slowed considerably.  There was a wind out of the northwest and the tree line was blocking it until we made the bend at Aroma Park.  Those last 2+ miles too a long time.  There's even a spot in there where I stopped paddling to see what would happen.  Yep, the wind was pushing me backwards.  Crazy.

Monday I planted a tree for my sister.  She had to take down her tree in the front yard because it was interfering with the power lines.  I bought her a new one for her birthday: a nice ornamental pear tree that would not encroach upon the power lines.  

I picked my grandfather up and he supervised as I dug the hole, removed old roots, and eventually planted the new tree. Notice Grandpa there making sure I'm using good form!

Check out the "W" flag in the window.  The Cubs lost their last three games of the season and finished with a record of 66-96.  Yet, the Win flag still flies!

It was a fun weekend for sure!

Red Rizzo, Red Rizzo, send Anthony right over!

Baseball Dad, from All Tribe Baseball, recently flashed a Cub card that I just had to make a trade offer for.

I sent a trio of Panini Cooperstown Indians his way and he sent Anthony Rizzo right over.

Behold, a 2013 Panini Prizm Anthony Rizzo red parallel.  The above picture of the card is pretty nice, but it doesn't do it justice in my opinion.  For once I finally appreciate a red parallel of a Cub, but it's only because red is a secondary color of the Cubs AND because a blue border would have been overkill on my favorite section of the color spectrum.

I love me a good ole fashioned PWE trade, and this one was a beauty.  Thanks, Baseball Dad!