JBF Bomb #5

Everything is right in the world again. I received a package from Wes the other day and it was filled with his classic offerings. The cardsphere feels complete again.

Let's take a look at my favorites from the multiple team bags that our favorite JayBarkerfan sent my way.  Hold on, folks! This is going to be a very picture heavy post!

Wes always sends some cards along for my player collections. Wait, is that a mini shiny blue Vogelbach?  I think I may have swooned a little bit.

 Die cuts?  Check.

 Parallels?  Check.  I think I'll try to get the Arrieta signed at the Cubs Convention this weekend.

 More parallels and serial numbered cards?  Check.  I love those Upper Deck Electric Diamond cards from the 90s. Frank Castillo is on the base paths, watch out world!

Question of the day: Who will have the more memorable Cubs career? Gary Scott or Logan Watkins? I'm hoping Logan Watkins does, but if that's true, then that means some injuries hit the middle infielders of the 2016 Cubs.

Here are two of my favorite sweet swinging firstbasemen: DLee and Amazin' Grace.

 Starlin!  Don't you just love how Topps beats a picture to death?

 I just saw one of these on Tony's blog the other day. Rising Stars and SuperStars!

 Here's another SuperStar from the Score set and also my favorite Dawson card that's been produced in a long time.  That's just a great looking picture!

 More Hall of Famers?  Check!  Here's Ernie...

 And Billy...  (#Ilovevintage)

 and Fergie!  Yeah, Fergie had quite a run in the 60s and 70s!

 More Fergie!  Look at the stirrups on the left and the collar on the right.  Wow!

 Ron Santo!  Yes!

 Bruce Sutter in a warm up jacket and one with him holding a bat. Just fantastic!

 Rick Reuschel was a good pitcher for a good long time, and he was pretty under represented in my collection until now. I can always count on Wes to fill the voids.

 A couple of more Cub standouts in Bill Madlock and Big Lee Smith.

 Miscut madness and a cracked Kellogg's card?  This package has everything!

 I remember craving this Shawon Dunston card (below) when I was a young collector. It's amazing Topps could do these draft pick cards considering PhotoShop had not been invented yet. 

 O-Pee-Chee!  Yes!  I have a ton of '87 Topps, but that O-Pee-Chee team set is slowly buidling!

No respect.  The Cubs won the World Series and Ty Cobb is the headline?  Hmph.

 Here's the back of the card for those who are curious.

 Autos?  Would it be a JBF package without some high end cardboard? Nope!

 I really like the Hometown Heros concept and I hope Panini brings it back.  I have a feeling the Angel Pagan auto would probably amount to case hit or something along those lines back in 2007.

Justin Steele . . . excuse me as I wipe a little drool from the corner of my mouth.

He is a tremendous athlete, left-handed, and he has a pretty good arsenal of pitches. I would like to see him get 25+ starts this year and then be ticketed for AA in 2017.  He has the makings of a middle of the rotation guy and I'll be cheering him on! By the way, not only is the card shiny and green, but it's serial numbered on the back as well.  Wes, you rule.

 Rondell White was a nice hitter and a good person.  A Red relic? That's a bit different, but I won't argue because my relic box could use a little red spinkled in.

This card is so sweet! It's a shiny Topps Gold Label bat relic card that celebrates Billy Williams rookie of the year award in 1961.  What a great looking card!

And the best for last...  Seriously, this was my favorite part of the package.  Just look at those names!

 Yes, I know.  None look familiar to you, but they do to me.  About half of those guys played in Peoria back in 1991, between my seventh and eighth grade year. Cardboard that takes me back to my childhood wins.  Every. Time.

 Lester Strode!  Woo-Hoo! This is my first card of Lester in my collection!  He is the Cubs current bullpen coach and an overall great guy. He can be seen tossing balls to fans down the left field line at Wrigley from time-to-time.  I hope I bump into Lester at the Cubs Convention this weekend. This card needs some Sharpie on it!

Wes doesn't usually included non-Cub cards in my packages, but when he does it usually has a purpose.  Redus is a known favorite at JBF headquarters, and he has sent this card with a message.

 Yep, I've been bombed.  I guess I'm #5 in this shipment of bombing, or maybe this is the fifth bombing my mailbox has suffered?  Nah, I think I've survived something closer to one hundred thirty-two bombings over the last few years.  No, that is not an exaggeration.

Wes, as always, you have outdone yourself.  There were seven cards which made it into the Cubs FrankenSet AND two of those filled holes where there was not a card previously. And, the Lester Strode card had me doing cartwheels all by itself. (I'm really a simple man with simple pleasures.)

I've been saving a few items for you and they'll find their way to the post office sometime this spring. I'd send them now, but now I need to make sure this mailing packs more of a punch.

Thanks again!

Mets Cardboard for Cubs Cardboard

I had a LARGE stack of Mets cards and I found a couple of Mets bloggers willing to make a swap. Yes, I had to put my Mets feelings aside. Saying that the Mets are not one of my favorite teams is probably an understatement. We're talking about the 1969, Ron Santo's toupee catching on fire at Shea during the national anthem at Shea Stadium, and then Daniel Murphy in 2015.  Sigh...

Yes, I'm still catching up on holiday packages. Don't judge.

Justin, the proprietor of Mets Cardboard, seems like a really nice dude. Yeah, he cheers for those Metropolitans, but I can't fault him for that. We all have our favorites and every Jedi needs a Sith.  Right?

Besides, Justin is a man after my own heart: he is one organized collector and one heckuva a trade partner. 

Let's take a look at the cards he sent back my way!

Ballpark Fun with Darwin Barney and Matt Garza. I hope there's much more of this type of celebration at Wrigley in 2016.  The card on the right talks about the 1906 World Series.

The above and below pictures are from the back of the card. Here's to hoping they make JediJeff happy!  I don't mind showing a Cubs World Series loss, because they did win in 1907 and 1908.

 Here are two of my favorite Cubs from my childhood. Alfonseca had six fingers on his throwing hand and for whatever reason that has stuck with me all these years. Glanville has made a nice second career as a baseball analyst and writer.

The Rich Harden card has the old school Topps logo in the corner and is made of different vintage like cardstock. I'm going to try to get this one into the Cubs FrankenSet.

Lieber's career was way underrated in my opinion. When people think about the starting pitchers the Cubs had during the early 2000's there was some great talent (Wood, Prior, Maddux, Zambrano, Clement), but only Lieber won twenty games during those years. 

Maybe I've mentioned that a week from now I'll be in Chicago at the Cubs Convention?

 The Dempster is a beautiful card and would look great with an autograph on it. The Lee Smith will make the trip with me, too.

 An emerald parallel of the Cubs lefty swing-man?  Yeah, I'm taking that one also!

How about some sluggers?  Good luck in retirement Aramis!

 Don't laugh, Big Z could swing the bat a little bit. He won the Silver Slugger three times and had twenty-four career homers.

 When this guy would hit them out at Wrigley the bleacher bums would throw Oh Henry! candy bars on the field.  Good times.

Corey Patterson, a five-tool prospect forgotten.

I will always remember Moises Alou as being the guy to pee on his hands, because he said it helped him grip the bat better.  Um, you should have tried batting gloves, Moises. 

 I wish the Cubs had some young stud pitching talent knocking on the door to the majors right now.

 I remember when Prior and Wood knocked on the door and then pushed right through it to dominate the National League in their rookie years.

Speaking of Kid K, the above four filled gaps in my Kerry Wood collection, which is now at 435.

What a return for some Mets Cardboard!  Thanks for the trade Justin!

Rehashing 2015 and Setting Goals for 2016

2015 was a good year for me hobby-wise.  I was able to add three new player collections in Brooks Kieschnick, Karl Olson, and The Vogelmonster.  I also am currently 10 cards into the 2015 Bowman Vogelbach rainbow.  Nice!
And Nachos Grande pulled a Kris Bryant auto for me in one of his group breaks, which was HUGE because we all know how pricey those things are.
I started a Cubs FrankenSet, which has been a bunch of fun. I've been constantly updating my set with cards from trade packages and giving credit to those traders who have cards make the cut.  Feel free to check out my FrankenSet and see if any of the cards you've sent have made it to the binder!
Lastly, my humble little blog finally eclipsed the "100 followers" mark a couple months ago.  I'd be remiss if I didn't thank this great community for reading my drivel and sending Cubs cards my way.  I never thought I would have 100+ followers. Thank you.


Now, let's check out my collecting goals from last year and see how I did. 


1. Complete another set from the time before I started collecting.  I already have a jump start on 1984 Topps.  This should be an easy one.
It took a little help from the cardsphere to finish the aforementioned '84 set, and then I filled a couple of larger orders on Sportslots to finish the following sets: '02 Topps Total, '00 Topps Reprints, '12 Topps Archives SPs, and '12 Panini Triple Play. It felt really good to finally put all of those sets to bed!



2. Hit the National.  I haven't been to the "big one" yet.  This should be fun.
FAIL.  At the time I was really swamped and had pretty much spent my self-imposed card budget. I'll have to wait for the National to come back to the midwest, because I'm not making it out to New Jersey this year. 

3. Find a way to differentiate my content even further.  I want to hit that 65% mark. Badly.  In 2014, I did ten book reviews and posted once a month about my Cubs Convention Calendar.  I suppose I'll need to get creative if this blog isn't going to morph into one focused only on baseball cards.
Well, there's another failing grade. 142 of my 191 blog posts in 2015 were focused on cardboard, which is about 74%.   Oh well.  It's my blog and I write about what interests me.  So it goes.

  
Goals for 2016?
For this year I'd like to collect one set in the middle price-range. I've done Opening Day, Flagship Topps, and many of the Bowman sets in the past, which are all on the lower end.  Maybe Stadium Club?  It's a little pricier and fancier.  Maybe Bowman's Best or Topps Finest could be the one I empty my wallet for.  We'll have to wait and see when the card mock-ups come out.

Other than that, I'd like to create more room for my ever growing Cubs collection, which means I'll have to ship out some cards to my readers through trades or contests.  That should be fun! I'll be celebrating 5 years of blogging in a few months so maybe I'll do something then?

I want to keep my goals short and sweet so there won't be any pressure falling on my shoulders when things get busy.

Have a great 2016, everyone!

Bonds and Clemens Gaining Ground? Or are they?

 Today we learned the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) voters found Ken Griffey, Jr. and Mike Piazza fit to be enshrined within the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. For what it's worth, I'm glad Griffey earned the highest percent of votes ever and I hope his plaque features The Kid wearing a backwards hat. I didn't really have a vested interest in Piazza, but he was a great offensive force for many years and his numbers stack up quite nicely, especially when considering those gaudy numbers came from behind the dish.

What about Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens? I've seen it mentioned more than a handful of times around the web this evening that both players received a slight bump in the voting percentages and momentum may be swinging their way.

Yes, Bonds went from 36.8% in 2015 to 44.3% this year. Clemens saw an increase during the same time frame of 37.5% to 45.2%. I don't question the nearly eight percent increase for each player, but I do wonder if an increase of that size is sustainable during future elections.

Typically, one only discovers they have plateaued once they are in the midst of a flat, but I wonder if the two have found the beginning of their voting plateaus.

Hear me out and see if my explanation makes any sense.

In 2015, when Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine, and Craig Biggio were inducted, there were 650 BBWAA voters active. Of those, 549 chose to complete a ballot and Bonds received 202 votes and Clemens garnered 206. Then the Baseball Hall of Fame shook things up this past July and declared that BBWAA members would no longer be awarded a ballot for the remainder of their lifetime. Only writers who have held an active voting status in the last ten years would have the right to vote. As a result, many of the older, retired writers were shown the door. As they exited they took their beliefs about steroids with them. In all, 440 BBWAA members voted for this year's ballot. That's quite a drop in the number of ballots received, and Bonds and Clemens votes totals each dropped by seven this year to 195 and 199, respectively.

Let's look a little closer at Barry Bonds' voting numbers. If the number of current voting members and members who lost their voting rights led to a decrease in votes by 109 (549 voters to 440), and if each group favored Bonds the same, then Bonds would have lost 36.8% of his votes from 2015 when those older writers lost their votes. Bonds should have lost approximately 40 total votes from the 109 if this were true, but he only lost seven votes from 2015 to 2016. (Yes, I realize I'm taking some liberties with my assumptions, because I don't who lost a vote and how they voted in the past, how many voters changed their vote from 2015 to 2016, or how many new voters were given a ballot.  Even still, I think the argument holds some water.)

My hypothesis is this: in general the older writers, those who lost their vote, were not supporters of those players who were linked to HGH or steroids, while most of those who voted for Bonds and Clemens in 2015 did so again in 2016 and they are still active voting members of the BBWAA.

Am I out of line in my thinking that younger writers are more forgiving of HGH or steriod users than their older voting peers? Perhaps. But, if I am correct, then Bonds and Clemens will be hard-pressed to gain more than a couple of percentage points a year from now

I suppose only time will tell.

I'd love to hear to your thoughts on the matter in the comments!

My First PWE of 2016

We put our mail on hold while were on vacation last month, which is why this PWE didn't hit my mailbox until this past weekend. I'm not sure if it shouldn't go down as the last PWE of 2015, but I'm counting it as the first of 2016.

Jim, from the now on hiatus garvey cey russell lopes blog, put "some Cubbies at risk" and threw them in a PWE.  Let's take a look at the inventory!

 The 1978 Topps set is the oldest set in my collection. That fact and the buyback stamp have pretty much sealed the fate of this Woodie Fryman card: it will spend the rest of my life in my Cubs FrankenSet.  Woo-Hoo!

Present day Donruss looks really weird to me. That being said, I'm always happy to add a new Rizzo card to me collection.

In other news: I feel bad for Rizzo, because he has to find a new bromance now that Kris Bryant is engaged.

Here's a nice shiny die-cut of another Cubs #1 draft pick bust.  Onward and upward!

David Ross! He's my favorite current Cub and hoping I get to meet him at the Cubs Convention later this month. I wish Topps would have used a better picture of him in this year's Update set. I should probably be thankful Ross made the checklist at all, because often times back-up catchers who don't hit their weight have a difficult time getting an cardboard love.

Thanks for the quartet of cards, Jim!  They are the first additions to my collection this year!