Jaybarkerfan's Junk is my Treasure

Wes, from Jaybarkerfan's Junk, has been sent me numerous PWE Bombs containing his castoff Cubs.

I received two yesterday, posted on one, and just now opened the second.

How about some 1981 Topps?  Ken Kravec?  Yeah, I was four years old when he was finishing up his career.  I like the powder blue pinstriped jersey top though!

A young Lee Smith on an '84 Donruss card.  What a great looking card!

I was a big Marlon Byrd fan while he was in Chicago.  He was a hard worker, never complained, and he was always sporting a big smile.  Then he was sent to Boston and shortly thereafter was banned 50 games for using performance enhancing drugs.  What an ugly aftertaste that left in my mouth. 

How about Kevin Gregg?  Crazy sports glasses and all he never managed to endear himself to me.  Too many late inning shenanigans on his part.

Big Z?  I really like the Upper Deck Masterpieces set from 2005.  They have a nice "artsy" feel to them.  Z's stat line on the back boasts his stellar '04 season stats: 16-8, 2.75 ERA, and 188 strikeouts in 209 innings.  Not bad for a twenty-three year old!  Hard to believe Zambrano wore out his welcome in Chicago and now is currently unemployed at age 31.  

Jake Fox!  I loved Jake Fox' bat!  He had tremendous power.  I mean, just look at him in the card below; he's petty put together.  It's too bad his best defensive position was DH and that the Cubs never could really find a spot to hide him in the field.  Not that they didn't try as he saw time at first, third, left, right, and catcher.  Fox must have had a stockpile of gloves in his locker!

Here's my favorite Cubs card from the latest and greatest PWE Bomb.  Ted Lilly was a great Cub.  He was a bulldog on the mound, a good teammate, and someone the team could count on to eat innings every fifth day. 

I still remember the story that broke when he signed with the Cubs back in December of 2006.  Jim  Hendry, the Cubs GM at the time, was hooked up to an EKG machine while hammering out the details to Lilly's free agent contract.  Lilly, by far, was one of Hendry's best free agent signings. Period.

 Thanks for another PWE chocked full of Cubs, Wes!

A card a day?

I've heard of "A Pack a Day" and there are a couple of examples around the blogosphere, including the uber-popular Tribecards from Outer Space project and the sometimes forgotten, yet aptly named, A Pack A Day blog.

But, a card a day?  Let me explain...

I sent Jaybarkerfan's Junk one card in the mail with a poorly thought out note attached.  I only say poorly, because I didn't think about how the King of PWEs might take the note.

The note's a little hard to read, but I previously scribed, "Because 1 card in the mail is better than No cards."  I believe this to be a true statement and I stand by it.    You guys know what I'm talking about.

Example: Oh, I beat my wife home from work!  I get to check the mailbox!  <scampers to the mailbox>  Oh.  Nothing but junk.  Not even junk wax.  <sulks back up the drive way to the house>

So, I send Wes, the author of Jaybarkerfan's Junk, one card in a simple PWE and he sends back the following:

You ever feel like you just poked a sleeping bear?  I think I just did.

I don't know if you can make it out, but he's even taken to numbering his PWEs now, which was helpful, because all three arrived on the same day.  The crazy thing is each one has a different postmarked date on them.  How does that happen?

Okay, I must admit, I opened all three in one sitting.  I'm a bad blogger.  I know.

I give you envelope #1:

Vintage!  Glorious PWE vintage!


Next up, envelope #2:

Yeah.  Roosevelt Brown is watching me?  Creapy.

And #3?

More vintage goodness!

Sometimes opening cards and writing a quick post in the morning before heading off to the salt mines makes the whole outlook to the day that much brighter.

Thanks for the lift, Wes!

Yellow Bubbler from Jaybarkerfan's Junk

Wes, from Jaybarkerfan's Junk, has kept very busy sending me little plain white envelope bombs as of late.  But then something different happened: a yellow bubble mailer arrived in my mailbox.

To be honest.  I'm kind of lost.  My head is spinning a bit.  Why?  Well, nearly four weeks ago Wes left a comment about possibly having a 2012 Panini Triple Play "Real Feel" card for my set.  He said he would get it out in the mail.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks later.  No "Real Feel" card, which I had already forgotten about, but a couple of PWE Bombs.  To thank Wes for the Cubs that keep randomly appearing in my mailbox I sent him a little something.  He seemed pleased.  As was I, as I thought I had evened the score.


Now, back to the present: the yellow bubble mailer.  Guess what the key component was in its contents?  Yep, you're right: the "Real Feel" card for the set I've been chasing.  Check here for the cards that are still alluding me.

Pshaw!?!  What's the score now?  You'd think as someone who keeps receiving copious amounts of mail, from the same generous blogger, that I would have a better idea of what's going on!  Nope.  But it sure is fun!

Me thinks it's time to play catch up again. I'll have to be on the look out in the next couple of months to make a worthy surprise package for Wes.

Scroll down for some more of the loot that Wes sent in the yellow bubble mailer.

Some early 1980's Topps love:

All-Star Ken Holtzman's last regularly issued Topps card:

My favorite super-utility player from the last decade, mark DeRosa:

 I've always enjoyed the design of this '84 Donruss set, but never had the coin to chase it when I was younger.

I remember Spring Training back in '91 and how Gary Scott was setting the world on fire.  I rushed out to snag all of his cards, and well, overpaid for the career 0.160 hitter.  Somehow I missed out on this red boarded card from Score.  I'm glad I didn't for over a fiver for this one back in the day!

At some point I'm going to add checklists of my personal collection to the blog.  Kosuke's will probably be the first to debut.

 

 Here's a Cub I never heard of before.  This the '87 Fleer update card of Mike Mason.  He only pitched 17 games in his Cubs career.  Coincidentally, one of the two head coaches I had in college was named Mike Mason.  Nope, not the same guy, but their beards were similar.  Still pretty cool.

Thanks again for the package, Wes!

My '87 Topps Project = Win a Blaster

pic swiped from fangraphs.com

I started collecting during the summer of 1988 when I was ten years old.  An '88 Topps rack pack was given as a party favor at my best friend's birfday party and I was hooked.  I bought tons of Topps that year, but only the '88 product.  The '87 set caught my eye, but I didn't understand why someone would buy older cards when there was new stuff to be had.   Ten year old me, "Vintage?  Bah.  Give me more '88 Topps!"

Now, I understand that '87 Topps is not vintage and it more than appropriately falls under the category of junk wax, but that doesn't make me want to chase it any less.  I really do enjoy the design.  Honest!

January is traditionally a slow month for cards as everyone is waiting on Topps flagship to be released.  So, let's make things a little interesting in the meantime.

Let me welcome you to my 1987 Topps Project!

Goal: Complete the '87 Topps set, without purchasing any cards before 2015.

Current inventory: 
     A. I had 115 cards to start with, which I had accumulated over the last twenty-seven years.  Most of those cards came from repack boxes and my Cubs box.

     B. I won a Listia auction for two rack packs and 77 more cards were added to the project.

     C. Then I made a trade with Nolan's Dugout for 76 more cards and Jaybarkerfan's Junk dumped another 113 cards on me.

I'm sitting at 381 cards and I'm turning to the blogosphere for help to get to the magic number of 792.


Proposal:  Take a look at my need list and trade me your '87 Topps.  For every ten cards that fit into my set I'll give you one entry into the dreaded randomizer for a blaster.  Oh, and don't just send me your entire stack, because I will send all duplicates back in my trade return package.  Yes, I want to complete the set; no, I don't want to fill a monster box with '87 Topps.

Details:
     A. My trade box isn't busting with autos and relics, but I'll do my best to send something back that interests you for your junk wax... er, I mean '87 Topps.

     B. Entries for the blaster: Nolan's Dugout (76 cards) will be rewarded 8 entries into the randomizer and Jaybarkerfan's Junk (113 cards) will be given 11.  I'm a math teacher.  I round.  Deal.

     C. The blaster?  When the set is completed I will type all the entries into the randomizer.  I'll make a trip to my local Big Box Store and report the list of inventory back to winner.  The winner will have their choice of current product.  Nice.

     D. How to get the ball rolling: Check my need list and find what you can contribute. E-mail me at mrcoach00 at yahoo dot com with "87 Topps" in the subject heading, state the number of cards that you can help with, and be sure to mention what you're collection interests are.  I'll e-mail you back with what I can send back and an address.  Pretty simple.

Summary: 
I'll trade you for your '87 Topps and you might win a blaster for your efforts.  I'm out the cost of a blaster, but I complete a set, drum up a little traffic for the blog, and potentially find a few new trade partners. 

Sounds like a win-win if you ask me. 

Where's #4? I need your advice.

About a week ago I posted about three PWE from Wes, the author of Jaybarkerfan's Junk.  Wes numbered the back of each one, which makes it easy for me to know which one to open first.

Generally, I just open at will and don't think about it, but this new numbering system has me somewhat bamboozled.  I'm trying my best to maintain order and civility during the course of Wes' most recent barrage.

Here's what I've received on Monday (1/27):
PWE #6, postmarked 1/23, received on 1/27
and
PWE #7, postmarked 1/24, also received on 1/27.

Huh.  I've already cracked open #1, #2, and #3.  Now I have #6 and #7?

Yesterday (1/28) I received two more:
PWE #5, postmarked 1/22, received on 1/28
and
PWE #8, postmarked on 1/25, received on 1/28.

There's three days difference on the postmarked date, but the PWEs were delivered on the same day?  Seriously? It's 2014 and this still happens?

The better question is... "Where's PWE #4?"

As a high school teacher each spring the staff is on the lookout for the graduating seniors' class prank. I'm often asked by students what was the best prank I've heard of and I always refer back to the same story: Three pigs were let loose in a school and they were numbered 1, 2, and 4. Imagine the ensuing chaos as faculty, staff, and administration try to round up the pigs!  And then when things settle down, the confusion sets in, "Where's pig #3?"

 Perhaps you've heard of that one?  Some say it's urban legend. Regardless, I feel like I'm living it PWE-style.

Should I continue and open #5?  Or should I maintain my patience and wait for #4?  Following the above data, I can assume that PWE #4 was postmarked on 1/21.  It miiiiiight show up in today's mail, 8 days later. 

What if there is no #4? 

What would you do?

Three Legends and Five Autos

I've been a little more active on the card front as of late.  When I have a few free moments in the evening I find it relaxing to peruse Ebay and Listia for bargains.  Occasionally I put down a small bid and sometimes I actually win.

The following three cards are of Cubs legends and all of them are Listia finds.

 My favorite from the group is this 1961 card from the side of a Post cereal box.  The back is blank, but that's okay because the front says it all.  Stats... position... biographical information... and a sweet picture.

 Vintage, glorious vintage!  I love me some fuzzy, rounded corners.  This is only my second vintage Ernie in my collection.  The other is a '59 All-Star card of Mr. Cub, but I don't think it has anything on this one.
Mad Dog!

Mmmmm...  Denny's.  I have more than my share of Madux cards in my collection, but this one has Maddux in a some weird Braves costume and is probably ticketed for Jaybarkerfan's Junk.  The man keeps unleashing monstrous card packages on me!  What in the world is a WAMPA anyway?

The next is a seller with whom I'm familiar with: Tom from The Angels, In Order.

I saw Tom's return address on a PWE and thought, "I don't remember making a trade with him."  And then, out came Fergie!  Nice!  This Fergie is from the 1972 Milton Bradley game.  Cool!  Thanks, Tom!

The five autos were from five different listings from the the same seller on Ebay.  I love me some combined shipping! I think they totaled $9.25 shipped.  Not bad in my opinion.

 Paul Blackburn is one of many young arms who the Cubs have drafted over the course of Theo Epstein's tenure.  Hopefully some of them will make heir way up through the system before too long.

Jeimer Candelario is talented and has a great approach at the plate, but something just didn't click this year.  He wound up being demoted from hi-A to lo-A at mid season.  Time's still on his side though!  Good luck, Jeimer!

Shawon Dunston, Jr., really turned it on in the second half of the season and helped the Kane County Cougars break the franchise mark for wins in a season and also win the Midwest League Championship.

I made a Shawon-O-Meter earlier in the season when Shawon was hitting 0.255.  He finished on a bit of a tear and wound up hitting a more respectable 0.268.  Go get 'em in 2015, Shawon!

The Vogelmonster!

Nope, no extra commentary here.  You guys know how I feel about this guy!  (Yes, it borders on man crush.)

And last, but certainly not least, we have...

ROCK SHOULDERS! 

It's been a few weeks since I last dished out a ROCK SHOUDLERS-ism...  here we go...  Ready?

ROCK SHOULDERS' calendar goes straight from March 31st to April 2nd.  No one fools ROCK SHOULDERS.  Especially not the off-speed garbage of some weak minor leaguers.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

GQ, then and now.

Back in my younger days I hung out with a guy that named Jon who had his own time: JGQ time.  If we wanted to pick Jon up at 8 o'clock we'd tell him we'd be buy at 7:45.  Why?  Well, he always had to look "good" before going out on the town.  My friends and I joked around with him and said that he reminded us of the guys that grace the cover of GQ Magazine.  In all honesty, I think we were a little jealous, because he made an effort and definitely stood out among us. 

Fast forward a good fifteen years: Maybe I can make you jealous with a different type of GQ? 

I stopped in my local card shop today and was disappointed to learn that there hasn't been any new products released lately.  I talked a little baseball with the owner and eventually settled on a couple of Cubs cards an a pack of 2013 Gypsy Queen.

Here's the highlights of the pack!

The lead card was Mr. Evan Longoria and right behind him was the Cardinals' rookie phenom, Shelby Miller.

 

 I wish I would have opened this pack in the store, because the owner, who is a big St. Louis fan, would have swapped me something nice for it.  Bummer.  Now that it's home I may have to put it in a top loader and hang onto it for a spell.

Third card?  Manny Machado! Nice.  I love prospects, and this pack is definitely bringing the youngsters!

The next card was slightly stuck to the back of Machado. Not stuck like glue, but more or a "static cling" type connection and as I tried to separate the two cards the mini dropped to the floor and now Justin Upton has a dinged corner. 

Sometimes those minis really drive me crazy.  I've opened two GQ packs this year and pulled both of the Upton brothers.  Weird.  The other one is now part of Jaybarkerfan's Junk, but if you'd like a dinged Justin Upton just give me a holler. 

The card that was stuck to Machado?  Oh, just another Atlanta Brave.

Sweet!  A mini, framed relic card!  This is my first framed mini that I've pulled in my pack-ripping days, and I must say it's a pretty sweet looking card.  There's a cutout in the plastic that covers the card so that you can feel the jersey swatch, which is a nice idea I suppose, but I'm not really into feeling my cards.  Sometimes smelling, but never feeling.  I know.  I'm a little different.

Oh, for what it's worth, the Freddie Freeman is up for trade.

Moving on, the next card that stood out was Bill Mazeroski.

There was a time where I hoped Ryne Sandberg would be mentioned in the same breath as Mazeroski.  Yeah, no worries there as Ryno also now has a plaque in Cooperstown.

Last notable card: Derek Jeter.

Normally I don't think much about Derek Jeter, but he's been injured and had a rough go of it.  I don't wish injury on anyone and I hope he's able to bounce back.  In the meantime, I can't help but wonder who'll start at shortstop for the American League in the All-Star Game.  Oddly enough, the game is New York's NL ballpark this year and I'm sure Jeter would have received a nice ovation regardless.

So, what do you think of my GQ pack?  I don't think it would have impressed my friend, Jon, very much, but I'm pretty happy with it!

Chronicling Some of the Best Blog Names

I love reading the baseball card blogs, because our community is chock full of wonderful writers and home to some very creative minds. The creativity isn't only on display within each post, but even some of the blog names are quite ingenious.

One of the blog names my mind really digs is Wrigley Wax, because it's about a guy who collectors "wax" of players who have called Wrigley home. "Cubs Cards" just doesn't have the same ring to it; thank goodness Paul was more inventive than that!

When I was growing up, anyone who had their own sports card was a hero of mine, so 2 by 3 Heroes would be in my list of Top 10 Best Blog Names, as well. It's a blog title I can relate to!

I love all things having to do with pirates and I enjoy a good play on words, so somewhere in the upper echelon we would undoubtedly find Bob Walk the Plank.  A couple other that employ some nice word play are Torren' up Cards and Schmidt Happens.

I can't forget about Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle, because the title has both "thy" and "argyle" in it. Those words, my friends, are the makings of one sweet title.

A blog about cardboard that sounds like a 1960's band? Coot Veal and the Vealtone's  . . . just awesome. 

Alliteration?  Yeah, that's covered, too: Bubba's Bangin' Batch of Baseball Bits


And heck, The Card Papoy would be in the top 10, because I have no idea what a Papoy is, and Kevin's choice of words has piqued my curiosity.

Of all the blogs, I think The Chronicles of Fuji is the best blog name out there. "The Chronicles of" is a great hook. It sounds mystical and legendary at the same time. Add "Fuji" into the mix and now it sounds somewhat mysterious, and maybe, just maybe, there are ninjas in involved. (For the record, the only thing that trumps a pirate in my book are ninjas.)

 Fuji sent me a package the other day that snuck up on me like a ninja, that is to say I wasn't expecting it. And although there weren't any ninjas associated with this package, that I know of, it's greatness was rivaled only by Fuji's blog's name. Yep. It was that good.

 

 It started off with a pair of Mark Prior jersey cards. Mark Prior, you may remember, was once the goods. I'm sure these cards were a hot commodity back in the day, especially the Bowman Sterling because it's numbered /199, and now they are welcomed additions to my Cubs relic collection.

Big Z and Fukudome!

 I love it when the jersey swatch matches the uniform on the card, so I will just assume the Zambrano artifact is from Carlos' pants. Right?

Kid K!  I've been the recipient of quite a few Kerry Wood relics as of late and I couldn't be happier about that!

The one above is a duplicate, but that's cool by me because it'll go into a pile for Wrigley Roster Jenga or another Cub fan. Cards for fellow team collectors can be quite scarce at times!

A partial stripe! 

This Fleer Tradition card from 2004 is from the same set as the Mark Prior card above. Yet, the two cards will go in separate places in my collection. The Prior goes to the relic box and the Wood will make its way to the Kerry Wood binder. 

Speaking of which, my Kerry Wood collection now stands at 489 unique cards. 

I decided to count this one even though I have it in the binder already. Why?  Well, the one Jaybarkerfan's Junk sent to me already was a white jersey with a blue stripe. This one is obviously not, which makes it a jersey parallel. Right?  . . . My collection, my rules.  489.  Firm.

A big thanks to Fuji for all the fabric in this package!  It was a great surprise from a blog with a really cool name. 😁

Happy Holidays to you all!

Oh, and I know some of you were gifted cards this holiday season. Maybe you have a new favorite card of 2016? If so, be sure to enter my contest. The rules are easy and the prize is a blaster of 2017 Topps flagship. Fourteen bloggers are in already, click here if you want to join the fun!

Off Into The Sunset

The blogging community said goodbye to one of its best recently, but not before he threw a HUGE pack-ripping extravaganza and giveaway. I sent Wes, he of Jaybarkerfan's Junk/Rising Willingham/Area 40 fame, a little parting gift. I should not have been surprised when the most generous collector I know responded in kind.

Let's take a stroll through some of the Cubs goodness he sent my way.

 Per usual, Wes padded the numbers of my player collections. Above is my 922nd different Ryne Sandberg and 86th Cubs card of Brooks Kieschnick. Nice way to start!

Personally, I think we witnessed Panini's best rebooted Donruss design in 2018.

 It's simple and I really like the little wavy lines as a tribute to the 1984 design. I also believe the shininess Optic brings to the table adds a level of collectabilty to the brand.

Cubs rookie mojo!

 Baez proved me wrong last year by having a season I didn't think he was capable of. I'm crossing my fingers that this is the year Schwarber proves me right!

Rizzo gonna Rizzo.

As a fan, is there anything better when your team has a current player who epitomizes so much of what is right in MLB and the world today?

New Kris Bryant cards for the collection.

Honestly, I can count on one hand the number of Kris Bryant cards I have purchased, yet these two put me at 111 different Bryant cards in my binder. The generosity of the blogosphere knows no bounds.

ROCK SHOULDERS

It's a little known fact, but back in the day I was super-collecting two Cubs minor leaguers. ROCK SHOULDERS was one of them and the other guy was some dude named Dan Vogelbach. Maybe you have heard of him?

A few years ago much was made of Carl Edwards' slight frame, 6'3" and only 170 pounds, and how the Cubs were trying to get him to add weight.

His eyes in this photo . . . they seem to say, "I see you reaching for my cheeseburger."

Late 1980's Donruss!

Gracie and Mad Dog were two of the best to pass through Peoria on their way to stardom.

Pitchers who rake.

Believe it or not, I was a pitcher in high school who raked, 0.300+ average and 11 combined homers my junior and senior year. It didn't matter when I got to college as those numbers earned me three plate appearances in four years. lol

Mike Morgan's career spanned four different decades and he pitched for twelve different teams. He earned an All-Star appearance in 1991 with the Dodgers, but arguably his best year was with the 1992 Cubs.

 

Get a look at these numbers: 2.55 ERA, 16-8 W-L, 240 innings and only 14 homers given up, 1.17 WHIP. Mike Morgan put up those stellar numbers with a K/9 of only 4.6. The MLB average for K/9 in 2018 was 8.5. Wow, the game has changed.

DLee and Matt Stairs were two of my favorites from the previous decade.

  Stairs also played for twelve different teams during his career, and I'm sure he was a riot for all dozen of them.

I believe this one is a business card and/or advertising piece from Gypsy Oak, who is known for his baseball related artwork.

I'll add it to the Cub collection!

Oooooooh! Super-duper black parallel refractor mojo!

Matt Murton is one of Wrigley Field's fan favorites!

Vintage. Sweet, Vintage.

That is one well-loved Ernie Banks! And if you know me, then you know it'll be cherished in my collection!

The package finishes up with a couple of early 90s autos of Mike Bielecki and Shawon Dunston, Sr.

Bielecki and Dunston, were part of the magical 1989 Cubs team, which is my second favorite Cubs team of all time. You'd be correct if you guessed the 2016 team as the club at the top of the list. 

Wes, thank you for the remarkable package! It's been a pleasure, my friend!