We entered the 9th inning leading 2-0 thanks to solo homers by David DeJesus (which the announcer pronounced Da-Hey-Juice) and Starlin “Still No Walks” Castro.  You may [...]]]> Andy and I just took in a Cubs game together. The Cubs defeated the reigning champion Giants 4-3, but not after some come-to-be-expected drama from the Cubs bullpen.

We entered the 9th inning leading 2-0 thanks to solo homers by David DeJesus (which the announcer pronounced Da-Hey-Juice) and Starlin “Still No Walks” Castro.  You may have heard that Carlos Marmol was relieved of his closer duties.  For some reason it was big baseball news.  Locally, sure, I understand.  But nationally?  Why would most people really care what’s happening in the bullpen of a probably last place team?

Anyway, Marmol was replaced by the newest Japanese bidding war import Fujikawa.  He sucked.  He’s probably worse than Marmol and a huge waste of money so far.  He, along with a couple of very close plays that rightfully went SF’s way, allowed three runs.

Somehow, a pinch hitter with a .083 average hit a home run off of a legitimate closer with 6 saves and 0.00 ERA to tie the game (before it happened I told Andy that he was due.  Don’t question me!) and Castro ripped a double off the wall to score the walk-off hit.  It was a roller coaster ride.

Let’s just say that the Cubs bullpen is in shambles.  None of them would be drinking coffee if Alec Baldwin had anything to say about it.

This is from the Cubs team set and looks better than his eventual 2012 card

As far as my collection goes, I’m giving my vote of confidence to Carlos Marmol. He’s still my closer, and will be for the long haul.

That's it! Build up your confidence

There’re a couple reasons why I’m continuing my collection, despite his obvious deterioration.

You're going to see this picture a couple more times in this post

Despite his unfulfilled promise, he still holds claim to a couple really amazing seasons as an unhittable closer.  It was a spot that he earned and deserved.

Your regular, run of the mill mini

So, he may have peaked, or lost his control, or teams have simply figured him out, but his past successes are still enough in my mind to make this quest worthwhile.

One of many swatches in my home

The other big reason is that my collection is relatively big.  I have 68 of a possible 144 cards that are on my want list.  That’s 47.22% of all Marmol cards with a print run of 50 or higher.  How can I turn off that faucet?

I still need a few more variations, but this is the big one out of the way

Besides, I can get things like this no numbered mini for cheap, because other people are abandoning their collections or don’t want to add him to anything they are chasing.

I ain't rubbing nothin'!

Something like this Venezuelan back was had for the bare minimum.  I know a lot of these were going cheaply early on, but for a card with an estimated print run of only 64, that’s really not too bad.  Especially on release week.  The benefits of a fallen star.

This completes my 2008 Triple Threads rainbow!

Hey look!  I got a hit off of Marmol, too!  Hopefully, I’ll continue to rack them up.  This is the last one in my folder to show off.  You’ve seen all 68 on this blog throughout the years.

I guess that means I’ve done something that Carlos couldn’t do, and that’s close something out.  Although I still need 76 more cards to finish what I started.  I’m up for the challenge, even if Marmol turns out not to be.

The previous owners were only there for maybe 7 years, max, but holy hell did [...]]]> We are slowly moving into our new house.  We’re taking things slow.  On most days, we’ll move 5-6 boxes worth of stuff, shove it in an unused room and then paint or clean various walls, floors, sinks, counters, shelves, etc.

The previous owners were only there for maybe 7 years, max, but holy hell did they do a number to the place.  The walls are all dinged up, the kids were allowed to draw on EVERYTHING and apparently the parents never thought it worthwhile to clean it off.  Luckily, the only stuff that needs to be fixed is the cosmetic stuff.  The building itself is solid.

We just got the carpets cleaned tonight (also drawn on, because who needs paper?).  This is a key step, because my card room was one of those carpeted rooms.  Now that the cleaning has happened, and the walls have been painted, I can begin to assemble my storage and move my 5000 counts and binders to their new home!  Probably 5-6 boxes at a time, still because those boxes get heavy and I’m contending with a lot of stairs overall.

Also, I don’t want to get any cardboard cuts.  Have you ever cut yourself on a corrugated box?  Not fun!  I’ve been lucky enough to avoid it so far, but you never know.

That’s not the only cardboard that can cut you…

That looks like Wade Boggs on his wristband

Look out!  This 2013 die cut came to me courtesy of Reader Zach.  Forgive me if you have a blog and I’m completely blanking on it.  I sent him an Adam Jones from my 3 blaster splurge and he paid me in kind with the one I wanted most!  Thank you very much for the trade, Zach!  I hope the AJ10 serves you well.

Didn't even enter a code

The previous die cut may have been the most recently produced, but this is my most recent acquisition.  I’ll tell the full story later, but I got this from Topps as a customer service replacement.  He came with a lot of friends, so be on the lookout, because they’re going to need homes.  I promise they won’t cut you. on purpose.

I entered many, many codes

I went a little crazy with the codes from the promotion related to these.  I ended up walking away with a pretty good haul overall, including the Marmol black diamond I showed off previously.  I don’t remember who I traded to get this, but I’m pretty sure it was a bunch of non-diecut “vintage” and maybe some random scrub.  If memory serves, it was something of a last days of the promotion effort since I knew that I didn’t have any desire to ship non-diecuts.  That was fun.

Ebay purchase, unfortunately

I tried to trade for this one, but I couldn’t quite get it to work.  Maybe if I had more time.  My hope was to flip some lesser regulars for a lesser black diamond and work my way up.  I can’t blame anyone not biting.

I don’t have to worry about any of these cutting me.  They’re all safely packed away in toploaders, waiting for the move.  I just hope they’re not conspiring against me with the cardboard boxes.

Not too long ago, Dutch Card Guy and I worked out a trade for some of my Topps Minis.  He was working on the set and I was able to [...]]]> And that’s not me speaking in hyperbole to get a couple extra clicks, either.  Will you agree?  I guess we’ll find out in a few minutes.

Not too long ago, Dutch Card Guy and I worked out a trade for some of my Topps Minis.  He was working on the set and I was able to knock his set needs list down to seven more cards.  I’m not 100% sure he still needs those last several, but if so I sure hope someone can help him out.

I the words "Panini," "Family," "Poland," and "Ukraine"

These sticker packs were also throw-ins, but they’re not what the title refers to.  I have a few of these now thanks to DCG, but I haven’t opened any of them yet.  I’m not really sure why.  I guess I’m waiting for a more appropriate situation.  Something tied with the World Cup qualifying?  I don’t know.  I’ll figure it out.

Kerry was 7 years old when the 1984 set was released

I have a tough time distinguishing between the various Fleer Platinum sets.  Did they go in chronological order with their classic designs like Heritage?  I’m sure some quick and easy research will tell me one way or another, but I’d rather mindlessly type.

Sweet, sweet uni

You know, we opened a whole case of this stuff to sell off and we didn’t find a single Gwynn mini.  That’s where the lovely blogging world comes in.  Only 49 more variations to go*

*rough estimate

I'm glad someone buys and opens Bowman!

Boy, and I thought fans at Wrigley Field were bad about paying attention to the game.  Look at this crowd.  Of course, based on that soft toss the picture was likely taken pre-game or between innings, but why let observations and facts detract from the trash talk?

Row 3. 3 times the attitude of row 1

Pffft.  You call that a pitch?  Who do you think you are, Greg Madd–?  oh.

I can totally see this happening for real

A prelude to my card room situation.  I just bought some extra shelving now that I have a little extra space for it.  Plenty of room for more “trophies.”

Slammer

I know the “O” probably stands for “Ovation,” or possibly as a representative letter for the circle die cut.  For me, the “O” stands for pOgs.  This is definitely a pog disguised as a so-called die cut card.

This is the last card that was agreed upon in our little exchange, which means this final scan is the infamous throw-in.

A tip of the cap to Dutch Card Guy

I tried to convince him it wasn’t necessary, and that it doesn’t fit my collection parameters.  Still, despite my protests, this Greg Maddux Gold Bordered parallel numbered /10 found its way inside the bubble mailer and flew across the Atlantic to reach my doorstep.

Now, the scan doesn’t show it, but it is actually quite damaged.  There’s a big crease along the top third of the card that’s much more noticeable on the back near the super-low serial numbering. I’m not sure if it was like that initially or it was a byproduct of the international import/export process.

But you know what?  I really don’t care, because this baby isn’t leaving my collection anytime soon.  Or probably anytime period.  How could I let this “little” extra leave my grasp?  And it’s not about the numbering, either.  It’s about the generosity and community we’re part of.

I’m not about to let that leave my collection.

The good news [...]]]> When 2013 Topps came out, I went a little overboard.  For a set that I have no intention of completing, I bought way too much.  A blaster or a few packs to test the waters is one thing.  Buying 3 blasters that basically costs the same as a hobby box is another.

The good news is right after release, it’s not too hard to make your money back on such an “investment,” especially on sportlots where some regulars eat up those retail parallels for their team sets.  I could have also done nicely with the Mike Trout Target reds right away.

The “bad” news is that I didn’t make my money back because I decided to trade as much as I could.  It worked so well that I have to put a brief halt on trading.  Not really bad at all.

To be honest, that’s kind of why I bought so much to begin with.  My trading reserves were relatively low and you people have stuff that I want!  People like Play at the Plate.

scanner error, not miscut

This is a sad reminder that the new Gypsy Queen is already out.  It’s like they make more every year!!!  How am I supposed to keep up?

"Avoid the Pennant Fever" - Jimmy Dugan

Boy, it looks like Roy Lichtenstein took a dump on a blood orange.  I guess that’s what happens when you get Pennant Fever.  But hey!  Three pictures on the front of a card.

Now to chase the Ultimate version

Something tells me Upper Deck isn’t going to bring the Victory brand back to baseball with their new unlicensed cards.  I just hope they do something more budget conscious and not just exorbitant Fleer Retro type sets.

What year is it?

One thing Upper Deck’s absence has done is helped us avoid an even greater over abundance of retreaded designs.  As a result, I’m not completely sick of the 1989 look.  The crazy foil certainly helps.

Just one more year and it will end well, halls wise

Okay, I love plastic cards, but holy hell what is going on with those eyes?

How many times has the word "Gulp" appeared on a card as a sentence?

One more.  I saved the most unique, and thus best, for last.  I’m showing the back because the front of this mystery finest card looks like this…

It's like Roy Lichtenstein took a dump on a blood orange in the dark

I’ve decided that I’m keeping it unpeeled.  I’m sure I can find the regular and refractor versions down the road, but how often will I come across an unpeeled one?  I can at least tell from the indentations against the black rubber or whatever that coating is, that I have a bordered version.  So, my executive decision is to add a line to my spreadsheet for the “unpeeled” bordered variation.

And it never would have happened if I didn’t go overboard on 2013 Topps.  Thanks a lot Brian!You know what they say.  Halls well that ends well.

Okay, no one says that.

The fact that we were able to do it without Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah makes me optimistic for the playoffs.  I hope they can both [...]]]> How about those Bulls, huh?  Congratulations to them for beating the Miami Heat and ending their remarkable streak.  It’s no 72-10 record, but Miami’s run was still quite amazing.

The fact that we were able to do it without Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah makes me optimistic for the playoffs.  I hope they can both come back soon (but not before they’re ready, please).  Next year, the championship could very well be celebrated in Grant Park again.  This year, probably not.  But we have depth.  We saw that yesterday.

Speaking of beating the heat.  I heard the drug dealer van ice cream man around the neighborhood today.  In 40 something degree weather.  I wonder if we’ll have a truck at the new place.

Anyway, it’s strange having the Heat as a sort of new rival.  My memories are swamped with hatred for the Knicks and this team…

Dude is a beast and I hate him more than any other contemporary player

I can only think of one time that I rooted for the Celtics, and that was because they finished dead last and then Kevin Garnett joined the team.  I knew they had a chance to win the title, and I wanted to see the worst to first actually happen.  Again, it gave me hope.

This Rondo Past & Present insert came courtesy of Mark of Mark’s Ephemera.  He sent this and a Ray Allen my way “for free.”  It turns out this is the only one I needed for my very slowly accumulated master set.  I’ll repay him with some Kevin McHale cards once I’m able to access them (back in my hometown).

I probably won’t be able to make that happen until it gets warmer, but I’m sure I’ll do it before summer so I, too, can beat the heat.

That’s [...]]]> One of the great things about trading is that you get to pad your binders will all kinds of wonderful new & old pieces of cardboard.  One of the “bad” things about trading in the blog world is that they tend to come in waves, and an infrequent poster like myself falls desperately behind.

That’s why Chunter from Chipp ‘n’ Dale has had to wait two months after showing his side to receive his due on this blog.  That’s no way to treat a guy with possibly the greatest header picture of anyone.

Not when he sent me this stuff.

You can measure your kids' heights with these cards

The first two cards are the easy highlights for a couple reasons.  For one, rarely do you see these on the blogs or mentioned for trade.  For dos, Chunter included the special extra tall toploaders.  Shipping these suckers isn’t easy, which is why that first point likely exists.

Long enough to show two full pictures

I collected a ton of the basketball version of these elongated cards.  I probably have a couple sets worth sitting in a box as a result of me trying to chase some of inserts.  If I had interest in baseball cards in 1994, I would have done the same for these Extra Bases.

Not quite Team 2000

Pro: Art card.
Con: Double sided.
Pro: Good Pinnacle gold foil
Con: …double sided…  Pros win!

Mr. Bowman's been scrapbookin'

Neat. Someone cut up a recliner and made cards out of it.

Try not to steal my identity with that fingerprint, okay?

Man, that All-Star foil stamp really throws this uneducated about 1998 Upper Deck collector off.  It took some research to confirm this wasn’t some sort of insert or subset.

The dream of the '90s is alive on cardboard.

This wasn’t as hard to figure out.  I don’t know how well they’re really defining the game, or the player.  Looks like “Describe: the Game” to me.

Why?

The turn of the century brought about digital everything.  Digital equals pixels.  Pixels equals boxy.  Boxy equals ugly which also equals this terrible Ultra set.  Maybe the Y2K bug destroyed their pretty design making machines.

Roughed up on the mound

I think someone got mad at this last card.  Pissed about only winning one World Series in all those playoff appearances?  Upset he went back to the Cubs?  It’s okay Greg.  You have a home here now.  They won’t hurt you again.

Thank you very much for the great trade!  Hopefully we’ll do it again sometime.  In the meantime, I encourage my readers to send some Braves his way.  The man has detailed lists to make things nice and easy for you, too.

It’s not anything to do with my impending move, either.  Well, partly, I guess.  Really [...]]]> Not for a while at least.  I have some packages due to Cards on Cards and Cardboard Junkie, and I’ll be sure to send some stuff off to them, but after that I’m going to go on a self-imposed hiatus.

It’s not anything to do with my impending move, either.  Well, partly, I guess.  Really it has more to do with the growing backlog.

You guys have been great to me lately, and I’m struggling to keep up.

The good news is once I’m through with this little exile, I have some big, great trade bait.  Hope you like online exclusive die-cuts!  There are plenty to go around.  Oh, and a housewarming group break.  Those are tales for another time.

For now, I’ll tell the tale of the Night Owl Trade.  I actually have two such tales to tell, but first is this little ditty from either late December or Early January.

A fine start

Okay, it’s not going to be a story as much as it is going to be me talking about cards that were sent to me in exchange for other cards.

I know many people are in the “free the finest” camp.  I guess I understand that mentality, but I’m in the “leave it the way it comes” camp.  I did peel a couple of my finest basketball cards as a kid, and boy was there a debate about what that did to the value of the cards.  My feeling now is more about original vs. modified, and I prefer original.

Avg leader on the road or GTFO!

Two things I hate.  Prominent ads on baseball cards and way too specific statistics.  Who cares about the average leader at home?  Sure, baseball professionals might care about the splits for their scouting, but baseball scouts aren’t using cards as homework.  Or at least I hope not.  Maybe the Cubs do.

Chizzity-checklist

I’m alright with this stat mention, because it’s interesting and potentially useful trivia.  It’s a record that has been broken and can be broken again, and some people may actually care that it did or when it will happen.  No one will remember the avg leader at home for any year.

Shine it up

Michael Jordan has the tongue.  Starlin Castro has the top teeth.  The overbite?  I haven’t purchased a single pack of 2012 chrome.  When there’s only one of 7 players I collect in the product, that’s going to happen.  That Panini Prizm, however, has 4 of 7, so I plan to pick some of that up.

"I'm happy" -- Droopy Wood

I probably have this card sitting in an abandoned set waiting to be disbursed to all the 2008 set builders.  But since I haven’t broken it up or bothered to look, Greg took pity on me and saved me the trouble.

My older chrome collection is severely lacking

I tend to forget about Kerry’s days as an Indian.  It’s easy to look past them when you have sparkly squares staring back at you.  Hypnotizing.  I usually typically pick favorites out of the batch anymore, but it’s hard not to choose this one.  X-Fractors are simply too cool.

Don't strain anything

Lastly, we have the cardboard representation of my expression once I get through this trading backlog.  Only about 15 more to go, including another from Night Owl.  Hopefully I’ll do a better job with my storytelling next time.

It’s a wonderful time of the year.  Spring is starting to rear it’s pretty little head.  New baseball cards start coming out faster than a Vin Diesel driven car.  Hope and optimism is in every fan’s head.

The future is now.

But sometimes before you [...]]]> We’re just about a week away from baseball’s opening day.

It’s a wonderful time of the year.  Spring is starting to rear it’s pretty little head.  New baseball cards start coming out faster than a Vin Diesel driven car.  Hope and optimism is in every fan’s head.

The future is now.

But sometimes before you get to Opening Day, you need to have a Closing Day.  Every new beginning some from some other beginning’s end says the song.

In my case, the new beginning is the purchase of a new house brought about by the end of a stressful foreclosure involving two separate defaulted mortgages.  Double the banks; double the fun says no song.

After several long months, the deed is done, so to speak.

The current owners are currently still there for a few more days (we hope that’s all it’ll be at least), but again if you didn’t see my previous warning to stop sending me mail, I would ask again to please not send any packages my way if you intended to do so.

Courtesy of the Diamond King

One good close deserves another.  Or a closer.  You know what I’m going for.  Marmol’s come a long way since his minor league days.  It’s been a roller coaster ride watching him, not unlike this housing thing.

Need all the F/X versions now

I guess you could call us rookie homeowners.  But don’t worry about our longevity.  We have a Keurig, so there’ll be plenty of cups of coffee available.

The more I see this design, the less I like it

It’ll be nice to be able to “shut the door” without bothering any neighbors.  Actually, more accurately, it’ll be nice to not be bothered by neighbors shutting their doors so loudly and listening to their children cry at ungodly early and late hours.

Stare down

These were the good times.  Strikeouts everywhere.  Sort of like when we thought the first bank was actually going to reduce our offer price by $10K.  That got reversed a couple days later, but at least neither came back forcing more than the offer.

bad ebay purchase

The home will need work, as most places do.  Sort of like this glossy parallel /999.  It was cheap and one of multiple cards from the same seller, but arrived with some bad denting on the top.  Can’t fix that with new carpet or paint.

I wish I could photoshop that cap away

This card may be mini-sized (hard to tell, I know), but our place isn’t.  A nice 3 BR, 3.5 bathroom with two living spaces and a tw0-car attached garage.  Certainly beats our 2BR/1bath apartment with street parking in growing gangland.

I feel so far behind in Heritage collecting

There isn’t a lot of heritage to the place, either.  We shouldn’t have to worry about replacing any of the major items for a while.

Traded for this back when the site was still active.

Now let’s talk about the good stuff.  The shining light in the whole deal is that the two of us don’t need three bedrooms and two living spaces.  Do you know what that means?

Managed to trade for this, too. Without having a black diamond to give back. Took a series of deals

It means we’re going to have a game room with all my old school consoles hooked up and ready to go.  My 100+Genesis games will finally have a chance to be played.  It also means that I’ll have a dedicated office/card room.

Shine on you crazy diamond parallel

Yes, hope springs eternal this time of year.

PLEASE DO NOT SEND PACKAGES TO THE ADDRESS YOU HAVE FOR ME UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!

If you have something we’ve talked about, leave a comment or email me before sending it but, barring some sabotage, I will be closing on a house this [...]]]> Before we get into the post, I want to make an announcement/request.

PLEASE DO NOT SEND PACKAGES TO THE ADDRESS YOU HAVE FOR ME UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!

If you have something we’ve talked about, leave a comment or email me before sending it but, barring some sabotage, I will be closing on a house this Thursday.  I’ll get into that more another time.  For now, I just wanted to halt the incoming.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Recently my new job sent me away to a conference in New Orleans.  I may have been a few weeks too late for the Super Bowl, but the conference housed just as many, if not more, people.  In fact, the convention center stated it is the size of 17 football fields.  And I had to walk the length of it several times a day.

The conference is all about information technology in the healthcare arena.  My current job has me dealing in what’s known as “Big Data,” so we kind of fit right in.

The week was filled with seminars and education sessions covering a vast array of topics.  At any given time, there were two or three different sessions that I could have listened to and another 15 or so that fit other people’s needs.  Even though I wasn’t able to hear anywhere close to everything, I still came away with some important general concepts (and a couple not so important observations).

1) Petabytes are where it’s at.  I scoff at your puny TB hard drives.  You think that will be sufficient to house your data in a couple years?  Okay, yes. On a personal level, that shouldn’t be a problem at all for a while.  But in terms of data storage and analysis for businesses it’s all PB all the time.

2) Taking pictures of powerpoint slides with your iPad is the new note taking.  I rocked it old school with a pad and pen, but that’s because I know I learn better if I write it down.  It may not be as easy to immediately share, but I also know all the slides are available for download free after the fact, so it seemed like a highly pointless exercise.  I think half the people were showing off iPads (not going to work when nearly everyone in the building has one too) and the other half were doing it because they saw someone else do it.

3) For the more important things.  Patient access to data is going to be a bigger thing.  The general consensus is that it should be easier for us to get access to our records and know what’s going on in our files and charts, even if we don’t understand them.  Oh, and also be able to transfer that information to other clinics, hospitals, etc.  That latter part is going to be a big hurdle, but most seem to be on board with finding a way to work that out.

4) We’re on the cusp of a medical revolution thanks to technology.  Let me delve into this more away from the bullet points.

You know those commercials where little Billy gets to go to school thanks to some moving robot screen on wheels?  Yeah, those may serve some purpose, but they already know that those things are not the future of medicine.  Also, let the damn kid have some time off!  He’s sick for crying out loud!

What is the future of medicine is those note taking devices.  The iPads and smart phones.  You may know this already, but they have apps and plug in devices that will allow you to test your blood sugar if you’re diabetic.  They can monitor all your vitals with a smart phone.  That data could potentially be sent to your doctor immediately, too.  Have a weird mark on your skin?  Take a picture and the app will tell you if you need to consult a physician.  Young graduates are being given plug-ins to replace the stethoscope.  Now they can actually take video of your heart beat instead of listening to it.  They can see if something looks off or irregular instead of just guessing.

They have RFID chips that they can insert into pills to make sure a patient is taking their medicine correctly, or at all.  It sends an alert when it hits the stomach acid.  There are implants that are half the size of a grain of sand that can be put into your bloodstream that can act like a check engine light for your body.  It can sense clogging of arteries or other problems and email you to let you know to see a doctor.

Genome mapping is going to help eliminate a lot of wasted time and money by only taking the medical tests you actually need.  That should help reduce some bills and insurance policies down the road.

I could go on for quite some time, but you get the idea.  Technology is evolving rapidly.  The medical field is admittedly farther behind than they should be, but there’s a lot of really cool stuff that is extremely encouraging.

So why, with all the technological improvements in the world in myriad fields and industries, does this…

pack pulled, just not by me

…have to be numbered like this….

I think I need a doctor after seeing this

Great placement, too.  Certainly wouldn’t want to be consistent with series 1 & 2.  Perhaps that’s what qualifies for progress these days.

A big thanks to My Cardboard Mistress for the great, albeit non-foil-stamped, card.  I guess the future of card collecting is still in the future.