Spreading Happiness and Sunshine

Plain white envelopes seem to be a blogger's new best friend.  They're being shipped around our blogosphere spreading happiness and sunshine with them.

Last week, I received another one from Rod (Padrographs).  I haven't been keeping track, but I'd guess that this is my fifth or sixth PWE since our governor signed the shelter in place order.  And I've gotta say, they've really helped get me through this situation, because like a post card or greeting card, it's a simple reminder that someone is thinking of us.

He targeted three different collections this time around.  First up is my "all things Japanese" collection...

2009 UD Philadelphia National Chicle #NC48

When I was a kid, my parents talked about taking a trip to Japan and the number one thing I wanted to do is take a ride on the Bullet Train.  It's looking less and less likely that I'll ever make it across the Pacific, but I'm glad that my mom and dad were able to go there a few times.

Moving along, here are a pair of Keston Hiura rookie cards...

2019 Topps Archives #53

2019 Heritage High Number #512

This kid had a great rookie season and I look forward to collecting more of his cardboard.  I didn't open up any packs of these products last year, so it was nice being able to add these to my Japanese baseball players binder.

This Ichiro was new to my collection as well...

2019 Topps Opening Day 150 Years of Fun #YOF-21

Damn.  I miss watching this guy put the ball into play.

Rod is my exclusive contributor of 2019 Topps Total cards...

2019 Topps Total #519

I have mixed opinions on the way Topps handles the distribution of this product, which is why I haven't purchased any.  However I do like the large checklist and the simple, yet attractive card design.  

In addition to 2019 Topps Total cards, Rod is also my primary donor when it comes to SI for Kids trading cards:

These four are from 2001.  That photograph of Byrnes getting some air is fantastic.  That's one of the best looking SI for Kids cards I've ever seen.

Thank you Rod for another thoughtful PWE.  It definitely brought a smile to my face over the weekend.

He wasn't the only person to send me a care package last week.  Speigel83 who retired from blogging (Nomo's Sushi Platter) back in 2013 sent me a flat rate box filled with goodies:

I haven't had the chance to sit down and open up all fo these team bags, but it gives me something to look forward to in between classes this week.  Okay... I've gotta get ready for my weekly staff meeting.  I'll have the highlights from this care package sorted, scanned, and summarized by early next week.

By the way... I should have all of the Mystery Bag PWE's shipped out by tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest.  Hopefully they'll bring a little happiness and sunshine into your collections.

Until then...

Happy Monday and sayonara!

Let Them Hit

The designated hitter debate is always entertaining.  I've read arguments for both sides and personally, I wouldn't complain if it stayed the way it is.  That being said... I also think it's pretty cool when a pitcher has the ability to be a threat stepping into the batter's box.

Back in 2015, Madison Bumgarner hit four home runs in a span of 9 games in which he was the starting pitcher.  He was even used to pinch hit twice between the 8th and 9th starts.  But I'll get back to him in a few minutes.

2004 Donruss Leather and Lumber Cuts #LC-37

Today marks the 36th anniversary of Steve Carlton hitting a grand slam off of Fernando Valenzuela.  I found it on one of those "this day in sports history" websites.  This got me thinking... how many other pitchers have hit grand slams?

Honestly... it's not that rare.  I couldn't find a complete list, but at least 50 pitchers have done it.

I figured I'd show off a few autographs sitting within my collection of pitchers who have accomplished the feat...

2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites Autographs #FFA-JAN

The day before Carlton hit his grand slam, Andujar hit one against the Atlanta Braves.  This was his 5th and final MLB home run.

2007 UD Masterpieces Stroke of Genius #FH

Felix Hernandez hit a grand slam off of Johan Santana on June 23rd, 2008.  That year Santana led the National League in earned run average.

2012 Topps Golden Moments Autographs #NNO

I told you I'd get back to Mad Bum.  Back in 2014 he became the second pitcher in MLB history to hit two grand slams in the same season.  Tony Cloninger was the first guy to do it.  It took him only one game to accomplish that feat.  I'd love to add his signature to my collection one day.

The last pitcher I'll feature is Mike Cuellar...

2005 Topps Retired Signature #TA-MC

According to Wikipedia, he's one of two pitchers to hit a grand slam during the postseason.  Dave McNally is the other.  Mike hit his off of Minnesota's Jim Perry in Game One of the 1970 ALCS.  McNally hit his ten days later off of Wayne Granger in Game Three of the 1970 World Series.

I actually own autographs of Don Larsen and Bob Gibson, but I've shown them on the blog before.

Anyways... Rob Manfred called me up and said he'd let my readers decide once and for all...

Do we get rid of the designated hitter?  Keep it in the American League?  Or keep it in the AL and bring it to the National League?

It's up to you.  Every vote matters.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Finally Finished!

When it comes to sorting and shipping cards... I'm the King of Procrastination.  This can also apply to building sets.  But a few weeks ago, I sat down and compiled an updated list of set needs that I'll eventually share in a future post.

List in hand, I headed over to Sportlots and placed nine separate orders.  I'm still waiting on three of them, but the first six have arrived and helped me complete nine different sets: 1990 UD Comic Ball Series 1, 1994 Flair Baseball, 2002 Post Baseball, 2005 Heritage New Age Performers, 2005 Heritage Then and Now, 2013 Allen and Ginter Palaces and Strongholds, 1990 Collegiate Collection Notre Dame Football, 2000 Fleer Greats of the Game Football, and 1994 Parkhurst Missing Link Hockey.

All of these sets were sitting either on the desk in my office or in one of my office cubbies, so it's nice to be able to clear them out and put them with my other completed sets in boxes.  The two 2005 Heritage insert sets were put into their correct pages and tucked away in a special box.  None of the other sets were deemed "binder worthy"... although I considered paging up the 1994 Flair set.  It's gorgeous, but with the thick card stock, I don't think the entire set would fit into one binder.

An eBay purchase also helped me complete the 2019 Topps 52-Card Game set:

This was an online exclusive set I picked up when I purchased that Benefit for Australia set back in January.  The set contains the standard 52 card deck, with the traditional suits swapped out for a baseball, cleats, gloves, and a cap.  I also picked up 5 booster packs which contained 5 cards each.  These booster packs had additional players not found in the starter deck:

As you can see, there are 26 cards in the booster set.  Since I only bought 5 packs, I ended up falling one card short: the Eight of Cleats (Kris Bryant).

As much flak as I dish out to Topps and their online exclusive products, I've gotta say this is a pretty cool set.  I'm not sure it's worth the $50 I spent on it... but it's still nice.  Here's a closer look at one of the cards:

Maybe one day I'll write a detailed review for this set.  However... right now I've got to show you one more thing I've finished.

Yup.  I finally finished sorting those darn mystery bags!  Here's a look at them broken down by teams:

It only too me seven weeks to do it.  I actually finished yesterday by the time my afternoon classes started.  This morning during office hours I entered all of the names from the giveaway and randomized the list:

The Top 10 people on the list will be receiving PWE's filled with goodies from these mystery bags.  Honestly I need to move these... so there are a few other bloggers who will be receiving cards from these stacks as well.

Sadly, there weren't any Mike Trout rookie cards or anything that'll help me retire.  But I was able to add a few cool cards to my collection:

 

 

 

Okay.  Time to wrap things up.  I need mailing addresses for OhioTim, blog reader bruce, Todd Steb, friend11, nick (dime box), sg488, Bret Alan, and Spyda-Man.  I could also use addresses for Johnny's Trading Spot, Chris, Bo, GTT, bbcardz, Nick Vossbrink, hockey kazi, Trevor P, and Angels In Order.  Please email me them at sanjosefuji (at) yahoo (dot) com.

I'm pretty sure I have current addresses for Rod, Dion, Night Owl, and GCRL.  By the way... I'll be building and shipping out PWE's this weekend and into early next week.

Thank you to everyone for being patient.  Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Not Feelin' It

Some of you find sorting therapeutic... others don't.  I'm one of those who currently isn't feeling it.  I know it needs to get done.  I have thirty-one stacks sitting in the middle of my office floor that I'd love to clear out... but that requires me to finish sorting the remaining cards from those mystery packs.

I probably could kill it off in less than ninety minutes... but like I said... I'm not feeling it right now.  Maybe tomorrow.

Instead... I decide to dig through my insert binders and find some cards that I was feeling.  Like literally feeling.  I found ten cards from the 90's that have feature some form of texture.  Most of them can be found in dime boxes or quarter bins and most are cooler than 90% of the inserts produced today.

Let's check them out...

1992 Action Packed All-Star Gallery #3

Figured, I'd start things off with an Action Packed card.  They're pretty much the company known best for embossed cards.

I decided to scan both sides for this post... which shows you that I'd rather scan than sort right now.  In addition to card scans, I also took photographs so you can get a better feel of the texture on these cards.

After flipping through three or four binders, I quickly discovered that Fleer definitely specialized in embossed cards.  In fact that seems to be one of their specialties from 1996 to 1998.

1997 Fleer Ultra Fame Game #17

One of their themes was "leather"...

1996 Fleer Ultra Prime Leather #2

1997 Fleer Ultra Leather Shop #1

1996 Fleer Ultra Rawhide #4

1998 Fleer Ultra Kid Gloves #3KG

All three of these insert sets are nice, but personally... I liked this particular set produced by Topps a little more:

1997 Stadium Club Patent Leather #PL6

This is one of my favorite insert sets from the 90's.  If you'd like to see the complete set, I wrote a review back in 2018.

Here's another Jeter...

1995 Action Packed Minor League #1

This time he's featured on an Action Packed minor league card.

This card looks really cool when it's in your hands.  You can actually see the creases in the jersey and pants.

Getting back on the Fleer train...

1998 Skybox Circa Thunder Boss #15B

And last, but not least is an embossed acetate insert of Slammin' Sammy...

1999 Fleer SI Diamond Dominators #7DD

This card is another beauty and it comes from one of those insert sets that don't get a lot of press.

But they're nice looking, tough to pull (1:180 packs), and reasonably affordable.  And it's way more fun to hold this in my hand and stare at... than sitting down on my office floor and sorting cards.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!