The Blogger National 2025

Once upon a time, it was a dream of mine to attend The National Sports Card Convention.  Things have changed.  I changed.

Don't get me wrong... if the circumstances were right... I might attend.  I'm just not sure it'll ever actually happen.

The biggest obstacles for me are:

#1:  Money

2002 Topps Gallery Baseball Bucks #NNO

I'm assuming the NSCC will never come back to San Francisco.  What does this mean?  It means that if I ever want to attend the show, I'd have to set aside a lot of money for travel expenses (flight, hotel, car rental, food, etc.) plus a hobby budget for the show.

Now I've talked to a few collectors who have attended and they have all assured me it would be worth the money spent... just to experience it.  Maybe they're right.  I'm just not sure I want to wager thousands of dollars to find out they're wrong.

#2:  Timing

1977 Topps #433

The NSCC always takes place at the end of my summer break.  Now that's perfect timing for some.  Me?  It's terrible timing.  Right before I head back into the classroom, my goal is to recharge the batteries and relax.  Attending the NSCC might be tons of fun, but I don't think it meets my definition of "relaxing". 

#3:  Traveling

2018 Topps Heritage News Flashbacks #NF-5

It would be one thing to hop into a car and drive one, maybe two hours to a card show.  I've done that before.  It's another thing to ask me to fly.  Will I do it?  Yeah.  But it's not my favorite thing to do.  

#4:  Crowds

1992 Pro Set Guinness Book of Records #16

I'm also not a fan of standing shoulder to shoulder with strangers.  Now based on some of the videos I've seen on YouTube, things seemed to be spaced out nicely in some areas.  However I saw one clip that showed a crazy long line to get into the show.  If I have to wait more than 15 minutes in line, I'd rather just hit up my local flea market.

This is the biggest obstacle by far and ultimately the thing preventing me from attending the show.  Money, timing, and traveling are all things I could probably handle... especially if I planned ahead.  Not sure I can say the same thing about the crowds.

That's why I'd much rather hang out in Matt's Blogger National... which is a blog bat-around where I have the opportunity to show off recent purchases I made over on eBay (instead of waiting in long lines at the actual National).

Purchase #1:  An Upgrade for my A's PC

1973 Topps #210

The Oakland A's won the World Series the year I was born.  This card celebrates that event.

Back in 2020, I picked up a PSA 6 graded version of this card for under $5, but I started looking for an affordable upgrade right after that.  4 Sharp Corners has listed a few of these with BIN prices of $39.99 (+ $8.75 tax & shipping) in recent months.  I have been sitting on a few eBay gift cards and decided to use one of them on this card.

I know most of you could care less about graded cards... but I'm really happy to add this to my collection of A's World Series celebration cards.

Purchase #2:  Worst Purchase Ever?

A few years ago, I paid $45 for a Clayton Kershaw autograph.  Unfortunately... it wasn't actually autographed.  I just thought it was when I sent the eBay vendor the offer.  This is arguably my worst eBay purchase of all-time... until two weeks ago.

That's when this listing popped up.  It's for a set of 1984 Smokey the Bear Padres cards.  It's a stadium giveaway set that features a lot of cool cards including a second year Gwynn, the San Diego Chicken, and even a card of HOF umpire... Doug Harvey.  Pretty neat, right?  Well that's why I offered the seller $18 (+ $6.38 tax & shipping) right before I fell asleep that night.

The next morning I woke up and saw that he accepted.  I was stoked and couldn't wait to get my hands on this set.  A few days it arrived... and I realized how dumb of a purchase this was.

The first thing I noticed was that the cards were in rough shape.  They look like they've been sliding around in someone's shoebox the past forty-one years.  But that's not even the worst thing about this purchase.

It's missing four cards!  And yup... the Gwynn and Chicken are two of them.  Garvey and the header card are the other two cards missing.  Well... at least it had the Harvey.  It also has HOF manager Dick Williams:

1984 Smokey San Diego Padres SGA #NNO

Anyways... the worst was yet to come.  After feeling like I had been sucker punched.  I headed over to eBay to see the original listing.  And guess what... the seller totally listed it as a "Partial Team Set".

I've got nobody to blame except for myself.

Purchase #3:  A Different Kind of Rainbow

1986 McDonalds Seattle Seahawks Sets

(Blue, Black, Orange, & Green)

Not gonna spend too much time writing about this purchase, since most of you are baseball fans.  

1986 McDonalds Seattle Seahawks #80

If you've never seen these before, they're regional cards handed out at McDonalds back in 1986.  There are four different colored tabs, but each colored set contains the same twenty-four players.

A eBay vendor had listed this lot of four sets (for $45.55) and was accepted offers.  I sent an offer of $38 (+ $7.55 tax & shipping) and they accepted.  This was part of the same $100 eBay gift card from above.

Well that wraps up my trip to the 2025 Blogger National.  I could have included a few other purchases, but I'm saving those for future posts.

In the meantime let's check out some cards I recently received from a blogger who is actually at the 2025 National Sports Card Convention.  Stuart over at S.R. '75 Cards has been spreading O-Pee-Chee love around the blogosphere the past few weeks.  I was very happy to be included.

But before we get to those Canadian cards, here are a few other items he sent for my collection...

1995 Topps #389

I'm not sure how this card has eluded my Gwynn collection the past thirty years.  But thanks to Stuart... I finally have a copy in my Gwynn binders.

He also sent me two new Gwynn inserts:

1999 Pacific Omega Hit Machine 3000 #11 (#'d 2909/3000)

2002 UD Prospect Premieres Heroes of Baseball #HTG2

It's O-Pee-Chee time!

Let's start with some 1992 singles for my A's and Padres collections:

There are a few big names in this lot, but none bigger than Rickey:

1992 O-Pee-Chee #560

Just look at those career numbers he had already accumulated by the end of the 1991 season.  Can you believe he would go on to play another twelve seasons in the MLB?

Stuart also sent me some 1981 O-Pee-Chee cards:

He included three hall of famers:

1981 O-Pee-Chee #229

1981 O-Pee-Chee #254

1981 O-Pee-Chee #261

And for those looking for the French text...

Thank you Stuart for all of these O-Pee-Chee cards and the trio of new Gwynns.  Hope you're having fun at the NSCC.  And thank you Matt for inspiring and kicking off the 2025 Blogger National.  I hope a bunch of other bloggers will join in on the fun.

As for the rest of you...

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Fifty-Seven Years in the Making

Fifty-seven.  That's how many seasons the A's played in Oakland.  This season will be my very first as an A's fan where they'll call another city their home.  That means you'll be seeing some Oakland A's dedicated posts sprinkled throughout the 2025 MLB season.

Today I'll be highlighting Oakland's all-time leaders in Opening Day starts... which is something permanently set in stone unless the A's return to the East Bay sometime in the future.

Starting Pitcher:  Dave Stewart (6 Opening Day Starts)

1992 Fleer Ultra #117

Stew is the perfect guy to kick off this post, because he's an Oakland native.  He won his first four Opening Day starts before getting a no-decision in his fifth and losing his sixth.  His combined ERA for those six games was 2.24... which is pretty darn impressive.

1983 Topps #286

Rick Langford is right behind him with five Opening Day starts.  He was part of the Oakland A's starting rotation from my childhood that also included guys like Mike Norris, Brian Kingman, Matt Keough, and Steve McCatty.

Catcher:  Terry Steinbach (9)

1996 Score #95

Steinbach was the starting Opening Day catcher a record nine consecutive times from 1988 to 1996.  He had a pair of three hit games in the time span, but his brightest moment is arguably the grand slam he hit against the Milwaukee Brewers in 1994.

2011 Topps #79

Kurt Suzuki is #2 on the list with five Opening Day starts.

First Baseman:  Mark McGwire (9)

1992 Upper Deck #153

Out of McGwire's 583 career home runs, only one took place when he was an Opening Day starter with the A's.  It was off Mark Langston back in 1989.  He started three Opening Day games with the St. Louis Cardinals and hit two more.

1982 TCMA Baseball's Greatest Sluggers #38

Harry Davis is the all-time franchise leader with ten Opening Day starts.  All ten were during the Philadelphia years.

Second Baseman:  Mark Ellis (8)

2006 Topps #219

Ellis was the A's primary second basemen during the 2000's.  He struggled at the plate (3 for 25) in his eight Opening Day starts with the A's, but did manage to hit a home run off of Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2008.

1971 O-Pee-Chee #258

Dick Green was the A's Opening Day starter ten times, but four of them were during the Kansas City years.

Third Baseman:  Eric Chavez (10)

1999 Topps #250

Steinbach wasn't the only Oakland Athletic to start nine consecutive Opening Day games for the A's.  Chavez represented them at third from 1999 to 2007.  His best performance was in the 2002 Opener when he went 2 for 4 with a double and home run against the Texas Rangers at the Coliseum.

1986 Topps #134

1973 Topps #155

Third base might just be the most stable position in Oakland A's history.  Out of the fifty-seven seasons in Oakland, twenty-eight of the Opening Day starters were among three players:  Chavez, Carney Lansford (9), and Sal Bando (9). 

Shortstop:  Bert Campaneris (8)

1969 Topps #495

Finally a representative from The Swingin' A's.  Campaneris was the Opening Day starter for the A's ten times, but two of them were during the Kansas City years.  Unfortunately he didn't really have any standout performances at the plate in those eight games.  On a positive note, the A's won six of those games.

2017 Topps #97

Marcus Semien is second on Oakland's list with six Opening day starts.

2003 Fleer Ultra #127

That kinda surprised me.  I would have guessed Miguel Tejada (5).

Left Fielder:  Rickey Henderson (12)

1983 Fleer #519

Rickey is the greatest Oakland Athletic of all-time... and he holds the franchise record for most Opening Day starts.  He collected a hit safely in eleven of those games with a .318 average, 13 runs scored, 14 walks, and 6 stolen bases.  Not too shabby.

1972 Topps #209

If third base is the most stable position in Oakland A's history, left field is probably the least.  Joe Rudi is the only other Oakland Athletic to start in left more than two times.  

Center Fielder:  Dwayne Murphy (8)

1983 O-Pee-Chee #184

I grew up watching Rickey in left, Tony Armas in right, and Murphy patrolling in center.  Good times.

Murphy was known for his glove more than his bat.  That being said, he was a solid 8 for 29 at the plate in those eight Opening Day games.

1993 Topps #473

1975 Topps #121

Dave Henderson and Bill North are tied for second with five Opening Day starts in center field each.

Right Fielder:  Reggie Jackson (8)

1974 Topps #130

Reggie felt that fans would remember him best for his years with the New York Yankees.  That's fair.

Just remember that he won more World Series titles and played twice as many games and seasons in Oakland.  Plus he started in right field five more times in Oakland than he did in New York.

His best Opening Day performance for the A's was April 4th, 1974 against the Texas Rangers when he went 4 for 5 with two doubles and a home run.

1992 Score #500

1985 Topps #778

1980 Topps #391

Who's second on the list?  It's a three-way tie between Jose Canseco, Mike Davis, and Tony Armas.  Each started for the Oakland A's in right field five times.

Designated Hitter:  Geronimo Berroa, Erubiel Durazo, & Khris Davis (3t)

1997 UD Collector's Choice #185

2004 Upper Deck #410

2020 Topps #527

All three of these guys were successful as Opening Day designated hitters for the Athletics.  Berroa and Davis each hit two home runs in their three appearances and Durazo added another one in his very first at bat with the A's in 2003.

Well there you have it:  OAKLAND's all-time leaders in Opening Day starts.  Sorry this post is a week late.  What started in my head as a three to four hour post ended up taking me a lot longer.  But it was totally worth it, because I got a chance to research and learn some new things about my favorite MLB franchise.  Hope you enjoyed it.

Happy Wednesday and sayonara!