30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Monday, February 24, 2020

Pleasantly Surprised

It's never easy going back to work after having a week off, but I've got to admit... I feel like I was able to accomplish so much.  I've already written about my trip to Vegas and finally getting all of those care packages shipped out.

But I also finally got around to watching The Battered Bastards of Baseball.  It's a documentary about the Portland Mavericks, which was an independent minor league team back in the 70's.  I'm a little strapped for time, so I'll forgo the plot summary, but if you're a fan of baseball then I'd highly recommend it.

While watching the movie, I was pleasantly surprised that one of the player's name was familiarJon Yoshiwara.


It took about a minute before it clicked.  Rod over at Padrographs had sent me his autograph last summer.


In 1977, the Mavericks' owner Bing Russell (Kurt Russell's father) made Yoshiwara the first Asian American general manager in professional baseball.  Back in September when I first received this card, I thought this custom card was pretty darn cool.

However after watching this movie, I realized that this card was way more cooler than I originally thought.


I was also pleasantly surprised to see this package in my mailbox a couple of weeks ago.  At the time... work was a little crazy, so I held off on opening it until I came back from my trip.

As you can see, it was from Chris over at Nachos Grande.  Here's a peek inside:


Right off the bat, I noticed an autograph of Henry Rodriguez:

2010 National Chicle Autograph #NCA-HR

I totally recognize this autograph and thought that I already had a copy.  However, I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't.  It always feels good to add a new autograph to my Oakland A's collection.

There were also a bunch of A's base cards, inserts, and parallels:


Here's a 9-pocket page of my favorites:


But one particular card stood out more than the others in Nacho Grande's care package:


If you're unable to tell from the photo, this is a die-cut card printed on wood that I originally thought was from the 1997 Stadium Club Firebrand insert set.

However after I scanned the back and looked at the tiny date on the bottom, I noticed that it was produced in 2014:

2014 Archives Firebrand #FBJC

I'm not shy about bagging on the cheap and cheesy inserts that Topps has been producing the past decade or so.  But after seeing this card, I've got to admit that I was pleasantly surprised.

Thank you Chris for this very generous care package.  And I know I already thanked Rod, but I feel like he deserves to be thanked again for the awesome Yoshiwara autograph.

Happy Monday and sayonara!

14 comments:

Nachos Grande said...

Glad you liked the cards! I've been looking for a good home for that Canseco for awhile now. It was too special to not find the perfect spot for it!

Rod (Padrographs) said...

I got to meet John and a couple of other Mavericks at a game last year. At least once a year there is a Mavericks night at the Hillsboro Hops game and a bunch of them come out.

Nick said...

That Yoshiwara custom is fantastic! "Battered Bastards of Baseball" is one of the best baseball documentaries I've seen in a long, long time.

friend11 said...

Cool die cut card

arpsmith said...

Cool stuff, I wanted that documentary a year or so back on a plane flight and was entertained. That customer is great.

Big Tone said...

Love the Canseco!!!

P-town Tom said...

Is second everything Nick has said here. It's a fun movie to watch about the history of independent league baseball. And that custom... wow!

Johnnys Trading Spot said...

COOL CUSTOM, COOL CANSECO, AND I AM GOING TO HAVE TO TRACK DOWN THE MOVIE.

Zippy Zappy said...

Speaking of surprises, I got your package today and all I can say is that I feel like I got punched in the mouth with your cards. Woof! I owe you big time.

The Snorting Bull said...

That Canseco is sweet! I also really like that Ben Greive die-cut. I miss Pacific.

SumoMenkoMan said...

I have never seen those die-cut cards before. Pretty cool! Awesome care packages as well!

gregory said...

I finally watched that film last year, and definitely enjoyed it as well. Great story, great footage. I might have to watch it again now. Nice custom card, too!

Matt said...

I had no idea they brought Firebrand back

Fuji said...

nachos grande - thanks for thinking of me chris. that canseco is fantastic

padrographs - my goal is to make it out to a hops game this summer on my trip. maybe we can meet up.

nick & p-town tom - yeah, it was awesome. i'm definitely going to watch it again when i have the chance

friend11 - agree 100%

arpsmith - oh that would be a great movie to download to my ipad and watch on the plane. great idea

big tone - it's pretty darn awesome. and they're reasonably priced

johnnys trading spot - if you have netflix, that's where i found it

zippy - you don't owe me anything buddy. it was me who owed you. glad you enjoyed the stuff i sent

the snorting bull - the grieve is a great card too. took me back to the days when i was stocking up on his inserts and rookie cards

sumomenkoman - the 90's delivered collectors a fair share of die-cut cards. one of my favorite decades to collect cards

gregory - i really enjoyed it too. And definitely going to watch it again.

sport card collectors - me either. i think it's because it was an archives insert. i don't usually go out of my way to bust archives. i pretty much target the fan favorites autographs