The Struggle is Real

Anyone else struggling to comment on blog posts?

I've tried to comment on several blogs this morning and every time I get the "Publishing..." box without the comment actually being published.  I was able to leave a comment on a Word Press blog, but not on any Blogger blogs... including my own:

I'm hoping this is just a temporary glitch on Blogger's end... or a simple fix on mine, because commenting on your posts and responding to comments on my blog are a very important part of my hobby.  If anyone has any insight, please let me know down in the comment section below (assuming you are able to).

2026-27 School ID Card

Switching gears, I apologize for the lack of posts.  I was hoping to hammer out some Flea Market Finds, but the start of the school year is typically hectic.  Plus I've been more tired than usual, so when I get home I've been recharging my batteries watching tv rather than playing with my baseball cards.

I even missed out on publishing my annual birthday post.  Here are the trio of cards I've added to my Birthday PC since last year:

2017 Topps Now #547

Back on September 1st, 2017... Clayton Kershaw returned from the DL to help the Dodgers snap a five game losing streak.

Unfortunately the victory came at the expense of my favorite National League team.

2019 Topps Now #778

On September 1st, 2019... Justin Verlander pitched the third no-hitter of his career.

After walking Cavan Biggio in the bottom of the first inning, he shut down the final twenty-six batters he faced in the game (14 by strikeout).

2022 Topps Now #825

On September 1st, 2022... Spencer Strider struck out 16 against the Colorado Rockies to set an Atlanta Braves single game franchise record.

Warren Spahn holds the all-time franchise record with 18 strikeouts in a single game back in 1952.  At the time the Braves were in Boston and the Cubs were their opponents.

Speaking of birthdays, here's a cool present I received on Wednesday from one of my students:

1996 Collector's Edge President's Reserve #375

Stubblefield is one of his defensive coaches, so he got me a signed card for my birthday.

Well that's it for today.  I'm really hoping that the "comment" issue will be fixed soon.  Although reading blog posts are a huge part of my interaction with fellow collectors... exchanging comments is equally important.

Happy Friday and sayonara!

Update

Don't have a solution to the problem, but Angus, John, and Greg have reached out to me to let me know that they tried to comment on this post without success.  However Jim was able to comment on this post.  Looks like it's impacting some people, but not everyone.

Accidentally Left Out

Friday's post celebrated The Collector's 10th Anniversary.  I didn't have time to open up the 1986 Topps rack pack he included in the care package.  Today we resolve that issue.  However before I show off the highlights from that pack, let's check out three lefties that were also part of the care package:

While organizing and sorting Chris's care package... I set these three cards to the side and accidentally left them out.  Then I read Jim's post about International Lefthanders Day and was reminded of the two lefties Chris had sent my way.  As a fellow lefty, I decided a few years ago to collect left-handed athletes.  Randy and Clayton are two of the greatest from my lifetime.  

2026 Topps #22

I was especially excited to see Kershaw's 2026 Topps card, because it shows off statistics from his entire MLB career.  Topps drops the ball a lot these days, but kudos to them for giving him and his fans a proper sunset card.

Okay, let's take a look at the contents of that 1986 Topps rack pack...

I'm pretty sure Chris chose this specific rack pack for me, because I need this Garvey for my set build:

1986 Topps Glossy All-Star #13

One card down.  One card to go:

When it comes to collecting, 1986 Topps holds a lot of nostalgic value to me.  One one hand it reminds me of stolen cards and the end of a childhood friendship.  But it also reminds me of a time when I'd open up packs of cards, look them over, and sort them in a variety of ways.

Sometimes I'd sit down and try to build the best team out of the cards pulled in my pack.  

Here's my starting nine:

Since this was a rack pack with forty-nine cards, I decided to only use regular base cards (no subsets) to build my squad.  If you're wondering why I used Jose Cruz in center when he spent most of his career patrolling left... it's because Oglivie had dibs on that position.

1986 Topps #583

I considered putting Al Bumbry in centerfield, but ultimately I'd rather have Cruz out there playing out of position.

However like Kershaw... Bumbry gets to be in the spotlight today, because his 1986 Topps card is his sunset card.  Here's a look at his career stats:

Bumbry is a huge fan favorite among Baltimore Orioles fans, but this card captures his lone season in San Diego.

I'll wrap things up with Al's manager in 1985 and a few other familiar names from the rack pack:

Thanks again Chris for this generous care package.  It was cool to see some sunsets.  And this rack pack took me back to my middle school days in more than one way.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Summer Goals

It's been a few years since I have sat down and hammered out some hobby goals.  But since I won't be teaching this summer, I wanted to get three hobby related things accomplished before the start of the 2026-27 school year.

#1:  Target a handful of set builds.

Whether or not I actually complete any sets this summer, I want to at least make the effort to cross as many numbers off of my set needs as I can.

#2:  Inventory my collection.

Two to three times a decade, I like to go through my collection and update my inventory.  This project will wreak havoc on my back, but when I'm finished... I have a better understanding of what I've been hoarding the past few decades or so.

#3:  Clean up my office and catch up on blogging.

I have stacks of cards all over my office.  Some are sitting on my desk.  Others are laying in 5,000ct. boxes.  Plus I have unopened mailers dating back months.  The goal is to sort, scan, and blog as much as I can over the next two months.  Sundays will be reserved for farmer's markets, laundry, cleaning, and sorting.

Being the first Sunday of my summer break, I'm going to hammer out this sorting tray filled with the remaining cards from Reader X's January care package.

Let's start with some baseball players I collect:

Next up here are some PC additions for my favorite team collections:

Xavier always sends some San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49ers, Las Vegas Raiders, and Golden State Warriors for my students:

Plus he tossed in some San Jose Sharks and a few other hockey cards:

I'm honestly not familiar with any of these guys, but the three Las Vegas Knights autographs are dedicated to my mother who rooted for them in their inaugural season.

Xavier also tossed in some football stars, rookies, and inserts:

Most of these will eventually be passed along to one of my students, but I did end up holding onto the Select rookie card of Caleb Williams.  

Thank you Xavier for another generous care package.  Sorry it took me six months to document it on here.

And thank you to everyone who took the time to read this post as I document the first Sunday Sort of The Summer of 2026.

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Saturday Night Five: The 2024 World Series Champions

Last night was our first dance of the year.  About halfway through it... one of my students came up to me with tears in her eyes.  She was absolutely heartbroken that her boyfriend wanted to hang out with his friends instead of her.  I let her vent... and eventually her friends came along to cheer her up.  I was grateful for that, because I'm not exactly an expert on middle school romance.  Now had she had her heart broken by a sports team... then I could definitely relate to that.

I had to deal with the fact that the A's were leaving Oakland the entire 2024 MLB season.  More recently... I had to deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers delivering a gut punch to the San Diego Padres.  Not gonna lie... that really hurt.

Heartache is just part of being a fan... and it's something that we all have to deal with.  But that's not the focus of tonight's post.  Tonight I wanted to honor, celebrate, and congratulate the 2024 World Series Champions and their fans by ranking my five favorite Los Angeles Dodgers from this season.

#5:  Yoshinobu Yamamoto

2021 Topps NPB #128

The Dodgers have a way of landing Japanese pitchers.  Nomo.  Kuroda.  Maeda.  Darvish.  Ohtani.

2024 Topps #553

It's not surprising that Yamamoto ended up signing with them too.

#4:  Mookie Betts

2019 Topps Chrome Refractor #50

I was a fan of Mookie when he was in Boston...

2024 Topps #250

and my fanfare has followed him over to the West Coast.

#3:  Freddie Freeman

2024 Topps #102

The same can be said of Freddie.

2020 Topps 206 Piedmont Back #7

But honestly... I prefer seeing him pictured with the Braves.

#2:  Clayton Kershaw

2013 Topps 1972 Mini #TM-23

I've got a thing for lefties... and for a decade or so, Kershaw was one of the best in the game.

2024 Topps #351

It didn't take long before I started following him and collecting his cards.  And for the longest time, he was my favorite Dodgers player.  Until this guy showed up...

#1:  Shohei Ohtani

2020 Topps 1951 (Blake Jamieson) #16

Are you surprised?  He might have struggled against the Yankees... but his popularity is higher than ever.  

2024 Topps #500

Ohtani is one of those generational guys who is both exciting and likable.  He's easily my favorite current Dodger and right up there with Fernando Valenzuela as my all-time favorite Dodger.

Speaking of heartache... I'm guessing my student will recover from her boyfriend ditching her before any of us are finished mourning the loss of El Toro.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!