PC Spotlight #7: My Montreal Expos PC

Let's get this straight... I'm an Oakland Athletics & San Diego Padres fan... not a Montreal Expos or Washington Nationals fan.

Now that I've cleared the air... it's time for a little explanation on why I chose to start up a small, yet special Expos PC a few months back. It's actually pretty simple. I like their logo, colors, and history.

The Montreal Expos have one of the coolest logos in MLB history and is one of my personal favorites. The giant M with the little E imbedded into it is iconic. Throw in the bright blue, white, and red colors and you it's about as classic as you can get.

The team's history is also intriguing... filled with twists and turns that ultimately led them to becoming the Washington Nationals. I've always been a supporter of underdogs and the Expos were often just that.

During their 36 year tenure in Montreal, the Expos went to the playoffs once... where they beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the Division Series, but lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship series three games to two.

They finished in first place once in their team's history. The year was 1994. Yep... the same year as the dreaded MLB Strike. Not only were they in first place at the time of the strike... they also had the best record in baseball at the time.

And although they've had their share of downs... they've also had some amazing players suit up in the bleu, blanc, et rouge.

Gary Carter was the first player to be inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame as a Montreal Expos player. He played in seven all star games during his tenure with the Expos and ranks in the top 5 of almost every offensive category for the franchise.

In 2010, Andre Dawson became the second player to sport the Expos logo on his plaque in Cooperstown. The Hawk won the 1977 NL ROY Award and was played in three all star games as an Expos player. Like Carter... he's ranks in the top 5 in almost every offensive category for the Montreal Expos.

My favorite Expos era was definitely the 80's... especially the early 80's. That's when Carter, Dawson, and Tim Raines all played together. The Rock spent 13 seasons as an Expos left fielder. During that time... he made the all star team seven times and is the all-time leader in runs, triples, walks, and of course stolen bases in franchise history. Hopefully one of these days Tim Raines will join Carter and Dawson in Cooperstown... and if and when he does... there's no doubt in my mind that he'll go in wearing the blue, white, and red.

In the later part of the 90's... long after Carter, Dawson, and Raines left Montreal... along came Vladimir Guerrero. Guerrero has the most home runs in Expos' history and represented them in the all-star game four times. Charles over at Hoopography once wrote a post about whether or not Vlad the Impaler is a first ballot HOF... I think a better question is whether or not he'll choose to enter the HOF as an Expos player.

Rounding out the rest of my Expos PC are a few rookies, a couple of memorabilia cards, some more autographs, and even my favorite Expos base card. Hope you enjoy:

Expos Rookie Cards

Expos Memorabilia Cards

Additional Expos Autographs

My Favorite Expos Base Card

I love this card... you always see the Hit King in his Phillies or Reds uniform... but rarely his Expos.

By the way... stay tuned... I'll be posting my next Sports Card Trifecta in the next few days. Can you guess who it is? Here's a hint... he's one of the players featured above, but don't worry... all three cards in the trifecta have been saved for the upcoming post... no double posting here.

So today's question is...

When Vladimir Guerrero is elected into Baseball's HOF... what cap will he be wearing?

Happy Saturday everyone... and Sayonara!

Oh... almost forgot... one day to kickoff... Go Pack Go!

Added on 3/24/11:

Added on 12/21/12:

Domo Arigato: The Card Investor

I just recently strolled across another great blog called The Card Investor and in a short amount of time it has grown to be one of my regular reads. My favorite series of posts he has is called "Significant Cards", where he covers cool cards in the hobby. However a couple of days ago he started something called the C-Note Project. In short, he's going to document a $100 sports card investment over a one year period of time. Click here if you're interested in checking it out.

Anyways... a few weeks ago he held The Great Card Set Giveaway. If you were interested in receiving a free set all you had to do was:

A. Follow his blog.

B. Send him an email and write about what you liked about his blog.

C. Last, but not least... you had to include in the email your mailing address.

Well a few days ago... I received my free set. The Card Investor sent me a set of 2008 Bowman Draft baseball set. The set has 55 cards and one checklist. Here are just a few of the set's key rookies:

The first rookie card is of one of my favorite current A's pitchers... Brad Ziegler. Mr. Ziegler holds the MLB record for consecutive scoreless innings to start a major league career. The set includes the rookie card of another record breaker. Max Scherzer holds the record for retiring the most consecutive batters (13) in a MLB debut as a relief pitcher. And if that's not impressive enough... Mr. Scherzer has struck out 358 batters over the past two seasons.

Next up... two rookies cards from two of the most popular teams in baseball. One of the best pitchers on the Dodgers' starting rotation is Clayton Kershaw. At the age of 22, Mr. Kershaw has already started 83 games for the Dodgers and has a career ERA of 3.17.

Then across the country... almost 2,500 miles away... Brett Gardner is the starting center fielder for the New York Yankees. Last season he had the 3rd highest batting average and the highest on base percentage among the Yankees' starters.

Jaime Garcia had an amazing rookie year in 2010. He started 28 games for the Cardinals and finished with a 13-8 record and a 2.96 ERA. He finished third in NL ROY voting.

Over in Cincinnati, twenty-three year old Jay Bruce finally had a well balanced year by hitting 25 home runs, while maintaining a .281 batting average.

This past season, Carlos Gonzalez won a Gold Glove for his spectacular play in left field. In addition to that... he won the National League batting title in just his third season of play. But that's not all. He also won a Silver Slugger Award.

Honestly... I've never heard of this guy... but knowing that he once wore an Oakland Athletic's uniform kind of makes me sick.

Out of all of the rookie cards, Evan Longoria has the highest book value ($3) and rightfully so. He was the 2008 AL ROY and has been an all-star in each of his first three seasons. This guy is impressively "consistent".

Last, but not least... this set includes a rookie card of this year's National League MVP. Joey Votto hit 37 round trippers and had the 2nd highest batting average in the NL. On top of that, he led the NL in on-base percentage and slugging percentage.

Thank you WiggumPI for this awesome set. It's the first time I've seen it, since I don't bust much baseball... but I can promise you that I'll take good care of it.

Readers... please head over to his blog: The Card Investor and check out his posts... I don't think you'll be disappointed.

This brings me to tonight's question.

Out of the nine players I showed off... who would you want to start a franchise with?

TGIF... I love short weeks (I had Monday off). This week flew by... and I can't wait to watch some football on Sunday. Go Pack Go! G'nite everyone.

Sayonara Salute #5: Brett Favre

Yesterday... Brett Favre officially filed his retirement paper with the NFL for the 3rd time in four years. Who knows if he'll stay retired, but after watching him play this past season... my guess is it's over.

For more than a decade, Brett Favre was my favorite football player... actually it was more like 15 seasons. He took the Green Bay Packers to back to back Super Bowls and won one of them. His career has had its share of ups and downs, but as a huge fan... I'll choose to remember the good things he has done for the Packers organization and his career.

Favre was chosen to represent the NFC in eleven Pro Bowls and won three consecutive NFL MVP awards. He holds almost every passing record out there:

Passes Completed: 6,300

Passes Attempted: 10,169

Passing Yards: 71,838

Passing Touchdowns: 508

I know... he holds a couple of other records too... like most interceptions and most times sacked, but today I'm celebrating his retirement... not Favre bashing.

I'll be honest the past several seasons have been a struggle as a Favre fan. When he and the Packers decided to go separate ways... I was torn on who to support. I was frustrated that Favre couldn't make up his mind... and upset with the Packers organization for letting their iconic quarterback go.

Then... when he went to the Jets I was relieved. I could still cheer for him and be a Packers' fan at the same time. But then my worst nightmare became a reality. Favre signed with the Vikings. He immediately became the enemy and although I didn't hate him... I hated his decision to sign with a rival.

It was even more painful to watch the Packers get knocked out by the Cardinals in last year's Wild Card game, while Favre led the Vikings to the NFC Conference Championship game. Thankfully... Drew Brees took care of business and knocked the Vikings out of the playoffs.

And this season... well... let's just say it hasn't been a good one for Mr. Favre. Between some interesting news involving private parts and text messages, the Vikings' 6-10 season, and a consecutive games started streak coming to an end... it's my belief that it's real this time.

Hopefully the nightmare will come to an end and the following will happen:

A. Brett Favre will spend some quality time at home with his family without getting the media involved.

B. The Packers organization will let bygones be bygones and honor Favre by retiring his jersey and entering him into their Hall of Fame.

C. Fans (especially Packers fans) will find it in their hearts to forgive Favre and all of the drama he brought upon himself, his family, his teammates, his bosses, and of course his fans.

Sayonara Brett. Thank you for all of the great memories. You singlehandedly made football fun to watch for me during the 90's. And now that you're no longer a Minnesota Viking, I can officially go back to collecting your cards. I just hope he didn't jinx the Packers by picking them to win the Super Bowl this year.

So... today's question is:

Is he really finished?

Damn... I sure hope so. What's the saying? Fool me once... shame on you. Fool me twice... shame on me. What the heck happens if you fool me thrice?

Have a great week everyone!

PC Spotlight #6: My Lewis & Reed PC

I've always been a huge football fan... nope, not soccer... American football. It's pretty simple... there's a lot of action and every game is full of highlights. Offense... defense... special teams... you name it, there's thousands of sweet catches, dramatic drives, devastating hits, and explosive runs to keep us entertained.

And for more than two-thirds of my life as a football fan... I was all about offense. You can see it in how I chose my favorite players and collected cards when I was younger. Growing up... I loved Steve Largent, Eric Dickerson, Curt Warner, Brett Favre, James Lofton, Dan Marino, and Thurman Thomas. Sure... I enjoyed watching Ronnie Lott and Steve Atwater hit people, but they were just the icing on the cake... a bonus.

Then... along came Ray Lewis. For years, I kept seeing him on every defensive highlight film & hearing players talk about how hard he hits. Pretty soon... I was a fan. Not a Ravens fan... but a Lewis fan.

It was only a matter of time before I jumped on the Ed Reed bandwagon too. This guy is his own personal highlight reel. Funny thing is... the first play that comes to mind involving Reed... is the hit Hines Ward laid upon him a few years back on Monday Night Football.

Back in October, I had purchased a Ray Lewis autograph. I had no intentions of collecting him... nope... I just wanted to have his autograph for my PC.

But then I stumbled onto this card a few weeks later...

And as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have it in my collection. Two of the top defensive players in the game on one card... how sweet is that?

Well... that was the start of a new PC. I had a little over $30 left in my COMC account, so I went on a little shopping spree. Here's what I have to show for it:

Ray Lewis Memorabilia Cards

Ray Lewis Refractors

Other Ray Lewis #'d Parallels

Ed Reed Memorabilia Cards

Ed Reed SPx Shadow Box

Ed Reed Refractors

The Pittsburgh Steelers officially ended their season and I'm a little bummed. I wanted to see them take on Brady and the Patriots in the AFC Championship game (oops update... I mean Sanchez and the Jets... congratulations Jets fans). It's unfortunate that the offense made some crucial turnovers that led to some easy points for Roethlisberger, Miller, and Ward. But it is what it is... I'm sure Lewis and Reed aren't sitting around making excuses... so why should I.

By the way... for the people keeping track of my New Year's Resolutions... I officially started this PC last year, so I'm not breaking my promise... YET.

A few additional side notes... I'm stoked that the Packers took care of business and beat the Falcons in their precious dome. I thought it was going to be a little closer, but I'm okay with a blowout. You won't see me getting too excited, because they still have to face Chicago again... in Chicago.

I was so close to having my two favorite teams facing off against each other in the NFC Championship game. But... just like most people predicted... it wasn't really a contest. The Bears dominated the majority of the game and held the Hawks to 34 yards rushing. Hopefully, the Packers will have different results.

Speaking of contests... Charles over at Hoopography is holding a couple. The first one involves you guessing his favorite card. He helps you out by providing a couple of clues. The prize includes a lot of Donruss rookie cards, including John Wall and a Tyreke Evans jersey card.

Contest #1

In a separate contest, he's giving away 5 cards from his 2011 Panini Timeless Treasures box break. Included are a quad jersey card, an autographed memorabilia card, and an autographed rookie card.

Contest #2

Well... I hope everyone is enjoying your Sunday. I'm off to a pretty crappy start (Seattle's loss), but I'll feel a little better if the Jets can somehow find a way to knockoff the Patriots (although that's not likely... umm I guess I was wrong again!).

Today's question of the day is...

Who do you think will win next week's game between the Bears and the Packers?

Hasta luego... Sayonara!