Saturday Night Five: Men in Pinstripes

I've recently started to rethink my position on the Men in Pinstripes.  I've hated the New York Yankees since I was a wee little boy, but now I realize that I have nothing against the Old School Yankees:  The Sultan of Swat, The Yankee Clipper, and The Commerce Comet.  They were well before my time and are key historical figures in baseball that I actually admire.

It's actually the New Era Yankees that I can't stand.  The Free Agency Era Yankees.  The franchise that uses my favorite team as their farm system and attempts to buy a World Series Championship year in and year out.  

Now I'm not saying that free agency doesn't have a place in sports.  It's always entertaining to see where the latest big name will land.  However, when one or two franchises build "dream teams" filled with all-stars... seriously, how much fun is that?

But enough ranting... let's get to the point of this post.  Tonight, I want to make up for thirty plus years of misplaced hatred and take a few minutes to honor my favorite New York Yankees.  

Are your ready?  Let's start with #5 and countdown to #1.

#5 Roger Maris

Before I watched HBO's 61*, Maris was just another Yankee I didn't like.  But after seeing what he went through and how the fans treated him... my opinion changed.

#4 Ron Guidry

His video game numbers during the 1978 season still stands out from my childhood... but the main reason he's high on this list is because he's a fellow lefty.

#3 Lou Gehrig

I have admired The Iron Horse since the first time I watched The Pride of the Yankees starring Gary Cooper.  He is remembered for being humble, kind, and hardworking... all adjectives I hopefully will be remembered for myself.

#2 Derek Jeter

It's hard not to respect any ballplayer who has been with the same team his entire 18 year career.  Throw in his accomplishments and the only reason he's not #1 on this list is because he's part of The Free Agency Era Yankees.

#1 Thurman Munson

Thurman Munson and collecting cardboard are forever tied together in my childhood memories.  His 1970 Topps rookie card was one of the first cards I ever wanted... and it only took me 30 years to acquire it.

What about you?

Who are your favorite Men in Pinstripes?

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Cheap Cool Cards #31: 2012 Toyota Buster Posey

These days... I rarely spend more than $5 on a single piece of cardboard for a variety of reasons:

A.  I've always been a cheapskate.

B.  I'm one of those guys who always thinks I can find it cheaper somewhere else.

C.  I love finding bargains.

D.  As a teacher, I'm on a pretty tight budget.

E.  And because it costs $60 to fill up my gas tank:

Thank the cardboard gods for cheap, cool cards.  Several months ago, I took my car in to get serviced and noticed that Toyota was giving away 4" x 6" postcards featuring NL MVP candidate: Buster Posey.

By now you know, I'm a sucker for oversized cards.  Throw in the fact that these are free promotions and it seemed sureal.  It's too bad I don't have access to Buster, because this would be sweet to get signed.

Just curious...

What part of the world are you in and what are you paying for a gallon of gas?

Last night, I paid $4.859/gallon for supreme @ Chevron in Mountain View, CA.  Is this ridiculous or what?

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

Discount Double Check!

We're six weeks through the 2012 NFL season and I'm a little surprised by both of my teams.  I'm excited to see the Seattle Seahawks sitting alongside the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers atop of the NFC West.  I honestly figured the 49ers were going to dominate the West and if I were a betting man, I'd say they probably will end up on top.

On the other hand, the Green Bay Packers are nowhere near where I thought they'd be.  I'm totally shocked at their 3-3 record.  Who would have thought that after 6 weeks, they'd be the third place team in the NFC North.

But it is, what it is.  At least both of my teams won this past weekend.  So I figured I'd show off two recent purchases... each at discounted prices.  Both are huge additions to my PC, because each of these players are players I admire on multiple levels.

Let's start off with my autographed Aaron Rodgers mini-helmet:

Last year, I decided to start collecting autographed mini-helmets.  Brett Favre was my first purchase.  Now I own a Rodgers.  One of these days, I hope to add a Bart Starr to the collection and complete the Green Bay Packers QB Trifecta.

My second purchase was this autographed photo of former Seattle Seahawk, Mack Strong:

You may or may not have heard of Mr. Strong, but he's often regarded as the greatest fullback in franchise history and was elected by Seahawks' fans to their 35th Anniversary Team.

During his 15 years with the Seahawks, he only rushed for 5 touchdowns.  However, he blocked for three different 1,000 yard rushers:  Chris Warren (1994 and 1995), Ricky Watters (1998, 1999, and 2000), and Shaun Alexander (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005).

Thanks Aaron and Mack for all you've done for your teams and fans.  I'm stoked to add both of your autographs to my collection.

Okay, let's get back to talking about the current NFL season.  This year has been full of surprises so far.

Who do you think are currently the NFC's and the AFC's top teams?  Do you think they'll end up facing off in Super Bowl XLVII?

Although the Atlanta Falcons are the only undefeated team remaining, I think the San Francisco 49ers are the most balanced team in the NFC.  I can't explain their disappointing losses to the Vikings and Giants, but their wins have been pretty impressive.

In the AFC, I'll go with the Houston Texans.  Sure they were brought down to Earth by the Packers, but overall they're one of the most talented teams in football.

And my Super Bowl XLVII prediction?  I'm sticking with the Packers over the Patriots (for now).  It's all about who gets hot in December... and hopefully the Packers will do exactly that.

Happy Tuesday everyone and sayonara!

I finally gave in...

Over the summer, it seemed like every other cardboard blogger documented their Listia success stories on their blogs... except of course... me.

I actually opened my account over eight months ago, but didn't do anything with it until I stumbled across SpastikMooss' recent Listia purchase:  a 2000 Quantum Leaf rookie card of Tom Brady.

His post inspired me to head over to the site to see what I was missing.  One thing lead to another and I began doing whatever I could to earn credits.  Pretty soon I had tripled my savings and eventually won my first auction:

 

It's a 1991 Maxx Winston Cup 20th Anniversary foil set which consists of 21 cards and features Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Dale Earnhardt, and several other NASCAR drivers.

This set is a perfect example of "jumping the gun".  I was so excited to win an auction, I ended up winning an auction involving a sport I don't really follow.  Oh well... I assure you I have no "buyer's remorse".  It's a good looking set that will be thrown into a box and forgotten within a week or so.

SpastikMooss ended up giving me a few Listia tips and one of them was to create my first auction, because they'll reward you with 500 credits regardless if your auctions sells.  So, I decided to post this 1980 Dodgers TCMA card of Don Drysdale:

As you can see, I set the opening bid at the ridiculous price of 1,959 credits.  Why?  Well... essentially, I'm not interested in getting rid of this card, but I wanted the free 500 credits.

Thanks Spastik!  Or do you prefer Mr. Mooss?  You've officially got me hooked on Listia.

Anyone else out there on Listia?  What are your thoughts?

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Shiny Happy People!

Are you attracted to shiny objects that glimmer in the sunlight?

Have you ever been called frugal?

Do you happen to collect those enshrined at Cooperstown?

Does your mouth water when you hear the words "free redemption offer"?

Can you use a "pick me up", because your favorite baseball team just got knocked out of the playoffs?

If you answered "yes" to any of the above questions, then there's a minute chance you'll enjoy reading this post.  Why?  Well today, I'm going to show off my newly purchased 2010 Topps Chrome Wrapper Redemption Refractors.

In short... they're shiny, cheap, HOFers who were part of a free redemption two years ago.  And best of all... they just might make you smile when you hold them.

Back in 2010, collectors could send in twenty-four wrappers of 2010 Topps Chrome baseball and receive a special pack containing three of these special cards.  The set actually contains fifteen cards, but since I'm not a big prospect collector, I decided to focus on the five legends in the set:

#222 Babe Ruth

#223 Lou Gehrig

#224 Jackie Robinson

#225 Ty Cobb

#226 Mickey Mantle

I know what you're thinking... "Fuji, these cards are awesome!  There's no way they're cheap."  Well... you couldn't be further from the truth.  Believe it or not, you can add all five of these cards to your collector for less than two gallons of gasoline at ARCO.  Yup... I picked these beauties up off of COMC for less than $6 shipped.

So... what are you waiting for?  Go out and treat yourself to these delightful, shimmering, and highly collectible (not really) cards.  

It might just cause you to jump up and dance to REM's Shiny Happy People.

Are you a fan of Shiny, Happy, People?  In other words, are you a "refractor" type of guy/girl?  Any favorites?

Happy Friday and sayonara!