The Butterfly Effect

Forty years ago, the San Diego Padres were on the brink of becoming the Washington Padres.  Thankfully Ray Kroc swooped in, purchased the Padres for a reported twelve million dollars, and kept the team in San Diego.

Now this might not seem like a big deal to you... but there's a chance my whole outlook on baseball could have been changed forever had they moved to Washington D.C.  How, you ask?  It's pretty simple.

Anyone who has seen the movie "Butterfly Effect" knows that one small change of events can result in much bigger changes down the road.  For example... if both of my parents hadn't left Hawaii to attend college in Wisconsin, there's a strong possibility that they never would have met.  Which means... I wouldn't have been born and this post wouldn't have been published.  The same rule applies to the Padres staying in San Diego.

In 1981, the San Diego Padres drafted my favorite baseball player of all-time... Tony Gwynn.  But had the Padres moved to Washington... things might have turned out differently.  New ownership might have had a different draft philosophy.  Maybe they would have been somewhere else in the 1981 draft order, which could have led to Gwynn being drafted by another team.  Or what if the Washington Padres targeted a guy from the mid-Atlantic region of the country instead of this Southern Californian who attended San Diego State University.

Any of these situations would have changed my life forever... because Tony Gwynn is the only reason I became a San Diego Padres fan.  Who knows... maybe I would have been a Cincinnati Reds or Los Angeles Dodgers fan.  Wait.  That makes me appreciate Mr. Kroc even more.

Thanks Ray Kroc!  You literally changed my life.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

Flea Market Finds #57: Baseball Cards, a Bobble, and a Binder

When:  Sunday, March 16th
Where:  Capitol Flea Market
What:  Baseball Cards, Barry Bonds Bobblehead, and 2011 Opening Day Binder
How Much?:  $12

This post wraps up last weekend's sports card shopping spree.  If you're bored and wanna see what I picked up... click on the links below:

Friday - GTSM Card Show

Saturday - Branham High School Flea Market

To bring you up to speed... I spent $86 between those two days and had no intentions of spending much more at Capitol.  But the Cardboard Gods decided to test my willpower and presented me with several vendors carrying sports memorabilia.  Personally... I think I passed with flying colors.

Halfway through the flea market, I hadn't spent a dime.  Then we stumbled across a guy with a box of random baseball cards.  I noticed a 1964 Topps Don Mossi and knew I had to at least have a peek.

Purchase #1:  Bargain Bin Baseball Cards $3

Anytime I can add eight cards to four different binders, plus have an extra card for a fellow blogger and it only sets me back three bucks... I'll take it.


Purchase #2:  2001 All-Star Game Barry Bonds Bobblehead  $3

Do I really need another bobblehead?  Probably not.  But the price was right and I have plenty of friends who are Giants fans.


Purchase #3:  Binder Full of 2011 Topps Opening Day $6

This is easily my favorite purchase of the day.  I won't highlight everything, but I'll tell you this... it include an almost complete set of the MLB Mascots.

Can you guess which card is missing?

Well that's it.  I spent more than I wanted last weekend, but at least kept it under $100.  I'll be going out again today, however the focus will be enjoying the fresh air and getting some exercise... not spending more money.  Wish me luck!

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

Domo Arigato: Wes @ Jaybarkerfan's Junk

I'm on the verge of quitting.  Every time I try to square things up with Sir Jaybarkerfan... he immediately sends another package.   How does he do it?  Where does he find all of these cards?  And when will this madness end?

His latest care package was most impressive.  The first six cards I saw left me sitting in my office... mouth drooling, eyes wide open, and fingers a-twichin'.

To the average collector these six cards might look like your typical 1972 Topps baseball cards.  But to me, they're the final six cards to my 1972 Topps Oakland A's team set.

I started building this team set over three years ago, but immediately hit a brick wall when I realized that the sixth series, high numbers aren't sitting in dime boxes at card shows or in grab bags at flea markets.  But thanks to Wes the quest is over.  However... that leaves me the problem of paying him back.

Wait... it gets worse.  His care package was loaded with...

Oakland A's

Montreal Expos

San Diego Padres

Seattle Seahawks

Japanese Players

And oh yeah... my first San Diego Padres one of one:

Now... do you understand my problem?  Wes... you're insane!  I have no idea how you do it, but I truly appreciate every piece of cardboard you send my way.

And I know it won't be easy... but I will find some Atlanta Braves, Arizona Cardinals, and Crimson Tide alumni for your collection one way or another.

Unfortunately... that will only motivate you to send another package and guess what... we're back to square one.

Thanks Wes!  Give me a few weeks to find some stuff for you.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Domo Arigato: Cory @ Rectangle Men

Last July, I picked up an incomplete 1993 Upper Deck baseball card set from the flea market for $5. There were 40 cards missing from the set and a few bloggers offered to help me fill some of the gaps.

Yesterday, I received a package from Cory over at Rectangle Men.  It contained 34 of the cards I needed, so my wantlist went from...

to...

And if that generous gift wasn't enough... he also threw in my first official Yasiel Puig rookie card:

Thanks Cory!  If things went as planned... I should have sent you a "thank you" package of Cubs and White Sox earlier in the day.  If not, they'll definitely go out on Monday.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!

Domo Arigato: Brady @ Yadier Molina Baseball Cards

The past few weeks, I've been so backed up when it comes to collecting cards.  I guess you can say I've had a bad case of cardboard constipation.  In other words I'm accumulating them a lot faster than I'm processing them, and they've started to clutter my office.

But yesterday I finally had a nice two hour block to open packages, sort cards, fill my binders, and even scan a few images.

Three of those packages were sent from fellow bloggers and the first one was from Brady over at Yadier Molina Baseball Cards.  Our blogosphere has recently been treated to a few awesome additions and Brady's blog is one of them.  I have really enjoyed reading and commenting on his posts.  If you haven't visited his blog, I highly recommend checking it out.  Go ahead, you can finish reading this post later.  Click here.

So what did you think?  Great stuff, right?  Okay... are you ready to check out what he sent me?

Let's start off with a very cool 1966 Topps checklist:

I love the added ink... it definitely gives this card some added character.  But what makes this card extra special is that it contains the Jim Palmer rookie card:

One of these days I'd like to obtain card #126 for my Jim Palmer sports card trifecta.  But for now, I have no problem staring at this card in its place.

He also threw in a nice stack of Oakland A's, San Diego Padres, Montreal Expos, and Japanese baseball players.

Here are a few of the highlights:

Refractors... rookie cards... and Reddick... oh my!

Latos, Greene, and Burroughs.  Once upon a time, I had high hopes for all three of these former Friars.

These four guys are current MLBer's.  And it's possible that Ichiro will be the least productive in 2014.  How crazy is that?

And rounding things out... are a few 7-11 Slurpee discs from the 80's:

Wow... these bring back memories of my childhood.  And I'm pretty I didn't have any of these.

Thanks Brady!  I love these new additions to my collection.  If things went as planned, your Cardinals package should have been shipped out earlier today.  I appreciate you and everyone else's patience.

Happy Saturday and sayonara!