Sending Cards 2010, and New Blog Design (Please Vote)

Most of the office has been out of town this week due to a Vegas fashion show, and it got really quiet. This caused my mind to wander, leading me to spend most of the day tweaking the blogs design. I added a poll on the sidebar, please vote and let me know how you feel about the new look.

I also have been reading a lot of TTM Message boards in my week of bliss. Mark Buehrle's name keeps coming up as a great TTM signer. Most successes are reporting under 10 days. Also, Ty Wigginton is showing some success of recent days as well. So out those two go.

Mark Buehrle

I think the best thing to say about Mr. Buehrle is that he is one of a select few to have ever pitched a perfect game. On the 23rd of July, 2009 Mark took the mound and pitched the 18th Perfect game in Major League history. It took him 116 pitches, and the Tampa Bay Rays lost 5 - 0 thanks to Josh Fields' grand slam, an RBI double by Alexei Ramírez.

Ty Wigginton

Mr Wigginton has bounced around 5 different teams in his time in the big leagues. Currently he is with the Baltimore Orioles. 2010 was an all-star year for Mr. Wigginton, like the Diamondback's Chris Young, this was Ty's first All-Star nod.

More EBay Goodness - Montero

This is the last of the incoming EBay cards. Picked these up from the same seller for .99 each. Combine the shipping and I say I got a deal.

Miguel Montero 2007 Topps Moments and Milestones RC Auto

Miguel Montero 2007 Topps Co-Signers Bronze RC Auto

Call me crazy but I have been on a kick of getting these sticker autos. Maybe it is the shininess of it. Who knows.

Suprise from the Troll

I came home the other day with a small cubed shaped box waiting for me on the table. The moment I saw it I knew what it was. I had ordered a Conor Jackson (yep, him again) Autographed baseball on ebay. I gave my boys a big hug, washed my hands and quickly cracked it open.

I was wrong. You see I didn't look at the return address. Hand written on the package was the name "Troll". Then my TTM attempt to the man came to mind. But looking at the postmark shows that he sent this package out the day I sent the request. This was simply Troll being Troll.

There was WAY too many cards to scan them all. A quick summary (that does not to the package justice) is that it was a lot of Angel baseball cards and most were O-Pee-Chee brand. There were also a small percentage of Diamondback cards. I don't have many O-Pee-Chee cards in my collection, well prior to this, so I really enjoyed this aspect of the package. Also, there were a number of 1984 and 1985 cards, making them some of the oldest cards I have, and the only cards from that year.

Ok, here are the scans.

J.T. Snow 1993 UD Stars of Tomorrow RC

Tim Salmon 1994 UD Collector's Choice

Joe Magrane 1994 UD Collector's Choice Silver Signature

Jim Abbott 1992 O-Pee-Chee Premier

Jim Abbott 1992 Topps All-Star

Don Sutton 1987 O-Pee-Chee

Ray Chadwick 1987 Donruss

Gary Lucas 1987 Donruss

Tommy John 1985 O-Pee-Chee

Rod Carew 1985 O-Pee-Chee

Reggie Jackson 1985 O-Pee-Chee

Rod Carew 1984 O-Pee-Chee

Reggie Jackson 1984 O-Pee-Chee

Stephen Drew 2008 UD Goodwin Champions

Jeff Salazar 2007 Topps '52 Rookie

Dan Haren 2010 Topps Heritage

Clay Zavada 2009 Topps Heritage

Unopened Pack of 1991 Topps

1989 Topps Big 2nd Series Unopened pack

Um..Not sure what this pack is. My guess is it is a Fleer pack that is celebrating National Trading Card Day. I am not sure where I got this idea though

Brandon Webb Upper Deck Legendary Cuts Relic

Thank you so much Troll. These are awesome!

Sending cards 2010 Week 3

I recently purchased the Baseball address list by Harvey Meiselman. It came in the mail a couple days ago, I have read a lot of good things so lets see how it works. Below are the first candidates using the address provided.

Luke Scott

In 2006, Mr. Scott became the first rookie Astro to hit for the cycle. The best thing about this was that even though it was against the Diamondbacks, the Astro's still did not win the 8 - 7 extra inning contest.

Scott Rolen

I love hearing about the different athletes that have foundations set up to provide one thing or another to the community. Mr. Rolen set up the Enis Furley Foundations.

"The Enis Furley Foundation is a non-profit organization created by Scott Rolen , of the Cincinnati Reds, and named after his eldest dog Enis. In 1999 Scott had a vision to brighten the lives of children and their families who struggle with an illness, hardship, or other special needs." (from the foundation's website).

Josh Willingham

I don't know much about Mr. Willingham, but that is nothing new for this blog. I did find out through research that Josh has the bragging rights of hitting two grand slams in one game. It was last July, he hit a grand slam in consecutive innings against the Brew Crew.

Rick Ankiel

I find it amazing that Rick Ankiel was able to reinvent himself and make it back to the Bigs the way he did. It is an incredible feat to make it to the highest level of your career, but to be able to do it twice in such different capacities is such an accomplishment.

I also used the list to resend a "return to sender" failure of Craig Biggio.

More EBay Goodness

I have been stuck on EBay the last week or two. The first card, at my own personal show and tell, is a Conor Jackson auto that I paid .99 for. The shipping was 3 bucks, so technically I paid 300% more on shipping for the darn thing. I am not complaining though.

I have stopped fighting the Conor Jackson take over of my collection. I mentioned earlier on this blog how he has been sneaking into one of the top player collections that I have going. So now I am actively looking for more new Cojack pieces. (too bad he is not on our team anymore)

Conor Jackson 2007 Topps Highlight Autograph

The next card is a card I never thought I would get. It is from the 2007 Upper Deck Black set. You know, the one that cost in the 100 dollar range a box. The box that includes only 2 packs. You know, the packs that have only 1 card. *pauses to get a calculator*...mumble mumble...carry the two....oh yeah, it cost 100 dollars for two random cards.

Any way, like the Bowman's best of that year, I have been eyeing the Mark Reynolds and Justin Upton cards. In this set, I love the "Pride of a Nation" rookie auto cards. I was able to pick this one up for under 50.

Justin Upton 2007 Upper Deck Black Pride of a Nation

The hardest part was to explain the purchase to my wife. She was in a good mood because she had just confiscated the proceeds from my 2010 Allen & Ginter Strasburg mini.

See the deal on the Stasburg mini went like this:

I got to buy a box of cards and the rest went to savings.

Here is how reality decided to step in:

The day the Strasburg sold, our garage door decided to break. After the repair was completed and paid, my wife informs me that I just traded my box of cards for a working garage door. "Mom! Life stole my baseball card money!"

lemonade for an Excellent cause

I don't typically post about non-baseball topics but I really loved this story and thought I would push it out there.


This little girl, 6 years old, is diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. She is undergoing chemotherapy which, from what I gather, is saving her life.

This little girl's family has insurance but the cost is really adding up. She set up the lemonade stand to help her parents cover the cost. I think what really stood out to me, was the attitude of this little girl. She is so positive and cheerful, she reminds me of my son, maybe that is why it touched me so much.

I found this article that has an address to a fund that is set up for her. I am going to try to send something, and thought that maybe I can pass along this story.

Jane R. Poole Cancer Fund
1st National Bank
8531 Church Ranch Blvd.
Westminster, CO 80021

*I wish the rest of the world could have this girl's attitude. So innocent and beautiful.*

I got it

Unlike poor Mr. "Wicked" Ortega, I have had a good week on EBay. I have another card coming, look for that post later, but the card I am showing now I have been wanting for at least a year. It also brings me one card closer to completing one of my 2010 goals.

Mark Reynolds 2007 Bowman's Best Autograph #76b

I wasn't going to buy this card. I was following the auction of this card, and the card ended with no bids. I sent the seller a message and ask if he would take $20 for it. He accepted. I thought for sure he wouldn't, but luck was on my side.

I love this card. This, and the Justin Upton one as well. A rookie auto of Reynolds, and from a really nice set. The scan doesn't do the card justice, you can't really see how "shiny", and thick the card is.