No Relics Pulled

The next card I will highlight is one that spent a long time on my want list. Well not this kid exactly, but the base will work just as well. I didn't want to spend the extra 15 bucks for the refractor off of COMC. Actually I didn't have to spend anything on it. A long while ago I completed a trade with the other Dustin over at cootveal. He happened to highlight some cards he picked up at show and I quickly pounced on several of them. I would highlight the others but I'm limited to what I have around the office until I remember to do some scanning at home.

Ellsbury has been one of my favorites and is only one of three active Native American players in the Bigs. The other two being Kyle Lohse and Joba Chamberlain. Although plagued by injuries a healthy Ellsbury is quite the threat. He finished second in MVP voting ultimately losing out to JV in 2011. I wish Topps would bring back this set, but instead we're stuck with online code gimmicks and so many inserts that it's damn near impossible to complete a set.

Thanks Dustin for the great trade. I'll highlight the other cards soon!

I think it's been at least 6 months since I last got on, and even longer since I posted anything. Starting today that will hopefully change. I have plenty of new cards to profile. Seriously I have a stack larger than Allen Iverson's ego sitting on my desk. There have been Some crazy life changes since I last updated this thing as well. Mainly, I started my first big boy job at the wonderful University of Michigan, I got engaged to the most wonderful woman I know, and I witnessed the Tigers blow the World Series in game 4 to the surprisingly likable Giants.  I hope to eventually write about all of these things at one point of another, whether here or somewhere else.

Let's get back on track this is a blog about baseball cards and all. This card comes from my good friend Will over at foulbunt.
Hey sweet! I was 2004 OF prospect drafted by the Rockies! I should at that to my Linkedin profile and see if anyone calls me out on it. So I was born in Salem Oregon in 1982 and attended Galena HS in Reno, Nevada.
I was originally drafted by the Os in the 21st round of the 2001 draft. I turned them down and was then drafted in the 9th round of the 2004 draft by the Colorado Rockies. I never made it to the Bigs, but did finish with a .267 batting average. That's good right?

In all seriousness this was a great card when I opened it up. It now adorns my office wall.

Want a chance to win some sweet cards? Then check out this contest at http://number5typecollection.blogspot.com/

There's something magical about attending a ball game. It doesn't matter the playing level either. The sound of balls cracking off bats, the uninterested whines of kids, and the cat calls of the vendors is enough to distract you from any worry. While I was sitting in my seat watching batting practice it didn't even register that I'm an unemployed college grad, sure I have a part time job, but no way do I want to stay where I'm at with barely enough money to buy a six pack of Oberon. It didn't register that I no longer have to cram for an exam in order to get the passing grade so I can piss away 3 years attending law school and burying myself in even more debt. I pray that the inevitable social collapse will happen within that time period so my debt will be forgotten as the financial institutions smolder and sirens wail. Enough ranting.
I attended a Tigers game when they played the Whitesox which I mentioned in an earlier post concerning my Felix Hernandez ball. After bar hoping in Greektown we stumbled over to Comerica park well before the game started. My girlfriend bought us great seats. 5 rows back from the third base line. I hurried down to the field to catch the Tigers wrap up batting practice in the chance they would stop and talk to fans...spoiler alert they didn't. I was even the creepy guy surrounded by little kids and their dads. Dejected I walked up and spent the 18 dollars for a beer (it wasn't $18 but it was damn close). I walked back down figuring I'd watch the Whitesox take batting practice.They were a lot more interesting to watch. Konerko cracked off home run after home run over the bull pen. It was awesome to see the little kids in hte outfield scrambling over seats. Adam Dunn who made Inge look good last year followed suit. Anyway I heckled the infielders enough that Gordon Beckham threw me over a practice ball. Sure I might have spilled my beer reaching over to grab it, but it was worth it.


The Tigers came back on the field for warm up stretches. Needless to say they still didn't greet any of the fans. Cabby gave an acknowledging hat tip and a wave, and Fielder ran sprints which made it look like time was going in reverse. Out of the Tigers lineup I have to say AJax was probably the coolest giving away warm up balls to the little kids and taking pictures. Raburn was also a nice guy carrying on conversations with fans and promptly signing everything handed his way. It's funny how those are the players that are the coolest. The game was great complete with your typical Tigers at bats. I don't think I saw 18 gidps so that was good, and Peralta hit a walk off home run which was awesome to see. I'll be going back soon, but this time I'll probably stick to trying to meet Andy Dirks and Drew Smyly since the big guys typically ignore everyone.

For those of you not in the Detroit area Verlander just pitched a great game, and was 2 outs away from a no-hitter. It would have been his 3rd. He's certainly made my time in Michigan enjoyable. Hopefully he'll continue to dominate this season. Repeat Cy Young perhaps?

Earlier this month in celebration of my graduation I attended a Tigers game. I'll blog about the actual game and what not soon since I've got something really sweet to show off. Anyway The week before I knew the Mariners were in town so I was hoping they would have some memorabilia left over from the 3 game series (which the Tigers lost I might add). I took a look at some reasonably priced gear such as batting helmets, bats, hats, etc. I glanced over at the game used balls and wasn't disappointed. They had an Ichiro foul ball which was way more than I wanted to pay, at $100. If it was a hr then maybe. Right below was a King Felix pitched ball. I had to have it. After shooting the shit with the guy I got a pretty good deal on it. It pays off to be a fan of a mediocre team! Here it is. It's hard to tell in the picture, but it's pretty scuffed up. I'm not sure if it's nail scratches or if it was a ball in dirt. Anyways it looks great up on my shelf.

Not really, but a few months ago I finally pulled a relic. It only took spending $1,000,678.34 at target before it finally happened and the pack wasn't even from there! Anyways I was going through my Christmas stocking, man it has been awhile since I've blogged, and my brother picked me up a couple Topps update packs. My first thought was man this is a large pack. As usual I figured it was a dummy card.
Sifting through Marlins, D-backs, and Gio Gonzalez I found this.

Shitty cell phone picture aside it's a pretty cool card. I know a lot of people think he's a cheat but whatever. It's a nice looking card. I would have been more happy with a JV relic or Mighy but beggars can't be choosers.